Decimal to binary converter

Claim 1

A DECIMAL TO BINARY CONVERTER COMPRISING: MEANS FOR MANUALLY SETTING A MULTI-DIGIT DECIMAL NUMBER; A PLURALITY OF MULTI-STAGE BINARY CODED DECIMAL COUNTERS; A SOURCE OF PULSES; A BINARY COUNTER; FIRST GATING MEANS COUPLING SAID SOURCE OF PULSES TO SAID BINARY CODED DECIMAL COUNTERS, SAID GATING MEANS BEING OPERABLE TO PERMIT SAID PULSES TO COUNT DOWN THE BINARY CODED DECIMAL NUMBER STORED IN SAID COUNTERS; SECOND GATING MEANS COUPLING SAID SOURCE OF PULSES TO SAID BINARY COUNTER, SAID GATING MEANS BEING OPERABLE TO PERMIT SAID BINARY COUNTER TO COUNT SAID PULSES; A PLURALITY OF COINCIDENCE CIRCUITS, EACH OF SAID CIRCUITS HAVING ITS INPUTS COUPLED TO EACH STAGE OF ONE OF SAID COUNTERS WHEREBY EACH OF SAID CIRCUITS PRODUCES AN OUTPUT SIGNAL WHEN THERE IS NO NUMBER STORED IN ITS RESPECTIVE COUNTER; AN AND GATE HAVING A PLURALITY OF INPUTS COUPLED TO THE OUTPUTS OF SAID COINCIDENCE CIRCUITS FOR PRODUCING AN OUTPUT SIGNAL IN RESPONSE TO THE PRODUCTION OF AN OUTPUT SIGNAL BY EACH OF SAID COINCIDENCE CIRCUITS; MEANS COUPLING SAID AND GATE TO SAID FIRST AND SECOND GATING MEANS WHEREBY SAID GATING MEANS ARE RENDERED OPERATIVE WHEN NO OUTPUT SIGNAL IS PRODUCED BY SAID AND GATE AND INOPERATIVE THEN AN OUTPUT SIGNAL IS PRODUCED BY SAID AND GATE; THIRD GATING MEANS OPERABLE TO COUPLE EACH OF SAID BINARY CODED DECIMAL COUNTERS TO SAID SETTING MEANS WHEREBY EACH OF SAID COUNTERS CONVERTS AND STORES A SINGLE DIGIT OF SAID DECIMAL NUMBER; AND PULSE PRODUCING MEANS COUPLED TO SAID THIRD GATING MEANS AND TO SAID BINARY COUNTER FOR OPERATING SAID THIRD GATING MEANS AND RESETTING SAID BINARY COUNTER TO ZERO.