Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
" 1077171
! BACRGROUND OF T~E INVENTION
The present invention relates to postal meters
and more particularly to an electronic postal meter having
an improved, noise-rejecting input/output channel.
Electronic postal meters have been developed
utilizing microprocessors as a part of the meter control
unit. Data and instructions may be entered into the control
unit for such meters through keyboard devices. The resultq
of calculations, requests for more information and error
messages may be presented to an operator on an output ,
- printer or on a CRT display unit. Units such as the key- -
board, the printer and the CRT display, generally described
as input/output devices may be located at some distance from
the meter control unit and the meter mechanism controlled by
that unit, requiring some form of communications channel
between the input/output devices and the meter control
unit. Heretofore, the communications channel consisted
of direct electrical connections in the form of electrical
cables or leads between the computer control and the input~
output devices.
!. Postal meters are generally located in the
vicinity of other electrical machines which, du~ing opera-
; ~ tion, may produce extraneous electric fields. Such
extraneous electric fields may induce noise voltages in
nearby electrical apparatus and particularly in cableR
or leads. Where the apparatus operates with low signal
voltages, as is the case for a microprocessor, induced noise
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voltages may cause the apparatus to misinterpret and
erroneously act upon incoming information.
! Moreover, postal meters are most likely to be
found in pusiness offices. Since many business offices
are carpeted, users of postal meters may build up a
static electric charge simply in walking to the meter.
Nhen the user touches the keyboard or other input unit,
the static electrical discharge may temporarily cause
a controlling microprocessor to malfunction or to mis-
interpret incoming data.
Shielded cables have been used to shield elec-
trical connectors from extraneous electric fields.
However, such shielded cables do not solve another
, .
problems; i.e, the effect of an electrical malfunction
- - 15 or voltage surge generated in an input/output device
such as a keyboard. When a malfunction occurs or a
voltage surge takes place in such a device, the voltage
may be transmitted directly to the microprocessor
control. Voltage surges may disrupt microprocessor
operation or even destroy microprocessor circuitry.
Moreover, it is possible for a remote postal
meter to be disconnected from one input/output device
and reconnected to another. Where the meter and the
control unit are directly connected, a faulty re-
connection may cause damaging voltages to be appliedto the meter.
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SUMM~RY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention is used in a postal
meter having a postage printer therein, a control means
for generating printer-setting signals to be applied
to the postage printer and input/output means for
providing information in the form of electrical signals
to and :Eor receiving information in the same form from
the control means. The invention relates to an improved
inputtoutput channel linking the control means and
the input/output means, the channel including: a first
electrical-to-optical transducer having an input from
the control means for generating optical signals as a
function of electrical signals provided by the control
means; a second electrical-to-optical transducer having
an input from the input/output means for generating
optical signals as a function of electrical signals
provided by the input/output means; a first optical-to-
electrical transducer connected to the input/output
~ . means for converting optical signals generated in the
- 20 first electrical-to-optical transducer to electrical
: signals usable in the input/output means; a second
optical-to-electrical transducer connected to the control
means for converting optical signals generated in the
second electrical-to-optical transducer to electrical
signals usable in the control means; and a first light-
transmitting fiber having one end adjacent the first
electrical-to-optical transducer and the other end
adjacent the first optical-to-electrical transducer and
a second light-transmitting fiber having one end adjacent
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1077~71
the second electrical-to-optical transducer and the
other end adjacent the second optical-to-electrical
transducer for transmitting the optical signals from
each of the electrical-to-optical transducers to an
associated one of the optical-to-electrical transducers.
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, DESCRIPTION OF T~E DRAWINGS
i
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While the specification concludes with claims
part'icularly pointing out and distinctly claiming that
which is regarded as the present invention, details OT-
5 a preferred embodiment of the invention may be more
readily ascertained from the following detailed descrip-
J . tion when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings
wherein:
. . I
FIGURE 1 is a general bloc~ diagram of a system
. 10 which may include the invention;
,: FIGURE 2 is a more detailed block diagram of
; the system;
FIGURE 3 is a detailed block diagram of the
¦ control means for the postal meter;
¦ 15 FIGURE 4 is a perspective of the postal printing
mechanism driven by the control means;
FIGURE 5 is a detailed schematic diagram of the
. interface between the control means and the postal printing
mechanism; and
.. 20 FIGURE 6 is a schematic diagram of a preferred
embodiment of the improved ~oise-rejecting input/output
ch-nnel.
