Other

Mfe Corporation

Frank H Banks

John D Knight

Andrew L Mitchell

Barry S Sunray

Robert A DeFrancesco

Robert D Shapiro

An automatic reorder and alarm system for use with residential fuel-oil tanks which sends reorder and alarm data to a central station over the direct-dial telephone network when the fuel-oil level in the tank falls below a predetermined value or when an alarm situation, such as low temperature, occurs at the tank location. An inexpensive sensor/sending unit located at each customer tank includes a simple sensor which mounts on either the tank or an existing fuel-oil level gauge, a microcontroller circuit and a modem circuit. The microcontroller circuit uses a simple low-stability oscillator as a reference for internal operations and for modem transmission frequencies. Because the oscillator frequency cannot be precisely determined due to component tolerances and has a substantial amount of drift, a special data transmission format is used for data transmission over the telephone lines between the microcontroller and the central station. The data format consists of a selected pattern of mark and space signals in which each mark signal consists of a predetermined number of cycles of an oscillating signal whose frequency is determined by the internal modem oscillator and each space signal is an equivalent time period without a signal. At the receiver the bit time duration is determined by averaging bit times in a predetermined bit pattern header.

Residential fuel-oil level reporting and alarm system

A drive for a magnetic tape cassette. Edge and corner blocks mounted on a planar frame receive the leading edge of a magnetic tape cassette adjacent the corners thereof and position the cassette with respect to drive spindles which engage tape reels in the cassette and to a transducer located with respect to the blocks. The cassette has a notch offset from the center in the railing edge thereof. In one of two operating positions of the cassette, the notch registers with a switch, so the switch is not actuated. In the other position, the bottom surface of the cassette actuates the switch. A second switch registers with a selectively plugged recess in the trailing edge of the cassette thereby to enable or disable writing operations. A light source, disposed in the frame, transmits light along a first axis toward a detector housing. A prism in the housing intercepts and redirects the light toward a photosensitive detector. The tape interrupts the light beam except when an aperture in the tape passes the detector.

Tape cassette drive

Growing community of inventors

Wakefield, MA, United States of America

Frank H Banks