Photographic image pick-up and coding system of run-length type

Claim 1

A photographic image information pick-up and coding system for picking up and coding photographic image information carried on a recording medium, which comprises: a record medium having photographic image information thereon; a facsimile signal generator (11) including scanning means for repeatedly producing facsimile signals representing a part of said image information lying on a horizontal scanning line, each of said facsimile signals including at least one space signal; a pulse generator (12) for producing a clock pulse signal consisting of clock pulses consecutively appearing at a constant rate and a blanking pulse signal consisting of blanking pulses appearing during the blanking period between two consecutive facsimile signals; a run-length gate (16) for passing therethrough said clock pulse signal during a time period that a run-length gate trigger pulse lasts; a start signal generator (14) for producing a start signal; a run-length gate controller (13) for producting said run-length gate trigger pulse in accordance with said facsimile signals, clock pulse signal and blanking pulse signal, said run-length gate controller including a space signal superposer for superposing a space signal on a leading edge of each of said facsimile signals, a sampling circuit for sampling said mark and space signals with said clock pulse signal, a mark-space selector (32) triggered by said start signal for selectively passing therethrough one of the sampled mark and space signals, and run-length trigger pulse generating means for producing said run-length trigger pulse generating means for producing said run-length gate trigger pulse, said run-length gate trigger pulse rising at the rise of said start signal and decaying at the rise of the first pulse of the sampled one signal passed through said mark-space selector, said run-length gate trigger pulse generating means including a first gate (46) for passing therethrough said one of the sampled mark and space signals from said mark-space selector when triggered by said start signal, an error eliminating pulse generator (72, 73, 74) connected to the output of said first gate for producing an error eliminating pulse lasting from the rise of said start signal for a predetermined duration slightly longer than the repetition rate of said clock pulse train, a second gate (75) connected to the output of said first gate for allowing pulses from said first gate to pass therethrough while preventing said pulses from passing therethrough when energized by an error eliminating pulse, and a flip-flop circuit for producing said run-length gate trigger pulse rising at the rise of said start signal and decaying at the rise of the leading pulse of the pulses from said second gate; and a coder (17) for coding the clock pulse passed through said run-length gate.