Financial calculator capable of displaying graphic representation

Claim 2

A financial calculator capable of handling a financial transaction having a plurality of financial data items as components thereof with each financial data item being related to a transfer, of at least one type, to or from a party occurring at a particular time, each financial data item including a monetary amount and an indicator representing in which direction said transferred money flow to or from said party, comprising: keyboard means for generating input signals corresponding to components of said financial transaction; processing means responsive to said input signals for producing therefrom said plurality of financial data, and including memory means for storing said input signals; graphic display means for producing a visual image based on a set of orthogonal coordinate axes, one of said coordinate axes having points along it usable for representing, respectively, an occurrence of one of said plurality of financial data items, and the other of said coordinate axes representing values of said monetary amount; image producing means coupled to said processing means and including means responsive to at least one of (a) a financial item being related to a transfer of said at least one type, (b) said monetary amount, and (c) said direction of flow of said plurality of financial data items for, respectively, generating a plurality of graphic patterns associated with a designated one of said points along the one coordinate axis; display control means coupled to said image producing means for driving said graphic display means to simultaneously display, in association with designated points of said one coordinate axis, a plurality of said graphic patterns corresponding, respectively, to said plurality of financial data items produced by said processing means; and wherein each of the plurality of graphic patterns generated by said image producing means is oriented relative to said coordinate axes for representing said direction of flow.

Claim 3

The financial calculator of claim 1, wherein said image producing means comprises memory means for storing a plurality of predetermined patterns, with a length of such patterns extending along the other of said coordinate axes corresponding, respectively, to said monetary amount.

Claim 4

The financial calculator of claim 2, wherein a shape of each of the stored plurality of predetermined patterns corresponds to a type of monetary transfer.

Claim 5

The financial calculator of claim 3, wherein an orientation relative to said one of the coordinate axes of each of the stored plurality of predetermined patterns corresponds to said direction of flow.

Claim 6

A financial calculator capable of handling a financial transaction having a plurality of financial data items as components thereof with each financial data item being related to a transfer, of at least one type, to or from a party occurring at a particular time, each financial data item including a monetary amount and an indicator representing in which direction said transferred money flow to or from said party, comprising: keyboard means for generating input signals corresponding to components of said financial transaction; processing means responsive to said input signals for producing therefrom said plurality of financial data, and including memory means for storing said input signals; graphic display means for producing a visual image based on a set of orthogonal coordinate axes, one of said coordinate axes having points along it usable for representing, respectively, an occurrence of one of said plurality of financial data items, and the other of said coordinate axes representing values of said monetary amount; image producing means coupled to said processing means and including means responsive to at least one of (a) a financial item being related to a transfer of said at least one type, (b) said monetary amount, and (c) said direction of flow of said plurality of financial data items for, respectively, generating a plurality of graphic patterns associated with a designated one of said points along the one coordinate axis; display control means coupled to said image producing means for driving said graphic display means to simultaneously display, in association with designated points of said one coordinate axis, a plurality of said graphic patterns corresponding, respectively, to said plurality of financial data items produced by said processing means; and wherein said processing means comprises means for calculating at least one of the plurality of financial data items from said input signals.

Claim 7

A financial calculator capable of handling a financial transaction having a plurality of financial data items as components thereof with each financial data item being related to a transfer, of at least one type, to or from a party occurring at a particular time, each financial data item including a monetary amount and an indicator representing in which direction said transferred money flow to or from said party, comprising: keyboard means for generating input signals corresponding to components of said financial transaction; processing means responsive to said input signals for producing therefrom said plurality of financial data, and including memory means for storing said input signals; graphic display means for producing a visual image based on a set of orthogonal coordinate axes, one of said coordinate axes having points along it usable for representing, respectively, an occurrence of one of said plurality of financial data items, and the other of said coordinate axes representing values of said monetary amount; image producing means coupled to said processing means and including means responsive to at least one of (a) a financial item being related to a transfer of said at least one type, (b) said monetary amount, and (c) said direction of flow of said plurality of financial data items for, respectively, generating a plurality of graphic patterns associated with a designated one of said points along the one coordinate axis; display control means coupled to said image producing means for driving said graphic display means to simultaneously display, in association with designated points of said one coordinate axis, a plurality of said graphic patterns corresponding, respectively, to said plurality of financial data items produced by said processing means; and wherein said processing means comprises means for calculating at least one of the plurality of financial data items from said input signals.

Claim 8

A financial calculator capable of handling a financial transaction having a plurality of financial data items as components thereof with each financial data item being related to a transfer, of at least one type, to or from a party occurring at a particular time, each financial data item including a monetary amount and an indicator representing in which direction said transferred money flows to or from said party, comprising: keyboard means for generating input signals corresponding to components of said financial transaction; processing means responsive to said input signals for producing therefrom said plurality of financial data, and including memory means for storing said input signals; graphic display means for producing a visual image based on a set of orthogonal coordinate axes, one of said coordinate axes having points along it usable for representing, respectively, an occurrence of one of said plurality of financial data items, and the other of said coordinate axes representing values of said monetary amount; image producing means coupled to said processing means and including means responsive to at least one of (a) a financial item being related to a transfer of said at least one type, (b) said monetary amount, and (c) said direction of flow of said plurality of financial data items for, respectively, generating a plurality of graphic patterns associated with a designated one of said points along the one coordinate axis; display control means coupled to said image producing means for driving said graphic display means to simultaneously display, in association with designated points of said one coordinate axis, a plurality of said graphic patterns corresponding, respectively, to said plurality of financial data items produced by said processing means; and wherein said processing means comprises means for determining from the input signals the respective designated points along said one coordinate axis with which the displayed graphic patterns are associated.

Claim 9

A financial calculator capable of handling a financial transaction having a plurality of financial data items as components thereof with each financial data item being related to a transfer, of at least one type, to or from a party occurring at a particular time, each financial data item including a monetary amount and an indicator representing in which direction said transferred money flows to or from said party, comprising: keyboard means for generating input signals corresponding to components of said financial transaction; processing means responsive to said input signals for producing therefrom said plurality of financial data, and including memory means for storing said input signals; graphic display means for producing a visual image based on a set of orthogonal coordinate axes, one of said coordinate axes having points along it usable for representing, respectively, an occurrence of one of said plurality of financial data items, and the other of said coordinate axes representing values of said monetary amount; image producing means coupled to said processing means and including means responsive to at least one of (a) a financial item being related to a transfer of said at least one type, (b) said monetary amount, and (c) said direction of flow of said plurality of financial data items for, respectively, generating a plurality of graphic patterns associated with a designated one of said points along the one coordinate axis; display control means coupled to said image producing means for driving said graphic display means to simultaneously display, in association with designated points of said one coordinate axis, a plurality of said graphic patterns corresponding, respectively, to said plurality of financial data items produced by said processing means; and wherein said processing means comprises means for determining from the input signals the respective designated points along said one coordinate axis with which the displayed graphic patterns are associated.

