Electronic tone generator

Claim 2

An electronic chime clock comprising: a clock comprising means for indicating the time of day; and means for generating selected chime sequences comprising: memory means containing N sequentially stored binary words represented successive amplitude samplings of a periodic waveform of period T o which contains predetermined harmonics of the fundamental tone frequency f o , where f o =1/T o f o1 , f o2 . . . f on ; accessing means including means for generating scanning signals of frequencies Nf o1 , Nf o2 . . . Nf on for reading out the binary words stored in said memory means; means for determining times of day control means responsive to predetermined times of day to supply predetermined sequences of said scanning signals to said accessing means to iteratively read out the N binary words stored in said memory means; and means for converting said read out binary words into audible chime sequences.

Claim 3

Tone generating means comprising: first memory means containing N sequentially stored binary words representing successive amplitude samplings of a periodic multi-frequency stored waveform of period T o which contains predetermined harmonics of the fundamental tone frequency f o , where f o =1/T o =f o1 , f o2 . . . f on ; and accessing means for sequentially reading said N binary words from said first memory means at a frequency Nf o , where the reading frequency Nf o can be any selectable one of a plurality of reading frequencies Nf o1 , Nf 02 . . . Nf on , with the selected reading frequency thereby becoming the fundamental tone frequency of said multi-frequency waveform; indicating means for indicating the time of day; said accessing means comprising signal generating means for generating signals of said reading frequencies Nf o1 , Nf o2 . . . Nf on ; and control means comprising timing means and gating means responsive to said indicating means to energize said gating means to gate predetermined ones of said signals therethrough at predetermined times and for predetermined time intervals in accordance with said timing means to read out the N binary words stored in said memory means.

Claim 4

Tone generating means comprising: first memory means containing N sequentially stored binary words representing successive amplitude samplings of a periodic multi-frequency stored waveform of period T o which contains predetermined harmonics of the fundamental tone frequency f o , where f o =1/T o =f o1 , f o2 . . . f on ; and accessing means for sequentially reading said N binary words from said first memory means at a frequency Nf o , where the reading frequency Nf o can be any selectable one of a plurality of reading frequencies Nf o1 , Nf 02 . . . Nf on , with the selected reading frequency thereby becoming the fundamental tone frequency of said multi-frequency waveform; indicating means for indicating the time of day; said accessing means comprising signal generating means for generating signals of said reading frequencies Nf o1 , Nf o2 . . . Nf on ; and control means comprising timing means and gating means responsive to said indicating means to energize said gating means to gate predetermined ones of said signals therethrough at predetermined times and for predetermined time intervals in accordance with said timing means to read out the N binary words stored in said memory means.

Claim 5

A tone generating means as in claim 2 and further comprising: digital-to-analog converting means responsive to said read out amplitude sampling representing words to generate a resultant voltage waveform consisting of at least one period T o of said stored waveform; and amplitude modulating means responsive to the beginning of each tone generation to modulate the amplitude of said resultant voltage waveform to simulate the attack and decay characteristics of an initially excited and subsequently freely resonating body.

Claim 6

A tone generating means as in claim 2 and further comprising: second memory means containing a plurality of tables of words defining the sequence and the time duration of a plurality of tones of fundamental frequencies Nf o1 , Nf o2 . . . Nf on , with each table defining a particular time of day occurrence; means responsive to predetermined indicated times of day to access a particular table in said second memory means; means responsive to the words in said accessed table to generate a series of tones of predetermined frequencies of the frequencies Nf o1 , Nf o2 . . . Nf on ; and means responsive to said predetermined ones of said frequencies Nf o1 , Nf o2 . . . Nf on to access the N word locations in said first memory means at said frequencies Nf o1 , Nf o2 . . . Nf on .

Claim 7

A tone generating means as in claim 2 in which said signal generating means comprises: a phase lock loop system comprising phase comparator means, filter means, voltage controlled oscillator means and divide-by-N means arranged serially in the order listed, and responsive to individual ones of said fundamental tone signals to generate a signal of frequency Nf o at the output of said voltage controlled oscillator means; said divide-by-N means responsive to the output signal of said voltage controlled oscillator means to count through its capacity every T o time period; and in which said first memory means is responsive to the output of said divide-by-N means to read out said stored binary words.

Claim 8

A multi-frequency waveform generator comprising: first memory means comprising N sequentially accessable addresses each containing an amplitude representing word of successive equal time sections of a periodic waveform of a period T o , in which said periodic waveform contains predetermined harmonics of a fundamental tone of frequency f o , where f o =1/T o =f o1 , f o2 . . . f on ; indicating means for indicating time; control means for repeatedly accessing in a sequential manner the words in said N addresses at a scanning frequency Nf o , where f o =f o1 , f o2 . . . f on and comprising: said control means further comprising signal generating means for generating scanning signals of said frequencies Nf o1 , Nf o2 . . . Nf on ; in which said control means further comprises timing means and gating means responsive to the said indicating means to energize said gating means to gate predetermined ones of said scanning signals therethrough at predetermined times and for predetermined time intervals in accordance with said timing means to scan the N addresses of said memory means; and means for converting said accessed words to voltages to reproduce said periodic waveform having the fundamental tone frequency of f o =f 1 , f 2 . . . f on , in accordance with the scanning frequency N f o employed to access said N words from said memory means.

