Patents Examined by Stanley D. Miller, Jr.
  • Pulse order recognition circuit
    Patent number: 4229701
    Abstract: A circuit which has two inputs at which respective ones of two time-displaced pulses may be received. The circuit also has an output at which a signal is produced if the pulses arrive in one order but not if they arrive in the opposite order. The circuit may have a second output at which a signal is produced if they arrive in said opposite order but not if they arrive in said one order. If spaced apart movement sensors are used to provide the two input signals, the circuit having two outputs indicates in which of two directions an object such as a vehicle passes the sensors. If only a single output is employed the circuit indicates each object passing in one direction but ignores objects passing in the opposite direction. Further applications of the circuit are disclosed.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 27, 1978
    Date of Patent: October 21, 1980
    Assignee: Kent County Council
    Inventor: Malcolm S. Bourner
  • Logic circuit
    Patent number: 4228371
    Abstract: A logic circuit in which a phase splitting transistor is connected at its emitter to the base of an output pull-down transistor having a bypass network connected between its base and emitter. The bypass network, comprised of a resistor in series with a Schottky diode, enables the phase splitting transistor to be turned on and off prior to the corresponding turn-on and turn-off of the pull-down transistor, provides a path for discharging the base of the pull-down transistor and for passing its collector-to-base leakage, and compensates for temperature variations of the pull-down transistor to maintain the propagation delay of the logic circuit relatively constant over a wide temperature range.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 5, 1977
    Date of Patent: October 14, 1980
    Assignee: RCA Corporation
    Inventor: James D. Mazgy
  • Integrated circuit interconnection structure having precision terminating resistors
    Patent number: 4228369
    Abstract: A small variable resistor is used as a precision terminating resistor in an integrated circuit interconnection structure. The structure involves the use of a driver circuit connected to and driving a plurality of loads which are connected to a transmission line. The transmission line is terminated by the precision variable terminating resistor. The last load in the series of loads is located in the integrated circuit chip which has the variable terminating resistor. The absolute value of the variable resistor is difficult to control. The absolute value of any conventional integrated resistor is hard to control in manufacturing. However, by making the value of the resistance proportional to a voltage which itself is proportional to a deviation from a reference voltage, it is possible to obtain a much more precise value of resistance.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 30, 1977
    Date of Patent: October 14, 1980
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Narasipur G. Anantha, Robert A. Henle, James L. Walsh
  • Solid state relay
    Patent number: 4227098
    Abstract: A solid state relay having a light-emitting diode, an array of series connected photodiodes and a field effect transistor is described.The light-emitting diode is optically coupled to the array of photodiodes. The conductive state of the transistor is determined entirely by the voltage developed by the array of photodiodes.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: February 21, 1979
    Date of Patent: October 7, 1980
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: Dale M. Brown, Marvin Garfinkel, John A. Laurent
  • Circuit arrangement comprising a high-voltage power transistor
    Patent number: 4227099
    Abstract: A Darlington pair having a high-voltage power transistor for a line deflection circuit and/or a switched-mode power supply. The drive circuit comprises two current paths, namely a switch-on path coupled to the base electrode of the high-voltage power transistor and which comprises a switched-mode current source, and a switch-off path which comprises an inductance, a substantially constant-voltage source and a switch and which is included between the base and emitter electrode of the high-voltage power transistor, the switched current flowing while the switch is cut-off and vice versa.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 12, 1978
    Date of Patent: October 7, 1980
    Assignee: U.S. Philips Corporation
    Inventor: Henk Houkes
  • Precision self-adjusting slope circuit
    Patent number: 4225825
    Abstract: An improved ramp generating circuit which is self-compensating for changes in component performance is disclosed. The circuit is designed to attain a reference voltage in a fixed number of counts as provided by a precision clock source. A single direction compensation feedback network is employed to increase the slope in increments until the desired peak level and clock count are attained simultaneously. Embodiments are shown wherein the circuit is employed in a gas discharge bar graph display driving circuit and as an analog-to-digital converter.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 25, 1978
    Date of Patent: September 30, 1980
    Assignee: Beckman Instruments, Inc.
