Reversible counter

Claim 1

AN ELECTRONIC PULSE COUNTER COMPRISING, IN COMBINATION, A STORAGE REGISTER, SAID REGISTER INCLUDING A PLURALITY OF FLIP-FLOPS, EACH OF SAID FLIP-FLOPS HAVING A PAIR OF TERMINALS ASSOCIATED WITH IT, THE CONTROL SIGNAL FOR SETTING SAID FLIP-FLOP BEING APPLIED TO SAID TERMINALS AND THE OUTPUT SIGNAL FROM SAID FLIP-FLOP APPEARING AT SAID TERMINALS; A MATRIX, SAID MATRIX INCLUDING A FIRST SET OF ELECTRICAL CONDUCTORS, EACH OF SAID FIRST CONDUCTORS BEING CONNECTED TO ONE OF SAID TERMINALS OF SAID FLIP-FLOPS IN SAID STORAGE REGISTER, A SECOND SET OF ELECTRICAL CONDUCTORS, A PLURALITY OF DIODES SELECTIVELY INTERCONNECTING SAID FIRST AND SECOND SETS OF CONDUCTORS IN ACCORDANCE WITH A PREDETERMINED CODE, WHEREBY AN ELECTRICAL POTENTIAL APPEARS ON A SELECTED ONE OF SAID SECOND SETS OF CONDUCTORS DIFFERENT THAN THAT APPEARING ON ALL THE OTHER CONDUCTORS OF SAID SECOND SET, DEPENDING UPON THE STATE OF THE FLIP-FLOPS IN SAID REGISTER; A PULSE INPUT TERMINAL FOR CONNECTION TO A SOURCE OF ELECTRICAL PULSES TO BE COUNTED, A PLURALITY OF NORMALLY CLOSED AND GATE CIRCUITS, EACH OF SAID AND CIRCUITS HAVING A PAIR OF INPUT AND A SINGLE OUTPUT TERMINAL, MEANS CONNECTING SAID PULSE INPUT TERMINAL TO A FIRST INPUT TERMINAL OF EACH OF SAID AND GATE CIRCUITS, MEANS CONNECTING SELECTED ONES OF SAID SECOND SET OF CONDUCTORS TO THE SECOND INPUT TERMINAL OF SELECTED ONES OF SAID AND GATES, AND MEANS CONNECTING THE OUTPUT TERMINALS OF SAID AND GATES TO THAT CONDUCTOR OF SAID SECOND SET WHICH IS TO BE SELECTED NEXT FOLLOWING THE CONDUCTOR TO WHICH SAID SECOND INPUT TERMINAL OF SAID AND GATE IS CONNECTED, WHEREBY A PULSE SUPPLIED TO SAID INPUT TERMINAL CAUSES ONE OF SAID SECOND SET OF CONDUCTORS TO BE ENERGIZED THEREBY SETTING SAID FLIPFLOPS IN SAID STORAGE REGISTER AND CAUSING SAID ENERGIZED CONDUCTOR TO REMAIN SELECTED, UNTIL ANOTHER PULSE IS APPLIED TO SAID PULSE INPUT TERMINAL.