Control apparatus for inertial instruments

Claim 1

IN AN INERTIAL INSTRUMENT: A HOUSING DEFINING A HOLLOW, SUBSTANTIALLY SPHERICALLY SHAPED CAVITY; THREE PAIRS OF ELECTRICALLY ISOLATED ELECTRODES MOUNTED ON SAID HOUSING AND ADJACENT TO SAID CAVITY, THE TWO ELECTRODES OF EACH PAIR BEING POSITIONED AT DIAMETRICALLY OPPOSITE LOCATIONS ON SAID CAVITY AND CENTERED ON ONE OF THREE MUTUALLY PERPENDICULAR AXES, X, Y, AND Z; ELECTRIC FIELD ESTABLISHING MEANS CONNECTED TO SAID ELECTRODES; AN ELECTRICALLY CONDUCTIVE, SUBSTANTIALLY SPHERICALLY SHAPED MEMBER POSITIONED WITHIN SAID CAVITY AND ADAPTED FOR ROTATION ABOUT A SPIN AXIS AT AN ANGULAR RATE W, SAID SPIN AXIS BEING SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL TO SAID Z AXIS; A SPEED CONTRIL OSCILLATOR MEANS PROVIDING AN OUTPUT SIGNAL WHOSE FREQUENCY CORRESPONDS TO A PREFERRED ANGULAR RATE OF SAID MEMBER AND IS SUBSTANTIALLY EQUAL TO W; A 900 PHASE NETWORK MEANS HAVING AN INPUT AND AN OUTPUT; MEANS CONNECTING SAID OSCILLATOR TO SAID X AXIS TO APPLY OF SAID ELECTRODE PAIR ALONG SAID X AXIS TO APPLY SAID OUTPUT SIGNAL OF SAID OSCILLATOR BETWEEN SAID TWO ELECTRODES OF SAID PAIR ALONG SAID X AXIS; MEANS CONNECTING SAID OUTPUT OF SAID SIGNAL GENERATING MEANS TO SAID INPUT OF SAID 900 PHASE NETWORK MEANDS AND, MEANS CONNECTING SAID 900 PHASE NETWORK MEANS TO SAID ELECTRODES OF SAID ELECTRODE PAIR ALONG SAID Y AXIS TO APPLY BETWEEN SAID TWO ELECTRODES OF SAID PAIR ALONG SAID Y AXIS A SIGNAL EQUAL TO, BUT IN 900 PHASE RELATION WITH, THE SIGNAL BETWEEN SAID ELECTRODES ALONG SAID X AXIS.