U.S. patent number RE32,655 [Application Number 06/718,473] was granted by the patent office on 1988-04-26 for electronic calendar and diary.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Kyocera Corporation. Invention is credited to Alfred B. Levine.
United States Patent |
RE32,655 |
Levine |
April 26, 1988 |
**Please see images for:
( Certificate of Correction ) ** |
Electronic calendar and diary
Abstract
An electronic schedule calendar and diary for storing in an
electronic memory a plurality of future calendar appointments and
events for each of a plurality of daily, weekly, or other date
interval periods, and enabling the selective retrieval and
electronic display of said plural appointments and events for any
selected time period. The electronic diary employs manually or
remotely controlled entry of said future appointments and events in
digital form; manually or remotely controlled correction and
updating of said data; and manually controlled retrieval or readout
into a visual electronic display. A time-of-day electronic clock
may also be included together with an automatic alarm for providing
an alarm for each selected appointment or even entered into the
memory. In a systems version, a plurality of electronic diaries are
employed with a central memory or monitor. Each diary is
selectively placed in communication with the central memory for
transfer of data therebetween.
Inventors: |
Levine; Alfred B. (Chevy Chase,
MD) |
Assignee: |
Kyocera Corporation (Kyoto,
JP)
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Family
ID: |
27094744 |
Appl.
No.: |
06/718,473 |
Filed: |
April 1, 1985 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
Issue Date |
|
Reissue of: |
645645 |
Dec 31, 1975 |
04162610 |
Jul 31, 1979 |
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
368/29; 368/251;
368/41; 368/73; 708/110; 968/400; 968/967 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G04B
47/003 (20130101); G06Q 10/109 (20130101); G04G
11/00 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
G06Q
10/00 (20060101); G04B 47/00 (20060101); G04G
11/00 (20060101); G04B 019/24 (); G04B 045/00 ();
G09G 001/02 () |
Field of
Search: |
;368/10,28,29,41-43,72-74,82,239,223,250-251
;340/752,756,760,789,798-799,309.15,309.14 ;364/569,705,710 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Other References
"Information Utilities", R. E. Sprague, Prentice Hall, 1969, pp.
78-101. .
IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin, vol. 15. No. 11, Apr. 1973,
"Wrist Worn Terminal" by C. P. Ludeman and D. H. Straif. .
Tung-Division-"The Second Generation Optimum Contrast Illuminated
Digital Displays" 8/67..
|
Primary Examiner: Miska; Vit W.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Spensley Horn Jubas &
Lubitz
Claims
What is claimed is: .[.1. An electronic diary, calendar, and clock
comprising:
an electronic clock for cumulatively determining the actual date
and time-of-day as a number of functions including minutes, hours,
days, and months,
an electronic visual display for displaying the actual time-of-day,
day and month,
an electronic memory means for storing a plurality of time-of-day
appointments for each of a plurality of different days, including
present and future days,
manually controlled means coupled to said memory for selecting, at
will, each of the present and future days, individually, and for
entering into and storing in said memory for that selected day
digital data corresponding to a plurality of different time-of-day
appointments,
said manually controlled means including manually controlled
correction and update means for selectively changing and updating,
at will, in the memory the digital data for any given appointment
time-of-day for any of said given present and future days, thereby
to enable the schedule of time appointments in said memory for any
given day to be corrected and rendered current at any time,
said manually controlled means including manually controlled
retrieval means for selectively accessing said electronic memory,
at will, for any one of the plurality of different days, and for
reading out the stored schedule of time-of-day appointments to said
electronic display for
concurrently displaying the plural appointment times for that
day..]. 2. In the apparatus of claim .[.1.]. .Iadd.15.Iaddend.,
said manually
controlled entry means comprising a keyboard. 3. In the apparatus
of claim .[.1.]. .Iadd.15.Iaddend., said manually controlled entry
means comprising
a reader for a record bearing the code of said digital data. 4. In
the apparatus of claim .[.1.]. .Iadd.15.Iaddend., said memory
storing additional digital data identifying one of the persons or
purposes of said time of day calendar appointments, and said entry
means enabling the entry
into said memory of said additional digital data. 5. In the
apparatus of claim .[.1.]. .Iadd.15.Iaddend., said entry means
enabling the selective visual indication on said display of actual
time-of-day. .[.6. In an electronic diary and scheduling system, a
plurality of satellite electronic diaries, each having a digital
memory for storage of data of future appointments and events,
