Phase shift counting circuits

Claim 1

A PHASE DISPLACEMENT COUNTER FOR PROVIDING A PLURALITY OF DIGIT PULSE TRAINS THE PHASES OF WHICH REPRESENT CORRESPONDING DIGIT VALVES, SAID COUNTER COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF PULSE DIVIDER STAGES, EACH OF STAGE INCLUDING MEANS FOR DIVIDING AN INCOMING PULSE TRAIN BY THE RADIX OF THE SELECTED NUMBERING SYSTEM, A SOURCE OF CLOCK PULSES, MEANS FOR APPLYING SAID CLOCK PULSES DIRECTLY TO EACH OF SAID STAGES, AND MEANS FOR INCREASING THE DIGIT VALUE REPRESENTED BY THE PULSE TRAIN FROM EACH OF SAID STAGES IN RESPONSE TO THE COINCIDENCE OF A PRESELECTED PHASE OF THE PRECEDING STAGE IN AN EVENT TO BE COUNTED, SAID INCREASING MEANS INCLUDING MEANS FOR ALTERING THE PHASE OF THE OUTPUT PULSE TRAIN FROM THAT STAGE BY A FIXED NUMBER OF SAID CLOCK PULSE PERIODS REGARDLESS OF THE PREVIOUS PHASE OF SAID OUTPUT PULSE TRAIN.