DE1163382B - Counting chain or ring counter made up of optronic elements - Google Patents

Description

, Counting chain or ring counter made up of optronic elements Invention refers to counting chains or ring counters, whose stages consist of a luminous capacitor and at least two photoconductors.

Such counters can best be achieved with the since Compare long known glow tube ring counters, since these also use the counting pulses are fed to all counting levels at the same time, but always only one preferred The tube can ignite. By means of circuitry measures, for example, one can achieve that the tube following the ignited tube is preferred, so that this at a The new counting pulse ignites and the previously ignited one goes out. Through art circuits you can also achieve a different firing order, but this is not taken into account here can.

In the counters to which the invention relates, so-called luminous capacitors are used in a known manner instead of the glow tubes. In order to achieve the preferred ignition - in the following, in line with the glow tube counters, the term ignition is usually used when the lighting of the luminous capacitors is meant - and to maintain the ignition, photoconductors are provided which are optically and, if necessary, electrically coupled to the luminous capacitors in a suitable manner are. In general, two photoconductors are required for each counting stage, namely one for switching the ignition on and one for maintaining the new ignition and extinguishing the previously ignited stage.

In order to control the ignition and extinguishing processes correctly, is still it has been proposed to lay out the optical and electrical coupling circuits so that the photoconductivity in that branch of the circuit that is used to maintain serves the ignition, is built up or dismantled much faster than in that one Switching position, which is used to switch the ignition. This can be known in Way through appropriate use of resistors in the circuit and appropriate Dimensioning of the lighting control take place.

The invention now makes use of these known findings, however, avoids the great expense associated with the known circuits is. The invention therefore relates to a counting chain or a ring counter in which the n counting stages in a known manner from a luminous capacitor and at least two Photoconductors are built, which levels with each other and with the next counting level are connected in a known manner so that a counting pulse over an exposed second photoconductor of the M-th stage ignites the luminous capacitor of the (rn + 1) -th stage and this stage lights up by optical feedback via a first photoconductor maintained while the m-th stage is cleared through the electrical feedback path is, in which counting chain but now according to the basic idea of the invention in each Level the second photoconductor itself has a much larger internal time constant than the first photoconductor.

The counting pulses can be fed to the counting stages in various ways; For example, it is possible to connect the first photoconductors of the counting levels to a first busbar and all second photoconductors to a second busbar, which busbars are then each connected to a contact of a switch via which the trigger voltage for the luminous capacitors is supplied. By switching the switch from the first to the second busbar, the counting process can be triggered, i. H. the previously illuminated luminous capacitor is extinguished and the next following luminous capacitor is made to glow. The switch itself and the means for triggering the switching processes can also consist of optronic components.

For the forwarding of the transmission pulse for ring counters at When the counting capacity is reached, the last (nth) counting level can be used if switching means are provided which take effect when the last counting stage is switched on and in turn, the simultaneous progression of the last counting pulse to the first Cause counting level of the next ring counter.

The arrangement can also easily be developed for counting down, by providing a third photoconductor for each stage, each via a common third busbar connected to a third contact of said switch are. By corresponding feedback from these third photoconductors to each the previous counting level the counting pulse can then go backwards be passed on.

The invention is explained in more detail below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 7, for example. 1 shows the detail of a ring counter constructed according to the invention, FIG . 2 shows the material structure of a ring counter according to FIG . 1, Fig. 3, the formation of the last counter stage f or the passing of the carry pulse, F i g. 4 shows another circuit for the transmission of the carry pulse, FIG. 5 shows an optronic circuit for triggering the counting pulses, FIG. 6 shows a modified circuit for triggering the counting pulses, FIG. 7 shows the structure of a counting element in a modified form according to FIG . 1 and 6.

F i g. 1 schematically shows three stages of a counting chain or a ring counter in which the invention is implemented. Each stage consists of a light emitting capacitor 1, a 3. with this electrically and optically coupled photoconductor 2 and one only optically coupled thereto photoconductor, the photoconductor 2 and 3 are now selected so that the internal time constant of the photoconductor 3 is substantially greater than the inner Time constant of the photoconductor 2. The photoconductors 2 are connected to the a-contact via the busbar 4 and the photoconductors 3 are connected to the b-contact of the switch 6 via the busbar 5 . In the rest position, the switch is in position a shown, so that the luminous capacitors 1 are connected to the voltage source 7 .

