Binary magnetic system

712,015. Digital electric calculating-apparatus. GENERAL ELECTRIC CO. July 28, 1952 [July 27, 1951], No. 19014/52. Class 106 (1) A magnetic counter or stepping register comprises a first magnetic circuit with means for altering the magnetization thereof, and a second magnetic circuit responsive to alterations in the magnetization of the first magnetic circuit, the coupling of the two circuits including delay means and means for decoupling in respect of magnetic influences originating in the second circuit and directed towards the first circuit. In an embodiment comprising a ring-of-four counter, pulses are applied on buses 16, 17, to parallel windings on magnetic cores 12 ... 15. Assuming that core 12 is initially in a state of magnetism opposite to that of the other three cores and opposite to the state induced by the input pulses on buses 16, 17, then the first input pulse reverses the state of the core 12 and this causes an output pulse on winding 12c which is delayed in a network or similar delay device 18. After the input pulse is terminated, the output from the delay device reverses the state of the next core 13. Each input pulse steps the counter forward in a similar manner, an output being available after each four steps at terminals 32, 33. Rectifiers 22 ... 29 prevent reverse operation and other undesirable effects. In a second embodiment, Fig. 4 (not shown) the cores are arranged to form a stepping register, data pulses being applied to the input of the L.H. core at times intermediate the stepping pulses on the common buses, The entered data may be held in the register for any length of time and may be read out at a higher speed.