Synchronizing device for a pulse code transmission system

Claim 1

A SYNCHRONIZING DEVICE COMPRISING: (A) AN INPUT TERMINAL SUPPLIED WITH A TIME SEQUENCE OF INPUT PULSES INCLUDING RECURRING SYNCHRONIZING PATTERNS, EACH PATTERN BEING COMPOSED OF PULSES DISTRIBUTED IN A PRESCRIBED ARRANGEMENT OVER A FIRST PREDETERMINED NUMBER OF TIME POSITIONS AMONG TIME POSITIONS SPACED BY A PRESELECTED TIME INTERVAL AND BEING DISPOSED APART FROM THE PRECEDING ONE BY AN INTEGRAL MULTIPLE OF SAID PRESELECTED TIME INTERVALS; (B) A CLOCK PULSE GENERATOR SUPPLIED WITH SAID INPUT PULSES FOR GENERATING CLOCK PULSES OCCURRING AT SAID TIME POSITIONS; (C) A STEPPING DEVICE WHICH HAS STEPPING POSITIONS EQUAL IN NUMBER TO SAID FIRST PREDETERMINED NUMBER PLUS SAID INTEGRAL MULTIPLE AND WHICH IS SUPPLIED WITH SAID CLOCK PULSES FOR STEPPING AND PRODUCING A STEP PULSE CYCLICALLY ON SAID STEPPING POSITIONS AT EACH OF SAID TIME POSITIONS, SAID STEPPING POSITIONS COMPRISING A SECOND PREDETERMINED NUMBER OF SUCCESSIVE STEPPING POSITIONS INCLUDING ONE PARTICULAR STEPPING POSITION ON WHICH SAID STEPPING DEVICE PRODUCES A STEP PULSE AT A PRESET TIME POSITION IN EACH OF SAID SYNCHRONIZING PATTERNS WHEN SAID STEPPING DEVICE IS IN THE DESIRED SYNCHRONIZED STATE; (D) A SYNCHRONIZING PATTERN DETECTOR SUPPLIED WITH SAID INPUT PULSES FOR PRODUCING IN RESPONSE TO SUCH PULSES INCLUDED IN SAID INPUT PULSES AND APPEARING WITHIN THE RANGE OF SAID PREDETERMINED NUMBER OF THE TIME POSITIONS A DETECTION PULSE AT EACH SAID PRESET TIME POSITION, AND