Timer IC's come in a variety of configurations. Many are used to control clock functions in microprocessor based applications. They generate clocks and can be enabled or disabled. A clock is divided and can be can be used for clocking various devices at different rates and times. This in turn can be used for moving data. Often the data needs to be separated and moved at a different rate. One example is the rate of microprocessor as opposed to the rate of a DEMUX input. Another example is a storage device that requires a clock for accurate transfer of data. The data is entered when the data is present. The pulse of the clock says when the data is there.
data 1 1 0 0 1
clock 1111 1111 1111 1111 1111
no data in between data bits