Electronic appliance controller with flexible program and step duration capability

• US 4,223,379 A
• Filed: 06/06/1978
• Issued: 09/16/1980
• Est. Priority Date: 06/06/1978
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: General Electric Company
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Simcoe, Robert J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Smith, Jerry
• Application Number:
  US05/913,252
• Time in Patent Office: 833 Days
• Field of Search: 364/104, 364/400, 307/141, 307/141.4, 307/293, 328/130
• US Class Current: 700/15
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/045 using logic state machines, consisting only of a memory or a programmable logic device containing the logic for the controlled machine and in which the state of its outputs is dependent on the state of its inputs or part of its own output states, e.g. binary decision controllers, finite state controllers

Abstract

An electronic sequence type controller structure having a high degree of flexibility in programming the time durations of particular steps in the program. The controller which includes a digital program sequence counter capable of stepping from one state to the next in response to inputted clock pulses, each state representing a particular program step. A programmable digital counter, programmed by a timer setting control, is operable to count inputted clock pulses and to output a signal when the number of clock pulses corresponding to a programmed time duration have been inputted. A program memory is responsive to the state of the program sequence counter for directing the timer setting control to program a time duration desired for any particular program step into the programmable timer. To direct the overall operation to effect periodic program advancing operations there is provided a control logic means. In operation, the control logic means is operable to direct a clock pulse to the programmable timer for each program advancing operation in the event a signal has not been received from the programmable timer and a program step is therefore in progress. When a program step is completed, a signal is received from the programmable timer and the control logic means is then operable to direct a clock pulse to the program sequence counter to cause stepping to the next program step, whereupon the program memory directs the timer setting control to program a new time duration into the programmable timer.

Claims

1. An electronic controller comprising:

a digital program sequence counter capable of stepping from one state to the next in response to clock pulses, and capable further of selectively either stepping to the next state of a regular counting sequence, or jumping to a particular arbitrary state, each sequence counter state representing a particular program step;

a programmable digital timer for establishing any one of a plurality of different time durations, said programmable timer operable to count clock pulses and to output a signal when the number of clock pulses corresponding to a programmed time duration have been inputted;

a timer setting control operable to program said programmable timer;

program memory means responsive to the state of said program sequence counter for directing said timer setting control to program a time duration desired for any particular program step;

control logic means for directing the operation of said program sequence counter and said digital timer to effect periodic program advancing operations, said control logic means operable in the event a signal has not been received from said programmable timer to direct a clock pulse to said programmable timer for each program advancing operation, and said control logic means operable in the event a signal is received from said programmable timer to direct a clock pulse to said program sequence counter to cause stepping to the next program step, whereupon said program memory means directs said timer setting control to program a new time duration into said programmable timer; and

logic means responsive to an external input and to said program memory means for controlling whether a program jump from a particular program step to another program step occurs.

2. An electronic controller according to claim 1, wherein said logic means responsive to an external input is capable of causing a jump from a program step to a particular one of a plurality of possible other program steps to occur depending upon the particular state of the external input.

3. An electronic controller comprising:

a digital program sequence counter capable of stepping from one state to the next in response to clock pulses, and capable further of selectively either stepping to the next state of a regular counting sequence, or jumping to a particular arbitrary state, each sequence counter state representing a particular program step;

a programmable digital timer for establishing any one of a plurality of different time durations, said programmable timer operable to count clock pulses and to output a signal when the number of clock pulses corresponding to a programmed time duration have been inputted;

a timer setting control operable to program said programmable timer;

program memory means responsive to the state of said program sequence counter for directing said timer setting control to program a time duration desired for any particular program step,

said program memory means including a sequence counter decoder for generating different outputs in response to the various states of said program sequence counter, and

said program memory means further including a memory array receiving the outputs of said sequence counter decoder, said memory array including a jump/time table section and a jump/time control bit section, for particular outputs of said sequence counter decoder said jump/time table section having either information representing a new time duration to be directed to said programmable timer or information representing a jump address to be directed to said sequence counter, but not both, and said jump/timer control bit section having information indicating whether the jump/time table entry is a time duration or a jump address; and

control logic means responsive to the information in said jump/time control bit section to generate appropriate control signals for directing the operation of said program sequence counter and said programmable timer to effect periodic program advancing operations, said control logic means operable in the event a signal has not been received from said programmable timer to direct a clock pulse to said programmable timer for each program advancing operation, and said control logic means operable in the event a signal is received from said programmable timer to direct a clock pulse to said program sequence counter to cause stepping to the next program step, whereupon said program memory means directs said timer setting control to program a new time duration into said programmable timer.

4. An electronic controller comprising:

a digital program sequence counter capable of stepping from one state to the next in response to clock pulses, and capable further of selectively either stepping to the next state of a regular counting sequence, or jumping to a particular arbitary state, each sequence counter state representing a particular program step;

a programmable digital timer for establishing any one of a plurality of different time durations, said programmable timer operable to count clock pulses and to output a signal when the number of clock pulses corresponding to a programmed time duration have been inputted;

a timer setting control operable to program said programmable timer;

program memory means responsive to the state of said program sequence counter for directing said timer setting control to program a time duration desired for any particular program step,

said program memory means including a sequence counter decoder for generating different outputs in response to the various states of said program sequence counter, and said program memory means including a memory array receiving the outputs of said sequence counter decoder,

said memory array including a jump/time table section and a jump/time control bit section, for particular outputs of said sequence counter decoder said jump/time table section having either information representing a new time duration to be directed to said programmable timer or information representing a jump address to be directed to said sequence counter, but not both, and said jump/time control bit section having information indicating whether the jump/time table entry is a time duration or a jump address; and

said memory array also including a multiple condition coder section, said multiple condition coder section having entries for particular outputs of said sequence counter decoder, which particular outputs represent program steps for which a functional result may vary from one execution of a program to the next;

said program memory means further including a condition decoder responsive to external inputs and to the entries of said multiple condition coder section for generating different outputs in response to various conditions;

said program memory means further including another jump/time table receiving the outputs of said condition decoder, for particular outputs of said condition decoder said other jump/time table having either information representing a new time duration to be directed to said programmable timer or information representing a jump address to be directed to said sequence counter, but not both; and

control logic means responsive to the information in said jump/time control bit section to generate appropriate control signals for directing the operation of said program sequence counter to effect periodic program advancing operations, said control logic means operable in the event a signal has not been received from said programmable timer to direct a clock pulse to said programmable timer for each program advancing operation, and said control logic means operable in the event a signal is received from said programmable timer to direct a clock pulse to said program sequence counter to cause stepping to the next program step, whereupon said program memory means directs said timer setting control to program a new time duration into said programmable timer.

5. An electronic controller comprising:

a digital program sequence counter capable of stepping from one state to the next in response to clock pulses, and capable further of selectively either stepping to the next state of a regular counting sequence, or jumping to a particular arbitrary state, each sequence counter state representing a particular program step;

a programmable digital timer for establishing any one of a plurality of different time durations, said programmable timer operable to count clock pulses and to output a signal when the number of clock pulses corresponding to a programmed time duration have been inputted;

a timer setting control operable to program said programmable timer;

program memory means responsive to the state of said program sequence counter for directing said timer setting control to program a time duration desired for any particular program step;

control logic means for directing the operation of said program sequence counter and said digital timer to effect periodic program advancing operations, said control logic means operable in the event a signal has not been received from said programmable timer to direct a clock pulse to said programmable timer for each program advancing operation, and said control logic means operable in the event a signal is received from said programmable timer to direct a clock pulse to said program sequence counter to cause stepping to the next program step, whereupon said program memory means directs said timer setting control to program a new time duration into said programmable timer; and

logic means responsive to an external input and to said program memory means for controlling whether a program jump from a particular program step to another program step occurs, said logic means including;

a decoder responsive to the state of said program sequence counter and to the external input for outputting a signal on a particular line when a particular program sequence counter state representative of a program step from which a jump may occur occurs in combination with a particular state of the external input; and

a memory having stored therein a representation of a particular program sequence counter state representative of a program step to which a jump may occur and responsive to a signal on the particular decoder output line for presenting the stored representation to said program sequence counter.

