Universal programmable process control apparatus

• US 4,102,492 A
• Filed: 07/28/1977
• Issued: 07/25/1978
• Est. Priority Date: 06/28/1976
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Electroid
• Original Assignee: Valcor Engineering Corporation
• Inventors: Gold, Joseph, Farese, Frank
• Primary Examiner(s): Cook, Daryl W.
• Application Number:
  US05/819,875
• Time in Patent Office: 362 Days
• Field of Search: 364/100, 364/468, 364/474, 235/375, 235/376, 235/92 T, 200/46
• US Class Current: 235/375
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/124 using tapes, cards or discs with optically sensed marks or codes G05B19/128, G05B19/14 take precedence

Abstract

Apparatus for selectively enabling and disabling a process depending on the instantaneous value of a measurement made during the process in accordance with a predetermined program recorded by shading adjacent segments on an area of a record means the length of which is an analog of the total range of the measurement with each of the segments representing an interval of the measurement during which the process is to be enabled or disabled. A plurality of memory cores in one to one correspondence with subsegments of the measurement range analog are caused during programming to occupy one of two bistable states in response to a light sensor responsive to the light originating from an incident source and reflected by the program record. After programming, the memory cores are interrogated in accordance with the instantaneous value of measurement and a process control switch is set to a state corresponding to the state of the last interrogated memory core.

Claims

1. Apparatus for selectively enabling and disabling a process depending on the instantaneous magnitude of a measurement made during the process in accordance with a prescribed program comprising:

a control switch actuable between a process enabling state and a process disabling state,

a plurality of memory core means each of which can be selectively placed in one of a first state and a second state,

measurement means for determining the instantaneous value of a parameter which value is variable during the process, said measurement meang having a measurement output signal with a characteristic having a magnitude indicative of the instantaneous magnitude of said measurement, and

means responsive to said measurement output signal for sequentially interrogating the memory core means in order to determine the state of the interrogated memory core means, said control switch means being responsive to said interrogating means for being in said enabling state when the interrogated memory core means is in its first state and for being in said disabling state when the interrogated memory core means is in its second state.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said measurement means comprises:

means for generating timing signals at equally spaced time intervals and

means for counting said time signals, said counting means including an output at which there is provided said output signal having a characteristic with a magnitude indicative of the number of timing signals generated.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said measurement means comprises:

a rotatable member which is rotated as a function of said process, and

encoder means fixedly connected to said rotatable member for rotation therewith, said encoder means having an output at which there is provided said output signal having a characteristic with a magnitude indicative of the angular position of said rotatable member.

4. Apparatus for selectively enabling and disabling a plurality of respective process operations depending on the instantaneous magnitude of a measurement made during the process in accordance with a prescribed program comprising

a plurality of control switches, each independently actuable between a process enabling state and a process disabling state.

a plurality of memory means in one to one correspondence with said control switches, each memory means comprising a plurality of memory core means each of which can be selectively placed in one of a first state and a second state,

measurement means for determining the instantaneous value of a parameter which value is variable during the process, said measurement means having a measurement output signal with a characteristic having a magnitude indicative of the instantaneous magnitude of said measurement,

means responsive to said measurement output signal for interrogating the memory core means for each of the respective memory means in order to determine the state of each respective memory core means in each of the memory means, each of said control switch means being responsive to said interrogating means for being in said enabling state when the interrogated memory core means in the memory means associated with said control switch is in its first state and for being in said disabling state when the interrogated memory core means of the memory means associated with said switch means is in its second state.

5. A universal programmable timer for process control comprising:

a plurality of memory core means each of which can be placed in one of a first state and a second state,

means for generating timing signals at a constant frequency,

means for counting said timing signals and providing an output signal with a characteristic having a magnitude indicative of the time elapsed from the commencement of said process,

means responsive to said counter output signal for sequentially interrogating each memory core means in order to determine the state of said interrogated memory core means, and

control switch means responsive to said interrogating means for enabling said process when said interrogated memory core means is in its first state and for disabling said process when said memory core means is in its second state.

6. In apparatus including a control switch for selectively enabling and disabling a process depending on the instantaneous magnitude of a measurement made during the process in accordance with a prescribed program for alternating said process control switch between a process enabling state and a process disabling state, the program being recorded on a designated area of the surface of a record means which area is bounded at one end by an origin and at the opposite end by a terminus, by dividing said area into adjacent segments alternate ones of which have one reflectance characteristic and the remaining ones of which have a different reflectance characteristic, said segments comprising one or more equally sized sub-segments each of which is an analog of an interval within the total range of the magnitude of said measurement, with the total distance between said origin and said terminus being an analog of the total measurement magnitude range, said control switch being in said enabling state when the instantaneous magnitude of the measurement is in an interval having a sub-segment with one reflectance characteristic as an analog and said control switch being in said disabling state when the instantaneous magnitude of the measurement is in an interval having a sub-segment with said different reflectance characteristic as an analog, the improvement which comprises:

