Patent · US Expired

Programmable control circuit for controlling the on-off operation of an indicator device

US4595978A · kind A · utility

15Cited by
19References
24Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventor

Key dates

Filing dateOct 2, 1985
Grant dateJun 17, 1986
Priority date
Expiry dateOct 2, 2005

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG05B2219/25284
  • WIPO fieldControl
  • WIPO sectorInstruments

Abstract

Although TTL-PROMs possess many advantages over their CMOS-PROM counterparts, their use in controlling on-off operations of indicators such as flashing navigational lights has been limited when battery power is required due to the high power consumption of such TTL-PROMs. Accordingly, a programmable control circuit is provided which includes a TTL-PROM together with a plurality of lower power consumption CMOS units and which minimizes the power consumption of the TTL-PROM. The TTL-PROM has a plurality of memory cells programmed with a plurality of code words. A CMOS addressing means is coupled to this PROM to generate address words to address the memory cells. This addressing serves to activate the PROM to output the appropriate code words in a parallel format. A CMOS parallel-series converter is coupled to receive the parallel format code words from the PROM and convert these to a serial code output signal. This serial code output signal is then used to drive the indicator device. In particular, in order to reduce the power consumption of the overall system, an intermittent power-up circuit is coupled to the PROM for powering the PROM on only during periods when it is necessary to…

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.