CA1078055A - Manually programmable programme memory - Google Patents
Manually programmable programme memoryInfo
- Publication number
- CA1078055A CA1078055A CA289,200A CA289200A CA1078055A CA 1078055 A CA1078055 A CA 1078055A CA 289200 A CA289200 A CA 289200A CA 1078055 A CA1078055 A CA 1078055A
- Authority
- CA
- Canada
- Prior art keywords
- circuit board
- contact
- contact surfaces
- memory according
- programme memory
- Prior art date
- Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
- Expired
Links
Classifications
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- G—PHYSICS
- G05—CONTROLLING; REGULATING
- G05B—CONTROL OR REGULATING SYSTEMS IN GENERAL; FUNCTIONAL ELEMENTS OF SUCH SYSTEMS; MONITORING OR TESTING ARRANGEMENTS FOR SUCH SYSTEMS OR ELEMENTS
- G05B19/00—Programme-control systems
- G05B19/02—Programme-control systems electric
- G05B19/04—Programme control other than numerical control, i.e. in sequence controllers or logic controllers
- G05B19/08—Programme control other than numerical control, i.e. in sequence controllers or logic controllers using plugboards, cross-bar distributors, matrix switches, or the like
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
- G06F15/00—Digital computers in general; Data processing equipment in general
- G06F15/08—Digital computers in general; Data processing equipment in general using a plugboard for programming
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G11—INFORMATION STORAGE
- G11C—STATIC STORES
- G11C11/00—Digital stores characterised by the use of particular electric or magnetic storage elements; Storage elements therefor
- G11C11/50—Digital stores characterised by the use of particular electric or magnetic storage elements; Storage elements therefor using actuation of electric contacts to store the information
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01R—ELECTRICALLY-CONDUCTIVE CONNECTIONS; STRUCTURAL ASSOCIATIONS OF A PLURALITY OF MUTUALLY-INSULATED ELECTRICAL CONNECTING ELEMENTS; COUPLING DEVICES; CURRENT COLLECTORS
- H01R12/00—Structural associations of a plurality of mutually-insulated electrical connecting elements, specially adapted for printed circuits, e.g. printed circuit boards [PCB], flat or ribbon cables, or like generally planar structures, e.g. terminal strips, terminal blocks; Coupling devices specially adapted for printed circuits, flat or ribbon cables, or like generally planar structures; Terminals specially adapted for contact with, or insertion into, printed circuits, flat or ribbon cables, or like generally planar structures
- H01R12/70—Coupling devices
- H01R12/7088—Arrangements for power supply
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H05—ELECTRIC TECHNIQUES NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
- H05K—PRINTED CIRCUITS; CASINGS OR CONSTRUCTIONAL DETAILS OF ELECTRIC APPARATUS; MANUFACTURE OF ASSEMBLAGES OF ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS
- H05K1/00—Printed circuits
- H05K1/02—Details
- H05K1/0286—Programmable, customizable or modifiable circuits
- H05K1/0287—Programmable, customizable or modifiable circuits having an universal lay-out, e.g. pad or land grid patterns or mesh patterns
- H05K1/0289—Programmable, customizable or modifiable circuits having an universal lay-out, e.g. pad or land grid patterns or mesh patterns having a matrix lay-out, i.e. having selectively interconnectable sets of X-conductors and Y-conductors in different planes
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H01—ELECTRIC ELEMENTS
- H01R—ELECTRICALLY-CONDUCTIVE CONNECTIONS; STRUCTURAL ASSOCIATIONS OF A PLURALITY OF MUTUALLY-INSULATED ELECTRICAL CONNECTING ELEMENTS; COUPLING DEVICES; CURRENT COLLECTORS
- H01R25/00—Coupling parts adapted for simultaneous co-operation with two or more identical counterparts, e.g. for distributing energy to two or more circuits
- H01R25/16—Rails or bus-bars provided with a plurality of discrete connecting locations for counterparts
Abstract
A B S T R A C T
A plug-progragmable memory for time-switches includes a circuit board carrying a longitudinal row of first contact surfaces and at least one longitudinal second contact surface, plugs adapted to interconnect the first and second contact surfaces, and a transverse guide plate with a row of slots to receive the plugs.
A plug-progragmable memory for time-switches includes a circuit board carrying a longitudinal row of first contact surfaces and at least one longitudinal second contact surface, plugs adapted to interconnect the first and second contact surfaces, and a transverse guide plate with a row of slots to receive the plugs.
Description
1~78~55 The invention relates to a programme memory which can be manually programmed by means of plugs, in particular for time switching devices.
lhe prior art discloses so-called cross-rail programme memories in which elongated conductor tracks on circuit boards cross at distances from each other, and the crossing points are associated with apertures in the circuit boards so that contact pins can be inserted manually into the circuit boards in such a way that manual storage of a programme is effected by electrically connecting vertical and horizontal conductor tracks.
However, owing to the apertures and the contacts required thereon to establish reliable contacting, for example solder points or the like, such circuit boards are very expensive so that the progr~mme memory becomes correspondingly expensive.
It is therefore the object of the invention to provide a plug-in programme memory which is substantially less expensive to produce, has a high degree of operational reliability, and is also suitable for progr~mming in terms of the time of day and calendar time, more particularly in conjunction with time switching devices for heating and air-conditioning systems. It should also be possible to construct the memory in compact form with a small physical size and in such a way that it is suitable for readily observable, decoded programming.
~he present in~ention resides in a programme memory manually programmable by means of plugsj including at least ~;
10780S~ `
one circuit board provided with a plurality of first electric contact surfaces which are arranged adjacent to one another in at least one row along the longitudinal extent of the circuit board, and at least one second contact surface which extends in the longitudinal direction of said circuit board, said memory further including, opposite one edge of the circuit board, a transverse plate oriented transversely to said circuit board and having a row of slots for the or each circuit board which slots receive the plugs, each plug having interconnected electrical contacts for electrical connection to at least one first and at least one second contact surface of the circuit board.
The circuit board in this programme memory is not perforated at the contact surfaces, so that it can be inexpensively and simply produced, and an exceptionally low-cost programme memory can be obtained since the plugs are also inexpensive and simple. Furthermore the plugs can be readil~ and rapidly inserted or reset for changing the programme, by hand, and decoded inscriptions can be associated with the slots of the transverse plate so that the plugs can be inserted in decoded manner. The said programme memory can have a substantial capacity in a small space and is operationally reliable. Furthermore, it can be constructed so that its capacity and facilities can be subse~uently extended or can be extended by the attachment o~ suitable additional progra~me memories.
In a preferred embodiment, each plug extends over 1~78055 both sides of the circuit board by means of fingers so as to provide reliable contact in the simplest manner with those contact surfaces of the circuit board which are in contact with the plug; it is only necessary that the narrowest gap or gaps between the fingers in the non-inserted state thereof is slightly less than the thickness of the circuit board so that, on being plugged onto the circuit board, the contact fingers are resiliently spread slightly apart and therefore bear with reliable resilient contact pressure upon the circuit board.
If the plug is constructed for bearing on only one side of the circuit board, it will be necessary for the required contact pressure to be obtained by suitable reliable guiding of the plug, for example by sufficiently long positive rectilinèar guiding in the slot of the trans-verse plate or by means of a resilient pressure plate or the like.
Advantageously, contact surfaces can be provided on both sides of the circuit board, and it is normally convenient for all first contact surfaces to be situated on the same side of the circuit board. It is then convenient in many cases for all second contact surfaces to be situated on the other side of the circuit board, or second contact surfaces, where appropriate of different length, can be provided on both sides of the circuit board.
~he said programme memory has various fields of application, but it lS outstandingly suited for use in conjunction with a cyclic interrogation circuit which is ` -` 1078055 connected to the first and second contact surfaces and cyclically interrogates all first and second contact surface combinations which can be obtained by plugging with the plugs and which responds to plugged contact combinations by triggering operating signals or the like.