digital entry means for said memory, and a digital display for
reading out of said memory, a central monitor having a digital
memory for centralized storing and display of the future
appointments and events from said plurality of satellite diaries,
reversible means for selectively transferring data between said
satellite diaries and central monitor, said central monitor
transferring data including said future appointments and events to
the satellite diaries, said central monitor including an electronic
clock for cumulatively determining the time of day and date and
including automatic means for generating reminder alarms of said
future appointments and events..]. .[.7. An electronic diary of
future events and appointments comprising:
an electronic visual display for digital data,
an electronic memory for selectively storing digital data
concerning plural future time-of-day events and calendar
appointments and having capacity for storing a plurality of future
events and appointments for each of a plurality of different days
in the future,
manually controlled electrical entry means for enabling the
selective entry into said memory, at will, of said plural future
time-of-day events and calendar appointments for each day, and
enabling the selective correction and updating of said stored
digital data, at will,
and manually controlled electrical retrieval means for coupling
said memory to said visual display to concurrently visually
indicate the entire schedule of plural appointment times-of-day for
any one of the selected
present and future days..]. 8. In the apparatus of claim .[.7.].
.Iadd.14.Iaddend., said manually controlled entry means and
manually controlled retrieval means including a keyboard having
plural keyboard
switches having designations of time-of-day and day. 9. In the
apparatus of claim .[.7.]. .Iadd.14.Iaddend., a plurality of said
electronic diaries, a central memory, a central retrieval means and
a central display; transmission means for coupling said plurality
of diaries to the central diary for storing the plurality of future
events and calendar appointments for said plurality of diaries in
said central memory, said central retrieval means and central
display enabling the calendar schedule for any of said plural
diaries to be selectively retrieved and displayed
for any selected different day. 10. In the apparatus of claim
.[.7.]. .Iadd.14.Iaddend., a plurality of said electronic diaries,
a central monitor for said plurality of diaries, and means for
coupling said diaries to said central monitor for storing the
calendar schedule of said diaries
in said monitor. 11. In the apparatus of claim .[.7.].
.Iadd.14.Iaddend., a plurality of said electronic diaries, and a
central monitor having a memory for communication with said
diaries, thereby to provide a central
storage of the future appointments from said plurality of diaries.
12. In the apparatus of claim 11, means for reversibly
communicating appointment
and event data between said diaries and said central monitor. 13.
In the apparatus of claim .[.7.]. .Iadd.14.Iaddend., means enabling
the entry into said memory of a tag code associated with any one of
said future
events and calendar appointments. .Iadd.14. A small personalized,
self-contained electronic diary for enabling a user to selectively
enter, store, revise, and concurrently display a schedule of
different appointments and events for each day or other extended
period, and to enter, store, revise, and display such schedules for
any one of a series of different days or extended time periods,
said diary having all components contained within a small, easily
movable housing, comprising:
a multiline electronic visual display for displaying a schedule of
different appointments on different lines of the display,
an electronic memory for selectively storing digital data
concerning plural present and future time-of-day events and
calendar appointments for present or future time periods and having
capacity for storing a plurality of such future events and
appointments for each of a series of time periods in the
future,
manual controlled electrical entry means for enabling the selective
entry into the memory, at will, of said plural present and future
time-of-day events and appointments for each of said days or time
periods, and enabling the selective correction and updating of said
stored digital data, at will,
and manually controlled electrical retrieval means for coupling
said memory to said visual display to concurrently visually
indicate each of the entire schedules for any one of the selected
present or future time periods on the multiple lines of the
display. .Iaddend. .Iadd.15. A small, personalized, self-contained
electronic diary for enabling a user to selectively enter, store,
revise, and concurrently display on a multiple line electronic
display, a schedule of different appointments and events for each
day or other extended time period, and to enter, store, revise, and
selectively display such schedules for a series of different days
or extended time periods in the future,
