US3766367A — Constant speed control system for vehicles

Claim 1

Independent Claim 245 words

A constant speed control system for vehicles comprising: pulse signal generating means for producing pulse signals each proportional in number and representative of vehicle speed and throttle valve opening, respectively; adding means for producing pulse signals during successive selected time intervals representing the sum of pulse signals proportional in number to the vehicle speed and pulse signals proportional in number to the opening of the throttle valve; a first storage circuit for storing said sum of pulse signals for a selected interval; a second storage circuit for storing said sum of pulse signals during a different interval from aforesaid; gate means for passing the output pulse signals from said adding means representing said sum to the first storage circuit only when the vehicle speed is set during said selected interval and thereafter to said second storage circuit; a comparison circuit for comparing the values stored in said first and second storage circuits to produce a first output signal when the former representing a desired speed is greater than the latter representing an actual speed and a second output signal when the former is smaller than the latter; and electromagnetically operated valve operating means for activating said throttle valve in a direction such that the vehicle speed is increased upon receipt of said first output signal from said comparison circuit and actuating said throttle valve in the direction such that the vehicle speed is decreased, upon receipt of said second output signal from said comparison circuit.

Claim 2

Dependent Claim 245 words

A constant speed control system for vehicles comprising: pulse signal generating means for producing pulse signals each proportional in number and representative of vehicle speed and throttle valve opening, respectively; adding means for producing pulse signals during successive selected time intervals representing the sum of pulse signals proportional in number to the vehicle speed and pulse signals proportional in number to the opening of the throttle valve; a first storage circuit for storing said sum of pulse signals for a selected interval; a second storage circuit for storing said sum of pulse signals during a different interval from aforesaid; gate means for passing the output pulse signals from said adding means representing said sum to the first storage circuit only when the vehicle speed is set during said selected interval and thereafter to said second storage circuit; a comparison circuit for comparing the values stored in said first and second storage circuits to produce a first output signal when the former representing a desired speed is greater than the latter representing an actual speed and a second output signal when the former is smaller than the latter; and electromagnetically operated valve operating means for activating said throttle valve in a direction such that the vehicle speed is increased upon receipt of said first output signal from said comparison circuit and actuating said throttle valve in the direction such that the vehicle speed is decreased, upon receipt of said second output signal from said comparison circuit.

Claim 3

Dependent Claim 42 words

The constant speed control system for vehicles as recited in claim 1 wherein each of said first and second storage circuits comprise; a binary circuit adapted to store each of said summations of pulse signals in the form of a binary sequence.

Claim 4

Dependent Claim 39 words

The constant speed control system for vehicles as recited in claim 2 wherein said comparison circuit comprises: a binary circuit adapted to perform the comparison operation on said binary sequences in each of a plurality of bit positions thereof.

Claim 5

Dependent Claim 196 words

The constant speed control system for vehicles of claim 1 wherein said first and second storage circuits each thereof comprise; a plurality of flip-flops connected in cascade, and corresponding gate elements, wherein the pulse signals representing the sum of pulse signals proportional in number to the vehicle speed and pulse signals proportional in number to the opening of a throttle valve of the vehicle engine, are stored in said first storage circuit initially at the time of setting the vehicle speed and pulse signals representing the sum of pulse signals proportional in number to everchanging actual vehicle speed and pulse signals proportional in number to the everchanging opening of the throttle valve in the vehicle engine are stored periodically in said second storage circuit in the form of a binary number, the outputs of the corresponding flip-flops in said first and second storage circuits are applied respectively to associated inputs of corresponding gate element thereof in such a manner that an AND opEration is performed on the outputs from said plurality of gate elements whereby the throttle valve opening is varied in accordance with the presence or absence of an output resulting from said AND operation.

Claim 6

Dependent Claim 211 words

A constant speed control system for vehicles comprising: a throttle sensor for producing an analog signal corresponding to a throttle opening; a vehicle speed detector for producing a digital signal having a frequency proportional to an actual vehicle speed; converter means connected to said throttle sensor for producing a digital signal having a frequency proportional to the throttle signal; a logic sum gate circuit having two inputs connected to said vehicle speed detector and said converter for producing successive logic sum signals of said two inputs; a first storage circuit connected to said logic sum gate circuit for storing the summed signals of said logic sum gate during a selected interval indicative of a desired speed in response to control signals; a second storage circuit connected to said logic sum gate circuit for temporarily storing the summed signals of said logic sum gate indicative of a preceding actual speed in response to control signals; a comparison circuit for comparing values stored in said first and second storage circuits to produce one or another resultant signal; and an electromagnetically operated valve operating means connected to said comparison circuit for controlling said throttle valve opening in accordance with said one or another resultant signal whereby vehicle speed is maintained at said desired speed.

Claim 7

Dependent Claim 211 words

A constant speed control system for vehicles comprising: a throttle sensor for producing an analog signal corresponding to a throttle opening; a vehicle speed detector for producing a digital signal having a frequency proportional to an actual vehicle speed; converter means connected to said throttle sensor for producing a digital signal having a frequency proportional to the throttle signal; a logic sum gate circuit having two inputs connected to said vehicle speed detector and said converter for producing successive logic sum signals of said two inputs; a first storage circuit connected to said logic sum gate circuit for storing the summed signals of said logic sum gate during a selected interval indicative of a desired speed in response to control signals; a second storage circuit connected to said logic sum gate circuit for temporarily storing the summed signals of said logic sum gate indicative of a preceding actual speed in response to control signals; a comparison circuit for comparing values stored in said first and second storage circuits to produce one or another resultant signal; and an electromagnetically operated valve operating means connected to said comparison circuit for controlling said throttle valve opening in accordance with said one or another resultant signal whereby vehicle speed is maintained at said desired speed.

Claim 8

Dependent Claim 53 words

The constant speed control system of claim 5, wherein said throttle sensor comprises variable resistor means operatively coupled to said throttle valve for establishing an output voltage proportional to the throttle valve opening, and said converter means includes means responsive to said voltage for producing said pulsed output representative of the throttle opening.

Claim 9

Dependent Claim 59 words

The constant speed control system of claim 5 further including: means for generating control signals for controlling said logic sum gate circuit, to pass the summed output pulses of said adding means to said first storage means, said controlling means comprising a manually operable switch actuated by the vehicle operator for setting the desired speed during the selected interval.

Claim 10

Dependent Claim 46 words

The constant speed control system of claim 7, wherein said logic sum gate circuit passes said summed pulse signals to the second storage circuit when said control means is released for passing to said second storage circuit signals indicative of the actual speed of the vehicle.

Annuity Stage	Window Opens	Payment Deadline	Surcharge Period Until	Estimated Fee	Status
3.5 Years (Year 4)	1976-10-15	1977-04-16	1977-10-16	$2000.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
7.5 Years (Year 8)	1980-10-15	1981-04-16	1981-10-16	$3760.00	Window Closed / Lapsed
11.5 Years (Year 12)	1984-10-15	1985-04-16	1985-10-16	$7700.00	Window Closed / Lapsed

Constant speed control system for vehicles

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