System and method for communicating with and controlling toy accessories

• US 6,247,994 B1
• Filed: 02/11/1998
• Issued: 06/19/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 02/11/1998
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Rokenbok Toy Company
• Original Assignee: Rokenbok Toy Company
• Inventors: DeAngelis, Peter C., Lundquist, Frederick M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Martin-Wallace, Valencia
• Assistant Examiner(s): Nguyen, Kim T.
• Application Number:
  US09/022,268
• Time in Patent Office: 1,224 Days
• Field of Search: 446/456, 446/431, 446/441, 446/444, 446/454, 446/457, 446/460, 446/465, 446/470, 463/40, 463/58, 463/62, 463/63, 463/39
• US Class Current: 446/454
• CPC Class Codes: A63H 33/00 Other toys
• CPC Class Codes: A63H 33/3044 Loading stations, e.g. with conveyors, elevators, cranes cranes, winches or the like per se A63H17/12

Abstract

A system and method for controlling toy vehicles has a plurality of pads coupled to a central station. Switches in the pads may be closed to select toy vehicles and the operation of motors for moving the vehicles forwardly, rearwardly, to the left and to the right and moving upwardly and downwardly a receptacle or bin for holding transportable elements (e.g. marbles). The pads may be set in a mode to allow sharing of a vehicle by more than one pad. The pads are connected by wires to the central station, and may be interrogated selectively, sequentially or simultaneously by the central station. The central station forms packets of signals representative of the switch closures of the interrogated pads, and transmits the packets over a modulated carrier frequency to receivers in the vehicles. Each of the packets includes a binary signal addressing the vehicle selected by the pad whose switch closures are represented by the packet of data. The central station prioritizes the transmission of the packets to improve vehicle control. An accessory, or a second central station, may be coupled to a smart port of the first central station. When the pads are interrogated by the central station, the signals from the pads are routed to the accessory or second central station. If the accessory is a smart accessory, the signals are processed by the smart accessory and then sent back to the first central station for transmission to the vehicles. The accessory may draw its operating power from a line connected to the smart port. The pads include a flashback feature that automatically selects a previously selected vehicle. The motors of the vehicles may be energized using pulse width modulation to control the speed of the motor. Signals received by the vehicle are asserted to the motors in the first part of a duty cycle. The vehicles monitor all packets, and decode packets addressed to the vehicle to execute the commands represented by signals contained within the packet. When a packet is determined to be invalid, the vehicle ignores the packet.

Claims

1. In combination,

a plurality of accessories,

an auxiliary accessory different from the accessories,

a pad operative to provide an address for selecting an individual one of the accessories and to provide commands to the individual one of the accessories for controlling the operation of the individual one of the accessories in accordance with the commands,

a central station connected to the pad,

first means in the central station for receiving the address and the commands from the pad,

a smart port for transmitting the commands from the central station to the auxiliary accessory,

second means responsive in the auxiliary accessory to the address and commands from the central station for modifying the address and commands,

third means responsive in the central station to a signal from the auxiliary accessory for determining whether the auxiliary accessory is a smart accessory or a dumb accessory,

fourth means in the central station for transmitting the modified address and commands from the auxiliary accessory in a first relationship to the accessories in the plurality to provide a first pattern of binary indications when the central station determines that the auxiliary accessory is a smart accessory,

the third means processing the address and commands in a second relationship different from the first relationship to provide a second pattern of binary indications when the central station determines that the auxiliary accessory is a dumb accessory,

fifth means in the individual one of the accessories for operating the individual one of the accessories in accordance with the first pattern of the binary indications.

2. In a combination as set forth in claim 1,

sixth means in the auxiliary accessory for providing to the central station the signal indicating that the auxiliary accessory is a smart accessory.

3. In combination as set forth in claim 2,

the auxiliary accessory being operative in accordance with the address and commands from the central station when the auxiliary accessory is a dumb accessory.

4. In a combination as set forth in claim 1,

seventh means in the auxiliary accessory for processing the second pattern of binary indications from the central station, when the auxiliary accessory is a smart accessory, to provide the modified address and commands for transmission to the central station, and

eighth means for providing for the transmission of groups of commands from the central station to the auxiliary accessory, and groups of modified commands from the auxiliary accessory to the central station, when the auxiliary accessory is a smart accessory and for preventing the passage of each successive group of commands from the central station to the auxiliary accessory until the commands in the previous group have been processed by the auxiliary accessory.

