Drill monitor system

There is disclosed herein an apparatus for automatic monitoring of numerous high speed drill spindles on a numerically controlled drilling machine for purposes of immediate detection of the absence of drilling by a particular spindle because of a broken drill bit. The apparatus detects the absence of drilling, interrupts the automatic cycle of the drilling machine and alerts the operator. Power dissipation in each drill spindle motor is compared just prior to entry of the drill bit into the workpiece and after entry if any. If power dissipation increases above a predetermined threshhold level for all spindles, no interrupt is generated. If power dissipation does not increase in one or more spindle motors, comparator circuits alert a digital processor which interrupts automatic operation of the drilling machine and alerts the operator. Such a system eliminates the expense and error of human visual monitoring and generation of expensive scrap improperly processed before discovery of the broken bit.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The invention relates generally to the field of real time computer monitor 
applications and, more particularly, to applications in measuring and 
monitoring machine performance for quality control purposes. 
Prior practice for broken bit detection involved visual monitoring of the 
drilling cycle of the numerically controlled drilling machines. When the 
operator detected a broken drill bit, he interrupted the automatic 
drilling cycle for replacement of the bit. The obvious disadvantage of 
this method was the lack of reliability due to lapses in the attention 
span of the operator. Further, the operator could monitor only one machine 
at a time. Therefore, costs were high and reliability was low. Often, 
large amounts of scrap were generated due to a broken drill bit going 
undetected. Workpieces that have been improperly processed are very 
difficult to repair since it is difficult to return the machine to the 
point in the program where the drill bit broke since the exact time it 
broke is not generally known. 
The disclosed drill monitor system eliminates these problems by automating 
the monitoring process so that detection and interruption of the drilling 
process occurs immediately upon breakage of a drill bit. Concomitant cost 
savings due to more efficient distribution of labor and less waste improve 
the cost efficiency of manufacturing operations. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The heart of the invention is the drill monitor interface module which 
interfaces with a digital processor controlling the drilling machine. This 
drill monitor interface performs the function of monitoring the position 
of the drill bits in relation to the workpiece and sampling the power 
dissipation in the drill spindle motor at two times: Just prior to the 
entry of the drill bit into the workpiece and just after entry. The two 
samples are compared, and, if power dissipation in a particular drill 
spindle motor does not rise above a predetermined threshold level, it is 
assumed that no drill bit has entered the workpiece. A spindle power logic 
signal is produced for each spindle motor. Timing logic generates an 
interrupt to a digital processor after the comparison has been made, 
causing said digital processor to read the spindle power logic signals and 
stop the drilling if the spindle power logic signals indicate a drill bit 
has broken off. 
In broad perspective, the motor monitor system is comprised of five major 
elements: A numerically controlled machine sensors, a drill monitor 
interface, a means for informing when mechanical loading should occur, and 
a digital processor. The numerically controlled machine utilizes electric 
motors to accomplish a particular task. The sensors are responsive to 
criteria indicative of whether mechanical loading of said electric motor 
has occurred and generate a first signal. The drill monitor interface 
receives the first signals from the sensors and processes them in 
preparation for analysis. Analysis by the drill monitor interface consists 
of sampling the sensor signals just prior to and again after theoretical 
loading of the electric motor should have occurred. The signals are 
compared and a HIT/MISS signal is generated for each motor monitored 
indicating whether loading of the motor occurred. When the HIT/MISS 
signals are all generated, an interrupt request is sent to the digital 
processor. The means for informing when mechanical loading should occur 
sends a signal to the drill monitor interface indicating approximately 
when loading should occur. It could be a limit switch or a timer. The 
digital processor receives the interrupt request from the drill monitor 
interface and is programmed to read the HIT/MISS signal and look for 
misses. If a miss is found a stop command is issued to the numerically 
controlled machine to prevent further automatic cycling. 
