US2617587A - Computer component - Google Patents

Description

Nov. 11, 1952 Filed Dec. 20, 1949 P. G. CARPENTER COMPUTER COMPONENT INVENTOR. P. G. CARPENTER A 7' TOPNEVS Patented Nov. 11, 1952 COMPUTER COMPONENT Paul G. Carpenter, Bartlesville, kla.,ja ssignor to Phillips Petroleum Company, a corporation of Delaware Application December 20, 1949, Serial No. 134,051

3' Claims.

This invention relates to a combination of an electrical-mechanical means which is adapted to receive a variable current or voltage and to yield an eletcrical Voltage related to said variable voltage according to a function y=f (r). In other words, the combination of the invention will yield values of y for each value of as, according to a function as expressed above. In one of its aspects the invention provides a method and apparatus for substantially instantaneously obtaining an electrical value of y responsive to changes in the electrical value of an, according to a function as expressed above.

."Ihere are instances in which it is possible to determine a functional relationship, between two variables, from experimental data, which rel-ationship can usually be expressed graphically, whereas the analytical expression of the said relationship is of such complexity that mechanization of the expression would be highly, if not totally, impractical. The subject matter of the invention relates to the said instances in which the shape .or curve of a function, as expressed, can be empirically determined, thus avoiding time-consuming mathematical determinations or calculations, when such are possible, which are especially involved in irregular curves or functions.

, According to this invention there are provided, in combination, means adapted and arranged to yield electrical values of y for any electrical value of at in a function 11:, (m), which comprises a conducting trace or graph of y=f (5c) an electrically operated movable contact adapted to contact or follow said trace; electrically operated moving means for said contact; means for relaying electric current from said trace, through said contact, to said electrically operated moving means for said contact to cause said contact to follow said trace responsive to values of 3:;

means responsive to values of as for moving said cont-act parallel to the abscissa of said graph; and current varying means which yields the values of y in the function 11: (0:), adapted to operate correlatedly with movement of said contact along said trace. Instead of a conductin trace, a non-conducting trace upon a conducting plate can be employed, in which event the contact will be adapted to relay current from the plate to the said contact moving means, which will move the contact back on to the trace.

Thus, according to the present invention, there are provided, in combination, electrical and mechanical means in which the values of fy in the function 11: (r) are plotted, graphed or traced,

employing a conducting material. An electrical driving force, responsive to variations in the value of "50, is employedto move parallel to the :c axis or abscissa on electrically operatedmovablecontact'adapted to cause operation, correlated with movements of said contact, of a voltage varying meanswhich yields the value of y in the function 1: (I), The electrically roperated movable contact is wired or, otherwise adapted to receive current from the conducting material, of which the said function istraced, and to relay said current to the electrically operated contact moving means in mannerlsuch that the movable contact will follow the trace of conducting material, responsive to any change in'the value of at. Thus each value of .x will result in a definite value of y, according to the traced function y=f (at). With the foregoing description available to him, one versed in the art will be able, readily, to construct and operate an apparatus according to the invention. However, in order to more fully describe the invention, in respect of specific embodiments thereof, reference is now made to the drawing in whichFigure 1 isa diagrammatic 'illustrationof the invention when a contactin trace of the function is employed; and wherein Figure 2 is a diagrammatic illustration, of a part of Figure 1, showing the modification in whicha conducting plate and a non-conducting trace are employed. Figure 3 shows the detail of the circuits which can be employed in the relay control boxes 2 and I9 of Figure 1.

(In Figure l, 2 represents arelay from which is supplied a current of value x, which may originatefrom a computing device. ,Thus the value of x, can result from some previously computed functionalrelationship between "30 and other variables of a problem. The relay supplies current to reversible servomotor 3, which drives screws 4 and 5 by means of cables and pulleys, as shown. Screws 4 and 5 are movably mounted in uprights or bearings 6, l, 8 and 9. Blocks l0 and l I are mounted upon screws 4 and 5 and are arranged in combination therewith so that they will move along said screws in the same direction and at .the same speed. Thus changes in, the value of x will cause blocks [0 and II to be moved to the right or left, depending upon the direction of change in the value of, far. Blocks i0 and ll carry a reversibly rotatable screw l2, operated by reversible motor [3, which is mounted on block H. A potentiometer I4,

