US3679823A
Expired / Lapsed
US
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Differential time television system
Assignee: ELECTRONIC PRODUCTS CORP
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Filing: 1970-11-09
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Granted: 1972-07-25
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Expires: 1990-11-09
Abstract
Abstract A system for providing a signal which represents the change or displacement in an event or occurrence in a given time period wherein the reference image is continuously updated. In one embodiment, the output from a television system is stored in such a manner that it may be retrieved to provide a pair of output signals. One of the retrieved output signals represents the occurrence of an event at a given time, while the other output signal, which is simultaneously retrieved with the first output signal, represents the occurrence of the event at a time different from the time of the occurrence of the even indicated by the first output. Means are disclosed for subtracting the two retrieved output signals to provide a differential output signal which represents the change in the event during the time corresponding to the difference in time of the occurrence represented by the first retrieved output signal and the second retrieved output signal. In a preferred embodiment, a television camera provides an output signal which is recorded on both sides of a video recording disc. Playback heads, capable of adjustment relative to each other, are offset relative to the registration of the record heads so that the output signals from the first playback head and the second playback head, when subtracted, effectively represent the change in the event over the period of time determined by the playback head offset. Means are disclosed for adjusting the relative positions of the playback heads. Auxiliary means are also disclosed for monitoring the output of the playback head and recording the monitored output. Means for monitoring the output from the differential amplifier and recording that output with a video tape recorder are also disclosed so that the image difference may be added to the background image. Means for summing the output of the video tape recorder together with the recorded signals from the differential amplifier produce an image which has the background information of the event, but wherein the change in the event over a given time period is enhanced. An integrator camera is also disclosed for integrating the ''''snow'''' noise out of the television signal. Application of such a system to an X-ray or a fluoroscopic system for the treatment of patients is also disclosed.
Inventors
- 👤 Matthew J Corrigan Jr
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-26 10:46
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04N; H04N5/00; H04N5/30; H04N5/32; H04N5/3205; H04N7/00; H04N7/18
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 25
Claim 1
Independent Claim
335 words
An electrical-mechanical system for recording and retrieving electrical analog representations in real time of the occurrence of an event comprising: first means for storing in real time a retrievable electrical analogue representation of the occurrence of said event for a discrete continuous period of time, said representation being characterized as being retrievable in real time to provide at least a pair of outputs indicating the status of said event at a selected predetermined time interval defined by the difference between a terminal time and a datum reference time within said discrete continuous period of time; second means for retrieving said stored electrical analogue representation in real time and for producing a first output indicative thereof, said first output indicating the occurrence of said event at said datum reference time within said discrete continuous period of time, said datum reference time being continuously updated during the retrieval of said representation by said second means; third means for retrieving said representation in real time simultaneously with the retrieval of said representation by said second means, characterized in that the representation of said event retrieved by said third means is displaced in time for a period equal to said selected time interval from the datum reference time representation retrieved by said second means, and for producing a second output indicative thereof, said second output indicating the occurrence of said event at the terminal time of said predetermined time interval, the end of said predetermined time interval being continuously updated during the retrieval of said representation by said third means; fourth electrical circuit means for determining the difference between said second output and said first output and for providing a third output indicative of said difference, whereby the third output automatically and continuously represents the change in the event during the time corresponding to said selected predetermined time interval; and fifth electrical means for translating said third output into an observable image which represents the change in the event during the time corresponding to said selected predetermined time interval.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
335 words
