Digital control devices with mechanical conversion

Claim 2

In an electromechanical control system, coacting lever network means comprising a plurality of foremost lever members disposed in a first common plane half as many intermediary lever means disposed in a second common plane, said foremost levers being in direct physical contact with and operatively engaging said intermediary levers, said lever network having a plurality of receiving points and a single final point of linear force outputs, means backing-plate means and associated connecting rods for operatively supporting said lever network in an exposed arrangement, the receiving points of said foremost levers being in supporting and actuating engagement with on/off-type stationary power unit means having linear stroke ratings, and said stroke ratings being scaled down, through said coacting lever network, to discrete binary values and summed together at said final output point.

Claim 3

The control device of claim 1, wherein said lever network means further comprises at least one summing lever means having said final output point, each of said lever members being longitudinal with only two ends, a receiving side with a receiving point at each end and a transmission side with a selective transmission point thereon, said transmission point theoretically dividing each of said lever members into a major and a minor segment, thereby establishing a first ratio between the entire effective length of said lever members and the effective length of said major segment, and a second ratio between the entire length and the minor segment, thereby when a first on/off power unit is activated its stroke is reduced by said second ratio to a first fraction thereof, and is so applied to said transmission point, and when a second power unit is activated its stroke is reduced by said first ratio to a complementary fraction thereof and is so applied to said transmission point, and when both power units arE activated the sum of the two complementary fractions of stroke, that is a whole stroke, is applied to said transmission point, the length of said major to that of said minor segment, for said foremost levers, having a fixed ratio of substantially two-to-one (2:1), said length ratio for said intermediary levers being substantially four-to-one (4:1), said ratio for said summing lever being substantially eight-to-one (8:1).

Claim 4

The control device of claim 1, wherein each of said intermediary and said summing levers is engaged at both ends only with levers, accepting strokes only from said engaged levers, and thus it is capable of accepting two different sums of varying binary-weighted strokes at its two ends, thereby obviating the need of a consecutive binary reduction and permitting each said lever member to assume non-successive, high order binary stroke-reduction, and said backing-plate and connecting rods support said lever network in an exposed arrangement.

Claim 5

In an electromechanical control system at least one group of coacting lever member means, each having a receiving side with a receiving point at each end, a transmission side with a plurality of selective transmission points thereon, a summing lever, in said group, whose selected transmission point is a final output, intermediary lever member means in said group being operatively disposed, in pseudo-crisscross manner, in direct physical contact with both receiving points of said summing lever, and a series of foremost lever members disposed in direct physical contact with and operatively engaging the receiving points of said intermediaries, each end of each of said foremost levers being in supporting and actuating engagement with on/off-type power unit means, said power units having linear stroke ratings, a backing-plate means and associated connecting rod means operatively supporting said group of lever means and said power unit means, any given foremost lever swinging towards the final output, when the power unit of one of its ends is energized, by swaying on its none-energized end, the entire lever being shifted towards said side and the entire linear stroke motion being transmitted to a subsequent lever member when the power units of both ends of said given foremost lever are energized, said selected transmission points, said linear stroke ratings of on/off power units, and said coacting lever members being so arranged, proportioned, and constructed that said stroke ratings are reduced to discrete binary values and summed together at said final output point.

Claim 6

In an electromechanical control system at least one group of coacting lever member means, each having a receiving side with a receiving point at each end, a transmission side with a plurality of selective transmission points thereon, a summing lever, in said group, whose selected transmission point is a final output, intermediary lever member means in said group being operatively disposed, in pseudo-crisscross manner, in direct physical contact with both receiving points of said summing lever, and a series of foremost lever members disposed in direct physical contact with and operatively engaging the receiving points of said intermediaries, each end of each of said foremost levers being in supporting and actuating engagement with on/off-type power unit means, said power units having linear stroke ratings, a backing-plate means and associated connecting rod means operatively supporting said group of lever means and said power unit means, any given foremost lever swinging towards the final output, when the power unit of one of its ends is energized, by swaying on its none-energized end, the entire lever being shifted towards said side and the entire linear stroke motion being transmitted to a subsequent lever member when the power units of both ends of said given foremost lever are energized, said selected transmission points, said linear stroke ratings of on/off power units, and said coacting lever members being so arranged, proportioned, and constructed that said stroke ratings are reduced to discrete binary values and summed together at said final output point.

Claim 7

The control device of claim 4, wherein each of said intermediary and said summing levers is engaged at both ends only with levers, accepting strokes only from said engaged levers, and thus it is capable of accepting two different sums of varying binary-weighted strokes at its two ends, thereby obviating the need of a consecutive binary reduction and permitting each said lever member to assume non-successive, high order binary stroke-reduction, and said backing-plate and connecting rods support said lever network in an exposed arrangement.

