Scanning device

Claim 1

A DEVICE FOR AUTOMATIC SYMBOL RECOGNITION BY SCANNING SYMBOLS TO BE RECOGNIZED FOR PROVIDING WAVE FORMS WHICH ARE CHARACTERISTIC OF THE SYMBOLS, COMPRISING, IN COMBINATION: A DELAY LINE TO WHICH THE WAVE FORMS ARE FED AND HAVING A PLURALITY OF TAP POINTS AT WHICH DISCRETE VOLTAGES SIGNIFICANT OF THE WAVE FORMS OF THE SYMBOLS APPEAR; MEANS IN THE FORM OF VOLTAGE SUMMING NETWORKS CONNECTED TO SAID DELAY LINE FOR COMPARATIVELY EVALUATING THE DISCRETE VOLTAGES APPERAING AT SAID TAP POINTS AND HAVING OUTPUT CHANNELS WHICH PERTAIN TO INDIVIDUAL SYMBOLS AND WHICH SIGNAL WHEN INDIVIDUAL SYMBOLS ARE RECOGNIZED; A PLURALITY OF COINCIDENCE CIRCUITS HAVING FIRST INPUTS RESPECTIVELY CONNECTED TO SAID OUPUT CHANNELS AND SECOND INPUTS; AND MEANS CONNECTED TO SAID TAP POINTS AND SAID COINCIDENCE CIRCUITS FOR PROVIDING TO THE COINCIDENCE CIRCUITS SIGNALS DERIVED FROM A SELECTION OF DISCRETE VOLTAGES AVAILABLE AT THE TAP POINTS OF THE DELAY LINE AS BEING POSITIVE, NEGATIVE, AND ZERO VOLTAGE, SO THAT FOR EACH SYMBOL OF A SET OF IDENTIFIABLE SYMBOLS THERE IS CONNECTED TO THE SECOND INPUTS OF THE COINCIDENCE CIRCUITS A SELECTION OF TAPE POINTS ON THE DELAY LINE ADAPTED TO THE SPECFIC CHARACTERISTICS OF THE WAVE FORM OF JUST THAT SYMBOL.