5. In a combination as set forth in claim 1,

seventh means connected between the central station and the auxiliary accessory for synchronizing the passage of the address and commands from the central station to the auxiliary accessory, and the passage of the modified address and commands from the auxiliary accessory to the central station, when the auxiliary accessory is a smart accessory.

6. In a combination as set forth in claim 1,

a microcontroller in the central station,

the fourth means including the microcontroller for processing the address and the commands from the pad and for providing for the transmittal of the address and commands to the auxiliary accessory, and for processing the modified address and commands from the auxiliary accessory and for providing for the transmittal of the modified address and commands to the accessories in the plurality when the auxiliary accessory is a smart accessory.

7. In a combination as set forth in claim 1, wherein

the auxiliary accessory is an additional central station and wherein an additional plurality of pads and an additional plurality of vehicles are associated with the additional central station and wherein the central station is the master of the additional central station when the additional central station constitutes a smart central station.

8. In combination for use in a system including a plurality of accessories each responsive, in a first relationship, to an individual address and to a plurality of commands for providing operations of the accessory in accordance with such commands,

a plurality of pads each operative to provide an address for selecting an individual one of the accessories and each operative to provide a plurality of commands for operating such individual one of the accessories in accordance with such commands,

a central station connected to the pads,

a smart port connected to the central station,

an auxiliary accessory constructed to be connected to the central station through the smart port,

first means in the central station for passing the commands from the pads through the smart port to the auxiliary accessory, and

second means responsive in the auxiliary accessory to the commands from the central station for passing modified commands through the smart port to the central station.

9. In a combination as set forth in claim 8,

third means in the central station for determining whether the auxiliary accessory is a smart accessory,

fourth means responsive in the central station to the modified commands from the auxiliary accessory for processing the modified commands in a first relationship when the central station determines that the auxiliary accessory is a smart accessory, and

fifth means in the central station for transmitting the processed commands to the accessories when the central station determines that the auxiliary accessory is a smart accessory.

10. In a combination as set forth in claim 9,

means in the central station for processing the commands from the pads in a second relationship different from the first relationship, when the central station determines that the smart port is not connected to the central station, to provide commands for operating the auxiliary accessory,

the fourth means in the central station being operative to transmit the processed commands in the second relationship to the auxiliary accessory when the central station determines that the smart port is not connected to the central station.

11. In a combination as set forth in claim 10 wherein

wherein the auxiliary accessory is an additional central station and wherein an additional plurality of pads and an additional plurality of accessories are associated with the additional central station and wherein the additional central station directs the additional central station to be a slave to the central station and wherein the central station transmits the processed commands in the second relationship to the additional plurality of accessories when the additional central station is a slave to the central station.

12. In combination,

a central station,

an accessory constituting either a smart accessory or a dumb accessory,

means in the central station for providing a sequence of signals including first signals providing for a determination of whether the accessory is a smart accessory or a dumb accessory and including second signals providing an address and third signals providing commands,

means in the accessory for responding to the first signals when the accessory is a smart accessory and for ignoring the first signals when the accessory is a dumb accessory,

means in the accessory for extracting the second and third signals when the accessory is a dumb accessory,

means in the accessory for providing the accessory with a particular address when the accessory is a dumb accessory,

means in the accessory for activating the accessory when the second signals in the sequence provide the particular address and when the accessory is a dumb accessory, and

means in the accessory for operating the accessory in accordance with the extracted third signals when the accessory has been activated and the accessory is a dumb accessory.

13. In a combination as set forth in claim 12, including,

means responsive in the accessory to the first signals, when the accessory is a smart accessory, for modifying the second and third signals and for introducing the modified second and third signals back to the central station.

14. In a combination as set forth in claim 12,

means responsive in the accessory to the first signals, when the accessory is a smart accessory, for providing for a synchronization of the operation of the accessory with the operation of the central station, and

means responsive in the accessory to the synchronization in the operation of the accessory with the operation of the central station, when the central station is a smart accessory, for modifying the second and third signals to provide for the performance of functions, in accordance with the modified second and third signals, different from the functions represented by the second and third signals before the modifications.