Claim 10

The financial calculator of claim 6, wherein said determining means calculates a spacing between adjacent graphic patterns along said one coordinate axis by dividing the number of available points by the number of graphic patterns to be displayed.

Claim 11

A financial calculator capable of handling a financial transaction having a plurality of financial data items as components thereof with each financial data item being related to a transfer, of at least one type, to or from a party occurring at a particular time, each financial data item including a monetary amount and an indicator representing in which direction said transferred money flows to or from said party, comprising: keyboard means for generating input signals corresponding to components of said financial transaction; processing means responsive to said input signals for producing therefrom said plurality of financial data, and including memory means for storing said input signals; graphic display means for producing a visual image based on a set of orthogonal coordinate axes, one of said coordinate axes having points along it usable for representing, respectively, an occurrence of one of said plurality of financial data items, and the other of said coordinate axes representing values of said monetary amount; image producing means coupled to said processing means and including means responsive to at least one of (a) a financial item being related to a transfer of said at least one type, (b) said monetary amount, and (c) said direction of flow of said plurality of financial data items, for, respectively, generating a plurality of graphic patterns associated with a designated one of said points along the one coordinate axis; display control means coupled to said image producing means for driving said graphic display means to simultaneously display, in association with designated points of said one coordinate axis, a plurality of said graphic patterns corresponding, respectively, to said plurality of financial data items produced by said processing means; and wherein said processing means comprises means for comparing the monetary amounts of said plurality of financial data items with each other to rank them in order of magnitude.

Claim 12

A financial calculator capable of handling a financial transaction having a plurality of financial data items as components thereof with each financial data item being related to a transfer, of at least one type, to or from a party occurring at a particular time, each financial data item including a monetary amount and an indicator representing in which direction said transferred money flows to or from said party, comprising: keyboard means for generating input signals corresponding to components of said financial transaction; processing means responsive to said input signals for producing therefrom said plurality of financial data, and including memory means for storing said input signals; graphic display means for producing a visual image based on a set of orthogonal coordinate axes, one of said coordinate axes having points along it usable for representing, respectively, an occurrence of one of said plurality of financial data items, and the other of said coordinate axes representing values of said monetary amount; image producing means coupled to said processing means and including means responsive to at least one of (a) a financial item being related to a transfer of said at least one type, (b) said monetary amount, and (c) said direction of flow of said plurality of financial data items, for, respectively, generating a plurality of graphic patterns associated with a designated one of said points along the one coordinate axis; display control means coupled to said image producing means for driving said graphic display means to simultaneously display, in association with designated points of said one coordinate axis, a plurality of said graphic patterns corresponding, respectively, to said plurality of financial data items produced by said processing means; and wherein said processing means comprises means for comparing the monetary amounts of said plurality of financial data items with each other to rank them in order of magnitude.

Claim 13

The financial calculator of claim 8, wherein said image producing means comprises memory means for storing a plurality of predetermined patterns having different lengths for extending parallel to the other of said coordinate axes, and said image producing means is coupled to said memory means and to said processing means for relating the ranks, in order of magnitude of the plurality of financial data items, with said different lengths, respectively.

Claim 14

A financial calculator capable of handling a financial transaction having a plurality of financial data items as components thereof with each financial data item being related to a transfer, of at least one type, to or from a party occurring at a particular time, each financial data item including a monetary amount and an indicator representing in which direction said transferred money flows to or from said party, comprising: keyboard means for generating input signals corresponding to components of said financial transaction; processing means responsive to said input signals for producing therefrom said plurality of financial data, and including memory means for storing said input signals; graphic display means for producing a visual image based on a set of orthogonal coordinate axes, one of said coordinate axes having points along it usable for representing, respectively, an occurrence of one of said plurality of financial data items, and the other of said coordinate axes representing values of said monetary amount; image producing means coupled to said processing means and including means responsive to at least one of (a) a financial item being related to a transfer of said at least one type, (b) said monetary amount, and (c) said direction of flow of said plurality of financial data items for, respectively, generating a plurality of graphic patterns associated with a designated one of said points along the one coordinate axis; display control means coupled to said image producing means for driving said graphic display means to simultaneously display, in association with designated points of said one coordinate axis, a plurality of said graphic patterns corresponding, respectively, to said plurality of financial data items produced by said processing means; and wherein said image producing means comprises means for inhibiting the display of several graphic patterns when the number of graphic patterns to be displayed exceeds an upper limit.

Claim 15

A financial calculator capable of handling a financial transaction having a plurality of financial data items as components thereof with each financial data item being related to a transfer, of at least one type, to or from a party occurring at a particular time, each financial data item including a monetary amount and an indicator representing in which direction said transferred money flows to or from said party, comprising: keyboard means for generating input signals corresponding to components of said financial transaction; processing means responsive to said input signals for producing therefrom said plurality of financial data, and including memory means for storing said input signals; graphic display means for producing a visual image based on a set of orthogonal coordinate axes, one of said coordinate axes having points along it usable for representing, respectively, an occurrence of one of said plurality of financial data items, and the other of said coordinate axes representing values of said monetary amount; image producing means coupled to said processing means and including means responsive to at least one of (a) a financial item being related to a transfer of said at least one type, (b) said monetary amount, and (c) said direction of flow of said plurality of financial data items for, respectively, generating a plurality of graphic patterns associated with a designated one of said points along the one coordinate axis; display control means coupled to said image producing means for driving said graphic display means to simultaneously display, in association with designated points of said one coordinate axis, a plurality of said graphic patterns corresponding, respectively, to said plurality of financial data items produced by said processing means; and wherein said image producing means comprises means for inhibiting the display of several graphic patterns when the number of graphic patterns to be displayed exceeds an upper limit.

Claim 16

The financial calculator of claim 10, wherein said display control means includes means coupled to the inhibiting means for displaying at least at one particular point along said one coordinate axis a selected symbol when the display of several graphic patterns is inhibited.

Claim 17

A financial calculator capable of handling a financial transaction having a plurality of financial data items as components thereof with each financial data item being related to a transfer, of at least one type, to or from a party occurring at a particular time, each financial data item including a monetary amount and an indicator representing in which direction said transferred money flows to or from said party, comprising: keyboard means for generating input signals corresponding to components of said financial transaction; processing means responsive to said input signals for producing therefrom said plurality of financial data, and including memory means for storing said input signals; graphic display means for producing a visual image based on a set of orthogonal coordinate axes, one of said coordinate axes having points along it usable for representing, respectively, an occurrence of one of said plurality of financial data items, and the other of said coordinate axes representing values of said monetary amount; image producing means coupled to said processing means and including means responsive to at least one of (a) a financial item being related to a transfer of said at least one type, (b) said monetary amount, and (c) said direction of flow of said plurality of financial data items for, respectively, generating a plurality of graphic patterns associated with a designated one of said points along the one coordinate axis; display control means coupled to said image producing means for driving said graphic display means to simultaneously display, in association with designated points of said one coordinate axis, a plurality of said graphic patterns corresponding, respectively, to said plurality of financial data items produced by said processing means; and means for providing an indicating signal when a graphic pattern displayed in accordance with a particular designated point along said one coordinate axis indicates the occurrence of more than one transaction data item represented by such graphic pattern, and said display control means being responsive to said indicating signal for displaying an indicator in association with said particular designated point.

Claim 18

A financial calculator capable of handling a financial transaction having a plurality of financial data items as components thereof with each financial data item being related to a transfer, of at least one type, to or from a party occurring at a particular time, each financial data item including a monetary amount and an indicator representing in which direction said transferred money flows to or from said party, comprising: keyboard means for generating input signals corresponding to components of said financial transaction; processing means responsive to said input signals for producing therefrom said plurality of financial data, and including memory means for storing said input signals; graphic display means for producing a visual image based on a set of orthogonal coordinate axes, one of said coordinate axes having points along it usable for representing, respectively, an occurrence of one of said plurality of financial data items, and the other of said coordinate axes representing values of said monetary amount; image producing means coupled to said processing means and including means responsive to at least one of (a) a financial item being related to a transfer of said at least one type, (b) said monetary amount, and (c) said direction of flow of said plurality of financial data items for, respectively, generating a plurality of graphic patterns associated with a designated one of said points along the one coordinate axis; display control means coupled to said image producing means for driving said graphic display means to simultaneously display, in association with designated points of said one coordinate axis, a plurality of said graphic patterns corresponding, respectively, to said plurality of financial data items produced by said processing means; and means for providing an indicating signal when a graphic pattern displayed in accordance with a particular designated point along said one coordinate axis indicates the occurrence of more than one transaction data item represented by such graphic pattern, and said display control means being responsive to said indicating signal for displaying an indicator in association with said particular designated point.

Claim 19

A financial calculator capable of handling a financial transaction having a plurality of financial data items as components thereof with each financial data item being related to a transfer, of at least one type, to or from a party occurring at a particular time, each financial data item including a monetary amount and an indicator representing in which direction said transferred money flows to or from said party, comprising: keyboard means for generating input signals corresponding to components of said financial transaction; processing means responsive to said input signals for producing therefrom said plurality of financial data, and including memory means for storing said input signals; graphic display means for producing a visual image based on a set of orthogonal coordinate axes, one of said coordinate axes having points along it usable for representing, respectively, an occurrence of one of said plurality of financial data items, and the other of said coordinate axes representing values of said monetary amount; image producing means coupled to said processing means and including means responsive to at least one of (a) a financial item being related to a transfer of said at least one type, (b) said monetary amount, and (c) said direction of flow of said plurality of financial data items for, respectively, generating a plurality of graphic patterns associated with a designated one of said points along the one coordinate axis; display control means coupled to said image producing means for driving said graphic display means to simultaneously display, in association with designated points of said one coordinate axis, a plurality of said graphic patterns corresponding, respectively, to said plurality of financial data items produced by said processing means; and wherein said image producing means is selectively activatable to generate one of two sets of graphic patterns, and means to switch from one of said two sets to the other when the number of graphic patterns to be displayed exceeds an upper limit.

Claim 20

A financial calculator capable of handling a financial transaction having a plurality of financial data items as components thereof with each financial data item being related to a transfer, of at least one type, to or from a party occurring at a particular time, each financial data item including a monetary amount and an indicator representing in which direction said transferred money flows to or from said party, comprising: keyboard means for generating input signals corresponding to components of said financial transaction; processing means responsive to said input signals for producing therefrom said plurality of financial data, and including memory means for storing said input signals; graphic display means for producing a visual image based on a set of orthogonal coordinate axes, one of said coordinate axes having points along it usable for representing, respectively, an occurrence of one of said plurality of financial data items, and the other of said coordinate axes representing values of said monetary amount; image producing means coupled to said processing means and including means responsive to at least one of (a) a financial item being related to a transfer of said at least one type, (b) said monetary amount, and (c) said direction of flow of said plurality of financial data items for, respectively, generating a plurality of graphic patterns associated with a designated one of said points along the one coordinate axis; display control means coupled to said image producing means for driving said graphic display means to simultaneously display, in association with designated points of said one coordinate axis, a plurality of said graphic patterns corresponding, respectively, to said plurality of financial data items produced by said processing means; and wherein said image producing means is selectively activatable to generate one of two sets of graphic patterns, and means to switch from one of said two sets to the other when the number of graphic patterns to be displayed exceeds an upper limit.

Claim 21

A financial calculator capable of handling a financial transaction having a plurality of financial data items as components thereof with each financial data item being related to a transfer, of at least one type, to or from a party occurring at a particular time, each financial data item including a monetary amount and an indicator representing in which direction said transferred money flows to or from said party, comprising: keyboard means for generating input signals corresponding to components of said financial transaction; processing means responsive to said input signals for producing therefrom said plurality of financial data, and including memory means for storing said input signals; graphic display means for producing a visual image based on a set of orthogonal coordinate axes, one of said coordinate axes having points along it usable for representing, respectively, an occurrence of one of said plurality of financial data items, and the other of said coordinate axes representing values of said monetary amount; image producing means coupled to said processing means and including means responsive to at least one of (a) a financial item being related to a transfer of said at least one type, (b) said monetary amount, and (c) said direction of flow of said plurality of financial data items for, respectively, generating a plurality of graphic patterns associated with a designated one of said points along the one coordinate axis; display control means coupled to said image producing means for driving said graphic display means to simultaneously display, in association with designated points of said one coordinate axis, a plurality of said graphic patterns corresponding, respectively, to said plurality of financial data items produced by said processing means; and wherein said processing means includes a memory means for storing the plurality of financial transaction data items, and said display control means comprises: a readout key as part of said keyboard means; means for retrieving, every time said readout key is operated, the plurality of financial data items in the order in which the respective plurality of graphic patterns are displayed along said one axis; means for displaying the retrieved numerical values, respectively, of said plurality of financial data items; and means for flickering each of the displayed graphic patterns as its corresponding numerical value is displayed.

