Automatic target management method and system

Claim 1

Apparatus for determining the statistical dispersion of a measured property of successive units of processed material comprising a detector of the property of said processed material for producing detection signals systematically related to said property, integrating means for integrating said detection signals over successive intervals corresponding to respective units of processed materIal to develop measurement signals, means for measuring the speed of said processed materials by producing a speed signal indicative of said speed, compensating means responsive to said speed signal for compensating said measurement signals for changes in speed, first discriminator means for comparing measurement signals indicative of said property to a first threshold signal and producing a first discriminator output signal indicative of whether or not said measurement signals exceed said first threshold signal, first feedback means responsive to said first discriminator output signal for producing said first threshold signal at such level as to cause a first predetermined fraction of said measurement signals to exceed said first threshold signal, second discriminator means for comparing said measurement signals to a second threshold signal and producing a second discriminator output signal indicative of whether or not said measurement signals exceed said second threshold signal, second feedback means responsive to said second discriminator output signal for producing said second threshold signal at such level as to cause a second predetermined fraction of said measurement signals to exceed said second threshold signal, and combining means for differentially combining said first and second threshold signals to produce a dispersion signal indicative of the dispersion of said measured property.

Claim 18

A system for continuously controlling processing apparatus for automatically continuously processing successive units of moving material, said system comprising a detector of a property of said processed material for producing detection signals systematically related to said property as said material moves by, integrating means for integrating said detection signals to develop measurement signals, timing means responsive to the movement of said material for synchronizing said integrating means to integrate over intervals corresponding to respective units of processed material, means coupled to said timing means for holding a measurement signal developed in said interval corresponding to a respective one of said units of processed material while said integrating means develops the measuring signal in the interval corresponding to the succeeding one of said units, detector gating means controlled by detector gating signals for applying said detection signals to said integrating means only upon application of said detector gating signals, means for measuring the speed of said processed material by producing a speed signal of magnitude inversely proportional to speed, compensating means responsive to said speed signal for producing said detector gating signals periodically at a frequency high relative to the normal rate of movement of said units of processed material by said detector for durations of time inversely proportional to said speed signal, whereby said measurement signals are independent of the speed of the material through the processing apparatus, and means responsive to said measurement signals for controlling said processing apparatus.

Claim 19

A system for continuously controlling processing apparatus for automatically continuously processing successive units of moving material, said system comprising a detector of a property of said processed material for producing detection signals systematically related to said property as said material moves by, integrating means for integrating said detection signals to develop measurement signals, timing means responsive to the movement of said material for synchronizing said integrating means to integrate over intervals corresponding to respective units of processed material, means coupled to said timing means for holding a measurement signal developed in said interval corresponding to a respective one of said units of processed material while said integrating means develops the measuring signal in the interval corresponding to the succeeding one of said units, detector gating means controlled by detector gating signals for applying said detection signals to said integrating means only upon application of said detector gating signals, means for measuring the speed of said processed material by producing a speed signal of magnitude inversely proportional to speed, compensating means responsive to said speed signal for producing said detector gating signals periodically at a frequency high relative to the normal rate of movement of said units of processed material by said detector for durations of time inversely proportional to said speed signal, whereby said measurement signals are independent of the speed of the material through the processing apparatus, and means responsive to said measurement signals for controlling said processing apparatus.

Claim 21

A system for continuously controlling a cigarette making machine automatically continously processing a continuous tobacco stream into individual cigarettes, said system comprising a beta gauge for producing detection signals systematically relates to the mass per unit length of said tobacco stream as said stream moves by, integrating means for integrating said detection signals to develop measurement signals, timing means responsive to the production of individual cigarettes for synchronizing said integrating means to integrate over intervals corresponding to individual cigarettes, means coupled to said timing means for holding a measurement signal developed in said interval corresponding to a respective cigarette while said integrating means develops the measuring signal in the interval corresponding to the succeeding cigarette, detector gating means controlled by detector gating signals for applying said detection signals to said integrating means only upon application of said detector gating signals, means for measuring the speed of said processed materials by producing a speed signal of magnitude inversely proportional to speed, compensating means responsive to said speed signal for producing said detector gating signals periodically at a frequency high relative to the normal rate of production of cigarettes for durations of time inversely proportional to said speed signal, whereby said measurement signals are independent of the speed of the tobacco stream through the processing apparatus, first discriminator means for comparing said measurement signals to a first threshold signal and producing a first discriminator output signal indicative of whether or not said measurement signals exceed said first threshold signal, first feedback means responsive to said first discriminator output signal for producing said first threshold signal at such level as to cause said measurement signals to exceed said first threshold signal a first predetermined fraction of the time, second discriminator means for comparing said measurement signals to a second threshold signal and producing a second discriminator output signal indicative of whether or not said measurement signals exceed said second threshold signal, second feedback means responsive to said second discriminator output signal for producing said second threshold signal at such level as to cause said measurement signals to exceed said second threshold signal a second predetermined fraction of the time, first combining means for differentially combining said first and second threshold signals to produce a dispersion signal indicative of the statistical dispersion of said mass per unit length, means for producing a limit signal corresponding to a predetermined limit of mass per unit length, second combining means for additively combining a signal proportional to said dispersion signal and said limit signal to produce a set-point signal, and means for utilizing said set-point signal to control said set point.

