Dispersive electromechanical delay line utilizing tapered delay medium

Claim 1

A DELAY DEVICE FOR PROVIDING LINEAR DISPERSIVE DELAY VERSUS FREQUENCY COMPRISING AN ELONGATED DELAY LINE OF ULTRASONIC TRANSMISSION MATERIAL HAVING ELECTRIC PROPERTIES EXPRESSIBLE IN TERMS OF SHEAR WAVE VELOCITY (VS), SAID DELAY LINE HAVING ENERGY-GUIDING MAJOR SURFACES THAT ARE SPACED FROM EACH OTHER TO DEFINE A RELATIVELY SMALL THICKNESS (H) THEREBETWEEN, AND A PAIR OF ELECTROMECHANICAL TRANSDUCERS RESPECTIVELY MOUNTED AT THE ENDS OF THE ELONGATED DELAY LINE, SAID DELAY LINE HAVING A CHANGE ALONG ITS LENGTH IN THE RATIO (H/VS), SAID CHANGE CAUSING THE DISPERSION IN DELAY OF SAID DELAY DEVIE TO BE LINEAR OVER A LARGER BAND OF FREQUNCIES THAN FOR A DELAY DEVICE WHEREIN THE RATIO (H/VS) IS CONSTANT.