6. An electronic controller comprising:

a digital program sequence counter capable of stepping from one state to the next in response to clock pulses, and capable further of selectively either stepping to the next state of a regular counting sequence, or jumping to a particular arbitrary state, each sequence counter state representing a particular program step;

a programmable digital timer for establishing any one of a plurality of different time durations, said programmable timer operable to count clock pulses and to output a signal when the number of clock pulses corresponding to a programmed time duration have been inputted;

a timer setting control operable to program said programmable timer;

program memory means responsive to the state of said program sequence counter for directing said timer setting control to program a time duration desired for any particular program step;

control logic means for directing the operation of said program sequence counter and said digital timer to effect periodic program advancing operations, said control logic means operable in the event a signal has not been received from said programmable timer to direct a clock pulse to said programmable timer for each program advancing operation, and said control logic means operable in the event a signal is received from said programmable timer to direct a clock pulse to said program sequence counter to cause stepping to the next program step, whereupon said program memory means directs said timer setting control to program a new time duration into said programmable timer; and

logic means responsive to an external input and to said program memory means for controlling whether a program jump from a particular program step to another program step occurs, said logic means being capable of causing a jump from a program step to a particular one of a plurality of possible other program steps to occur depending upon the particular state of the external input, and said logic means including;

a decoder responsive to the state of said program sequence counter and to the external input for outputting a signal on a particular one of a plurality of lines when a particular program sequence counter state representative of a program step from which a jump may occur occurs in combination with a particular one of a plurality of states of the external input, the various ones of the plurality of decoder output lines all corresponding to the same program sequence counter state but to different states of the external input; and

a memory having stored therein representations of a plurality of particular program sequence counter states representative of program steps to which jumps may occur from the particular program step from which a jump may occur, each of the stored representations corresponding to a particular one of the different states of the external input, and said memory responsive to a signal on a particular one of the plurality of decoder output lines for presenting the corresponding stored representation to the program sequence counter.

7. An electronic controller comprising:

a digital program sequence counter capable of stepping from one state to the next in response to clock pulses, where each counter state represents a particular program step, said program sequence counter capable further of selectively either stepping to the next state of a regular counting sequence or jumping to a particular arbitrary state;

program memory means responsive to the state of said program sequence counter, said program memory means having at least one output connection to activate an external load device during a particular program step;

control logic means for directing the operation of said program sequence counter to effect periodic program advancing operations, said control logic means operable for each program advancing operation to direct a clock pulse to said program sequence counter to cause stepping to the next program step, whereupon said program memory means directs said timer setting control to program a new time duration into said programmable timer; and

logic means responsive to an external input for controlling whether a program jump from a particular program step to another program step occurs.

8. An electronic controller according to claim 7, wherein said logic means responsive to an external input is capable of causing a jump from a program step to a particular one of a plurality of possible other program steps to occur depending upon the particular state of the external input.

9. An electronic controller comprising:

a digital program sequence counter capable of stepping from one state to the next in response to clock pulses, where each counter state represents a particular program step, said program sequence counter capable further of selectively either stepping to the next state of a regular counting sequence or jumping to a particular arbitrary state;

program memory means responsive to the state of said program sequence counter, said program memory means having at least one output connection to activate an external load device during a particular program step;

control logic means for directing the operation of said program sequence counter to effect periodic program advancing operations, said control logic means operable for each program advancing operation to direct a clock pulse to said program sequence counter to cause stepping to the next program step, whereupon said program memory means directs said timer setting control to program a new time duration into said programmable timer; and

logic means responsive to an external input for controlling whether a program jump from a particular program step to another program step occurs, said logic means including;

a decoder responsive to the state of said program sequence counter and to the external input for outputting a signal on a particular line when a particular program sequence counter state representative of a program step from which a jump may occur occurs in combination with a particular state of the external input; and

a memory having stored therein a representation of a particular program sequence counter state representative of a program step to which a jump may occur and responsive to a signal on the particular decoder output line for presenting the stored representation to said program sequence counter.

10. An electronic controller comprising:

a digital program sequence counter capable of stepping from one state to the next in response to clock pulses, where each counter state represents a particular program step, said program sequence counter capable further of selectively either stepping to the next state of a regular counting sequence or jumping to a particular arbitrary state;

program memory means responsive to the state of said program sequence counter, said program memory means having at least one output connection to activate an external load device during a particular program step;

control logic means for directing the operation of said program sequence counter to effect periodic program advancing operations, said control logic means operable for each program advancing operation to direct a clock pulse to said program sequence counter to cause stepping to the next program step, whereupon said program memory means directs said timer setting control to program a new time duration into said programmable timer; and

logic means responsive to an external input for controlling whether a program jump from a particular program step to another program step occurs, said logic means being capable of causing a jump from a program step to a particular one of a plurality of possible other program steps to occur depending upon the particular state of the external input, and said logic means including;