I supplied by a current source l5 and operated by the motion of screw i2, is mounted upon block I0. A movable contact I6 is mounted upon screw I2 and will ride between the ends of said screw responsive to operation of motor I3 on block II. Reversing switches I1 and I8, which may be micro-switches, are mounted on blocks I and II, respectively, to prevent any overrun of contact I6. These switches are suitably connected, as diagrammed, through relay control box I9 to motor I3 on block II. Trace 20 is provided, as shown, and in this embodiment is made of a conducting material. Contact I6 receives current from trace 20 which passes to relay control box I9 to control motor I3, as diagramm'ed, and operates said motor as follows. When a certain value of at causes motor 3 to move blocks II] and II, causing the contact I6 to leave the trace 20, reversing current will be supplied to motor I3 operating screw I2 until the contact I6 is returned upon the trace 20. Each time contact I6 reaches trace 28, motor I3 is reversed thus moving contact I6 away from trace 28. Also, when contact I6 moves away from trace 20, the former electrical circuit is opened causing motor I3 to reverse and urge contact I6 back towards trace 20. By this arrangement the contact I6 will follow very close to trace 28 at all times, and the small amount of hunting which may result from this arrangement will be within the permissible error limits of the computer. As stated, screw I2 operates a potentiometer I4, and it is now obvious that depending upon the operation of screw I2, which in turn is correlated with values of x, values of "y in the function y=f (0:) will be obtained t ((11.11

In Figure 2, as already indicated, plate 2|, on which trace 2 8 is mounted, is made of conducting material and trace 26 is made of non-conducting material and the wiring is as diagrammed. Thus, when contact It moves off trace 26 on to plate 2I, motor I3 will be energized, causing the contact I6 to follow the trace 28 until said contact comes to rest on the non-conducting trace.

Reference is made to the drawing in Figure 3 wherein the circuits of relay control boxes I9 and 2 are shown. The circuit contained in relay box 2 labeled 2' is taken from Figure 22, page 55, of the book entitled, Principles and Methods of Telemetering, by Perry A. Borden and Gustave M. Thynell, Reinhold Publishing C0,, New York, N. Y. (1948). In the relay box 2, an adjustable spring biased solenoid is provided to move the tap of a potentiometer in accordance with the values of x supplied from an external source. In response to changes in the value of w, the tap on the potentiometer is moved, thus causing motor 3 to rotate either forward or backward, resulting in motor I3 and related equipment being moved back and forth across the graph on plate 2 I With the tap of the potentiometer in its center position, motor I3 should be positioned half way between 6 and 9.

Relay box I9, labeled I9, contains circuits which cause or permit contact I6 to follow trace 20 on plate 2i. Reversible motor I3 is connected into relay box I9 by means of conductors 28, 29, and 38. Power is supplied from an external source via two leads through the primary coil of a transformer, the core 4| of which is movable, to the leads 28, 23 and 36. The position of the movable core of the transformer determines the direction of rotation of motor I3. As shown in the drawing, core QI is energizing circuit 28, 29 of reversible motor I 3 and said circuit is taken to operate motor I3 in a direction to move upwardly contact I6. Core 4|, the cores of relay 38 and of relay 40 are positioned as shown and held in position by a downward bias of the lower spring of the core assembly. Manual lever 39 which is mechanically linked to the coil of relay 38 is shown to have been moved downwardly, thus positioning the coil of relay 38 above its core. At this moment, the contact I6 (see Figure 1) is on the trace 26 having moved downward thereonto. The circuit for the control of motor I3 is the same as that described in Figure 29, page 65 of Principles and Methods of Telemetering, by Perry A. Borden and Gustave M. Thynell mentioned above. This circuit has not been modified but it is to be understood that the amplifier and motor control, shown on said page 65, are contained with or in motor 13. In using the circuit, now being described, I am not interested in transmitting small movements but only in the reversible features of the motor and core M is used at its upper and lower limits to control the direction of rotation of motor I3. To further carry out this invention, leads 24 and 25 which are connected to contact I6 and trace 28 respectively control the operation of electron tube 32 to operate relay 3B. When contact I6 touched trace 2B, electron tube 32 in the circuit became biased to cut-off interrupting the flow of current through relay 36. When this happened the spring bias on the core of relay 38 moved the core of the relay 38 and core AI to its opposite position reversing motor I3. Thus the contact I6 will now move upwardly away from the trace 26, relay 38 will again function, and the contact will again be moved towards trace 26. Thus contact I6 Will hunt trace 26. If the contact I6 is originally below trace 26 (see Figure 1) the bias on the upper spring of the assembly of cores is adjusted to place core 4I opposite circuit 29, 36 of motor I3 and lever 39 is moved upwardly to position the coil of relay 38 below the core of relay 38. The operation will then be similar to that described for the case when the contact I6 moved downwardly onto trace 26. The electronic circuit to which leads 24 and 25 are connected including vacuum tube 32 and relay 38 are taken from Figure 8 of Patent No. 2,354,391, by A. R. McCourt. Instead of allowing the relay to operate a switch as shown in the McCourt patent, the relay 38 of the present invention moves the core II of the transformer to control motor I3 as to the direction of its rotation as described.

Switches I! and I8 are overrun switches which operate through relay I9 to actuate relay 40. Overrun switches I! and I8 may be actuated should inertia carry contact I6 past trace 20, or should vacuum tube 32 fail to function. Switches I1 and I8 are spring loaded and are of the type which are pushed to close and pushed again to open. Relay 46 is a large relay compared to relay 38 and operates to move core II to its center position once either of switches I! or I8 is closed, overpowering relay 38 and the spring bias. Thus it can be seen that when either switch I! or I 8 becomes closed due to pressure of contact I6, relay 48 is operated to override relay 38, and the spring bias on the core assembly to cause core 4| to be moved to its center position. With core M moving to its center position, motor I3 then stops as the core M reaches its center position.

This circuit can be employed to carry out the modification of the invention shown in Figure 2 by connecting the lead 24 to contact I6 and lead 25 to plate 20. To use the circuit thus described to carry out the modification of Figure 2, the manual set control 39 will have to be used in the reverse sense of its use in Figure 1.

Equivalent arrangements for causing contact I6 to follow trace 20, whether conducting or nonconducting, can be devised within the skill of theart.

Reasonable variation and modification are possible within the scope of the foregoing disclosure and the appended claims to the invention the;

non-conducting, of the function 1:) (r) the shape of which can be empirically determined," thus avoiding all time-consuming mathematicaldeterminations or calculations which are especially involved in irregular curves or functions.

I claim:

1. An apparatus for obtaining, for difierent electrical values of 32, corresponding electrical values of y," in a function y=f (:0), comprising in combination a tracing or graph of said function on a plate, the said trace and plate having different electrical conductivity characteristics,

an electrically energized reversing relay, a contact adapted to close a circuit which conducts current to said reversing relay, the said contact being adapted to move in contact with said plate andtracing, means responsive to values of x," to move said contact on said plate relative to said tracing, electrically operated reversible means to which current is conducted under control of said reversing relay to maintain said contact upon said tracing, voltage varying means, and means coacting with movement of said contact to operate said voltage varying means.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1 in which said tracing is made of electrical current-conducting material and wherein said plate is made of non-conducting material.

3. An apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said tracing is made of non-conducting material and said plate is made of electrical current-conducting material.

PAUL G. CARPENTER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,121,211 Padva June 21, 1938 2,226,677 Vikhman Dec. 31, 1940 2,242,506 Brackett May 20, 1941 2,258,859 Mitelman Oct. 14, 1941 2,262,354 Oates Nov. 11, 1942 2,354,391 McCourt July 25, 1944 2,445,041 Scholz July 13, 1948 2,461,667 Sunstein Feb. 15, 1949 2,462,263 Haynes Feb. 22, 1949 2,489,305 McLennan Nov. 29, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 601,893 Great Britain May 13, 1948

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