Importance

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Abstract

Rental equipment such as television sets are provided with a timer which operates a relay to connect power to the equipment only during the time for which rental has been paid. The timer includes a magnetic reader head and decoder to produce digital signals corresponding with a magnetic strip which has been encoded with rental period and identifying information at the location where the rent is paid. The timer contains a real-time clock and a microprocessor to compare the current time with the time in the rental period. A power supply for the timer derives energy from the same power lines used for the rental equipment, but a battery is also provided to power the clock alone when the power supply is not energized. Displays of the current time and rental expiration time are provided, as well as visible and audible alarms to warn of the approach of the end of the rental period.

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First Claim