Electronic control of printer in restaurant billing system

Claim 1

IN A DATA PROCESSING SYSTEM, IN COMBINATION WITH AN ELECTROMECHANICAL PRINTER HAVING A PLURALITY OF CHARACTER PRINTING CONTROLS, AND A PLURALITY OF SEPARATE DATA SOURCES EACH WITH AN OUTPUT INFORMATION LINE, ELECTRONIC CIRCUIT MEANS FOR CONVERTING THE DATA FROM SAID SOURCES INTO ELECTRIC SIGNALS SUITABLE FOR OPERATING SAID PRINTER INCLUDING MEANS FOR GENERATING A PLURALITY OF SYNCHRONIZING (SYNC) PULSES AT A GIVEN FREQUENCY REPRESENTING DIFFERENT OPERATING POSITIONS OF SAID CONTROLS IN A PRINTING CYCLE PLUS AN INDEX PULSE AT THE START OF EACH CYCLE; A MULTI-STAGE CHARACTER SCANNER HAVING AN OUTPUT FOR EACH STAGE, SAID SCANNER BEING SET TO ITS FIRST STAGE BY EACH INDEX PULSE AND STEPPED THROUGH ALL ITS STAGES IN RESPONSE TO THE SYNC PULSES IN SYNCHRONISM WITH THE RESPECTIVE CHARACTERS ON SAID CONTROL; MEANS ALSO TRIGGERED BY EACH SYNC PULSE FOR SAMPLING THE OUTPUT OF SAID SOURCES IN TURN TO DETERMINE THE PRESENCE OF DATA THEREIN AND, IF PRESENT, TO APPLY THE SAMPLED INFORMATION TO THE ASSOCIATED INFORMATION LINE; A COINCIDENCE CIRCUIT COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF GATES EACH HAVING AS INPUTS THERETO A DIFFERENT ONE OF THE STAGE OUTPUTS OF SAID SCANNER AND A DIFFERENT ONE OF SAID INFORMATION LINES, AND A SINGLE OUTPUT FOR EACH OF SAID GATES INCLUDING AN INDIVIDUAL STORAGE CAPACITOR; PRINTING GATING MEANS AND ASSOCIATED PRINTER DRIVING MEANS; THE COINCIDENCE OF INFORMATION IN BOTH INPUTS TO ANY GATE CAUSING THE ENABLEMENT OF THE GATE TO PASS THE INFORMATION IN THE ASSOCIATED INFORMATION LINE THERETHROUGH TO CHARGE THE ASSOCIATED CAPACITOR FOR STORAGE THEREIN; MEANS RESPONSIVE TO THE STEPPING OF SAID SCANNER TO THE NEXT STAGE POSITION TO CAUSE THE INFORMATION IN THE CHARGED CAPACITOR TO PASS TO SAID PRINT GATING MEANS; AND MEANS RESPONSIVE TO A COMMAND GENERATED IN SAID SYSTEM TO CAUSE THE ENABLEMENT OF THE PRINT GATING MEANS TO PASS A SIGNAL THERETHROUGH TO THE ASSOCIATED DRIVING MEANS TO GENERATE A HIGH ENERGY PULSE FOR OPERATING THE PRINTING CONTROLS.