Voiced sound display

Claim 2

Apparatus for displaying patterns derived from voiced sounds comprising in combination means for producing a sequence of pulses whose frequency is that of the pitch of the voiced sound to be displayed; a cathode-ray variable-persistence display having gating means to block or deliver the display on the cathode-ray screen, a beam-sweep means adapted to start the sweep across the display in response to the start of the voiced utterance, and means for deflecting the beam in a direction transverse to the direction of sweep at a rate slow enough to display pitch variation within the utterances; a P-A Analog Circuit for producing an analog voltage the magnitude whereof is proportional to the logarithm of the frequency of said pulses; means for applying said voltage to said beam-deflecting means of said cathode-ray display; and means for producing a control signal to actuate said gating means to block the display until a certain time interval after completion of a sweep.

Claim 3

Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said means for producing a signal also includes means to produce a signal blocking said pulse whenever the time interval between this pulse and the immediately preceding pulse corresponds to a pulse repetition rate greater than a certain fixed rate.

Claim 4

Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said means for producing a signal also includes means to produce a signal blocking said display whenever the time interval between immediately successive pulses is more than a certain time interval.

Claim 5

Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said variable-persistence display includes means for storing said display, and wherein said means for producing a control signal includes means to actuate said gating means, after said gating means has blocked the display, to deliver the display during at least one additional sweep of said beam and thereafter to block the display again until a certain time interval after completion of said additional sweep.

Claim 6

Apparatus for displaying patterns derived from voiced sounds comprising in combination a means for producing a sequence of pulses whose frequency is that of the pitch of the voiced sound to be displayed; cathode-ray variable-persistence display having gating means to block or deliver the display on the cathode-ray screen, a beam sweep means adapted to start the sweep across the display in response to the start of the voiced utterance, and means for deflecting the beam in a direction transverse to the direction of sweep at a rate slow enough to display pitch variation within the utterances; an exponential-decay circuit for producing a voltage output which decays exponentially from a fixed voltage to which each pulse restores it, so that a sample of said output at a fixed time interval prior to each succeeding pulse is a measure of the logarithm of the pulse frequency; means for storing said sample until production of the following sample, thereby producing an analog voltage the magnitude whereof is proportional to the logarithm of the frequency of said pulses; means for applying said voltage to said beam-deflecting means of said cathode-ray display; and means for producing a control signal to actuate said gating means to block the display until a certain time interval after completion of a sweep.

Claim 7

Apparatus for displaying patterns derived from voiced sounds comprising in combination a means for producing a sequence of pulses whose frequency is that of the pitch of the voiced sound to be displayed; cathode-ray variable-persistence display having gating means to block or deliver the display on the cathode-ray screen, a beam sweep means adapted to start the sweep across the display in response to the start of the voiced utterance, and means for deflecting the beam in a direction transverse to the direction of sweep at a rate slow enough to display pitch variation within the utterances; an exponential-decay circuit for producing a voltage output which decays exponentially from a fixed voltage to which each pulse restores it, so that a sample of said output at a fixed time interval prior to each succeeding pulse is a measure of the logarithm of the pulse frequency; means for storing said sample until production of the following sample, thereby producing an analog voltage the magnitude whereof is proportional to the logarithm of the frequency of said pulses; means for applying said voltage to said beam-deflecting means of said cathode-ray display; and means for producing a control signal to actuate said gating means to block the display until a certain time interval after completion of a sweep.

Claim 8

Apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said means for producing a signal comprises means to compare each sample with the stored preceding sample, and means to produce a signal whenever the samples thus compared differ by more than a predetermined amount.

Claim 9

Apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said exponential-decay circuit comprises two RC circuits each adapted to receive pulses at the junction of its resistance and capacitance, said resistances being joined at the respective ends thereof remote from said junction so as to deliver a current between pulses wHich is the sum of the discharge currents from the capacitances.

Claim 10

Apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said exponential decay circuit comprises a first RC circuit and a second RC circuit, wherein the RC constant of said first RC circuit is 0.0113 sec., wherein the RC constant of said second RC circuit is 0.0019 sec., and wherein the magnitude of said second resistance is twice that of said first resistance.