Apparatus for monitoring dispension of liquid

Claim 2

Apparatus for metering the equivalent monetary value of a quantity of liquid dispensed by means of a tap, and having a switch the states of which representing tap opening and closing, comprising: first means providing clock pulses at a particular rate; second means connected for counting clock pulses in response to a tap open switch state, and providing first, second and third count state signals respectively in representation of the end of a first metered delay period of time, the end of a second period of time corresponding to counting the monetary equivalent value of a particular quantity of liquid that has not completely flow through the open tap by the time of the second count state signal, and the end of a third period of time prior to which the quantity has been dispensed; third means connected to the second means and responsive to a tap closing switch state when occuring prior to the first or subsequent to the second but prior to the third count state signals, for resetting and disabling the second means until the next tap open switch state, further responsive to the third count state signal for resetting the second means to continue counting and providing of the count state signals on a repetitive basis; and fourth means connected to operate in parallel to the second means for cumulatively tallying clock pulses in between the first and second count states.

Claim 3

Apparatus as in claim 1, including fifth means connected to count operating cycles of the second and third means upon uninterrupted tap opening, and operating the second means after counting a predetermined number of cycles, and inhibiting the resetting of the second means for obtaining additional, fourth and fifth count state signals by the second means respectively (a) in representation of counting the monetary equivalent of a second particular quantity of liquid that has not completely flown through the open tap by the time of the fourth count state signal, and (b) in representation of counting to the end of a period prior to which the second particular quantity has been dispensed; sixth means included in the third means for causing the fourth means to operate up to the fourth count state signal, resetting and disabling the second and fifth means when the tap closed switch state occurs prior to the fifth count state signal; seventh means included in the third means for resetting the second and fifth means for continued counting operation in response to occurrence of the fifth count state signal.

Claim 4

Apparatus for metering the equivalent monetary value of a quantity of liquid dispensed by means of a tap, and having a switch the states of which representing tap opening and closing, comprising: first means providing clock signals in representation of monetary units, at a rate higher than the monetary equivalent rate of flow of liquid through the tap when open; second means including first resettable counter means connected to the first means and enabled upon a first switch state representing a tap opening, for counting the clock pulses; third means including a first decoder connected to the first counter means, for disabling the first counter means in response to a first count state by the first counter means; fourth means including second resettable counter means connected to the first means aNd enabled in response to the first switch state; fifth means including a second decoder connected to the second counter means for responding to a second count state that occurs later than the first count state as monitored by the first decoder, the fifth means connected to reset the first and second counter means upon change in switch state corresponding to a tap closing prior to reaching of the second count state the fifth means recycling the first and second counter means through count state zero and causing the first and second counter means to resume counting upon persistence of the first switch state up to the second count state; and an accumulating, tally counter connected to operate in parallel to the first counter means.

Claim 5

Apparatus for metering the equivalent monetary value of a quantity of liquid dispensed by means of a tap, and having a switch the states of which representing tap opening and closing, comprising: first means providing clock signals in representation of monetary units, at a rate higher than the monetary equivalent rate of flow of liquid through the tap when open; second means including first resettable counter means connected to the first means and enabled upon a first switch state representing a tap opening, for counting the clock pulses; third means including a first decoder connected to the first counter means, for disabling the first counter means in response to a first count state by the first counter means; fourth means including second resettable counter means connected to the first means aNd enabled in response to the first switch state; fifth means including a second decoder connected to the second counter means for responding to a second count state that occurs later than the first count state as monitored by the first decoder, the fifth means connected to reset the first and second counter means upon change in switch state corresponding to a tap closing prior to reaching of the second count state the fifth means recycling the first and second counter means through count state zero and causing the first and second counter means to resume counting upon persistence of the first switch state up to the second count state; and an accumulating, tally counter connected to operate in parallel to the first counter means.

Claim 6

Apparatus as in claim 3, including a third resettable counter connected to count cycles of operation of the second through fifth means and overriding the setting as controlled by the fifth means upon persistence of the first switch state so that the first and second counter means continue to count, for the tally counter to be incremented by an additional particular amount and for the second decoder to provide an additional count state signal operating parallel to the second count state signal, the fifth means connected to obtain resetting of the first, second and third counter means upon change in switch state corresponding to a tap closing prior to providing of the additional count state signal by the second decoder.

Claim 7

Apparatus for metering the equivalent monetary value of a quantity of liquid dispensed by means of a tap and having a switch, the states of which representing tap opening and closing, comprising: first means providing clock pulses at a particular rate; second means connected for counting clock pulses in response to a tap open switch state and providing a particular signal beginning subsequent to tap opening and ending after a variable period for dispensing a particular quantity of liquid has elapsed; Third means responsive to occurrence of a tap closing switch state during providing of the particular signal for resetting and disabling the second means, thereby prematurely terminating the particular signal; fourth means connected to be responsive to ending of the particular signal without prior occurrence of the tap closing switch state, for recycling the second means; and; a tally counter connected for counting clock pulses, the tally counter discontinuing tallying upon occurrence of the particular signal, for tallying monetary value of a particular quantity of liquid that has not been dispensed completely at the beginning of the particular signal, tallying being considerably faster than the equivalent monetary flow rate of the liquid through the open tap.

Claim 8

Apparatus for metering the equivalent monetary value of a quantity of liquid dispensed by means of a tap and having a switch, the states of which representing tap opening and closing, comprising: first means providing clock pulses at a particular rate; second means connected for counting clock pulses in response to a tap open switch state and providing a particular signal beginning subsequent to tap opening and ending after a variable period for dispensing a particular quantity of liquid has elapsed; Third means responsive to occurrence of a tap closing switch state during providing of the particular signal for resetting and disabling the second means, thereby prematurely terminating the particular signal; fourth means connected to be responsive to ending of the particular signal without prior occurrence of the tap closing switch state, for recycling the second means; and; a tally counter connected for counting clock pulses, the tally counter discontinuing tallying upon occurrence of the particular signal, for tallying monetary value of a particular quantity of liquid that has not been dispensed completely at the beginning of the particular signal, tallying being considerably faster than the equivalent monetary flow rate of the liquid through the open tap.