Abstract: An improved irrigation controller is provided for selectively turning ON and OFF each of a plurality of sprinkler valve stations around a lawn or garden. The controller permits direct entry on a station-by-station level of the run time, number of cycles, and frequency of operation. The controller then permits both start time and no water days to be entered globally.

Abstract: A plurality of selectively actuable watering stations are spaced about a selected location such as a lawn and/or garden and are connected to a source of pressurized water. A set of data is stored representing environmental conditions of the selected location, said conditions being selected from the group consisting of evapotranspiration rates for predetermined intervals throughout a given time period, and temperature precipitation rates for predetermined intervals throughout a given time period. Another set of data is provided from at least one input device at the selected location, the input device being selected from the group consisting of a temperature sensor, a rain gauge, a hummidity sensor, and a flow meter. Each watering station is actuated for predetermined durations at predetermined intervals based upon the data representing environmental conditions and the input device data to thereby ensure optimum growth of the plants situated in the selected location.

Abstract: An improved apparatus for aligning and transporting containers is disclosed. The apparatus includes a hopper having dividers with the dividers having top surfaces which decline from one end wall of the hopper at different angles. A conveyor is provided and positioned underneath at least a portion of the hopper for transporting containers aligned by the hopper. The containers are transported along the conveyor toward a movable deflector means for deflecting any containers which are not properly aligned. Containers which are in proper alignment pass underneath and drop away from the deflector means in uniform alignment and are further processed by a detecting or scanning device.

Abstract: A buffer storage system having divisible data storage space which is time-shared by a plurality of external data devices and is accessed by at least two independently clocked bidirectional access ports. The storage system is modular and comprises a variable number of fixed-sized buffer cells, each of which may be associatively addressed by any of the access ports. The transfer of data is at a clock rate determined by the particular accessing port; and the transfer is performed serially to achieve variable field length capability and a reduction in hardware. The amount of total storage space can be easily varied by changing the physical number of buffer cells in the buffer system.