Patent ID: 6247994
Filing Date: 2001-06-19
Classification: A63H

Abstract:
In combination,a plurality of accessories,an auxiliary accessory different from the accessories,a pad operative to provide an address for selecting an individual one of the accessories and to provide commands to the individual one of the accessories for controlling the operation of the individual one of the accessories in accordance with the commands,a central station connected to the pad,first means in the central station for receiving the address and the commands from the pad,a smart port for transmitting the commands from the central station to the auxiliary accessory,second means responsive in the auxiliary accessory to the address and commands from the central station for modifying the address and commands,third means responsive in the central station to a signal from the auxiliary accessory for determining whether the auxiliary accessory is a smart accessory or a dumb accessory,fourth means in the central station for transmitting the modified address and commands from the auxiliary accessory in a first relationship to the accessories in the plurality to provide a first pattern of binary indications when the central station determines that the auxiliary accessory is a smart accessory,the third means processing the address and commands in a second relationship different from the first relationship to provide a second pattern of binary indications when the central station determines that the auxiliary accessory is a dumb accessory,fifth means in the individual one of the accessories for operating the individual one of the accessories in accordance with the first pattern of the binary indications.