HIERARCHICAL SEARCH SYSTEM

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP81-00120R000100020032-0
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 20, 2016
• Document Release Date: December 4, 2003
• Sequence Number: 32
• Content Type: CONT

Approved For Release 2007/09/21 : CIA-RDP81-0012OR000100020032-0
. 3,292,489
United Mates Patent Office Patented Dec. 20, 1966
1 2
after cornmcnccnncnLnftc:annig pf the frame. In this
3,192,489 type of system as in the herrtoiore discussed discrete area
1ilERARCHICAt. SEARCH SYSTEM display system. an associative memory is required. Fur-
Rc}mold it. Julensou. Palo Alto, :mil Robert J. N'ohl, San thet more, the system r?ecessary for decoding and correlat-
Jose, Calif.. a~~i?nuts to I> tcrnatiortal ltsr ness 1ta- ti ing the information derived from the photocell pencil is
alines CorporaGou, \ew York, N.Y., a corporation of corrtPlmemted This complexity gives rise to the need for a
New York compuiem controller such that thi. type of search system
Filed JON 9, 1904. Ser. No. 381,421
6 Claims. (Cl. 88--24) is not conducive to use in the less elaborate information
retrieval systems due to its high cost.
This invention relates to the field of information re- 10 Ideally then, an irfonna:ion storage and retrieval sys-
trieval in general and more particularly to a retrieval tem for use in search-type applications :should allow tnan-
system wl?erein displayed human readable information machine communication during the course of a search.
and uxtcd information associated therewith is utilized in For the sake of accu:.,cy and convenience, this commu-
a 1t:-rarchical or iodici::i systcm? format to-provide a real nication should take place wtitout necessity of keying or
time Titan-machine search method and system. 15 dialing or similar type steps. Moreover, the system
.any '?arious types of information retrieval systems should, to alleviate expense and complexity, not nccessi-
are currently in use. In the usual information retrieval tate an associative mcr:.ory. Finally, the display to the
system, a request is keyed into the system and either a human operator should not he in distorted form. Other
hard copy output of the requested results or a display is desirable characteristics such as operation :n a i,on-com-
presented. The request may he by means of, for instance, 20 puter environment so that it can be utilized in the lest
a numerical descrirtion or may be in the form of key sophisticated storage and search applications is, of ccutse,
word dscriptious. In the latter case, a machine-type desirable.
search for matches is run which necessitates a large scale It :s therefore an object of the present invention to pro-
magnetic or similar type of store along with a search con- vide a novel information storage and retrieval system.
trol processor or computer. - This type of system is oh 25 Another object of the present invention is to provide a
viously quite expensive and is therefore economically new search-type information storage and retrieval sys-
restrictcd to large scale applications. A more funda tern wherein a hierarchicai or indic:.d search may be per-
mental shortcoming. however. is that once a search is formed without the necessity of keying or dialing.
instigated, it is entirely machine controlled such that Another object of the present invention is to provide
there is no indication to the requestor prior to coat- 30 au information storage and retrieval system wherein dis-
pletion of a search as to whether the search is being di- _. played data is presented in a non-distorted form.
reefed toward 'he desired end, i.e., no ratan-machine .Another obicet of the present invention is to provide
communication during the course of the search. an image storage and retries': l -ystem wherein displayed
Other problems with respect generally to keying or dial- data on- ft-- viewing screen has associated therewith an
ing of addresses in any tyre of sys'ern is that in the case 33 optical code which is strobed with an optical sensor to
of a large system, there will he in inconveniently large provide search control signals.
number of digits in the addresses and. additionally, the Another object of .ne present invention is to provide
necessity of keying, in many addresses in the course of a an information storage and retrieva: system wherein i h
search may m: ke this task quite lengthy and irksome, formation is displayed on a viewing screen niong w-
as well as introduce n1'ny errors. 40 an associated optical code which is strobed by means of
Several efforts have been made recently to provide a a light sensitive element. to cause presentation of a series
search type of information storage and ?retrievai system of hierarchicai indexes, the next lower, more detailed level
wherein man-machine cemmunic:.tion during the course being displayed to the uperator as a result of his previous
of a search is employed. One such type employs a trans- choice.
