Sequence comparing unit

Claim 1

A SEQUENCE UNIT FOR REPETITIVELY COMPARING DATA RECEIVED IN DIGIT PULSE FORM FROM PLURAL SOURCES, SELECTED ONES OF WHICH MAY SUBSEQUENTLY BE INTERRUPTED IN RESPONSE TO THE RESULTS OF THE COMPARISON, COMPRISING: A PLURALITY OF COUNTERS, ONE FOR EACH ORDER OF DATA RECEIVED FROM EACH SOURCE; MEANS TO RESET SAID COUNTERS; MEANS TO SET SAID COUNTERS TO VALUES CORRESPONDING TO THE DIGIT VALUES RECEIVED FROM SAID SOURCES; MEANS FOR INTERRUPTING THE DATA TRANSMISSION FROM SELECTED ONES OF SAID SOURCES; INPUT MEANS FOR EACH ORDER FOR SELECTIVELY RECEIVING DIGIT PULSES FROM THE SOURCES WHEN SAID SOURCES ARE UNINTERRUPTED AND FOR RECEIVING DIGIT PULSES FROM THE UNINTERRUPTED SOURCES AND THE COUNTERS ASSOCIATED WITH THE INTERRUPTED SOURCES WHEN SELECTED ONES OF SAID SOURCES ARE INTERRUPTED; SAID INPUT MEANS INCLUDING COMPARISON MEANS FOR GENERATING COMPRISON VALUES; AN ORDER REGISTER HAVING A PLURALITY OF ORDERS COMPRISING MEANS TO STORE SAID COMPARISON VALUES; MEANS CONNECTING EACH ORDER OF SAID INPUT MEANS TO AN ASSOCIATED ORDER OF SAID ORDR REGISTER; A SEQUENCE-EQUALITY INDICATING CIRCUIT COUPLED TO SAID ORDER REGISTER; MEANS FOR SHIFTING COMPARISON VALUES FROM SAID ORDER REGISTER IN ORDER OF SIGNIFICANCE INTO SAID SEQUENCEEQUALITY INDICATING CIRCUIT SAID SEQUENCE-EQUALITY INDICATING CIRCUIT BEING ADAPTED TO LOCK TO A STATE REPRESENTATIVE OF THE FIRST UNEQUAL COMPARISON VALUE RECEIVED BY ITS SO AS TO BE NONRESPONSIVE TO SUBSEQUENT UNEQUAL COMPARISON VALUES SUPPLIED THERETO, AND INCLUDING MEANS TO ISSUE A CONTROL SIGNAL INDICATING THE RECEIPT OF SAID COMPARISON VALUES; MEANS FOR TRANSMITTING SAID CONTROL SIGNALS TO SAID INTERRUPTING MEANS TO CAUSE SAID INTERRUPTING MEANS TO INTERRUPT SELECTED ONES OF SAID SOURCES.