Abstract: An automatic switching apparatus is disclosed for a system employing a battery and a charging device. A load is automatically disconnected in response to the decrease in voltage caused by an inactivation of the charging device so that the battery will not be undesirably discharges if the load is not turned off. An override switch is provided to allow the load to draw power even when the charging device is not operating.

Abstract: In a vacuum electron tube, a novel oxide cathode comprising a metal substrate, means for heating said substrate to its operating temperature, and a layer of alkaline-earth-metal oxide on the substrate. The substrate is essentially free from silicon and contains operative concentrations greater than 1.0 weight % of chromium metal for progressively migrating into the oxide layer and reducing the oxide to yield alkaline-earth-metal.

Abstract: A system for analyzing an aluminum deposition process to form a coating on a surface of a CRT faceplate panel disposed on an exhaust cart includes: an apparatus within the exhaust cart for controlling the distribution of the aluminum; a sensor disposed on the panel for determining whether aluminum was deposited thereon, and a plurality of thickness monitors disposed on the panel for generating a plurality of signals representative of the relative thickness of the aluminum coating at a plurality of locations on the surface thereof. The signals are converted into data values to indicate whether the aluminum coating achieves a predetermined thickness profile.A method of depositing the aluminum coating is also disclosed. The method provides an indication of the performance of each of the exhaust carts and permits the categorization of defects for the panels not meeting the predetermined thickness profile.

Abstract: A diode clamp in a kine driver circuit clamps the voltage at the grid (G1) element of a picture tube to a level derived from the voltage at the cathode element of the picture tube. Deriving the grid (G1) voltage from the cathode voltage ensures that if the kine driver amplifier saturates, the voltage applied to the grid (G1) will always be less than that applied to the cathode. Thus, excessive beam current is prevented from flowing immediately following cold cathode turn-on, which excessive beam current would otherwise cause a phenomenon known as "focus flutter".

Abstract: A programmable sampled data subsampling system includes a programmable antialias filter which bandlimits the information bandwidth of the signal to be subsampled in accordance with the subsampling rate. The antialias filter includes a recursive filter which scales and combines input samples and delayed combined samples in proportions of K and (1-K) where K is a variable. The variables K are applied to the recursive filter in repeating sequences of N values of K where N is the subsampling factor. Every N.sup.th combined sample is extracted and provided as the subsampled signal.

Abstract: A signal suppression component such as a ferrite shield bead includes a cylindrical magnetically permeable element that has a passage formed through it. The passage is filled with an elastic silicone rubber compound. When the component is placed on a conductor or component lead, the elastic material forms a dampening layer between the conductor and the permeable element to prevent audible vibration of the element due to current flow in the conductor.

Abstract: A color display system includes a cathode-ray tube and yoke. The yoke is a self-converging type that produces an astigmatic magnetic deflection field within the tube. The cathode-ray tube has an electron gun for generating and directing three electron beams along paths toward a screen of the tube. The electron gun includes electrodes that comprise a beam-forming region and electrodes that form a main focusing lens, and features electrodes for forming a multipole lens between the beam-forming region and the main focusing lens in each of the electron beam paths. Each multipole lens is oriented to provide a correction to an associated electron beam to at least partially compensate for the effect of the astigmatic magnetic field on the associated beam. There are two multipole lens electrodes.

Abstract: The present invention provides an improvement in the appearance of a cathode-ray tube including a rectangular faceplate with an exterior surface having curvature along both the minor and major axes. The faceplate also includes a cathodoluminescent screen on an interior surface thereof. At least in the center portion of the faceplate, the curvature along the minor axis is at least 10 percent greater than the curvature along the major axis. Points on the exterior surface near the ends of the major axis, at the edges of the screen, lie in a first plane which is perpendicular to the central longitudinal axis of the tube; points on the exterior surface near the ends of the minor axis, at the edges of the screen, lie in a second plane which is spaced from and parallel to the first plane; and points on the exterior surface near the ends of the diagonals of the rectangular faceplate, at the edges of the screen, lie in a third plane which is spaced from and parallel to the first plane.

Abstract: A vertical deflection current generator includes an operational amplifier responsive to an input sawtooth signal at a vertical rate. A first end terminal of a deflection winding is coupled to an output terminal of the amplifier. A second end terminal of the deflection winding is coupled in series with a parallel arrangement of a switch and a capacitor. The switch is conductive during vertical trace. During vertical retrace, the switch is nonconductive that causes a vertical retrace voltage to develop in a flyback manner in the retrace capacitor. The retrace voltage in the retrace capacitor and a retrace voltage at the output terminal of the amplifier that are opposite in phase speed up the reversal of a deflection current in the deflection winding.

Abstract: A phase locking system for providing a sampling signal which is to be phase/frequency locked to an applied signal includes a controllable oscillator coupled to a sampling circuit to produce samples of the applied signal representing substantially quadrature phase related components of the applied signal. An accumulator respectively accumulates the quadrature phase components over predetermined intervals. A differencing circuit successively forms the differences of one of the components from successive intervals. The differences are used to generate a control signal to alter the signal generated by the controllable oscillator.