parent conductive screen which is divided into a number 45 The foregoing and other objects, features and advan-
of discrete areas. Information arranged in accordance tares of the invention will he apparent from the follow-
with the format of the screen is projected onto the screen ing more particular description of preferred embodi-
and the search is performed by touching the area of the meats of the invention, ^s illustrated in the accompany-
screen associated %%-!ill the search area of interest. At in!; drawings in which:
first glance. this system appears to be quite simple. Ilow- 50 FIG. 1 is a view of a human operator conducting a
seer, one problem encountered in this type of system is search on a typical cons,-,le of the subject system;
that of complexity with resultant expense. Firstly. an 1-iG. 2 is a Ilown-upsicw of the information presented
associative memory (or cross index) is required. That- on the vicwir, screen of the console of FIG. 1;
is. in this type of system the choice of the area on the FIG. 3 is a generic block diagram of the subject infor-
screen must be associated with the particular disploy from 55 mation storage and retrieval system;
which the choice was made in order to derive an . idress FIG. 4 is a block schematic diagram of one entbodi-
of the next display ?lesired. This association is performed ment of the system wherein data to be searched is stored
in a memory store or an associative memory. Secondly, on reels;
preparation of the displ..ys and later revision thereof is FIG. 5 is another embodiment of the subj. ct systerr. 60 a fairly complicated matter. This complex problem, of wherein consoles are remotely located from a central
course, increases at least in proportion to the size of the store;
system. Final:y, in this ty, _- of cystcm displays of graphic FIG. 6 is a cutaway view of a preferred form of optic-it
material (e.g., maps, eT often roust he artificially dis- scannc - utilized in the subject system;
e such that a referenced area will fall within a sub- o FIG. c ys7 is tem a for dcodindiagram
ar code
the self-clocking optical e
area a of the display. 65 tr
Another type of search-type information storage and utilized in the subject system; and
retrieval system is that utilized in conjunction with a FIG. 8 is a view showing a preferred form of self-clock-
cathode ray tube viewing screen. \\'hen additional in- ing optical coding along with timing signals associated
formation concerning a subject being displayed on the theressh as provided by the system of FIG. 7.
cathode ray tube face is desired, a photocell pencil is i0 Briefly. a system useful in hierarchical searching is pro-
brought into.contact with the display adjacent the sub- vided wherein human readable information such as, for
ject. ?'r"-? ^"^ "^^'^^'? t ;k id,-n!ified by the time lapse instance, descriptive titles each having an associated opti-
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3,202,489
cal code is ;arcseined en a viewing scrccn. Tttc viewing
screen may other be the case of a cathode ray tt.tie or may
be a direct vies.ing screen in association with a projection
system. The operator strobes, by mean: of a light sensor,
the optical code associated with a subject about w'hicfi he
desires further information; The light sensor prologs
a series of pulses ind:catice of the code strohcd, which
pulses are operated on by.a control means which causes
additional information relating to the selected subject to
be presenteJ in the dewing screen. This procedure may.
he repeated any number of times such that a hicr,rrchical
search is performed.
For a more detailed description, refer first to FIG. I
wherein a human operator is shown holding a scanner 1,
which, :s? sill hereinafter be more fully discussed, can
take any of several forms. The human operator in FIG.
1 is shown liciding the face of the scanner I in optical
wsociarion with an optical code 2 which is in juxtaposi-
tion %%;th prime or human readable informationr presented
on the face of the viewing screen 3: The vicwimg screen
3 h contained in a console 4 which is mounted, for pur-
poies of illustration, on the top of a desk 5. The scanner
1 is shown cc.tnected along line 6 to the inside of the
desk foe communicating with the circuitry involved in
the operation of the licrei, after described system.
In FIG. 2 is shown a detailed view of the inforration
presented on the viewing screen 3 of t!.e display means
shown in FIG. 1, This is merely for purposes of illustra-
tion and it will he understood that any number of various
types of searches can be performed with the novel in-
formation storage and retrieval system herein presented.