Advantageously, the cyclic interrogation can be time-controlled by a clock with a constant timing frequency and the clock can advantageously be crystal-controlled so as to ensure precise time-keeping even over very long periods, or the clock can be fed with the electric mains frequency and advantageously have a r11nning reserve. Other cyclic interrogation facilities can also be provided. ~or example, a machine shaft of a programme-controlled machine can define the ~nterrogation cycle.
In some cases it is also possible to arrange for all contact surfaces to be situated on the same side of the circuit board so that the other side thereof has no contact surfaces which can be contacted by the plugs. It is however more advantageous to provide contact surfaces on both sides of the circuit board because the circuit board surface available for memory purposes can thus be utilized in a substantially better and space-saving manner. ~ach contact finger of the plug can advantageously have a single contact, but it is also possible to provide it with two contacts which are electrically connected to each other or are electrically insulated from each other and are adapted to contact different contact surfaces of the circuit board.
Generally, it is advantageous to provide the programme 1~7805S
memory, which can also be described as a control panel, with rectifier diodes which form a kind of diode matrix so that the interrogation circuit can be constructed in a particularly simple manner. ~o this end, it is particularly advantageous to accommodate all necessary diodes of the programme memory in the plugs, so that no diodes are provided on the circuit boards, a procedure which enables substantial circuit simplification and cost savings to be achieved.
One preferred field of apilication of the programme memory according to the invention relates to the storage of the times of raising as well as night-time, week-end and other time-or-date-dependent lowering of the room temperature in buildings which are heated by a heating or air-conditioning system, for example in schools, office buildings, industrial buildings, domestic dwellings and the like. ~o this end, the plugs, which switch on the rise of temperature at predefined times, can be advantageously differentiated by a colouring which is different from that of the plugs provided for initiating the temperature lowering, so that the correct programming can be observed at a glance. ~he plug tops of plugs for switching on the temperature rise can be coloured in red and a blue colour can be provided for the plug tops of the other plugs. It is of course also possible to differentiate the said plugs by different shaping of their tops. However, different colouring o~ the plug tops, which can advantageously be moulded from plastics, is more conspicuous and less expensive.
1~780S~
Advantageously, at least two second contact surfaces can be arranged parallel with each other to extend along the circuit board, one above the other, so that different switching functions can be stored and/or to increase the memory facilities of a circuit board for a given length thereof, and to this end it is particularly advantageous to provide different kinds of plugs which differ from each other by contact fingers of different length and/or it is possible to arrange for the insertion depth of the plug to be varied. To this end, the length of the slots of at least one slot row of the transverse plate can vary periodically from slot to slot and each plug can have a number of stops which corresponds to the number of different slot lengths, which stops are offset relative to each other along the longitudinal extent of the plug, for the purpose of differently defining the insertion depth thereof depending on the length of the slot.
It is also advantageous to provide several kinds of plugs and plugs of the same kind serving to trigger the same switching function at the plugged times or the like, and the other kind or kinds triggering different switching functions. To this end, it is advantageous to arrange that the first contact surfaces are coordinated in common to the plugs of all kinds.
~he individual plug can also be constructed so that it is able to simultaneously trigger two diffe~ent switching functions, for example by having two separate electric contact pairs, or this can also be achieved with only-three 10780SS `
contacts of the plug by creating different current paths to two different contact surfaces of the circuit board from one contact surface thereof. In many cases it is also advantageous for two or more such simultaneously generated separate signals to be compared with each other by means of a comparator and, depending on the comparison, for different signals to be triggered, for example to trigger a temperature rise or temperature reduction in dependence on the signal comparison for example in a time switching device for heating or air-conditioning systems.
Advantageously the circuit board can be connected to the incoming and outgoing leads of the interrogation circuit or the like merely by insertion into retaining means with terminal contacts so that no soldered points are necessary for connection and the circuit board can be exchanged if necessary without difficulty by withdrawal from the retaining means and by the insertion of a new circuit board. ~he new circuit board can correspond to the previous circuit board if it is a matter of exchanging a damaged circuit;board, or it can also be a circuit board with a different contact surface arrangement for the purpose of changing the programming facilities.
A single circuit board is sufficient in many cases, but it is often convenient and advantageous to provide several or a large number of circuit boards for the programme memory. ~or example, in a wee~ly-time-switching programme, a separate circuit board can be provided for each day of the week and the retaining means for such ~78~55 circui~ boards conveniently have indlvldual con~ac~s as well as contact rails extending transversely to the longitudinal orientation of the circuit boards for providing a direct connection between specific contact surfaces of the circuit boards.
Fmbodiments of the invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:
Figure 1 is a sectioned, broken-away front view of a programme memory according to a first embodiment of the invention;
Figure 2 is a broken away partial perspective view of the transverse plate and a circuit board of the programme memory according to Figure 1;
Figure 3 is a partial plan view of the programme memory according to Figure 1 with a partly broken-away transverse plate;
Figures 4 and 5 each show a section through Figure 3 along the sectional line IV-IV or V-V, the circuit boards being only partly shown;
Figure 6 is a perspective view of Figure 3 without side walls and without the transverse plates of the programme memory casing;
Figure 7 is a section of a circuit board seen as a front view with the transverse plate shown in sectional form and two plugs of a programme memory, without further details, according to a second embodiment of the invention;
and Figure 8 shows part of the front and of the rear of 1~78055 a circuit board with two plugs, indicated symbolically and associated with a programme memory, not shown in detail, according to another embodiment of the invention, the associated interrogation circuit being indicated by blocks.
~he programme memory partly shown in ~igures 1 to 6 can have seven circuit boards 10, arranged parallel to each other, for time switch programming on a weekly basis;
~igures 1 and 2 show one circuit board and Figures 4 to 6 show three circuit boards. All the circuit boards 10 can be identically constructed. ~he programme memory has a box-shaped casing 11, the lid of which is formed by a transverse plate 12 having a row of transverse slots 13, 14 for each circuit board 10, short slots 1~ and long slots 14 alternating with each other in each row. At a distance beneath the plate 12, the circuit boards 10 are inserted, for the purpose of retention and for making electrical contact, into contacts 15,16 which form bifurcated springs.
The said contacts 15, 16 are disposed on a bottom plate 17 of the casing 11 of electrically insulating material; the contacts 16 are parts of metallic contact rails 18 and the contacts 15 are individual contacts.
All the circuit boards 10 are unperforated and each consists of a supporting board of electrically insulating material and of metallic conductor and contact surfaces applied to both sides of the said board.
Electric terminal contact surfaces 19, 20, are situated on the bottom front and rear edge regions of the circuit board and are contacted by the electric terminal contacts 15, 16 which alone retain the circuit boards 10.
~he plate 12 comprises electrically insulating material and is connected by side walls, such as 21, to the bottom plate 17 so that the circuit boards 10 are disposed in a chamber which is closed with the exception of the slots 13,14. ~he bottom plate 17 can be mounted directly on a box, not show , which contains a cyclic interrogating circuit not shown, and the said interrogating circuit can be connected to the contacts which extend through the bottom plate 17, for example by soldering of the appropriate conductors.
~wo kinds of plugs 22, 23 are used for programming the programme memory. Each plug 22, 23 has a handle 24 and two resilient contact fingers 25,~6 of equal length, and in a convenient example it may be assumed that the plugs 22 of one kind, which have shorter contact fingers 25,26 than the plugs 23 of the other kind, have red handles 24 and the other kind of plugs 23 have blue handles. The two kinds will therefore be described hereinbelow as red and blue plugs 22 and 2~ respectively. The explanation herein-below will also relate to the preferred field of application of this programme memory namely in a time-switchi~g device for the alternate switching on of day increase and night decrease of the room temperature of rooms in a building heated by a heating system; however the programme memory also has other fields of application.