Abstract: A signal combining circuit for adaptively combining first and second signals includes a comparator to develop a control signal to indicate when the combination of the first and second signals will have an amplitude exceeding a predetermined amplitude in one polarity sense. In the absence of the control signal the first and second signals are combined. On the occurrence of the control signal the first signal is combined with a further signal related to the first signal and a reference value.

Abstract: The present invention provides an improved electron gun in a color picture tube. Such electron gun includes a beam-forming region comprising cathodes and at least two electrodes and a main focus lens formed by two electrodes. The cathodes and all of the electrodes are interconnected to a plurality of insulative support rods. The improvement comprises forming a first focus lens electrode, nearest the beam-forming region, of two separated portions that are electrically connected. The portion of the first focus lens electrode that is nearest the other focus lens electrode only is interconnected to the support rods near the main focus lens. The portion of the first focus lens electrode that is nearest the beam-forming region is connected to the support rods immediately adjacent to a beam-forming electrode.

Abstract: An asymmetrical sideband modulated (ASM) signal, such as an RF NTSC television signal is demodulated into in-phase and quadrature phase components, each of which are sampled at a sampling rate that is less than the Nyquist rate for the components. The signals, each of which includes aliasing distortion, are respective real and imaginary parts of a complex signal that is not subject to aliasing distortion at the chosen sampling frequency. The in-phase component of the signal is recovered by inserting zero-valued samples interstitially into each of the sampled in-phase and quadrature phase signals and then applying the modified signals to a complex filter. The resultant interpolated in-phase signal is a full bandwidth signal and is substantially free of aliasing distortion.

Abstract: A television tuning system includes control apparatus for changing the frequency of a local oscillator signal during a search and a comparator arrangement for determining when an AFT signal traverses first and second threshold values corresponding to first and second frequencies in respective "hump" regions of the AFT signal. The frequency of the local oscillator is set to the average of the first and second frequencies in order to set the frequency of the IF picture carrier closer to the nominal value than the first and second frequencies.

Abstract: A control signal spreader for ameliorating undesirable effects of abrupt changes in a control signal in a video signal processor gradually changes the magnitude of the control signal in the horizontal, vertical and temporal dimensions of the video signal. The control signal is applied to a first circuit, which, responsive to positive transitions of the control signal, generates a gradually increasing signal and provides the lesser valued one of the control signal and the generated signal. A delayed version of the control signal is applied to a second circuit, which, responsive to negative transitions of the control signal, generates a gradually decaying signal and provides the greater valued one of the control signal and the generated decaying signal. The first and second circuits are coupled to a third circuit which provides as an output control signal, the greater valued signal provided by the first and second circuits.

Abstract: During a power-up mode of a television receiver power supply, a first run supply voltage is generated by rectifying a retrace voltage in a flyback transformer of a horizontal output stage of the television receiver. The rectified voltage is coupled through a resistor and a diode to a power supply voltage receiving terminal of a load circuit. A voltage regulator that includes a pass transistor regulates the voltage at the terminal during both the power-up and standby modes. During the power-up mode, when the ambient temperature is higher than during the standby mode, the current in the transistor is lowered, as a result of a current that is coupled to the terminal via the diode. This reduces the power dissipation in the transistor during the power-up mode. A second transistor, having a base electrode that is coupled to the anode of the diode, generates a second run supply voltage that is temperature compensated at an emitter electrode of the transistor.

Abstract: A deflection circuit for a video apparatus operates in a countdown mode in which synchronization of the vertical deflection circuitry is accomplished in precise relationship to the horizontal deflection frequency. In order to permit countdown operation for nonstandard signal sources, such as video games, the countdown mode acceptance window is determined in a manner to encompass the coincidence of vertical sync pulses from signal sources having horizontal line per field ratios that may differ from the NTSC standard.

Abstract: A diode is coupled to a low voltage end terminal of a tertiary high voltage winding of a horizontal flyback transformer. The diode is back biased during trace and during a portion of the second half of retrace by a voltage that is coupled to the diode through a resistor from a B+ voltage source. When the diode is back biased, the resistor dampens parasitic ringing current in the tertiary winding caused by the leakage inductance of the transformer. During a portion of retrace, occuring prior to the time the diode is back biased, the diode is conductive and bypasses the resistor. This prevents the resistor from increasing the output impedance at the ultor terminal.

Abstract: A television signal ghost cancellation system is described in which a microprocessor is used to develop a mathematical model of the transmission channel which produced a ghosted video signal. The microprocessor determines the coefficient values and delay values for a digital IIR filter from this model. The system uses the IIR filter to cancel ghost signals from the ghosted video signal. The IIR filter includes circuitry for interpolating between successively delayed sample values to cancel ghost signals which are delayed by a non-integer number of sample periods.

Abstract: A switching-type power supply for a video apparatus includes regulating circuits that respond to both voltage and current information in order to generate pulse width modulated signals for the power supply switching device. The regulating circuits are electrically nonisolated from the output load circuits to provide direct feedback from one of the load circuit voltage supplies in order to effect accurate regulation of the supply voltage. Primary current flow information is provided via an electrically isolated winding such that all regulation circuitry is electrically nonisolated from the load circuit supplies.