a housing having an opening through which said record means is moved for programming said apparatus,

means for providing a first energy wave incident upon said sub-segments as said record means is moved through said opening,

means for sensing the energy reflected by said sub-segments in response to said incident first energy wave,

a plurality of memory core means in one to one correspondence with said sub-segments each of which memory core means has a first state corresponding to said one reflectance characteristic of said record means and a second state corresponding to said different reflectance characteristic of said record means,

means responsive to movement of said record means through said opening for sequentially enabling each memory core means to be placed in one of said first and second states in response to said sensing means, each enabled memory core means being placed in said first state when its corresponding sub-segment has said one reflectance characteristic and in said second state when its corresponding sub-segment has said different reflectance characteristic,

measurement means for determining the instantaneous value of a parameter which value is variable during the process, said measurement means having a measurement output signal with a characteristic having a magnitude indicative of the instantaneous magnitude of said measurement,

means responsive to said measurement output signal for interrogating the memory core means corresponding to the sub-segment which is an analog of the interval in which said instantaneous magnitude lies in order to determine the state of the interrogated memory core means, said control switch means being responsive to said interrogating means for being in said enabling state when the interrogated memory core means is in its first state and for being in said disabling state when the interrogated memory core means is in its second state.

7. Apparatus according to claim 6 wherein said means responsive to movement of said record means comprises:

means for holding said record means to prevent movement with respect thereto, said holding means being movable with said record means held thereon into said housing opening,

additional energy wave sensor means,

a source of additional energy waves incident on said additional sensor means,

a movable member disposed in the path through which said additional energy waves travel from said source of additional energy waves to said additional energy wave sensor means, said movable member being operatively connected to said holding means and movable only in response to movement of said holding means, said movable member further having spaced first portions and alternating second portions disposed between said first portions, said first portions having a first effect on said additional energy waves incident upon said first portions and said second portions having a second effect on said additional energy waves incident upon said second portions, said first effect being different from said second effect, said member being movably mounted relative to said additional energy source and said additional sensor means so that said first and second portions alternately traverse the path of said additional energy waves from their source to said additional sensor means thereby alternately having said first effect and said second effect on said additional energy signals, said additional sensor means providing one output associated with said first effect and another output associated with said second effect and hence responsive to the movement of said holder means for providing a signal to said memory core means for enabling each said memory core means to be sequentially placed in one of said first and second states in response to said sensing means.

8. Apparatus according to claim 7 wherein said movable member comprises a rotatably mounted disc in driven relationship with said holding means whereby said disc rotates in response to movement of said holding means.

9. Apparatus according to claim 8 wherein said source of additional energy waves comprises a light source, said additional sensor means being responsive to light and said disc is apertured at said first portions about its circumference to transmit the light from said light source and opaque at said second portions to prevent transmission of the light from said light source to said additional sensor means.

10. Apparatus according to claim 9 wherein there is a one to one correspondence between the number of apertures traversing said additional energy waves and the number of subsegments traversing said first energy wave at least part of the time that said record means is moved through said housing.

11. Apparatus according to claim 6 wherein said means for providing said first energy wave comprises a light source, said sensing means being responsive to light for providing signals to said memory core means indicative of the reflectance characteristic of each subsegment upon which said light is incident.

12. Apparatus according to claim 11 wherein the surface of said record means includes a region adjacent said origin having a reflectance characteristic other than said one reflectance characteristic and said apparatus further comprises:

means for providing a further energy wave incident upon said region as said record card is moved through said opening substantially immediately before the subsegment nearest said origin receives said first energy wave,

further sensor means for sensing the energy reflected by said record means in response to said further energy wave, and

resetting means responsive to said further sensor means for enabling the memory core means corresponding to said nearest sub-segment to be placed in one of said first and second states as said first energy wave means is incident upon said nearest subsegment and thereafter sequentially enabling each remaining memory core means to be placed in one of said first and second states as said first energy wave means is incident upon its corresponding subsegment.

13. Apparatus according to claim 6 wherein said measurement means comprises:

means for generating timing signals at equally spaced time intervals and

means for counting said time signals, said counting means including an output at which there is provided said output signal having a characteristic with a magnitude indicative of the number of timing signals generated.

14. Apparatus according to claim 6 wherein said measurement means comprises:

a rotatable member which is rotated as a function of said process, and

encoder means fixedly connected to said rotatable member for rotation therewith, said encoder means having an output at which there is provided said output signal having a characteristic with a magnitude indicative of the angular position of said rotatable member.

