Potentiometers

Claim 1

AN ELECTRICAL CAPACITIVE POTENTIOMETER COMPRISING AT LEAST THREE SEPARATE AND DISCRETE SUBSTANTIALLY CYLINDRICAL ELECTRICALLY CONDUCTIVE ELEMENTS ARRANGED IN ADJACENT END-TO-END RELATION SO AS TO FORM A LINE OF ELEMENTS, SAID ELEMENTS HAVING SUBSTANTIALLY THE SAME OUTSIDE DIAMETERS, INSULATING MEANS SEPARATING EACH PAIR OF ADJACENT ONES OF SAID CYLINDRICAL ELEMENTS, A HOLLOW SUBSTANTIALLY CYLINDRICAL PICK-UP ELECTRODE HAVING AN INSIDE DIAMETER EXCEEDING THE OUTSIDE DIAMETER OF SAID ELEMENTS, SAID PICKUP ELECTRODE BEING SUBSTANTIALLY CONCENTRIC WITH AND OUTSIDE THE TUBULAR ASSEMBLY FORMED BY SAID LINE OF CYLINDRICAL ELEMENTS SO AS TO BE SPACED THEREFROM AND CAPACITIVELY COUPLED THERETO, MEANS FOR PRODUCING RELATIVE MOVEMENT BETWEEN SAID PICK-UP ELECTRODE AND SAID LINE OF ELEMENTS SO AS TO VARY THE POSITION OF SAID PICK-UP ELECTRODE ALONG THE LENGTH OF SAID LINE OF ELEMENTS, AND MEANS FOR APPLYING ELECTRICAL POTENTIALS MUTUALLY DIFFERENT WITH RESPECT TO A POINT OF REFERENCE POTENTIAL TO SUCCESSIVE ELEMENTS, THE ARRANGEMENT BEING SUCH THAT UPON APPLICATION OF SAID POTENTIALS TO SAID ELEMENTS THE POTENTIAL OF SAID PICK-UP ELECTRODE WITH RESPECT TO SAID POINT OF REFERENCE POTENTIAL IS DETERMINED BY THE CAPACITIVE COUPLING BETWEEN ITSELF AND THE ELEMENTS WHICH ARE ADJACENT TO THE PICK-UP ELECTRODE, WHEREBY MOVEMENT OF SAID PICKUP ELECTRODE ALONG SAID LINE OF ELEMENTS CAUSES THE ELECTRIC POTENTIAL OF SAID PICK-UP ELECTRODE TO INTERPOLATE BETWEEN POTENTIALS CORRESPONDING TO THE SUCCESSIVE ONES OF SAID ELEMENTS TO WHICH SAID PICK-UP ELECTRODE BECOMES ADJACENT.