IC 4060 Pinouts Explained

Another versatile device, the IC 4060 has numerous applications and can be used for implementing various useful functions in an electronic circuit.

Introduction

Basically the IC 4060 is a oscillator/Timer IC and can be used for producing discretely variable accurate time intervals or delays or alternatively it may also be used as an oscillator for acquiring high grade, accurate time period oscillations of frequencies.

The best thing about this chip is that it has an in-built oscillator module which requires just a few external components for initiating the oscillations.

Thus the IC is not dependant on any external clock input.

Parts List

R1 = 2M2
P1 = 1M pot
R2 = 100K
C1 = 1uF/25V

Understanding Pinout Functions of IC 4060

Let’s try to understand the pin outs of the IC 4060 in simple terms:

Referring to the figure we see that the only input pinouts which are required to be configured with external parts are pin # 9, 10, 11, and 12, all the remaining pinouts are the output pins of the IC, except pin#16 and pin#8 which are obviously the Vcc and the Vss supply pinouts.

The outputs are assigned for producing the ON/OFF time delays, or the clock signals, or the oscillations or the frequency at different levels depending on the values of the resistor and capacitor on pin#9/10 of the IC..

Pin #7 generates the highest value of frequency, while pin #3 produces the least.

For example, suppose the resistor/capacitor values at pin#9/10 causes pin # 7 to generate a frequency of 1MHz, then pin #5 would generate a frequency of 500 Khz, pin # 4 would generate 250 Khz, pin #6 would generate 125KHz, pin #14 would generate 62.5 KHz and so on.

As you may notice the frequency goes on becoming half in proportion, and this happens with the pinout order of 7,5,4,6,14,13,15,1,2,3, wherein pin#7 produces the highest frequency, while pin#3 the minimum.

As mentioned earlier, the above frequency or oscillations can be initiated or setup by connecting a few passive components at pin #9, 10 and 11 of the IC as shown in the figure, it’s that simple.

The variable resistor is used to vary the frequency to any desired level, the capacitor value may also be altered for changing the frequency of the IC.

Pin #12 is the reset input and should always be grounded or connected to the negative supply.

A positive supply pulse to this input will reset the oscillations or revert the IC so that it begins counting or oscillating from the beginning.

Pin #16 is the positive of the IC and pin #8 is the negative supply input of the IC.

How to Reset the IC 4060

Enabling an auto resetting of a timer IC such as IC 4060 becomes crucial in order to initiate the IC clock, and counting process from zero.

If an auto reset facility is not included, the IC could exhibit a random or a haphazard initialization of its counting process, which may not be from the zero or start, rather from any intermediate level.

Therefore to ensure an automatic resetting for the IC, we must include an RC network with the reset pinout ofthe IC as explained below:

Instead of connecting the pin#12 directly to ground line, connect it through a high value resistor such as a 100K.

Then attach a small value capacitor from positive to pin#12, the value could be anywhere from 0.33uF to 1uF.

That's it,  now your IC 4060 timer circuit is enabled with an auto reset feature, and will always initiate with a stable start, from zero.

Enabling a Manual Reset Action

To achieve a manual resetting facility in any IC 4060 circuit, you can simply add a push-button switch in parallel with the 100K resistor discussed in the above section.

Pressing this button anytime during the counting process of the IC, will quickly reset the IC to zero, so that the counting can start afresh from zero.

Calculating the Timing RC Component Values

The image below shows the magnified section of the IC containing the oscillator pin#9, 10, 11. The Rt and Ct are the main timing components which are actually responsible for determining the various delay intervals or frequencies across the IC outputs.

The standard formula for calculating the Rt and Ct values is:

f(osc) = 1 / 2.3 x Rt x Ct

2.3 is a constant as per the ICs internal configuration.

The oscillator will essentially work normally only when the selected values satisfy the condition:

Rt << R2 and R2 x C2 << Rt x Ct.

R2 is positioned to reduce the frequency effect of the forward voltage over the input protection diodes.

C2 depicts the stray capacitance and is supposed to be minimal for enabling greater accuracy of the output time intervals.

For this, Ct must be relatively larger than C2, the larger the better.

RT must be also a rather large value to negate the internal LOCMOS resistance, which appears in series with Rt internally.

Its typically value is around is 500 Ω at VDD = 5 V, 300 Ω at VDD = 10 V and 200 Ω at VDD = 15 V.

In order ensure a proper oscillatory action the most recommended values of the above mentioned timing parts must be configured as per the following conditions:

Ct ≥ 100 pF, up to any workable value,
10 kΩ ≤ Rt ≤ 1 MΩ.