Appeal No. 2000-0396
Application No. 08/527,886
application function information on separate portions of a
display screen such that the process control function information
cannot be overwritten by the application information. Claim 48
is illustrative of the claimed invention, and it reads as
follows:
48. A process control terminal for allowing an operator to
perform process control functions and application functions in
addition to the process control functions, the process control
terminal reserving a screen portion for process control
information to avoid a possibility that process control alarms
will not appear on the screen and thus not be brought to the
attention of the a process control operator, the process control
terminal comprising:
a processor;
a bus connected to the processor;
a display terminal connected to the bus, the display
terminal having a screen;
a process control network controller connected to the bus
for allowing process control information to be received from a
process controller;
a host network controller connected to the bus for allowing
application information to be received from a host computer and
for allowing application information to be transmitted to a host
computer;
means for periodically determining the existence of an alarm
condition based upon the process control information; and
means for causing process control information and
application information to be displayed on the screen, the
process control information including an alarm indication
generated in response to the determining of the existence of an
alarm condition and displayed on a predetermined portion of the
screen, the process control information and the application
information being displayed in a controlled manner so that
application information displayed on the screen does not
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