In FIG. 2, for example, is shown. a map of the United
gates with certain cities set forth with an optical code
associated with each. This display could have been the
result of a previous choice by the human operator. It
will be noted that the map of the United States, or for
that matter any other material presented on the display, is
not distorted by artificial boundaries such as in a con-
ductive touch plate viewing screen system. In perform=
ing a search, the operator will, by means of the scanner 1.
strobe an optical code associated with a category of the
data presented on the viewing screen 3 about which the
operator desires further information, Thus, for instance,
in the example shown in FIG. 2. the operator, if he de-
sires information at another detail level, concerning, first,
San Francisco, he would strobe the code associated with
the human readable words "San Francisco." Then, rely-
ing or, the information associated with the map of the
United States appearing on the right-hand portion of the
viewing screen 3, he would then select further detailed
inforrna'-ion at another detail level concerning San Fran-
cisco. Thus, two or more search criteria may be presented
simultaneously or. the viewing screen 3. The choices
resulting from the operator's perusal of the viewing screen
would then cause, as will hereinafter be more fully de-
scribed, a new source of inforration to be presented on
the viewing screen 3 which information results from the
particular choice made by the operator. This sequence
continues as the operator searches through and finally
obtains be sought information.
Refer next to FIG. 3 wherein is shown a general block
diagram of the subject information etorage and retrieval
system. In FIG. 3 is shown a display block 7 electrically
connected along lire 8 to a junction which is electrically
connected both along line 9 to an optoclectrical scanner
10 and along line 12 to a display generator 11. The dis-
play 7 may comprise, as heretofore mentioned, the face
of a cathode ray tube or it may be a direct viewing screen
or any other similar type of display means. Likewise,
the scanning means 10 may comprise the hereinafter de-
scribed light gun or may comprise any other type of
human-held optical sensing element. Moreover, the dis-
play generator 11 itself may comprise a direct optical
projection system from, for instance, a. roll of film or
4
employin optical scanners, coaxial transwissio,t and
cathode ray tube display. Additionally, the displ:r' gen-
crator ma\' CUmprn a computer system utilized in
conjunction wiilt a cathode ray tube display wherein the
generation of the display is under control of the computer.
. defer next to FIG. 4 wherein is shown. an embodiment
ef' the subject in"cntion in which information hearing
records along with related optical codes. are stored on a
phcstocrarhic film 13 which is sound about two reefs 14
and 15 and user an idler pulley 16. 7 he reels 14 and
15 and ir!lcr 16 are mounted for rotational movement by
means of bearing-shaft arrangements or :i'ik? other suitable
means (not shown). Two lenses 17 a.+d 18 acting in
conjunction with a light source 19 function to project se-
lected cnhrrged portions of the roll of film 13 onto the.
Lice of a mirror 20 which reflects the enlarged image
from the film onto the rear side of a viewing screen 21
contained in the console 22. A film driver 24 is ntechan-
ically connected by suita hie means 23 to effect rotation
of reels 14 and 15. The filth driver 24, which may be a
conventional reversible motor or st-Pping motor is con-
trolled along line 25 by a record control means or con-
troller'26 which in turn is receptive along 'inc 27 of search
control signals from a decoder or signal interpret means
28. The signal interpret means 28 in turn is electrically
connected along line 29 to a scanner 30.
In operation the film 13 is initially advanced to a start-
ing position by the film driver 24 under control of the
controller 26. The starting or initial position may be
actuated from the scanner by an operator or may be con-
trolled by some other means. When the first or initial
frame of the fi:m 13 is projected onto the rear of thc'view
ing screen 21, the human operator 32 ' iews the informa-
tion and selects a portion of the projected information
about which he desires further information, as heretofore
discussed. The operator then places the pistol over the
coded information adjacent the data and squeezes the trig-
ger which causes the scanner 30 to scan the optical coda
thereby furnishing a series of pulses along line 29 to the
decoder or signal interpret means 23 which furnishes
search control signals to the controller 26 to cause the
film driver to cause the reels 14 and 15 to rotate such
that the desired information is brought into alignment
with the lenses 17 and 18 and be projected onto the rear
of the viewing screen 21. This sequence is repeated any
number of times until the search is completed.
