Device for direct and continuous receiving and measuring of electrical magnetic and acoustic signals

• US 4,198,596 A
• Filed: 10/07/1977
• Issued: 04/15/1980
• Est. Priority Date: 10/15/1976
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Societe Nationale Elf Aquitaine (Cook Composites and Polymers)
• Original Assignee: Societe Nationale Elf Aquitaine (Cook Composites and Polymers)
• Inventors: Corbefin, Rene, Waeselynck, Michel, Gerbel, Lucien
• Primary Examiner(s): Strecker, Gerard R.
• Application Number:
  US05/840,385
• Time in Patent Office: 921 Days
• Field of Search: 324/6-8, 324/77 B, 324/77 C, 324/77 E, 324/78 F, 343/5 SA, 340/15.5 CF
• US Class Current: 324/344
• CPC Class Codes: G01V 3/12 operating with electromagnetic waves operating with millimetre waves G01V8/005

Abstract

A direct and continuous receiving and measuring device for electrical, magnetic and acoustic signals comprises an amplifier stage and a broadband filtering stage at the input, a local oscillator for supplying a reference signal, a measuring stage, a mixer to which the local oscillator and the broadband filtering stage are connected and a low frequency filtering stage connected to the mixer.

The invention also includes the process of carrying out the measurement.

Claims

1. A direct and continuous receiving and measuring device for electrical, magnetic or acoustic signals comprising:

pick-up means for picking up said electrical, magnetic or acoustic signals;

first filtering means having an input connected to said pick-up means and dividing the frequency range provided by said pick-up means into a plurality of frequency subranges, each frequency subrange being selected by a band-pass filter;

first selector means adapted to be connected to the output of said band-pass filters;

local oscillator means comprising a quartz oscillator delivering a reference frequency, a circuit loop comprising in series a phase comparator having first and second inputs and an output and connected by said first input to said quartz oscillator, a voltage controlled oscillator connected to the output of said phase comparator and a divider connected between an output of said voltage controlled oscillator and said second input of said phase comparator, said circuit loop further comprises a low-pass filter connected between the phase comparator and the voltage controlled oscillator and delivering an error signal to lock the voltage controlled oscillator on or close to the frequency to be detected;

mixing means connected to said output of said voltage controlled oscillator;

second filtering means comprising a plurality of low-pass filters mounted in parallel, an input of said second filtering means being connected to an output of said mixing means;

second selector means adapted to be connected to an output of said low-pass filters of said second filtering means; and

measuring means connected to said second selector means for measuring the value of the signals detected by the pick-up means.

2. A device as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a decimal coded binary adder-subtractor associated with said divider of said circuit loop, said adder-subtractor having first and second inputs and receiving the value of a predetermined frequency of interest on said first inputs and receiving a frequency provided from the output of said mixing means on said second inputs.

3. A device as claimed in claim 2, further comprising a verifier switch means associated with said decimal coded binary adder-subtractor for verifying whether the predetermined frequency of interest is present at the second input of said phase comparator.

4. A device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said second filtering means comprises as many low-pass filters as band-pass filters of said first filtering means.

5. A device as claimed in claim 1, wherein each band-pass filter of the first filtering means can operate in narrow band and normal band, the normal band of one said band-pass filters being the narrow band for the next adjacent band-pass filter.

6. A device as claimed in claim 1, wherein said local oscillator means constitutes a generator which, for each band-pass filter, supplies a predetermined frequency or its multiples by 10 at a constant voltage for verifying the calibration of the modes of measuring for each band-pass filter.

7. A direct and continuous receiving and measuring device for electrical, magnetic or acoustic signals comprising:

a pick-up means for picking up said electrical, magnetic or acoustic signals;

first filtering means having an input connected to said pick-up means and dividing the frequency range provided by said pick-up means into a plurality of frequency subranges, each frequency subrange being selected by a band-pass filter;

first selector means adapted to be connected to the output of said band-pass filters;

local oscillator means comprising a quartz oscillator delivering a reference frequency, and first and second circuit loops, said first circuit loop comprising in series a first phase comparator having first and second inputs and an output connected by said first input to said quartz oscillator, a first voltage controlled oscillator connected to the output of said first phase comparator and a first divider connected between an output of said first voltage controlled oscillator and the second input of said phase comparator, said second loop comprising at least a second phase comparator connected to the output of said first voltage controlled oscillator and a second voltage controlled oscillator having an output;

mixing means connected to said output of said second voltage controlled oscillator;

second filtering means comprising a plurality of low-pass filters mounted in parallel, an input of said second filtering means being connected to an output of said mixer means;

second selector means adapted to b connected to an output of said low-pass filters of said second filtering means; and

measuring means connected to said second selector means for measuring the value of the signals detected by the pick-up means.

8. A device as claimed in claim 7, wherein each first and second circuit loop further comprises a low-pass filter connected between the respective first and second phase comparator and the voltage controlled oscillator and delivering each an error signal to lock the respective voltage controlled oscillator on or close to a reference frequency.

9. A device as claimed in claim 7, further comprising a decimal coded binary adder-subtractor associated with said divider of said first circuit loop, said adder-subtractor having first and second inputs and receiving the value of a predetermined frequency of interest on said first inputs and receiving a frequency provided from the output of said mixing means on said second inputs.

10. A device as claimed in claim 7, further comprising a verifier switch means associated with said decimal coded binary adder-subtractor for verifying whether the predetermined frequency of interest is present at the second input of said first phase comparator.

11. A device as claimed in claim 7, further comprising a divider connected between said first voltage controlled oscillator and said second phase comparator.

12. A device as claimed in claim 7, further comprising a low-pass filter placed between said phase comparator and said voltage controlled oscillator in each of said respective first and second circuit loops of said local oscillator means.

13. A device as claimed in claim 7, wherein said second filtering means comprises as many low-pass filters as band-pass filters of said first filtering means.

14. A device as calimed in claim 7, wherein each band-pass filter of the first filtering means can operate in narrow and normal band, the normal band of one said band-pass filters being the narrow band for the next adjacent band-pass filter.

15. A device as claimed in claim 7, wherein said local oscillator means constitutes a generator which, for each band-pass filter, supplies a predetermined frequency or its multiples by 10 at a constant voltage for verifying the calibration of the modes of measuring for each band-pass filter.