Tape preparation system

DETAILED DESCRIPTION The tape preparation system of the present development comprises a visual display front panel, a computer encompassing a microprocessor, memory, input/output lines, and a data terminal such as a Teletype ASR 33TY terminal, all cooperatively interconnected through an interface logic module.
The visual display front panel is secondarily connected directly to the computer by means of a reset/mode line which bypasses the interface logic module.
The system functions to guide one who is unskilled in the art of numerical control (N/C) part programming in the entry of numeric information and in the selection and sequence of machine instructions necessary for the preparation of an error-free tape which may subsequently be used to control a numerically controlled machine tool or other tape operated device.
The system computer is programmed to generate, in appropriate order, 4-bit data words and address codes corresponding to the locations of ordinary English messages describing machine operations or movements of a particular N/C device.
The machine operations or movements are described in ordinary English messages (suggested machine instructions in the form of "commands" or "interrogations") and stored in a series of visual display modules housed in the visual display front panel.
The interface logic module circuitry driving each visual display module is assigned an address and each ordinary English message is stored in a numbered location within a visual display module.
As the system computer progresses through its program, a 4-bit data word and an address code corresponding to the locations of a machine instruction is generated at each step and made available to the interface logic module at the computer output lines.
The interface logic module decodes each data word and address code, selects the visual display module assigned to the address given by the address code and displays the ordinary English message stored in the numbered location identified by the data word.
The message so displayed advises the unskilled operator of the machine instruction which, if appropriate, should be entered in the program at that time