Apparatus for making multiple alphanumeric copies of a binary coded message

Claim 2

Apparatus for making multiple alphanumeric copies of a binary coded message contained on a magnetic recording medium, said apparatus comprising: means including means for reading said binary coded message; means for moving the message portion of said magnetic recording medium past said reading means; means for conditioning said last-mentioned means for cycling said message path said reading means a predetermined number of times; recording means responsive to said means including reading means for forming alphanumeric characters on a recording web each time said message moves past said reading means; means responsive to said conditioning means for transporting said record medium between the beginning and end of said message and past said reading means to thereby produce multiple copies of said message in accordance with said conditioning of said apparatus; means for writing binary codes on said magnetic recording medium, said means comprising controls for dividing messages of a predetermined length into data blocks and providing a code at the end of each data block followed by a space; and said transporting means comprising means for sensing the number of said codes and said spaces to thereby control the transporting of said record medium between the beginning and end of message.

Claim 3

Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said conditioning means comprises a switch for presetting a counter in accordance with the setting of said switch; and said apparatus further comprising means for decrementing said counter each time a message is formed on said web and means responsive to said decrementing means for stopping said transporting means.

Claim 4

In combination, tape transport apparatus comprising: a supply spindle; a take-up spindle; means for spooling magnetic tape past a read/write head in a forward direction at a uniform speed; means cooperating with said spooling means for driving said take-up spindle for winding magnetic tape onto a take-up device carried thereby; means for driving said supply spindle for winding tape in a reverse direction onto a tape supply device carried by said supply spindle; said tape having a binary coded message recorded thereon which is divided into a plurality of data blocks; an up-down counter; means for detecting the number of data blocks contained in said message and incrementing said counter as the tape is being wound onto said take-up device and decrementing said counter as said tape is being wound onto said supply device; means for detecting the number of times a complete message has been moved past said head in the forward direction, said detecting means operating to decrement a counter settable to a predetermined count representing the number of times the message is to be moved past said head; means for presetting said last-mentioned counter in accordance with said predetermined count; means responsive to the operation of said counters for actuating said spooling means and said supply spindle drive means to thereby cycle the coded message portion of the tape past said read/write head; recording apparatus for making alphanumeric copies of the message on said tape, said copies being equal to said predetermined number of times said tape is moved past said read/write head, and means for setting said counter to said predetermined count.

Claim 5

In combination, tape transport apparatus comprising: a supply spindle; a take-up spindle; means for spooling magnetic tape past a read/write head in a forward direction at a uniform speed; means cooperating with said spooling means for driving said take-up spindle for winding magnetic tape onto a take-up device carried thereby; means for driving said supply spindle for winding tape in a reverse direction onto a tape supply device carried by said supply spindle; said tape having a binary coded message recorded thereon which is divided into a plurality of data blocks; an up-down counter; means for detecting the number of data blocks contained in said message and incrementing said counter as the tape is being wound onto said take-up device and decrementing said counter as said tape is being wound onto said supply device; means for detecting the number of times a complete message has been moved past said head in the forward direction, said detecting means operating to decrement a counter settable to a predetermined count representing the number of times the message is to be moved past said head; means for presetting said last-mentioned counter in accordance with said predetermined count; means responsive to the operation of said counters for actuating said spooling means and said supply spindle drive means to thereby cycle the coded message portion of the tape past said read/write head; recording apparatus for making alphanumeric copies of the message on said tape, said copies being equal to said predetermined number of times said tape is moved past said read/write head, and means for setting said counter to said predetermined count.

Claim 6

Apparatus according to claim 3 further including, means for recording said binary message on said magnetic tape.