~he two metallic contact fingers 25,26, connected to each other through an electric conductor 27, symbolically indicated in Figure 2 and containing a rectifier diode 28, are injection-moulded into the plastics handles 24 of each plug. ~he said two contact fingers 25, 26 extend parallel to each other along the longitudinal middle plane of the handle 24 and project downwardly therefrom, and at their free ends they are provided with contact projections 29, 29' which face each other and the clear distance between which is slightly less than the thickness of the circuit board 10, so that the said contact projections 29,29' come into reliable resilient contact with those contact surfaces of the circuit board 10 which are to be contacted by them.
Each of the plugs 22, 23 is inserted as far as the appropriate stop abutments into a slot 13, 14 in the plate 12 and said plugs are rectilinearly guided in the relevant slots 13, 14 by positive engagement. ~he handle 24 extends longitudinally at both ends beyond contact fingers 25, 26, so that the bottom face of the handle 24 defines the insertion depth of the plug 22 or 23 by abutting on the plate 12 when the plugs 22,23 are inserted into one of the long slots 14. At a distance beneath the handle, the contact fingers 25,26 ha~e steps disposed at the same height, which reduce the insertion depth of the plug when the plug is inserted into a short slot 13, because the steps 30 will then abut on the plate 12.
On the front of each circuit board 10 there are provided elongated first contact surfaces ~1 situated at identical distances parallel with each other; each such first contact surface 31 is oriented perpendicularly to the longitudinal direction of the circuit board and, beginning 1~780S~
from the top longitudinal edge of the circuit board, extends downw ædly so that the contact projection 29 of the front contact finger 25 of each plug 22,23 will reliably contact the first contact surface 31 situated beneath the relevant slot 13,14 at any possible insertion depth. As illustrated, the first contact surfaces 31 æe ohmically connected directly to each other in pairs so that the number of terminal contact surfaces 19 for the first contact surfaces 31 is only half the number of surfaces 31, thus dispensing with the need for a corresponding number of contact rails 18 for the first contact surfaces 31 associated with the circuit boards 10.
~our second contact surfaces 32 to 35, each of which is ohmically connected directly to one of the terminal contact surfaces 20 which are contacted by the individual contacts 15, æe æranged on the re æ of each circuit board 10 p æallel to the longitudinal direction thereof and parallel to each other; they are elongated contact tracks which extend over the entire length of the row of first contact surfaces 31, but æe not electrically connected to these contact surfaces 31 because the support plate of the circuit bo æd 10 insulates the first contact surfaces 31 with respect to the second contact surfaces 32 to 35.
It can be assumed for this preferred exemplified embodiment that forty-eight first contact surfaces 31 æe provided for each circuit board 10, so that a time switching programme for 24 hours with a half-hour interval between adjacent programme time switching points can be programmed 1C~78055 by means of each circuit board 10. Each long slot 14 of the transverse plate 12 can be associated with a full-hour time and each short slot 13 can be associated with a half-hour time. ~he slots 13,14 of each row of slots can then be marked in sequence along row with 0.00 h, 0.30 h, 1.00 h, 1.30 h - 23.00 h, 23.30 h. Each of the seven rows of slots and therefore each of the seven circuit boards 10 is associated with a different day-of the week, so that a full weekly progr~mme can be programmed.
All plugs 22, 23 can be optionally inserted into short or long slots 13,14. The red plugs 22 with the shorter contact fingers 25, 26 are provided for initiating the temperature increase, and the blue plugs 23 with the longer contact fingers 25,26 are provided for initiating the temperature reduction.
As already mentioned, the front contact fingers 25 of the plugs 22, 23 always contact first contact surfaces 31 which are situated beneath the relevant slot 13,14. Each of the rear contact fingers 26 of the plugs 22, 23 contacts one of the second contact surfaces 32 to 35, as follows:
If a red plug 22 is inserted into a short slot 13, its rear contact finger 26 will contact the top second contact surface 32, and if it is inserted into a long slot 14, it will contact the top but one second contact surface 33 ~he rear contact finger 26 of a blue plug 23 will contact the second-to-bottom second contact surface 34 on being inserted into a short slot 13, and will contact the bottom second contact surface 35 when inserted into a long slot 14.
1~78~55 ~he interrogation circuit, not shown, for interrogating the programme memory can be constructed to operate as follows:
At 0.00 h the interrogating circuit applies a positive voltage to the contact rail 18 which is on the extreme left-hand side in Figure 6 and therefore applies such voltage to the outer left-hand first contact surface pairs of all circuit boards 10 and applies negative voltages to the two contact surfaces 33, 35 of the circuit board 10 associated with the relevant day of the week. At 0. 30 h, the negative voltages are disconnected from the contact surfaces 33, 35 of the said circuit board 10 and-are connected to the second contact surfaces 32, 34. At 1.00 h, the positive voltage is switched over to the next contact rail 18 and therefore to the next first contact pairs 31. At the same time, the negative voltages are agai~ switched over to the second contact surfaces 33, 35 and so on until 23.00 h, whereupon this interrogation c~cle proceeds from 0.00 h for the next circuit board 10 of the next day of the week until all circuit boards 10 have been interrogated, after which this weekly cycle is repeated.
Each of the two second contact surfaces 32, 33 carries current whenever a negative voltage is applied to it and it is electrically connected by means of a red plug 22 to a first contact surface 31 to wnich a posi~ive voltage lS
applied so that at bhe beginning of Ihe relevant full or half hour of the relevant day of ~ne week a signal is given to trigger the temperature increase. ~he other two second 1~780S5 contact surfaces 34, 35 of each circuit board 10 are provided for initiating the temperature reduction at the times defined by the blue plugs 23 in a corresponding manner. Each temperature increase or reduction remains effective until the next temperature reduction or increase is triggered, so that these are alternatel~ switched on.
Red and blue plugs must therefore alternate with each other in the weekly programme, a feature which can be visually observed at a glance.
Since the time differences between successive temper-ature increases and temperature reductions in heating systems are always much longer than a half hour, it is impossible for incorrect switching operations to occur despite the simultaneous energizatlon of two adjacent first contact surfaces 31.
It will be seen from the description above that the presence of four second contact surfaces 31 to 35 provides the distinction between full hours and half-hour times to give different switching functions between the two and permits the direct interconnection between two adjacent first contact surfaces 31, so that it is possible, using an additional fourteen individual contacts 15, to eliminate the need for twenty four contact rails 18 (~igure 4). ~he slots 13, 14 of different length for the insertion of the plugs 22, 23 to a different depth are provided in conjunction therew~th so that the number of different kinds of plugs 22, 23 is reduced to two-If increased cost is acceptable, it is however also -` 10~805S
possible to control each first contact surface 31 of a circuit board 10 independently by means of the interrogation circuit, and it is then possible to operate with two second contact surfaces for each circuit board 10 and all slots of the transverse plate 12 can be constructed to a uniform length.
Conveniently, the plate 12 can be inscribed, at each slot row, with the relevant day of the week and, at each slot, with the relevant clock time. For example, if a red plug 22 is inserted at Monday, 5.00 h, the temperature increase will be switched on precisely at 5 o'clock on each Monday and remains switched on until the interrogation circuit switches to the next weekday time which is defined by a blue plug 2~. ~or example, if a blue plug is inserted at Monday, 18.30 h, the next temperature reduction will be initiated precisely at 18.30 h on Monday, and so on. In this way it is possible to programme a daily night reduction from Monday evening to ~riday morning and to programme a week-end reduction from Friday evening to Monday morning.
It can readily be seen that calendar-defined programming of a longer period can also be readily obtained if additional circuit boards are provided w~ich are energized by the interrogation circuit in place of the wee~day circuit boards 10 at pre-defined times during a year, for example during the school holidays of a school or on public holidays.