The above functions will be more clearly understood from the following 
detailed description and upon consideration of the accompanying drawings 
of which:

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
The following reference material and references incorporated or referred to 
therein are incorporated by reference in this disclosure: 
(1) Revision B and subsequent revisions of the Honeywell Information 
Systems Automations Systems 8080A Microcomputer System Specification and 
all other diagrams and writings describing the system; 
(2) Intel.RTM. MCS-80.TM. Users Manual, 1977; 
(3) Intel.RTM. Component Data Catalogue, 1978; 
(4) Texas Instruments TTL Data Book for Design Engineers, 2d edition, 1976; 
(5) Analog Devices Databook covering the AD536J RMS Converter; 
(6) Intersil Databook covering the IH5041 Analog Switch and the IH5110 
sample/hold chip; and 
(7) Monsanto Databook covering the MCT6 optical isolator. 
In FIG. 1 the overall organization of the motor monitor system is 
illustrated. A numerically controlled drilling machine 209 automatically 
cycles workpieces through while drilling holes in them via numerous motors 
and electric motor driven drill spindles holding drill bits. Said drill 
spindles are under internal program control by the numerically controlled 
drilling machine. A means for informing the drill monitor interface when 
mechanical loading of the drill bits should occur is needed. Limit switch 
10 serves this purpose in the preferred embodiment. Limit switch 10 is 
responsive to the mechanical position of the drill spindles of the 
numerically controlled drilling machine and serves to send a SPINDLES 
LOWERED signal over line 11 to timing logic 63 in drill monitor interface 
20 just prior to entry of the drill bits into the workpiece. Approximately 
80 milliseconds after receipt of this SPINDLES LOWERED signal, the drill 
bits should contact the workpiece. In the preferred embodiment, limit 
switch 10 is a Hall Effect switch having no moving contacts such as the 
Honeywell Microswitch, part number 37XL11XB-12. In other embodiments, 
other means for informing the drill monitor interface when mechanical 
loading should occur may be used in lieu of limit switches i.e., timers. 
The timing logic 63 in drill monitor interface 20 utilizes the SPINDLES 
LOWERED signal to control sample/hold circuits and to send an INTERRUPT 
REQ. signal on line 28 to digital processor 30 after generation of a 
HIT/MISS signal by said drill monitor interface 20 for each drill spindle. 
Digital processor 30 receives this interrupt request and enters a 
programmed routine to service drill monitor interface 20. These functions 
will be explained in more detail later. 
Since a broken drill bit is detected in the preferred embodiment by 
comparing power dissipation in the spindle motors just prior to entry of 
the drill bits into the workpiece and again after such entry, some sensor 
or means for sensing power dissipation in the spindle motors is needed. 
Motor current dropping resistors 21 serve this purpose. In other 
embodiments, other criteria such as shaft RPM or bursts of infrared heat 
at the tip of the drill bits could be used. These resistors are connected 
in series with the phase windings of the three phase spindle motors. Since 
the spindle motors operate at a constant AC voltage, the AC phase current 
is directly proportional to power dissipation in the motors. Three 
resistors are used on each motor, one in series with each phase, to keep 
the spindle motor impedance in balance. Drill monitor interface 20 is 
connected by lines 22, 23 and 24 to one motor current dropping resistor 21 
in each spindle motor and reads the AC voltage across the dropping 
resistors 21. These signals constitute the CHANNEL 1, 2 and 3 POWER 
signals on lines 22, 23 and 24 respectively. 
A HIT/MISS signal is generated for each channel by drill monitor interface 
20 and is transmitted over data bus 25 to digital processor 30. The 
HIT/MISS signals are true when power dissipation has increased above a 
predetermined threshold value representing the no load condition. Line 26 
is the address bus and line 27 is the control bus. 
A conventional digital processor 30 serves to coordinate all the activities 
of the drill monitor system in accordance with a program loaded from 
cassette reader 40. Printer 50 and keyboard/display 60 allow input and 
output of various reports, commands and messages to the operator. As noted 
earlier, timing logic 63 in drill monitor interface 20 sends an INTERRUPT 
REQ signal on line 28 to digital processor 30 causing it to branch to a 
portion of the internally stored program intended to service the drill 
monitor interface 20. In the preferred embodiment, a conventional vectored 
interrupt design is used for the design of the interrupt control logic in 
the digital processor 30. 
Upon receipt of the INTERRUPT REQ signal on line 28, digital processor 30 
is programmed to read and analyze the HIT/MISS signals for each motor 
being monitored (all active drill spindles). If any is found to be false 
indicating a miss or broken drill bit has occurred, the digital processor 
30 alerts the machine operator and sends a STOP signal along line 29 to 
the stop circuits of the numerically controlled drilling machine 209 
thereby halting its automatic drilling cycle. 