With respect to the viewing screen, several factors had
to be taken into consideration :n the selection of the
particular type of material utilized. For instance, human
fatigue might result from the use oTccft:rht types of light
output. Likewise. certain materials might not present an
image which could be viewed in ordinary office-type
ambient illumination without fatigue resulting from ex-
tended viewing periods. The material must also he a low
gain, quite diffuse screen so that images appearing thereon
can be viewed off axis without too severe light fall off.
However, these requirements are generally antagonistic to
an optimized machine reading systems here, for instance,
one would prefc. an image optimally focused for that
part of the spectrum whcre the sensitivity of an associ-
ated optical sensor is peaked and removal of remoter parts
of the spectrum (which are out of focus) by means of
filters.
Conventional ground glass or coated glass screens im-
part r. granular structure to the image which is unpleasant
and reduces the resolution capabilities of the image.
Furthermore, the sharp edges of the diffusing surface
cause prismatic effects which are disturbing. Since both
of these difficulties also may affect the operation of the
optical scanning system, other materials were considered
One possib'.e solution is to utilize a composite screen
of ground glass with a sheet of no-glare glass between
the observer and the ground glass. The ro-glare glass
is a coated glass w`rich is used in picture frames to
strips of 1..-'t.+,1 ~ cans -7K rinse" the re-lected Blare of room liehts. Its coating
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is much smoother than the ground gig ss and irttroda:cs
no prismatic problem.; ncr noticeable granularity. The
rceluaioa of light caused by the rm-glare ,lass was
negligible, yet it r,?6uced the apparent trr.inularity and
prismatic edgers of the ground class. T':t coated sur-
faces were p'aced in contact, nunimizing the diffusion of
the image.
It will, of Course. he understood that the above de-
scribed ccmhin. tion is not critical to the present inven-
tion since a conventional ground glass screen will suffice.
Refer next to FIG. 5 which is another embodiment of
the subject invention. In FIG. 5 are shown a plurality
of remotely located .. Inlay terminals designate goncra lj?
ate 3z. racf5 felt ding a c: +hode r: s- tube type clewing
s~rcrn 31 .end r curitr ij p is cf. JS. The ifr;r1 j terminal
33 includes a pistol optical scanm.r 36.clectrically con-
nected along line 37 to a coaxial cable 38 which is also
connected to the display console itself. The coaxial
cable is connected by means of a transmission link 39
to a central store 40 which comprises, for rurpo,es of
illustration, a store of film strips 41 containing informa-
tion airanged, as heretofore discussed, with an optical
code associated with each of the data portions. The
coaxial cable '42 from the transmission :ink 39 is eon-
nectct to a decoder or signal interpret means 43 which
in turn is electrically connected along line 44 to a record
or strip select drive 45 which in turn selectively ?.c jthdraws
chips from the large chip store 46 and positions them in
scanning alignment with a cathode ray tube 47. A lens
48 is provided for focu,+ing the light output of the
cathode ray tube 47 onto the selected film strip 41s. A
photodetector 49 is placed on the opposite side of the
selected film strip 41s in optical assoc;ation with the
light from the scanner 47 passing therethrough. The
photodetector is electrically connected along cline 50 to
the coaxial cable 42. The cathode ray tub_ is electrically
connected by line 51 to the coaxial cable 42 along and
through the transmission link 39 by means of the coaxial
cable 38 to the (Us play units 33 for sweep s 'nchroniza-
tion. The particular structure of the strip select drive
will not hereir be set forth since there are any number
of ways of selecting strips and bringing them into optical
association with a cathode ray tube scanning system
responsive to signals received from a unit such as the
signal interpret means 43. which acts as a decoder to pro-
vide, as hereinafter described, control address signals
unique to each of the strip. 41 in the store. One such
means is shown and describti _t in an application entitled
"Direct Access Photo Memory," Serial No. 786,406, filed
January 12, 1959, now U.S, Patent No. 3,149,529 as-
signed to the same assignee as Cie present application.
Additionally, while the before and following descrip-
tion is of a single store 46 and single cathode ray tube
Central store, it will he understood, as illustrated in the
drawings, that a system wherein a plurality of stores
and associated cathode ray tubes is contemplated.
