Multiple signal audible oscillation generator
DCFirst Claim
1. A circuit for selectively generating electrical oscillations in the audible frequency range comprisingmeans for providing a supply voltage;
- a controller having a controller input and a controller output; and
a driving circuit coupled to the controller output and operating in a manner to supply an amplitude of about twice the supply voltage;
the controller selectively responsive to a plurality of selection signals whereby upon receipt by the controller input of a predetermined one of the plurality of selection signals, the controller generates a corresponding sequence of electrical oscillations at the controller output, the oscillations essentially in the audible frequency range;
the driving circuit comprising first and second inverters each having a respective inverter input and inverter output;
a switch operatively coupled to the controller output and responsive to the oscillations thereupon to allow a high potential state to appear at the first inverter input during one of respective high and low phases of the oscillations and a low potential state to appear during the other of respective high and low phases of the oscillations;
the second inverter input electrically coupled to the first inverter output.
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Abstract
A microcontroller is used to drive a piezoelectric transducer. Certain pins on the microcontroller are indicative of selection signals. The selector can be activated either by a user directly (e.g., by pushing buttons), by an offboard actuator (e.g., another microcontroller), or by any method known in the art for activating switches. In one embodiment, an output pin of the microcontroller acts as output for a high-low oscillator. The oscillation amplitude toggles between 0 and 5 volts in a square wave fashion. The output pin is coupled to the base of a bipolar junction transistor so that the transistor turns on and off as a switch in response to the high-low oscillations. As the transistor turns on and off, supply voltage is routed through a network of logic inverters, after first passing through a current limiting impedance means such as a resistor, to the piezoelectric transducer in a manner designed to provide a voltage swing at the transducer on the order of two times the supply voltage for each oscillation. In another embodiment, instead of using a single pin on the microcontroller to alternately forward and reverse bias a single transistor, the microcontroller actuates predetermined pins that are connected to different RC oscillators. The RC oscillators are then connected to the driving circuit. The circuit includes a voltage regulator connected at an input to the supply voltage and at an output to the power supply pin of the microcontroller.
22 Citations
11 Claims
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1. A circuit for selectively generating electrical oscillations in the audible frequency range comprising
means for providing a supply voltage; -
a controller having a controller input and a controller output; and
a driving circuit coupled to the controller output and operating in a manner to supply an amplitude of about twice the supply voltage;
the controller selectively responsive to a plurality of selection signals whereby upon receipt by the controller input of a predetermined one of the plurality of selection signals, the controller generates a corresponding sequence of electrical oscillations at the controller output, the oscillations essentially in the audible frequency range;
the driving circuit comprising first and second inverters each having a respective inverter input and inverter output;
a switch operatively coupled to the controller output and responsive to the oscillations thereupon to allow a high potential state to appear at the first inverter input during one of respective high and low phases of the oscillations and a low potential state to appear during the other of respective high and low phases of the oscillations;
the second inverter input electrically coupled to the first inverter output. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
(a) the output of the first inverter is coupled to the input of the third inverter and the output of the third inverter is coupled to the input of the fourth inverter; (b) the output of the second inverter is coupled to the input of the fifth inverter;
(c) the second and third inverters are cross-connected at their inputs and outputs; and
(d) the fourth and fifth inverters are cross-connected at their outputs, whereby the outputs of the second and third inverters are inverted with respect to the outputs of the fourth and fifth inverters.
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3. The circuit of claim 1 having a power supply terminal and a ground terminal, wherein the switch comprises a bipolar junction transistor having a base, a collector, and an emitter, the base operatively coupled to the controller output, the emitter operatively coupled to the ground terminal, and the collector operatively coupled to both the power supply terminal and the first inverter input, so that the transistor is forward biased during only one of respective high and low phases of the oscillations.
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4. The circuit of claim 3 further comprising current limiting impedance means electrically coupled between the power supply terminal and the first inverter input.
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5. The circuit of claim 1 comprising an audio transducer having first and second terminals, the first terminal electrically coupled to the first inverter output and the second terminal electrically coupled to the second inverter output.
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6. The circuit of claim 5 wherein the audio transducer is a piezoelectric transducer.
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7. The circuit of claim 6 wherein the piezoelectric transducer is arranged in a non-feedback configuration.
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8. A circuit for selectively generating electrical oscillations in the audible frequency range comprising
means for providing a supply voltage; -
a controller having a controller input and a controller output;
at least one RC oscillator having an input electrically coupled to the controller output and tuned to a frequency essentially in the audible frequency range and having an output; and
a driving circuit coupled to said at least one RC oscillator output and operating in a manner to supply an amplitude of about twice the supply voltage;
the controller selectively responsive to a plurality of selection signals whereby upon receipt by the controller input of a predetermined one of the plurality of selection signals, the controller generates an electrical potential at the controller output so that electrical oscillations are produced at the RC oscillator output;
the driving circuit comprising first and second inverters each having a respective inverter input and inverter output;
the plurality of RC oscillators operatively coupled to the first inverter input; and
the second inverter input electrically coupled to the first inverter output. - View Dependent Claims (9)
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10. A circuit for selectively generating electrical oscillations in the audible frequency range comprising
a power supply terminal for providing a supply voltage; -
a ground terminal;
a current limiting impedance means;
a controller having a controller input and a controller output, the controller selectively responsive to a plurality of selection signals whereby upon receipt by the controller input of a predetermined one of the plurality of selection signals, the controller generates a corresponding sequence of electrical oscillations at the controller output, the oscillations essentially in the audible frequency range;
a voltage regulator operatively coupled between the power supply terminal and the controller for limiting an electrical potential supplied to the controller;
a driving circuit coupled to the controller output and operating in a manner to supply an amplitude of about twice the supply voltage, the driving circuit comprising first and second inverters each having a respective inverter input and inverter output, the impedance means electrically coupled between the power supply terminal and the first inverter input, a bipolar junction transistor having a base, a collector, and an emitter, the base operatively coupled to the controller output, the emitter operatively coupled to the ground terminal, and the collector operatively coupled to both the power supply terminal and the first inverter input, the base responsive to the oscillations to forward bias the transistor during only one of respective high and low phases of the oscillations to allow a high potential state to appear at the first inverter input during a certain of respective high and low phases of the oscillations and a low potential state to appear during the other of respective high and low phases of the oscillations; and
a piezoelectric audio transducer having first and second terminals, the first terminal electrically coupled to the first inverter output and the second terminal electrically coupled to the second inverter output.
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11. A method for selectively generating sequences of loud sounds comprising the steps of:
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generating a sequence indicator signal;
generating a sequence of electrical oscillations corresponding to the sequence indicator signal;
passing the sequence of electrical oscillations through a network of inverters having respective outputs so that the outputs of selected inverters within the network of inverters are continuously substantially 180 degrees out of phase with each other;
driving an audio transducer with the substantially 180 degrees out of phase outputs so that the audio transducer experiences a swing of twice the amplitude appearing at any one output.
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Specification