said diary having all components contained within a small, easily
movable housing, comprising:
an electronic clock for cumulatively determining the actual date
and time-of-day as a number of functions including minutes, hours,
days, and month,
an electronic memory means for storing a plurality of time-of-day
appointments for each of a plurality of said days or time periods,
including those of the present and the future,
manually controlled means coupled to said memory for selecting, at
will, each of the present and future days or time periods,
individually, and for entering and storing in said memory for that
selected day or time period, digital data corresponding to a
plurality of different time-of-day events and appointments,
said manually controlled means including manually controlled
correction and update means for selectively changing and updating,
at will, in the memory the digital data for any given appointment
or event time-of-day, for any of the present and future days or
time periods, thereby to enable the schedule for any of said days
or time periods in said memory to be corrected and rendered current
at any time,
said manually controlled means including manually controlled
retrieval means for selectively accessing said electronic memory,
at will, for any one of the plurality of days or time periods, and
for reading out the stored schedule of plural appointments and
events for that day or time period to said electronic display for
concurrently displaying the plural appointments and events on the
multiple lines of the electronic display. .Iaddend.
Description
BACKGROUND
It is often necessary for business persons, doctors, dentists,
service persons and others to maintain a personal appointments or
schedule calendar on a daily or weekly basis in order to properly
respond to a schedule of such appointments and events. In some
instances, such time scheduling is performed by a secretary,
dispatcher or other assistant; but most frequently, the person
employs a hand written diary or calendar or schedule listing by
dates of the various times of the appointments and events for
future days or weeks. Periodic reference to such diary for each
succeeding day reveals the appointments for that day. However,
should the user neglect to consult his written diary, an important
event or appointment may be overlooked and forgotten.
Similarly in many businesses there is a need for scheduling the
time of crews or teams of persons to properly service the needs of
customer. These schedules are often handwritten, and are updated or
corrected by radio or telephone instructions.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the present invention, these diary or scheduling
functions are performed electronically by supplying the user with
an electronic memory and display. In addition, these may be
provided an automatic reminder or alarm for each such appointment
or event, or for selected appointments or events, whereby at each
of the selected future appointment times, an audible and/or visual
signal is produced to remind the user of this appointment or
event.
Briefly, each electronic diary unit includes an electronic memory,
a digital keyboard or other electrical entry, and an electronic
display. For each future day, week, or other time interval, there
is entered into the memory all of the plural appointments or events
by date and time-of-day, and also entered is a code number
designating the code of the person or occasion associated with that
appointment or event. This stored digital data in the electronic
memory may be selectively updated, retrieved and displayed at the
convenience of the user. Thus, for any date or interval, the user
may interrogate his electronic diary and determine the plurality of
scheduled appointments for that day or week, or selectively, those
for any future day or week, as is needed. Accordingly, the user may
conveniently determine his availability for a future appointment
time and may change or update his appointment or event calendar as
required.
To provide an automatic reminder of such future appointments and
events, or selected ones, this diary also preferably includes an
electronic clock together with comparison circuitry for coupling
the electronic memory and electronic clock to an alarm, thereby to
provide an automatic alarm at the time of each, or selected ones,
of the future appointments or events to remind the user of the
appointment or event.
For system use by service businesses and others, a plurality of
such electronic diaries are provided together with a centralized
monitor and memory. Each of the diaries are in communication with
the central monitor for the transfer of information and data
therebetween.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
FIG. 1 is a perspective view, diagramatically illustrating the
display panel and keyboard of a preferred embodiment,
FIG. 2 is an electronic block diagram showing the electrical
circuitry in a systems embodiment employing entry by both keyboard
and code reader, and
FIG. 3 is a simplified illustration of a diary page for receiving
both written and coded entry of future appointment data.
FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating radio communication
between a plurality of electronic diaries and a central monitor and
memory.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown an electronic calendar diary 10
according to the invention comprised of a housing having a manually
operated keyboard with a series of rows of keys 11 to 13, for
calendar entries of appointments in the future by month, day, and
times-of-day, respectively; and an electronic display panel or
screen 17 for selectively displaying the future days and the
various times of future appointments and events for those future
days. The first row of twelve keys 11 enables the user to enter or
display the future month; the next row of thirty-one keys 12
enables the entry or display of the particular day of that future
month; and the plurality of additional rows of keys 13 enables the
entry or display of a plurality of different future times-of-the
day corresponding to scheduled events or appointments for that
future day.
At the right of the keyboard, is provided additional keys for
selection of the function desired, including a key 14 for enabling
"ENTRY" or "UPDATE" of data; a key 15 for "RETRIEVAL" and
"DISPLAY", and a key 16 for "ERASE". Still a further control key 19
is provided, labeled "CODE", for the purpose of enabling the user
to enter into the memory an additional code after each time of
appointment, for designating the person or place or other matter
associated with that appointment. As will be described more fully
hereafter, a written directory may be adopted by the user to assign
an arbitrary code of two or more different digits to each of his
different customers, patients, places, or other. This enables the
user to record an identification of the event or persons associated
with each appointment or event, for later display. An additional
key 18 enables the entry of a morning or evening designation, "AM
or PM", into the memory for each time of appointment or event being
entered.
The electronic panel or screen display 17 in FIG. 1 may
conveniently be provided as a bank of light emitting diodes
(LED's), as is well known, to provide a number display of the
entries retrieved from the memory of the unit. As illustrated, the
upper left of the display panel shows the numbers for the future
month and day being interrogated, e.g. Sept. 10 or "9-10"; and
below that date is displayed the times-of-day of the different
future appointments or events that are scheduled for that
particular day, e.g. "1:00 PM, 2:30 PM, and 4:10 PM", as is shown.
At the upper right of the display panel 17, there is provided a
continual digital clock readout of the present month and day, e.g.
Sept. 1 or "9-1", and of the present time-of-day, "6:30 PM".
In operation, the user initially enters into the memory of the
device his appointment schedule for each future day desired, by
initially depressing the "enter" key 14 and then the appropriate
"month" key 11 and "day" key 12. Thereafter, he enters each of the
proposed appointments or events for that selected day by depressing
the appropriate ones of the "time-of-day" keys 13 followed by the
"AM or PM" keys 18, and finally followed further by the "code" key
16. After depressing the "code" key 16, he again depresses the same
bank of "time" keys 13, but in this instance for the purpose of
adding a "code" number that designates the purpose, person, place,
or other data concerning that particular future appointment or
event.
After all of the future appointments have been entered, they may be
corrected, updated, or erased for any day, at any time, by again
selecting that particular month and day, and operating the "erase"
key 16 to erase; or the "enter" key 14 to correct previous entries,
or to add new appointment times-of-day.
Referring to FIG. 2, a preferred system includes both a digital
keyboard 20, a digital code reader 21, and a digital electronic
memory 23 for receiving and retaining all of the entered digital
data pertaining to the future appointments and events for each day
period. In conventional fashion, the keyboard 20 and memory 23 are
coupled by suitable electronic control circuitry 22 for enabling
the keyboard 20 and/or reader 21 to selectively enter, update, or
erase digital data in the memory 23, as well as to interrogate the
memory 23 for reading out any of the selected data to the visual
digital display circuit 26, as described above.
For providing the continual visual display of the present day and
time-of-day, there is provided an electronic clock chip 24 that is
coupled to the visual display panel 26 through a gate 25. Gate 25
is activated on a recurring time basis by electronic control
circuit 22.
For automatically providing an "alarm" upon the occurence of each
of the scheduled future appointments and events, the changing
digital output of the electronic clock 24 is continually compared
to the digital codes stored in the memory 23 and corresponding to
the future appointment and events that have been "entered" into the
memory 23. Whenever a "coincidence" occurs between the present or
clock time and any one of appointment times, a digital comparator
circuit (not shown) in the electronic control circuit 22 detects
the coincidence of the two digital numbers and actuates the alarm
27 to either visually or audibly, or both, provide an alarm to
alert the user of the preveiously scheduled appointment or
event.
