871,163. Automatic character recognition. STANDARD TELEPHONES & CABLES Ltd. Jan. 2, 1959 [Jan. 9, 1958], No. 182/59. Addition to 871,162. Class 106 (1). In apparatus for automatically reading characters where signal patterns representing the characters are stored in a two-dimensional shift register and are displaced to bring the pattern into registration with a predetermined position for identification as described in the parent Specification, the characters are scanned in columns (or lines) and the signals derived are stored in turn in an end column (or the top or bottom line) of the shift register and shifted into the register as succeeding columns (or lines) of the character are scanned. Series of photo-cells.-In the form of Fig. 1 the record 11 is moved past a sensing station where the characters are illuminated by a lamp 13 and their reflected image is dissected by a column of photo-cells 16. Other forms of sensing may be used. The photo-cell outputs are connected through amplifiers O1-O9, Fig. 2, to the left-hand column of storage elements 51-59 of the shifting register 18. When a character comes into the sensing station a signal appears on one or more of the photo-cells and this is passed through Or gate 19 to a generator G1 and via inverter 20 to And gate 21. On receiving this signal the generator G1 produces x (horizontal) shift pulses to allow the photo-cell signals to pass into the first column of storage elements 51-59. Subsequent shift pulses displace these signals to the second, third, fourth and fifth columns in turn and read the photo-cell signals at spaced instants into the first column. By this means the whole character pattern is stored in the shifting register. When the character has passed the sensing station no photo-cell in column 16 produces a signal; there is no output from gate 19 and generator G1 therefore produces no further x shift pulses. Vertical centring.-The absence of output from gate 19 between characters causes inverter 20 to enable gate 21 controlling the generator G2 of y (vertical) shift pulses to adjust the vertical position of the character pattern. The outputs of each element of the five top lines of the register are connected to five Or gates 22-26 each of which must deliver an output when the character is in the uppermost position touching the top line. The gate outputs are connected to an And gate 27 which gives a signal only when all five lines have signals. The character pattern is displaced upwardly until this is so, the y generator G2 being enabled by a signal from gate 21 when a zero from gate 27 causes inverter 28 to produce an output. When the character pattern is positioned with parts in each of the five top lines, the signal from gate 27 stops the generator. Five lines are used for this purpose instead of merely the top line in case a part of a character in the line above is giving a signal in the uppermost line, which, where only the top line was used would produce an indication that the character was in the required uppermost position. Centring on an unwanted character in the line above or below is prevented by a circuit 29 having a counter 30 which counts the number of vertical steps in each centring operation and stores this number in store 33 until the next. Comparator 31 compares each count with the previous one and permits the generator G2 to stop only if the new number differs by less than a predetermined value from the previous one. Single photo-cell.-In the form of Fig. 3, the record 11 is moved past the sensing station as before but is sensed by a beam of light from C.R.T. 34 moving in vertical scans, reflected light being received in a photo-cell 36. A ring counter 38, Fig. 4, is stepped by one of two generators G3, G4 and the stages are connected through resistors W and diodes D to provide the scanning voltage for C.R.T. 34. The counter stages are also connected to step a switch 37 through a corresponding cycle of connections, the photo-cell signals being applied to the switch and distributed to storage elements 10-90 in turn. The occurrence of a " black " signal in any storage element, indicating that a character has arrived in the sensing station, causes Or gate 39 to deliver a signal to And gate 41 the other input of which comes from the " O " stage of counter 38. The signals arriving in serial form from photo-cell 36 corresponding to sample points on a vertical scan through the character are thereby staticized in store 10-90 and at the end of the scan shifted into the first column of the shifting register 18. The output from Or gate 39 also determines which generator G3 or G4 shall be used to step the counter. While no signals are being produced by the photo-cell, i.e. before the character arrives, the high-speed generator G3 is used to give a very rapid scan. As soon as a signal is given the output from gate 39 switches generator G3 off through inverter 40 and switches the slow-speed generator G4 into operation.