Claim 22

A financial calculator capable of handling a financial transaction having a plurality of financial data items as components thereof with each financial data item being related to a transfer, of at least one type, to or from a party occurring at a particular time, each financial data item including a monetary amount and an indicator representing in which direction said transferred money flows to or from said party, comprising: keyboard means for generating input signals corresponding to components of said financial transaction; processing means responsive to said input signals for producing therefrom said plurality of financial data, and including memory means for storing said input signals; graphic display means for producing a visual image based on a set of orthogonal coordinate axes, one of said coordinate axes having points along it usable for representing, respectively, an occurrence of one of said plurality of financial data items, and the other of said coordinate axes representing values of said monetary amount; image producing means coupled to said processing means and including means responsive to at least one of (a) a financial item being related to a transfer of said at least one type, (b) said monetary amount, and (c) said direction of flow of said plurality of financial data items for, respectively, generating a plurality of graphic patterns associated with a designated one of said points along the one coordinate axis; display control means coupled to said image producing means for driving said graphic display means to simultaneously display, in association with designated points of said one coordinate axis, a plurality of said graphic patterns corresponding, respectively, to said plurality of financial data items produced by said processing means; and wherein said processing means includes a memory means for storing the plurality of financial transaction data items, and said display control means comprises: a readout key as part of said keyboard means; means for retrieving, every time said readout key is operated, the plurality of financial data items in the order in which the respective plurality of graphic patterns are displayed along said one axis; means for displaying the retrieved numerical values, respectively, of said plurality of financial data items; and means for flickering each of the displayed graphic patterns as its corresponding numerical value is displayed.

Claim 23

A graphic representation apparatus having a matrix type display screen, comprising: means for providing a plurality of numbers having, respectively, given characteristics of (a) magnitude, (b) sign, and (c) with at least one of said plurality of numbers representing data of a type different from the other numbers; image producing means for generating a plurality of selected graphic patterns each of which having its shape, size and orientation relative to the matrix of the display screen based, respectively, on at least one of said characteristics; conversion means coupled to said providing means and to said image producing means to output a plurality of selected graphic patterns corresponding, respectively, to said plurality of numbers; and display control means coupled to said conversion means for driving said display screen to simultaneously display said plurality of selected graphic patterns; wherein said image producing means comprises memory means for storing a plurality of predetermined patterns, said plurality of displayed patterns being spaced from each other at intervals along one line of said matrix, with a length of such patterns corresponding, respectively, to said monetary amount and extending along a line orthogonal to said one line.

Claim 24

A graphic representation apparatus having a matrix type display screen, comprising: means for providing a plurality of numbers having, respectively, given characteristics of (a) magnitude, (b) sign, and (c) with at least one of said plurality of numbers representing data of a type different from the other numbers; image producing means for generating a plurality of selected graphic patterns each of which having its shape, size and orientation relative to the matrix of the display screen based, respectively, on at least one of said characteristics; conversion means coupled to said providing means and to said image producing means to output a plurality of selected graphic patterns corresponding, respectively, to said plurality of numbers; and display control means coupled to said conversion means for driving said display screen to simultaneously display said plurality of selected graphic patterns; wherein said image producing means comprises memory means for storing a plurality of predetermined patterns, said plurality of displayed patterns being spaced from each other at intervals along one line of said matrix, with a length of such patterns corresponding, respectively, to said monetary amount and extending along a line orthogonal to said one line.

Claim 25

The graphic representation apparatus of claim 15, wherein said providing means comprises a data storing means.

Claim 26

The graphic representation apparatus of claim 16, wherein each of the plurality of graphic patterns is oriented relative to said matrix for representing said direction of flow.

Claim 27

The graphic representation apparatus of claim 15, wherein a shape of each of the stored plurality of predetermined patterns corresponds to a type of monetary transfer.

Claim 28

The graphic representation apparatus of claim 18, wherein an orientation relative to said one line of the matrix of each of the stored plurality of predetermined patterns corresponds to said direction of flow.

Claim 29

The graphic representation apparatus of claim 15, wherein said conversion means includes means for determining a display position along said one line of the matrix for each of the simultaneously displayed graphic patterns.

Claim 30

The graphic representation apparatus of claim 20, wherein said determining means calculates a spacing between adjacent displayed graphic patterns by dividing a number of available points along said one line of said matrix by the number of graphic patterns to be displayed.

Claim 31

The graphic representation apparatus of claim 15, wherein said conversion means comprises means for comparing the monetary amounts of said plurality of financial data items with each other to rank them in order of magnitude.

Claim 32

The graphic representation apparatus of claim 22, wherein said plurality of predetermined patterns stored in said memory means have different lengths for extending along respective lines of the matrix orthogonal to one line along which said patterns are arrayed at predetermined intervals, and said image producing means is coupled to said memory means and to said conversion means for relating the ranks, in order of magnitude of the plurality of financial data items, with said different lengths, respectively.

Claim 33

The graphic representation apparatus of claim 15, wherein said image producing means comprises means for inhibiting the display of several graphic patterns when the number of graphic patterns to be displayed exceeds an upper limit.

Claim 34

The graphic representation apparatus of claim 24, wherein said display control means includes means coupled to the inhibiting means for displaying at least at one particular point along said one line a selected symbol when the display of several graphic patterns is inhibited.

Claim 35

The graphic representation apparatus of claim 15, further comprising means for providing an indicating signal when a graphic pattern displayed at a particular point along said one line of the matrix indicates the occurrence of more than one transaction data item represented by such graphic pattern, and said display control means being responsive to said indicating signal for displaying an indicator in association with said particular point.

Claim 36

The graphic representation apparatus of claim 15, wherein said image producing means is selectively activatable to generate one of two sets of graphic patterns, and means to switch from an initially selected one of said two sets to the other when the number of graphic patterns to be displayed exceeds an upper limit.

Claim 37

The graphic representation apparatus of claim 15, wherein said conversion means includes a memory means for storing the plurality of numbers, and said display control means comprises: a readout key as part of said keyboard means; means for retrieving, every time said readout key is operated, the plurality of financial data items in the order in which the respective plurality of graphic patterns are displayed spaced from each other at intervals along one line of said matrix; means for displaying the retrieved numerical values, respectively, of said plurality of numbers; and means for flickering each of the displayed numbers as its corresponding numerical value is displayed.