    Inventor: Geoffrey P. Watts
  • Pulse generator circuit triggerable by nuclear radiation
    Patent number: 4225797
    Abstract: A pulse generator circuit triggerable by a pulse of nuclear radiation. The pulse generator circuit includes a pair of transistors arranged, together with other electrical components, in the topology of a standard monostable multivibrator circuit. The circuit differs most significantly from a standard monostable multivibrator circuit in that the circuit is adapted to be triggered by a pulse of nuclear radiation rather than electrically and the transistors have substantially different sensitivities to radiation, due to different physical and electrical characteristics and parameters.One of the transistors is employed principally as a radiation detector and is in a normally non-conducting state and the other transistor is normally in a conducting state.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 2, 1978
    Date of Patent: September 30, 1980
    Assignee: GTE Products Corporation
    Inventor: Paul B. Fredrickson
  • Voltage controlled amplifier
    Patent number: 4225794
    Abstract: A voltage controlled amplifier or multiplier circuit including a dual polarity rectifier for dividing the AC input signal into first and second unipolar signals, the first unipolar signal being the positive excursion of the AC input signal and the second unipolar signal being the inverted negative portion of the AC signal. Each unipolar signal is processed through a separate, conventional, unipolar log-antilog amplifier circuit, to each of which is applied a control voltage. The resultant unipolar signals are then subtracted in a differential amplifier to reconstitute the waveform of the original AC input signal, thereby producing the gain-controlled output signal.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 25, 1978
    Date of Patent: September 30, 1980
    Inventor: Paul C. Buff
  • Modified semiconductor temperature sensor
    Patent number: 4224537
    Abstract: A temperature sensor circuit is disclosed which employs a plurality of semiconductor junctions arranged either in a current-mirror configuration using a bias circuit and current source transistors or in a bridge configuration in order to provide a differential output voltage which is linearly proportional to temperature. The temperature sensor circuit is ideally suited for fabrication as an integrated circuit, and the differential output voltage is relatively insensitive to integrated circuit processing variations as well as power supply variations. By providing a differential output signal, the circuit is particularly useful in high noise environments such as automotive applications.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 16, 1978
    Date of Patent: September 23, 1980
    Assignee: Motorola, Inc.
    Inventor: Marvin A. Glazer
  • Series supervision/parallel actuation device
    Patent number: 4224538
    Abstract: An electronic switch for use in alarm circuits in which line polarity is reversed in the actuation mode such that the electrical continuity of the circuit and the loads in the circuit may be supervised in series and upon polarity reversal the loads may be actuated in parallel. A first embodiment for Class B circuits uses three diodes to steer a current flow from the positive line to the load and back again supervising each load and a field loop in series. Upon polarity reversal, the diodes steer full terminal voltage to each load in the loop. A second embodiment for Class A circuits utilizes a transistor to short out one diode so that current may flow in either direction along one line in the event of a break in that line.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 15, 1978
    Date of Patent: September 23, 1980
    Assignee: Firetek Corporation
    Inventor: John M. Cholin
  • Efficient base drive circuit for high current transistors
    Patent number: 4224535
    Abstract: A high current switching transistor controlling a load in its collector circuit receives from a drive circuit sufficient base current necessary to render the transistor conductive. A low loss inductor and switching means are connected to the base of the transistor such that when switching means are rendered nonconductive, current from the inductor flows into the base of the transistor to render it conductive, thus energizing the load.Regulating means coupled between a source of relatively high DC potential and the inductor together with unidirectional feedback path means provide a continuous current into the inductor such that when regulating means are substantially nonconductive, current is diverted away from the base of the high current transistor and circulates through the unidirectional feedback path and low loss inductor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 8, 1978
    Date of Patent: September 23, 1980
    Assignee: General Electric Company
    Inventors: James W. A. Wilson, Robert L. Steigerwald
  • Semiconductor device with thermally compensating SiO.sub.2 -silicate glass-SiC passivation layer
    Patent number: 4224636
    Abstract: A semiconductor device comprising a semiconductor substrate and protective films formed thereon. The protective films comprise at least one silicon carbide film which may be pure or may contain particular impurities.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 14, 1978
    Date of Patent: September 23, 1980
    Assignee: Tokyo Shibaura Electric Co., Ltd.
    Inventors: Toshio Yonezawa, Takashi Ajima, Masato Uchida
  • Electronic switching circuit
    Patent number: 4223235
    Abstract: An electronic switching circuit for switching electrical signals from several channels towards one channel or vice versa. For switching an electrical signal selected from others, the invention provides on the one hand a switching device comprising switching semiconductors and directional semiconductors and an impedance matcher and, on the other hand, a control stage of which the organization is such that the co-operation of a voltage generator with a shunt ensures an automatic order of priority among the signals to be switched.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 12, 1978
    Date of Patent: September 16, 1980
    Assignee: Thomson-CSF
    Inventor: Jean-Claude Rufray
  • Integrating circuit
    Patent number: 4223271
    Abstract: An integrating capacitor is connected between the inverting input and the output of an operational amplifier. A plurality of resistors are connected in series to the inverting input. A plurality of capacitors are connected between the inverting input and junctions of the resistors respectively. The time required for the output voltage of the operational amplifier to reach a predetermined level is an exponential function of a voltage applied to the inverting input through the resistors.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 24, 1978
    Date of Patent: September 16, 1980
    Assignee: Ricoh Company, Ltd.