In operation, an operator initiates a mode of opera-
tion by means of the control panel to position a selected
portion of a selected chip on the optical axis 48a. This
may be by depressing a key to select a general search
area or may be a "start" button or may be by keying
in an address. The operator then peruses the displayed
information on the face of the cathode ray tube 34 and
chooses a selected portion of the information for more
detailed analysis. The pistol scanner 36 is then placed
over the optical code, "fired." as will hereinafter be dc-
scribed in more detail. and the code pulses from the pistol
appearing on line 37 serially transmitted along the coaxial
cable 38 through the transmission link 39 to the de-
coder or signal interpret means 43. The coded signals
are resolved in the signal interpret means 43 and search
control signals appear on line 44 which are utilized to
cause the record control means 45 to selectively position
a desired strip 41 with a selected pertion of information
--? --?-- ?r,t,iation with the cathode ray tube scanner
47. Ties video information from the photoLle lector 49
is then transmitted back aver the coaxial cables through
the transmission lint.; to the display for further operator I
perusal and searching, as heretofore discussed.
In the test system aciually built, he first type of scanner
that was investit. red was that of a pencil tyre scanner
which was handheld by the human operator and moved
over the associated optical code. A sfit wa, provid:d in
front of the photocell contained in the scanner to help
It) reduce- reflections to provide a usable sicual. However,
due to the Ii;ht loswwcs in the optical system and resolu-
tion rroMcros, the signal w?a, so reduced that it was
neceasary to open the slits such that the :signal-to-noise
ratio of the derived signal was intolerable. Other
la sources of error includcd problems in maintaining a
proper azimuthal relationship between tl.e slits and the
line of code and those of yawing of the pencil from the
.:DM{ gal to the screen which lead to v clocity, ntisregistra-
tion and focusing problems. The above problems lead
20 to the choice of the confie?tration shown in FIG. 6.
In FIG. 6 is shown a hand-he'd pj_;;cl 52 for utilization
as an optical scanner or transducer in the subject system.
From the human en ineering. standpoint, a pistol con-
figuration provides a natural means for obtaining accurate
t5 training on a target. The trigger 53 serves as the initiator
of the mechanical sweep. the barrel 54 is used for
sighting or aiming, while the handle 54a serves as a
simple vertical reference and facilitates steadiness while
triggering. In FIG. 6, a lens 55-photocell 56 arrange-
30 meat is mounted on scanning arm 57 which is pivoted
about shaft 58. Shaft 58 is rotatably secured in the barrel
54, Application of pressure to the trigger 53 causes the
linkage 59 to pivot about shaft 60 and to contact cam
ledge 61. Continued pressure on the trigger 53 causes
35 the linkage 59 acting upon the cam ledge. 61 to cause
the scanning arm 57 to swing to its leftmost scanning
position, As the linkage 59 moves forward, it is caused
by the surface 62_ to steadily move away from contact
with the contact cant ledge 61. At some point, the
40 linkage 59 is disengaged from the contact cant ledge 61
and the scanning aria 57 is caused to fly back to its
rightmost position by action of the spring 63 which is
compressed by a face (not shown) on the cam 64 as the
scanning arm is moved to its leftmost position. When
45 the trigger 53 is released, a spring 65 causes the linkage
59 to move back into position to engage the contact cam
ledge 61 upon reapplication of pressure to the trigger
53, Depressing of the trigger also results in the lower
portion of linkage 59 contacting the actuator 66 of a
50 microswitch 67 mounted in the handle 54a. This switch
is used to gate on the photocell 55 only when the linkage
59 is disengaged from the contact cam ledge 61. \Vhen
this occurs the link;-,,c 59 causes the actuator to be de-
pressed to its rearmst position which initiates the micro-
55 switch thereby eating out the output of the photocell as
the arm 57 sweeps from left to right.
There are, of course, many methods for obtaining a
mechanical scanning motion. In this application, con-
sistency of scan, that is. speed from scan to scan, as well
80 as within scans, is highly desirable even though, as here-
inafter described, a self-clocking code is provided. Ap-
proaches involving rotating mirrors and moving slitted
belts in front of the photocell (similar to a focal plane
shutter) were considered and dropped in favor of a simple
35 swinging beam.
The transducer employed to convert the light signals to
electrical signals b been referred to as a photocell.
While any member if the large family of light sensitive
devices may conceivably he employed, the requirements
70 of this particular application dictated a careful choice.
