Data handling system

Claim 1

A DATA TRANSMISSION BUFFER FOR ASYNCHRONOUSLY RECORDING AND REPRODUCING DATA COMPRISING: MEANS FOR RECEIVING A MULTI-BIT CODED SIGNAL REPRESENTATIVE OF THE CHARACTER, A MAGNETIC TAPE HAVING A SINGLE RECORDING CHANNEL, A MAGNETIC TRANSDUCER CONNECTED TO RECEIVE THE MULTI-BIT CODED SIGNAL FROM THE RECEIVING MEANS AND POSITIONED IN RECORDING RELATIONSHIP WITH THE SINGLE CHANNEL ON THE MAGNETIC TAPE, SAID MAGNETIC TRANSDUCER INCLUDING WRITING MEANS DEFINING A PLURALITY OF RECORDING GAPS FOR SIMULATANEOUSLY RECORDING THE BITS OF THE CODED SIGNAL RECEIVED IN PARALLEL LENGTHWISE ON THE SINGLE CHANNEL WHEN THE TAPE IS STATIONARY WITH RESPECT TO THE MAGNETIC TRANSDUCER AND INCLUDING READING MEANS INCLUDING A SINGLE READING GAP DISPOSED IN READING RELATIONSHIP TO THE TAPE CLOSELY ADJACENT ONE OF SAID RECORDING GAPS, MEANS FOR MOVING THE TAPE AT SELECTED SPEEDS RELATIVE TO THE MAGNETIC TRANSDUCER, MEANS FOR RESTRICTING THE MOVEMENT OF THE TAPE DURING THE RECORDING OF THE MULTI-BIT CODED SIGNAL, SAID RESTRICTING MEANS PERMITTING THE TAPE TO MOVE A SIGNAL INCREMENT AT ONE OF SAID SELECTED SPEEDS AFTER EACH RECORDING OF A MULTI-BIT CODED SIGNAL, THE LENGTH OF EACH INCREMENT CORRESPONDING TO THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE READING GAP AND THE FURTHEST RECORDING GAP ON THE MAGNETIC TRANSDUCER SUCH THAT THE SIGNALS RECORDED PASS THE READING GAP TO BE REPRODUCED DURING THE INCREMENTAL MOVEMENT, WHEREBY THE PARALLEL BITS REPRESENTING A CHARACTER ARE RECORDED IN SERIAL FASHION ON THE TAPE TO BE LATER REPRODUCED SERIALLY AT DIFFERENT ONES OF THE SELECTED SPEEDS.