Apparatus for reading marks on documents

Claim 1

APPARATUS FOR READING MARKS ON DOCUMENTS COMPRISING, IN COMBINATION: A FLYING SPOT SCANNER FOR SCANNING EACH OF SAID DOCUMENTS WITH A SCANNING BEAM MOVING SEQUENTIALLY OVER PREDETERMINED POSITIONS WHERE THE PRESENCE OR ABSENCE OF MARKS ON THE DOCUMENT CONVETS INFORMATION; FIRST DEFLECTION CIRCUIT MEANS FOR GOVERNING SAID FLYING SPOT SCANNER TO SUCCESIVELY POSITION SAID SCANNING BEAM TO PREDETERMINED LOCATIONS ALONG ONE EDGE OF SAID DOCUMENT; SECOND DEFLECTION CIRCUIT MEANS FOR GOVERNING SAID FLYING SPOT SCANNER TO SUCCESSIVELY POSITION SAID SCANNING BEAM TO PREDETERMINED MARKING LOCATIONS IN A DIRECTION ANGULARLY RELATED TO SAID ONE EDGE OF SAID DOCUMENT, SAID PREDETERMINED MARKING LOCATIONS DESIGNATING POINTS AT WHICH THE PRESENCE OR ABSENCE OF A MARK SIGNIFIES DATA; DETECTION MEANS EFFECTIVE TO PROVIDE MARK SENSE OUTPUT SIGNALS WHEN SAID BEAM ENCOUNTERS A MARK AT ONE OF SAID PREDETERMINED MARKING LOCATIONS; POSITION SIGNAL GENERATING MEANS FOR GENERATING A PLURALITY OF POSITION SIGNALS HAVING A PREDETERMINED RELATIONSHIP TO THE DISTANCE OF SAID MARKING LOCATIONS FROM THE EDGE OF THE DOCUMENT; COMPARATOR MEANS FOR COMPARING THE OUTPUT OF SAID SECOND DEFLECTION CIRCUIT WITH THE OUTPUT OF SAID POSITION SIGNAL GENERATOR MEANS; MEANS RESPONSIVE TO THE OUTPUT OF SAID COMPARATOR MEANS FOR GOVERNING SAID POSITION SIGNAL GENERATING MEANS; AND OUTPUT MEANS GOVERNED BY SAID DETECTOR MEANS AND SAID POSITION SIGNAL GENERATING MEANS FOR PROVIDING OUTPUTS INDICATIVE OF MARKS SENSED AT SAID PREDETERMINED MARKING LOCATIONS.