Claim 9

A multi-frequency waveform generator comprising: first memory means comprising N sequentially accessable addresses each containing an amplitude representing word of successive equal time sections of a periodic waveform of a period T o , in which said periodic waveform contains predetermined harmonics of a fundamental tone of frequency f o , where f o =1/T o =f o1 , f o2 . . . f on ; indicating means for indicating time; control means for repeatedly accessing in a sequential manner the words in said N addresses at a scanning frequency Nf o , where f o =f o1 , f o2 . . . f on and comprising: said control means further comprising signal generating means for generating scanning signals of said frequencies Nf o1 , Nf o2 . . . Nf on ; in which said control means further comprises timing means and gating means responsive to the said indicating means to energize said gating means to gate predetermined ones of said scanning signals therethrough at predetermined times and for predetermined time intervals in accordance with said timing means to scan the N addresses of said memory means; and means for converting said accessed words to voltages to reproduce said periodic waveform having the fundamental tone frequency of f o =f 1 , f 2 . . . f on , in accordance with the scanning frequency N f o employed to access said N words from said memory means.

Claim 10

A multi-frequency waveform generator as in claim 6 and further comprising: amplitude modulating means responsive to the accessing of said words to modulate the amplitude of said reproduced waveform in a manner to simulate the decay of a freely resonating body.

Claim 11

A tone generating means as in claim 6 in which said signal generating means comprises: a phase lock loop system comprising phase comparator means, filter means, voltage controlled oscillator means and divide-by-N means arranged serially in the order named and responsive to individual ones of said fundamental tones to generate a signal of frequency Nf o at the output of said voltage controlled oscillator means; `said divide-by-N means responsive to the output signal of said voltage controlled oscillator means to count through its capacity every T o time period; and said first memory means responsive to the output of said divide-by-N means to generate said stored binary words.

Claim 12

A multi-frequency waveform generator as in claim 6 and in which said control means comprises: second memory means containing a plurality of tables of words defining the sequence and the time duration of a plurality of tones of fundamental frequencies f o1 , f o2 . . . f on , with each table defining a particular time of day occurrence; means responsive to predetermined indications of the time of day to access a particular table in said second memory means; means responsive to the words in said accessed table to generate a series of tones of predetermined ones of the frequencies Nf o1 , Nf o2 . . . Nf on ; and means responsive to said predetermined ones of said frequencies Nf o1 , Nf o2 . . . Nf on to scan the N words in said first memory at said frequencies Nf o1 , Nf o2 . . . Nf on .

Claim 13

Digitized multi-frequency tone generating means comprising: a digital memory comprising N sequentially addressable word locations each containing a readable binary word which collectively represent successive, equally time-spaced amplitude samples of a predetermined voltage waveform which represents a period T o of a multi-frequency tone containing a fundamental tone of frequency f o and predetermined harmonics thereof when a period T o of said waveform is reproduced at a rate f o ; signal generating means comprising counting means of count capacity N for generating a plurality of memory accessing signals of frequency N f o , where f o represents selectable fundamental tones of different frequencies; said counting means constructed to read out in sequential manner the N binary words stored in said digital memory at a rate N f o ; and means responsive to said binary words to reproduce said predetermined voltage waveform; indicating means for indicating time; and control means comprising timing means and gating means responsive to the said indicating means to energize said gating means to gate predetermined ones of said accessing signals therethrough at predetermined times and for predetermined time intervals in accordance with said timing means to access the N addresses of said memory means.

Claim 14

Digitized multi-frequency tone generating means comprising: a digital memory comprising N sequentially addressable word locations each containing a readable binary word which collectively represent successive, equally time-spaced amplitude samples of a predetermined voltage waveform which represents a period T o of a multi-frequency tone containing a fundamental tone of frequency f o and predetermined harmonics thereof when a period T o of said waveform is reproduced at a rate f o ; signal generating means comprising counting means of count capacity N for generating a plurality of memory accessing signals of frequency N f o , where f o represents selectable fundamental tones of different frequencies; said counting means constructed to read out in sequential manner the N binary words stored in said digital memory at a rate N f o ; and means responsive to said binary words to reproduce said predetermined voltage waveform; indicating means for indicating time; and control means comprising timing means and gating means responsive to the said indicating means to energize said gating means to gate predetermined ones of said accessing signals therethrough at predetermined times and for predetermined time intervals in accordance with said timing means to access the N addresses of said memory means.