    Inventor: Masamichi Furukawa
  • Non-inverting buffer circuits
    Patent number: 4221979
    Abstract: An input signal to a buffer circuit is applied via the emitter-to-base junction of a transistor to a circuit which includes at least one additional semiconductor junction and a current source. The collector of the transistor connects to a second current source and to the buffer circuit output terminal. When the input signal exceeds a threshold value, determined by the number of semiconductor junctions in the circuit including the emitter-to-base junction, the transistor turns on and its collector current, which exceeds the capacity of the second current source, flows via the buffer circuit output terminal to the load circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 8, 1977
    Date of Patent: September 9, 1980
    Assignee: RCA Corporation
    Inventor: Adel A. A. Ahmed
  • Electrical switching means
    Patent number: 4221980
    Abstract: This invention provides an electrical switch which has regenerative ON and OFF switching and which is latched. The switch has a main switching transistor, a latching transistor, a plurality of auxiliary current enhancing transistors and a switch-off transistor. The base and collector of the latching transistor are connected with the collector and base respectively of the main transistor to act as a latch. The auxiliary transistors are connected in parallel with the latching transistor, with the bases and collectors of the auxiliary transistors connected with the latching transistor's collector, and with the emitters of the auxiliary transistors and the latching transistor being connected. Finally, the switch-off transistor is connected across the base emitter junction of the main transistor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 14, 1978
    Date of Patent: September 9, 1980
    Assignee: South African Inventions Development Corporation
    Inventors: Wynand J. Louw, Douw G. van der Merwe, Carel J. F. Coetzee
  • Bus terminating and decoupling circuit
    Patent number: 4220876
    Abstract: The bus terminating circuit isolates itself from a bus in response to the magnitude of a power supply voltage decreasing below a predetermined threshold level. The bus terminating circuit includes a bus termination voltage divider network having one terminal coupled through a threshold sensing device to one of the pair of power supply terminals, another terminal coupled to the bus and a further terminal coupled through a transistor to the other of the pair of power supply terminals. Another threshold sensing circuit is coupled between one of the pair of power supply terminals and the control electrode of the transistor. The threshold sensing circuits are responsive to the magnitude of the power supply voltage falling below the predetermined threshold level to render devices of the threshold sensing circuits non-conductive and thereby electrically isolate the bus termination network from the bus.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 17, 1978
    Date of Patent: September 2, 1980
    Assignee: Motorola, Inc.
    Inventor: Kenneth I. Ray
  • Temperature compensated switching circuit
    Patent number: 4220873
    Abstract: Temperature compensation is provided in a switching circuit for the saturation voltage drop across a bipolar transistor through which a voltage source is applied to an output terminal. The base current of the bipolar transistor is varied inversely with temperature to hold the saturation voltage drop thereacross substantially constant within the switching circuit. High temperature nonsaturating means for interrupting the base current to the bipolar transistor is combined with this temperature compensation to enhance the turn-on speed of the bipolar transistor in one of the described embodiments. In another embodiment a three state logic circuit (saturated, nonsaturation and nonconductive) is used to interrupt the base current to the bipolar transistor and thereby enhance both the turn on and turn off speed of the bipolar transistor.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 9, 1978
    Date of Patent: September 2, 1980
    Assignee: RCA Corporation
    Inventor: Raymond L. Giordano
  • Electrical signal converter usable in triangular waveform generation
    Patent number: 4220927
    Abstract: A signal having instantaneous voltage values, defined by a peak-to-peak voltage magnitude and a D.C. offset voltage level, is converted into another signal having time corresponding waveform characteristics similar to the unconverted signal but having different instantaneous voltage values defined by a lesser peak-to-peak magnitude and/or another D.C. offset voltage level. This signal conversion is used by a triangle generator of the type employing an integrator, detector/control, and a switch so that triangular waveforms of any desired peak-to-peak magnitude and D.C. offset voltage level are produced independent of detector/control requirements.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: April 20, 1978
    Date of Patent: September 2, 1980
    Assignee: The Singer Company
    Inventor: William R. Austin
  • Temperature compensated switching circuit
    Patent number: 4220877
    Abstract: Temperature compensation is provided in a switching circuit for the channel resistance of a MOS/FET transistor through which a voltage source is applied to an output terminal. The gate-source voltage of the transistor is varied directly with temperature changes to hold the channel resistance substantially constant within the switching circuit. In a particular embodiment, at least one output level of a pulse amplifier is controlled through the temperature compensated switching circuit of the invention. The other output level of this pulse amplifier is applied through a bipolar transistor of a second switching circuit in another embodiment. The base current of the bipolar transistor is varied inversely with temperature to hold the saturation voltage drop thereacross substantially constant within the second switching circuit.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: May 9, 1978
    Date of Patent: September 2, 1980
    Assignee: RCA Corporation
    Inventor: Raymond L. Giordano