The following code is the configuration of the time event in jBPM. The expression "0s###1s" include the delay (0s) and the period (1s) of the timer.
<timerEventDefinition>
<timeCycle xsi:type="tFormalExpression">0s###1s</timeCycle>
</timerEventDefinition>
You can configure a boundary timer events if it should terminate the attached process or not then it fire. Just set the attribute "cancelActivity" on boundary event. So you can use it to build a remember function with a not terminating boundary timer event. Note that a boundary event can only attached to a process and not to a single activity.
<boundaryEvent id="_5" name="Timeout" attachedToRef="_2" cancelActivity="false" >
<timerEventDefinition>
<timeDuration xsi:type="tFormalExpression">5s</timeDuration>
</timerEventDefinition>
</boundaryEvent>