~he circuit board 10' in the embodiment illustrated in ~igure 7 differs from the circuit boards 10 of the embodiment illustrated in ~igures 1 to 6 in that the first 1078~55 contact surfaces 31' are not connected in pairs but are individually connected, and the front sides carrying the contact surfaces 31' also have a broad, second contact surface 40 which extends above the row of first contact surfaces and over the entire length of said row. On the rear, the said circuit board 10' has three second contact surfaces 41 to 43 parallel to each other, which also extend over the entire length of the row of the first contact surfaces 31', insulated by the support plate. In this embodiment all the plugs 22', 22" are of identical construction and each has two U-shaped metallic fork contacts 44, 45 of different length, injection-moulded into the handles 24, which can conveniently contain diodes connected between the two contact fingers. Short and long slots are again alternately disposed in the plate 12' and two steps are again provided on each plug 22' 22" to control insertion to a different length, depending whether the plug is inserted into a long or short slot. This can be used for differentiating between full and half hours or for other purposes.
In the arrangement shown in Figure 7, the plug 22~ is inserted so that at the time associated with the slot which accommodates the plug it supplies a data value associated with the contact surfaces 31' and 43 and a data value associated with the contact surfaces 40, 41, and the other inserted plug 22'' supplies data values defined by the contact surface pairs 31', 43 and 40, 42 at the time correspcnding to the plug positions; the two data values can be utilized separately of each other, or they can be compared by means ~0 7 8~S5 of a comparator and in the last-mentioned case a signal is given only if both data values occur simultaneously.
Figure 8 shows the front side 50 and the rear side 51 of a further form of circuit board 10 ". ~he first contact surfaces 31 " situated on the front side 50 are divided into three groups of eight narked 52 to 54, the contact surfaces of which are connected to only eight leads - 55, as shown, so that the nth contacts (n = 1, 2 - 8) of the contact groups 52, 53, 54 are each simultaneously energized. This circuit board 10" can also be associated with a time switching device for raising and lowering the room temperature, as described below. One plug each of two different kinds (red and blue) is symbolized by its contacts, conductors and diodes and is designated 66 or 67.
Advantageously, the conductors 55 can be connected successively to a negative voltage by an interrogation circuit operating with a cycle of eight hours, so that the interrogation changeover from one conductor 55 to another conductor 55 takes place at intervals of one hour. ~he twenty four first contact surfaces ~1'' can then correspond to the full 24 hours of a day. At a distance above each contact surface group 52, 53, 54, the front side 50 of each circuit board 10'' is provided with an elongated second contact surface 56, 57, 58, each of which extends over the length of the associated contact group 52, 53, 54 and is connected to a respective conductor 59 in such a way that a positive voltage is connected to the contact surface 56 during the first eight hours, to the second contact 107~3~55 surface 57, during the second eight hours, and to the contact surface 58 during the last eight hours of the day, the respective contact surfaces being switched off for the remainder of the time.
All plugs 66, 67, each of which has three contact fingers for contacting the front side and rear side 50, 51 of the circuit board 10', can be inserted to an identical depth in the slots of a transverse plate, not shown. The contacts 59 ', 60 of two of the said contact fingers of the relevant plug 66, 67 bear upon a first contact surface 31'' and on a second contact surface 56, 57 or 58 and are connected to each other by means of a diode 6~. The contact 69 of the third contact finger of a red plug 66 bears on a second contact surface 61 of the rear side 51 of a device for initiating a temperature increase, whereas the third contact finger of a blue plug 67 bears on a second contact surface 62 which is provided for initiating a temperature reduction.
Each contact 69 is connected to the associated contact 60 by means of a diode 64.
~he contact surfaces 61, 62 extend along the longi-tudinal direction of the circuit board, are parallel to each other, and extend over the length of all first contact groups 52, 5~, 54 and are separated therefrom by the insulating support plate of the circuit board 10''. The two contact surfaces 61, 62 can be constantly connected to negative voltages. ~he cyclic energization of the conductors 55 and 59 is performed by means of a multiplexer 70 which has a clock. A comparator 71 w~ich ensures that a signal for 1078~55 the relevant switching function is delivered to the relevant switch only if the first contact surface 31'' is connected to voltage by themultiplever 7 is also provided, since the contact surfaces 61, 62 are constantly energized.
With the illustrated programme memory, it is possible to plug only time intervals of at least eight hours, as incorrect switching functions would otherwise occur. ~his is normally fully adequate for time switching devices used in building heating systems.
If it is required to plug time 1ntervals shorter than eight hours, it is possible to allocate twelve hours of the day to the circuit board 10'' and to provide a second such circuit board 10'' for the second twelve hours and/or, as in the embodiment illustrated in Figures 1 to 6, to provide four second contact surfaces on the rear side of the circuit board, which contact surfaces are alternately and in pairs connected to the voltages at a predefined time cycle.
Alternatively, each of the two second contact surfaces 61, 62 can be subdivided, for example into six contact surfaces of identical length, each next-but-one contact surface of each such contact surface row being connected to a potential during the interrogation of the first contact surfaces 31 "
associated therewith and the other contact surfaces of the said two contact surface rows are connected to the potential
lhe prior art discloses so-called cross-rail programme memories in which elongated conductor tracks on circuit boards cross at distances from each other, and the crossing points are associated with apertures in the circuit boards so that contact pins can be inserted manually into the circuit boards in such a way that manual storage of a programme is effected by electrically connecting vertical and horizontal conductor tracks.
However, owing to the apertures and the contacts required thereon to establish reliable contacting, for example solder points or the like, such circuit boards are very expensive so that the progr~mme memory becomes correspondingly expensive.
It is therefore the object of the invention to provide a plug-in programme memory which is substantially less expensive to produce, has a high degree of operational reliability, and is also suitable for progr~mming in terms of the time of day and calendar time, more particularly in conjunction with time switching devices for heating and air-conditioning systems. It should also be possible to construct the memory in compact form with a small physical size and in such a way that it is suitable for readily observable, decoded programming.
~he present in~ention resides in a programme memory manually programmable by means of plugsj including at least ~;
10780S~ `
one circuit board provided with a plurality of first electric contact surfaces which are arranged adjacent to one another in at least one row along the longitudinal extent of the circuit board, and at least one second contact surface which extends in the longitudinal direction of said circuit board, said memory further including, opposite one edge of the circuit board, a transverse plate oriented transversely to said circuit board and having a row of slots for the or each circuit board which slots receive the plugs, each plug having interconnected electrical contacts for electrical connection to at least one first and at least one second contact surface of the circuit board.
The circuit board in this programme memory is not perforated at the contact surfaces, so that it can be inexpensively and simply produced, and an exceptionally low-cost programme memory can be obtained since the plugs are also inexpensive and simple. Furthermore the plugs can be readil~ and rapidly inserted or reset for changing the programme, by hand, and decoded inscriptions can be associated with the slots of the transverse plate so that the plugs can be inserted in decoded manner. The said programme memory can have a substantial capacity in a small space and is operationally reliable. Furthermore, it can be constructed so that its capacity and facilities can be subse~uently extended or can be extended by the attachment o~ suitable additional progra~me memories.
In a preferred embodiment, each plug extends over 1~78055 both sides of the circuit board by means of fingers so as to provide reliable contact in the simplest manner with those contact surfaces of the circuit board which are in contact with the plug; it is only necessary that the narrowest gap or gaps between the fingers in the non-inserted state thereof is slightly less than the thickness of the circuit board so that, on being plugged onto the circuit board, the contact fingers are resiliently spread slightly apart and therefore bear with reliable resilient contact pressure upon the circuit board.
If the plug is constructed for bearing on only one side of the circuit board, it will be necessary for the required contact pressure to be obtained by suitable reliable guiding of the plug, for example by sufficiently long positive rectilinèar guiding in the slot of the trans-verse plate or by means of a resilient pressure plate or the like.
Advantageously, contact surfaces can be provided on both sides of the circuit board, and it is normally convenient for all first contact surfaces to be situated on the same side of the circuit board. It is then convenient in many cases for all second contact surfaces to be situated on the other side of the circuit board, or second contact surfaces, where appropriate of different length, can be provided on both sides of the circuit board.
~he said programme memory has various fields of application, but it lS outstandingly suited for use in conjunction with a cyclic interrogation circuit which is ` -` 1078055 connected to the first and second contact surfaces and cyclically interrogates all first and second contact surface combinations which can be obtained by plugging with the plugs and which responds to plugged contact combinations by triggering operating signals or the like.
