Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 7
Claim 1
Independent Claim
231 words
In an apparatus for identifying acoustical noise sources, and in particular vehicular noise sources, including means for detecting the noise signal and converting same to an electrical signal of the noise spectrum, means for converting said electrical signal to a classifying electrical vector signal V k , and means for storing and/or comparing said vector signal V k with previously stored vector signals V k to identify same, the improvement wherein said means for converting said electrical signal to a classifying electrical vector signal V k comprises: means for sampling said electrical signal of the noise spectrum at equidistant sampling intervals; first circuit means for converting the signal sampled during a time interval into its orthogonal components in the frequency domain; second circuit means responsive to the output signal of said first circuit means for forming the signal containing the logarithms of the vector components of the noise spectrum; means for reconverting said logarithms containing signal into a signal of the noise spectrum in the time domain to form said classifying vector signal V k ; a gating means passing the output signal from said reconverting means to said means for comparing said vector signal V k with previously stored vector signals V k ; and means responsive to the classifying vector signal V k appearing at the output of said reconverting means for controlling the condition of said gating means.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
231 words
In an apparatus for identifying acoustical noise sources, and in particular vehicular noise sources, including means for detecting the noise signal and converting same to an electrical signal of the noise spectrum, means for converting said electrical signal to a classifying electrical vector signal V k , and means for storing and/or comparing said vector signal V k with previously stored vector signals V k to identify same, the improvement wherein said means for converting said electrical signal to a classifying electrical vector signal V k comprises: means for sampling said electrical signal of the noise spectrum at equidistant sampling intervals; first circuit means for converting the signal sampled during a time interval into its orthogonal components in the frequency domain; second circuit means responsive to the output signal of said first circuit means for forming the signal containing the logarithms of the vector components of the noise spectrum; means for reconverting said logarithms containing signal into a signal of the noise spectrum in the time domain to form said classifying vector signal V k ; a gating means passing the output signal from said reconverting means to said means for comparing said vector signal V k with previously stored vector signals V k ; and means responsive to the classifying vector signal V k appearing at the output of said reconverting means for controlling the condition of said gating means.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
28 words
The apparatus defined in claim 1 including an analog to digital converter connected between the output of said sampling means and the input of said first circuit means.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
124 words
The apparatus defined in claim 1 wherein said classification vector signal V k has a shape which monotonously decays from an initial high value after which it ascends to a further relative maximum, and wherein said means for controlling the condition of said gating means includes a signal analyzer for providing an output signal which opens said gating means to prevent the passage of a signal therethrough when said classification vector ascends after its initial monotonous decay whereby only the portion of the classification vector signal V k which constitutes the basic noise characteristic of the noise source independent of its stage of movement is fed to said means for comparing the vector signal V k with previously stored vector signals V k .
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
40 words
The apparatus defined in claim 3 including means for measuring the time between the beginning and said further relative maximum of said classifying vector signal V k as an indication of the momentary stage of movement of said noise source.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
79 words
The apparatus defined in claim 4 wherein said signal analyzer provides a further output signal when said classifying vector V k reaches said further relative maximum; and wherein said time measuring means includes a timing circuit, means for turning on said timing circuit at the beginning of the sampling interval, said timing circuit being responsive to said further output signal from said signal analyzer for ceasing its count, and means for storing the output count of said time circuit.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
30 words
The apparatus defined in claim 3 wherein said first circuit means is a Fourier converter and wherein said means for reconverting said logarithm containing signal is an inverse Fourier converter.