Article storage and retrieval device

Claim 1

IN A DEVICE FOR STORING ARTICLES IN RANDOM ORDER AND FOR RETRIEVING SAID ARTICLES FROM STORAGE, THE COMBINATION COMPRISING A CYCLICALLY MOVABLE MEMBER HAVING A PLURALITY OF RECEPTACLES ADAPTED TO RECEIVE ARTICLES FOR STORAGE, SAID MEMBER CARRYING ADDRESS INDICIA REPRESENTING EACH OF SAID RECEPTACLES, CARRIER MEANS FOR RECEIVING AN ARTICLE TO BE STORED AND ADAPTED, UPON ACTUATION OF SAID CARRIER MEANS, FOR MOVING SAID ARTICLE INTO ONE OF SAID RECEPTACLES, MEANS FOR ACTUATING SAID CARRIER MEANS IN RESPONSE JOINTLY TO RECEIPT OF AN ARTICLE BY SAID CARRIER MEANS AND TO MOVEMENT OF A SELECTED EMPTY RECEPTACLE TO A PREDETERMINED POSITION RELATIVE TO SAID CARRIER MEANS, A FIRST DETECTING MEANS DISPOSED IN SENSING RELATION TO THE INDICIA ON SAID MEMBER FOR GENERATING A SERIES OF SIGNALS REPRESENTING THE ADDRESSES OF ALL OF SAID RECEPTACLES, A SECOND DETECTING MEANS DISPOSED AHEAD OF SAID CARRIER MEANS AND IN SENSING RELATION TO SAID RECEPTACLE FOR GENERATING A SELECT SIGNAL FROM EACH EMPTY RECEPTACLE, MEANS RESPONSIVE TO THE SELECT SIGNAL DERIVED FROM THE FIRST EMPTY RECEPTACLE MOVED PAST SAID SECOND DETECTING MEANS, UPON RECEIPT OF SAID ARTICLE BY SAID CARRIER MEANS, FOR RECORDING A MANIFESTATION OF A SIGNAL REPRESENTING THE ADDRESS OF SAID SELECTED EMPTY RECEPTACLE, MEANS FOR READING A RECORDED MANIFESTATION OF A SIGNAL REPRESENTING THE ADDRESS OF A DESIGNATED RECEPTACLE IN WHICH IS STORED AN ARTICLE TO BE RETRIEVED, AND FOR GENERATING A NEW SIGNAL REPRESENTING THE ADDRESS OF SAID DESIGNATED RECEPTACLE, MEANS FOR RECEIVING AND COMPARING SAID LAST-NAMED SIGNAL AND SAID SERIES OF SIGNALS AND RESPONSIVE TO COINCIDENCE OF SAID COMPARED SIGNALS FOR GENERATING AN OUTPUT SIGNAL, AND MEANS CONNECTED TO SAID COMPARING MEANS AND RESPONSIVE TO SAID OUTPUT SIGNAL FOR EJECTING FROM SAID DESIGNATED RECEPTACLE THE ARTICLE STORED THEREIN.