a decoder responsive to the state of said program sequence counter and to the external input for outputting a signal on a particular one of a plurality of lines when a particular program sequence counter state representative of a program step from which a jump may occur occurs in combination with a particular one of a plurality of states of the external input, the various ones of the plurality of decoder output lines all corresponding to the same program sequence counter state but to different states of the external input; and

a memory having stored therein representations of a plurality of particular program sequence counter states representative of program steps to which jumps may occur from the particular program step from which a jump may occur, each of the stored representations corresponding to a particular one of the different states of the external input, and said memory responsive to a signal on a particular one of the plurality of decoder output lines for presenting the corresponding stored representation to the program sequence counter.

11. An electronic controller comprising:

a digital program sequence counter capable of stepping from one state to the next in response to clock pulses, each sequence counter state representing a particular program step;

a programmable digital timer for establishing any one of a plurality of different time durations, said programmable timer operable to count clock pulses and to output a signal when the number of clock pulses corresponding to a programmed time duration have been inputted;

a timer setting control operable to program said programmable timer;

program memory means responsive to the state of said program sequence counter for directing said timer setting control to program a time duration desired for any particular program step; and

control logic means for directing the operation of said program sequence counter and said digital timer to effect periodic program advancing operations, said control logic means operable in the event a signal has not been received from said programmable timer to direct a clock pulse to said programmable timer for each program advancing operation, and said control logic means operable in the event a signal is received from said programmable timer to direct a clock pulse to said program sequence counter to cause stepping to the next program step, whereupon said program memory means directs said timer setting control to program a new time duration into said programmable timer.

12. An electronic controller according to claim 11, which further comprises a basic clock for producing periodic timing pulses and wherein program advancing operations occur in response to said timing pulses.

13. An electronic controller according to claim 11, wherein said program memory means has at least one output connection to activate an external load device during a particular program step.

14. An electronic controller according to claim 13, which is adapted to control a washing appliance.

15. An electronic controller according to claim 13, wherein said output connection to the external load device includes logic means responsive to an external input for further control of the output function.

16. An electronic controller according to claim 15, which is adapted to control a washing applicance, and wherein the external load device controls the temperature of incoming fluid.

17. An electronic controller according to claim 11, wherein said timer setting control is capable of selectively programming said programmable timer either for a time duration determined by said program memory means, or for a time duration determined by an external input.

18. An electronic controller according to claim 17, wherein said timer setting control responds to an output of said program memory means for selecting whether the programmed time duration is determined by said program memory means or by the external input.

19. An electronic controller according to claim 11, wherein said program sequence counter includes capability for selectively either stepping to the next state of a regular counting sequence, or jumping to a particular arbitrary state determined by said program memory means responsive to the state of said program sequence counter.

20. An electronic controller according to claim 19, wherein said program memory means comprises a sequence counter decoder for generating different outputs in response to the various states of said program sequence counter.

21. An electronic controller according to claim 20, wherein said program memory further comprises a memory array receiving the outputs of said sequence couinter decoder, said memory array including an output section for producing a signal to activate at least one external load device in response to a particular output of said sequence counter decoder.

22. An electronic appliance controller comprising:

a digital program sequence counter capable of stepping from one state to the next in response to clock pulses, where each counter state represents a particular program step, said program sequence counter capable further of selectively either stepping to the next state of a regular counting sequence or jumping to a particular arbitrary state;

a programmable digital timer for establishing any one of a plurality of different time durations, said programmable timer operable to count clock pulses and to output a signal when the number of clock pulses corresponding to a programmed time duration have been inputted;

a timer setting control operable to program said programmable timer;

program memory means responsive to the state of said program sequence counter, said program memory means having an output for directing the operation of said timer setting control and having at least one output connection to activate an external load device during a particular program step; and

control logic means for directing the operation of said program sequence counter and said digital timer to effect periodic program advancing operations, said control logic means operable in the event a signal has not been received from said programmable timer to direct a clock pulse to said programmable timer for each program advancing operation, and said control logic means operable in the event a signal is received from said programmable timer to direct a clock pulse to said program sequence counter to cause stepping to the next program step, whereupon said program memory means directs said timer setting control to program a new time duration into said programmable timer.

23. An electronic appliance controller according to claim 22, wherein said timer setting control is capable of selectively programming said programmable timer either for a time duration determined by said program memory means, or for a time duration determined by an external input.