Broadcast receiver

Claim 2

A broadcast receiver comprising: a. a front end having a variable local oscillator for generating a local frequency signal: b. a programmable divider coupled to said front end and including dividing means and a counter, said dividing means operating to divide the frequency of said local frequency signal by a factor determined by contents of said counter; c. pulse generator means for producing pulses for changing the content of said counter; d. a comparator for comparing the divided local frequency signal derived from said programmable divider with a reference signal to produce a control signal for determining the frequency of said local frequency signal generated by said variable local oscillator; e. means coupled to said front end for converting the output signal produced by said front end to a low frequency signal and to transmit said low frequency signal to output means; f. a muting circuit connected to said last-mentioned means for Selectively inhibiting the transmission of said low frequency signal to said output means; and g. muting circuit control means activated when the content of said counter is changed for actuating said muting circuit to inhibit said transmission of said low frequency signal, and for sensing when said counter content is not changed for deactuating said muting circuit to enable the transmission of said low frequency signal to said output means.

Claim 3

A broadcast receiver according to claim 1 wherein said muting circuit control means is coupled to said pulse generator means for producing a muting signal having a duration that is a function of the number of pulses received from said pulse generator means.

Claim 4

A broadcast receiver according to claim 2 wherein said muting circuit control means includes time delay means for producing said muting signal with a time duration longer than the time interval during which said pulses are received from said pulse generator.

Claim 5

A broadcast receiver comprising: a. a tuner having a variable local oscillator for generating a local frequency signal tuneable to a selected broadcast frequency; b. a programable frequency divider coupled to said tuner and including dividing means and a counter, said dividing means operating to divide the frequency of said local frequency signal in response to the contents of said counter, said contents representing broadcast frequencies; c. pulse generator means for generating pulses to change the contents of said counter; d. a comparator for comparing the divided local frequency signal derived from said programable divider with a reference signal to produce a control signal for determining the frequency of said local frequency signal, said frequency being established in accordance with the contents of said counter; e. first memory means comprised of a plurality of memory elements for storing selected signals therein representing broadcast frequencies, each stored signal being derived from the contents of said counter; f. read-out means for selectively reading out the signals stored in said first memory means and for controlling said pulse generator means in accordance with said read out signal; g. second memory means comprised of a plurality of non-voltaic memory elements for selectively storing the content of said counter; and h. memory control means coupled to said second memory means for writing into said second memory means the content of said counter and for reading out the signals stored in said second memory means to preset said counter with the read out signal.

Claim 6

A broadcast receiver comprising: a. a tuner having a variable local oscillator for generating a local frequency signal tuneable to a selected broadcast frequency; b. a programable frequency divider coupled to said tuner and including dividing means and a counter, said dividing means operating to divide the frequency of said local frequency signal in response to the contents of said counter, said contents representing broadcast frequencies; c. pulse generator means for generating pulses to change the contents of said counter; d. a comparator for comparing the divided local frequency signal derived from said programable divider with a reference signal to produce a control signal for determining the frequency of said local frequency signal, said frequency being established in accordance with the contents of said counter; e. first memory means comprised of a plurality of memory elements for storing selected signals therein representing broadcast frequencies, each stored signal being derived from the contents of said counter; f. read-out means for selectively reading out the signals stored in said first memory means and for controlling said pulse generator means in accordance with said read out signal; g. second memory means comprised of a plurality of non-voltaic memory elements for selectively storing the content of said counter; and h. memory control means coupled to said second memory means for writing into said second memory means the content of said counter and for reading out the signals stored in said second memory means to preset said counter with the read out signal.

Claim 7

A broadcast receiver according to claim 4 wherein said memory control means includes means for altering the signals stored in said second memory means.

Claim 8

A broadcast receiver according to claim 4 further including visual display means having a plurality of visual display elements each being energized in accordance with said contents of said counter to provide a visual indication of the frequencies to which said tuner is tuned, and a plurality of selecting switches associated with said display elements for enabling said broadcast receiver to receive and detect selected broadcast frequencies as determined by the operation of said switches.

Claim 9

A broadcast receiver according to claim 4 further including means coupled to said tuner for converting the output signal produced by said tuner to a low frequency signal and to transmit said low frequency signal to output means, a muting circuit connected in the transmission path of said low frequency output signal, and means for controlling said muting circuit in accordance with the change in content of said counter such that when the content of said counter is changed in response to said pulses generated by said pulse generator means, said muting circuit is operated to inhibit the transmission of said low frequency output signal to said output means.

Claim 10

A broadcast receiver according to claim 7, wherein said means for controlling said muting circuit includes a circuit for producing a muting control signal, said muting control signal being applied to said memory control means for initiating a write operation whereby the content of said counter is written into said second memory means.

Claim 11

A broadcast receiver according to claim 7, wherein said means for controlling said muting circuit includes a circuit for producing a pulse waveform having a duration dependent upon the number of pulses generated by said pulse generator means.

Claim 12

A broadcast receiver according to claim 9, wherein said means for controlling said muting circuit further includes time delay means for producing said pulse waveform with a time duration longer than the interval during which said number of pulses is generated by said pulse generator means.

