Teleprinter having a type cylinder which is adjustable by means of a stepping motor

Claim 1

A teleprinter for n-step codes comprising: a rotatable type cylinder, a stepping motor connected to said type cylinder for rotating said type cylinder in both directions, a position comparing device comprising a timing disk mutually rotatable with said type cylinder and carrying thereon a plurality of marks, means for reading said marks as said type cylinder is rotated, an n-digit electronic binary counter connected to said reading means for storing the position of said type cylinder, means for receiving an n-digit code corresponding to a symbol to be typed, means for comparing the contents of said receiving means and the contents of said n-digit electronic binary counter and producing a printing pulse in response to coincidence, and means for controlling the rotation of the type carrier over the shortest path for the next circumferential position thereof including a test binary counter interposed between said n-digit electronic binary counter and said comparing means, means for advancing said test binary counter to simulate advancement of said n-digit electronic binary counter to produce a simulated demanded adjustment of said biary counter for the next circumferential position of said type cylinder, a timing counter controlled by said test binary counter for controlling the operation of said stepping motor in the advance direction if half the number of printing positions or less along the circumference of said type cylinder are counted before the end position is reached and in the opposite direction if half the number of printing positions is exceeded.