An electrical-mechanical system for recording and retrieving electrical analog representations in real time of the occurrence of an event comprising: first means for storing in real time a retrievable electrical analogue representation of the occurrence of said event for a discrete continuous period of time, said representation being characterized as being retrievable in real time to provide at least a pair of outputs indicating the status of said event at a selected predetermined time interval defined by the difference between a terminal time and a datum reference time within said discrete continuous period of time; second means for retrieving said stored electrical analogue representation in real time and for producing a first output indicative thereof, said first output indicating the occurrence of said event at said datum reference time within said discrete continuous period of time, said datum reference time being continuously updated during the retrieval of said representation by said second means; third means for retrieving said representation in real time simultaneously with the retrieval of said representation by said second means, characterized in that the representation of said event retrieved by said third means is displaced in time for a period equal to said selected time interval from the datum reference time representation retrieved by said second means, and for producing a second output indicative thereof, said second output indicating the occurrence of said event at the terminal time of said predetermined time interval, the end of said predetermined time interval being continuously updated during the retrieval of said representation by said third means; fourth electrical circuit means for determining the difference between said second output and said first output and for providing a third output indicative of said difference, whereby the third output automatically and continuously represents the change in the event during the time corresponding to said selected predetermined time interval; and fifth electrical means for translating said third output into an observable image which represents the change in the event during the time corresponding to said selected predetermined time interval.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
29 words
The system as defined in claim 1 further including means for selecting the displacement in time between the representations respectively retrieved by said second means and said third means.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
69 words
The system as defined in claim 1 wherein said fourth electrical circuit means is a differentiAl amplifier including a first input circuit coupled to said second means for receiving said first output thereof, a second input circuit coupled to said third means for receiving said second output thereof and an output circuit for providing the output signal representing an enhanced difference between said first input and said second input.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
79 words
The system as defined in claim 1 further including sixth means for storing said first output; seventh means for storing said third output; eighth means for retrieving said first output; ninth means for retrieving said third output at the same time that said eighth means retrieves said first output; and tenth means for combining the retrieved first output and the retrieved third output to assemble the difference signal on a background representative of the true background of the event.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
22 words
The apparatus as defined in claim 1 further including means for monitoring said first output and means for monitoring said third output.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
16 words
The system as defined in claim 1 further including means for integrating the third output signal.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
15 words
The system as defined in claim 6 further including means for recording said integrated signal.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
80 words
The system as set forth in claim 1 wherein the event recorded and retrieved is the passage of an opaque fluid through a blood vessel and said system further includes means for observing the passage of said opaque fluid in real time and providing an output signal in real time indicative thereof, wherein the change in the passage of said fluid through said blood vessel is produced and the coherent background of bones, blood vessels and the like is eliminated.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
48 words
The system as set forth in claim 8 further including means for assembling the enhanced difference signal representing the passage of the fluid through said blood vessel on the background representative of the true background of the event including the presence of bones, blood vessels and the like.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
27 words
A system as defined in claim 1 further including input means for observing said event in real time providing an output signal in real time indicative thereof.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
51 words
The system as defined in claim 3 wherein said first means is a recording means capable of recording said output signal in such a manner that the recorded output signal may be simultaneously retrieved by said second means and said third means to produce said first output and said second output.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
140 words
The system as defined in claim 11 wherein said recording means is a video disc recorder and further includes: a first record head for recording said output signal at a first location on said video recording disc; a second record head for recording said output signal at a second location on said video recording disc; a first playback head for retrieving the output signal from said first location on said video recording disc; and, a second playback head for retrieving the output signal from said second location on said video recording disc at the same time that said signals are retrieved by said first playback head and wherein the retrieved signal from said second location on said video disc represents the occurrence of the event displaced in time from the occurrence represented by the retrieved signal from said first location.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
81 words
The system as defined in claim 12 further including means for adjusting the position of said second playback head relative to said first playback head wherein said recording means is a video disc and said first location is on said one side of said disc, said second location is on the other side of said disc, said first playback head is on said one side of said disc, and said second playback head is on said second side of said disc.