A consideration of spectral match with the human eye
as well as high scr,sisivity pointed unmistakeably to a
photomultiplier robe. However. a photomultiplier was
not chosen becaus, of its fragility and voltage require-
75 merits. That is, since the scanner is to be hand-held,
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8
ii wo ld be subject to dre tine and other ntechanrrtl in diffcrentiators 73 and 74, which prevents d.-ifs and ne-
abuse. Furthermore. it would '.cent undesirable to held Fates the need of setting D.C. levels, they appear as illus-
a device in the hand that requi,cs close to 1,000 volts to trat^.d at S,1 and Sc. When these signals are rectified
operate. . by diodes 75 and 76 1.10' arc tnixcd. the pctiitivc pulses
While any number of rhoiose.nsitive devices may he nrrrkrir . the bel.nning of each bit apl?earat junction 77,
entrlayed successfully in the subject system. it was found as illustrated at FIG. Sf.
'that the HLolfnran 1-7.1\7 U2 Photo-Voltaic Detcctor.C.ar+ule In the left path of FIG. 7 the signal is fed to one
worl.ed (Juite' admirably. 13crn silicon. ass nark current in- ,it of a bistable circuit 78 which will he reset b) the
is very low (ataximuin of 10 micto-amps with a one positive ptilses?at the beginning of each hit so that it will
volt negative bias at 55? C.) The dark correctaiso Its alwaiys,-home stale whcn a negative pulse occurs. This
displays a lower temperature eoetlicicat than :could a may bz seen at FIG. S;; w?hi::h shows the output front
direct g crnianittm unit. The rcsponse tint,- is less Limit . the :bistable circuit 78. When this signal is di1Tcrene?. tea
10 nti+:ro-sccamds which is faster than required in most in ciflcrcr.tiator 79.rectifi:d in d.odc. 82 and fed. with the
applications. signal aj aring at jurcticn 77, into an AND gate 80
One of the greatest problems in perfecting a-a?orl nhle 18 there will N.: ;,n outpt:t pulse at the end of every "1- bit
system in accordance with tier !.ubject inscniiur. was that only. This ?infennation, in conjunction with the tim-
of the choice of a ;roper binary co.le. The code to func- lag pt.bes avai;,hlc at junction 77, is readily interpretable
lion adequate) in t,,. subject ")stem should be as contract in terms of "l's" and If desired, a rositivc indica-
as possible Icavin the maximum space for the text of tion of a "0" may he oh?tained by feeding the "1's" out-
the document. yet sLtying within reasonable reso!ution? TO put as an inhihit signal to a .."ate 81 which also receives
requirements. Also. tlteie s'-toult! he case, of typing and the titaing pulses from j.nction 77. 7Th; a, in the absence
reproduction and it should he readable by a single photo- of a "l," this gate 81 will have an output indicating a
cell. Likewise. it should have low sensitivity to scanning "0"
speed variations, xcticail and azimuthal alignment errors, The output from the signal interpret meat s of FIG. 7
change in enlarct.mcnt ratio. and to film density, light 25 may he fed into any conventional serial input decoder and
intensity and contras. ratio variations. Finally, it should control signals for the appropriate system derived such
lead to a sins;e, self-clocking approach; since the sr?t.,ing that the store retrieves information from the designated
device will be hand-held and so many variables cist address and presents it for transmission to the viewing
in going from the type bar code characters to the screen screen. -
image, the s)5tem should be asynchronous. 30 It will, of course, be understood that while the par-
At the top of FIG. 8 is shown a binary code which was titular code chosen has the desirable feature of being
chosen and possesses all of these necessary characterist;es. self-clocking, other codes could he employed. For in-
The code shown was chosen additionally for the simplicity stance, man-machine readable codes such as the E13B
of the electronics required for discrimination between code utilized by members of the American Bankers As-
"1" and "0." as well as the self-timing feature which it 35 sociation or "Fred" could be utilized. A good descrip-
possesses. The binary number represented is 101100. tion and discussion of these codes is contained in Machine
The last vertical line simply completes the box. The Reading Data Processing, Oct.-Dec., 1960, pp. 208-223.