15. In a combination as recited in claim 14,

means in the accessory for modifying the second and third signals from the central station when the accessory is a smart accessory,

means for sending the modified second and third signals to the central station when the accessory is a smart accessory,

a plurality of additional accessories other than the first accessory, and

means in the central station for sending the modified second and third signals to the plurality of additional accessories.

16. In a combination as set forth in claim 12 wherein

the accessory is a vehicle having an operable member and wherein the vehicle provides a movement of the vehicle and an operation of the member in accordance with the third signals when the vehicle is addressed by the second signals and the vehicle is a dumb accessory.

17. In a combination as set forth in claim 16,

means responsive in the accessory to the first signals, when the accessory is a smart accessory, for providing for a synchronization of the operation of the accessory with the operation of the central station, and

means responsive in the accessory to the synchronization in the operation of the accessory with the operation of the central station, when the accessory is a smart accessory, for modifying the second and third signals to provide for the performance of functions, in accordance with the modified second and third signals, different from the functions represented by the second and third signals before the modifications.

18. In a combination as set forth in claim 17,

means for sending the modified second and third signals to the central station,

a plurality of additional accessories other than the first accessory, and

means in the central station for sending the modified second and third signals to the plurality of additional accessories.

19. In a combination as set forth in claim 17,

means responsive in the central station to the modified second and third signals from the accessory for transmitting the second and third signals.

20. In combination,

a central station,

an accessory constituting either a smart accessory or a dumb accessory,

means for providing a particular communication between the central station and the accessory when the accessory is a smart accessory and for failing to provide the particular communication between the central station and the accessory when the accessory is a dumb accessory,

means responsive in the central station to the particular communication from the accessory for considering the accessory to be a smart accessory, and

means responsive in the central station to the failure of the accessory to provide the particular communication with the accessory for considering the accessory to be a dumb accessory.

21. In a combination as set forth in claim 20,

means in the central station for providing a plurality of commands,

means responsive in the accessory to the commands from the central station, when the accessory is a smart accessory, for modifying the commands and for sending the modified commands to the central station, and

means responsive in the accessory to the commands from the central station, when the accessory is a dumb accessory, for operating the accessory in accordance with such commands.

22. In a combination as set forth in claim 21,

the particular communication between the central station and the accessory being periodic when the accessory is a smart accessory,

means for simultaneously providing, when the accessory is a smart accessory, a communication of the commands from the central station to the accessory and a communication of the modified commands from the accessory to the central station.

23. In a combination as set forth in claim 22,

means responsive to the particular communication periodically between the central station and the accessory, when the accessory is a smart accessory, for synchronizing the communication of the commands from the central station to the accessory and the communication of the modified commands from the accessory to the central station.

24. In a combination as set forth in claim 21,

a plurality of additional accessories, and

means responsive in the central station to the modified commands from the accessory for transmitting the modified commands to the additional accessories to obtain an operation of the additional accessories in accordance with the modified commands when the accessory is a smart accessory.

25. In a combination as set forth in claim 20,

means for communicating commands from the central station to the accessory,

means in the accessory for modifying the commands from the central station, when the accessory is a smart accessory, and for transmitting the modified commands to the central station, and

means responsive to the particular communication between the central station and the accessory, when the accessory is a smart accessory, for synchronizing the communication of the commands from the central station to the accessory and the communication of the modified commands from the accessory to the central station.

26. In a combination as set forth in claim 25,

a plurality of accessories,

means responsive in the central station to the modified commands from the accessory for transmitting the modified commands to the accessories in the plurality when the accessory is a smart accessory.

27. In combination,

a central station,

an accessory constituting either a smart accessory or a dumb accessory,

means for providing command signals at the central station and for transmitting such command signals to the accessory,

means for modifying at the accessory the command signals from the central station when the accessory is a smart accessory, and

means for simultaneously providing a synchronized transfer of the command signals from the central station to the accessory, and of the modified command signals from the accessory to the central station, when the central station is a smart accessory, and

means responsive at the accessory, when the accessory is a dumb accessory, to the command signals from the central station for operating the accessory in accordance with the commands.

28. In a combination as set forth in claim 27,

the means for providing the synchronized transfer being responsive to the transfer of the command signals from the central station to the accessory to provide a synchronization in the transfer of the modified command signals from the accessory to the central station and the transfer of the command signals from the central station to the accessory.

29. In a combination as set forth in claim 28,

a plurality of additional accessories each having an individual address and each being responsive when addressed by address signals from the central station with the individual address and each being operative in accordance with command signals from the central station when addressed by the individual address, and

means responsive in the central station to the modified command signals from the accessory for transmitting the addresses of the additional accessories and the modified commands to the additional accessories.

30. In a combination as set forth in claim 27,

means for providing interrogation signals from the central station to the accessory and for transmitting interrogation signals from the central station to the accessory in a sequence with the command signals,

means in the accessory for providing particular communications to the central station in response to the interrogation signals from the central station when the accessory is a smart accessory and for failing to provide the particular communications to the central station in response to the interrogation signals when the accessory is a dumb accessory, thereby indicating to the central station whether the accessory is a smart accessory or a dumb accessory.

31. In a combination as set forth in claim 30,

means at the accessory for extracting the command signals from the sequence when the accessory is a dumb accessory, and

means responsive at the accessory to the extracted command signals, when the accessory is a dumb accessory, for operating the accessory in accordance with such command signals.

32. In a combination as set forth in claim 31,

the means for providing the synchronized transfer being responsive to the transfer of the command signals from the central station to the accessory to provide a synchronization in the transfer of the modified command signals from the accessory to the central station and the transfer of the command signals from the central station to the accessory.

33. In a combination as set forth in claim 27,

means responsive at the accessory to command signals from the central station, when the accessory is a dumb accessory, for operating the accessory in accordance with the command signals.

34. In combination as set forth in claim 27,

a plurality of additional accessories,

means responsive in the central station to the modified command signals from the accessory for transmitting the modified command signals to the additional accessories,

the additional accessories being constructed to operate in accordance with the modified command signals transmitted by the central station to the accessories.

35. In combination,

a plurality of first accessories each having an individual address,

a plurality of pads each constructed to provide signals including an individual address and commands for operating one of the first accessories identified by such individual address,

an additional accessory constituting either a smart accessory or a dumb accessory,

a central station operatively coupled to the pads to send to the first accessories the signals provided by the pads when the additional accessory is a dumb accessory and to send to the additional accessory signals provided by the pads when the additional accessory is a smart accessory,

means at the central station for reacting with the additional accessory to determine whether the additional accessory is a smart accessory or a dumb accessory,

means responsive at the additional accessory to the signals from the central station, when the additional accessory is a smart accessory, for modifying the signals and for transmitting the modified signals to the central station,

means at the central station for transmitting the signals to the first accessories when the additional accessory is a dumb accessory, and

means responsive at the first accessories to the signals transmitted from the central station for operating the first accessories in accordance with the packets of signals addressed to the first accessories when the additional accessory is a dumb accessory.

36. In a combination as set forth in claim 35,

means for providing a communication to the central station from the additional accessory when the additional accessory is a smart accessory and for preventing such a communication when the additional accessory is a dumb accessory,

the means at the central station for reacting including means for determining whether the communication is being provided to the central station from the additional accessory.

37. In a combination as set forth in claim 35,

means at the central station for sending bytes of the signals to the additional accessory,

means at the additional accessory for modifying the signals in the bytes from the central station and for transmitting the bytes of the modified signals to the central station simultaneously with the transmission of the bytes of the signals from the central station to the additional accessory and when the additional accessory is a smart accessory,

means for synchronizing the transmissions of the bytes of the signals from the central station to the additional accessory and the transmission of the bytes of the modified signals from the additional accessory to the central station when the additional accessory is a smart accessory.

38. In a combination as set forth in claim 35,

the first accessories constituting vehicles and the commands providing for a movement of the vehicles when the additional accessory is a dumb accessory, and

the operating means for the first accessories being responsive to particular ones of the signals transmitted from the central station for moving the first accessories addressed by the signals from the central station.

39. In combination,

a plurality of operative members,

a plurality of pads, each individual one of the pads including first and second pluralities of switches each having first and second operative relationships, the first switches having the second operative relationship in a pattern providing an address to select an individual one of the operative members and the second switches having the second operative relationship in a pattern providing for a controlled operation of the individual one of the operative members,

a central station having first and second states of operation, the central station being responsive in the first state of operation of the central station to the individual pattern of the first switches in the second state of operation of the first switches for producing a plurality of signals representing the address of an individual one of the vehicles and being responsive in the first state of operation to the individual pattern of the second switches in the second state of operation of the second switches for producing a second plurality of signals providing a first controlled operation of the individual one of the operative members,

the central station being responsive in the second state of operation of the central station to the individual pattern of the second switches in the second state of operation of the second switches for producing a third plurality of signals for providing a second controlled operation of the individual one of the operative members different from the first controlled operation of the individual one of the operative members.

