Charge transfer circuits

Claim 1

A charge transfer system comprising, in combination: a plural stage charge transfer register comprising charge transfer elements arranged in groups of N such elements per stage, each charge transfer element coupled to the immediately following such element, and each stage for storing an information signal, where N is an integer greater than 1; N connections for an N phase power supply, connected to the N elements of each stage, respectively, each phase signal for causing the information present in an element to shift to the next adjacent element, whereby in response to one period of said N phases, information stored as charge signal in an element of one stage is shifted out of that stage and to the corresponding element of the next adjacent stage; and a circuit for producing an output signal substantially free of serrations due to said N phase signals comprising solely a single N input circuit, each input coupled to a different element of a register stage at the end portion of said register, said circuit for sensing the charge shifted into each element of that stage by each of said N phase signals, and for producing an output voltage indicative of the value of the charge sensed at each input for the interval that charge signal remains present at that input, whereby said circuit produces an output which remains substantially constant and proportional to the charge signal shifted from element to element of a stage during one entire period of said N phase voltages and which can change to new values proportional to succeeding charge signals during succeeding periods, respectively, of said N phase voltages.