[time-nuts] Interesting Patent

[Brooke Clarke]

Hi:

I came across a 1946 patent for a vacuum tube based counter circuit that 
will divide 60 Hz down to 1 Hz.  It's interesting in that there's a 
discussion about the advantage of using binary instead of base 10 and 
also about using feedback to change the scale of the counter from 64 to 
60 (or 50).  See:

2410156 <http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?patentnumber=2410156> 
Electronic Timing Device, Oct. 29, 1946, 368/58 
<http://164.195.100.11/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=0&f=S&l=50&TERM1=368%2F58&FIELD1=ORCL&co1=AND&TERM2=&FIELD2=&d=pall>; 
327/118 
<http://164.195.100.11/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=0&f=S&l=50&TERM1=327%2F118&FIELD1=ORCL&co1=AND&TERM2=&FIELD2=&d=pall>; 
340/332 
<http://164.195.100.11/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=0&f=S&l=50&TERM1=340%2F332&FIELD1=ORCL&co1=AND&TERM2=&FIELD2=&d=pall>; 
968/564 
<http://164.195.100.11/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=0&f=S&l=50&TERM1=968%2F564&FIELD1=ORCL&co1=AND&TERM2=&FIELD2=&d=pall>; 
968/946 
<http://164.195.100.11/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=0&f=S&l=50&TERM1=968%2F946&FIELD1=ORCL&co1=AND&TERM2=&FIELD2=&d=pall>; 
968/DIG.1 
<http://164.195.100.11/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2Fsearch-bool.html&r=0&f=S&l=50&TERM1=968%2FDIG.1&FIELD1=ORCL&co1=AND&TERM2=&FIELD2=&d=pall>- 


There's reference to using gas discharge tubes as indicators on one of 
the tubes in each "trigger circuit" (flip-flop) which means a neon tube. 

Have Fun,

Brooke Clarke

-- 
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