Character sensing method and apparatus

Claim 1

AN APPARATUS FOR IDENTIFYING SYMBOLS WHICH IS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A UNIQUE ASYNCHRONOUS LOGIC CODE FOR EACH SYMBOL WHEN SCANNED BY A SINGLE SLIT DIFFERENTIATING SCAN MECHANISM, COMPRISING MEANS TO AMPLIFY AN ELECTRICAL PULSE DEVELOPED BY SAID SCAN MECHANISM, MEANS TO APPLY AN AMPLIFIED PULSE FROM SAID AMPLIFY MEANS TO BOTH A GATE GENERATOR CIRCUIT MEANS AND A FIRST DELAY CIRCUIT MEANS, SAID GATE GENERATOR CIRCUIT BEING ADAPTED TO PROVIDE A CONTINUOUS OUTPUT PULSE OVER A PREDETERMINED NUMBER OF TIME INTERVALS IN RESPONSE TO A FIRST PULSE DEVELOPED BY SAID SCAN MECHANISM, A DIFFERENTIATOR CIRCUIT MEANS CONNECTED TO RECEIVE THE CONTINUOUS PULSE OUTPUT OF SAID GATE GENERATOR CIRCUIT MEANS, AT LEAST TWO COINCIDENCE CIRCUIT MEANS CONNECTED TO RECEIVE AN OUTPUT PULSE FROM SAID DIFFERENTIATOR CIRCUIT MEANS, A SECOND DELAY CIRCUIT MEANS CONNECTED TO RECEIVE ALSO THE OUTPUT OF SAID DIFFERENTIATOR CIRCUIT MEANS, SINGLE SHOT TIMING CIRCUIT MEANS CONNECTED TO SAID SECOND DELAY CIRCUIT MEANS TO PROVIDE A SECOND PULSE FOR TRANSMISSION TO SAID COINCIDENCE CIRCUIT MEANS, PULSE POLARITY DETECTING MEANS RESPONSIVE TO A PULSE FROM SAID FIRST DELAY CIRCUIT MEANS TO PROVIDE A TRIGGER PULSE SELECTIVELY TO AT LEAST ONE OF SAID TWO COINCIDENCE CIRCUIT MEANS, ONE MEANS CONNECTED TO ONE OF SAID COINCIDENCE CIRCUIT MEANS TO PROVIDE A CONTINUOUS OUTPUT PULSE FOR CONNECTION TO A PLURALITY OF ADDITIONAL COINCIDENCE CIRCUIT MEANS, ANOTHER MEANS CONNECTED TO ANOTHER OF SAID TWO COINCIDENCE CIRCUIT MEANS TO RPOVIDE A CONTINUOUS PULSE OUTPUT TO A PLURALITY OF DIF-

Claim 2

AN APPARATUS FOR IDENTIFYING SYMBOLS WHICH IS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A UNIQUE ASYNCHRONOUS LOGIC CODE FOR EACH SYMBOL WHEN SCANNED BY A SINGLE SLIT DIFFERENTIATING SCAN MECHANISM, COMPRISING MEANS TO AMPLIFY AN ELECTRICAL PULSE DEVELOPED BY SAID SCAN MECHANISM, MEANS TO APPLY AN AMPLIFIED PULSE FROM SAID AMPLIFY MEANS TO BOTH A GATE GENERATOR CIRCUIT MEANS AND A FIRST DELAY CIRCUIT MEANS, SAID GATE GENERATOR CIRCUIT BEING ADAPTED TO PROVIDE A CONTINUOUS OUTPUT PULSE OVER A PREDETERMINED NUMBER OF TIME INTERVALS IN RESPONSE TO A FIRST PULSE DEVELOPED BY SAID SCAN MECHANISM, A DIFFERENTIATOR CIRCUIT MEANS CONNECTED TO RECEIVE THE CONTINUOUS PULSE OUTPUT OF SAID GATE GENERATOR CIRCUIT MEANS, AT LEAST TWO COINCIDENCE CIRCUIT MEANS CONNECTED TO RECEIVE AN OUTPUT PULSE FROM SAID DIFFERENTIATOR CIRCUIT MEANS, A SECOND DELAY CIRCUIT MEANS CONNECTED TO RECEIVE ALSO THE OUTPUT OF SAID DIFFERENTIATOR CIRCUIT MEANS, SINGLE SHOT TIMING CIRCUIT MEANS CONNECTED TO SAID SECOND DELAY CIRCUIT MEANS TO PROVIDE A SECOND PULSE FOR TRANSMISSION TO SAID COINCIDENCE CIRCUIT MEANS, PULSE POLARITY DETECTING MEANS RESPONSIVE TO A PULSE FROM SAID FIRST DELAY CIRCUIT MEANS TO PROVIDE A TRIGGER PULSE SELECTIVELY TO AT LEAST ONE OF SAID TWO COINCIDENCE CIRCUIT MEANS, ONE MEANS CONNECTED TO ONE OF SAID COINCIDENCE CIRCUIT MEANS TO PROVIDE A CONTINUOUS OUTPUT PULSE FOR CONNECTION TO A PLURALITY OF ADDITIONAL COINCIDENCE CIRCUIT MEANS, ANOTHER MEANS CONNECTED TO ANOTHER OF SAID TWO COINCIDENCE CIRCUIT MEANS TO RPOVIDE A CONTINUOUS PULSE OUTPUT TO A PLURALITY OF DIF-