Advantageously, the cyclic interrogation can be time-controlled by a clock with a constant timing frequency and the clock can advantageously be crystal-controlled so as to ensure precise time-keeping even over very long periods, or the clock can be fed with the electric mains frequency and advantageously have a r11nning reserve. Other cyclic interrogation facilities can also be provided. ~or example, a machine shaft of a programme-controlled machine can define the ~nterrogation cycle.
In some cases it is also possible to arrange for all contact surfaces to be situated on the same side of the circuit board so that the other side thereof has no contact surfaces which can be contacted by the plugs. It is however more advantageous to provide contact surfaces on both sides of the circuit board because the circuit board surface available for memory purposes can thus be utilized in a substantially better and space-saving manner. ~ach contact finger of the plug can advantageously have a single contact, but it is also possible to provide it with two contacts which are electrically connected to each other or are electrically insulated from each other and are adapted to contact different contact surfaces of the circuit board.
Generally, it is advantageous to provide the programme 1~7805S
memory, which can also be described as a control panel, with rectifier diodes which form a kind of diode matrix so that the interrogation circuit can be constructed in a particularly simple manner. ~o this end, it is particularly advantageous to accommodate all necessary diodes of the programme memory in the plugs, so that no diodes are provided on the circuit boards, a procedure which enables substantial circuit simplification and cost savings to be achieved.
One preferred field of apilication of the programme memory according to the invention relates to the storage of the times of raising as well as night-time, week-end and other time-or-date-dependent lowering of the room temperature in buildings which are heated by a heating or air-conditioning system, for example in schools, office buildings, industrial buildings, domestic dwellings and the like. ~o this end, the plugs, which switch on the rise of temperature at predefined times, can be advantageously differentiated by a colouring which is different from that of the plugs provided for initiating the temperature lowering, so that the correct programming can be observed at a glance. ~he plug tops of plugs for switching on the temperature rise can be coloured in red and a blue colour can be provided for the plug tops of the other plugs. It is of course also possible to differentiate the said plugs by different shaping of their tops. However, different colouring o~ the plug tops, which can advantageously be moulded from plastics, is more conspicuous and less expensive.
1~780S~
Advantageously, at least two second contact surfaces can be arranged parallel with each other to extend along the circuit board, one above the other, so that different switching functions can be stored and/or to increase the memory facilities of a circuit board for a given length thereof, and to this end it is particularly advantageous to provide different kinds of plugs which differ from each other by contact fingers of different length and/or it is possible to arrange for the insertion depth of the plug to be varied. To this end, the length of the slots of at least one slot row of the transverse plate can vary periodically from slot to slot and each plug can have a number of stops which corresponds to the number of different slot lengths, which stops are offset relative to each other along the longitudinal extent of the plug, for the purpose of differently defining the insertion depth thereof depending on the length of the slot.
It is also advantageous to provide several kinds of plugs and plugs of the same kind serving to trigger the same switching function at the plugged times or the like, and the other kind or kinds triggering different switching functions. To this end, it is advantageous to arrange that the first contact surfaces are coordinated in common to the plugs of all kinds.
~he individual plug can also be constructed so that it is able to simultaneously trigger two diffe~ent switching functions, for example by having two separate electric contact pairs, or this can also be achieved with only-three 10780SS `
contacts of the plug by creating different current paths to two different contact surfaces of the circuit board from one contact surface thereof. In many cases it is also advantageous for two or more such simultaneously generated separate signals to be compared with each other by means of a comparator and, depending on the comparison, for different signals to be triggered, for example to trigger a temperature rise or temperature reduction in dependence on the signal comparison for example in a time switching device for heating or air-conditioning systems.
Advantageously the circuit board can be connected to the incoming and outgoing leads of the interrogation circuit or the like merely by insertion into retaining means with terminal contacts so that no soldered points are necessary for connection and the circuit board can be exchanged if necessary without difficulty by withdrawal from the retaining means and by the insertion of a new circuit board. ~he new circuit board can correspond to the previous circuit board if it is a matter of exchanging a damaged circuit;board, or it can also be a circuit board with a different contact surface arrangement for the purpose of changing the programming facilities.
A single circuit board is sufficient in many cases, but it is often convenient and advantageous to provide several or a large number of circuit boards for the programme memory. ~or example, in a wee~ly-time-switching programme, a separate circuit board can be provided for each day of the week and the retaining means for such ~78~55 circui~ boards conveniently have indlvldual con~ac~s as well as contact rails extending transversely to the longitudinal orientation of the circuit boards for providing a direct connection between specific contact surfaces of the circuit boards.
Fmbodiments of the invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:
Figure 1 is a sectioned, broken-away front view of a programme memory according to a first embodiment of the invention;
Figure 2 is a broken away partial perspective view of the transverse plate and a circuit board of the programme memory according to Figure 1;
Figure 3 is a partial plan view of the programme memory according to Figure 1 with a partly broken-away transverse plate;
Figures 4 and 5 each show a section through Figure 3 along the sectional line IV-IV or V-V, the circuit boards being only partly shown;
Figure 6 is a perspective view of Figure 3 without side walls and without the transverse plates of the programme memory casing;
Figure 7 is a section of a circuit board seen as a front view with the transverse plate shown in sectional form and two plugs of a programme memory, without further details, according to a second embodiment of the invention;
and Figure 8 shows part of the front and of the rear of 1~78055 a circuit board with two plugs, indicated symbolically and associated with a programme memory, not shown in detail, according to another embodiment of the invention, the associated interrogation circuit being indicated by blocks.
~he programme memory partly shown in ~igures 1 to 6 can have seven circuit boards 10, arranged parallel to each other, for time switch programming on a weekly basis;
~igures 1 and 2 show one circuit board and Figures 4 to 6 show three circuit boards. All the circuit boards 10 can be identically constructed. ~he programme memory has a box-shaped casing 11, the lid of which is formed by a transverse plate 12 having a row of transverse slots 13, 14 for each circuit board 10, short slots 1~ and long slots 14 alternating with each other in each row. At a distance beneath the plate 12, the circuit boards 10 are inserted, for the purpose of retention and for making electrical contact, into contacts 15,16 which form bifurcated springs.
The said contacts 15, 16 are disposed on a bottom plate 17 of the casing 11 of electrically insulating material; the contacts 16 are parts of metallic contact rails 18 and the contacts 15 are individual contacts.
All the circuit boards 10 are unperforated and each consists of a supporting board of electrically insulating material and of metallic conductor and contact surfaces applied to both sides of the said board.
Electric terminal contact surfaces 19, 20, are situated on the bottom front and rear edge regions of the circuit board and are contacted by the electric terminal contacts 15, 16 which alone retain the circuit boards 10.
~he plate 12 comprises electrically insulating material and is connected by side walls, such as 21, to the bottom plate 17 so that the circuit boards 10 are disposed in a chamber which is closed with the exception of the slots 13,14. ~he bottom plate 17 can be mounted directly on a box, not show , which contains a cyclic interrogating circuit not shown, and the said interrogating circuit can be connected to the contacts which extend through the bottom plate 17, for example by soldering of the appropriate conductors.
~wo kinds of plugs 22, 23 are used for programming the programme memory. Each plug 22, 23 has a handle 24 and two resilient contact fingers 25,~6 of equal length, and in a convenient example it may be assumed that the plugs 22 of one kind, which have shorter contact fingers 25,26 than the plugs 23 of the other kind, have red handles 24 and the other kind of plugs 23 have blue handles. The two kinds will therefore be described hereinbelow as red and blue plugs 22 and 2~ respectively. The explanation herein-below will also relate to the preferred field of application of this programme memory namely in a time-switchi~g device for the alternate switching on of day increase and night decrease of the room temperature of rooms in a building heated by a heating system; however the programme memory also has other fields of application.