15. Apparatus according to claim 6 wherein the surface of said record means includes a region adjacent said origin having a reflectance characteristic other than said one reflectance characteristic and said apparatus further comprises:

means for providing a further energy wave incident upon said region as said record means is moved through said opening substantially immediately before the subsegment nearest said origin receives said first energy wave,

further sensor means for sensing the energy reflected by said record means in response to said further energy wave, and

resetting means responsive to said further sensor means for enabling the memory core means corresponding to said nearest subsegment to be placed in one of said first and second states as said first energy wave means is incident upon said nearest subsegment and thereafter sequentially enabling each remaining memory core means to be placed in one of said first and second states as said first energy wave means is incident upon its corresponding subsegment.

16. In apparatus including a plurality of control switches for selectively enabling and disabling a respective process operation associated with each control switch depending on the instantaneous magnitude of a measurement made during the process in accordance with a prescribed program for alternating said process control switches independently during said process between process enabling states and process disabling states, the program being recorded on a record means the surface of which has respective designated areas associated with each respective process control switch, each of which areas are bounded at one end by a common origin and at their opposite ends by a common terminus by independently dividing each said area into adjacent segments alternate ones of which have one reflectance characteristic and the remaining ones of which have a different reflectance characteristic, said segments comprising one or more equally sized subsegments each of which is an analog of an interval within the total range of the magnitude of said measurement, with the total distance between said common origin and said common terminus being an analog of the total measurement magnitude range, each of said respective control switches being in said enabling state when the instantaneous magnitude of the measurement is in an interval having a subsegment in the program area associated with each respective control switch with said one reflectance characteristic as an analog and said respective control switch being in said disabling state when the instantaneous magnitude of the measurement is in an interval having a subsegment in the associated area with said different reflectance characteristic as an analog, the improvement which comprises

a housing having an opening through which said record means is moved for programming said apparatus,

means for providing a first energy wave incident upon the subsegments of said designated areas as said record means is moved through said opening,

a plurality of means in one to one correspondence with said control switches for sensing the energy reflected by the subsegments of the area corresponding to each respective control switch in response to said incident energy waves,

a plurality of memory means in one to one correspondence with said control switches, each memory means comprising a plurality of memory core means in one to one correspondence with the subsegments of each program area of said record means each of which memory core means has a first state corresponding to said one reflectance characteristic of said record means and a second state corresponding to said different reflectance characteristic of said record means,

means responsive to movement of said record means through said opening for sequentially enabling one memory core means of each memory means to be simultaneously placed in one of said first and second states in response to said respective sensing means, each enabled memory core means being placed in said first state when its corresponding subsegment in its associated area has said one reflectance characteristic and in said second state when its corresponding subsegment in said associated area has said different reflectance characteristic,

measurement means for determining the instantaneous value of a parameter which value is variable during the process, said measurement means having a measurement output signal with a characteristic having a magnitude indicative of the instantaneous magnitude of said measurement,

means responsive to said measurement output signal for interrogating the memory core means of each of the respective memory means corresponding to the subsegments in the respective associated areas which are analogs of the interval in which said instantaneous magnitude lies in order to determine the state of each respective memory core means in each of the memory means, each of said control switch means being responsive to said interrogating means for being in said enabling state when the interrogated memory core means in the memory means associated with said control switch is in its first state and for being in said disabling state when the interrogated memory core means of the memory means associated with said switch means is in its second state.

17. A universal programmable timer for process control wherein a program for enabling the process is recorded on a record means bounded by an origin and a terminus and sub-divided into subsegments, said subsegments being analogs of time intervals, the distance of the boundaries of each subsegment from said origin being proportional to the respective times of the beginning and end of the time interval of which said subsegment is an analog measured from the start of the process, said program being recorded on said record means by imparting to subsegments which are analogs of time intervals during which said process is to be enabled one reflectance characteristic and to the remaining subsegments a different reflectance characteristic comprising:

a housing having an opening through which said program record means is moved for programming said apparatus,

means for providing a first energy wave incident upon said subsegments as said record means is moved through said opening,

means for sensing the energy reflected by said subsegments in response to said incident energy wave,

a plurality of memory core means in one to one correspondence with said subsegments each of which memory core means has a first state corresponding to said one reflectance characteristic of said record means and a second state corresponding to said difference reflectance characteristic of said record means,

means responsive to movement of said record means through said opening for sequentially enabling each memory core means to be placed in one of said first and second states in response to said sensing means, each enabled memory core means being placed in said first state when its corresponding subsegment has said one reflectance characteristic and in said second state when its corresponding subsegment has said different reflectance characteristic,

means for generating timing signals at a constant frequency,

means for counting said timing signals and providing an output signal with a characteristic having a magnitude indicative of the time elapsed from the commencement of said process,

means responsive to said counter output signal for interrogating the memory core means corresponding to the subsegment which is an analog of the time interval in which said instantaneous magnitude lies in order to determine the state of said interrogated memory core means, and

control switch means responsive to said interrogating means for enabling said process when said interrogated memory core means is in its first state and for disabling said process when said memory core means is in its second state.

