US3596145A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Drive circuit for ferrite phase shifters
Assignee: Raytheon Co
•
Filing: 1969-07-08
•
Granted: 1971-07-27
•
Expires: 1989-07-08
Abstract
Abstract A beam-steering apparatus in combination with a phased array antenna. The apparatus comprises a source of reference pulses of frequency (1/T0). Also included are means responsive to beamsteering angle magnitude signals phi for generating proportional pulse width modulated pulses such that each pulse width T phi T0/2 pi . Additional means responsive to the modulated pulses alter the phase of the corresponding phase shift device in the phased array element with output pulses of width T when (T/T0) 1, and T- T0 when (T/T0)>1.
Inventors
- 👤 Edward J Sheldon
- 👤 Rosario Mangiapane
- 👤 Edwin Segarra
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-31 22:45
CPC Classifications
H; H03; H03K; H03K17/00; H03K17/51; H03K17/56; H03K17/60; H03K17/62; H03K17/6221; H01; H01Q; H01Q3/00; H01Q3/26; H01Q3/30; H01Q3/34; H01Q3/36; H03K17/64
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 14
Claim 1
Independent Claim
386 words
A circuit for having the control coil of a ferrite phase shifter, the control coil being formed of N turns where N is the number of turns in the coil winding, the control coil having inductance L1, coil resistance R1, and interwinding capacitance C1, the circuit comprising: a. a flip-flop circuit having an output port, a SET input port a RESET input port, and responsive to SET and RESET trigger pulses such that a first voltage level is produced at the output port in response to the SET signal and a second voltage level is produced at the output port in response to the RESET signal; b. a first and second source of electric power, each source of electric power being connecting to a common ground, the first source of electric power being adapted to provide selectively a voltage of value V2 and a voltage of value V3, V2 being less then V3, the second phase of electric power being adapted to provide, selectively, a voltage of value V1, a voltage of valve V3 and a voltage of value V4, V1 being less than V2 and V4 being greater than V3 such that V2+V3 V4; c. a diode connecting between one terminal of the control coil and the second source of electric power, a second terminal of the control coil connecting with the first source of electric power; d. a transistor coupling from the junction of the diode and a control coil to the common ground whereby a state of conduction within the diode is terminated whenever the transistor is driven into a state of conduction; the transistor connecting with the flip-flop output whereby the flip-flop drives the transistor into a state of conduction when the first voltage level is present at the flip-flop output, and drives the transistor into a state of nonconduction when the second voltage level is present at the flip-flop output; e. a row conductor and a column conductor connecting respectively to the SET input port and the RESET input port for transmitting to the flip-flop respectively a SET trigger pulse and a RESET trigger pulse, the SET and the RESET trigger pulses occurring periodically, the duty cycle of the transistor being equal to the ratio of the duration of the interval of conduction to the period of the SET trigger pulses.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
386 words
A circuit for having the control coil of a ferrite phase shifter, the control coil being formed of N turns where N is the number of turns in the coil winding, the control coil having inductance L1, coil resistance R1, and interwinding capacitance C1, the circuit comprising: a. a flip-flop circuit having an output port, a SET input port a RESET input port, and responsive to SET and RESET trigger pulses such that a first voltage level is produced at the output port in response to the SET signal and a second voltage level is produced at the output port in response to the RESET signal; b. a first and second source of electric power, each source of electric power being connecting to a common ground, the first source of electric power being adapted to provide selectively a voltage of value V2 and a voltage of value V3, V2 being less then V3, the second phase of electric power being adapted to provide, selectively, a voltage of value V1, a voltage of valve V3 and a voltage of value V4, V1 being less than V2 and V4 being greater than V3 such that V2+V3 V4; c. a diode connecting between one terminal of the control coil and the second source of electric power, a second terminal of the control coil connecting with the first source of electric power; d. a transistor coupling from the junction of the diode and a control coil to the common ground whereby a state of conduction within the diode is terminated whenever the transistor is driven into a state of conduction; the transistor connecting with the flip-flop output whereby the flip-flop drives the transistor into a state of conduction when the first voltage level is present at the flip-flop output, and drives the transistor into a state of nonconduction when the second voltage level is present at the flip-flop output; e. a row conductor and a column conductor connecting respectively to the SET input port and the RESET input port for transmitting to the flip-flop respectively a SET trigger pulse and a RESET trigger pulse, the SET and the RESET trigger pulses occurring periodically, the duty cycle of the transistor being equal to the ratio of the duration of the interval of conduction to the period of the SET trigger pulses.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
68 words