40. In a combination as set forth in claim 39,

means for sending to the operative members the first and second pluralities of signals in the first state of operation of the central station and the first and third pluralities of signals in the second state of operation of the central station.

41. In a combination as set forth in claim 39,

the central station being operable on the first and second signals for each pad for modifying such signals to produce, for the operative member selected by the pad, commands represented by the modified first and second signals for such pad.

42. In combination for use in a system including a plurality of accessories, each individual one of the accessories being responsive in a first relationship to an individual address and to commands for providing operations of the individual one of the accessories in accordance with such commands, the system including, in a second relationship, an auxiliary accessory for receiving commands,

a plurality of pads each operative to provide an address for selecting an individual one of the accessories and to provide commands to such individual one of the for operating such individual one of the accessories in accordance with such commands and each operative to provide an additional command indicating whether or not the individual one of the accessories or the auxiliary accessory is to be operated,

a central station connected to the pads,

first means in the central station for interrogating the pads to determine the address and the commands and the additional command provided by such pads,

second means in the central station for receiving the address and the commands and the additional command from each of the pads,

third means responsive in the central station to the additional command from the pads for determining from the additional command whether or not the commands from the pads are intended for the accessories or for the auxiliary accessory,

fourth means in the central station for directing the commands from the pads to the additional accessory when the central station determines from the additional command that the commands are intended by the pads for the additional accessory, and

fifth means in the central station for processing the address and commands from the pads in a first relationship to provide a first pattern of binary indications when the central station determines from the additional command from the pads that the commands from the pads are not to be directed to the additional accessory and for processing the commands in a second relationship different from the first relationship to provide a second pattern of binary indications when the central station determines from the additional command from the pads that the commands are to be directed to the auxiliary accessory, and

sixth means in the central station for transmitting the first and second patterns of the binary indications to the accessories and the second patterns of the binary indications to the auxiliary accessory.

43. In a combination as set forth in claim 42,

microcontroller means,

the fifth means including the microcontroller means for processing the address and the commands in the first relationship to provide the first pattern of binary indications when the central station determines from the additional command from the pads that the commands from the pads are not to be directed to the auxiliary accessory,

the fifth means including the microcontroller means for processing the commands in the second relationship to provide the second pattern of the binary indications when the central station determines from the additional command from the pads that the commands are to be directed to the auxiliary accessory.

44. In a combination as set forth in claim 42,

the fifth means in the auxiliary accessory modifying the commands transmitted to it from the central station and transmitting the modified commands to the central station, and

means in the central station for transmitting the modified commands to the accessories in the plurality.

45. In a combination as set forth in claim 44,

means in the auxiliary accessory for synchronizing the transmission of the commands from the central station to the auxiliary accessory and the transmission of the modified commands from the auxiliary accessory to the central station.

46. In a combination as set forth in claim 44,

means in the central station for transmitting the commands to the auxiliary accessory in successive groups,

means in the auxiliary accessory for modifying the commands in the successive groups from the central station,

means in the auxiliary accessory for instructing the central station to delay the transmission of the commands in each group until the auxiliary apparatus has modified the commands in the previous group, and

means in the central station for transmitting the commands in each group after the auxiliary accessory has modified the commands in the previous group.

47. In combination,

a plurality of accessories,

an auxiliary accessory different from the accessories,

a pad operative to provide an address for selecting an individual one of the accessories and to provide commands to such individual one of the accessories for operating such individual one of the accessories in accordance with such commands and to provide an additional command indicating whether or not such individual one of the accessories is to be operated or the auxiliary accessory is to be activated,

a central station connected to the pad,

first means in the central station for receiving the address and the commands and the additional command from the pad,

second means responsive in the central station to the additional command from the pad for determining from such additional command whether or not the commands from the pad are intended for the individual one of the accessories or for the auxiliary accessory,

third means in the central station for directing the commands from the pad to the auxiliary accessory when the central station determines from the additional command that the commands are intended to activate the additional accessory,

