John F Weber

US Patent:

39381307, Feb 10, 1976

Filed:

Aug 6, 1973

Appl. No.:

5/385919

Inventors:

Gerald O. Burnham - Los Angeles CA
John W. Weber - Inglewood CA

Assignee:

Hughes Aircraft Company - Culver City CA

International Classification:

G06F 314

US Classification:

340324A

Abstract:

A direction coded digital stroke generator that allows arbitrary symbols to be defined in real time and in which these symbols consist of substantially an unlimited number of discrete segments. When interfaced with a memory source such as a digital computer the stroke generator provides highly flexible symbol generation capability at a relatively low cost in terms of memory requirements and with a relatively high writing speed. Each line segment is defined by four binary bits with three bits defining direction and one bit determining blanking. The three direction bits are decoded to control X and Y up/down counters orienting the segment in one of eight directions. A selectable segment length feature is provided allowing development of segments of selected lengths so that the symbols have a selected size and degree of detail.