Claim 8

The control system of claim 4, wherein said backing-plate means further comprises, at least two transmission link means traversing from one side to the other of said backing-plate, said lever means being compound lever means, an output summing lever with a right intermediary lever member and a left intermediary lever members operatively disposed at a lower stage underneath said backing-plate, at least two foremost levers and half as many intermediary levers disposed in one bank of the upper stage above said backing-plate, at least one foremost lever and half as many intermediary lever members disposed in another bank of said upper stage, said intermediaries of both upper banks transmitting said linear stroke motions to the lower stage intermediaries via said tranSmission link means.

Claim 9

In a direct digital control system the combination of claim 6 wherein said connecting rod means further comprises adjusting means for taking up any lashes or slacks between all the elements of said coacting lever members, said power units, and the point where said linear force output is applied, thereby providing a lashless operation for said control system, said transmission point theoretically dividing each lever member into two segments of unequal lengths, all of said foremost lever members in said both banks having a substantially two-to-one (2:1) segments length ratio, said upper intermediaries having a four-to-one (4:1) segments length ratio, and lower intermediaries having eight-to-one (8: 1) segments ratio, and said summing lever having a segments ratio of sixty-four-to-one (64:1), each stroke rating received from a power unit being relayed and transmitted to the final output point through more than one of said lever members, each acting lever member en route the output point executing its share of reduction, with the stroke rating thus being transmitted to said output point in a predetermined binary value.

Claim 10

In an electromechanical control system, a coacting lever network means, a backing-plate means and associated connecting rod means operatively supporting said lever network means, a group of lever members disposed and arranged in a left bank and a right bank on a drive side of said backing-plate, and another group of levers disposed and arranged on a summing side, opposite to said drive side, each of said levers being longitudinal with only two ends and having a selective transmission point, said lever network comprising in combination, a summing lever member extending on the summing side from said one bank to the other and whose transmission point is a final output, a pair of summing-side intermediary lever members, one disposed in the left bank on one end and in direct physical contact with said summing lever, and the other similarly disposed on the other end in the right bank, a pair of drive-side intermediary levers disposed in said left bank, two pairs of foremost lever members in said drive side left bank, each one operatively disposed on one end and in direct physical contact with said drive-side intermediaries, said associated connecting rods engaging each end of said foremost levers and extending through said backing-plate, a pair of transmission link means traversing from the drive side to the summing side of said backing-plate, each end of each foremost lever being in actuating engagement with an on/off-type power unit of linear stroke rating, the foremost lever member reducing said stroke rating and transmitting same through its transmission point to its drive-side intermediary lever, the latter transmitting the stroke with a further reduction to said left summing-side intermediary via a transmission link, the last-mentioned intermediary transmitting to said summing lever, and the summing lever in turn to its output point with successive reductions, each stroke being thereby reduced to a discrete binary value and summed at said output point, at least another pair of foremost lever members disposed in the right bank of the drive side, transmitting likewise their strokes to said right summing-side intermediary via other transmission links.

Claim 11

In an electromechanical control system, a coacting lever network means, a backing-plate means and associated connecting rod means operatively supporting said lever network means, a group of lever members disposed and arranged in a left bank and a right bank on a drive side of said backing-plate, and another group of levers disposed and arranged on a summing side, opposite to said drive side, each of said levers being longitudinal with only two ends and having a selective transmission point, said lever network comprising in combination, a summing lever member extending on the summing side from said one bank to the other and whose transmission point is a final output, a pair of summing-side intermediary lever members, one disposed in the left bank on one end and in direct physical contact with said summing lever, and the other similarly disposed on the other end in the right bank, a pair of drive-side intermediary levers disposed in said left bank, two pairs of foremost lever members in said drive side left bank, each one operatively disposed on one end and in direct physical contact with said drive-side intermediaries, said associated connecting rods engaging each end of said foremost levers and extending through said backing-plate, a pair of transmission link means traversing from the drive side to the summing side of said backing-plate, each end of each foremost lever being in actuating engagement with an on/off-type power unit of linear stroke rating, the foremost lever member reducing said stroke rating and transmitting same through its transmission point to its drive-side intermediary lever, the latter transmitting the stroke with a further reduction to said left summing-side intermediary via a transmission link, the last-mentioned intermediary transmitting to said summing lever, and the summing lever in turn to its output point with successive reductions, each stroke being thereby reduced to a discrete binary value and summed at said output point, at least another pair of foremost lever members disposed in the right bank of the drive side, transmitting likewise their strokes to said right summing-side intermediary via other transmission links.

