Stand-alone cumulative elapsed-time calculating system

A method for calculating, on an individual basis, elapsed time between an individual's first and second use of a time recordation system, for cumulating individual elapsed time for successive uses of said system and for recording said cumulative elapsed time on a portable recording medium comprising the steps of

• a. extracting data from said portable recording medium,
• b. using said data to calculate, in a first mode, the time difference between said first and second uses of said system to thereby generate first data representing a measure of elapsed time,
• c. using said first data and further data extracted from said recording medium to calculate, in a second mode, a measure of cumulative elapsed time for successive uses of the system to provide second data, and
• d. recording said second data on said portable recording medium.

In a time recordation system for recording data related to hours worked by an employee over a pre-selected time period

• a portable recording medium having data recording areas for recording data including transaction data for indicating entry and exit transactions, time data, and cumulative elapsed time data representing the previous total number of hours worked over said time period,
• switchable means, with which said recording medium may be placed in physical association, operative in a first mode to extract the data recorded on said recording medium, operative in a second mode to record data on said medium,
• storage means for storing the extracted data,
• control means responsive to stored transaction data for initiating a first control sequence whenever said transaction data indicates an entry transaction and for initiating a second control sequence whenever said transaction data indicates an exit transaction, and
• processing means controlled by said control means in accordance with the first control sequence initiated by said control means to provide modified time data to said switchable means for recording on said recording medium for use in the next exit transaction, said processing means being controlled by said control means in accordance with said second control sequence for using the time data for computing the elapsed time between the last entry and the current exit to provide elapsed time data, and for using said elapsed time data and the stored cumulative elapsed time data in providing modified data, representing cumulative hours worked, to said switchable means for recording on said recording medium.

A method of cumulating elapsed time for an individual's successive uses of a time recordation system for recording on a portable recording medium comprising the steps of

• a. extracting data related to the last use of the system from said medium,
• b. selecting a first mode of processing whenever the individual is entering a work facility,
• c. selecting a second mode of processing whenever the individual is leaving a work facility,
• d. initiating a first control sequence whenever said first mode is selected,
• e. initiating a second control sequence whenever said second mode is selected,
• f. processing said extracted data whenever said second sequence is initiated to provide further data representing elapsed time between the last entry of the work facility and the current exit from the work facility and using said further data and said extracted data in obtaining data representing cumulative elapsed time for successive uses of the system, and
• g. recording the modified data on said medium for use in obtaining further modified data at the time of the next exit from said work facility.

In a time recordation system for recording data related to hours worked by an employee over a pre-selected time period, a portable recording medium having a first recording area for recording transaction data for indicating entry and exit transactions, a second recording area for recording cumulative elapsed time data representing the previous number of hours worked during said pre-selected time, and a third recording area for recording time data indicating the time of the last transaction, switchable means with which said recording medium may be placed in physical association, and operative in a first mode to extract data from said recording medium, storage means for storing the extracted data, control means for initiating an entry transaction control sequence whenever said transaction data indicates an entry transaction, and for initiating an exit transaction control sequence whenever said transaction data indicates an exit transaction, timing means for providing reference data representing the current time, and processing means controlled by said control means to be operable when said exit transaction control sequence is initiated to subtract said time data from said reference data to provide elapsed time data representing the time difference between the last entry transaction and the current exit transaction, and to add said elapsed time data to said cumulative elapsed time data to provide modified data representing the current total number of hours worked, said switchable means being operative in a second mode to record said modified data on said recording medium in said third area.