Analog-digital converter

Claim 1

APPARATUS FOR CONVERTING A SIGNAL REPRESENTING THE ANALOG OF AN INDEPENDENT VARIABLE TO A DIGITAL WORD REPRESENTING THE DEPENDENT VARIABLE RELATIVE THERETO COMPRISING MEANS FOR PRODUCING A PULSE TRAIN WHEREIN THE SAPCING BETWEEN THE PULSES IN SAID TRAIN IS PROPORTIONAL TO THE RATE THAT SAID DEPENDENT VARIABLE VARIES RELATIVE TO SAID INDEPENDENT CARIABLE, MEANS FOR PRODUCING A REFERENCE SIGNAL WHOSE OCCURRENCE IN TIME SUBSTANTIALLY CONICIDES WITH A PULSE IN SAID TRAIN REPRESENTING A REFERENCE VALUE FOR SAID INDEPENDENT VARIABLE, MEANS FOR PRODUCING A SIGNAL LATER THAN SAID REFERENCE SIGNAL BY AN INCREMENT OF TIME PROPORTIONAL TO THE VALUE OF THE INDEPENDENT VARIABLE, AND MEANS FOR COUNTING THE PULSES IN SAID TRAIN WHICH OCCUR DURING SAID TIME INCREMENT, SAID MEANS PRODUCING A PULSE TRAIN COMPRISING MEANS FOR PRODUCING CLOCK PULSES AT A RATE AS FAST AS THE HIGHEST RATE AT WHICH SAID DEPENDENT VARIABLE VARIES WITH RESPECT TO SAID INDEPENDENT VARIABLE, A GATE FOR RECEIVING SAID CLOCK PULSES AND APPLYING ITS OUTPUT TO SID COUNTING MEANS, AND MEANS RESPONSICE WHEN THE NUMBER OF CLOCK PULSES COUNTED EXCEEDS THE INSTANTANEOUS VALUE OF THE INDEPENDENT VARIABLE BY A PREDETERMINED AMOUNT TO INHIBIT SUCCEEDING CLOCK PULSES FROM PASSING THROUGH SAID GATE UNTIL THE INSTANTANEOUS VALUE OF THE DEPENDENT VARIABLE IS SUBSTNATIALLY THE SAME AS THE COUNT OF SAID COUNTING MEANS.