Claim 38

A financial calculator capable of handling a financial transaction having a plurality of financial data items as components thereof with each financial data item being related to a transfer, of at least one type, to or from a party occurring at a particular time, each financial data item including a monetary amount and an indicator representing in which direction said transferred money flows to or from said party, comprising: keyboard means for generating input signals corresponding to components of said financial transaction; processing means responsive to said input signals for producing therefrom said plurality of financial data; graphic display means for producing a visual image based on a set of orthogonal coordinate axes, one of said coordinate axes having points along it usable for representing, respectively, an occurrence of one of said plurality of financial data items, and the other of said coordinate axes representing values of said monetary amount; image producing means coupled to said processing means and including means responsive to at least one of (a) a financial item being related to a transfer of said at least one type, (b) said monetary amount, and (c) said direction of flow of said plurality of financial data items for, respectively, generating a plurality of graphic patterns associated with a designated one of said points along the one coordinate axis; display control means coupled to said image producing means for driving said graphic display means to simultaneously display, in association with designated points of said one coordinate axis, a plurality of said graphic patterns corresponding, respectively, to said plurality of financial data items produced by said processing means; wherein each of the plurality of graphic patterns generated by said image producing means is oriented relative to said coordinate axes for representing said direction of flow; and wherein said image producing means comprises memory means for storing a plurality of predetermined patterns, with a length of such patterns extending along the other of said coordinate axes corresponding, respectively, to said monetary amount.

Claim 39

A financial calculator capable of handling a financial transaction having a plurality of financial data items as components thereof with each financial data item being related to a transfer, of at least one type, to or from a party occurring at a particular time, each financial data item including a monetary amount and an indicator representing in which direction said transferred money flows to or from said party, comprising: keyboard means for generating input signals corresponding to components of said financial transaction; processing means responsive to said input signals for producing therefrom said plurality of financial data; graphic display means for producing a visual image based on a set of orthogonal coordinate axes, one of said coordinate axes having points along it usable for representing, respectively, an occurrence of one of said plurality of financial data items, and the other of said coordinate axes representing values of said monetary amount; image producing means coupled to said processing means and including means responsive to at least one of (a) a financial item being related to a transfer of said at least one type, (b) said monetary amount, and (c) said direction of flow of said plurality of financial data items for, respectively, generating a plurality of graphic patterns associated with a designated one of said points along the one coordinate axis; display control means coupled to said image producing means for driving said graphic display means to simultaneously display, in association with designated points of said one coordinate axis, a plurality of said graphic patterns corresponding, respectively, to said plurality of financial data items produced by said processing means; wherein each of the plurality of graphic patterns generated by said image producing means is oriented relative to said coordinate axes for representing said direction of flow; and wherein said image producing means comprises memory means for storing a plurality of predetermined patterns, with a length of such patterns extending along the other of said coordinate axes corresponding, respectively, to said monetary amount.

Claim 40

The financial calculator of claim 29, wherein a shape of each of the stored plurality of predetermined patterns corresponds to a type of monetary transfer.

Claim 41

The financial calculator of claim 30, wherein an orientation relative to said one of the coordinate axes of each of the stored plurality of predetermined patterns corresponds to said direction of flow.

Claim 42

A financial calculator capable of handling a financial transaction having a plurality of financial data items as components thereof with each financial data item being related to a transfer, of at least one type, to or from a party occurring at a particular time, each financial data item including a monetary amount and an indicator representing in which direction said transferred money flows to or from said party, comprising: keyboard means for generating input signals corresponding to components of said financial transaction; processing means responsive to said input signals for producing therefrom said plurality of financial data; graphic display means for producing a visual image based on a set of orthogonal coordinate axes, one of said coordinate axes having points along it usable for representing, respectively, an occurrence of one of said plurality of financial data items, and the other of said coordinate axes representing values of said monetary amount; image producing means coupled to said processing means and including means responsive to at least one of (a) a financial item being related to a transfer of said at least one type, (b) said monetary amount, and (c) said direction of flow of said plurality of financial data items for, respectively, generating a plurality of graphic patterns associated with a designated one of said points along the one coordinate axis; display control means coupled to said image producing means for driving said graphic display means to simultaneously display, in association with designated points of said one coordinate axis, a plurality of said graphic patterns corresponding, respectively, to said plurality of financial data items produced by said processing means; wherein said processing means comprises means for comparing the monetary amounts of said plurality of financial data items with each other to rank them in order of magnitude; and wherein said image producing means comprises memory means for storing a plurality of predetermined patterns having different lengths for extending parallel to the other of said coordinate axes, and said image producing means is coupled to said memory means and to said processing means for relating the ranks, in order of magnitude of the plurality of financial data items, with said different lengths, respectively.

Claim 43

A financial calculator capable of handling a financial transaction having a plurality of financial data items as components thereof with each financial data item being related to a transfer, of at least one type, to or from a party occurring at a particular time, each financial data item including a monetary amount and an indicator representing in which direction said transferred money flows to or from said party, comprising: keyboard means for generating input signals corresponding to components of said financial transaction; processing means responsive to said input signals for producing therefrom said plurality of financial data; graphic display means for producing a visual image based on a set of orthogonal coordinate axes, one of said coordinate axes having points along it usable for representing, respectively, an occurrence of one of said plurality of financial data items, and the other of said coordinate axes representing values of said monetary amount; image producing means coupled to said processing means and including means responsive to at least one of (a) a financial item being related to a transfer of said at least one type, (b) said monetary amount, and (c) said direction of flow of said plurality of financial data items for, respectively, generating a plurality of graphic patterns associated with a designated one of said points along the one coordinate axis; display control means coupled to said image producing means for driving said graphic display means to simultaneously display, in association with designated points of said one coordinate axis, a plurality of said graphic patterns corresponding, respectively, to said plurality of financial data items produced by said processing means; wherein said processing means comprises means for comparing the monetary amounts of said plurality of financial data items with each other to rank them in order of magnitude; and wherein said image producing means comprises memory means for storing a plurality of predetermined patterns having different lengths for extending parallel to the other of said coordinate axes, and said image producing means is coupled to said memory means and to said processing means for relating the ranks, in order of magnitude of the plurality of financial data items, with said different lengths, respectively.

Claim 44

A financial calculator capable of handling a financial transaction having a plurality of financial data items as components thereof with each financial data item being related to a transfer, of at least one type, to or from a party occurring at a particular time, each financial data item including a monetary amount and an indicator representing in which direction said transferred money flows to or from said party, comprising: keyboard means for generating input signals corresponding to components of said financial transaction; processing means responsive to said input signals for producing therefrom said plurality of financial data; graphic display means for producing a visual image based on a set of orthogonal coordinate axes, one of said coordinate axes having points along it usable for representing, respectively, an occurrence of one of said plurality of financial data items, and the other of said coordinate axes representing values of said monetary amount; image producing means coupled to said processing means and including means responsive to at least one of (a) a financial item being related to a transfer of said at least one type, (b) said monetary amount, and (c) said direction of flow of said plurality of financial data items for, respectively, generating a plurality of graphic patterns associated with a designated one of said points along the one coordinate axis; display control means coupled to said image producing means for driving said graphic display means to simultaneously display, in association with designated points of said one coordinate axis, a plurality of said graphic patterns corresponding, respectively, to said plurality of financial data items produced by said processing means; wherein said image producing means comprises means for inhibiting the display of several graphic patterns when the number of graphic patterns to be displayed exceeds an upper limit; and wherein said display control means includes means coupled to the inhibiting means for displaying at least at one particular point along said one coordinate axis a selected symbol when the display of several graphic patterns is inhibited.

