The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Oct. 13, 1987
Filed:
Aug. 06, 1986
Harold L Kabb, Buffalo Grove, IL (US);
John R Flint, Barrington, IL (US);
Gary B Videlock, Foxborough, MA (US);
Ishfaq A Niazi, Des Plaines, IL (US);
Kenneth L Hendrickson, Glenview, IL (US);
Gary S Slutsky, Evanston, IL (US);
Stuart F Schwalb, Buffalo Grove, IL (US);
John J Carroll, Elmhurst, IL (US);
Paul H Friedrich, Glenview, IL (US);
Bell & Howell Company, Chicago, IL (US);
Abstract
A distributed processor control system for use with a microimage recording apparatus includes a system control unit, a machine control unit and an operator control unit. The system control unit includes a microprocessor that provides supervisory or master control for the overall distributed control system. The machine control unit includes at least one microprocessor for controlling the operations of a plurality of electromechanical components within the microimage recording apparatus in response to commands and parameters provided by the system control unit and for providing status and error information and requests to the system control unit. The operator control unit includes a microprocessor for controlling the display of operational status and error indications and messages for viewing by an operator and for receiving manual operator entries for enabling normal operation of and diagnostics for the microimage recording apparatus. A shared memory device is utilized for bidirectional communications between the system control unit and the machine control unit. An asynchronous, bidirectional serial link enables bidirectional data transfer between the system control unit and the operator control unit.