If a counting pulse now reaches the circuit (the supply of the counting pulses is not shown), the switch 6 is briefly turned to position b , so that all the luminous capacitors are disconnected from the voltage source. If one assumes that the luminous capacitor of the m-th stage lights up in the initial state, the two photoconductors 2 and 3 of this stage have their bright conductance. When the switch 6 is flipped, the generator voltage passes via the busbar 5 and the inert photoconductor 3 of the m-th stage to the luminous capacitor 1 of the (m + 1) th stage, so that it lights up, while the luminous capacitor of the m-th stage of the voltage source remains disconnected and thus goes out. Since the photoconductor 3 has a significantly greater inertia due to its larger time constant, the voltage supply via it is maintained during the switching time of the switch 6 . After the lighting capacitor of the (m + 1) -th stage lights up, the luminous capacitor 1 of the m-th stage arrives again via the fast photoconductors 2 of the two stages, of which the first works in the rising range and the second in the falling range of the conductance Voltage, but due to the series connection of the two photoconductors, the natural switching time of the switch 6 is sufficient to prevent the luminous capacitor 1 of the m-th stage from lighting up again, especially since the shunt conductance of all the other luminous capacitors is still on the busbar 4, which is only above the Dark conductivity values of the associated photoconductor receive voltage, but have a certain power consumption in their sum.

In cases where this is not readily to be expected for reasons of switching speed, a further pair of contacts can be provided on switch 6 , by means of which busbar 4 is connected to ground for the time of switching.

After a certain time, the switch 6 is returned to contact a, so that the luminous capacitor of the (m + * th stage maintains its own voltage via its fast photoconductor 2. During the switching pause, this luminous capacitor again briefly loses its voltage; however, here After switching on again, only one photoconductor must be in series with the luminous capacitor and not two as in the case of switching on, the conductance that is still present after the switchover pause is sufficient to maintain the lighting.

If the (m + 1) -th to the (m + 2) -th stage is to be switched on, i. H. when the next counting pulse arrives, switch 6 is briefly flipped to contact b again, and the process described above is repeated.

The circuit described can easily be further developed for counting down if the components shown in dashed lines are added. Each stage thus has a further photoconductor 8, the time constant of which is equal to or approximately equal to the time constant of the photoconductor 3 , which is connected to the contact c of the switch 6 via the busbar 9 . If, for example, the pulse which was switched on from the m-th to the (m + 1) -th level above is to be switched back to the m-th level, i. H. are counted down, the switch 6 is correspondingly briefly switched to contact c. As a result, the luminous capacitor of the m-th stage receives the feed voltage again via the inert photoconductor 8 of the (m + 1) -th stage, which it receives after switching back to contact a via its fast photoconductor 2 itself. So you can with the in Fig. 1 can count up or down as required.

F i g. FIG. 2 shows one possible implementation of the circuit shown schematically in FIG. 1. All counting stages have a common conductive carrier 10, on which the electroluminescent layer 11 is applied directly, which is covered on the opposite side by an optically transparent electrode 12. Immediately on this electrode, that is to say in optical and galvanic contact with it, a photoconductive substance 13 is applied, which is covered by a cover electrode 14 on the side facing away from the electroluminescent layer 11.

Part of the electrode 12 is covered with an optically transparent insulating layer 15 , which in turn carries the two further photoconductors. The photoconductor 3 consists of the optically transparent electrode 16, the photoconductive layer 17 and the counter electrode 18. The photoconductor 8 consists of the optically transparent electrode 19 of the photoconductive layer 20 and the counter electrode 21. The electrical connection of the individual photoconductors is exactly as in F. i g. 1 and can be easily deduced from this.

On each luminous capacitor, the field A is left open, which is used to display the switching status to the outside. Either a screen can be inserted there, which makes it possible to display a specific character, or the character to be displayed can be displayed through corresponding cutouts in the optically transparent layer 12. If the invention is to be used to set up a ring counter for, for example, several decimal places, the relaying of the counting pulse from the ring counter under consideration to the next ring counter can be carried out by means of the steps shown in FIG . 3 shown circuit take place.

F i g. 3 shows schematically the first " (n - 1) th and n-th stage of a first ring counter 1 and the first stage of the next ring counter II. All parts of FIG. 1 that are not required for understanding are omitted here the switch 6 is simplified and the circuit parts for counting down are omitted.

In the connection line from the photoconductor3 of the (n-1) th stage to the photoconductor2 of the nth stage, the relay 22 is inserted, which responds when the nth stage is triggered at the nth counting pulse and the (n -1) -th level is deleted. The relay 22 switches the generator voltage of the generator 7 briefly from the bus bar 23, which corresponds to the bus bar 4, to the bus bar 24, which corresponds to the bus bar 5, via its contacts rl, r2. This ignites the first stage of the second ring counter. This is also maintained, as described in accordance with FIG. 1 , when the relay 22 drops out again and the connection to the busbar 23 takes place again.

At the (n + 1) th pulse, the first stage of the first ring counter becomes ignited again, while the second ring counter remains unaffected. Only when to The second ring counter receives a counting pulse and counts up one place.