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: 1077171
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION
Referring now to FIGURE 1, a postal meter 10 is
linked to an input/output unit 12 through an input/output
channel 14. Postal meter 10 is an electronic device in
5 which the contents of the ascending and descending reg-
isters, among others, are stored electronically. Postal
meter 10 accepts data and instructions sent to it through
the input/output channel 14 from the-input/output unit 12. In
turn, postal meter 10 provides signals to the input/output
10 unit 12 through channel 14 representing the results of
calcuiations, requests for further instructions and error
messages.
Input/output unit 12 may include a keyboard for
! entering data and instructions into the system and a
¦ 15 printer or CRT display for presenting the results of
¦ calculations, instruction requests and error messages
to an operator. While unit 12 is represented as a
single device, the input and output sections of unit
~ 12 obviously could be physically-independent units.
20 Input/output channel 14, which will be described in
more detail later, is highly immune to noise voltages
generated outside the system and also acts to prevent
' the transmission of voltage surges from one of the
units to the other.
Referring now to FIGURE 2, the entire sy9tem
is shown in block diagram form. A central processor unit
16 communicates wit4 random access memory 18, output ports
19 and with a memory interface unit 20 which generally
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1077171
controls the flow of data and instructions between central
processor unit 16, read-only memory 22 and a special-
purpose, non-volatile random access memory 24. In a
preferred embodiment of the invention, the components may
be commercially-available solid-state chips. Central
processor unit 16, random access memory 18 and read-
only memory 22 may be one or more 4040, 4002 and 4001
chips, respectively, in a MCS-4 Micro Computer Set avail-
able from Intel Corporation of Santa Clara, California.
Output signals from the central processor unit
16 are transmitted through output ports 19, to meter
setting elements 26, to an input multiplexer 28 and to
the input/output channel 14.
Inputs to the control for postal meter 10 in-
clude both internal and external inputs. The external
inputs are provided by input/output unit 12 through
input/output channel 14 to a buffer system 34. Internal
inputs representing the status of components of a meter
setting mechanism are provided by a meter setting detector
array 30 under the control of multiplexer 28. Multiplexer
; 28 is preferably an Intel 4003 chip. Selected outputs from
detector 30 are applied to buffer system 34. Additional
internal inputs are provided by an interrupt generator
; circuit 32 which applies an interrupt signal to the central
- 25 processor unit 16. The outputs of interrupt generator cir-
cuit 32 are applied to buffer system 34~ Outputs from
buffer system 34 are applied to the memory interface unit
20.
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` ~077I71
The central processor unit 16 performs calcula-
tions using data provided through the input buffer system
34 and instructions stored in read-only memory 22. Read-
only memory 22 serves as a program store for the routine~
and subroutines employed within the meter 10. Random access
memory 18 provides a working memory for the central processor
unit 16. Non-volatile random access memory 24 is a special
purpose memory for operating on and storing the contents of
certain critical registers within the postal meter 10. These
registers include the ascending register which contains the
accumulated total of all postage processed through the
meter 10 and the descending register which stores the amount -.
of funds remaining to be used in the meter 10. Non-volatile
memory 24 is powered with a battery back-up unit to permit
the contents of memory 24 to be saved in the event of a
loss of power in the meter 10. The memory interface chip
20 which controls input/output from non-volatile random
access Memory 24 may be a 4289 chip available from Intel
: Corporation while memory 24 may be a conventional RAM chip .
such.as a MC 14552 (Motorola).
Further details as to the organization of the
postal meter 10 appear in the description relating to
FIGURE 3. The operations of central processor unit 16
are timed by a clock circuit 36 which supplies two trains
of non-overlapping clock pulses 01 and 02 and a reset
signal. These signals are applied to the central
processor unit 16, to memory interface unit 20 and to
a number of random access memory units 38, 40, 42.
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10~'7171
Outputs from an output port 37 associated with
random access memory unit 38 are applied to a pair of
coil select circuits 44, 46 which are used in setting the
one type of postal printing device. The coil select circuits
44 and 46 are connected to a motor select circuit 48 which,
under the control of outputs from an output port 39 asso-
ciated with random access memory unit 40, determines whlch
of the two motors will be energized. Details of the coil
select circuits 44 and 46 and the motor select clrcuit 4&
are provided in a following section of this specification.
