Abstract: The invention is a universal input device for a computer which can be either used as a point-and-click bar code reader, a bar code scanner, mouse, handwriting input, or text scanner, all from an off-screen medium. The universal input device can be used to read both arbitrary user-defined bar code or standardized bar code. In either case, the bar code may symbolize any alphanumeric character or macro instruction for an operating system which is programmed on the computer. The universal input device uses a single line of linear CCD detectors. In the static mode, the single linear array is used as a point-and-click input device for bar code, provided that the optical length of the bar code is equal to or less than the length of the single linear array. In the linear mode, the bar code may exceed the optical length of the single linear array and the array then moved or scanned over the bar code.

Abstract: A computer controlled, fully automatic wok cooking system prepares stir-fried, Chinese dishes according to arbitrarily selected customer orders entered at a point-of-sale computer. The computer integrates the operation of the conveyer, cooking, dispensing, and point of sale entry devices according the order, menu and ingredients, A conveyor belt including a plurality of woks draws the woks through a plurality of cooking stations. Each station is provided with a burner or heating element and a dispensing station controlled by the computer according to the customer enterd order. Oil or condiments are added at a first station by a corresponding plurality of dispensers and at subsequent cooking stations the food ingredients are either stirred or additional spices, food ingredients and condiments added by corresponding dispensers. At the last cooking station, additional food ingredients, such a vegetables, nuts or other ingredients requiring shorter cooking times, are added and cooking is completed.

Abstract: A simple and inexpensive digital circuit is employed for selectively assigning television channels to be output to a plurality of small auxiliary television monitors and a main television monitor. Each of the television monitors is digitally tuneable. After the original channel numbers are selected by the user for display on the main monitor and on each of the auxiliary monitors, the user may designate a new channel to be displayed on the main monitor. The new channel may be one of the channels presently being viewed on one of the auxiliary monitors or may be one of the channels which is not yet displayed. In the case where the channel to be displayed on the main monitor is then being displayed on one of the auxiliary monitors, the circuit interchanges the channel displayed on the main monitor with that on the auxiliary monitor.

Abstract: A method for compressing and expanding binary coded alphanumeric information is practiced in conjunction with a memory wherein user transparent, coded bytes are stored at address locations assigned to recognized permutations of the alphanumeric information. Information, stored in a plurality of input registers, is compressed by generating a memory address based upon the input information or using the input information directly as an address, and then determining from the memory whether or not the permutation represented by the information in the input registers is recognized. If recognized, a coded word is read from the memory which is representative of the permutation and is transmitted. Compression of the units of information per units of code used is achieved by reaccessing the memory with an indexed address generated from the contents stored in additional ones of the input registers or by addressing separate memory modules.