~he two metallic contact fingers 25,26, connected to each other through an electric conductor 27, symbolically indicated in Figure 2 and containing a rectifier diode 28, are injection-moulded into the plastics handles 24 of each plug. ~he said two contact fingers 25, 26 extend parallel to each other along the longitudinal middle plane of the handle 24 and project downwardly therefrom, and at their free ends they are provided with contact projections 29, 29' which face each other and the clear distance between which is slightly less than the thickness of the circuit board 10, so that the said contact projections 29,29' come into reliable resilient contact with those contact surfaces of the circuit board 10 which are to be contacted by them.
Each of the plugs 22, 23 is inserted as far as the appropriate stop abutments into a slot 13, 14 in the plate 12 and said plugs are rectilinearly guided in the relevant slots 13, 14 by positive engagement. ~he handle 24 extends longitudinally at both ends beyond contact fingers 25, 26, so that the bottom face of the handle 24 defines the insertion depth of the plug 22 or 23 by abutting on the plate 12 when the plugs 22,23 are inserted into one of the long slots 14. At a distance beneath the handle, the contact fingers 25,26 ha~e steps disposed at the same height, which reduce the insertion depth of the plug when the plug is inserted into a short slot 13, because the steps 30 will then abut on the plate 12.
On the front of each circuit board 10 there are provided elongated first contact surfaces ~1 situated at identical distances parallel with each other; each such first contact surface 31 is oriented perpendicularly to the longitudinal direction of the circuit board and, beginning 1~780S~
from the top longitudinal edge of the circuit board, extends downw ædly so that the contact projection 29 of the front contact finger 25 of each plug 22,23 will reliably contact the first contact surface 31 situated beneath the relevant slot 13,14 at any possible insertion depth. As illustrated, the first contact surfaces 31 æe ohmically connected directly to each other in pairs so that the number of terminal contact surfaces 19 for the first contact surfaces 31 is only half the number of surfaces 31, thus dispensing with the need for a corresponding number of contact rails 18 for the first contact surfaces 31 associated with the circuit boards 10.
~our second contact surfaces 32 to 35, each of which is ohmically connected directly to one of the terminal contact surfaces 20 which are contacted by the individual contacts 15, æe æranged on the re æ of each circuit board 10 p æallel to the longitudinal direction thereof and parallel to each other; they are elongated contact tracks which extend over the entire length of the row of first contact surfaces 31, but æe not electrically connected to these contact surfaces 31 because the support plate of the circuit bo æd 10 insulates the first contact surfaces 31 with respect to the second contact surfaces 32 to 35.
It can be assumed for this preferred exemplified embodiment that forty-eight first contact surfaces 31 æe provided for each circuit board 10, so that a time switching programme for 24 hours with a half-hour interval between adjacent programme time switching points can be programmed 1C~78055 by means of each circuit board 10. Each long slot 14 of the transverse plate 12 can be associated with a full-hour time and each short slot 13 can be associated with a half-hour time. ~he slots 13,14 of each row of slots can then be marked in sequence along row with 0.00 h, 0.30 h, 1.00 h, 1.30 h - 23.00 h, 23.30 h. Each of the seven rows of slots and therefore each of the seven circuit boards 10 is associated with a different day-of the week, so that a full weekly progr~mme can be programmed.
All plugs 22, 23 can be optionally inserted into short or long slots 13,14. The red plugs 22 with the shorter contact fingers 25, 26 are provided for initiating the temperature increase, and the blue plugs 23 with the longer contact fingers 25,26 are provided for initiating the temperature reduction.
As already mentioned, the front contact fingers 25 of the plugs 22, 23 always contact first contact surfaces 31 which are situated beneath the relevant slot 13,14. Each of the rear contact fingers 26 of the plugs 22, 23 contacts one of the second contact surfaces 32 to 35, as follows:
If a red plug 22 is inserted into a short slot 13, its rear contact finger 26 will contact the top second contact surface 32, and if it is inserted into a long slot 14, it will contact the top but one second contact surface 33 ~he rear contact finger 26 of a blue plug 23 will contact the second-to-bottom second contact surface 34 on being inserted into a short slot 13, and will contact the bottom second contact surface 35 when inserted into a long slot 14.
1~78~55 ~he interrogation circuit, not shown, for interrogating the programme memory can be constructed to operate as follows:
At 0.00 h the interrogating circuit applies a positive voltage to the contact rail 18 which is on the extreme left-hand side in Figure 6 and therefore applies such voltage to the outer left-hand first contact surface pairs of all circuit boards 10 and applies negative voltages to the two contact surfaces 33, 35 of the circuit board 10 associated with the relevant day of the week. At 0. 30 h, the negative voltages are disconnected from the contact surfaces 33, 35 of the said circuit board 10 and-are connected to the second contact surfaces 32, 34. At 1.00 h, the positive voltage is switched over to the next contact rail 18 and therefore to the next first contact pairs 31. At the same time, the negative voltages are agai~ switched over to the second contact surfaces 33, 35 and so on until 23.00 h, whereupon this interrogation c~cle proceeds from 0.00 h for the next circuit board 10 of the next day of the week until all circuit boards 10 have been interrogated, after which this weekly cycle is repeated.
Each of the two second contact surfaces 32, 33 carries current whenever a negative voltage is applied to it and it is electrically connected by means of a red plug 22 to a first contact surface 31 to wnich a posi~ive voltage lS
applied so that at bhe beginning of Ihe relevant full or half hour of the relevant day of ~ne week a signal is given to trigger the temperature increase. ~he other two second 1~780S5 contact surfaces 34, 35 of each circuit board 10 are provided for initiating the temperature reduction at the times defined by the blue plugs 23 in a corresponding manner. Each temperature increase or reduction remains effective until the next temperature reduction or increase is triggered, so that these are alternatel~ switched on.
Red and blue plugs must therefore alternate with each other in the weekly programme, a feature which can be visually observed at a glance.
Since the time differences between successive temper-ature increases and temperature reductions in heating systems are always much longer than a half hour, it is impossible for incorrect switching operations to occur despite the simultaneous energizatlon of two adjacent first contact surfaces 31.
It will be seen from the description above that the presence of four second contact surfaces 31 to 35 provides the distinction between full hours and half-hour times to give different switching functions between the two and permits the direct interconnection between two adjacent first contact surfaces 31, so that it is possible, using an additional fourteen individual contacts 15, to eliminate the need for twenty four contact rails 18 (~igure 4). ~he slots 13, 14 of different length for the insertion of the plugs 22, 23 to a different depth are provided in conjunction therew~th so that the number of different kinds of plugs 22, 23 is reduced to two-If increased cost is acceptable, it is however also -` 10~805S
possible to control each first contact surface 31 of a circuit board 10 independently by means of the interrogation circuit, and it is then possible to operate with two second contact surfaces for each circuit board 10 and all slots of the transverse plate 12 can be constructed to a uniform length.
Conveniently, the plate 12 can be inscribed, at each slot row, with the relevant day of the week and, at each slot, with the relevant clock time. For example, if a red plug 22 is inserted at Monday, 5.00 h, the temperature increase will be switched on precisely at 5 o'clock on each Monday and remains switched on until the interrogation circuit switches to the next weekday time which is defined by a blue plug 2~. ~or example, if a blue plug is inserted at Monday, 18.30 h, the next temperature reduction will be initiated precisely at 18.30 h on Monday, and so on. In this way it is possible to programme a daily night reduction from Monday evening to ~riday morning and to programme a week-end reduction from Friday evening to Monday morning.
It can readily be seen that calendar-defined programming of a longer period can also be readily obtained if additional circuit boards are provided w~ich are energized by the interrogation circuit in place of the wee~day circuit boards 10 at pre-defined times during a year, for example during the school holidays of a school or on public holidays.