fourth means in the central station for processing the address and commands in a first relationship to provide a first pattern of binary indications when the central station determines from the additional command in the pad that the commands from the pad are not to be directed to the auxiliary accessory and for processing the commands in a second relationship different from the first relationship to provide a second pattern of binary indications when the central station determines from the additional command in the pad that the commands are to be directed to the auxiliary accessory,

fifth means in the central station for transmitting the first and second patterns of the binary indications to the accessories and the auxiliary accessory,

sixth means in the individual one of the accessories for operating the individual one of the accessories in accordance with the first pattern of the binary indications, and

seventh means in the auxiliary accessory for activating the auxiliary accessory in accordance with the second pattern of the binary indications.

48. In a combination as set forth in claim 47,

microcontroller means,

the fourth means including the microcontroller means for processing the address and the commands in the first relationship to provide the first pattern of binary indications when the central station determines that the commands from the pads are not to be directed to the auxiliary accessory,

the fourth means including the microcontroller means for providing the commands in the second relationship to provide the second pattern of the binary indications when the central station determines that the commands are to be directed to the auxiliary accessory.

49. In a combination as set forth in claim 47 wherein

the central station is a first central station and the plurality of pads constitute a first plurality and the plurality of accessories constitute a first plurality and wherein

the auxiliary accessory is a second central station and wherein a second plurality of pads and a second plurality of accessories are associated with the second central station and wherein the binary indications in the second pattern direct the second central station to be a slave to the first central station in activating the accessories in the second plurality.

50. In combination for use in a system including a plurality of accessories, each individual one of the accessories being responsive, in a first relationship, to an individual address and to a plurality of commands for providing operations of such individual one of the accessories in accordance with such commands, the system including, in a second relationship, at least one auxiliary accessory for receiving commands,

a plurality of pads each operative to provide an address for selecting one of the accessories and each operative to provide commands for operating such selected one of the accessories in accordance with such commands,

a central station connected to the pads,

a smart port constructed to be connected to the central station,

first means in the central station for interrogating the pads to determine if the smart port is connected to the central station,

second means associated with the central station for processing the commands from the pads in a particular relationship, when the central station determines that the smart port is connected to the central station, to provide commands for operating the auxiliary accessory, and

third means in the central station for transmitting the commands in the particular relationship through the smart port to the auxiliary mechanism when the central station determines that the smart port is connected to the central station.

51. In a combination as set forth in claim 50,

the particular relationship constituting a first particular relationship,

means in the central station for processing the commands from the pads in a second particular relationship different from the first particular relationship, when the central station determines that the smart port is not connected to the central station, to provide commands for operating the individual one of the accessories,

the third means in the central station being operative to transmit the processed commands in the second particular relationship to the accessories when the central station determines that the smart port is not connected to the central station.

52. In a combination as set forth in claim 50 wherein

the auxiliary accessory is an additional central station and wherein an additional plurality of pads and an additional plurality of accessories are associated with the additional central station and wherein the additional central station is connected through the smart port to the central station to be a slave to the central station.

53. In a combination as set forth in claim 52 wherein

the additional central station processes the commands in the particular relationship and transmits the processed commands to the central station and wherein the central station transmits the processed commands to the accessories in the additional plurality.

54. In a combination as set forth in claim 53 wherein

the central station synchronizes the operation of the additional central station with the operation of the central station.

55. In combination for use in a system including a plurality of accessories, each individual one of the accessories being responsive in a first relationship to an individual address and to a plurality of commands for providing operations of such individual one of the accessories in accordance with such commands, the system including, in a second relationship, at least one auxiliary accessory for receiving commands,

a central station,

first means in the central station for determining whether the auxiliary accessory is a smart accessory or a dumb accessory,

a plurality of pads each operative to provide an address for selecting an individual one of the accessories and to provide commands to such individual one of the for operating such individual one of the accessories in accordance with such commands and each providing an address and commands to operate the auxiliary accessory when the auxiliary accessory is a dumb accessory,

the central station being connected to the pads,

second means in the central station for processing the addresses and commands from the pads to obtain an operation of the accessories in accordance with such addresses and commands,

third means in the central station for operating the auxiliary accessory in accordance with the address and commands from the pad when the central station determines that the auxiliary accessory is a dumb accessory, and

fourth means in the auxiliary accessory for modifying the commands from the pads and for transmitting the modified commands to the central station for transmission by the central station to the accessories, the auxiliary accessory is a smart port.

