The RCA Selectron -- US Patent 2,604,606 Planar Topology

Jan A. Rajchman, Radio Corporation of America
Applied: 15 October, 1949
Granted: 22 July, 1952



The initial cylindrical topology as described in the '670 patent was, in essence, a digitally addressed Williams-Kilburn storage tube. Where the cylindrical construction was relatively simple to build it lacked decent performance. Charges deposited on the continuous inner surface of the cylindrical target tended to spread, causing errors of data read out. The '606 uses metallic discrete elements held in an insulating mica plate to ensure crostalk effect would be minimal. The tradeoff was an exceedingly complex device to build which was also afflicted with numerous mechanical tolerance accumulations. In addition to superior electrical performance another major benefit of the '606 was the optical readout and viewing of the stored data.


US Patent 2,604,606 -- Images on the left, text on the right

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