Magnetic mail coding apparatus

Claim 1

CODING APPARATUS TO MAGNETICALLY CODE A POSTAL ARTICLE AT A CODING STATION, SAID APPARATUS COMPRISING A CONVEYOR FOR THE ARTICLE, A TRANSDUCER CARRIAGE ADAPTED TO BE RECTILINEARLY INDEXED, A TRANSDUCER ON SAID CARRIAGE, SAID TRANSDUCER INCLUDING A GROUP OF HEAD STRUCTURES HAVING PARALLEL GAPS ARRANGED PERPENDICULAR TO THE DIRECTION OF TRANSDUCER CARRIAGE MOVEMENT, SAID GAPS BEING SPACED APPROXIMATELY 0.03 INCH IN THE DIRECTION OF TRANSDUCER CARRIAGE MOVEMENT, EACH HEAD STRUCTURE BEING CAPABLE OF RECORDING A DISCRETE BIT OF INDEPENDENTLY OF THE ADJACENT HEAD STRUCTURES, AND THERE BEING A NUMBER OF HEAD STRUCTURES IN THE GROUP SUFFICIENT TO RECORD A CODE WHICH CORRESPONDS TO A CHARACTER, A CODE SIGNAL GENERATOR FOR PROVIDING CODE SIGNALS CORRESPONDING TO THE BITS WHICH DEFINE THE CODE OF SAID CHARACTER, MEANS INCLUDING CONDUCTORS TO CONDUCT THE INDIVIDUAL CODE SIGNALS TO THE RESPECTIVE HEAD STRUCTURES OF SAID TRANSDUCER WHILE SAID CARRIAGE IS AT REST AND IN A MANNER SUCH AS FOR THE CHARACTER CODE EACH HEAD HAS ONE BIT SIGNAL CONDUCTOR CONNECTED THEREWITH, AND MEANS EFFECTIVE AFTER THE CODE FOR SAID CHARACTER IS TRANSDUCED BY SAID TRANSDUCER FOR INDEXING SAID TRANSDUCER CARRIAGE ALONG SAID STATION A DISTANCE AT LEAST EQUAL TO THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE FIRST AND LAST GAP OF THE TRANSDUCER THEREBY POSITIONING SAID TRANSDUCER RELATIVE TO THE ARTICLE FOR THE CODING OF ANOTHER CHARACTER.