Digital speed control

Claim 2

In a digital speed control for maintaining a vehicle at a preselected speed and for exhibiting the actual speed, the combination comprising: a. a digital speed counter for storing a digital number representative of the actual speed of the vehicle; b. means coupled to said speed counter for generating pulses having a pulse repetition rate proportional to the actual speed of the vehicle; c. clock means coupled to said speed counter for controlling said speed counter for a predetermined period of time; and d. a digital speedometer coupled to said speed counter and to said clock means for decoding the digital signal stored in said speed counter and for exhibiting a digital number representative of the actual speed of the vehicle.

Claim 3

In a digital speed control as defined in claim 1 wherein said clock means includes a reference clock generator and a timing generator coupled to said clock generator, said timing generator being coupled to said speed counter.

Claim 4

In a digital speed control as defined in claim 2 wherein said timing generator is also coupled to said digital speedometer.

Claim 5

A digital speed control for maintaining a vehicle at a preselected speed and for exhibiting a digital number representative of the actual speed of the vehicle comprising: a. memory counter for storing a digital signal representative of a selected speed of the vehicle; b. means coupled to said memory counter for generating speed pulses having a pulse repetition rate proportional to the actual speed of the vehicle; c. means for loading said memory counter for a predetermined period of time by said speed pulses when the speed of the vehicle has reached the selected speed; d. a speed counter for storing a digital number representative of the actual speed of the vehicle; e. means for loading said speed counter by the speed pulses for a predetermined period of time; f. a digital comparator coupled to said memory counter and to said speed counter for comparing the digital number in said memory counter and the digital number in said speed counter and for generating a digital error output signal; and g. a digital speedometer coupled to said speed counter and including means for periodically transferring the number in said speed counter into said digital speedometer and for displaying a digital number indicative of the actual speed of the vehicle.

Claim 6

A digital speed control for maintaining a vehicle at a preselected speed and for exhibiting a digital number representative of the actual speed of the vehicle comprising: a. memory counter for storing a digital signal representative of a selected speed of the vehicle; b. means coupled to said memory counter for generating speed pulses having a pulse repetition rate proportional to the actual speed of the vehicle; c. means for loading said memory counter for a predetermined period of time by said speed pulses when the speed of the vehicle has reached the selected speed; d. a speed counter for storing a digital number representative of the actual speed of the vehicle; e. means for loading said speed counter by the speed pulses for a predetermined period of time; f. a digital comparator coupled to said memory counter and to said speed counter for comparing the digital number in said memory counter and the digital number in said speed counter and for generating a digital error output signal; and g. a digital speedometer coupled to said speed counter and including means for periodically transferring the number in said speed counter into said digital speedometer and for displaying a digital number indicative of the actual speed of the vehicle.

Claim 7

A digital speed control as defined in claim 4 wherein said means for loading said memory counter includes a clock generator, and a timing generator coupled to said clock generator, and said timing generator being coupled to said memory counter.

Claim 8

A digital speed control as defined in claim 5 wherein said means for loading said speed counter includes said timing generator, said timing generator being coupled to said speed counter and to said digital speedometer.

Claim 9

A digital speed control as defined in claim 4 wherein said digital speedometer includes a decoder for converting binary numbers stored in said speed counter into decimal numbers.

Claim 10

In a vehicle having a shaft which turns at a speed designating the revolutions per unit time of the engine or the speed of the vehicle, in combination: first means responsive to the shaft rotation to produce a synchronized electrical pulse train having a variable recurrence frequency equal to the speed of the shaft; a digital display device replacing the vehicle speedometer; and second means including a plurality of decimal counting units coupled between said first means and said device to cause said device to produce a visual digital reading of the exact engine speed or the vehicular speed.

Claim 11

In a vehicle having a shaft which turns at a speed designating the revolutions per unit time of the engine or the speed of the vehicle, in combination: first means responsive to the shaft rotation to produce a synchronized electrical pulse train having a variable recurrence frequency equal to the speed of the shaft; a digital display device replacing the vehicle speedometer; and second means including a plurality of decimal counting units coupled between said first means and said device to cause said device to produce a visual digital reading of the exact engine speed or the vehicular speed.

Claim 12

A vehicle as set forth in claim 8, wherein said first means includes means responsive to the shaft rotation to produce an electrical pulse train having a variable recurrence frequency proportional to the speed of the shaft; a clock oscillator and gating circuitry receiving said proportional pulse train and the output from said clock oscillator and producing said synchronized pulse train.