Consumption meter for accumulating digital power consumption signals via telephone lines without disturbing the consumer
First Claim
1. A consumption meter to be associated with sensors for sensing the consumption of a utility at a location comprising:
- a real time clock operable to generate timing signals at pre-determined times to divide a pre-determined time period into a plurality of intervals, said intervals defining critical and non-critical utility consumption times;
processing means communicating with said sensors and being responsive to said timing signals for detecting and storing the utility consumption separately for each of said intervals;
accumulation means for accumulating separately, the utility consumption stored for each of said intervals over a plurality of said time periods;
access means for allowing a transmission link between a remote location and said consumption meter to be established over telephone lines; and
interface means communicating with said accumulation means and said processing means, said interface means allowing said utility consumption stored in said accumulation means to be conveyed to said remote location upon receipt of appropriate commands therefrom, said interface means including a telephone status detector for detecting the condition of the handset of a telephone connected to said telephone lines at said location and disconnect means for disconnecting said telephone from said telephone lines and establishing said transmission link to enable transmission of said utility consumption when said telephone is not in use.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A microprocessor controlled utility consumption meter is provided. The meter is to be associated with sensors for detecting the consumption of a utility and includes a real time clock operable to generate time signals to divide a predetermined time period into a plurality of intervals, the intervals defining critical and non-critical utility consumption times. A processor is also provided which communicates with the sensors and is responsive to the timing signals for storing the utility conmsumption for each of the intervals in the period. An accumulator accumulates the utility consumption for each of the intervals over a plurality of periods. The meter also includes an interface for allowing the accumulated utility consumption stored in the meter to the transmitted to a central computer for processing.
99 Citations
14 Claims
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1. A consumption meter to be associated with sensors for sensing the consumption of a utility at a location comprising:
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a real time clock operable to generate timing signals at pre-determined times to divide a pre-determined time period into a plurality of intervals, said intervals defining critical and non-critical utility consumption times; processing means communicating with said sensors and being responsive to said timing signals for detecting and storing the utility consumption separately for each of said intervals; accumulation means for accumulating separately, the utility consumption stored for each of said intervals over a plurality of said time periods; access means for allowing a transmission link between a remote location and said consumption meter to be established over telephone lines; and interface means communicating with said accumulation means and said processing means, said interface means allowing said utility consumption stored in said accumulation means to be conveyed to said remote location upon receipt of appropriate commands therefrom, said interface means including a telephone status detector for detecting the condition of the handset of a telephone connected to said telephone lines at said location and disconnect means for disconnecting said telephone from said telephone lines and establishing said transmission link to enable transmission of said utility consumption when said telephone is not in use. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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Specification