Machine event processing system
First Claim
1. A method of monitoring machine events in a coin operated machine which produces electrical signals upon each occurrence of an event, said method of monitoring machine events comprising;
- converting said electrical signals to low level digital signals;
counting said low level signals with parallel binary counting means receiving said low level digital signals to produce data;
converting said data from said parallel binary counting means to serial data by transferring said data to a plurality of serially connected shift registers;
storing said data converted from parallel to serial data form in said plurality of serially connected shift registers;
said steps of counting said low level digital signals, and converting and storing said data comprising unidirectionally and non-destructively counting said low level digital signals, and converting and storing said data in serial data form; and
transferring said stored serial data from said plurality of serially connected shift registers to computer processing means.
0 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system for reading, recording and transferring one or more discrete machine events to computer processing equipment for accounting and tabulation. The system is comprised of a discrete machine event counting module which records and stores a count of machine operation, and can include means for recording the time of some selected event or events. The module also stores an identification code for the particular machine. The module can be connected directly through a microprocessor to a central processing center, or it can be located at a machine or at a group of machines. When located in an individual machine or in a group of machines, and hardwiring to the central processing center is for some reason not desired, then a portable transfer unit can be provided which can be connected to the module to retrieve or to read its contents by applying a read data command signal to the module. The transfer unit can then be transported to access means for the central processing center and the information that was obtained from the module will be transferred to centers for processing and tabulation.
42 Citations
16 Claims
-
1. A method of monitoring machine events in a coin operated machine which produces electrical signals upon each occurrence of an event, said method of monitoring machine events comprising;
-
converting said electrical signals to low level digital signals; counting said low level signals with parallel binary counting means receiving said low level digital signals to produce data; converting said data from said parallel binary counting means to serial data by transferring said data to a plurality of serially connected shift registers; storing said data converted from parallel to serial data form in said plurality of serially connected shift registers; said steps of counting said low level digital signals, and converting and storing said data comprising unidirectionally and non-destructively counting said low level digital signals, and converting and storing said data in serial data form; and transferring said stored serial data from said plurality of serially connected shift registers to computer processing means. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
-
-
5. A machine event counting and processing system for a machine having means for generating electrical signals in response to the occurrence of an event, said machine event counting and processing system comprising;
-
signal converting means receiving and converting said electrical signals generated by a machine event to low level digital signals; parallel binary counting means receiving outputs from said signal converting means for counting said low level digital signals representing each machine event in parallel data form; parallel to serial converting means receiving and converting said low level digital signals from said parallel binary counting means from parallel data to serial data; said parallel to serial converting means including count data storage means receiving and storing said serial data representing each machine event;
said count data storage means comprising a plurality of serially connected shift registers receiving and storing the output of said parallel binary counting means;said parallel binary counting means, count data storage means and parallel to serial converting means configured to count and store said low level digital signals in a unidirectional nondestructive manner; data transfer means for transferring said stored serial data to computer processing means; said data transfer means including means for activating said count data storage means for sequentially transferring said stored serial data to said computer processing means; whereby machine events are counted and non-destructively stored in serial data form for transfer to computer processing means on command. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
-
Specification