56. In a combination as set forth in claim 55,

fifth means in the auxiliary accessory for indicating to the central station a processing of the commands transmitted from the central station, and for indicating the completion of the processing, when the auxiliary accessory is a smart accessory, and

sixth means in the central station for delaying any further transmission of commands from the central station to the auxiliary accessory, when the auxiliary accessory is a smart accessory, until the auxiliary accessory has completed the processing of the commands previously transmitted from the central station to the auxiliary accessory.

57. In a combination as set forth in claim 55 wherein

a smart port is connected to the central station and the auxiliary accessory and wherein the signals transmitted from the central station to the auxiliary accessory pass through the smart port.

58. In a combination as set forth in claim 55,

means for synchronizing the transmission of the commands from the central station to the auxiliary accessory, and the transmission of the modified commands from the auxiliary accessory to the central station, when the auxiliary accessory is a smart accessory.

59. In combination for use in a system including

a plurality of accessories, each individual one of the accessories being responsive in a first relationship to an individual address and to a plurality of commands for providing operations of such individual one of the accessories in accordance with such commands, the system including, in a second relationship,

an auxiliary accessory for receiving commands,

a central station including first microcontroller means,

a plurality of pads each operative to provide an address for selecting an individual one of the accessories and to provide commands to such individual one of the accessories for operating such individual one of the accessories in accordance with such commands and each providing an address and commands to obtain an operation of the auxiliary accessory,

second microcontroller means in the auxiliary accessory,

first means in the central station for processing the addresses from the pads for determining whether such addresses are intended for the accessories or the auxiliary accessory,

second means in the central station including the first microcontroller means for processing the address and commands for operation of the accessories when the central station determines that the addresses and the commands are intended for the accessories and for introducing the addresses and commands to the auxiliary accessory when the central station determines that the addresses and commands from the pads are intended for the auxiliary accessory and the auxiliary accessory is a dumb accessory,

third means including the second microcontroller means for processing the addresses and commands from the central station to provide commands for operating the auxiliary accessory when the addresses and commands from the pads are intended for the auxiliary accessory and the auxiliary accessory is a dumb accessory, and

fourth means including the second microprocessor means for modifying the addresses and commands from the central station and for transmitting the modified addresses and commands to the central station when the auxiliary accessory is a smart accessory.

60. In a combination as set forth in claim 59,

fifth means in the central station for transmitting the processed addresses and commands from the first microcontroller to the accessories when the central station determines that the addresses and commands from the pads are intended for the accessories and for transmitting the addresses and commands to the third means when the central station determines that the addresses and commands from the pads are intended for the auxiliary

sixth means including the first microcontroller means for receiving the modified addresses and commands from the auxiliary accessory when the auxiliary accessory is a smart accessory and for transmitting the modified addresses and commands to the accessories.

61. In a combination as set forth in claim 59,

the first microcontroller means being operative to pass the addresses and the commands from the pads to the auxiliary accessory when the central station determines that the commands are intended for the auxiliary accessory,

the second microcontroller means being operative to receive and process the commands from the first microcontroller means simultaneously with the passage of the modified commands from the second microcontroller means to the first microcontroller means, and to pass the processed commands from the second microcontroller means to the first microcontroller means during the passage of the commands from the first microcontroller means to the second microcontroller means, when the auxiliary accessory is a smart accessory.

62. In a combination as set forth in claim 59,

the first microcontroller means being operative to pass successive groups of commands to the second microcontroller means when the central station determines that the commands are intended for the auxiliary accessory,

the second microcontroller means being operative to receive and process the commands from the first microcontroller means simultaneously with the passage of commands from the first microcontroller means to the second microcontroller means when the auxiliary accessory is a smart accessory,

the first microcontroller means being responsive to the passage of the processed commands in each group from the second microcontroller means to the first microcontroller means for passing the commands in the next one of the successive groups from the first microcontroller means to the second microcontroller means for processing by the second microcontroller means when the auxiliary accessory is a smart accessory.

63. In a combination as set forth in claim 59,

means responsive in the auxiliary accessory to the address and commands from the central station for operating the auxiliary accessory in accordance with such commands when the auxiliary accessory is a dumb accessory and the address from the central station is the address of the auxiliary accessory.