Instead of the relay 22, optronic switching elements can also be used. F i g. 4 shows a circuit in which the relay 22 is replaced by optronic switching elements. It again contains the first, (n-1) -th and n-th stage of the first ring counter. For the sake of simplicity, only the busbars 23 and 24 and the first counting stage of the second ring counter are shown.

For handoff of, the carry pulse contains the (n-1) th counting stage additionally sluggish photoconductor 25 and 26 and the stage n in addition, the fast photoconductor 27 and 28. When advancing the count (n - 1) from the, th n to -th stage goes out, as already described, the (n - 1) -th luminous capacitor, and the nth ignites. This has the consequence that the voltage on the busbar 23 by derivation via the photoconductor 28 , which quickly reaches its bright value, and the photoconductor 25, which retains its conductance for a long time even after the luminous capacitor of the (n-1) th stage has gone out, collapses against mass.

A short time later, the photoconductor 27, which is somewhat slower than the photoconductor 28 , switches the generator voltage of the generator 7, which is now on the busbar 5 , via the photoconductor, which retains its conductance for a longer time even after the luminous capacitor of the (n -1) th stage has gone out 26 on the busbar. 24. The switch 6 is then returned to contact a; the photoconductor 25 is dimensioned such that it has already reached a relatively high resistance at the time of switching back, so that the voltage is returned to the busbar 23 . In all the following operations of the switch 6 to handoff to, stage n - 1 occurs on the busbars 23 and 24, 'because the photoconductor 25 and 26 and 27 and 28 have their dark resistance.

Finally, the mechanical switch 6 shown schematically can also be replaced by a device which consists only of optronic components. F i g. 5 shows an example of the design of the switch 6 with optronic elements. It is assumed here that the counting pulses are in the form of flashes of light which just have the length of time required to switch between two stages. The light pulses are projected onto the two fast photoconductors 31 and 32 by means of the optics 30 shown schematically. When these photoconductors have reached their bright conductance, the voltage of the generator 7, which until then had been located on the busbar 4 via the resistor 29 , is diverted to ground, so that the busbar 4 loses its voltage.

The generator voltage is then applied to the busbar 5 via the photoconductor 31 . After the light pulse has ceased, the busbar 4 receives its voltage back, while the busbar 5 is de-energized. This means that the switching is carried out in the manner described above. In the same way, the other contacts of the switch 6 shown in FIG. 1 can be replaced by optronic elements.

If the light pulses are shorter than is necessary for the switching time, a circuit can be used as shown in FIG. 6 is shown. This circuit initially contains the elements of FIG. 5, that is, the optics 30, the fast photoconductors 31 and 32 and the resistor 29. In addition, the two luminous capacitors 33 and 34 and the two photoconductors 35 and 36 are provided. The luminous capacitors 33 and 34 receive their voltage from the generator 7 via the resistors 38 and 37. The, circuit of the elements 33, 34, 37, 38, 35 and 36 would act as a bistable counter, which by light pulses, which are thrown onto the photoconductors 35 and 36 , can be switched. By introducing a resistor with a negative temperature coefficient 39 , the device becomes a monostable multivibrator, which is switched over by short light pulses reaching the photoconductor 35. Such a light pulse brings the photoconductor 35 to its light conductance and thus short-circuits the voltage in the cell 34, which is assumed to be luminous, to ground. The light capacitor 7 goes out so that the photoconductor 36 can reach its dark resistance and the voltage appears in full size on the light capacitor 33. This then lights up and holds itself in that it short-circuits the luminous capacitor 34 via the photoconductor 35. Parallel to the luminous capacitor 33 is the resistor 39 with a negative temperature coefficient, which causes the luminosity of the luminous capacitor 33 to decrease after a certain time due to the increase in the conductance of the resistor 39 so that the photoconductor 35 reaches a high resistance again. The voltage thus returns to the luminous capacitor 34, and its lighting up causes the voltage on the luminous capacitor 33 to disappear due to a short circuit across the photoconductor 36. In the switching pause, the resistor 39 cools down, and the device is thus ready for a new switching process. During the duration of its lighting, the luminous capacitor 33 on the photoconductors 31 and 32 causes the functions shown in FIG. 5 operations.

F i g. 7 shows how the circuit according to FIG. 6 can be assembled advantageously. The same elements, the F i g. 5 and 6 are provided with the same reference numerals. The reference symbols provided with dashes show structural details of the same element. The two resistors 37 and 38 are located on the conductive base plate 40 and can be simply printed, sprayed or sintered there. They are covered by the conductive cover layers 37 ' and 38' , on which in turn the electroluminescent layers 33 and 34 are applied, which can also be printed, sprayed or sintered on. The electroluminescent layers are covered by optically transparent conductive layers 33 ' and 34'. Immediately on this, in optical and galvanic contact, the photoconductors 32, 35 and 36 are attached, which in turn can be done in a spraying, printing or sintering process. The photoconductor 31 is only in optical contact with the electroluminescent layer 33 and is separated from it by an optically transparent insulating layer 31 ' . An optically transparent conductive layer 31 " must then be applied to this. The four photoconductors are terminated by conductive layers 31"',32', 35 ' and 36' , the layer 35 ' having to be optically transparent, which in the present example is indicated as a perforation.