Another output from output port 39 controls a test switch
50, which is part of the interrupt generator circuit 32.
The interrupt generator circuit 32 includes a
power sense circuit 52, a meter locked detector 54 and
a print detector 56. The power sense circuit 52 monitors
~; the output of the power supply for the postal meter and
generates an interrupt signal whenever the onset of a
power failure is detected. This interrupt signal triggers
` a computer routine in which the contents of the ascending
and descending registers are updated in the non-volatile
~~ - ~~ ~ - ~andom access memory 24 before the meter shuts down.
The pr~nt detector circuit 56 includes photo-
electric devices for sensing the completion of a mechanical
printing operation by the meter. This information is used
for resetting the computer to enable calculation of new
postal values. The meter locked detector 54 includes
photoelectric devices which sense whether the meter,
itself a relatively small unit, remains attached to
its original, relatively large base. If the meter is
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ren~oved from the base for any reason, an output from
; meter locked detector 54 causes an interrupt signal to be
generated. This interrupt signal is employed to disable
the meter. The outputs of power sense circuit 52, meter
locked detector circuit 54 and print detector circuit 56
are applied both to a NAND circuit 58 and to a logic
buffer 60.
In a preferred embodiment, postal meter 10
employs negative logici that is, a binary "1" is rep-
resented by a negative voltage such as -15 volts whereas
a binary "0" is represented by a more positive voltage
such as ground or zero volts. When any of the outputs
: of the circuits 52, 54, 56 goes to a binary 1 level,
the output of NOR circuit 58 switches to produce an
15 interrupt pulse at an input to the central processor
unit 16. Since the response of the central processor
unit 16 will be different for different ones of the
interrupt signals, the interrupt signals must be applied
as an internal input in the system through the logic
20 buffer 60. Interrupt signals appearing on the output
. . _ of buffer 60 are applied to memory interface unit 20
which, in response to a co~mand from the central processor
unit 16, transfers the interrupt signal to the processor
for decoding.
25- The memory interface unit 20 provides outputs
to a first decoder circuit 62 and a second decoder circuit
64. One input to the second decoder circuit 64 is provided
-- 10 --
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77171
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by the first decoder circuit 62. The decoder circuit 62
and 64 are used in selecting whether non-volatile random
access memory 24, one of several read-only memory units 66,
68, 70, 72 or one of a number of input logic buffers 60,
74, 76 is to be enabled.
A single input to buffer 76 is provided from
the input/output channel 14. Outputs to the input/output
channel 14 are provided by output port 39 associated with
random access memory 40. Logic buffer 74 receives signals
from meter setting detector array 30. There are more
detectors in the detector array 30 than logic buffer 74
can accommodate at one time. A shift register input
multiplexer 28 operating under the control of signals
provided through the output port 41 associated with
random access memory 42 multiplexes the inputs from
detector array 30 to logic buffer 74. Multiplexer
28 may be a 4003 device available from Intel Corpor-
ation.
The postal meter described above represents
one embodiment of a meter for controlling a postal
.. , . . . . . _ . . .
printing mechanism now to be described with refer-
ence to FIGURE 4. In a preferred embodiment, the
mechanism is used to set print wheels contained within
a print drum 78 of a modified Model 5300 postage meter
manufactured by Pitney Bowes, Inc., Stamford, Connec-
ticut. The basic Model 5300 postage meter is a mechan-
ical device with mechanical registers and actuator
assemblies.
-- 11 --
107717'~
The modified meter contains only the print drum 78 and a
set 80 of print wheel driving racks 80a, 80b, 80c, 80d.
All mechanical registers and actuator assemblies have
been removed.
The print wheels (not shown) within print drum
78 are set by a mechanism driven by a first stepping motor
82 and a second stepping motor 84. Signals for controlling
the operation of the stepping motors 82 and 84 are pro-
vided through the output ports 37 and 39 of the control
system. Further details of the connections between the
output ports 37 and 39 and the coils for the stepping
tors 82 and 84 are provided later in the specification.