In the preferred embodiment, digital processor 30 is a Honeywell 8080 A 
Microcomputer System. Keyboard/Display 60, cassette reader 40 and printer 
50 can be any compatible peripherals, but in the preferred embodiment they 
are those peripherals named in reference #1 incorporated herein. 
Referring now to FIG. 2, there is shown a block diagram of the functional 
units within drill monitor interface 20. Three channels 60, 61, and 62 of 
identical signal processing and comparison circuitry receive and process 
CHANNELS 1, 2 and 3 POWER signals 22, 23, 24 respectively. Timing 
generation logic 63 and processor interface interrupt and control logic 64 
service all three channels. In the particular embodiment disclosed only 
three channels are shown but as many channels as there are spindles to be 
monitored may be used. 
Each channel has a means for processing the signals from the sensors or 
motor current dropping resistors 21 similar to the channel 1 signal 
processing circuitry. This circuitry functions to prepare the CHANNEL 1 
POWER signal on line 22 for comparison to itself at a time just prior to 
drill bit entry and again a short time after entry. After the comparison a 
CH.1 HIT/MISS signal is generated on line 65 connected to processor 
interface interrupt and control logic (PIICL) 64. PIICL 64 sends an 
INTERRUPT REQ signal on line 28 to the digital processor 30 shown in FIG. 
1. 
Upon receipt of the INTERRUPT REQ signal, digital processor 30 is forced by 
its own interrupt logic to branch to the particular address in memory 
where the first instruction of the subroutine designed to handle that 
particular interrupt may be found. The drill monitor interface subroutine 
will address the drill monitor interface 20, read the HIT/MISS signals for 
each channel from the data bus, examine them for misses, and then take the 
appropriate action depending upon the results of the examination. 
Generation of the HIT/MISS signal for each channel is accomplished as 
follows. An amplifier 67 receives the CHANNEL 1 POWER signal on line 22 
from the motor current dropping resistor 21 (FIG. 1). The signal is an AC 
voltage because the phase currents through motor current dropping 
resistors 21 are AC. Amplifier 67 amplifies the CHANNEL 1 POWER signal by 
a gain of twenty and outputs it to RMS converter 69 via line 70. RMS 
converter 69 converts the CHANNEL 1 POWER signal to its RMS value as the 
RMS signal on line 71. This RMS signal is illustrated in FIG. 3. It is 
seen that the RMS signal varies above and below a fixed voltage reference 
level-220. Points 68 in FIG. 3 illustrate the power dissipation in the 
spindle motor at the time of entry of the drill bit into the workpiece. 
Points on the curve to the right of points 68 show the power dissipation 
increase as drilling commences. 
The RMS signal on line 71 contains a considerable level of unwanted noise 
(not shown in FIG. 3). To eliminate this noise, the RMS signal is compared 
by comparator 73 against a one volt reference voltage on line 74. Analog 
switch 72 blocks transmission of the RMS signal through to line 92 if 
comparator 73 sends a CUTOFF signal over line 75 upon determination that 
the RMS signal is less than a predetermined value of one volt. The RMS 
signal will drop below one volt when the drill spindle motor for the 
channel in question is not in use. Referring to FIG. 4, there is shown 
typically the relative values of the RMS signal on line 71 out of RMS 
converter 69 when a drill spindle motor is either in use (top waveform) or 
when it is not in use (bottom wave-form). The bottom waveform represents 
noise picked up from other drill spindle motors by inductive coupling and 
other phenomena. The comparator/analog switch arrangement prevents noise 
generated by other drill spindle motors from being interpreted as a valid 
signal. 
Since high frequency noise will still be present in the RMS signal, a 2 
Hertz low pass filter 76 is employed to filter out high frequency noise 
and leave a clean RMS signal (CLEAN) on line 77 to sample/hold module 78. 
The function of sample/hold module 78 is to sample and hold the value of 
CLEAN when a SAMPLE signal is received on line 79 from timing generation 
logic 63. 