Claim 22

A system for continuously controlling a cigarette making machine automatically continously processing a continuous tobacco stream into individual cigarettes, said system comprising a beta gauge for producing detection signals systematically relates to the mass per unit length of said tobacco stream as said stream moves by, integrating means for integrating said detection signals to develop measurement signals, timing means responsive to the production of individual cigarettes for synchronizing said integrating means to integrate over intervals corresponding to individual cigarettes, means coupled to said timing means for holding a measurement signal developed in said interval corresponding to a respective cigarette while said integrating means develops the measuring signal in the interval corresponding to the succeeding cigarette, detector gating means controlled by detector gating signals for applying said detection signals to said integrating means only upon application of said detector gating signals, means for measuring the speed of said processed materials by producing a speed signal of magnitude inversely proportional to speed, compensating means responsive to said speed signal for producing said detector gating signals periodically at a frequency high relative to the normal rate of production of cigarettes for durations of time inversely proportional to said speed signal, whereby said measurement signals are independent of the speed of the tobacco stream through the processing apparatus, first discriminator means for comparing said measurement signals to a first threshold signal and producing a first discriminator output signal indicative of whether or not said measurement signals exceed said first threshold signal, first feedback means responsive to said first discriminator output signal for producing said first threshold signal at such level as to cause said measurement signals to exceed said first threshold signal a first predetermined fraction of the time, second discriminator means for comparing said measurement signals to a second threshold signal and producing a second discriminator output signal indicative of whether or not said measurement signals exceed said second threshold signal, second feedback means responsive to said second discriminator output signal for producing said second threshold signal at such level as to cause said measurement signals to exceed said second threshold signal a second predetermined fraction of the time, first combining means for differentially combining said first and second threshold signals to produce a dispersion signal indicative of the statistical dispersion of said mass per unit length, means for producing a limit signal corresponding to a predetermined limit of mass per unit length, second combining means for additively combining a signal proportional to said dispersion signal and said limit signal to produce a set-point signal, and means for utilizing said set-point signal to control said set point.

Claim 23

A method of continuously controlling the automatic continuous processing of successive units of material to produce successive units having a property near a set point comprising measuring the property of successive units of processed material to produce measurement signals indicative of said property, applying said measurement signals and a first threshold signal to a first discriminator which produces a first discriminator output signal indicative of whether or not said measurement signals exceed said first threshold signal, in response to said first discriminator output signal producing said first threshold signal applied to said first discriminator at such level as to cause said measurement signals to exceed said first threshold signal a first predetermined fraction of the time, simultaneously applying said same measurement signals and a second threshold signal to a second discriminator which pRoduces a second discriminator output signal indicative of whether or not said measurement signals exceed said second threshold signal, in response to said second discriminator output signal producing said second threshold signal applied to said second discriminator at such level as to cause said measurement signals to exceed said second threshold signal a second predetermined fraction of the time, said second predetermined fraction being substantially different from said first predetermined fraction, differentially combining said first and second threshold signals to produce a dispersion signal indicative of the statistical dispersion of said measured property, producing a limit signal corresponding to a limit of said property, additively combining a signal proportional to said dispersion signal and said limit signal to produce a set-point signal, and utilizing said set-point signal to control said set-point.

Claim 24

A method of continuously controlling the automatic continuous processing of successive units of material to produce successive units having a property near a set point comprising measuring the property of successive units of processed material to produce measurement signals indicative of said property, applying said measurement signals and a first threshold signal to a first discriminator which produces a first discriminator output signal indicative of whether or not said measurement signals exceed said first threshold signal, in response to said first discriminator output signal producing said first threshold signal applied to said first discriminator at such level as to cause said measurement signals to exceed said first threshold signal a first predetermined fraction of the time, simultaneously applying said same measurement signals and a second threshold signal to a second discriminator which pRoduces a second discriminator output signal indicative of whether or not said measurement signals exceed said second threshold signal, in response to said second discriminator output signal producing said second threshold signal applied to said second discriminator at such level as to cause said measurement signals to exceed said second threshold signal a second predetermined fraction of the time, said second predetermined fraction being substantially different from said first predetermined fraction, differentially combining said first and second threshold signals to produce a dispersion signal indicative of the statistical dispersion of said measured property, producing a limit signal corresponding to a limit of said property, additively combining a signal proportional to said dispersion signal and said limit signal to produce a set-point signal, and utilizing said set-point signal to control said set-point.

Claim 29

A method for continuously controlling processing apparatus for automatically continuously processing successive units of moving material, said method comprising detecting a property of said processed material by producing detection signals systematically related to said property as said material moves by, integrating said detection signals over a plurality of periods of time substantially equally distributed over an integrating interval, each such period of time being proportional to the speed of said processed material, thereby developing measurement signals independent of the speed of the material through the processing, synchronizing said integration to integrate over integrating intervals corresponding to respective units of processed material, holding a measurement signal developed in an integrating interval corresponding to a respective one of said units of processed material while developing the measuring signal in the interval corresponding to the succeeding one of said units, and utilizing said measurement signals to control said processing apparatus.

Claim 30

A method for continuously controlling processing apparatus for automatically continuously processing successive units of moving material, said method comprising detecting a property of said processed material by producing detection signals systematically related to said property as said material moves by, integrating said detection signals over a plurality of periods of time substantially equally distributed over an integrating interval, each such period of time being proportional to the speed of said processed material, thereby developing measurement signals independent of the speed of the material through the processing, synchronizing said integration to integrate over integrating intervals corresponding to respective units of processed material, holding a measurement signal developed in an integrating interval corresponding to a respective one of said units of processed material while developing the measuring signal in the interval corresponding to the succeeding one of said units, and utilizing said measurement signals to control said processing apparatus.