Patent US3626076A successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
US3626076A
Expired / Lapsed
US
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Mixer circuit for electronic musical instrument providing staircase tone signal
Assignee: Nippon Gakki Co Ltd
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Filing: 1970-05-19
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Granted: 1971-12-07
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Expires: 1990-05-19
Abstract
Abstract Disclosed is a tone generator circuit for use in an electronic musical instrument, in which respective output terminals of a plurality of cascaded flip-flop circuits are connected to control electrodes of active elements such as transistors, said active elements are adapted to effect a switching action with their predetermined on-state resistances in response to magnitudes of signal potentials applied to the control electrodes from the outputs of the flip-flop circuits, other electrodes of the elements are connected as groups at common connection points at each of which a load means is connected, and in each said group of the active elements, a signal is derived across the load means in the form of summed potentials from the commonly connected other electrodes, whereby tone signals each having a sawtoothapproximating staircase wave and a different fundamental frequency are provided. The tone generator circuit minimizes the use of passive elements such as capacitors and resistors, etc. and thus allows it to be constituted only by active elements without using many passive elements and therefore, an integration of the circuit is facilitated. Further, said active elements function to reduce the loads of said flip-flop stages and provide buffer effects between said stages, to insure reliability in the operations of the tone generator circuit.
Inventors
- 👤 Yasuji Uchiyama
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-27 17:56
CPC Classifications
G; G10; G10H; G10H1/00; G10H1/02; G10H1/06; G10H1/08; H; H03; H03K; H03K4/00; H03K4/02; H03K4/026; H03K6/00; Y; Y10; Y10S; Y10S84/00; Y10S84/11
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 9
Claim 1
Independent Claim
202 words
A mixing circuit in an electronic musical instrument for synthesizing a staircase-shaped tone signal, said mixing circuit comprising: a plurality of flip-flop circuits connected in cascade as a frequency-dividing circuit and having output terminals for providing harmonically related square wave outputs, at least one group of active elements, each active element having first and second electrodes and a control electrode, said control electrodes being connected to respective output terminals of said flip-flop circuits whereby the corresponding active element rendered conductive or nonconductive in response to electrical potential variations in signals from said output terminals, said first electrodes all being connected in common to a proper potential operating point; a plurality of resistance, each resistance being associated with a corresponding active element and effectively individually connected at one end to the second electrode thereof, and a common load means provided for each said group and connected in common to the other ends of said resistance associated with said active elements included in that group for effectively mixing signals therefrom; said resistance having values individually determined to cause the mixing ratios of the signals to be mixed in each group to produce a mixed resultant signal of a staircase-shaped waveform having equal step intervals.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
202 words
A mixing circuit in an electronic musical instrument for synthesizing a staircase-shaped tone signal, said mixing circuit comprising: a plurality of flip-flop circuits connected in cascade as a frequency-dividing circuit and having output terminals for providing harmonically related square wave outputs, at least one group of active elements, each active element having first and second electrodes and a control electrode, said control electrodes being connected to respective output terminals of said flip-flop circuits whereby the corresponding active element rendered conductive or nonconductive in response to electrical potential variations in signals from said output terminals, said first electrodes all being connected in common to a proper potential operating point; a plurality of resistance, each resistance being associated with a corresponding active element and effectively individually connected at one end to the second electrode thereof, and a common load means provided for each said group and connected in common to the other ends of said resistance associated with said active elements included in that group for effectively mixing signals therefrom; said resistance having values individually determined to cause the mixing ratios of the signals to be mixed in each group to produce a mixed resultant signal of a staircase-shaped waveform having equal step intervals.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
36 words
A mixing circuit as in claim 1, wherein each said common load means comprise properly gate-biased field effect transistors, each source electrode and each drain electrode thereof constituting two terminals of the respective common load means.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
35 words
A mixing circuit as in claim 1, wherein said active elements are transistors, said first electrode is an emitter electrode, said second electrode is a collector electrode, and said control electrode is a base electrode,
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
55 words
A mixing circuit as in claim 3, wherein each of said resistances comprises an individual resistor and wherein said common load means comprises a resistor which is connected in common at one end to said other ends of the individual resistors and which is connected at its other end to a source of operating potential.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
60 words
A mixing circuit as in claim 4, wherein each succeeding individual resistor of a group has a resistance value substantially equal to one-half of the resistance value of the individual resistor associated with the just preceeding transistor and wherein the resistance value of said common load is less than the resistance value of the smallest said individual Resistor connected thereto.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
52 words
A tone generator in an electronic musical instrument including a mixing circuit as in claim 5 and further comprising a master oscillator for driving the cascade-connected flip-flop circuits and an output terminal connected to said one end of each common load means for providing the desired staircase-shaped waveform with equal step intervals.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
167 words
A mixing circuit in an electronic musical instrument, said circuit comprising: a plurality of flip-flop circuits connected in cascase as a frequency-dividing circuit and having output terminals for providing harmonically related square wave outputs, at least one group of field effect transistors, each transistor having a source electrode, a drain electrode and a gate electrode, said gate electrodes being connected to respective output terminals of said flip-flop circuits whereby the corresponding transistor is rendered conductive or nonconductive in response to electrical potential variations in signals from said output terminals, said source electrodes being connected in common to a proper potential operating point; common load means provided for each said group and connected in common to all of said drain electrodes of the field effect transistors in that group for mixing signals therefrom; said field effect transistors having on-state source drain resistance values respectively proportioned to cause the mixing ratios of the signals to be mixed in each group to produce a waveform shape having equal step intervals.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
167 words
A mixing circuit in an electronic musical instrument, said circuit comprising: a plurality of flip-flop circuits connected in cascase as a frequency-dividing circuit and having output terminals for providing harmonically related square wave outputs, at least one group of field effect transistors, each transistor having a source electrode, a drain electrode and a gate electrode, said gate electrodes being connected to respective output terminals of said flip-flop circuits whereby the corresponding transistor is rendered conductive or nonconductive in response to electrical potential variations in signals from said output terminals, said source electrodes being connected in common to a proper potential operating point; common load means provided for each said group and connected in common to all of said drain electrodes of the field effect transistors in that group for mixing signals therefrom; said field effect transistors having on-state source drain resistance values respectively proportioned to cause the mixing ratios of the signals to be mixed in each group to produce a waveform shape having equal step intervals.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1974-12-06 | 1975-06-07 | 1975-12-07 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1978-12-06 | 1979-06-07 | 1979-12-07 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1982-12-06 | 1983-06-07 | 1983-12-07 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |