Electronic remote data recorder for electric energy metering
First Claim
1. A power fail detector and recovery apparatus for an electronic remote data recorder, said electronic remote data recorder including a processor therein, comprising:
- means for producing a power failure signal in response to a first predetermined voltage reduction in a power source to said electronic remote data recorder;
said electronic remote data recorder being responsive to said power fail signal by halting operation of said processor;
a non-volatile storage device for storing contents of said processor in said non-volatile storage upon occurrence of said power fail signal;
means for restoring operation of said processor upon a second predetermined voltage increase in said power source above said first predetermined voltage;
said means for restoring including means for comparing a pattern of said contents in said non-volatile storage with a predetermined data pattern indicating a programmed electronic remote data recorder, and for producing an enable signal when a pattern of said contents indicates that said processor has not been previously programmed; and
means responsive to said enable signal for connecting programming data from an external source to said processor for initial programming thereof.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An electronic remote data recorder records pulses representing usage of a commodity such as, for example, water, gas or electricity from a plurality of consumers. The data from each consumer is stored in a respective data storage device. Each data storage device is associated with an interval data directory which stores the times at which significant events, affecting the data in the data storage device occurred. Thus, the data in the data storage device is compact, without requiring a contemporaneous time code for each data item. Data integrity is retained over a period of power outage in a non-volatile storage device. Initial, post-installation programming is enabled by comparing the data pattern in the non-volatile storage device with a predefined data pattern that is expected to exist once the apparatus has been programmed. A write-protect switch prevents programming during an incoming call after the initial programming. Programming from an external source may be permitted during a telephone call initiated by the data recorder itself. A telephone line-sharing device permits a plurality of remote data recorders to share a single telephone line without interfering with each other.
93 Citations
5 Claims
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1. A power fail detector and recovery apparatus for an electronic remote data recorder, said electronic remote data recorder including a processor therein, comprising:
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means for producing a power failure signal in response to a first predetermined voltage reduction in a power source to said electronic remote data recorder; said electronic remote data recorder being responsive to said power fail signal by halting operation of said processor; a non-volatile storage device for storing contents of said processor in said non-volatile storage upon occurrence of said power fail signal; means for restoring operation of said processor upon a second predetermined voltage increase in said power source above said first predetermined voltage; said means for restoring including means for comparing a pattern of said contents in said non-volatile storage with a predetermined data pattern indicating a programmed electronic remote data recorder, and for producing an enable signal when a pattern of said contents indicates that said processor has not been previously programmed; and means responsive to said enable signal for connecting programming data from an external source to said processor for initial programming thereof. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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Specification