The relationship between this SAMPLE signal, the SPINDLES LOWERED signal on 
line 11 from limit switch 10 and the CHANNEL 1 POWER signal on line 22 is 
depicted in FIG. 3. As noted earlier, points to the right of points 68 on 
the RMS curve show the rapid increase in the spindle motor current as the 
drill bit drills the hole until completion at points 80. Points to the 
right of points 80 indicate the gradual decline in spindle motor current 
after completion of the hole. As seen in FIG. 3 at line B, the SPINDLES 
LOWERED signal derived from the Hall Effect limit switch 10 in FIG. 1 goes 
low approximately 80 milliseconds before the drill bit contacts the 
workpiece. When SPINDLES LOWERED goes low, timing generation logic 63 in 
FIG. 2, generates a SAMPLE pulse on line 79 which is seen in FIG. 3 to go 
high when SPINDLES LOWERED goes low. Receipt of SAMPLE by sample/hold 
module 78 causes the value of the CLEAN signal to be tracked and stored 
when SAMPLE goes low. Meanwhile the value of CLEAN will be rising as the 
CHANNEL 1 POWER signal rises because of drilling load on the drill bit. 
Line 81 carries this rising CLEAN signal to a first differential amplifier 
82 where itis compared to the HELD signal on line 83 and where the 
difference between the HELD signal (no load CLEAN signal) and the CLEAN 
signal (after loading) is amplified. The output signal amplified 
DIFFERENCE on line 208 is compared against a five volt reference and 
converted to a CH.1 HIT/MISS signal on line 65 by a second means for 
comparing in the form of comparator and level converter 85. These HIT/MISS 
signals from each channel are high when the five volt reference is 
exceeded as illustrated at line E of FIG. 3. 
Referring again to FIG. 2, it is seen that timing generation logic 63 also 
sends a TIMER 4 signal on line 84 to a means for interfacing with digital 
processor 30 in the form of PIICL 64. PIICL 64 serves to receive the 
HIT/MISS signals from the comparator and level converter 85 and store them 
until digital processor 30 reads them via data bus 25. PIICL 64 also 
serves to send INTERRUPT REQ over line 28 in FIGS. 2 and 5B upon receiving 
TIMER 4 from timing generation logic 63. INTERRUPT REQ will not be 
transmitted until TIMER 4 has been received and the HIT/MISS signals have 
been received and stored. Further, INTERRUPT REQ will not be transmitted 
until INTERRUPT EN on line 230 in FIG. 5B has been set. This occurs after 
PIICL 64 has been initially addressed and defined by the software upon 
initialization of the system. 
Referring to FIGS. 3 and 5B, it is seen that TIMER 3 goes high when SAMPLE 
goes low and lasts until cessation of drilling. TIMER 3 is related to 
INTERRUPT REQ in a way which will be detailed later by suffice it to say 
now that INTERRUPT REQ goes low shortly after the downward transition of 
TIMER 3 which causes digital processor 30 to service the interrupt 
request. During the time interval to the right of point 68 the HIT/MISS 
signals for each channel are generated by comparators and level converters 
similar to 85 in FIG. 2. Exactly when the HIT/MISS signal goes high 
depends upon when the DIFFERENCE signal on line 83 in FIG. 2 exceeds five 
volts. If a "hit" occurs, HIT/MISS will be high sometime during the time 
when digital processor 30 processes the interrupt request. If any HIT/MISS 
is low that is supposed to be high, a STOP signal is sent to the 
numerically-controlled drilling machine on line 29 in FIG. 1 and an error 
message is displayed on keyboard/display 60 alerting the operator of a 
problem. 
Referring now to FIGS. 2, 5E and 5F, there is shown a more detailed circuit 
diagram of the linear portions of the drill monitor interface. The 
circuitry in FIG. 5E is designed to process the incoming CH.1 POWER signal 
by amplifying it, converting it to its RMS value, filtering out high 
frequency noise, and blocking transmission of the RMS signal if it is less 
than the predetermined threshold by one volt. 
Operational amplifier 67 receives the CHANNEL 1 POWER signal from the motor 
current dropping resistors 21. Op amp 67 can be a National Semiconductor 
LM324. The output of operational amplifier 67 is directed on line 70 to 
the input of RMS converter 69 which can be an Analog Devices AD536J. There 
the AC waveform is converted to its RMS value. 
