Electrical pulse-counting devices

Claim 1

AN ELECTRICAL PULSE COUNTER FOR SUBSTRACTIVE COUNTING OF PULSES OCCURRING AT INTERVALS, OF MT WHERE M IS ANTEGER WHERE IS, IN GENERAL VARIABLE, COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF PULSE STORIES, EACH INCLUDING A DELAY DEVICE OF DALEY TIME T WITH AN INPUT AND AND OUTPUT, A FEEDBACK LOOP COUPLING SAID INPUT TO SAID OUTPUT AND GATING MEANS IN SAID FEEDBACK LOOP AND ADAPTED TO INTERRUPT CIRCULATION OF PULSES IN SAID STORE, A SEQUENCY OF GATING CIRCUITS ASSOCIATED WITH SAID STORES RESPECTIVELY AND EACH HAVING AN INPUT TERMINAL, AT LEAST ONE OUTPUT TERMINAL AND AN OPERATING TERMINAL, INPUT MEANS TO THE FIRST GATING CIRCUIT OF SAID SEQUENCE, CONNECTING MEANS COUPLING OUTPUT TERMINALS OF SAID GATING CIRCUITS RESPECTIVELY TO THE INPUT TERMINALS OF THE NEXT GATING CIRCUITS IN THE SEQUENCY AND TO SAID STORES, AND FURTHER MEANS CONNECTING THE OUTPUTS OF SAID DELAY DEVICES TO SAID OPERATING TERMINALS RESPECTIVELY, WHEREBY A PULSE APPLIED TO SAID INPUT MEANS IN PREVENTED FROM PASSING THROUGH SAID SEQUENCE OF GATING CIRCUITS BEYOND THE FIRST SUCH CIRCUIT ASSOCIATED WITH A STORE HAVING A CIRCULATING PULSE PRESENT AT THE OUTPUT OF ITS DELAY DEVICE COINCIDENT WITH THE APPLIED PULSE AND THE APPLIED PULSE CAUSES THE PATTERN OF STORES IN WHICH PULSES ARE CIRCULATING TO BE CHANGED, IN DEPENDENCE UPON WHICH GATING CIRCUIT OF SAID SEQUENCE THE APPLIED PULSE IS PREVENTED FROM PASSING BEYOND, TO THE PATTERN REPRESENTATIVE IN A PREDETERMINED NUMERICAL SYSTEM OF THE NUMBER ONE BELOW THE NUMBER REPRESENTED BY THE PREVIOUSLY OBTAINING PATTERN, EACH INTERMEDIATE GATING CIRCUIT OF SAID SEQUENCE HAVING FIRST AND SECOND OUTPUT TERMINALS, SAID INPUT TERMINAL OF EACH INTERMEDIATE GATING CIRCUIT BEING CONNECTED TO THE FIRST OUTPUT TERMINAL OF THE PRECEDING GATING CIR CUIT, SAID FIRST OUTPUT TERMINAL BEING CONNECTED TO THE INPUT TERMINAL OF THE SUCCEEDING GATING CIRCUIT, SAID OPERATING TERMINAL BEING CONNECTED TO THE OUTPUT OF THE DELAY DEVICE OF THE ASSOCIATED STORE AND SAID SECOND OUTPUT TERMINAL BEING CONNECTED TO AT LEAST ONE OF THE INPUTS OF THE STORES AND GATING MEANS OF THE STORES, WHEREIN IN THE ABSENCE OF A PULSE ON THE OPERATING TERMINAL THE INPUT TERMINAL IS CONNECTED THROUGH TO THE FIRST OUTPUT TERMINAL ONLY AND WHEN A PULSE IS PRESENT ON THE OPERATING TERMINAL, THE INPUT TERMINAL IS CONNECTED THROUGH TO THE SECOND OUTPUT TERMINAL.