US3594608A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Electron beam display system having light detector pen with associated sampling and memory circuits
Assignee: Tektronix Inc
•
Filing: 1969-05-12
•
Granted: 1971-07-20
•
Expires: 1989-05-12
Abstract
Abstract A cathode-ray tube display system is described in which a light pen is employed to indicate the position of and to write on a selected portion of a display on a television monitor by detecting the light trace of the electron beam as it is deflected by the raster signal past such pen at the selected display portion. The system employs a sampling gate and an analog memory circuit for sampling horizontal and vertical ramp signals synchronized with the raster signal when a trigger signal is produced by the light detector, and for storing horizontal and vertical sample voltage levels corresponding to the position of the light pen. These sample voltages are employed to write a light pen spot on the display during the retrace time of the horizontal raster signal, either by generating a cursor signal which is applied directly to the TV monitor or by applying such sample voltages to the deflection circuits of a scan conversion storage tube. Charge images of the display and the pen spot are written on the storage tube and stored so that during reading such tube supplies an electrical readout signal corresponding to such charge images to the TV monitor.
Inventors
- 👤 Jon C Mutton
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-01 03:49
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06F; G06F3/00; G06F3/01; G06F3/03; G06F3/033; G06F3/038; G06F3/0386
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 15
Claim 1
Independent Claim
313 words
An electron beam display system, comprising: display means including a cathode ray tube having an electron beam deflection means, scanning means for applying a horizontal raster signal and a vertical raster signal having ramp-shaped waveforms to the deflection means for beam the electron beam in said tube horizontally and vertically so that said beam is scanned across its fluorescent screen in a standard raster pattern, and input means for modulating said beam in accordance with an input signal applied to said input means to form a light image display on said screen; ramp generator means for generating a horizontal ramp signal and a vertical ramp signal corresponding to the horizontal and vertical raster signals; light detection means including a movable light pickup device, for generating an electrical trigger pulse as the electron beam scans the fluorescent screen at a selected portion of the display within the viewing field of said light pickup device; sampling circuit means connected to the output of the ramp generator for sampling a portion of each of the horizontal and vertical ramp signals when a sampling gate pulse corresponding to said trigger pulse is applied thereto, and for transmitting horizontal and vertical sample signals to the outputs of said sampling means, said horizontal and vertical sample signals having amplitudes corresponding, respectively, to the horizontal position and the vertical position of said selected portion of the display; and memory circuit means connected to the outputs of said sampling means for storing the horizontal and vertical sample signals as DC sample voltages and for transmitting such horizontal and vertical sample voltages to the output terminals of the system until subsequent sample signals are applied thereto, said scanning means for the cathode ray tube being independent of the memory circuit means so that its sample voltage outputs have no effect on said raster signals applied to the deflection means of said tube.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
313 words
An electron beam display system, comprising: display means including a cathode ray tube having an electron beam deflection means, scanning means for applying a horizontal raster signal and a vertical raster signal having ramp-shaped waveforms to the deflection means for beam the electron beam in said tube horizontally and vertically so that said beam is scanned across its fluorescent screen in a standard raster pattern, and input means for modulating said beam in accordance with an input signal applied to said input means to form a light image display on said screen; ramp generator means for generating a horizontal ramp signal and a vertical ramp signal corresponding to the horizontal and vertical raster signals; light detection means including a movable light pickup device, for generating an electrical trigger pulse as the electron beam scans the fluorescent screen at a selected portion of the display within the viewing field of said light pickup device; sampling circuit means connected to the output of the ramp generator for sampling a portion of each of the horizontal and vertical ramp signals when a sampling gate pulse corresponding to said trigger pulse is applied thereto, and for transmitting horizontal and vertical sample signals to the outputs of said sampling means, said horizontal and vertical sample signals having amplitudes corresponding, respectively, to the horizontal position and the vertical position of said selected portion of the display; and memory circuit means connected to the outputs of said sampling means for storing the horizontal and vertical sample signals as DC sample voltages and for transmitting such horizontal and vertical sample voltages to the output terminals of the system until subsequent sample signals are applied thereto, said scanning means for the cathode ray tube being independent of the memory circuit means so that its sample voltage outputs have no effect on said raster signals applied to the deflection means of said tube.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
31 words
The system of clAim 1 in which the memory circuit means provides a continuous readout of the horizontal and vertical sample voltages to a utilization device connected to said output terminals.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
63 words
The system of claim 1 which includes writing means connected to the outputs of said memory means, for writing additional information on the screen of said cathode ray tube at a position corresponding to the position of said light pickup, during the retrace time of the horizontal ramp and raster signals, said raster signals being separate from said ramp signals but synchronized thereto.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
53 words
The system of claim 1 in which the sampling circuit means in an analog signal sampling circuit including a sampling gate and a sampling pulse generator which generates sampling gate pulses of substantially uniform width and applies such gate pulses to the sampling gate in response to the receipt of said trigger pulses.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
43 words
The system of claim 1 in which the light detection means includes a photoelectric device mounted externally of the movable light pickup device and said pickup device includes a flexible light guide means for optically coupling said photoelectric device to said fluorescent screen.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
28 words
The system of claim 5 in which the light guide means includes a plurality of fiber optic elements held at one end within a movable light pen member.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
62 words
The system of claim 1 which also includes cursor signal generator means connected to the outputs of the memory means, for generating a cursor signal corresponding to the position of the selected portion of the display and for applying said cursor signal to the input means of said display means to produce a cursor image on said display at said selected portion.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
69 words
The system of claim 1 which also includes a scan conversion storage tube, writing means for forming a charge image of the display on a storage target in such tube and storing said charge image, and reading means for producing an electrical readout signal corresponding to said stored charge image and for applying said readout signal to the input means of said display means to form the display image.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
49 words
The system of claim 8 in which the reading means connects the deflection means of the storage tube to the outputs of the ramp generator means to deflect the electron beam within such storage tube in accordance with the horizontal and vertical ramp signals to produce the readout signal.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
79 words
The system of claim 9 in which the writing means selectively connects the deflection means of the storage tube to the horizontal and vertical sample voltage outputs of the memory means to move its electron beam to a position in the stored charge image on the storage target corresponding to the position of the selected portion of the display on the monitor tube, and to write a second charge image corresponding to the movement of said light pickup device.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
35 words
The system of claim 10 in which the writing means causes the second charge image to be stored so that a readout signal corresponding thereto is transmitted to the display means by the reading means.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
28 words
The system of claim 8 in which the storage tube contains means for bombarding the storage target with low-velocity electrons to cause bistable storage of the charge image.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
33 words
The system of claim 12 in which a storage dielectric of phosphor material is used for the storage target on which a charge image is formed to provide a direct-viewing bistable storage tube.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
16 words
The system of claim 1 in which the memory circuit means is an analog signal memory.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
US3189889A
Cited
US3256516A
Cited
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1974-07-19 | 1975-01-18 | 1975-07-20 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1978-07-19 | 1979-01-18 | 1979-07-20 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1982-07-19 | 1983-01-18 | 1983-07-20 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |