DE2259936A1 - METHOD FOR REGROUPING A NUMBER OF CHARACTERS WHEN TRANSITIONING FROM A FIRST CARRIAGE TO A SECOND CARRIAGE AND DEVICE FOR PERFORMING THE METHOD - Google Patents

Description

December 7th, 1972 JFS-9837

ITEK CORPORATION
IO Maguire Road, Lexington, Mass, V. St. A.

Method zxxm regrouping a number of characters in the transition from a first character carrier to a second character carrier and device for carrying out the method.

The invention relates to an optical arrangement for handling a grouping of characters. In particular, relates the invention relates to a method and an apparatus for transferring characters from a first character carrier on which the characters are in a first grouping are arranged on a second character carrier on which the characters are regrouped to form a second grouping that is different from the first grouping.

All computing systems must have some type of output system be provided so that the calculator is in effective

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Can connect with his environment. Of the different The line printer has probably found the most widespread use of the available systems, with that of the computer can print out his answer on paper. In addition to a line printer, however, numerous computer systems have also means for capturing the output on microfilm. Such arrangements are in the professional world as Computer output microfilm recorders or abbreviated referred to as COM devices. Generally they set made up of a cathode ray tube for displaying the output data of the computer and a microfilm camera, which photographs the display directly from the screen of the tube.

It is often desirable to use both a line printer and a COM device so that the output of the computer can be printed on paper for immediate use and at the same time recorded on microfilm, to enable permanent and economical storage. Furthermore, it is generally desirable to have the printed and microfilm recordings in one and the same Format and in this regard most systems do not work to full satisfaction.

The reason for this coat is that most line printers are capable of printing 132 alphanumeric characters in on a single line and therefore it is desirable to use the same 132-character line To be able to record microfilm. Common cathode ray tubes such as those used in entertainment television sets just don't have the resolution to display 132 characters on a single line, and As a result, high-quality, more expensive cathode ray tubes had to be used, which

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have required resolving power. Such tubes but are extremely expensive and some can cost a thousand dollars. Obious television tubes otherwise only cost a few dollars * and if you can use them effectively could use, the cost of COM devices could be significantly reduced. This goal too achieve is the essential object of the invention.

A conventional television tube does not have the resolution that is required to produce 132 alphanumeric To display characters on a single line, however it can display this large number of characters across its entire screen. So if a suitable one optical system can be found that shows the total characters displayed on the screen into a single one long line for recording on the microfilm, the effective resolution of the TV tubes can thereby be increased considerably, so that their use in a COM device becomes possible.

In U.S. Patent 3 56t 128 (Harry L. Hosterman) describes a method that allows two recorded on the screen of a cathode ray tube Lines for recording on film into a single line regroup. However, this system has some significant disadvantages that make it suitable for use in COM devices make unsuitable "At first the optical elements would be very complicated" ground, if you want to try te to combine more than two lines into a single one, and that would also be necessary with a COM device, as in many other use cases. Besides that images on cheap cathode ray tubes are subject to image migration as a result of changes in electricity, Magnetic fields and the like, and in the aforementioned patent

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Such drift, particularly vertical drift, can affect the location of the final composite image seriously affect and prevent two lines of the television screen from being precisely aligned appear on the film.

Generally speaking, what is needed is a system * that a plurality of lines appearing on the screen of a cathode ray tube are depicted, capture and put together into a rather single line that can be seen on film is recorded. The system must be simple, compact, easy to align and unaffected by normal image drift on the television show. Besides that it must produce an image of high optical quality on the film.

According to the invention, many of the aforementioned difficulties are substantially overcome by an optical System has been developed which has a plurality of character lines for recording on film or for others Able to summarize purposes into a single line. According to a preferred embodiment, the system sees an arrangement of mirrors that divide a grouping of characters into sections and then able to regroup these sections into a second grouping. Due to e5.ne slight modification of the Systems, the arrangement can also be used to convert a line into a plurality of lines, but also to make a myriad of different rearrangements in order to obtain the desired grouping of characters.

The system according to the invention is not only much more versatile applicable than the known systems, but it also eliminates numerous difficulties associated with known systems.

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th systems occur. First, it is less sensitive to image drift than many known arrangements, and low drift generally does not affect the alignment of the final image. In addition, the system is very simple and does not become undesirably complicated as the number of lines to be processed increases. It can be assembled and aligned without significant difficulty and requires a very small number of components. After all, it is made up of common, inexpensive parts, making it suitable for a wide variety of image transmission tasks. . \

The drawings show the following:

Fig. 1 is a 'schematically held plan view of the system according to the invention, applied in conjunction with a COM device; '

2 shows the optical components of the inventive System viewed in the direction of arrows 2-2 in Figure 1;

Fig. 3 shows on the screen of the cathode ray tube Fig. 1 displayed image;

Figs. 4 and 5 illustrate the operation of the optical system according to the invention;

Fig. 6 shows the regrouped, aligned image recorded on the film of Fig. 1. can and the possible way of making the picture;

7 shows an arrangement of masks used in connection with

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the optical system can be applied.

In order to facilitate understanding of the invention, should below, primarily in their structure when using a COM device to transmit information from the screen of a cathode ray tube Microfilm. Of course, the application of the invention is not limited to COM devices, Rather, it can be used for information transfer between other information carriers employ a number of purposes. In addition, the term "character" used here is not intended to be understood in this way are restricted to alphanumeric characters as if it were; Rather, “characters” should also be understood to include any other types of symbols or features that need to be regrouped.

Fig. 1 shows a schematic representation of a plan view on a preferred embodiment of the invention, generally designated 1 optical system, used for the transmission of information from a Cathode ray tube on microfilm. Reference numeral 2 denotes the cathode ray tube used in the preferred Embodiment of the invention a commercially available television receiver as already mentioned, the aim of the invention is to be able to to microfilm a line of 132 alphanumeric characters for correspondence the 132-character line of a standard line printer obtain. As also already mentioned, the screen of a conventional television tube does not have what is required Resolving power to this large number of characters display on a single line, but can be displayed without

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display another four lines with 33 characters per line. Therefore, in the COM device (or in the computer) a suitable logic circuit is provided to produce the line printed out by the line printer with 132 characters in a grouping of four lines or sections arranged one behind the other so that you can read them in the usual way from left to right and from top to bottom. One such ad is drawn in Fig. 3, after which the screen 3 of the cathode ray tube four lines 6 to 9, each with 33 alphanumeric Has characters (for the sake of clarity, only eight characters are shown in each line).

In order to accommodate the four lines 6 to 9 on a microfilm as a coherent line in accordance with the line printer, the optical system 1 according to the invention is provided. It can be seen from Fig.l that this system comprises four sets of mirror pairs Ila and 11b, 12a and 12b, 13a and 13b and I ¹ Ja and IHb, which in a suitable manner, as will be described later in connection with FIG. are mounted. The mirrors are arranged in such a way that the image on the screen 3 is captured by each of the mirrors 11a or 12a or 13a or 14a and thrown onto the associated mirror 11b or 12b or 13b or IUb and from there into an objective which belongs to a microfilm camera 17 arrives.

Two of these mirrors form a pair of mirrors and are arranged parallel to one another; they cause ^ how is obvious to the person skilled in the art, a "shift" of the image on the screen of the cathode ray tube (i.e. they move it sideways without rotation, "seen" from the lens 16). It will also be appreciated that the amount of image displacement depends on the distance between the mirrors and the angle between the mirrors and

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depends on the screen of the cathode ray tube. Appropriate adjustment of the four pairs of mirrors can therefore be used generate four images in a relatively simple way, each identical to the picture on the screen of the cathode ray tube, but offset by different amounts are. When practicing the method according to the invention the mirrors are aligned so that the four images are directly next to each other and with each other align, as shown in Fig. 4, where the images 3a, 3b, 3c and 3d can be "seen" by the lens 16.

In order to now convert the original four lines 6 to 8 into a single line for recording on the microfilm 18 (Fig. 1) to summarize, it is only necessary to offset the four images 3a to 3d relative to one another in such a way that that line 6 in picture 3a, line 7 in picture 3b, line in picture 3c and line 9 in picture 3d are all together cursing. This can easily be achieved by rotating each of the four images by an amount equal to sufficient to align the correct line of each image, as indicated in FIG. When that happen is, a line 19 has been formed, which consists of each of the four lines 6 to 9 of the original image 3, the are attached in a suitable arrangement.

The relative displacement of the images 3a to 3d can be done by tilting the television screen 3 by one Achieve a small angle so that the camera lens 16 would "see" the image shown in FIG. At this However, it would be necessary to arrange the camera tilt so that the film 18 would be properly aligned to bring the line 19 on the film as shown in FIG shows.