In addition, on the cover layer 37 'of the resistor 37 there is a resistor 39 with a negative temperature coefficient, which in turn is covered by the conductive cover layer 39', and finally, directly on the 1-capable base plate 40, a resistance layer 29, which in turn is covered by the conductive layer29 'is covered. The component labeled 41 represents an optical barrier between the two cells. In the cells themselves, fields B are provided which display the switching state to the outside. The individual elements are connected to one another in the manner shown in the drawing, most of the connections being made by the nature of the direct application of the layers one after the other. The function is exactly the same as that of the device according to FIG. 6.

Claims (2)

Claims: 1. Counting chain or ring counter, the n counting stages are made up of a luminous capacitor and at least two photoconductors, which stages are connected to each other and to the next counting stage so that a counting pulse via an exposed photoconductor of the m-th stage causes the luminous capacitor of the stimulates (m + 1) th stage and a photoconductor of the (m + 1) -th stage by optical feedback maintains the lights of this step during the lighting of the m-th turns off stage, d a d u rch g e k hen -z It is clear that the photoconductor (3), which is connected in series with the luminous capacitor of the (m + 1) -th stage and is only optically coupled to the luminous capacitor of the m-th stage, has a much greater internal time constant than that of the luminous capacitor of the m -th stage galvanically and optically coupled photoconductors (2). 2. Counting card or finger counter according to claim 1, characterized in that the photoconductor (2) galvanically coupled to the luminous capacitor (1 ) via a busbar (4) only a first contact (a) and the photoconductor (3 ) for the supply of the counting pulses ) are connected via a busbar (5) to a second contact (b) of a switch (6) , when a counting pulse arrives, the supply voltage of the voltage generator (7) is briefly disconnected from the busbar (4) and connected to the busbar ( 5) and thus the ignition of the next stage is effected. 3. Counting chain or ring counter according to claim 2, characterized in that the switch (6) consists of optronic components (F i g. 5 and 6) which are actuated by the counting pulses present in the form of flashes of light. 4. counting chain or ring counter of claim 3, characterized in that the switch (6) consists of two photoconductors (31, 32), the first in the circuit between the bus bar (5) and overall erator (7) and whose second in series with a resistor (29) whose side facing away from the generator is connected to the busbar (4), parallel to the generator (7) liegL 5. Counting chain or ring counter according to one or more of the preceding claims, characterized in that for further switching the transmission pulse from a first n-stage to a second ring counter in the connection line from the photoconductor (3) of the (n - 1) -th stage to the photoconductor (2) of the n-th stage, a relay (22) is provided via the Contacts (r1, r2) when the nth stage is triggered, the supply voltage of the generator (7) is briefly disconnected from a busbar (23), to which all photoconductors (2) of the second ring counter are connected, and to a busbar (24), with which all Fotole iter (3) of the second ring counter are connected, so that the first counting stage of the second ring counter ignites. 6. Counting chain or ring counter according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that for switching on the carry pulse from a first n-stage to a second n-stage ring counter, the (n - 1) th counter stage has a first additional photoconductor (25), which is connected in series with a second photoconductor (28) of the n-th counting stage and the resistor (29) in a circuit of the generator (7) parallel to the luminous capacitor, and contains a second additional photoconductor (26) which is connected in series with a second additional photoconductor (27) is connected between the busbar (5) of the first ring counter and the busbar (24) of the second ring counter, the additional photoconductors (25, 26, 27, 28) each optically coupled to the luminous capacitor of the respective counting stage are. 7. Counting chain or ring counter according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a further, optically coupled carrier photoconductor (8) is provided for down counting per counting stage, which is connected on the one hand to a collecting rail (9 ) connected to a third contact of the switch (6) ) and on the other hand is galvanically connected in parallel to the photoconductor (2) of the previous stage with its associated luminous capacitor (1). 8. Structure of a ring counter according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the luminous capacitor (1) consists of a conductive carrier (10), an electroluminescent layer (11) applied directly thereon, and an optically transparent electrode (12) located above it, which is common to all counting stages, the photoconductor (2) consists of a photoconductive substance (13) applied directly to a part of the electrode (12) and a cover electrode (14) located above it, and the photoconductors (3) and ( 3) resting on another part of the electrode (12) 8) consist of an optically transparent electrode (16 or 19), a photoconductive layer (17 or 20) and a cover electrode (18 or 21).