Claim 45

A financial calculator capable of handling a financial transaction having a plurality of financial data items as components thereof with each financial data item being related to a transfer, of at least one type, to or from a party occurring at a particular time, each financial data item including a monetary amount and an indicator representing in which direction said transferred money flows to or from said party, comprising: keyboard means for generating input signals corresponding to components of said financial transaction; processing means responsive to said input signals for producing therefrom said plurality of financial data; graphic display means for producing a visual image based on a set of orthogonal coordinate axes, one of said coordinate axes having points along it usable for representing, respectively, an occurrence of one of said plurality of financial data items, and the other of said coordinate axes representing values of said monetary amount; image producing means coupled to said processing means and including means responsive to at least one of (a) a financial item being related to a transfer of said at least one type, (b) said monetary amount, and (c) said direction of flow of said plurality of financial data items for, respectively, generating a plurality of graphic patterns associated with a designated one of said points along the one coordinate axis; display control means coupled to said image producing means for driving said graphic display means to simultaneously display, in association with designated points of said one coordinate axis, a plurality of said graphic patterns corresponding, respectively, to said plurality of financial data items produced by said processing means; wherein said image producing means comprises means for inhibiting the display of several graphic patterns when the number of graphic patterns to be displayed exceeds an upper limit; and wherein said display control means includes means coupled to the inhibiting means for displaying at least at one particular point along said one coordinate axis a selected symbol when the display of several graphic patterns is inhibited.

Claim 46

A financial calculator capable of handling a financial transaction having a plurality of financial data items as components thereof with each financial data item being related to a transfer, of at least one type, to or from a party occurring at a particular time, each financial data item including a monetary amount and an indicator representing in which direction said transferred money flows to or from said party, comprising: keyboard means for generating input signals corresponding to components of said financial transaction; processing means responsive to said input signals for producing therefrom said plurality of financial data; graphic display means for producing a visual image based on a set of orthogonal coordinate axes, one of said coordinate axes having points along it usable for representing, respectively, an occurrence of one of said plurality of financial data items, and the other of said coordinate axes representing values of said monetary amount; image producing means coupled to said processing means and including means responsive to at least one of (a) a financial item being related to a transfer of said at least one type, (b) said monetary amount, and (c) said direction of flow of said plurality of financial data items for, respectively, generating a plurality of graphic patterns associated with a designated one of said points along the one coordinate axis; display control means coupled to said image producing means for driving said graphic display means to simultaneously display, in association with designated points of said one coordinate axis, a plurality of said graphic patterns corresponding, respectively, to said plurality of financial data items produced by said processing means; and further comprising means for providing an indicating signal when a graphic pattern displayed in accordance with a particular designated point along said one coordinate axis indicates the occurrence of more than one transaction data item represented by such graphic pattern, and said display control means being responsive to said indicating signal for displaying an indicator in association with said particular designated point.

Claim 47

A financial calculator capable of handling a financial transaction having a plurality of financial data items as components thereof with each financial data item being related to a transfer, of at least one type, to or from a party occurring at a particular time, each financial data item including a monetary amount and an indicator representing in which direction said transferred money flows to or from said party, comprising: keyboard means for generating input signals corresponding to components of said financial transaction; processing means responsive to said input signals for producing therefrom said plurality of financial data; graphic display means for producing a visual image based on a set of orthogonal coordinate axes, one of said coordinate axes having points along it usable for representing, respectively, an occurrence of one of said plurality of financial data items, and the other of said coordinate axes representing values of said monetary amount; image producing means coupled to said processing means and including means responsive to at least one of (a) a financial item being related to a transfer of said at least one type, (b) said monetary amount, and (c) said direction of flow of said plurality of financial data items for, respectively, generating a plurality of graphic patterns associated with a designated one of said points along the one coordinate axis; display control means coupled to said image producing means for driving said graphic display means to simultaneously display, in association with designated points of said one coordinate axis, a plurality of said graphic patterns corresponding, respectively, to said plurality of financial data items produced by said processing means; and further comprising means for providing an indicating signal when a graphic pattern displayed in accordance with a particular designated point along said one coordinate axis indicates the occurrence of more than one transaction data item represented by such graphic pattern, and said display control means being responsive to said indicating signal for displaying an indicator in association with said particular designated point.

Claim 48

A financial calculator capable of handling a financial transaction having a plurality of financial data items as components thereof with each financial data item being related to a transfer, of at least one type, to or from a party occurring at a particular time, each financial data item including a monetary amount and an indicator representing in which direction said transferred money flows to or from said party, comprising: keyboard means for generating input signals corresponding to components of said financial transaction; processing means responsive to said input signals for producing therefrom said plurality of financial data; graphic display means for producing a visual image based on a set of orthogonal coordinate axes, one of said coordinate axes having points along it usable for representing, respectively, an occurrence of one of said plurality of financial data items, and the other of said coordinate axes representing values of said monetary amount; image producing means coupled to said processing means and including means responsive to at least one of (a) a financial item being related to a transfer of said at least one type, (b) said monetary amount, and (c) said direction of flow of said plurality of financial data items for, respectively, generating a plurality of graphic patterns associated with a designated one of said points along the one coordinate axis; display control means coupled to said image producing means for driving said graphic display means to simultaneously display, in association with designated points of said one coordinate axis, a plurality of said graphic patterns corresponding, respectively, to said plurality of financial data items produced by said processing means; and wherein said image producing means is selectively activatable to generate one of two sets of graphic patterns, and means to switch from one of said two sets to the other when the number of graphic patterns to be displayed exceeds an upper limit.

Claim 49

A financial calculator capable of handling a financial transaction having a plurality of financial data items as components thereof with each financial data item being related to a transfer, of at least one type, to or from a party occurring at a particular time, each financial data item including a monetary amount and an indicator representing in which direction said transferred money flows to or from said party, comprising: keyboard means for generating input signals corresponding to components of said financial transaction; processing means responsive to said input signals for producing therefrom said plurality of financial data; graphic display means for producing a visual image based on a set of orthogonal coordinate axes, one of said coordinate axes having points along it usable for representing, respectively, an occurrence of one of said plurality of financial data items, and the other of said coordinate axes representing values of said monetary amount; image producing means coupled to said processing means and including means responsive to at least one of (a) a financial item being related to a transfer of said at least one type, (b) said monetary amount, and (c) said direction of flow of said plurality of financial data items for, respectively, generating a plurality of graphic patterns associated with a designated one of said points along the one coordinate axis; display control means coupled to said image producing means for driving said graphic display means to simultaneously display, in association with designated points of said one coordinate axis, a plurality of said graphic patterns corresponding, respectively, to said plurality of financial data items produced by said processing means; and wherein said image producing means is selectively activatable to generate one of two sets of graphic patterns, and means to switch from one of said two sets to the other when the number of graphic patterns to be displayed exceeds an upper limit.