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JFS 98 37

It is recommended that both the cathode ray tube and camera be in their normal upright position to leave and instead to tilt the mirror assembly 1. This is drawn more clearly in Fig. 2, the one View of the system shown in Fig. 1 when looking in the direction of arrows 2-2, individual parts being omitted for the sake of clarity. the Mirrors are then arranged on a support table 22 with suitably designed legs 23 and. 24 (of which only two are shown) is equipped. The legs are adjustable in length, so that the table 22 and thus the mirrors can be tilted relative to the television screen 3 and the camera (not shown). I've found, that by suitable choice of the tilt angle, which will generally be in the region of 6 °, the lens 16 the camera 17 is presented with an image in the manner of that shown in FIG., In which the line 19 is horizontal aligned for recording on film 18. In this connection it should be mentioned that the in Fig.4 and 5 reproduced images would never actually be presented to the lens 16 if the mirrors were relative to Camera and television screen, as shown in Fig. 2, tilted but that Fig. 6 represents the only image "seen" by the lens. The representations in Fig. and Fig. 5 have only been drawn to explain the invention. Of course, the picture in FIG. 6 agrees exactly corresponds to the image of FIG. 5, except that it is tilted so that the line 19 is horizontal.

Since you only "put the reassembled line 19 on the Film and not the remaining portions shown in Fig. 6 must be a suitable mask arrangement can be provided in order to cut out the remaining parts of the image. The mask arrangement 'can be designed in different ways.

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forms are. The simplest method would be “just one provide a narrow gap in the camera immediately in front of the film plane, so that only line 19 can reach the film can. However, this structure has certain disadvantages in that the slot must be kept very narrow and therefore can be added by dust or other deposits. Therefore, it is preferable to place the masks in the light path between the television screen and the mirror assembly, so that the slots can be kept much wider. The easy way to do this is to have a Mask 26 of Fig. 7 provides four individual slits 26a, 26b, 26c and 26d. The slots are aligned so that only line 6 on television screen 3 reaches mirror 11a, only line 7 reaches mirror 12a, only row 8 reaches mirror 13a and only row 9 reaches mirror 11a. As a result, appears only line 19 on film 18, and the remaining image sections recorded in FIG. 6 for the sake of explanation are covered. The mask 26 is preferably applied in the area indicated schematically in FIG. 1. If it were to be placed closer to the television screen, where the light paths intersect, it would be Adjustment more difficult.

By synchronizing the film movement (the perpendicular and upward with respect to the plane of FIG. 1 and in FIG Direction 21 in Fig. 6 would run) with the electron beam in the television set, successive lines record on the film in the same order as they will be printed out by the line printer. Synchronization circuits for this purpose are generally known from the prior art and do not need any details here to be specified. . ,. .

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Returning again to Fig. 6, it should be noted that that the independent rotation of the images 3a to 3d to form the line 19 leads to parts of certain Characters, for example the "I" and the "Q", protrude beyond the picture area in which it was originally contained. However, it has been found that these signs are for the lens 16 are still fully visible and can be recorded on the film. The reason for this Appearance can be seen in the fact that what the lens actually "sees" a multitude of Images that have their origin in a point behind the mirrors. The mirrors 11b to IHb can be used as the optical equivalents of four openings that allow light from each image to reach the lens. Since each of these mirrors 11b to IUb acts as an opening, At least parts of this lens receive light from all images and in this way all images become "seen" by the lens .. However, due to vignetting, these parts of the characters do not appear as bright as other parts of the characters, but they are distinct and sufficiently bright to produce a good image on film. The phenomenon is known per se to those skilled in the art, and a more detailed discussion of the associated optical properties Theory is not required here. It may be enough to say that a clear image of the line 19 in its entirety can be created on the microfilm 18 spawned.

Aligning the mirrors so that the images are aligned as shown is important, but not particularly difficult. The basic requirement in the preferred Embodiment is that the mirror pairs 11a-11b, 12a - 12b etc. are parallel to each other, so that they work as displacement mirrors that move the images sideways shift. * By correct choice of the angle between the mirror pairs and the television screen, you can see the amount

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the lateral offset easily. The mirrors also need to be aligned so that they are away from others Do not disturb reflected light rays. This can easily be achieved with a few attempts. Quite in general, the pairs of mirrors can be used in many different ways, both symmetrical and asymmetrical, can be adjusted to achieve the same final image shown in FIG.

In particular, an optical system has been described above in which four lines filled with characters and that regroups these lines into a single line for recording on film. By minor Changes can also be made to conversions of other types. It is also not required under of the invention to work with mirrors. In some forms of application, prisms or fiber optic bundles can also be used use to produce multiple images.