The circuit of claim 1 in which the control coil is wound around a cylindrical waveguide section, the cylindrical waveguide section appearing as a shorted turn having a resistance Rs and inductively coupling with the control coil to present an apparent resistance of value N2Rs in parallel with such coil, N2Rs being substantially larger than R1 so that the time constant of the control coil is substantially L1/R1.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
77 words
The circuit of claim 2 in which the first source of electric power is supplying a voltage of value V2 and the second source of electric power is supplying a voltage of value V1 so that current flows through the control coil via a path including, alternately, the transistor and the diode, the current through such coil thereby building up to a substantially steady state value having a magnitude proportional to the duty cycle of the transistor.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
69 words
The circuit of claim 2 in which the first source of electric power is supplying a voltage of value V3 and the second source of electric power is also supplying a voltage of value V3 so that current flows through the control coil via a path including, alternately, the transistor and the diode, the current thereby increasing at an average rate proportional to the duty cycle of the transistor.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
80 words
The circuit of claim 2 in which the first source of electric power is supplying a voltage of value V2 and the second source of electric power is supplying a voltage of value V4 so that current flows through the control coil via a path including, alternately, the transistor and the diode, the current through such coil thereby flowing against a voltage of value V4-V2 V3 and thereby decreasing at a rate related to the duty cycle of the transistor.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
265 words
A circuit for driving current through the control coil of a phase shifter, such circuit being responsive to a periodic train of paired pulses in which the time spacing between the pulses in each pair of pulses designates the magnitude of electric current to be applied to the control coil, the time constant of the control coil being of substantially longer duration than the period of the paired pulses, the circuit comprising: a. flip-flop means responsive to the periodic train of paired pulses such that one pulse in each pair of pulses sets the flip-flop thereby initiating at the flip-flop output a switch control signal, the second pulse in each pair of pulses resetting the flip-flop thereby terminating at the flip-flop output of the switch control signal; b. a first source of electric power, a second source of electric power, and a diode, the diode connecting between the second source of electric power and one terminal of the control coil, a second terminal of the control coil connecting with the first source of electric power; c. grounding means connecting the first and the second sources of electric power; d. switching means responsive to the switch control signal, the switching means connecting from the junction of the diode and the control coil to the grounding means whereby the switching means provides a conducting path from the diode to the grounding means during the duration of the switch control signal so that the diode is then nonconducting, and breaks such path during the time interval between the switch control signals so that the diode is then conducting.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
265 words
A circuit for driving current through the control coil of a phase shifter, such circuit being responsive to a periodic train of paired pulses in which the time spacing between the pulses in each pair of pulses designates the magnitude of electric current to be applied to the control coil, the time constant of the control coil being of substantially longer duration than the period of the paired pulses, the circuit comprising: a. flip-flop means responsive to the periodic train of paired pulses such that one pulse in each pair of pulses sets the flip-flop thereby initiating at the flip-flop output a switch control signal, the second pulse in each pair of pulses resetting the flip-flop thereby terminating at the flip-flop output of the switch control signal; b. a first source of electric power, a second source of electric power, and a diode, the diode connecting between the second source of electric power and one terminal of the control coil, a second terminal of the control coil connecting with the first source of electric power; c. grounding means connecting the first and the second sources of electric power; d. switching means responsive to the switch control signal, the switching means connecting from the junction of the diode and the control coil to the grounding means whereby the switching means provides a conducting path from the diode to the grounding means during the duration of the switch control signal so that the diode is then nonconducting, and breaks such path during the time interval between the switch control signals so that the diode is then conducting.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
240 words
