Method and apparatus for reading tickets, and ticket for use therewith

Claim 1

A ticket containing a plurality of independent items of information in the form of conventional readable characters and a plurality of independent items of information adapted to be read by a machine, said latter information being a plurality of identical markings arranged according to a predetermined code in rows and columns of marking positions on one face of the ticket, the region of the ticket bearing said markings being imperforate, the greatest possible number of said markings per inch in each row being equal to one-half the number of characters per inch in each row forming the information in conventional form, the greatest possible number of markings in each column being equal to the number of characters per inch in each column forming the information in conventional form, one of said columns of markings always containing its full complement of markings so that it can serve as a clock during reading of the ticket, the remaining marking positions being arranged in groups each of which includes a whole number multiple of three marking positions, each of said groups bearing information in binary form identical to one of the items of information in the form of conventional readable characters.