The invention is in connection with a COM device for the transmission of information from a television screen has been described on film, but can be used for many other applications; for example it can also be used for video broadcasting purposes. In such a system, the invention appropriate optical systems can be used, for example, to divide a long line of characters into four lines, recorded by a conventional television camera and transmitted over great distances to a television receiver ger can be fed. Another optical system can then be used on the receiver to convert the four lines back to the initial state with one line for recording.

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Claims (1)

ti Pat entan sayings Method for transferring characters from a first character carrier, on which the characters are arranged in a first grouping, to a second character carrier, on which the characters are regrouped to form a second arrangement,
characterized in that. (a) divides the first array of characters into a plurality of sections and a plurality of Images (3a, 3b, 3c, 3d) is made of these sections, each of these images at least contains one of these sections, (b) the majority? Images (3a, 3b, 3c, 3d) in one Row is arranged one behind the other, (c) the plurality of images (3a, 3b, 3c, 3d) are offset relative to one another, portions of each these images on the second carrier are aligned with said second grouping, and (d) placing said aligned portions in the second array on the second carrier will. 2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that images are generated in a number that of the number of the sections into which the first grouping is divided, each of these images at least contains a different one of these sections. 3098 25/103 3 if 3. The method according to claim 2, characterized in that that the arranging step includes placing said plurality of images (3a, 3b, 3c, 3d) in the Order from the image containing at least the first of the plurality of sections to the image, containing at least the last of the plurality of sections. Method according to one of Claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the first grouping is a plurality of lines filled with characters (6, 7, 8, 9) and that the sections mentioned contain the individual Contains lines of the first grouping. 5. The method according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that the relocating step means that each image out of the plurality of images (3, 3b, 3c, 3d) is rotated independently to sections from each of said images to align with the second grouping. 6. The method according to any one of claims IbLs 5, characterized characterized in that the second grouping represents a single line (19) which can be formed by juxtaposing said plurality of lines (6, 7, 8, 9) of the first grouping to form said single line originated. 7. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized 309825/1033 BADORiGINAL characterized in that each image of the plurality of images (3a, 3b, 3c, 3d) is a different line from the Contains a plurality of lines (6, 7, 8, 9). Optical arrangement for regrouping a first grouping of characters into a second grouping, characterized by (a) an optical device for optically dividing the first grouping of characters into a plurality of sections and for producing a plurality of successive images (3a, 3b, 3c _v 3d) of these sections, each of these images containing at least one of these sections, and (b) a device for offsetting these consecutive images (3a, 3b, 3c, 3d) relative to one another, to assemble sections from each of these images into the second grouping. Arrangement according to Claim 8, characterized in that the optical device has a first plurality of reflective Organs (11a, 12a, 13a, 14a) to which said plurality of sections is mapped, and a second plurality of reflective members (11b, 12b, 13b, lib) which reflect those of the first Organs reflected images and the said Arranges a plurality of images (3a, 3b, 3c, 3d) one behind the other. 10. The arrangement according to claim 9, characterized by a - 15 - 30982B / 1033 BADOBiGINAL Device (22, 23, 24) for the assembly of the first and second reflective members such that said plurality of images on said second reflective Organs (11b, 12b, 13b, IHb) one behind the other from the image with the first section of the said A plurality of sections up to the image with the last section of said plurality of sections is shown will. 11. Arrangement according to one of claims 8 to 10, characterized in that said means for displacing comprises means for independently rotating each of said overlapping images. 12. The arrangement according to claim 11, characterized in that this means for rotating means for the. Holding the first and second organs at an angle to the first grouping. 13, arrangement according to one of claims 10 to 12, characterized by masks (26a, 26b, 26c, 26d) that shield all sections of the first image except the first, on the second picture all sections except the second, and so on for all pictures of the plurality of images (3a, 3b, 3c, 3d). IH. Arrangement according to one of Claims 8 to 13, characterized - 16 - BATH 309825/1033 / ft characterized in that the first grouping comprises a plurality of lines filled with characters (6, 7, 8, 9) and that the second grouping contains the individual lines filled with characters (6, 7, 8, 9) of the first Contains grouping to a different number of rows lined up. 15. Arrangement according to one of claims 9 to 14, characterized in that the optical device groups from Spiegelrvent. 16. Arrangement according to claim 15, characterized in that that the plurality of mirror groups pairs of mirrors standing parallel to one another for receiving an image the first number of lines filled with characters and to offset this picture by different amounts contains sideways. 17, arrangement according to claim 16, characterized in that that the means for displacing means means for supporting said plurality of mirror groups at an angle from the first number of lines. BAD ORIGINAL 3 0 9 8 2 5/1033 Blank page