The stepping motor 82 drives the set 80 of
postal wheel driving racks through a gearing assembly
including upper and lower nested shafts. Only the
upper set of nested shafts of 86a, 86b is shown. The
angular settings of the nested shafts are controlled
by a master gear 88 which may be driven in either a
clockwise or counterclockwise direction by the stepping
motor 82.
` The print drum 78 has four independently-
positioned print wheels (not shown) which provide a
postage impression to the maximum sum of $99.99. Each
print wheel provides a separate digital sum and can be
set from "0" to ~9". The print wheels are sequentially
set by the meter setting mechanism by means of the four
driving racks 80a, 80b, 80c, 80d which are slidable
within a print drum shaft 90 in the directions indicated
by the double-headed arrows 92.
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~07717~
The settings of the upper racks 80a, 80b are
controlled by pinion gears 94a, and 94b, respectively.
The settings of the lower racks 80c and 80d are con-
trolled by a similar set of pinion gears, not shown in
S the drawings.
The pinion gear 94a is connected to the inner
shaft 86a while the pinion gear 94b is connected to the
concentric outer shaft 86b. The pinion gears which
control the settings of driving racks 8bc, 80d are
similarly attached to the lower set of nested shafts,
not shown. The angular positions of the nested shafts
are controlled by shaft-mounted spur gears, of which
only the upper spur gears 96a, 96b are shown.
` The master gear 88 can be shifted laterally
along an axis parallel to the axis of the spur gears,
including gears 96a and 96b, to intermesh with a single
gear at a time. The master gear 88 is rotatably mounted
within a slot 98 in a yoke 100 which slides along a
: splined shaft 102. The yoke 100 is held away from
rotatable engagement wi"h splined shaft 102 by an inter-
posed sleeve bushing 104. The yoke 100 includes a pair
of upper and lower tooth troughs located on the upper
and lower surfaces of the yoke 100. Only the upper
tooth trough 106 appears in the drawing. As the yoke
100 and master gear 88 slide laterally along the splined
shaft 102, the upper and lower laterally-extending tooth
troughs entrap a tooth of each of the spur gears. The
tooth troughs prevent rotational movement of any of the
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spur gears other than the spur gear meshed with the master
gear 88.
The lateral position of yoke 100 is controlled
by a stepping motor 84, the output shaft of which carries
5 a splined gear 108. The splined gear 108 meshes with a
rack 110 attached to yoke lOO at an L-shaped lower ex-
tension 112. The rotation of splined gear 108 upon
energization of stepping motor 84 is translated into
lateral movement of yoke 100 through the rack 110 and
10 pinion or splined gear 108. The splined gear 108 also
serves to prevent counter-clockwise rotation of yoke 100
about the axis of shaft 128 of stepping motor 82 during
energization of that motor which might otherwise occur
duè to friction between rotating sleeve bushing 66 and
15 the yoke 100. A roller 114 mounted beneath the L-shaped
extension 112 prevents any clockwise movement of the
yoke 100 about the axis of shaft 12~.
When the print wheels within print drum 78
have been set to the correct postage value position,
drum 78 is rotated by shaft 90 in a direction indicated
by arrow 116 to imprint the postage. The arum 78 is then
returned to a home or rest position sensed by a slotted
disk 118 mounted on shaft 90. When a slot 120 in disk 118
i9 i~terposed between the arms of an ootical detector 122,
the shaft 90 is at its home position.
All optical detectors in the setting mechanism
are basically U-shaped structures having a light emitting
diode located in one arm and a phototransistor located in
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1877171
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the other arm. Light emanating from the light emitting
diode is transmitted to the phototransistor only when
a slot in an interposed disc is aligned with the arms
of the detector.
The home or "0" positions of nested shafts
~2a and 86b are similarly sensed by slotted discs
124a and 124b, respectively, in combination with optical
detectors 126a and 126b. The home or "0" positions of the
lower pair of nested shafts are sensed by similar slotted
discs and optical detectors, none of which are shown in the
drawing.
The shafts and gears are returned to the home
po~ition upon startup of the meter. Subsequent set.ing is
accomplished by stepping the motor 82 through a calculated
- , 15 Dumber of steps using previously-established settings as a
re$erence.
