Patent GB-918690-A (GB)
Title: Improvements relating to type composition
Inventor: HIGONNET RENE ALPHONSE EUGENE
IPC: G06K9/74
Filed: 1959-10-13
Abstract: 918,690. Photographic type-composing apparatus. INTERNATIONAL PHOTON CORPORATION. Jan. 12, 1961 [Oct. 13, 1959], No. 34704/59. Class 98 (1). [Also in Groups XIX and XX] In a photographic type-composing machine the characters are selected by a reading device (see Group XIX) which reads a line of text, e.g. typewritten, by forming an optical image of each character in turn on a set of master characters, there being means to detect coincidence and to record the identity of the corresponding master. The text to be read is on a roll of paper 2 (Fig. 1), the frame 8 being apertured to expose a complete horizontal line at each vertical step of the tape. Lamps 10 illuminate the text and a lens 20 mounted on a carriage 22 projects the image of the line on to a beam-splitting device 38 so that two images are formed on master character stencils 12, 14. The carriage 22 is movable by a cam drum 162 (Fig. 10) so that an image of each character sweeps the whole length of the stencils. The stencil 12 bears the master characters opaque on a transparent background and in stencil 14 they are reversed. A photocell 40 is mounted behind each master character, those associated with stencil 12 being arranged to give a signal when the light is a maximum while those of stencil 14 give a signal when the light is cut off. A gate 48 responds when these signals coincide to give a recognition signal. Other arrangements to avoid confusion of symbols wholly included in other symbols are also described. The codes representing the identified characters are then entered in a magnetic core matrix temporary store for subsequent transfer to a more permanent store, e.g. a perforated tape. Alternatively a magnetic drum 132 (Fig. 10) may be coupled to the shaft 164 driving the cam 162 and used as a temporary store if recording of character widths in addition to identity is required. To free the drum for recording is formation for succeeding lines this drum is read to produce a magnetic or perforated paper tape record. In Fig. 17 the reading unit is represented by line reader 190 and this is connected by separate leads for each character via the core matrix temporary store 190 to an amplifier 194. The amplifier outputs are fed to another core matrix store 232 at times controlled by the line reader through distributer 234 for subsequent use in controlling the photographic part of the machine. Inter. word spaces are counted by counter 204 via lead 206. The amplified identity codes for the detected characters are passed to a character width unit of the kind described in Specification 807,752 which allocates the width appropriate for the type style used. The character widths are added in a line length accumulator 198 and the amount by which this is unfilled at the end of the line represents the line deficit, i.e. the space to be distributed for justification. At the end of the sweeping of the line by the line reader, a pulse is applied over lead 228 opening gate 212 to allow pulses from a pulse generator to allow the justification interword increment to be calculated by dividing the line deficit by the number of interwords, this division calculation continuing and increasing the quotient set up on the switch 52 until the pulses which are fed also to the accumulator cause it to overflow and close gate 212 while simultaneously opening gate 220 to apply the line remainder to the switch PR. The justification calculation may be effected during the line reading movement of the carriage 22 and photographic recording performed during the return movement or the calculation may be performed during this return movement followed by photographic recording. The photographic recording section includes a sweeping mechanism 256 comprising a moving carriage as shown in Figs. 1 and 10. The characters stored in core matrix 232 are transferred to the magnetic drum associated with the sweeping mechanism by read-out distributer 236 controlled by a five-stage binary counter 240 driven by a clock 252 controlled by the sweeping mechanism 256, and the characters are then appropriately recorded on lightsensitive film. When an interword space code is detected, the justification width is employed by transferring via lead 218 the increment value set on the switch SZ.