Claim 50

A financial calculator capable of handling a financial transaction having a plurality of financial data items as components thereof with each financial data item being related to a transfer, of at least one type, to or from a party occurring at a particular time, each financial data item including a monetary amount and an indicator representing in which direction said transferred money flows to or from said party, comprising: keyboard means for generating input signals corresponding to components of said financial transaction; processing means responsive to said input signals for producing therefrom said plurality of financial data; graphic display means for producing a visual image based on a set of orthogonal coordinate axes, one of said coordinate axes having points along it usable for representing, respectively, an occurrence of one of said plurality of financial data items, and the other of said coordinate axes representing values of said monetary amount; image producing means coupled to said processing means and including means responsive to at least one of (a) a financial item being related to a transfer of said at least one type, (b) said monetary amount, and (c) said direction of flow of said plurality of financial data items for, respectively, generating a plurality of graphic patterns associated with a designated one of said points along the one coordinate axis; display control means coupled to said image producing means for driving said graphic display means to simultaneously display, in association with designated points of said one coordinate axis, a plurality of said graphic patterns corresponding, respectively, to said plurality of financial data items produced by said processing means; wherein said processing means includes a memory means for storing the plurality of financial transaction data items; and wherein said display control means comprises: a readout key as part of said keyboard means; means for retrieving, every time said readout key is operated, the plurality of financial data items in the order in which the respective plurality of graphic patterns are displayed along said one axis; means for displaying the retrieved numerical values, respectively, of said plurality of financial data items; and means for flickering each of the displayed graphic patterns as its corresponding numerical value is displayed.

Claim 51

A financial calculator capable of handling a financial transaction having a plurality of financial data items as components thereof with each financial data item being related to a transfer, of at least one type, to or from a party occurring at a particular time, each financial data item including a monetary amount and an indicator representing in which direction said transferred money flows to or from said party, comprising: keyboard means for generating input signals corresponding to components of said financial transaction; processing means responsive to said input signals for producing therefrom said plurality of financial data; graphic display means for producing a visual image based on a set of orthogonal coordinate axes, one of said coordinate axes having points along it usable for representing, respectively, an occurrence of one of said plurality of financial data items, and the other of said coordinate axes representing values of said monetary amount; image producing means coupled to said processing means and including means responsive to at least one of (a) a financial item being related to a transfer of said at least one type, (b) said monetary amount, and (c) said direction of flow of said plurality of financial data items for, respectively, generating a plurality of graphic patterns associated with a designated one of said points along the one coordinate axis; display control means coupled to said image producing means for driving said graphic display means to simultaneously display, in association with designated points of said one coordinate axis, a plurality of said graphic patterns corresponding, respectively, to said plurality of financial data items produced by said processing means; wherein said processing means includes a memory means for storing the plurality of financial transaction data items; and wherein said display control means comprises: a readout key as part of said keyboard means; means for retrieving, every time said readout key is operated, the plurality of financial data items in the order in which the respective plurality of graphic patterns are displayed along said one axis; means for displaying the retrieved numerical values, respectively, of said plurality of financial data items; and means for flickering each of the displayed graphic patterns as its corresponding numerical value is displayed.

Claim 52

A graphic representation apparatus having a matrix type display screen, comprising: means for providing a plurality of numbers having, respectively, given characteristics of (a) magnitude, (b) sign, and (c) with at least one of said plurality of numbers representing data of a type different from the other numbers; image producing means for generating a plurality of selected graphic patterns each of which having its shape, size and orientation relative to the matrix of the display screen based, respectively, on at least one of said characteristics; conversion means coupled to said providing means and to said image producing means to output a plurality of selected graphic patterns corresponding, respectively, to said plurality of numbers; display control means coupled to said conversion means for driving said display screen to simultaneously display said plurality of selected graphic patterns; wherein said conversion means includes a memory means for storing the plurality of numbers; and wherein said display control means comprises: a readout key as part of said keyboard means; means for retrieving, every time said readout key is operated, the plurality of financial data items in the order in which the respective plurality of graphic patterns are displayed spaced from each other at intervals along one line of said matrix; means for displaying the retrieved numerical values, respectively, of said plurality of numbers; and means for flickering each of the displayed numbers as its corresponding numerical value is displayed.

Claim 53

A graphic representation apparatus having a matrix type display screen, comprising: means for providing a plurality of numbers having, respectively, given characteristics of (a) magnitude, (b) sign, and (c) with at least one of said plurality of numbers representing data of a type different from the other numbers; image producing means for generating a plurality of selected graphic patterns each of which having its shape, size and orientation relative to the matrix of the display screen based, respectively, on at least one of said characteristics; conversion means coupled to said providing means and to said image producing means to output a plurality of selected graphic patterns corresponding, respectively, to said plurality of numbers; display control means coupled to said conversion means for driving said display screen to simultaneously display said plurality of selected graphic patterns; wherein said conversion means includes a memory means for storing the plurality of numbers; and wherein said display control means comprises: a readout key as part of said keyboard means; means for retrieving, every time said readout key is operated, the plurality of financial data items in the order in which the respective plurality of graphic patterns are displayed spaced from each other at intervals along one line of said matrix; means for displaying the retrieved numerical values, respectively, of said plurality of numbers; and means for flickering each of the displayed numbers as its corresponding numerical value is displayed.

Claim 54

A graphic representation apparatus having a matrix type display screen, comprising: means for providing a plurality of numbers having respectively, given characteristics of (a) magnitude, (b) sign, and (c) with at least one of said plurality of numbers representing data of a type different from the other numbers; image producing means for generating a plurality of selected graphic patterns each of which having its shape, size and orientation relative to the matrix of the display screen based, respectively, on at least one of said characteristics; conversion means coupled to said providing means and to said image producing means to output a plurality of selected graphic patterns corresponding, respectively, to said plurality of numbers; display control means coupled to said conversion means for driving said display screen simultaneously display said plurality of selected graphic patterns; wherein said conversion means comprises means for comparing the monetary amounts of said plurality of financial data items with each other to rank them in order of magnitude; and wherein said image producing means comprises memory means for storing a plurality of predetermined patterns having different lengths for extending along respective lines of the matrix orthogonal to one line along which said patterns are arrayed at predetermined intervals, and said image producing means is coupled to said memory means and to said conversion means for relating the ranks, in order of magnitude of the plurality of financial data items, with said different lengths, respectively.

