Optical scanning reader system for loading computers
First Claim
1. A system for loading prerecorded computer programs into a digital computer, the prerecorded computer program being recorded in the form of a plurality of lines of optical bar code, the plurality of lines including at least one Control Array line containing characters identifying the digital computer for which the program is written and defining a format for program data to be transmitted to the digital computer, and the plurality of lines including at least one data line containing additional characters representing the program data, the system comprising an optical bar code reader for providing an output representative of mark and space bars of the optical bar code as relative movement of the reader with respect to the optical bar code occurs, means for converting the output of the optical bar code reader for each line into digital data representative of the characters in that line, means for storing the digital data from the Control Array line as Control Array data, means for storing the digital data from the data line as program data, and means for transmitting the stored program data to the digital computer in a format based upon the stored Control Array data.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Computer programs or other informational data are recorded on one or more sheets in the form of lines of optical bar code. At least one Control Array line containing characters which define the format for the program or other informational data to be transmitted to a specific digital computer is included in the optical bar code in addition to the data lines which contain characters representing the particular program of other information. A bar code scanner scans the lines of optical bar code and converts the scanned marks and spaces of the optical bar code into digital data representative of the characters in the line which is scanned. The digital data from the Control Array line is stored as Control Array data, and the digital data from one or more data lines are stored as program or informational data. After a predetermined amount of program or informational data has been stored, the scanner transmits the stored program or informational data to the digital computer in a format which is based upon the stored Control Array data.
20 Citations
19 Claims
- 1. A system for loading prerecorded computer programs into a digital computer, the prerecorded computer program being recorded in the form of a plurality of lines of optical bar code, the plurality of lines including at least one Control Array line containing characters identifying the digital computer for which the program is written and defining a format for program data to be transmitted to the digital computer, and the plurality of lines including at least one data line containing additional characters representing the program data, the system comprising an optical bar code reader for providing an output representative of mark and space bars of the optical bar code as relative movement of the reader with respect to the optical bar code occurs, means for converting the output of the optical bar code reader for each line into digital data representative of the characters in that line, means for storing the digital data from the Control Array line as Control Array data, means for storing the digital data from the data line as program data, and means for transmitting the stored program data to the digital computer in a format based upon the stored Control Array data.
- 11. A system for loading information into a digital computer comprising carrier means having thereon at least one Control Array line of optical bar code and at least one data line of optical bar code, said Control Array line containing characters representing Control Array data which define a format for information data to be transmitted to the digital computer and said data line containing characters representing the information data to be transmitted, and bar code scanner means for scanning said lines of optical bar code and loading the information represented by the data line into the digital computer, the bar code scanner means including means for providing an output representative of the mark and space bars of each line, means for converting the output for each line into digital data representative of the characters in that line, means for storing the digital data from the Control Array line as the Control Array data and the digital data from the data line as the information data, and means for transmitting the stored information data to the digital computer in the format defined by the stored Control Array data.
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19. A system for loading a computer utilizing a program and Control Array recorded on a carrier in the form of a plurality of lines of optical bar code comprising a Control Array line on the carrier containing a start-of-line character, a function byte which identifies the Control Array line, a machine type byte which identifies a computer for which the program is written, a plurality of bytes which define a format for program data to be transferred to the computers, a checksum byte which, when summed with other bytes of the Control Array line, yields a predetermined value, and an end-of-line character, the carrier further including thereon at least one data line containing a start-of-line character, a line number byte, a function byte which identifies the data line, a plurality of data bytes which represent the program data, a checksum byte which, when summed with other bytes of the data line, yields the predetermined value, and an end-of-line character.
Specification