Patent ID: 7206514

Claim:
A wireless object counter comprising: a transmitter circuit comprising: a continuously cycling microcomputer; a continuously operating clock circuit connected to said microcomputer; an infrared generator producing a burst of a predetermined minimum number of infrared pulses as a beam during a predetermined time period; and said microcomputer controlling said infrared generator to produce a burst of the predetermined minimum number of infrared pulses as a beam during the predetermined time period; a receiver circuit comprising: a microcomputer; a continuously operating clock circuit connected to said microcomputer, said clock circuit having the same frequency as said clock circuit of said transmitter circuit and synchronized with said clock circuit of said transmitter circuit so that activations of said microcomputer of said transmitter circuit and said microcomputer of said receiver circuit are synchronized when said microcomputer of said receiver circuit is to be activated for a cycle of operation; an infrared receiver aligned with the beam of each of the bursts of at least the predetermined minimum number of infrared pulses for receiving the infrared pulses of each of the bursts of the infrared pulses, said infrared receiver being spaced from said infrared generator to provide a path therebetween along which objects to be counted move; said microcomputer rendering said infrared receiver effective a predetermined time period before each of the bursts of at least the predetermined minimum number of the infrared pulses is transmitted from said infrared generator when said microcomputer of said receiver circuit is activated for a cycle of operation; said infrared receiver communicating with said microcomputer if said infrared receiver receives the burst of at least the predetermined minimum number of the infrared pulses during a cycle of operation of said microcomputer; a counter in said microcomputer for counting each time that the beam of the pulses of each of the bursts of at least the predetermined minimum number of the infrared pulses is interrupted by an object to be counted; and said microcomputer ceasing to cycle for a predetermined period of time when said infrared receiver fails to receive one of the bursts of at least the predetermined minimum number of the infrared pulses for a predetermined number of cycles of operation of said microcomputer; a first battery for powering said transmitter circuit; and a second battery for powering said receiver circuit.