Solid state instrument system for digital counting and continuously indicating count results

Claim 2

An improved electronic solid state instrument system for digitally counting events and continuously visually indicating periodically updated results of the counting, said system comprising in combination: pulse generating means for receiving information corresponding to a given series of events and generating a series of independent electrical input pulses proportional in number to the number of events; clock means for measuring predetermined time intervals; electrical counting means cooperating with said pulse generating means; storage register means cooperating with said counting means; decoder means cooperating with said storage register means and a plurality of diode elements; control means cooperating with said clock means, said counting means, and said storage register means; a plurality of light-emitting diode elements cooperating with said decoder means and arranged in a visual display arrangement comprising a first group of said diode elements aligned serially to form a bar graph presentation of counted events per unit time, and a second group of said diode elements arranged to form a numeric presentation of counted events per unit time adjacent said bar graph presentation; and power supply means cooperating and operatively connected with said plurality of diode elements to continuously apply to one electrode of each diode element a series of independent electrical power pulses each sufficient to activate said diode element into a light-emitting condition which appears as steady illumination to a human eye, said control means enabling said counting means to count input pulses from said pulse generating means for a predetermined interval, said control means then enabling said storage register means to receive and store the counted pulse information and to apply the same to said decoder means for activation of selected diode elements to visually present counted pulse information simultaneously on both groups of diode elements, said control means then enabling reset of the counting means to zero and reenabling the counting of input pulses for another interval, said decoding means connected and arranged to selectively apply ground potential to the other electrodes of the selected diode elements to activate them to the light-emitting state.

Claim 3

The system of claim 1 in which said first group of diode elements cooperates with the counting means, the storage register means, the decoder means, and the control means to indicate RPM changes in larger increments below a given predetermined level and in smaller increments above said level.

Claim 4

The system of claim 2 which comprises: an intensity control means cooperating with said power supply means to control the light intensity of said diode element presentations by varying the duration of said power pulses applied to said diode elements.

Claim 5

An airborne electronic solid state instrument system for digitally counting and visually displaying aircraft jet engine shaft RPM, said system comprising in combination: a lightweight compact housing means; input means in said housing means for receiving signals corresponding to engine RPM and in response thereto producing a series of electrical pulses with a frequency varying in accordance with engine RPM; a first visual display means comprising a first group of light-emitting diode elements having their light outputs matched in a given upper portion of their forward operating current range and arranged in said housing means adjacent a transparent portion therof in a series configuration to form a variable linear bar graph presentation; a second visual display means comprising a second group of light-emitting diode elements having their light outputs matched in a given upper portion of their forward operating current ranges and arranged in said housing means adjacent said first visual display to form a variable numeric display; a gate means in said housing means operatively connected with said input means; a first pulse counter means in said housing means operatively connected to said input means through said gate means; a first storage register means in said housing means operatively connected with said first pulse counter means and said first display means; a second pulse counter means in said housing means operatively connected to said input means through said gate means; a second storage register in said housing means operatively connected with said second pulse counter means and said second display means; a time-measuring clock means in said housing means operatively connected to said gate means, to said first and second counter means, and to said first and second storage register means, said clock means constructed and arranged to generate a plurality of control signals at predetermined intervals and operatively connected to transmit a first control signal to said gate means to enable transmission of input pulses from said input means to each of said counter means for a predetermined pulse-counting time period, and thereafter to transmit a second control signal to said storage register means to enable transfer thereto and storage therein of count information from the cooperating counter means, said count information corresponding to the number of input pulses counted during said predetermined time period, said second control signal also operative to cause activation of selected ones of said two groups of light-emitting diodes by the stored information in the respective storage register means to visually display indications of the stored count information, said gating means further arranged to transmit a third control signal to reset each counter means to its starting point before the next counting period is started by said gate means again being enabled to transmit input pulses to the counter means; first power supply means in said housing means operatively connected with said first group of light-emitting diode elements; and second power supply means in said housing means operatively connected with said second group of light-emitting diode elements, each of said power supply means connected to apply to one electrode of each of said diode elements of the corresponding group, a continous series of independent electrical power pulses at a frequency above which said diode elements appear to the human eye to be continuously illuminated, said pulses being of variable duration and of sufficient magnitude to activate said light-emitting diode elements to light-emitting state, the outputs of said storage register means selectively operatively connected to apply a ground potential to the other electrode of said light-emitting diode elements in accordance with the stored count information and cause selective illumination thereof during each power pulse.

Claim 6

An airborne electronic solid state instrument system for digitally counting and visually displaying aircraft jet engine shaft RPM, said system comprising in combination: a lightweight compact housing means; input means in said housing means for receiving signals corresponding to engine RPM and in response thereto producing a series of electrical pulses with a frequency varying in accordance with engine RPM; a first visual display means comprising a first group of light-emitting diode elements having their light outputs matched in a given upper portion of their forward operating current range and arranged in said housing means adjacent a transparent portion therof in a series configuration to form a variable linear bar graph presentation; a second visual display means comprising a second group of light-emitting diode elements having their light outputs matched in a given upper portion of their forward operating current ranges and arranged in said housing means adjacent said first visual display to form a variable numeric display; a gate means in said housing means operatively connected with said input means; a first pulse counter means in said housing means operatively connected to said input means through said gate means; a first storage register means in said housing means operatively connected with said first pulse counter means and said first display means; a second pulse counter means in said housing means operatively connected to said input means through said gate means; a second storage register in said housing means operatively connected with said second pulse counter means and said second display means; a time-measuring clock means in said housing means operatively connected to said gate means, to said first and second counter means, and to said first and second storage register means, said clock means constructed and arranged to generate a plurality of control signals at predetermined intervals and operatively connected to transmit a first control signal to said gate means to enable transmission of input pulses from said input means to each of said counter means for a predetermined pulse-counting time period, and thereafter to transmit a second control signal to said storage register means to enable transfer thereto and storage therein of count information from the cooperating counter means, said count information corresponding to the number of input pulses counted during said predetermined time period, said second control signal also operative to cause activation of selected ones of said two groups of light-emitting diodes by the stored information in the respective storage register means to visually display indications of the stored count information, said gating means further arranged to transmit a third control signal to reset each counter means to its starting point before the next counting period is started by said gate means again being enabled to transmit input pulses to the counter means; first power supply means in said housing means operatively connected with said first group of light-emitting diode elements; and second power supply means in said housing means operatively connected with said second group of light-emitting diode elements, each of said power supply means connected to apply to one electrode of each of said diode elements of the corresponding group, a continous series of independent electrical power pulses at a frequency above which said diode elements appear to the human eye to be continuously illuminated, said pulses being of variable duration and of sufficient magnitude to activate said light-emitting diode elements to light-emitting state, the outputs of said storage register means selectively operatively connected to apply a ground potential to the other electrode of said light-emitting diode elements in accordance with the stored count information and cause selective illumination thereof during each power pulse.

Claim 7

The system of claim 4 in which the first display means indicates RPM changes in large increments below a predetermined RPM level and in smaller increments above said level, and said first counter means comprises control means to correspondingly automatically vary the counting action of the first counter means below and above said predetermined level.

Claim 8

The system of claim 4 which further comprises: electrical control means operatively connected with said first and second power supply means to selectively vary the duration of the power pulses and vary the apparent intensity of the display means formed by the light-emitting diode elements.

Claim 9

The system of claim 4 in which the light-emitting diode elements of said first and second display means are physically mounted on heat sink means and said system further comprises: cooling means in said housing means to move a stream of cooling air over said diode elements, over said heat sink means, over said power supply means and out of the housing means to remove heat from the system and housing.

Claim 10

The systeM of claim 4 in which said power supply means comprises means limiting forward current through the light-emitting diode elements to a predetermined upper range in which most efficient emission of light occurs and in which the emitted light outputs of the light-emitting diode elements are substantially evenly matched.

Claim 11

The system of claim 4 in which said current limiting means for said first display means comprises a plurality of constant current sources, and said current limiting means for said second display means comprises consTant voltage fixed resistance circuitry.