Multi-band television tuner arrangement

Claim 2

A tuning arrangement for selectively tuning a television receiver to any channel in the VHF or UHF frequency bands, said arrangement comprising: a first housing enclosing a first tunable reactance circuit; a second housing disposed in a back-to-back relation to said first housing and enclosing a second tunable reactance circuit; an adjustable tuning shaft extending through one of said housings for displacement through a predetermined range and supporting a first electrode that extends into said first housing to form, when coupled to said first reactance circuit, a first resonant wave signal selector tunable across the VHF frequency band; said shaft further supporting a second electrode that extends into said second housing to form, when coupled to said second reactance circuit, a second resonant wave signal selector tunable across the UHF frequency band; band selector means for operatively coupling, alternatively, one of said first and second wave signal selectors to signal utilization circuitry of said receiver; and drive means engageable with said tuning shaft for positioning said first and second electrodes, relative to their associated reactance circuits, to tune that one of said wave signal selectors coupled to said utilization circuitry to any television channel within its band.

Claim 3

A tuning arrangement as set forth in claim 1 in which said first tunable reactance circuit comprises a fixed value inductance and said second tunable reactance circuit comprises a section of a transmission line having an electrical length approximating 1/4 of a wave length at the high frequency end of the UHF band.

Claim 4

A tuning arrangement as set forth in claim 1 in which said tuning shaft Is rotatably mounted for adjusting the coupling between said first electrode and said first reactance circuit and between said second electrode and said second reactance circuit to select a signal for resonating that one of said signal selectors coupled to said utilization circuitry.

Claim 5

A tuning arrangement as set forth in claim 1 in which said first tunable reactance circuit comprises a first inductance element and a first fixed capacitor electrode; said second tunable reactance circuit comprises a second inductance element and a second fixed capacitor electrode; and said first and second shaft supported displaceable electrodes are arranged for adjustable presentation to said first and second fixed capacitor electrodes, respectively.

Claim 6

A tuning arrangement as set forth in claim 4 further comprising apparatus for rotatably supporting said tuning shaft and for securing said first and second housings with their fixed capacitor electrodes in a predetermined spatial alignment with their associated displaceable electrodes so that said first and second wave signal selectors are tunable across their frequency bands by said displaceable electrodes as said tuning shaft is rotated through its range.

Claim 7

A tuning arrangement as set forth in claim 3 in which said drive means comprises a presettable programmer having a plurality of actuators each independently engageable with said tuning shaft and displaceable from a reference position to a predetermined location to rotate said shaft to tune that one of said wave signal selectors coupled to said utilization circuitry to a desired television channel within its band.

Claim 8

A tuning arrangement as set forth in claim 6 in which each of said presettable actuators is axially displaceable to a predetermined location so that the longitudinal displacement of said actuator from said reference position is directly related to an angular displacement of said tuning shaft.

Claim 9

A tuning arrangement as set forth in claim 7 in which said programmer comprises a rotatably mounted turret for supporting said actuators for axial displacement and for transporting said actuators sequentially from a standby position to an index station wherein the indexed one of said actuators directly engages an extension of said tuning shaft to convert said longitudinal displacement of said indexed actuator to said angular displacement of said tuning shaft.

Claim 10

A tuning arrangement as set forth in claim 8 which further includes an arrest disposed adjacent said index station and means for urging at least that portion of said turret occupying said index station against said arrest to define said reference position for said actuators, so that upon entering said index station, each of said actuators consistently applies a predetermined arcuate displacement to said tuning shaft in accordance with its longitudinal displacement from said reference position.

Claim 11

A tuning arrangement as set forth in claim 8 which further includes means for restricting the rotation of said tuning shaft to an arcuate displacement not greater than approximately 45* so that the travel of that portion of said tuning shaft extension engaging said indexed one of said actuators approximates a linear displacement.

Claim 12

A tuning arrangement for selectively tuning a television receiver to any channel in the VHF or UHF frequency bands, said arrangement comprising: a first housing enclosing a first group of tunable reactance circuits; a second housing disposed in a back-to-back relation to said first housing and enclosing a second group of tunable reactance circuits; an adjustable tuning shaft extending through one of said housings for displacement through a predetermined range and supporting a first group of electrodes that extend into said first housing to form, when coupled to said first group of reactance circuits, a first plurality of resonant wave signal selectors each tunable across said VHF band and constituting a preselector stage, an oscillator staGe and a mixer stage; said shaft further supporting a second group of electrodes that extend into said second housing to form, when coupled to said second group of reactance circuits, a second plurality of resonant wave signal selectors each tunable across the UHF band and constituting a preselector stage, an oscillator stage and a mixer stage; band selector means for operatively coupling, alternatively, one of said first and second pluralities of wave signal selectors to signal utilization circuitry of said receiver; and drive means engageable with said tuning shaft for positioning said first and said second groups of electrodes, relative to their associated reactance circuits, to tune that plurality of said wave signal selectors coupled to said utilization circuitry to a desired television channel.

Claim 13

A tuning arrangement for selectively tuning a television receiver to any channel in the VHF or UHF frequency bands, said arrangement comprising: a first housing enclosing a first group of tunable reactance circuits; a second housing disposed in a back-to-back relation to said first housing and enclosing a second group of tunable reactance circuits; an adjustable tuning shaft extending through one of said housings for displacement through a predetermined range and supporting a first group of electrodes that extend into said first housing to form, when coupled to said first group of reactance circuits, a first plurality of resonant wave signal selectors each tunable across said VHF band and constituting a preselector stage, an oscillator staGe and a mixer stage; said shaft further supporting a second group of electrodes that extend into said second housing to form, when coupled to said second group of reactance circuits, a second plurality of resonant wave signal selectors each tunable across the UHF band and constituting a preselector stage, an oscillator stage and a mixer stage; band selector means for operatively coupling, alternatively, one of said first and second pluralities of wave signal selectors to signal utilization circuitry of said receiver; and drive means engageable with said tuning shaft for positioning said first and said second groups of electrodes, relative to their associated reactance circuits, to tune that plurality of said wave signal selectors coupled to said utilization circuitry to a desired television channel.