Electronic time delay devices

Claim 1

IN COMBINATION: MEANS ADAPTED TO BE COUPLED TO AN ELECTRIC CURRENT CIRCUIT FOR DERIVING THEREFROM A D.C. SIGNAL HAVING A MAGNITUDE DEPENDENT UPON THE VALUE OF A CHARACTERISTIC ELECTRIC QUANTITY OF THE CIRCUIT; CIRCUIT MEANS INCLUDING TWO INTERCONNECTED SECTIONS COMPRISING, RESPECTIVELY, A RESISTANCE ELEMENT AND A REACTANCE ELEMENT COMPRISING ENERGY STORAGE MEANS DISPOSED FOR ENERGIZATION UNDER THE CONTROL OF SAID D.C. SIGNAL, WHEREIN ONE OF THE SECTIONS COMPRISING IN PARALLEL COMBINATION AT LEAST TWO ELEMENTS OF LIKE KIND, SAID ENERGY STORING MEANS ALSO INCLUDING NONLINEAR IMPEDANCE MEANS CONNECTED IN SERIES CIRCUIT RELATIONSHIP THEREWITH, THE EFFECTIVE IMPEDANCE OF SAID NONLINEAR MEANS BEING HIGHER, WHENEVER VOLTAGE ACROSS THE RESISTANCE ELEMENT IS LESS THAN A PREDETERMINED MAGNITUDE, THAN WHEN SAID VOLTAGE IS GREATER THAN SAID PREDETERMINED MAGNITUDE; AND MEANS CONNECTED TO SAID ENERGY STORING MEANS FOR INITIATING A PREDETERMINED CONTROL FUNCTION IN RESPONSE TO THE ACCUMULATION BY SAID ENERGY STORING MEANS OF AT LEAST PREDETERMINED AMOUNT OF ENERGY.