Claim 55

A graphic representation apparatus having a matrix type display screen, comprising: means for providing a plurality of numbers having respectively, given characteristics of (a) magnitude, (b) sign, and (c) with at least one of said plurality of numbers representing data of a type different from the other numbers; image producing means for generating a plurality of selected graphic patterns each of which having its shape, size and orientation relative to the matrix of the display screen based, respectively, on at least one of said characteristics; conversion means coupled to said providing means and to said image producing means to output a plurality of selected graphic patterns corresponding, respectively, to said plurality of numbers; display control means coupled to said conversion means for driving said display screen simultaneously display said plurality of selected graphic patterns; wherein said conversion means comprises means for comparing the monetary amounts of said plurality of financial data items with each other to rank them in order of magnitude; and wherein said image producing means comprises memory means for storing a plurality of predetermined patterns having different lengths for extending along respective lines of the matrix orthogonal to one line along which said patterns are arrayed at predetermined intervals, and said image producing means is coupled to said memory means and to said conversion means for relating the ranks, in order of magnitude of the plurality of financial data items, with said different lengths, respectively.

Claim 56

A graphic representation apparatus having a matrix type display screen, comprising: means for providing a plurality of numbers having, respectively, given characteristics of (a) magnitude, (b) sign, and (c) with at least one of said plurality of numbers representing data of a type different from the other numbers; image producing means for generating a plurality of selected graphic patterns each of which having its shape, size and orientation relative to the matrix of the display screen based, respectively, on at least one of said characteristics; conversion means coupled to said providing means and to said image producing means to output a plurality of selected graphic patterns corresponding, respectively, to said plurality of numbers; display control means coupled to said conversion means for driving said display screen to simultaneously display said plurality of selected graphic patterns; and wherein said image producing means comprises means for inhibiting the display of several graphic patterns when the number of graphic patterns to be displayed exceeds an upper limit.

Claim 57

A graphic representation apparatus having a matrix type display screen, comprising: means for providing a plurality of numbers having, respectively, given characteristics of (a) magnitude, (b) sign, and (c) with at least one of said plurality of numbers representing data of a type different from the other numbers; image producing means for generating a plurality of selected graphic patterns each of which having its shape, size and orientation relative to the matrix of the display screen based, respectively, on at least one of said characteristics; conversion means coupled to said providing means and to said image producing means to output a plurality of selected graphic patterns corresponding, respectively, to said plurality of numbers; display control means coupled to said conversion means for driving said display screen to simultaneously display said plurality of selected graphic patterns; and wherein said image producing means comprises means for inhibiting the display of several graphic patterns when the number of graphic patterns to be displayed exceeds an upper limit.

Claim 58

The graphic representation apparatus of claim 39, wherein said plurality of displayed patterns are spaced from each other at intervals along one line of said matrix, and said display control means includes means coupled to the inhibiting means for displaying at least one particular point along said one line a selected symbol when the display of several graphic patterns is inhibited.

Claim 59

A graphic representation apparatus having a matrix type display screen, comprising: means for providing a plurality of numbers having, respectively, given characteristics of (a) magnitude, (b) sign, and (c) with at least one of said plurality of numbers representing data of a type different from the other numbers; image producing means for generating a plurality of selected graphic patterns each of which having its shape, size and orientation relative to the matrix of the display screen based, respectively, on at least one of said characteristics; conversion means coupled to said providing means and to said image producing means to output a plurality of selected graphic patterns corresponding, respectively, to said plurality of numbers; display control means coupled to said conversion means for driving said display screen to simultaneously display said plurality of selected graphic patterns; wherein said plurality of displayed patterns are spaced from each other at intervals along one line of said matrix; and means for providing an indicating signal when a graphic pattern displayed at a particular point along said one line of the matrix indicates the occurrence of more than one transaction data item represented by such graphic pattern, and said display control means being responsive to said indicating signal for displaying an indicator in association with said particular point.

Claim 60

A graphic representation apparatus having a matrix type display screen, comprising: means for providing a plurality of numbers having, respectively, given characteristics of (a) magnitude, (b) sign, and (c) with at least one of said plurality of numbers representing data of a type different from the other numbers; image producing means for generating a plurality of selected graphic patterns each of which having its shape, size and orientation relative to the matrix of the display screen based, respectively, on at least one of said characteristics; conversion means coupled to said providing means and to said image producing means to output a plurality of selected graphic patterns corresponding, respectively, to said plurality of numbers; display control means coupled to said conversion means for driving said display screen to simultaneously display said plurality of selected graphic patterns; wherein said plurality of displayed patterns are spaced from each other at intervals along one line of said matrix; and means for providing an indicating signal when a graphic pattern displayed at a particular point along said one line of the matrix indicates the occurrence of more than one transaction data item represented by such graphic pattern, and said display control means being responsive to said indicating signal for displaying an indicator in association with said particular point.

Claim 61

A graphic representation apparatus having a matrix type display screen, comprising: means for providing a plurality of numbers having, respectively, given characteristics of (a) magnitude, (b) sign, and (c) with at least one of said plurality of numbers representing data of a type different from the other numbers; image producing means for generating a plurality of selected graphic patterns each of which having its shape, size and orientation relative to the matrix of the display screen based, respectively, on at least one of said characteristics; conversion means coupled to said providing means and to said image producing means to output a plurality of selected graphic patterns corresponding, respectively, to said plurality of numbers; display control means coupled to said conversion means for driving said display screen to simultaneously display said plurality of selected graphic patterns; and wherein said image producing means is selectively activatable to generate one of two sets of graphic patterns, and means to switch from an initially selected one of said two sets to the other when the number of graphic patterns to be displayed exceeds an upper limit.

Claim 62

A graphic representation apparatus having a matrix type display screen, comprising: means for providing a plurality of numbers having, respectively, given characteristics of (a) magnitude, (b) sign, and (c) with at least one of said plurality of numbers representing data of a type different from the other numbers; image producing means for generating a plurality of selected graphic patterns each of which having its shape, size and orientation relative to the matrix of the display screen based, respectively, on at least one of said characteristics; conversion means coupled to said providing means and to said image producing means to output a plurality of selected graphic patterns corresponding, respectively, to said plurality of numbers; display control means coupled to said conversion means for driving said display screen to simultaneously display said plurality of selected graphic patterns; and wherein said image producing means is selectively activatable to generate one of two sets of graphic patterns, and means to switch from an initially selected one of said two sets to the other when the number of graphic patterns to be displayed exceeds an upper limit.