Measuring system for determining the reactance ratio of a pair of reactive devices

Claim 1

A measuring system for comparing first and second unknown capacitors to determine the ratio of their capacitances, comprising: means for simultaneously, and slowly, charging the first and second unknown capacitors, starting at time t 0 , from the same relatively low voltage level to the same relatively high reference voltage level V ref ., each of the first and second capacitors being charged through a series-connected resistor toward the output voltage of a d-c power supply which output voltage is substantially greater than the reference voltage V ref ., the reference voltage being produced by a voltage divider connected across the d-c power supply and thereby being directly proportional to, and varying in step with variations of, the power supply voltage, the first capacitor having a charge time constant, determined by its capacitance and the resistance of its series-connected resistor, substantially shorter than the charge time constant of the second capacitor, which is determined by its capacitance and its series-connected resistance, so that the first capacitor charges to the reference voltage V ref ., at time t 1 , long before the second capacitor reaches the reference voltage at the later time t 2 , the time duration from t 0 to t 1 thereby being a function of the capacitance of the first capacitor while the time duration from t 0 to t 2 is a function of the capacitance of the second capacitor; means for simultaneous, and rapidly, discharging the first and second capacitors, at time t 2 , back to the low voltage level by turning on a pair of substantially identical first and second transistors each of which is shunt-connected across a respective one of the first and second capacitors, the second capacitor, its shunt-connected second transistor and its series-connected resistor being included in an oscillating circuit which produces periodically-recurring triggering pulses to turn said first and second transistors on to effect rapid discharging of the first and second capacitors, the triggering pulses being produced in the oscillating circuit by a voltage comparator which compares the voltage across the second capacitor to the reference voltage V ref ., the period of the triggering pulses thereby being a function of the capacitance of the second capacitor and being equal to the time duration from t 0 to t 2 ; another voltage comparator which compares the voltage across the first capacitor to the reference voltage V ref . to detect when the first capacitor charges to the reference voltage, thereby to determine the time duration from t 0 to t 1 , said other voltage comparator producing a periodically-recurring rectangular wave whose duty cycle represents the ratio of the capacitances of the first and second unknown capacitors, the rectangular wave having pulse components each of which has a pulse width equal to the time duration from t 0 to t 1 while the period of the rectangular wave is equal to the time duration from t 0 to t 2 ; an averaging circuit for producing, from said periodically-recurring rectangular wave, an output signal having an amplitude which is proportional to the ratio of the capacitances of the first and second unknown capacitors; and indicating means, responsive to said output signal, for providing an indication of the value of the capacitance ratio of the first and second unknown capacitors.