The angular movement of the stepping motor shaft
128 (and consequently splined shaft 102 and master gear 88),
is monitored by means of an assembly of gears 130 and 132,
- 20 slotted monitoring wheel 134 and optical detector 136.
~ ~~ ~ Gear 130 is rigidly mounted on and rotates with the
stepping motor shaft 128. Gear 130 meshes with gear 132
which is attached to and rotates with the slotted moni-
toring wheel 134. Gears 130 and 132 are of the same
diameter and cause slotted monitoring wheel to rotate
; through the same angles of rotation as stepping motor
shaft 128. Each slot on slotted monitoring wheel 134
corresponds to a change of one unit of postage value.
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~077171
Every fifth slot 138 on monitoring wheel 134 is extra long
to provide a check on the monitoring operation. Optical
detector 136 has two photosensors. One of the photosensors
is mounted deeply within the detector; that is, near the
periphery of slotted monitoring wheel 134. The other sensor
is located nearer the center of the slotted monitoring wheel
134. The latter photosensor receives light from an associated
light source on the opposite side of the slotted monitoring
wheel 134 only when the extra long slot 138 is aligned within
the detector. Thus, this photosensor provides an output
every fifth step of the monitoring wheel 134.
The output signals produced-by the other photosen-
' sor are counted in the control system. If a count of five
; is not detected when the extra long slot 138 is aligned
within detector 136, an error condition exists. Similarly,if the extra long slot 138 is not detected when a count of 5
, has been accumulated, an error condition exists.
The lateral position of yoke 100 and master
gear 88 is monitored by a position indicator including
a pair of spaced plates 140 and 142 attached directly
t,o yoke'l00. The plates 140 and 142 include slot
' patterns which are a binary-encoded representations
' of different positions of the yoke relative to optical
; , '' detectors (not shown) which would be attached to a
bracket on stepping motor 84.
Prefèrably, plates 140 and 142 have five or
' more blnary slot patterns identifying an e~ual number
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'1077~71
of lateral positions of the yoke 100. Each of the slot
patterns consists of a unique triplet in which the
presence of the slot in one of the plates 140, 142
is interpreted as a binary 1 while the absence of a
slot in any position where a slot might appear is inter-
preted as a binary 0. The binary indicia for the two
outside positions in each triplet are included in plate
140. The binary indicia for the center position in each
triplet is included in plate 142.
The binary indicia are distributed between
two vertically-aligned plates in one embodiment of the
invention only because available optical detectors are
too bulky to permit three detectors to be placed side-by-
side on the single plate of reasonable size. From a logic
standpoint, thera would be no significance to the fact the
indicia are distributed between two plates. The indicia
would be read and interpreted as if they were contained
on a single plate.
The binary signals produced by the optical
, , ,, 20 detectors associated with plates 140 and 142 are internal
inputs to the postal meter 10. These signals, along
with other signals,, are 2art of the meter setting
detector array 30 shown in block diagram form in
FIGURE 3.
The electrical interconnections of the
stepping motors 82 and 84 with the output ports 37 and
39 are described with reference to FIGURE 5. The
four parallel output leads from output/port 37 are
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1077171
connected to the coil select circuits 44 and 46 for the
stepping motors 82 and 84, respectively. Each of the
stepping motors is a conventional eight-phase stepping
motor, which is rotated in predetermined angular incre-
ments by energizing different combinations of four coils
contained within the motor.
~he coils for stepping motor 82, included
within a coil system 144, are identified as coils
i44a, 144b, 144c and 144d. Similarly, the coil system
146 for motor 84 includes coils 146a, 146b, 146c, 146d.
Each of the individual coils in each motor is connected
in series with a Darlington amplifier. For example,
coil 144a, is connected in series with Darlington amplifier
148a in which the base terminal of a first transistor 150
is connected to output port 37. A second transistor 158 has
a grounded emitter, a base terminal connection to the
emitter of transistor 150 and a collector connected to
the collector of transistor 150. Darlington amplifier
148 is off or nonconducting when the associated output
162 from output port 37 is at a binary 0 or ground
- potential. In this state, the Darlington amplifier
prevents current flow from an associated ground terminal
- 160 through the second transistor 158 and thus
through coil 144a. When the output 161 drops to a
more negative or binary 1 level, the Darlington
amplifier 148a is switched to an on or conducting state.