Claim 15
Independent Claim
283 words
A method of recording and retrieving electrical analog representations in real time of the occurrence of an event and providing an output which represents the change in said event over a selected predetermined time interval defined by the difference between a terminal time and a datum referEnce time further characterized in that the reference signal is continuously updated comprising the steps of: storing in real time a retrievable electrical analogue representation of the occurrence of said event for a discrete continuous period of time, said representation being characterized as being retrievable in real time to provide at least a pair of outputs indicating the status of said event at said selected predetermined time interval within a discrete continuous period of time; retrieving said stored electrical analogue representation in real time and producing a first output indicative of the event at said datum reference time, said first output indicating the occurrence of said event at said datum reference time within said discrete continuous period of time, said datum reference time being continuously updated during the retrieval of said representation by said second means; retrieving said representation in real time simultaneously with the said step of retrieving and producing said first output characterized in that the representation of said event is retrieved in real time for a period equal to said selected time interval from said datum reference time and producing a second output indicative thereof; electrically determining by electrical circuit means the difference between the second output and the first output and providing a third output indicative thereof; and translating the third output into an observable image which represents the change in the event during the time corresponding to said selected predetermined time interval.
Claim 16
Independent Claim
283 words
A method of recording and retrieving electrical analog representations in real time of the occurrence of an event and providing an output which represents the change in said event over a selected predetermined time interval defined by the difference between a terminal time and a datum referEnce time further characterized in that the reference signal is continuously updated comprising the steps of: storing in real time a retrievable electrical analogue representation of the occurrence of said event for a discrete continuous period of time, said representation being characterized as being retrievable in real time to provide at least a pair of outputs indicating the status of said event at said selected predetermined time interval within a discrete continuous period of time; retrieving said stored electrical analogue representation in real time and producing a first output indicative of the event at said datum reference time, said first output indicating the occurrence of said event at said datum reference time within said discrete continuous period of time, said datum reference time being continuously updated during the retrieval of said representation by said second means; retrieving said representation in real time simultaneously with the said step of retrieving and producing said first output characterized in that the representation of said event is retrieved in real time for a period equal to said selected time interval from said datum reference time and producing a second output indicative thereof; electrically determining by electrical circuit means the difference between the second output and the first output and providing a third output indicative thereof; and translating the third output into an observable image which represents the change in the event during the time corresponding to said selected predetermined time interval.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
26 words
The method as defined in claim 14 further including the step of selecting the displacement in time between the representation respectively retrieved by said retrieving steps.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
63 words
The method as defined in claim 14 further including the steps of storing said first output, storing said third output, retrieving the stored first output, retrieving the stored third output and combining the retrieved first output and third output to construct a composite signal having an enhanced representation of the change in the event over the time period corresponding to said displaced time.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
21 words
The method as defined in claim 14 further including the step of monitoring said first output and monitoring said third output.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
22 words
The method as defined in claim 14 further comprising the step of integrating said third output to reduce high frequency components thereof.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
16 words
The method as defined in claim 18 further including the step of recording the integrated output.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
29 words
The system as defined in claim 14 further including the step of observing said event in real time and providing a composite output signal in real time indicative thereof.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
114 words
The method as defined in claim 20 wherein the step of recording is further defined as the step of video disc recording and further includes the steps of recording said output signal at a first location on a video recording disc, recording said output signal at a second location on the video recording disc, retrieving the output signal from said first location on said video recording disc, and retrieving said output signal from said second location on said video recording disc simultaneously with the retrieval of said output signal from said first location and wherein the retrieved signal from said second location is displaced in time from the retrieved signal from the first location.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
91 words
The method as set forth in claim 14 wherein the steps of recording and retrieval are further limited to recording and retrieving a representation of the passage of an opaque fluid through a blood vessel and the method further includes the steps of observing the passage of said opaque fluid in real time and providing an output signal in real time indicative thereof, wherein the change in the passage of said fluid through said blood vessel is produced and the coherent background of bones, blood vessels and the like is eliminated.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
49 words
The method as set forth in claim 22 further including thE step of assembling the enhanced difference signal representing the passage of the fluid through said blood vessel on the background representative of the true background of the event including the presence of bones, blood vessels and the like.
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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) | 1975-07-25 | 1976-01-24 | 1976-07-25 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1979-07-25 | 1980-01-24 | 1980-07-25 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1983-07-25 | 1984-01-24 | 1984-07-25 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |