System for ensuring valid communications between a central control and a plurality of remote modules
First Claim
1. An annunciation system for a wireless communications apparatus having a plurality of channels which provides for communications between a central control and a plurality of remote modules and having a plurality of means for selecting individual channels for communication, said annunciation system comprising:
- means included in the central control for receiving said communications;
a plurality of means for visually annunciating whether a particular selected channel is communicating, each annunciating means being located in physical proximity to a corresponding means for selecting a channel so that the operator associates an annunciation with a selected channel;
means for determining whether a channel is communicating information validly to said central control;
said annunciating means further including,a first light emitting diode having an emission spectrum of essentially a first color;
a second light emitting diode having an emission spectrum of essentially a second color;
said first and second diodes being connected in parallel and oppositely poled to form a two terminal visual annunciation means, wherein said annunciating means will display said first color if current is applied to said terminals in a first direction and will display said second color if current is applied to said terminals in the opposite direction; and
said annunciating means displaying a third color, which is a combination of said first color and second color, when current is applied to/said terminal in an alternating manner.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An annunciation system for a wireless weighing system. The weighing system includes control keys for selecting and displaying the weights from a plurality of remote weighing pads, each having a separate through the air communications channel. The weighing system further provides a mode for storing a zero value for each pad. In the preferred embodiment, the annuniciation system comprises a plurality of LED combinations where each combination is located proximately to a corresponding pad select key which indicates a particular communications channel. Each LED combination has a plurality of states including off, green, red and amber which indicates a condition of the corresponding communications channel. Additionally, each LED combination can indicate a condition of a corresponding communications channel by being off, on steady, or blinking.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. An annunciation system for a wireless communications apparatus having a plurality of channels which provides for communications between a central control and a plurality of remote modules and having a plurality of means for selecting individual channels for communication, said annunciation system comprising:
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means included in the central control for receiving said communications; a plurality of means for visually annunciating whether a particular selected channel is communicating, each annunciating means being located in physical proximity to a corresponding means for selecting a channel so that the operator associates an annunciation with a selected channel; means for determining whether a channel is communicating information validly to said central control; said annunciating means further including, a first light emitting diode having an emission spectrum of essentially a first color; a second light emitting diode having an emission spectrum of essentially a second color; said first and second diodes being connected in parallel and oppositely poled to form a two terminal visual annunciation means, wherein said annunciating means will display said first color if current is applied to said terminals in a first direction and will display said second color if current is applied to said terminals in the opposite direction; and said annunciating means displaying a third color, which is a combination of said first color and second color, when current is applied to/said terminal in an alternating manner. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. A method for ensuring valid communications between a central control and a plurality of selectable remote modules comprising the steps of:
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selecting at least one of said remote modules for communications, pressing a selection key associated with said at least one module; interrogating said at least one selected remote module; receiving information from said at least one selected remote modules in response to said interrogation; determining from said received information whether said at least one selected remote module is communicating correctly; visually annunciating at a location associated with the selection of said at least one selected module whether the module is communicating correctly; operating an LED combination in proximity to said selection key; illuminating the combination with a first color if the at least one selected module is communicating correctly; illuminating the combination with a second color if the at least one selected module is not communicating correctly; determining a calibration value from said information and storing said value; and determining the status of whether said at least one selected module was communicating correctly when said calibration value was stored and storing said status. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. An annunciation system for a wireless communications apparatus having a plurality of channels which provides bidirectional communication between a central control and a plurality of remote modules and having a plurality of means for selecting individual channels for communication, said annunciation system comprising:
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means included in the central control for receiving said communications; a plurality of means for visually annunciating whether a particular selected channel is communicating, each annunciating means being located in physical proximity to a corresponding means for selecting a channel so that the operator associated a visual annunciation with a selected channel; said visual annunciating means including a first light emitting diode having an emission spectrum of essentially a first color, a second light emitting diode having an emission spectrum of essentially a second color, said first and second diodes being connected in parallel and oppositely poled to form a two terminal visual annunciation means; wherein said visual annunciation means will display said first color if current is applied to said terminals in a first direction, will display said second color if current is applied to said terminals in the opposite direction, and will display a third color, which is a combination of said first color and second color if current is applied to said terminals in an alternating manner; and means included in the central control for determining whether a channel is communicating information validly to the central control. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13)
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14. A method for ensuring valid communications between a central control and a plurality of selectable remote modules comprising the steps of:
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selecting at least one of said remote modules for communications by pressing a selection key associated with said at least one remote module; interrogating said at least one selected remote module; receiving information from said at least one selected remote module in response to said interrogation; determining from said received information whether said at least one selected remote module is communicating correctly; visually annunciating at a location associated with the selection key of said at least one selected module whether the module is communicating correctly; said step of annunciating including operating an LED combination in proximity to said selection key by illuminating the combination with a green color if the at least one selected module is communicating correctly and by illuminating the combination with a red color if the at least one selected module is not communicating correctly; storing a calibration value from said received information; and storing an indication of whether said at least one selected module was communicating correctly when said calibration value was stored. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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Specification