18. Apparatus for enabling and disabling the performance of a process as a function of the position of a machine member movable during the process according to a program recorded on a record means having an area bounded at one end by an origin and at its opposite end by a terminus said area being sub-divided between said origin and said terminus into subsegments each of which subsegments is an analog of an interval in the range of positions of said movable machine member, the distance between said origin and said terminus being an analog of the total range of movement of said machine member with the distance of the boundary points of each subsegment from said origin being proportional to the respective distances of the boundaries of an analogous interval in said range of movement from a start position for said machine part, each subsegment having one reflectance characteristic imparted to it to indicate that said process is to be enabled when said machine part is in an interval of which said subsegment is an analog and a different reflectance characteristic imparted to it to indicate that said process is to be disabled when said machine part is in an interval having said subsegment as an analog, comprising:

a housing having an opening through which said record means is moved for programming said apparatus,

means for providing a first energy wave incident upon said subsegments as said record means is moved through said opening,

means for sensing the energy reflected by said subsegments in response to said incident energy wave,

a plurality of memory core means in one to one correspondence with said subsegments each of which memory core means has a first state corresponding to said one reflectance characteristic of said record means and a second state corresponding to said difference reflectance characteristic of said record means,

means responsive to movement of said record means through said opening for sequentially enabling each memory core means to be placed in one of said first and second states in response to said sensing means, each enabled memory core means being placed in said first state when its corresponding subsegment has said one reflectance characteristic and in said second state when its corresponding subsegment has said different reflectance characteristic,

encoder means responsive to movement of said machine part for determining the instantaneous position of said machine part and providing an output signal with a characteristic having a magnitude indicative of said instantaneous position,

means responsive to said encoder means output signal for interrogating the memory core means corresponding to the subsegment which is an analog of the interval in which said instantaneous magnitude lies in order to determine the state of the interrogated memory core means,

control switch means having a first state for enabling said process and a second state for disabling said process, said control switch means being responsive to said interrogating means for being in said enabling state when the interrogated memory core means is in its first state and for being in said disabling state when the interrogated memory core means is in its second state.

19. Apparatus for storing a program in an electronic memory including memory core means each of which is to be placed in a first or second of two states according to the program which is recorded on a designated area of the surface of a record means which area is bounded at one end by an origin and at the opposite end by a terminus and sub-divided into a plurality of sub-segments in one to one correspondence with said memory core means, each of said memory core means occupying a first state when the subsegment corresponding to the respective memory core means has one reflectance characteristic and a second state when the sub-segment corresponding to the respective memory core means has a different reflectance characteristic, comprising

a housing having an opening through which said record means is moved for programming said apparatus,

means for providing a first energy wave incident upon said sub-segments as said record means is moved through said opening,

means for sensing the energy reflected by said subsegments in response to said incident energy wave,

means for holding said record means, said holding means being movable with said record means held thereon into said housing opening,

additional sensor means responsive to additional energy waves,

a source of said additional energy waves incident on said additional sensor means,

a movable member disposed in the path through which said additional energy waves travel from said source of additional energy waves to said additional energy wave sensor means, said movable member being operatively connected to said holding means and movable only in response to movement of said holding means, said movable member having spaced first portions and alternating second portions disposed between said first portions, said first portions having a first effect on said additional energy waves incident upon said first portions and said second portions having a second effect on said additional energy waves incident upon said second portions, said first effect differing from said second effect, said member being movably mounted relative to said additional energy source and said additional sensor means so that said first and second portions alternately traverse the path of said additional energy waves from their source to said additional sensor means thereby alternately having said first effect and said second effect on said additional energy signals, said additional sensor means providing one output associated with said first effect and another output associated with said second effect thereby being responsive to the movement of said holder means for providing a signal to said memory core means as each successive sub-segment traverses said first energy wave for enabling said memory core means to be placed in one of said first and second states in response to said sensing means.

20. Apparatus according to claim 19 wherein said movable member comprises a disc rotatably mounted on said housing in driven relationship with said holding means whereby said disc rotates in response to movement of said holding means.

21. Apparatus according to claim 20 wherein said source of additional energy waves comprises a light source, said additional sensor means being responsive to light from said light source, and said disc is apertured at said first portions about its circumference to transmit light from said light source and opaque at said second portions to prevent transmission of light from said light source.

22. Apparatus according to claim 21 wherein the number of said first portions traversing said path of said additional energy waves from their source to said additional sensor means as the entire length of said designated area receives said first energy waves is equal to the number of subsegments in said process control program.