IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO DECODING APPARATUS

1,246,848. Selective signalling. D. POSTLETHWAITE. 6 Nov., 1969 [20 Nov., 1968], No. 54972/68. Headings G4H and G4M. Information is set up on 2n switches 5 (n = 5) arranged in 2x groups of 2n-x (x=3), one group of switches is selected by a decoder 14 which receives x bits of an n bit number supplied on lines 9, and selection of one out of the 2n-x in the selected group is performed by a second decoder 28 receiving the remaining (n-x) bits. The arrangement forms part of apparatus for checking football pool entries in which the n-bit numbers represent the identities of matches selected according to a preset plan. The switches 5 are set to positions representing the results of matches, each producing an output on one of 3 lines 16-18 for example. Thus for every group of say 8 matches represented by successive n-bit numbers, corresponding outputs are obtained at 33-35 and are fed to appropriate inputs of a counter which accumulates the score for that group. If, at the end of a group of 8 matches, the counter state corresponds to one of say 5 numbers set up on binary coded switches and representing scores which qualify for a dividend, an accumulator corresponding to that dividend score is advanced by 1. The counter is reset at the end of each group of 8 matches and the states of the accumulators indicate the number of dividends of each type won at the end of the complete plan on the tape.