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:
Dec. 14, 1993
Filed:
Jan. 03, 1992
Walter E Warn, Knighdale, NC (US);
Progressive International Electronics, Raleigh, NC (US);
Abstract
The present invention relates to a fuel pump control system for controlling fuel dispensers through a PC-based POS terminal. The system includes a printed circuit board which can be inserted in an expansion slot in the PC for controlling the fuel dispensers. The system uses a microprocessor with read-only-memory and read-and-write-memory. A series of commands are stored in the ROM for controlling the dispensers during the fueling process. A configuration circuit translates and configures the communication protocol of the pump control system and the communication protocol of the dispensers allowing them to interact. Response data from the dispenser during the fueling process is stored in the RAM. The pump control system is interfaced to the POS application software in the POS. In a preferred embodiment, the flow of data between the microprocessor in the pump controller and the microprocessor in the PC-based POS is controlled by a terminate-stay-resident driver. The system allows the POS application software program to integrate pump control with other features as cash register, card authorization, inventory control, and related. The present invention is particularly well suited for use in open-platform PC-based POS systems, can accommodate customized POS application programs.