The RMS signal at the output of RMS converter 69 is directed via line 71 to 
the positive input of comparator 73 which can be a National LM339. There 
the RMS signal is compared against a one volt reference signal at negative 
input 91 derived from a resistor divider network comprised of resistors 
201 and 202. If RMS does not exceed one volt, a CUTOFF signal is directed 
on line 75 to analog switch 72. 
RMS is also directed from RMS converter 69 to analog switch 72 by line 71. 
If no CUTOFF signal is present, then analog switch 72 passes RMS through 
to low pass filter 76 via line 92. Low pass filter 76 utilizes a National 
LM324 operational amplifier with an appropriate resistor-capacitor network 
comprised of resistors 203, 204, 205 and capacitor 206. In filter 76, high 
frequency noise above 2 Hertz is filtered out leaving the CLEAN signal on 
line 77 to sample/hold module 78. 
Since a comparison of the CLEAN signal to itself at two different times 
needs to be made, some means for sampling CLEAN and holding it for a short 
time is necessary. Sample/Hold module 78 serves this purpose and can be an 
Intersil IH5110. It functions to hold the value of the CLEAN signal on 
line 77 at output line 83 as the HELD signal when the SAMPLE signal on 
line 79 is low. Line 79 comes from timing generation logic 63 in FIG. 5D. 
The HELD signal is then compared to the CLEAN signal. Differential 
amplifier 82 serves to perform this function. HELD is transferred via line 
83 to the negative input of the first differential amplifier 93 of 
differential amplifier 82. The positive input of differential amplifier 93 
is connected to the changing CLEAN signal output of low pass filter 76 via 
line 81. Thus differential amplifier 93, which can be a National 
Semi-conductor LM324, amplifies the difference between HELD and CLEAN and 
generates an output DIFFERENCE. The DIFFERENCE signal is applied via line 
207 to the positive input of a second amplifier 94 the negative input of 
which is tied to ground. Differential amplifier 94 has a variable gain 
depending upon the setting of gain control 95. 
Some means is needed to examine the AMPLIFIED DIFFERENCE signal to decide 
whether the difference is great enough to indicate a "hit" i.e. mechanical 
loading occurred. Comparator and level converter 85 performs this 
function. An AMPLIFIED DIFFERENCE signal is applied via line 208 to the 
negative input of comparator 96 in comparator and level converter 85. The 
positive input of comparator 96 is tied to a positive five volt reference 
240. If the AMPLIFIED DIFFERENCE signal on line 208 exceeds five volts, 
light emitting diode 94 is turned on which turns on the light activated 
transistor 95 in optical isolator 98 which can be a Monsanto MCT6. The 
purpose of optical isolator 98 is to isolate the linear portions of the 
circuit from the digital portions and to convert the voltage level of 
difference comparator 96 to a TTL level signal. Light emitting diode 94 is 
energized when the output voltage of differential comparator 96 rises 
above a certain level indicating AMPLIFIED DIFFERENCE has exceeded the 5 
volt reference 240. The light from light emitting diode 94 then turns on 
the transistor 96 which pulls the input of inverter 97 to ground causing a 
"high" CH.1 HIT/MISS signal on line 65. Inverter 97 can be a National 7414 
which features a Schmitt trigger input to eliminate any indecisiveness 
with respect to whether transistor 96 is turned on or turned off. 
The SAMPLE signal on line 79 in FIG. 5F comes from timing generation logic 
63 in FIGS. 5D and 5B. In FIG. 5D, a SPINDLES LOWERED signal from limit 
switch 10 in FIG. 1 is received on line 11. This signal goes high when the 
drill bits start down, and is inverted by a Texas Instruments 7414 Schmitt 
trigger inverter 96. The SPINDLES LOWERED signal goes low on line 99 
approximately eighty milliseconds prior to contact between the drill bit 
and the workpiece as seen in FIG. 3. Timing generation logic 63 consists 
of a pair of retriggerable monostable multivibrator chips 240 and 250 in 
FIGS. 5B and 5D which can be Texas Instruments 74LS123: ("one-shots"). 
Each chip contains two one-shots. The clear and "B" inputs on both 
one-shots of chip 240 are held high by lines 111 and 98 respectively. In 
this condition, a negative going transition at the "A" inputs of the 
one-shots on chip 240 will cause a positive going pulse to be emitted from 
their Q outputs and a negative going pulse to be emitted from their Q 
outputs. Thus when the SPINDLES LOWERED signal goes low a positive going 
TIMER 2 pulse will leave on line 100 from the 1Q output and a negative 
going TIMER 1 pulse will leave on line 101 from the 2Q output. The 
respective pulse widths are established by the values of capacitor 102 in 
combination with resistor 103 and capacitor 104 in combination with 
resistor 105. 
The TIMER 1 and TIMER 2 pulses are OR'd by gate 106 which results in the 
SAMPLE signal on line 79 going high for the duration of the shorter TIMER 
2 pulse. SAMPLE will then go low at the end of TIMER 2 and will stay low 
for the duration of TIMER 1 which is a longer pulse. If the drilling 
machine is being constantly run, the second one shot on chip 240 (2Q) is 
continuously retriggered and TIMER 1 never goes high. In this condition, 
SAMPLE goes high only when TIMER 2 is high. SAMPLE is output to sample 
hold network 78 in FIGS. 2 and 5F via line 79 where it causes the value of 
CLEAN to be tracked and then stored when SAMPLE goes low as of the time of 
theoretical drill bit contact with the workpiece. 
TIMER 2 is also fed to another T.I. 74LS123 (250 FIG. 5B) via line 100 
which chip comprises the second half of timing generation logic 63. Again 
1B, 2B, 1 CLEAR and 2 CLEAR are held high by line 108 so that the negative 
transition of TIMER 2 triggers one shot number one via the 1A input. A 
positive going TIMER 3 pulse leaves from the 1Q output and is of variable 
pulse width by virtue of capacitor 102 in combination with variable 
resistor 110. The negative transition of TIMER 3 will trigger the 2A input 
of the second one shot which outputs a positive going TIMER 4 from the 2Q. 
The pulse width of TIMER 4 is determined by capacitor 112 and resistor 
113. Some means for interfacing all these legion signals to digital 
processor 30 is needed. Processor interface interrupt and control logic 64 
in FIG. 2 and FIGS. 5A and 5B serves this purpose. It is connected to the 
data, control, and address busses (25, 27, and 26 respectively) of digital 
processor 30. It is also connected to the interrupt request line of 
digital processor 30 and to the CHANNELS 1, 2, and 3 HIT/MISS signals on 
lines 65, 120 and 119 respectively. It also receives the TIMER 4 signal 
from timing generation logic 63 via line 84. PIICL 64 serves to store and 
buffer the three data bits comprising the HIT/MISS signals til digital 
processor 30 desires to read them via data bus 25. PIICL 64 sends 
INTERRUPT REQ on line 28 to digital processor 30 upon receipt and storage 
of the HIT/MISS signals and the TIMER 4 pulse providing the software has 
addressed the programmable peripheral interface chip 118 (Intel 8255) and 
defined its function. The HIT/MISS data bits will then be fed to digital 
processor 30 over data bus 25 (buffered IO DAT 0-7 in FIG. 5B) when 
digital processor 30 acknowledges the interrupt request and addresses the 
PIICL 64 via address bus 26 during a read instruction. The precise manner 
in which the above transfer occurs is as follows. 
TIMER 4 enters one input of NAND gate 114. A second input of this gate is 
connected to the Q output of flip-flop 115 via line 230. Flip-flop 115 
serves to enable the interrupt request by generating INTERRUPT EN on line 
230 at its Q output. The ID and ICLR inputs of flip-flop 115 are held high 
by line 116 and INIT 101 from digital processor 30 control bus 27 stays 
high except that it goes low momentarily when the system is first powered 
up to disable any interrupt request. Thus an upward transition at the CLK 
input of flip-flop 115 will set the Q output. The CLK input is connected 
to the output of OR gate 117 which has input signals ADR C0-C3 and IOW. 