A circuit for driving current through the control coil of a phase shifter, the circuit responsive to a train of paired pulses for providing a magnitude to the current in accordance with the ratio of the time spacing between pulses in each pair of pulses to the time spacing between successive pairs of pulses in the train of paired pulses, the circuit comprising: a. first source of electric power, a second source of electric power, and grounding means, the grounding means connecting a common terminal of the first and the second sources of electric power; b. switching means, the control coil connecting between the first source of electric power and one terminal of the switching means, a second terminal of the switching means connecting with the second source of electric power, and a third terminal of the switching means connecting with the grounding means whereby the second and the third terminals are, alternately, connected via a conducting path through the switch to the control coil; c. flip-flop means connecting with and driving the switching means, the flip-flop means being responsive to the train of paired pulses such that in response to a first pulse in each pair of pulses a conducting path is provided between the control coil and the grounding means, and in response to the second pulse in each pair of pulses A conducting path is provided between the control coil and the second source of electric power.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
240 words
A circuit for driving current through the control coil of a phase shifter, the circuit responsive to a train of paired pulses for providing a magnitude to the current in accordance with the ratio of the time spacing between pulses in each pair of pulses to the time spacing between successive pairs of pulses in the train of paired pulses, the circuit comprising: a. first source of electric power, a second source of electric power, and grounding means, the grounding means connecting a common terminal of the first and the second sources of electric power; b. switching means, the control coil connecting between the first source of electric power and one terminal of the switching means, a second terminal of the switching means connecting with the second source of electric power, and a third terminal of the switching means connecting with the grounding means whereby the second and the third terminals are, alternately, connected via a conducting path through the switch to the control coil; c. flip-flop means connecting with and driving the switching means, the flip-flop means being responsive to the train of paired pulses such that in response to a first pulse in each pair of pulses a conducting path is provided between the control coil and the grounding means, and in response to the second pulse in each pair of pulses A conducting path is provided between the control coil and the second source of electric power.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
83 words
A driver in combination with a ferrite phase shifter comprising: a first voltage source; an inductance forming an input portion of the ferrite phase shifter; means responsive to an applied pulse train for forming a first conducting path including the inductance and the first voltage source for the duration of each pulse; a second voltage source; and means for forming a second current path including the inductance and the second voltage source during the interpulse interval whereby a current integrating characteristic becomes synthesized.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
83 words
A driver in combination with a ferrite phase shifter comprising: a first voltage source; an inductance forming an input portion of the ferrite phase shifter; means responsive to an applied pulse train for forming a first conducting path including the inductance and the first voltage source for the duration of each pulse; a second voltage source; and means for forming a second current path including the inductance and the second voltage source during the interpulse interval whereby a current integrating characteristic becomes synthesized.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
129 words
A current driver in combination with a ferrite phase shifter comprising: a first voltage source; a coil forming an input portion of the ferrite phase shifter; means, including a transistor coupling the coil, and responsive to an applied pulse train for forming a first conducting path including the coil and the first voltage source for the duration of each pulse, said transistor being driven into saturation; a second voltage source; and means including the transistor for forming a second current path including the coil and the second voltage source during the interpulse interval, the transistor being in an open circuit condition as allowed by the second current path, whereby the level of integrated current in the coil is proportional to the duty cycle modulation of the appended pulse train.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
129 words
A current driver in combination with a ferrite phase shifter comprising: a first voltage source; a coil forming an input portion of the ferrite phase shifter; means, including a transistor coupling the coil, and responsive to an applied pulse train for forming a first conducting path including the coil and the first voltage source for the duration of each pulse, said transistor being driven into saturation; a second voltage source; and means including the transistor for forming a second current path including the coil and the second voltage source during the interpulse interval, the transistor being in an open circuit condition as allowed by the second current path, whereby the level of integrated current in the coil is proportional to the duty cycle modulation of the appended pulse train.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1974-07-26 | 1975-01-25 | 1975-07-27 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1978-07-26 | 1979-01-25 | 1979-07-27 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1982-07-26 | 1983-01-25 | 1983-07-27 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |