Device for converting a light signal corresponding to a digit place into a voltage value corresponding to the digit value

Claim 1

APPARATUS FOR CONVERTING A SOURCE OF LIGHT SIGNALS REPRESENTING NUMERICAL VALUES INTO ELECTRIC SIGNALS CORRESPONDING TO THE DIGIT VALUES COMPRISING, A SOURCE OF VOLTAGE HAVING A PAIR OF OUTPUT TERMINALS, VOLTAGE ATTENUATING MEANS HAVING A PLURALITY OF DISTRIBUTED TAPS, A PLURALITY OF PHOTOSENSITIVE ELEMENTS, ONE FOR EACH DIGIT VALUE, OPTICALLY COUPLED TO SAID LIGHT SIGNAL SOURCE, A PLURALITY OF UNIDIRECTIONAL CONDUCTING ELEMENTS, MEANS CONNECTING EACH PHOTOSENSITIVE ELEMENT IN SERIES CIRCUIT WITH A CORRESPONDING UNIDIRECTIONAL CONDUCTING ELEMENT BETWEEN ONE TERMINAL OF SAID VOLTAGE SOURCE AND A CORRESPONDING TAP ON SAID VOLTAGE ATTENUATING MEANS, EACH OF SAID SERIES CIRCUITS HAVING A JUNCTION POINT COMMON TO SAID PHOTOSENSITIVE ELEMENT AND TO SAID UNIDIRECTIONAL CONDUCTING ELEMENT, A FIRST RESISTOR, MEANS CONNECTING SAID FIRST RESISTOR IN SERIES WITH THE OTHER TERMINAL OF SAID VOLTAGE SOURCE AND A TAP ON SAID VOLTAGE ATTENUATING MEANS, A PLURALITY OF SECOND RESISTORS, AND MEANS CONNECTING EACH OF SAID SECOND RESISTORS TO SAID OTHER TERMINAL OF THE VOLTAGE SOURCE AND TO CORRESPONDING ONES OF SAID JUNCTION POINTS.