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~077~71
Darlington amplifiers 148b, 148c, and 148d are
identical to amplifier 148a except for the connections to
different output leads and different motor coils.
, The coils in coil system 146 are similarly
connected in series with Darlington amplifiers 160a,
160b, 160c, 160d. Corresponding coils in each of the
coil systems 144 and 146 are connected to the same
output terminal of output port 37. For example, coils
144b and 146b are connected through respective
Darlington amplifiers 148b and 160b to output 162. A
binary 1 signal on output 162 switches both Darlington
amplifiers 148 and 160b into their on or conducting state.
However, coil current will be established in only the
motor selected by operation of motor se~ect circuit 48.
i 15 Motor select circuit 48 is connected to outputs
from output port 39 and comprises switching circuits 164
and 166 connected in series with coil systems 144 and 146,
respectively.
Switching circuit 164 includes an inverter
amplifier 168 which provides an increased current at
its collector terminal when the input to the amplifier
166 falls to the more-negative binary 1 level. The
output of inverter amplifier 168 is applied to a
Darlington amplifier 170 which, when conducting,
provides a current path from a ground for each of the
coils in coil system 144 to a -24 volt source 172.
The preferred embodiment of the improved input/
output channel which links postal meter 10 and input/
output unit 12 is described in detail with reference
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~07717~
to FIGURE 6. To simplify the drawing, postal meter 10
is shown as including only output port 39 and input
buffer 76. Binary signals to be transmitted to the out-
put section of output unit 12 from postal meter 10 are
. 5 applied in serial fashion to an electrical-to-optical
transducer 173. The signals are applied at the base
terminal of a transistor 174 having a grounded emitter
and a collector connected to the anode of a ligh't-
emitting diode 176. The cathode of diode 176 is
connected to a -15 volt source 178 through a current-
l-imitinq resistor 180.
The light-emitting diode 176 is adjacent one
end of a first light-transmitting fiber 182, the
~pposite end of which is adjacent a phototransistor
184 in a first optical-to-electrical transducer
~ircuit 183.
-The emitter of phototransistor 184 is
~ohnec'ted to one input of a comparator amplifier 186,
the second input to which is provided through a voltage
aiv-ider 188 connecting a ground terminal to a -15 volt ' ,
.. . . . . . ..
, ~ource-192. The:input to the comparator amplifier
-186 provided through the voltage divider 188 establishes
a-threshhold voltage which the output of phototransistor .
184 must exceed before the transistor output will be
read as a binary 1 signal. The threshhold voltage
reduces the chance-that noise voltages generated
within postal meter 10 or either of the transducers
173 or 183 will be interpreted as binary 1 signal voltages.
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Binary signals representing data or instructions to be
input to the postal meter 10 from the input section of
unit 12 are applied to a second electrical-to-optical
transducer circuit 198. The signals are applied at
the base terminal of a transistor 194 in circuit with
a light-emitting diode 196 adjacent one end of a
second light transmitting fiber 200. The opposite
end of fiber 200 is adjacent a phototransistor 202 in
a second optical-to-electrical transducer 204.
Transducer 204, which is identical in construction to
transducer 183, converts the optical signals to electrical
- signals which are applied to one input of buffer circuit
76 of postal meter 10.
Since the input/output information transmitted
through the channel 14 is transmitted in the form of
optical signals and since extraneous electric fields
cannot induce noise voltages in such optical fibers,
the channel 14 effectively resists induction of such noise
voltages. Of course, light-transmitting fibers 182
and 200 must be coated or otherwise shielded from
extraneous light.
Moreover, because the maximum output of the
light emitting diodes is limited, the occurrence of a
voltage surge or a static electrical discharge at
the input/output unit cannot be transmitted at
destructive levels to the postal meter 10. Even a
direct short circuit across one o~ the electrical-to-
optical transducers will not be de~tructive, since the
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~0771~1
output of the optical-to-electrical transducer is also
inherently limited regardless of the intensity of the
optical input.
While there has been described what is con-
idered to be a preferred embodiment of the invention,
variations and modifications therein will occur to those
skilled in the art once they become familiar with the
basic concepts of the invention. Therefore, it is
intended that the appended claims shall be construed
to include all such variations and modifications as
fall within the true spirit and scope of the invention.
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