As thus far described, the preferred device includes both functions
of an electronic calender diary for the selective entry and
selective display of scheduled appointments in the future; and also
the function of an automatically operating clock and alarm that
automatically signals the user whenever anyone of the scheduled
appointments and events should occur. In the use of the electronic
calendar, the user may at anytime enter, erase, or update his
appointment schedule for any day in the future. He may also
correspondingly read out and visually display his schedule of
appointments and events for any particular day or days. In
connection with each such future appointment or event, he may also
store in the memory an identifying code that will inform him of the
person, place or occasion involved with that particular
appointment.
Should additional data or information be required to be recorded in
connection with any of such appointments, it is, of course,
possible to provide a more extensive memory 23, keyboard 20, and
display 26 to accomodate the storage and readout of a good deal
more information regarding such appointment or event. However, in
the interest of providing a less expensive and less complex unit
that may be manufactured in small size and be battery operated for
the pocket or purse, it is preferred to limit the capacity of the
keyboard 20, memory 23, and display 26 to the storage and entry of
only the above mentioned brief digital data for each appointment or
event, and to also limit the capacity of the calendar diary to the
storage of such data for only a finite number of days of about two
months or less. In the event that additional information is
required to be remembered or stored for any appointment or event,
the user may employ a written diary, as generally shown in FIG. 3,
to supplement the capacity of the electronic diary.
Referring to FIG. 3, the pages 30 of the written diary may contain
the date 31, by month and day, followed by a listing or tabulation
32 of only those scheduled appointments or events that may require
more information than can be conveniently stored in the abbreviated
memory 23 of the electronic unit. In this manner the written or
printed diary may be used as a supplement to the electronic unit.
To minimize the need for consulting the written diary 30 in
connection with scheduled appointments and events of a routine
nature, those important events that require added reference to the
written diary page may be suitably tagged or identified in the
electronic memory 23 by entering and storing a giving code number
such as "9", following the appointment. Consequently, during
readout of the appointments or events for any given day, the
written diary pages need not be consulted by the user unless one of
the scheduled appointments or events as displayed is followed by
the code number "9".
In the event it is desired to employ a code reader 21 instead of,
or to supplement, the keyboard 20, the pages 30 of the written
diary may be imprinted with a code field 33 at one corner, as shown
in FIG. 3, with the different spaces in the field representing
different times-of-day for the appointments. The user may
appropriately mark in the proper spaces by pencil or pen
corresponding to the appointments or events to be scheduled, or may
punch holes in such spaces. Insertion of such a coded record 33 in
a slot 34 of the code reader 21 enables the scheduled appointments
to be read and entered into the electronic memory 23 in the same
manner as entry using the manual keyboard 20.
It is often desired to provide centralized monitoring of the future
appointment schedules of a series of different persons so that the
location of such persons on given days or times can be quickly
determined where necessary from a centralized location. For
example, where such electronic diaries are being used by a group of
salespersons to schedule conferences with prospective customers; or
by a team of plumbers, or other service persons, to schedule
service appointments with customers at different locations. In
these and many other instances, it is often desirable for a central
office to be able to determine the location of, or select that one
of such persons having unscheduled time on a particular day and
time of day to perform service for a customer. According to the
present invention this is performed by periodically interconnecting
a plurality of such diaries to a centralized memory 36 for
transmitting the schedules of appointments data in the memory 23 of
each differents diary unit to the centralized memory unit 41 of a
large scale memory or computer 36. To perform such monitoring, the
centralized memory 36 is provided with suitable transmit interfaces
35 having included interrogate means, whereby the memory 23 of each
electronic diaries is interrogated, in time sequence, to read out
the stored data to the central memory 36. Such monitoring is
preferably performed on a regularly scheduled repeated basis to
correct and update the time schedule for each (diary) person. As
will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, each interface 35
additionally transmits an identifying code to the central computer
41 to identify that particular diary user and distinguish him from
the others. At the central monitoring station, the stored data may
be selectively displayed at 37 for any diary or in combination
employed in many different ways depending upon the needs of the
system user. As indicated above, this central monitor and display
may be used to select any one or more persons having available or
unassigned free time on a particular date and time. It may also be
used in a cumulative many to determine efficiency; that is, to
determine when the individual salespersons are overscheduled or
underscheduled. Other uses will also be appreciated by those
skilled in this art.