plus sign preceding the code is an optical precursor, which Thus, there has been provided an information storage
can aid in aiming and aligning the scanning pistol before and retrieval system which is conducive to hierarchical
the code is "read in." A clear plastic member can he 40 searching by an operator. That is, lie is presented with
attached .o the pistol and engraved with a similar plus a series of hierarchical indexes, the next lower more de-
sign to be aligned with and placed directly oser the sign tailed level being displayed to him as a result of his
on the code. It is only necessary for one of the four choice of a category (rant the previous, more general
vertical "flags' comprising each zero to be read by the display. By these means, what may he called a man-
photocell. The other three are provided to accommodate 45 machine conversation is facilitated. This conversation
for possible vertical misalignment as well as for differences starts when art operator of a console chooses a mode of
in the optical reduction and cnhircemznt ratios employed operation which then actuates the first display in the
in the photographic processing of images. The electrical chosen mode. The conversation is then carried on by the
output of a scan is portrayed at "a" in FIG. 8.. After operator telling the machine his next choice from each
differentiation, this signal is shown at "h." Thus, it can 50 document displayed.
be seen that the po:.itivc pulses provide the self-tinting it will be noted that the heretofore described system
since there is a positive pulse before every bit. The ad- ptcsents a simple method of retrieving a document with-
dress itself may he deduced from the negative pulses. out the necessity of keying in search criteria which might
That is. at the end of every bit, a decision can be made as introduce operator error and additionally would he quite
to which binary character was read.. If a negative pulse 55 a tedious task in the case of a large store wherein a large
has occurred. then a "1" was read, while lack of a nega- number of search data is contained.__,Moreover, in the
Live pulse is interpreted as a "0." heretofore described system. unlike the systems wherein
There are many rossib!c methods for electrically de- information is projected onto a viewing screen which is
coding this signal. A block diagram of a simple asyn- divided into a number of touch sensitive areas, the ad-
chreinous system is shown in FIG. 7. The appearance 00 dresses can be assigned to items being placed in the file
of the electrical signal at various points in the system is in any convenient manner, e.g., chronologicatly.- Thus,
shows. in FIG. 8 by t hc use of the same lettering system. a given document is referenced on a display simply by
After passing through an amplifier 68 and a differcntiator means of its binary coded address. This obviates the
69 (a simple } C network suffices for the latter and can necessity for programtrring the computer for each index
be readily incorporated into the anipli:rcr), the signal 65 type display, for example, to refer a spccitic-subarea of
is divided into two alternate paths. Following the right- the display screen to the given item in the fife. There=
hand path, the signal is rectified by two diodes 70 and 71 fore, preparing additional displays or revising them is
and the positivc pulses ate fed to two inputs. of a bistable reatly simplified. Furthermore, at grca. savings of
circuit 71. By this means, the positive "vices will always be realized. Likewise, displays
change the state of the bistable circuit 72 regardless of 70 me.tory capacity may its initial stn'e and regardless of the sequence of "l's of Graphic material need not he artificially distorted in
and "0's." is may be seen by the output as illt'strated order that a referenced area fall within a keyed-sub-area
at FIG. Sc. :Ire cutout at point c?' is the identical pattern of the di,;,-1 lay. Finally. a large associative memory which
with polarity re?..rscd. derived from the .tol re,- side of is normally associated with the multi-discrete area.projec- -
,. r.,," -rrrn nn,t the nrectously mcntinneC system wherein
the ba Approved For Release 2007/09/21: CIA-RDP81-0012OR000100020032-0
 Approved For Release 2007/09/21 : CIA-RDP81-0012OR000100020032-0
f:.2C 2,-15:)
alight pencil is uthi:ed in tor.ur.e can with a cati:o.L
ray tube sweep. ih not needed.
White the invention has 1111d
described e, ith rcfcre,lce to , prclcrr.J c:c; od::ncrtt
thereof. it will be uitjer.tcod 17',' tha'.e.skilled in the art
that sitrious change. in tlx fortis :tnd .er..;!s ntav be made
therein without departing from the spirit and scop c' of the
invention.
