Filing Information

Inventor(s)	Robert J. Schiller · Neal M. Alderman ·
Assignee(s)	Veeder Industries Inc. ·  View assignee updates
Attorney/Agent(s)	Prutzman, Kalb, Chilton & Alix ·
Primary Examiner	Charles E. Atkinson ·
Assistant Examiner	Gary Chin ·
Application Number	US6002310
Filing date	01/10/1979
Issue date	01/27/1981
Predicted expiration date	01/10/1999
U.S. Classifications	364/465  · 364/510  ·
International Classifications	G06F 1556  ·
Kind Code	A
International Classifications	364465;479;510;900 ·

Patent Family

Abstract

A self-service gasoline station fuel delivery control and registration system having a central control unit with a display console, operating keyboard and master microprocessor module; separate slave microprocessor modules for the gasoline pumps for separately controlling the pumps and accumulating the amount of gasoline delivered thereby and connected for sequential communication with the master microprocessor module by common slave bus means; and peripheral controllers connected for selective communication with the master microprocessor module by common peripheral bus means for operating the system and/or registering the amount of gasoline delivered.

Independent Claims | See all claims (11)

1. 1. In a fuel delivery control and registration system for retrofitting a plurality of separate independently operable fuel delivery dispensers, each independently settable to establish the unit volume price of fuel delivered therefrom and adapted to be independently activated for delivering fuel and registering the cost amount of fuel delivered in accordance with the unit volume price established by the dispenser, comprising a cost pulse generator for each dispenser connected to the dispenser for generating a cost pulse for each predetermined cost amount of fuel delivered thereby in accordance with the unit volume price established by the dispenser, register means operable for independently registering the cost amount of fuel delivered by each dispenser in accordance with the number of cost pulses generated by the corresponding cost pulse generator and control means comprising a keyboard having a plurality of manually operable switches and electronic computer means operatively connected to the register means, keyboard switches and each dispenser and corresponding cost pulse generator and selectively operable by selective manual operation of the keyboard switches to independently activate each dispenser for delivering fuel and to accumulate the cost amount of fuel delivered thereby and selectively operable by selective manual operation of the keyboard switches to operate the register means to independently register the accumulated cost amount of fuel delivered by each dispenser in accordance with the number of cost pulses generated by the corresponding cost pulse generator, the improvement wherein the electronic computer means comprises a master electronic computer module operatively connected to the register means and keyboard switches, a plurality of dedicated slave electronic computer modules operatively connected to the plurality of fuel dispensers and corresponding cost pulse generators respectively, and common slave communication bus means for the plurality of slave modules interconnecting the master module and each slave module for communications therebetween, each slave module being independently operable by selective manual operation of the keyboard switches and through communication between the master module and the slave module to activate the respective dispenser for delivering fuel and to accumulate the cost amount of fuel delivered thereby in accordance with the number of cost pulses generated by the corresponding cost pulse generator, the master module being selectively operable by selective manual operation of the keyboard switches to operate the register means to independently register the accumulated cost amount of fuel delivered by each dispenser and communicated to the master module from the respective slave module, the electronic computer means being operable to condition the plurality of separate dispensers to be independently activated for delivering fuel and for registering the cost amount of fuel delivered thereby independently of the electronic computer means and in accordance with the unit volume price established by the dispenser.
2. 11.11. In a fuel delivery control and registration system for retrofitting a plurality of separate independently operable fuel delivery dispensers, each independently settable to establish the unit volume price of fuel delivered therefrom and adapted to be independently activated for delivering fuel and registering the cost amount of fuel delivered in accordance with the unit volume price established by the dispenser, comprising a cost pulse generator for each dispenser connected to the dispenser for generating a cost pulse for each predetermined cost amount of fuel delivered thereby in accordance with the unit volume price established by the dispenser, register means operable for independently registering the cost amount of fuel delivered by each dispenser in accordance with the number of cost pulses generated by the corresponding cost pulse generator and control means comprising a keyboard having a plurality of manually operable switches and electronic computer means operatively connected to the register means, keyboard switches and each dispenser and corresponding cost pulse generator and selectively operable by selective manual operation of the keyboard switches to independently activate each dispenser for delivering fuel and to accumulate the cost amount of fuel delivered thereby and selectively operable by selective manual operation of the keyboard switches to operate the register means to independently register the accumulated cost amount of fuel delivered by each dispenser in accordance with the number of cost pulses generated by the corresponding cost pulse generator, the improvement wherein the electronic computer means comprises a master electronic microprocessor module operatively connected to the register means and keyboard switches, and a plurality of dedicated slave electronic microprocessor modules operatively connected to the plurality of fuel dispensers and corresponding cost pulse generators respectively and to the master module for communications therebetween, each slave module being independently operable by selective manual operation of the keyboard switches and through communication between the master module and the slave module to activate the respective dispenser for delivering fuel and to accumulate the cost amount of fuel delivered thereby in accordance with the number of cost pulses generated by the corresponding cost pulse generator, the master module being selectively operable by selective manual operation of the keyboard switches to operate the register means to independently register the accumulated cost amount of fuel delivered by each dispenser and communicated to the master module from the respective slave module, the electronic computer means being operable to condition the plurality of separate dispeners to be independently activated for delivering fuel and for registering the cost amount of fuel delivered thereby independently of the electronic computer means and in accordance with the unit volume price established by the dispenser.