Both of these signals are asserted low with ADR C0-C3 going low when the 
drill monitor interface is addressed by assertion of hexadecimal addresses 
C0, C1, C2 or C3 on the address bus. IOW on line 300 from control bus 27 
goes low when digital processor 30 writes data onto the data bus 15. The 
function of OR gate 117 and flip-flop 115 are to prevent interrupts to 
digital processor 30 before programmable peripheral interface 118 has been 
programmed or defined by the software. The software defines the operation 
of PPI 118 initially by executing a write instruction. The write 
instruction places address C3 on the address bus and the proper control 
word for the desired definition on the data bus. The control word defines 
operation in mode 1 for data transfer from Port B to the data bus. When 
this write instruction is executed, ADR C0-C3 will go low, IOW will go 
low, ADR bus 8 and 9, will be high (because the address is C3) and IOR 
will be high (asserted low). The output of OR gate 117 on line 260 will 
therefore be low but will go high when IOW goes high at the end of the PPI 
programming write instruction. INTERRUPT EN will be set upon the upward 
transition on line 260 allowing interrupts to digital processor 30 through 
NAND gate 114. 
PPI 118, being programmed in the mode 1 input state as described above, 
must generate an interrupt to the CPU when the HIT/MISS signals on lines 
65, 119 and 120 have been latched into port B. This latching is 
acknowledged by a high IBF.sub.B signal on line 121 and occurs when 
STB.sub.B on line 270 goes low. STB.sub.B will go low when INTERRUPT EN is 
high, IBF.sub.B is low and TIMER 4 goes high. When STB.sub.B on line 270 
goes low, IBF.sub.B goes high upon latching of the HIT/MISS signals 
verifying their reception. This, by the action of NAND gate 122, sends 
STB.sub.B high and results in INTR.sub.B on line 280 being set. INTR.sub.B 
on line 280 and INTERRUPT EN on line 230 input to NAND gate 123 which 
sends INTERRUPT REQ low on line 28. Digital processor 30 will then enter 
and perform its interrupt routine to service the drill monitor interface. 
A read instruction will be executed which causes IOR on line 290 to be 
asserted low. The read instruction will place address C1 (hex) on the data 
bus. This sends ADR C0-C3 low, ADR bus 8 high, ADR bus 9 low, and IOW on 
line 300 will remain high. This combination of control signals transfers 
the contents of the port B latches of 118 to the data bus on lines IO DAT 
0-7. 
Referring now to FIG. 5A, lines IO DAT 0-7 go to twin Intel 8216 data bus 
buffers 89 and 90. Buffers 89 and 90 are three state logic bidirectional 
bus drivers, the direction and time of data transfer being determined by 
the signals on lines 124 and 125 respectively. When 125 goes low during 
the read instruction of the interrupt routine serving the drill monitor, 
buffers 89 and 90 come out of their high impedance state and data transfer 
is enabled. Direction is determined by the signal on line 124, IOR. Both 
lines 124 and 125 must go low to enable a transfer of data over the DATA 
Bus 0-7 lines to digital processor 30. This occurs IOR goes low and when 
decoder 86, (Texas Instruments 74LS138) detects any of address C0-7 on the 
address bus 26. When C0-7 appear, either the Y.sub.4 or Y.sub.5 output 
goes low. When either Y.sub.4 or Y.sub.5 goes low, NAND gates 87 and 88 
acting as an AND gate, send line 125 low. When line 125 is low and IOR on 
line 124 is low, direction of data transfer is set to be from the IO DAT 
0-7 lines to the DATA BUS 0-7 lines. 
FIG. 5C shows the connections of a programmable interval timer that is 
necessary for providing time interval and time of day data to the software 
for the efficiency report generation aspects of the system program. 
Although the invention has been described in terms of the preferred 
embodiment, other embodiments employing a combination of apparatus 
utilizing the same teachings or doing substantially the same thing in 
substantially the same way are intended to be included. 
For example the disclosed apparatus is not limited to use in drill motors 
but may be used to monitor any automatic motor driven equipment where 
there is a desire to detect if the motor is disengaged from its mechanical 
load. Similarly, instead of motor current dropping resistors for sensors, 
spindle velocity could be monitored with an optical or magnetic reluctance 
pickup as a means for detecting misses. Likewise an infrared scanner could 
be trained on the tip of each drill bit to monitor for a burst of heat 
when the drill bit contacts the surface of the substance drilled. 
Inclusion of an automatic gain control in the input amplifier stage would 
reduce the sensitivity of the circuit to individual spindle 
characteristics and eliminate the necessity for tuning the circuit 
whenever a spindle motor is replaced.