~he circuit board 10' in the embodiment illustrated in ~igure 7 differs from the circuit boards 10 of the embodiment illustrated in ~igures 1 to 6 in that the first 1078~55 contact surfaces 31' are not connected in pairs but are individually connected, and the front sides carrying the contact surfaces 31' also have a broad, second contact surface 40 which extends above the row of first contact surfaces and over the entire length of said row. On the rear, the said circuit board 10' has three second contact surfaces 41 to 43 parallel to each other, which also extend over the entire length of the row of the first contact surfaces 31', insulated by the support plate. In this embodiment all the plugs 22', 22" are of identical construction and each has two U-shaped metallic fork contacts 44, 45 of different length, injection-moulded into the handles 24, which can conveniently contain diodes connected between the two contact fingers. Short and long slots are again alternately disposed in the plate 12' and two steps are again provided on each plug 22' 22" to control insertion to a different length, depending whether the plug is inserted into a long or short slot. This can be used for differentiating between full and half hours or for other purposes.
In the arrangement shown in Figure 7, the plug 22~ is inserted so that at the time associated with the slot which accommodates the plug it supplies a data value associated with the contact surfaces 31' and 43 and a data value associated with the contact surfaces 40, 41, and the other inserted plug 22'' supplies data values defined by the contact surface pairs 31', 43 and 40, 42 at the time correspcnding to the plug positions; the two data values can be utilized separately of each other, or they can be compared by means ~0 7 8~S5 of a comparator and in the last-mentioned case a signal is given only if both data values occur simultaneously.
Figure 8 shows the front side 50 and the rear side 51 of a further form of circuit board 10 ". ~he first contact surfaces 31 " situated on the front side 50 are divided into three groups of eight narked 52 to 54, the contact surfaces of which are connected to only eight leads - 55, as shown, so that the nth contacts (n = 1, 2 - 8) of the contact groups 52, 53, 54 are each simultaneously energized. This circuit board 10" can also be associated with a time switching device for raising and lowering the room temperature, as described below. One plug each of two different kinds (red and blue) is symbolized by its contacts, conductors and diodes and is designated 66 or 67.
Advantageously, the conductors 55 can be connected successively to a negative voltage by an interrogation circuit operating with a cycle of eight hours, so that the interrogation changeover from one conductor 55 to another conductor 55 takes place at intervals of one hour. ~he twenty four first contact surfaces ~1'' can then correspond to the full 24 hours of a day. At a distance above each contact surface group 52, 53, 54, the front side 50 of each circuit board 10'' is provided with an elongated second contact surface 56, 57, 58, each of which extends over the length of the associated contact group 52, 53, 54 and is connected to a respective conductor 59 in such a way that a positive voltage is connected to the contact surface 56 during the first eight hours, to the second contact 107~3~55 surface 57, during the second eight hours, and to the contact surface 58 during the last eight hours of the day, the respective contact surfaces being switched off for the remainder of the time.
All plugs 66, 67, each of which has three contact fingers for contacting the front side and rear side 50, 51 of the circuit board 10', can be inserted to an identical depth in the slots of a transverse plate, not shown. The contacts 59 ', 60 of two of the said contact fingers of the relevant plug 66, 67 bear upon a first contact surface 31'' and on a second contact surface 56, 57 or 58 and are connected to each other by means of a diode 6~. The contact 69 of the third contact finger of a red plug 66 bears on a second contact surface 61 of the rear side 51 of a device for initiating a temperature increase, whereas the third contact finger of a blue plug 67 bears on a second contact surface 62 which is provided for initiating a temperature reduction.
Each contact 69 is connected to the associated contact 60 by means of a diode 64.
~he contact surfaces 61, 62 extend along the longi-tudinal direction of the circuit board, are parallel to each other, and extend over the length of all first contact groups 52, 5~, 54 and are separated therefrom by the insulating support plate of the circuit board 10''. The two contact surfaces 61, 62 can be constantly connected to negative voltages. ~he cyclic energization of the conductors 55 and 59 is performed by means of a multiplexer 70 which has a clock. A comparator 71 w~ich ensures that a signal for 1078~55 the relevant switching function is delivered to the relevant switch only if the first contact surface 31'' is connected to voltage by themultiplever 7 is also provided, since the contact surfaces 61, 62 are constantly energized.
With the illustrated programme memory, it is possible to plug only time intervals of at least eight hours, as incorrect switching functions would otherwise occur. ~his is normally fully adequate for time switching devices used in building heating systems.
If it is required to plug time 1ntervals shorter than eight hours, it is possible to allocate twelve hours of the day to the circuit board 10'' and to provide a second such circuit board 10'' for the second twelve hours and/or, as in the embodiment illustrated in Figures 1 to 6, to provide four second contact surfaces on the rear side of the circuit board, which contact surfaces are alternately and in pairs connected to the voltages at a predefined time cycle.
Alternatively, each of the two second contact surfaces 61, 62 can be subdivided, for example into six contact surfaces of identical length, each next-but-one contact surface of each such contact surface row being connected to a potential during the interrogation of the first contact surfaces 31 "
associated therewith and the other contact surfaces of the said two contact surface rows are connected to the potential
2~ during the intervening time intervals. ~urther subdivision of such second contact surfaces is of course possible if the progr~mme is to allow even shorter time intervals.
Alternately, an AND-network can be incorporated into each plug, which will permit the triggering of a switching function only if its two conductors leading to a first contact surface 31 " and to a second contact surface 61 or 62 are simultaneously energized. Other facilities are of course also possible.
Alternately, an AND-network can be incorporated into each plug, which will permit the triggering of a switching function only if its two conductors leading to a first contact surface 31 " and to a second contact surface 61 or 62 are simultaneously energized. Other facilities are of course also possible.
Claims (21)
EXCLUSIVE PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS
FOLLOWS:
1. A programme memory manually programmable by means of plugs, including at least one circuit board provided with a plurality of first electric contact surfaces which are arranged adjacent to one another in at least one row along the longitudinal extent of the circuit board, and at least one second contact surface which extends in the longitudinal direction of said circuit board, said memory further including, opposite one edge of the circuit board, a transverse plate oriented transversely to said circuit board and having a row of slots for the or each circuit board which slots receive the plugs, each plug having interconnected electrical contacts for electrical connection to at least one first and at least one second contact surface of the circuit board.
2. A programme memory according to claim 1, characterized in that the contact surfaces of the circuit board can be connected to a cyclic interrogation circuit which interrogates all combinations of first and second contact surfaces which can be plugged by means of the plug and responds to the plugged contact combination.
3. A programme memory according to claim 2, characterized in that the interrogation circuit interrogates cyclically through time-control by means of a clock.
4. A programme memory according to claim 1, characterized in that all the first contact surfaces are disposed on one side of the circuit board and at least one second contact surface is disposed on the other side of the circuit board.
5. A programme memory according to claim 1, characterized in that a single row of first contact surfaces is disposed on the circuit board.
6. A programme memory according to claim 1, characterized in that at least one second contact surface, which extends alongside a plurality of first contact surfaces, is provided on the same side of the circuit board as and above a row of first contact surfaces.
7. A programme memory according to claim 1, characterized in that at least one second contact surface extends over the length of the row of first contact surfaces.
8. A programme memory according to claim 1, characterized in that each plug has oppositely disposed fingers and in use at least one finger touches one side and at least one second finger touches the other side of the circuit board and at least one finger is an electric contact finger.
9. A programme memory according to claim 8, characterized in that the plug has two contact fingers which are electrically connected to each other by means of a diode.
10. A programme memory according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that the plug has three contact fingers of which one contact finger is connected by means of diodes to the other two contact fingers.
11. A programme memory according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that at least one plug has two pairs of contact fingers.
12. A programme memory according to claim 1, characterized in that the slot length of the slots of at least one slot row of the transverse plate varies periodically from slot to slot and in that each plug has a number of steps, offset relative to each other in the longitudinal direction of the plug, and corresponding to the number of different slot lengths and the said steps define respective different insertion depths of the plug, depending on the length of the relevant slot.
13. A programme memory according to claim 1, characterized in that the first contact surfaces are elongated and extend with their length transversely to the longitudinal direction of the circuit board.
