Continuously variable digital delay line

Claim 1

DELAY LINE APPARATUS FOR PROVIDING VARIABLY DELAYED OUTPUT PULSES, COMPRISING INPUT LOGIC MEANS, CLOCK PULSE GENERATOR MEANS RESPONSIVE TO THE SAID INPUT LOGIC MEANS FOR GENERATING A TRAIN OF EQUISPACED ELECTRICAL SIGNALS IN WHICH THE TIME BETWEEN SIGNALS REPRESENTS THE TIME SEGMENTS WHICH MAKE UP THE TOTAL TIME DELAY OF THE DELAY LINE, COUNTER REGISTER MEANS RESPONSIVE TO THE SAID CLOCK PULSE GENERATOR MEANS FOR COUNTING THE ELECTRICAL SIGNALS EMANATING FROM THE CLOCK PULSE GENERATOR AND FOR GENERATING BINARY SIGNALS REPRESENTATIVE OF THE SIGNALS COUNTED ANALOG TO DIGITAL CONVERTER MEANS FOR GENERATING DIGITAL INFORMATION REPRESENTIVE OF A VARIABLE ANALOG QUANTITY, STORAGE REGISTER MEANS RESPONSIVE TO THE SAID CONVERTER MEANS FOR STORING THE SAID DIGITAL INFORMATION AND PROVIDING BINARY SIGNALS REPRESENTATIVE OF THE STORED DIGITAL INFORMATION, COMPARISON LOGIC MEANS RESPONSIVE TO THE SIGNALS FROM THE SAID COUNTER REGISTER MEANS AND THE SAID STORAGE REGISTER MEANS FOR GENERATING AN OUTPUT SIGNAL UPON THE OCCURRENCE OF SIMILAR SIGNALS FROM THE COUNTER AND STORAGE REGISTERS, MEANS FOR SUPPLYING INPUT PULSES, MEANS RESPONSIVE TO SAID INPUT PULSES FORN RESETTING SAID COUNTER REGISTER MEANS AND SAID STORAGE REGISTER MEANS AND INITIATING OPERATION OF SAID CLOCK PULSE GENERATOR MEANS, AND MEANS RESPONSIVE TO SAID OUTPUT SIGNAL FOR AND INITIATING OPERATION OF SAID CLOCK PULSE GENERATOR MEANS, AND MEANS RESPONSIVE TO SAID OUTPUT SIGNAL FOR STOPPING THE OPERATION OF THE CLOCK PULSE GENERATOR, WHEREBY THE OUTPUT SIGNALS HAVE DELAYS RELATIVE TO THE INPUT PULSES CORRESPONDING TO THE VALUES OF SAID ANALOG QUANTITY.