Signal detecting methods and devices

Claim 1

AN ELECTRIC APPARATUS FOR DETECTING ANY TIME DISPLACEMENT OF INDIVIDUAL ELECTRIC PULSES A TRAIN OF SIMILAR TIME-SPACED PULSES FROM THEIR RESPECTIVE NOMINAL TIMES OF OCCURRENCE, INCLUDING INPUT CIRCUT CONNECTIONS FOR RECEIVING AS INPUT PULSES THE PULSES OF THE SAID TRAIN, GENERATING MEANS FOR GENERATING DURING EACH NOMINAL TIME PERIOD DURING WHICH AN INPUT PULSE SHOULD EXIST A PREDETERMINED PLURALITY OF TIME-SPACED REFERENCE ELECTRIC PULSES, "AND" GATING MEANS ELECTRICALLY CONNECTED WITH THE INPUT CIRCUIT CONNECTIONS AND WITH THE GENERATING MEANS SO AS TO RECEIVE BOTH THE INPUT PULSES AND THE REFERENCE PULSES FOR PRODUCING GATED PULSES INDICATING PERIODS OF CO-EXISTENCE OF A REFERENCE PULSE AND AN INPUT PULSE, A MULTI-STABLE STATE DEVICE CONNECTED WITH THE AND GATING MEANS SO AS TO BE TRIGGERED CYCLICALLY FROM ONE STABLE STATE TO THE NEXT IN SEQUENCE BY SUCCESSIVE GATED PULSES DURING EACH SAID NOMINAL TIME PERIOD AND TO PRODUCE AT OUTPUT CIRCUIT CONNECTIONS THEREOF A UNIQUE OUTPUT SIGNAL STATE ACCORDING TO THE STABLE STATE THEREOF, THE NUMBER OF STABLE STATES OF THE DEVICE BEING AT LEAST EQUAL TO THE NUMBER OF REFERENCE PULSES IN THE AFORESAID PLURALITY.