14. A programme memory according to claim 1, characterized in that the contact surface of the circuit board are directed connected to electrically conductive terminal contact surfaces which are also situated on the circuit board, and in that the circuit board can be inserted into retaining means with contacts which, when the circuit board is in the inserted position, contact the electric terminal surfaces of the circuit board for the purpose of establishing plug-in contact.
15. A programme memory according to claim 1, in a time switching device, in which at least one circuit board is used for programming over a period of 24 hours and time switching operations can be programmed only at pre-defined times, and a first contact surface is provided for each programmable time.
16. A programme memory according to claim 15, characterized in that a circuit board which can be cyclically driven by an interrogating circuit is provided for each of the seven days of the week.
17. A programme memory according to claim 1, characterized in that the first contact surfaces are divided into several groups which are associated with successive time intervals of equal length, that each of such groups is associated with a respective second contact surface extending over its length, that each such contact surface can be energized only during the time interval associated with the relevant group, that the circuit board is provided with a number of distribution conductors corresponding to the number of first contact surfaces of each group, and that each such distribution conductor is connected to a respective first contact surface of all the of groups.
18. A programme memory according to claim 1, characterized by the provision of at least two second contact surfaces for triggering different instructions.
19. A programme memory according to claim 1, characterized in that the first contact surfaces are divided into pairs which correspond to successive times, that the two first contact surfaces of the individual pairs are directly connected to each other on the circuit board and that for each kind of a triggerable switching function there are provided two second alternately drivable contact surfaces of which the first is switched on at the times associated with the first contact surfaces of the first contact surface pairs and the other is switched on at the times associated with the second contact surface of the first contact surface pairs.
20. A programme memory according to claim 1, characterized in that differently constructed plugs are provided for storing different switching functions.
21. A programme memory according to claim 1, characterized in that a first group of plugs is provided with contact fingers which are longer than the contact fingers of at least one other group of plugs.
Applications Claiming Priority (1)
| Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
|---|---|---|---|
| DE19762647829 DE2647829A1 (en) | 1976-10-22 | 1976-10-22 | MANUALLY PROGRAMMABLE PROGRAM MEMORY |
Publications (1)
| Publication Number | Publication Date |
|---|---|
| CA1078055A true CA1078055A (en) | 1980-05-20 |
Family
ID=5991135
Family Applications (1)
| Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| CA289,200A Expired CA1078055A (en) | 1976-10-22 | 1977-10-21 | Manually programmable programme memory |
Country Status (12)
| Country | Link |
|---|---|
| US (1) | US4164665A (en) |
| JP (1) | JPS5353233A (en) |
| BE (1) | BE859978A (en) |
| CA (1) | CA1078055A (en) |
| CH (1) | CH627865A5 (en) |
| DE (1) | DE2647829A1 (en) |
| DK (1) | DK462877A (en) |
| FR (1) | FR2368748A1 (en) |
| GB (1) | GB1544060A (en) |
| IT (1) | IT1087566B (en) |
| NL (1) | NL7711235A (en) |
| SE (1) | SE422379B (en) |
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| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DE2914611C2 (en) * | 1979-04-11 | 1985-07-18 | Alois Dipl.-Ing.Dr.-Ing. 7036 Schönaich Knoll | Program memory that can be programmed manually using tabs |
| DE3012579A1 (en) * | 1980-04-01 | 1981-10-08 | Walter Dipl.-Kfm. Zimmermann | VERSATILE DISTRIBUTION LEVEL |
| JPS58204918A (en) * | 1982-05-24 | 1983-11-29 | Honda Motor Co Ltd | Radiator for motorcycle |
| FR2530084A1 (en) * | 1982-07-09 | 1984-01-13 | Socapex | Connecting element for an interconnection bar, and interconnection system comprising such elements |
| US6751109B2 (en) | 2001-10-31 | 2004-06-15 | Mobility Electronics, Inc. | Dual input AC/DC/ battery operated power supply |
| US6700808B2 (en) | 2002-02-08 | 2004-03-02 | Mobility Electronics, Inc. | Dual input AC and DC power supply having a programmable DC output utilizing a secondary buck converter |
| US6643158B2 (en) * | 2001-10-31 | 2003-11-04 | Mobility Electronics, Inc. | Dual input AC/DC to programmable DC output converter |
| US6650560B2 (en) | 2001-12-03 | 2003-11-18 | Mobility Electronics, Inc. | Dual input AC and DC power supply having a programmable DC output utilizing single-loop optical feedback |
| US6903950B2 (en) * | 2001-12-03 | 2005-06-07 | Mobility Electronics, Inc. | Programmable power converter |
| US6791853B2 (en) * | 2001-12-03 | 2004-09-14 | Mobility Electronics, Inc. | Dual input AC/DC power converter having a programmable peripheral power hub module |
| FR2844641B1 (en) * | 2002-09-16 | 2004-10-22 | Valeo Electronique Sys Liaison | WIRING ASSEMBLY AND CORRESPONDING CONNECTOR |
| US9153960B2 (en) | 2004-01-15 | 2015-10-06 | Comarco Wireless Technologies, Inc. | Power supply equipment utilizing interchangeable tips to provide power and a data signal to electronic devices |
| US8213204B2 (en) | 2009-04-01 | 2012-07-03 | Comarco Wireless Technologies, Inc. | Modular power adapter |
| US8354760B2 (en) | 2009-10-28 | 2013-01-15 | Comarco Wireless Technologies, Inc. | Power supply equipment to simultaneously power multiple electronic device |
| DE102015213744A1 (en) * | 2015-07-21 | 2017-01-26 | Ellenberger & Poensgen Gmbh | power distribution |
| CN115669230B (en) * | 2020-05-27 | 2023-06-30 | 株式会社明电舍 | High voltage generator and X-ray generator |
Family Cites Families (3)
| Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US3223957A (en) * | 1963-07-22 | 1965-12-14 | John W Cannon | Three-dimensional plugboard circuit selector |
| US3670207A (en) * | 1970-09-25 | 1972-06-13 | William A Seabury | Modular matrix with plug interconnection |
| US4085434A (en) * | 1972-10-30 | 1978-04-18 | Stevens Carlile R | Traffic control system |
-
1976
- 1976-10-22 DE DE19762647829 patent/DE2647829A1/en not_active Withdrawn
-
1977
- 1977-10-13 NL NL7711235A patent/NL7711235A/en not_active Application Discontinuation
- 1977-10-14 IT IT28634/77A patent/IT1087566B/en active
- 1977-10-15 CH CH1257177A patent/CH627865A5/en not_active IP Right Cessation
- 1977-10-17 GB GB43128/77A patent/GB1544060A/en not_active Expired
- 1977-10-17 SE SE7711640A patent/SE422379B/en unknown
- 1977-10-18 DK DK462877A patent/DK462877A/en not_active Application Discontinuation
- 1977-10-21 CA CA289,200A patent/CA1078055A/en not_active Expired
- 1977-10-21 BE BE181948A patent/BE859978A/en unknown
- 1977-10-21 JP JP12588677A patent/JPS5353233A/en active Pending
- 1977-10-21 FR FR7731759A patent/FR2368748A1/en active Granted
- 1977-10-25 US US05/844,846 patent/US4164665A/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
Also Published As
| Publication number | Publication date |
|---|---|
| CH627865A5 (en) | 1982-01-29 |
| NL7711235A (en) | 1978-04-25 |
| GB1544060A (en) | 1979-04-11 |
| SE422379B (en) | 1982-03-01 |
| DK462877A (en) | 1978-04-23 |
| JPS5353233A (en) | 1978-05-15 |
| US4164665A (en) | 1979-08-14 |
| DE2647829A1 (en) | 1978-04-27 |
| SE7711640L (en) | 1978-04-23 |
| FR2368748A1 (en) | 1978-05-19 |
| BE859978A (en) | 1978-02-15 |
| IT1087566B (en) | 1985-06-04 |
| FR2368748B3 (en) | 1980-10-31 |
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Legal Events
| Date | Code | Title | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| MKEX | Expiry | ||
| MKEX | Expiry |
Effective date: 19970520 |