Claim 13

A broadcast receiver adapted to be tuned to any of a plurality of broadcast frequencies to receive and detect a broadcast signal and to recover information therefrom, comprising: tuning means for tuning said broadcast receiver to a broadcast frequency, said tuning means including a counter, the content of which is representative of a broadcast frequency; a variable local oscillator for generating a local oscillating signal of variable frequency; and programmable dividing means for dividing the frequency of said local oscillating signal by a selected dividing ratio, the dividing ratio being selected in accordance with the content of said counter; said local oscillator and said programmable dividing means being included in a phase-locked loop so that the frequency of said local oscillating signal is adjusted to enable the reception of the broadcast frequency determined by the content of said counter; pulse generating means for supplying pulses to said counter to change the content of said counter in response to each supplied pulse, the operation of said pulse generating means being interrupted when said broadcast receiver attains one of a plurality of predetermined conditions; a plurality of manually actuable switch means, each corresponding to a broadcast frequency; switch detecting means for detecting the actuation of a switch means for enabling said pulse generating means to change the content of said counter and for preventing the content of said counter from changing when said content represents the broadcast frequency corresponding to said actuated switch means; information recovering means coupled to said tuning means for recovering a low frequency information signal from the broadcast signal to which said receiver is tuned and for transmitting said low frequency information signal to output means; signal muting means coupled to said information recovering means for selectively inhibiting the transmission of said low frequency information signal to said output means when the content of said counter is changed, and for enabling said transmission when the content of said counter is not changed; and memory means coupled to said counter for storing the content thereof after said content has been changed in response to said pulses applied thereto and for presetting said counter to said content stored in said memory means when said broadcast receiver is resupplied with operating power.

Claim 14

A broadcast receiver adapted to be tuned to any of a plurality of broadcast frequencies to receive and detect a broadcast signal and to recover information therefrom, comprising: tuning means for tuning said broadcast receiver to a broadcast frequency, said tuning means including a counter, the content of which is representative of a broadcast frequency; a variable local oscillator for generating a local oscillating signal of variable frequency; and programmable dividing means for dividing the frequency of said local oscillating signal by a selected dividing ratio, the dividing ratio being selected in accordance with the content of said counter; said local oscillator and said programmable dividing means being included in a phase-locked loop so that the frequency of said local oscillating signal is adjusted to enable the reception of the broadcast frequency determined by the content of said counter; pulse generating means for supplying pulses to said counter to change the content of said counter in response to each supplied pulse, the operation of said pulse generating means being interrupted when said broadcast receiver attains one of a plurality of predetermined conditions; a plurality of manually actuable switch means, each corresponding to a broadcast frequency; switch detecting means for detecting the actuation of a switch means for enabling said pulse generating means to change the content of said counter and for preventing the content of said counter from changing when said content represents the broadcast frequency corresponding to said actuated switch means; information recovering means coupled to said tuning means for recovering a low frequency information signal from the broadcast signal to which said receiver is tuned and for transmitting said low frequency information signal to output means; signal muting means coupled to said information recovering means for selectively inhibiting the transmission of said low frequency information signal to said output means when the content of said counter is changed, and for enabling said transmission when the content of said counter is not changed; and memory means coupled to said counter for storing the content thereof after said content has been changed in response to said pulses applied thereto and for presetting said counter to said content stored in said memory means when said broadcast receiver is resupplied with operating power.

Claim 15

A broadcast receiver in accordance with claim 11 wherein said signal muting means comprises: selective conducting means responsive to a muting control signal applied thereto for inhibiting the transmission of a signal thereby, and responsive to the absence of a muting control signal for transmitting a signal; and muting control signal generating means coupled to said pulse generating means for generating a muting control signal having a duration extending at least throughout the interval that said pulse generating means operates to supply pulses to said counter.

Claim 16

A broadcast receiver in accordance with claim 12 wherein said muting control signal generating means comprises: level changing means responsive to a pulse generated by said pulse generatIng means for changing the level of an output signal produced thereby from a first to a second level; sawtooth signal generating means responsive to each pulse generated by said pulse generating means for producing a sawtooth signal having an amplitude proportional to the width of said pulse; and threshold means for sensing when the amplitude of said sawtooth signal exceeds a threshold level for activating said level changing means to change the level of said output signal produced thereby from said second level to said first level.

Claim 17

A broadcast receiver in accordance with claim 11 wherein said memory means is comprised of a plurality of non-voltaic storage elements and further includes write enable means coupled to said pulse generating means for producing a write enable signal of predetermined duration to enable the content of said counter to be transferred to said non-voltaic storage elements at a time after the operation of said pulse generating means is interrupted.

Claim 18

A broadcast receiver in accordance with claim 14 wherein said write enable means comprises: sawtooth signal generating means responsive to each pulse generated by said pulse generating means for producing a sawtooth signal having an amplitude proportional to the width of said pulse; and threshold means for sensing when the amplitude of said sawtooth signal exceeds a threshold level for producing an output pulse of predetermined duration.