Analog digital converter

Claim 1

IN AN ANALOG TO DIGITAL CONVERTER: A PLURALITY OF COMPARISON STAGES OF DESCENDING ORDER; EACH OF SAID COMPARISON STAGES COMPRISES A PLURALITY OF COMPARATORS FOR INDICATING A DIFFERENT DIGITAL VALUE IN A PRESELECTED BINARY NUMBER SYSTEM; EACH OF THE COMPARATORS BEING NORMALLY ARRANGED TO BE IN A PRESELECTED INDICATING CONDITION AND TO BE SWITCHABLE TO ANOTHER INDICATING CONDITION WHERREBY THE CONDITION OF ALL THE COMPARATORS DEFINE A SINGLE BINARY DIGIT IN THE NUMBER SYSTEM; EACH OF SAID COMPARATORS INCLUDING: INDIVIDUAL INPUT CIRCUIT MEANS DIRECTLY CONNECTED TO BE RESPONSIVE TO AN OUTPUT INDICATION FROM EACH OF THE HIGHER VALUED COMPARATORS FOR MODIFYING THE INPUT RESPONSE OF EACH OF THE LOWER VALUED COMPARATORS ONLY WHEN AT LEAST ONE OF THE HIGHER VALUED COMPARTORS IS SWITCHED TO SAID ANOTHER INDICATING CONDITION TO PROVIDE THE CORRECT OUTPUT AT EACH OF THE REMAINING COMPARATORS TO CORRECTLY DIGITZE THE APPLIED ANALOG SIGNAL, AND MEANS FOR APPLYING AN ANALOG SIGNAL TO BE DIGITIZED TO EACH OF THE COMPARATORS SUBSTANTIALLY SIMULTANEOUSLY BY MEANS OF SAID INDIVIDUAL INPUT CIRCUITS; A SUMMING CIRCUIT CONNECTED TO BE RESPONSIVE TO THE ANALOG SIGNAL TO BE DIGITIZED; FURTHER CIRCUIT CMEANS CONNECTED TO BE RESPONSIVE TO THE OUTPUT INDICATIONS FROM EACH OF THE COMPARATORS FOR PROVIDING A BINARY WEIGHTED SIGNAL TO THE SUMMARY CIRCUIT CORRESPONDING TO THE BINARY ORDER OF THE COMPARATOR; AND MEANS FOR APPLYING THE PORTION OF THE ANALOG SIGNAL REPRESENTED BY THE OUTPUT OF SAID SUMMARY CIRCUIT TO A LOWER ORDER COMPARISON STAGE TO COMPRISE THE ANALOG SIGNAL TO BE DIGITIZED BY SAID LOWER ORDER COMPARISON STAGE.