Those skilled in the electronic arts will appreciate that
integrated circuit chips to provide the functions described are
presently available on the open market, including integrated
circuit chips for the memory 23, electronic clock 24, digital
comparator and control circuit 22, as well as for the other
functions described. Solid state visual display panels 17 and 26
are also presently available for the display using light emitting
diodes, liquid crystal displays or others. It is preferred that the
individual electronic calendar diaries be constructed in
miniaturized pocket size form adapted to be battery powered and
portable to be carried in the pocket or purse in the same manner as
a written pocket diary. In such instance, to provide centralized
monitoring of the memories of the individual units, the monitoring
system may employ plug-in receptacles at the office or other fixed
location to receive each unit and couple to the memory 23 through
the interface 35. In this manner, each user, such as a salesperson,
may periodically insert his diary unit into an office plug-in
receptacle to transmit the stored data in his memory unit 36 to
that of the central unit 36, and may then remove the unit to be
carried by him on his scheduled round of appointments for that
particular day. Alternatively, or in addition to this system
mode-of-operation, the central memory 36 may also transmit future
appointment data to the individual electronic memory units of the
users. In this manner, appointments for future events may be
scheduled by the central office for any of the individual diary
users, along with a coded designation of the person, place, or
purpose for that future appointment. Should the user require
additional information regarding any such future appointment
scheduled by the Central Office, he may communicate back to the
Central office by telephone or radio to obtain such additional
information.
Considering, for example in FIG. 2, a system of this kind used by a
plumbing business having a central office, together with a crew of
plumbers that travel to homes and offices on a prescheduled basis
to provide plumbing services. Requests for such services are
initiated by the customers by telephone to the Central Office where
the nature of the service needed is discussed with the customer and
a scheduled appointment for visit by a plumber is made. At the
central office, a read out from display 37 from the central memory
36 reveals the entire time schedules of all the crew of plumbers,
whereby the Central Office can immediately assign a plumber having
unassigned available time for that particular appointment. This
assignment of an appointment for a particular plumber at a
particular time is made at the Central Office by entry into the
Central processor and memory 36. Upon the next return of that
plumber to the office, or upon his call-in for a future assignment,
this appointment is conveyed to him by telephone or by plug-in of
his electronic diary 39 to a receptacle coupled to the central
memory 36. If the appointment is conveyed to him by phone, the
plumber manually enters the date and time of the appointment into
his portable unit 39 by operation of the keyboard 20 as discussed
above. Alternatively, the appointment date and time is
automatically entered into the memory 23 of his diary unit by
plugging-in his unit 39 into the fixed receptacle connected by
interface with central memory 36.
In today's mobile society, most of the service trucks for plumbers,
electricians, taxicabs, and the like, are provided with mobile
radio communication equipment with the Central office. In this
event, the digital appointment data may be transmitted by radio
between the service truck and the Central Office as illustrated in
FIG. 4. In this instance, a plug-in receptacle for the diary and a
transmit coder may be provided in the mobile truck (not shown) and
be coupled to the individual electronic diaries by a radio
transmitter-receiver and antenna 45 in the truck. The scheduled
appointment data in the electronic diary 39 may thereby be
automatically transmitted from the mobile truck to the Central
memory 36 having transmitter-receiver antenna 46 for storage; and
correspondingly, scheduled data from the central memory 36 may be
transmitted by radio and antenna 46 to the truck for recording into
the memory 23 of the electronic diary 39.
As will be appreciated by those skilled in this art in the light of
the above disclosure, many other applications of the electronic
diary and system of such diaries may be made; as well as many
changes in the format and mode-of-operation of each diary for
different uses. Accordingly, this invention should be considered as
being limited only by the following claims:
* * * * *