Claim 12

The control mechanism of claim 8, wherein said summing lever, said intermediary levers, and said foremost levers are binary stroke-reducers, each of said network levers reducing said rated stroke accepted at either end, said ends reducing said stroke by different factors, the magnitude of said factors depending on the selected position of said transmission point, the ratio between said two different factors being the first power of two (2:1) for each single member of said plurality of foremost levers, THE ratio for each single member of said drive-side intermediary levers being the second power of two (4:1), the ratio for each single member of said summing-side intermediaries being the third power of two (8:1), thereby said members cause a correspondingly high order binary stroke reduction, said ratio for said summing lever being the sixth power of two 64:1), whereby said member causes a correspondingly high order stroke reduction, each of said foremost and intermediary levers preceding an associated lever to accept its reduced stroke, said summing lever and said intermediaries accepting strokes only from said preceding levers, thereby rendering both ends of each of said summing and intermediary levers capable of accepting two different sums of said reduced strokes, said foremost levers accepting strokes only from said on/off power units.

Claim 13

In the control mechanism of claim 8, said connecting rod means further being provided with an adjustable follower for each rod, said on/off power unit engaging said follower and actuating the end of said foremost lever through said connecting rod, each foremost lever having two on/off power units, one power unit for one end, another power unit for the other end, each individual lever of said plurality of lever members having substantially equal actuating strokes at both its ends, all of said foremost levers being disposed in a first common plane and being substantially parallel with one another, said drive-side intermediary levers being disposed in a second common plane and being substantially parallel with one another.

Claim 14

The control mechanism of claim 8, wherein each of said transmission link means comprises a transmission rod slidably reciprocating in a guide inserted in a hold provided through said backing-plate, said backing-plate being further provided with other holes to operatively receive and guide said connecting rods, said on/off power units being supported by said backing-plate.

Claim 15

In an electromechanical control system, a coacting lever network means, a backing plate means and associated connecting rod means operatively supporting said lever network, each lever member of said network being longitudinal with only two ends and having a plurality of selectible transmission points between said two ends, each of said points causing binary division of the effective length of each lever into two unequal segments, the ratio between the lengths of said segments optionally depending on the selection of said binary-wise divider point, each lever member of said network serving to reduce binary-wise a linear stroke received at either end and transmit said stroke through said selected transmission point, the majority of said lever members being foremost levers with a one-to-two (1:2) segments length ratio, each end of each of said foremost levers being in supporting and actuating engagement with on/off-type power unit means having linear stroke rating, said foremost levers transmitting binary-wise reduced strokes to first-order intermediary levers having a one-to-four (1:4) segment length ratio, said first-order intermediary levers transmitting their output strokes to second-order intermediary levers having a one-to-eight (1:8) segment length ratio, said second-order intermediary levers transmitting their output strokes to a summing lever having a one-to-sixty-four (1:64) segment length ratio, the transmission point of said summing lever being a final output, the stroke of each power unit being thereby reduced to a discrete binary-weighted value through said lever members and transmitted to said final output.

Claim 16

In an electromechanical control system, a coacting lever network means, a backing plate means and associated connecting rod means operatively supporting said lever network, each lever member of said network being longitudinal with only two ends and having a plurality of selectible transmission points between said two ends, each of said points causing binary division of the effective length of each lever into two unequal segments, the ratio between the lengths of said segments optionally depending on the selection of said binary-wise divider point, each lever member of said network serving to reduce binary-wise a linear stroke received at either end and transmit said stroke through said selected transmission point, the majority of said lever members being foremost levers with a one-to-two (1:2) segments length ratio, each end of each of said foremost levers being in supporting and actuating engagement with on/off-type power unit means having linear stroke rating, said foremost levers transmitting binary-wise reduced strokes to first-order intermediary levers having a one-to-four (1:4) segment length ratio, said first-order intermediary levers transmitting their output strokes to second-order intermediary levers having a one-to-eight (1:8) segment length ratio, said second-order intermediary levers transmitting their output strokes to a summing lever having a one-to-sixty-four (1:64) segment length ratio, the transmission point of said summing lever being a final output, the stroke of each power unit being thereby reduced to a discrete binary-weighted value through said lever members and transmitted to said final output.

Claim 17

The control device of claim 12, wherein each of said intermediary and said summing levers is engaged at both ends only with levers, accepting strokes only from said engaged levers, and thus it is capable of accepting two different sums of Varying binary-weighted strokes at its two ends, Thereby obviating the need of a consecutive binary reduction and permitting each said lever member to assume non-successive, high order binary stroke-reduction, and said backing-plate and connecting rods support said lever network in an exposed arrangement.