What is claimed is:
1. A system for searching for and di,niaying belched
information, comprising:
a viewing screen.
a plurality of information bearing records,
in?.-ans for dir,piaying the information content of a se-
lccted one of said information bearing records on
said viewing screen,
means for scanning a portion of the information dis-
played on said viewing screen to produce a search
control signal, rind
means responsive to said search control signal to posi- 20
tioa another info ?tnation bearing record in. operable
associatioc) with said displaying means.
2. A system for searching for and displaying selected
information, comprising:
a viewing screen, 25
a plurality of information bearing records, the infor-
mation content of each including at least one cate-
gcry of human readable information,
an optical code associated with.cach category of human
readable information, 30
means for displaying the information content of a
selected one of said information bearing records on
said viewing screen,
means for selectively scanning the optical code portions
of the informatioL displayed on said viewing screen 35
to produce a search control t.ignal, and
means responsive to said search control signal to posi-
tion another information bearing record in operable
association with said displaying means.
3. A system for searching for and displaying selected
information, comprising:
a viewing screen,
a plurality of information bearing records, the infor-
mation content of each including at least one cate-
gory of human readable information,
au optical code associated with each category of human
readable information,
means for displaying tile information content of a se-
lected one of said information bearing records on
said viewing screen,
means for scanning the optical code portion of the in-
formation displayed on said viewing screen about
which further information is desired to produce a
search control signal, and
means responsive to said search contra` ignal to posi-
tion an information bearing record containing said
desired further information in operable association
with said displaying means.
4. A system for searching for and displaying seiec.ed
information, comprising:
a viewing screen,
a p!urattty of it furtnai on be gin r CC gds, the inforrna-
'iYt co;.:err: of each it uui at le.pct one cate_ory.
01'!tUn in rc: d:.h'e info,:t:::ru;)n,
an e pt:e?:t1 Co.'C a:.ocia'ci'vhIt cach caleonry of haoran
a d;s}+!:ry :leans.
mc.:i for .initially p ~it naing a sc:cctcd one of .-:rid
in f,?rr...:ion be.;r'inr. rc o ? in op....ble a,,%,oci:.: ,'s
wi:'t.:o.d di ,lay nlea:. io thereby di:,,-.lay the, con-
icnlti thereof on said tiCtt in" screen,
o;7(o-c!citric::l nn,,-an': for scanning'. the or-t:cal codc par-
1K,:t of the t:;fort:1:ttion' l'?7`.p,:'~.cd about 1V}lie}i
tlt_r inforiui.: ior. is d_S:.re.! o; :-aisle to prodnc an
ct.ctr:c:;I ou(nut inJica.ti\e of t!:c coo': sc::r?net!.
decod.n'r me n' receptive of said electriennl err'. rut. and
record corn: o! means clcctrici lly cohnre cd to said dc-
coding menu operable to r.osiaon an iruorr.:at,on
hearing record coot: iri :g said desired further infer-
mi.tion in operable association with said display
means.
S. Tice system of claim 4 wl:ere'n the opto electrical
means is a hand-held optical pistol scanner of the swinging
beam type.
6. A ?.ystcrn for starching for and displaying selected
information., comp rising:
a viewing screen,
a plurality of information bearing records, the infor-
mation content of each including at least one cate-
gory of human readable. irforrniation,
a self-cloc1cina optical code associated with each cafe-
gory-of fi'unaa readable information,
a display means,
means for iaitiallj positioning a selected one of said
information bearing records in operable association
with said display means to thereby display the con-
tents thereof on said viewing screen,
optical pistol scanner means for scanning the optical
code portion cf the information displayed about
which further information is desired operable to pro-
duce an electrical output indicative of the code
scanned,
asynchronous decoding. means receptive of said elec-
trical output, and
record control means electrically connected to said de-
coding means operable to position an information
bearing record containing said desired further infor-
mation in operable association with said display
means.
Tlefereuces Cited by the Examiner
-UNITED STATES-PATENTS
2,819,707 8/I558 White --_------------ 343-7.3
3,117,491 1/1964 Stern ---------------- 88-24
3,166,636 1/1965 Rutland et al. _-----_- 178-24
NORTON ANSHER, Primary Examiner.
HAROLD H. FLANDERS, Assistant Examiner.
Approved For Release 2007/09/21 : CIA-RDP81-0012OR000100020032-0