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US 4,380,698 AGranted
Multiprocessor control bus
AssigneeRoper Corporation
InventorOrville R. Butts
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A control arrangement for a multifunction appliance such as a cooking appliance wherein the control activity is distributed among a plurality of microprocessor based control circuits. In the exemplary embodiment each control circuit is associated with a different function of the appliance. The circuits are physically separated from one another and communicate on data bus lines. Due to the high transient conditions in such an appliance, the communications are in accordance with a redundant protocol to substantially eliminate erroneous data communication. The data bus protocol is devised such that deletion, addition and replacement of control circuits in a system, even to the point of substituting a circuit containing a different type of processor, is possible.
Claims12
A cooking appliance having a plurality of cooking functions performed within a single appliance cabinet including a distributed control arrangement comprising:
- (a) a plurality of microprocessor-based control circuits each associated with a different portion of the appliance control, and each physically located within the appliance cabinet but physically located on different printed circuit boards;
- (b) a multi-line bus arrangement coupling the control circuits to one another, each said control circuit including means for exchanging control information with another said control circuit via the bus, each said control circuit also including means for preventing exchange of invalid data resulting from noise on the bus;
- and
- (c) a user-control system interface physically connected to and in close proximity with the appliance cabinet for manual entry of cooking control data by the user, said interface being the sole source of user-supplied cooking control information,
- in which each microprocessor-based control circuit is associated with a different one of the plurality of cooking functions of the cooking appliance, and
- in which one of the microprocessor-based control circuits is a master circuit with the remainder of the circuits being slave circuits, the slave circuits being operable to transfer information onto the bus only in response to data placed on the bus by the master circuit.
3 more elements
A consumer appliance having a plurality of stations within a single appliance cabinet including a distributed control arrangement comprising:
- (a) a plurality of microprocessor-based control circuits each associated with a different portion of the appliance control, and each physically located within the appliance cabinet but physically located on different printed circuit boards;
- (b) a multi-line bus arrangement coupling the control circuits to one another, each said control circuit including means for exchanging control information with another said control circuit via the bus, each said control circuit also including means for preventing exchange of invalid data resulting from noise on the bus;
- (c) a plurality of control connections, one between each of the control circuits and an associated appliance station;
- and
- (d) a user-control system interface physically connected to and in close proximity with the appliance cabinet for manual entry of cooking control data by the user, said interface being the sole source of usersupplied cooking control information,
- in which each microprocessor-based control circuit is associated with a different one of the plurality of cooking stations of the cooking appliance, and
- in which one of the microprocessor-based control circuits is a master circuit with the remainder of the circuitsbeing slave circuits, the slave circuits being operable to transfer information onto the bus only in response to data placed on the bus by the master circuit.
4 more elements
A cooking appliance having a plurality of cooking functions performed within a single appliance cabinet comprising:
- (a) at least one cooking element activatable in response to control signals;
- (b) a plurality of microprocessor-based control circuits each associated with a different one of said functions, each physically located within the appliance cabinet but physically loacted on different printed circuit boards, and each including means for producing and coupling control signals to a cooking element to perform the associated cooking function;
- (c) a multi-line bus arrangement coupling the circuits to one another, each circuit including means for exchanging control information between the bus and the microprocessor of the circuit, each said control circuit also including means for preventing exchange of invalid data resulting from noise on the bus;
- and
- a user-control system interface physically connected to and in close proximity with the appliance cabinet for manual entry of cooking control data by the user, said interface being the sole source of user-supplied cooking control information,
- in which one of the microprocessor-based control circuits is a master circuit with the remainder of the circuits being slave circuits, the slave circuits being operable to transfer information onto the bus only in response to data placed on the bus by the master circuit.
3 more elements
A cooking appliance having a plurality of cooking functions performed within a single appliance cabinet comprising:
- (a) at least one cooking element activatable in response to control signals;
- (b) a plurality of microprocessor-based control circuits each associated with a different one of said functions, each physically located within the appliance cabinet but physically located on different printed circuit boards, and each including means for producing and coupling control signals to a cooking element to perform the associated cooking function;
- (c) a multi-line bus arrangement coupling the circuits to one another, each circuit including means for exchanging control information between the bus and the microprocessor of the circuit, each said control circuit also including means for preventing exchange of invalid data resulting from noise to the bus;
- and
- (d) a user-control system interface physically connected to and in close proximity with the appliance cabinet for manual entry of cooking control data by the user, said interface being the sole source of user-supplied cooking control information,
- wherein a plurality of the microprocessors have an interrupt input for temporarily suspending background control processing and initiating an exchange of control information, and
- one of the lines in the multi-line bus arrangement is directly connected to the interrupt inputs of a plurality of the microprocessors, so that the exchange of control information to a plurality of the microprocessors may be initiated by an interrupt signal on the bus without interference with the control functions of the interrupted microprocessors,
- wherein a plurality of the lines of the bus interconnect a plurality of the microprocessor-based control circuits in a wired-OR fashion so that additional control circuits may be added to the bus in parallel merely by extending the lines of the bus, and
- wherein one of the microprocessor-based control circuits is a master circuit with the remainder of the control circuits being slave circuits, the slave circuits being operable to transfer information onto the bus only in response to data placed on the bus by the master circuit so that the master can insure that only the slave appropriates the bus at any given time.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.