Continuous library catalog card

A continuous web for library catalogue cards having a plurality of slit lines longitudinally spaced 7.5 centimeters apart, each slit line extending 12.5 centimeters transversely between edge carrier portions of the form such that upon removal of the carrier portions outwardly of the slit lines a plurality of standard 7.5 centimeters .times. 12.5 centimeters catalogue cards are provided. Longitudinally extending lines of uniquely shaped feed holes or perforations are provided in the carrier portions of the form which permit printing of the cards by means of existing high speed printers of United States manufacture despite the cards being dimensioned in the metric system and the feed of the printers being dimensioned in the English system.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
It has been estimated that the annual usage of library catalogue cards is 
on the order of 4,000,000,000. Because of this substantial volume of 
cards, there has been increasing pressure towards producing cards at high 
speed by computer printing. However, the international standard for 
library catalogue cards has been established in the metric system of 
dimensions as 7.5 centimeters by 12.5 centimeters. Such metric dimensions 
of the card pose problems in their computer printing on high speed 
printers of United States manufacture which are typically arranged to feed 
or space by dimensions in the English system. In other words, the card 
dimensions are not readily compatible to high speed printing in the United 
States. 
Heretofore the unique size of the catalogue cards has resulted in a variety 
of ways to achieve the appropriate outsize through the use of forms 
manufactured in inches. In accordance with one method, a form has been 
provided in a 31/2 inch or 3 inch card depth to facilitate printing on 
substantially any United States high speed printer in a conventional 
manner. Subsequent to printing, the form is die cut in an area between the 
cards to force the 7.5 centimeter size. In other words, if the card depth 
is 3 inches, the die cut is such as to remove 0.12 centimeters of material 
and thereby leave a 7.5 centimeter dimension. 
Another method is to use a 31/2 inch depth which may be burst into single 
cards subsequent to printing. Thereafter the cards are trimmed on a 
guillotine cutter to the correct size. 
Because of the foregoing approaches to the production of catalogue cards, 
these cards are expensive in manufacture and expensive in use. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to a continuous library catalogue card form 
having slit lines directly defining a 7.5 centimeter card depth, which is 
yet arranged to permit running of the form on any high speed printer of 
United States manufacture to provide printed standard 7.5 centimeters by 
12.5 centimeters cards in a direct manner not involving expensive 
precision cutting or trimming techniques to arrive at the card dimension. 
In the accomplishment of the foregoing and other advantages and features, a 
continuous form in accordance with the present invention is generally 
provided with a plurality of slit lines longitudinally spaced 7.5 
centimeters apart, each line transversely extending 12.5 centimeters 
between longitudinally extending edge carrier portions of the form. Within 
the carrier portions there are provided longitudinally extending lines of 
elongate feed holes or perforations on a 1.25 centimeters center to center 
which permit continuous feeding of the forms by all high speed printers of 
United States manufacture, the standard feed drives of which have 1/2 inch 
centers. Such perforations are usually referred to in the business forms 
field as "feed holes", "line holes", or "line hole punching". In one 
embodiment, the form is provided with longitudinally extending perforate 
separation lines intersecting the opposite ends of the slit lines to 
facilitate the ready removal of the carrier portions of the form, whereby 
the individual printed 7.5 centimeters by 12.5 centimeters cards remain. 
In another embodiment, the perforate separation lines are omitted and a 
detacher or burster in line with the printer slits off the carrier 
portions of the form.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
Referring now to FIG. 1 in detail, there is shown a continuous library 
catalogue form 11 of heavy paper, or equivalent material, having a 
plurality of slit lines 12 extending transversely or widthwise of the 
form, such lines being longitudinally spaced apart by 7.5 centimeters. The 
slit lines are 12.5 centimeters in length and are disposed centrally of 
the transverse dimension of the form with their opposite ends terminating 
at longitudinally extending edge carrier portions 13 and 14. Each carrier 
portion preferably has a width of 2.5 centimeters such that the overall 
width of the form is 17.5 centimeters. In addition, holes 16 are provided 
forwardly adjacent the midpoints of the slit lines. Such holes are 
preferably of 5/16 inch diameter. Each area between adjacent slit lines 
and between the carrier portions defines a standard 7.5 centimeters by 
12.5 centimeters library catalogue card 17 having a hole 16 to facilitate 
retention in a card file, or the like, by means of a retaining rod, etc. 
By virtue of the metric dimensions of the cards 17, the computer 
programming printing of the cards by means of high speed printers of 
United States manufacture has posed problems, since such printers are 
arranged to feed or space in dimensions in the English system rather than 
in the metric system. More particularly, standard form feeding tractors of 
United States high speed printers are on half-inch centers using 1/8 inch 
pins. Such tractors are generally employed to engage feed perforations of 
a continuous form which are correspondingly spaced apart center to center 
by English system dimensions such as 1/2 inch. The English system 
dimensional spacing of the feed perforations cannot be arranged for 
symmetrical disposition with respect to the metric system dimensions of 
the card; that is, unsymmetrical printing thereof would normally result if 
high speed printers of United States manufacture are employed. 
In accordance with the particularly salient aspects of the present 
invention, the foregoing problems of high speed printing of the form 11 by 
printers of United States manufacture are overcome despite the card 
defining slit lines 12 being spaced apart in dimensions in the metric 
system. In this regard, the carrier portions 13 and 14 of the form 11 are 
provided with longitudinal lines of feed perforations 18 of unique spacing 
and shape. The perforations have a center to center longitudinal spacing 
of 1.25 centimeters and are of elongate rectangular configuration, 
preferably 5/16 inch long by 5/32 inch wide with rounded ends. The 
longitudinal center lines of the perforations are preferably spaced 
transversely inward from the side edges of the form by 1/4 inch. The 
perforations are symmetrically disposed with respect to the sides of the 
cards 17, there being six perforations between adjacent slit lines 12 with 
the end ones of the perforations equally spaced from the respective slit 
lines. 
It will be thus appreciated that although the center to center spacing 
between the perforations 18 is slightly less than 1/2 inch, the elongate 
configuration of the perforations enables some to be engaged by the 1/8 
inch pins on 1/2 inch centers of standard feed tractors of any United 
States manufactured high speed printer. Such a printer runs and spaces the 
form 11 as if it were 3 inches in depth rather than the 7.5 centimeter 
depth between slit lines. This results in a 24 line capacity for each card 
17. 
To facilitate removal of the carrier portions 13 and 14, and thus 
separation of the cards 17 subsequent to printing, the form may be 
provided with longitudinally extending perforate separation lines 19 and 
21 intersecting the opposite ends of slit lines 12 to thereby define 
boundaries between the carrier portions and the cards. In addition, 
perforate separation lines 22 and 23 may be provided to extend 
transversely from the opposite ends of each slit line 12 to the side edges 
of the form. Thus, the carrier portions may be readily removed at the 
separation lines to thereby free the individual printed cards 17. The 
transverse separation lines 22 and 23, moreover, facilitate the ready 
accordion folding of the form into the stacked configuration shown in FIG. 
2, which is particularly well suited to loading into some high speed 
printers. 
As an alternative to the means hereinbefore described to facilitate 
separation of the cards 17, the separation lines may be omitted and the 
form 11 run over a detacher, burster, slitter, or the line in line with 
the printer to slit off the carrier portions 13 and 14. 
It should be understood that while this invention has been described in 
connection with one specific continuous product, i.e., library catalogue 
cards, the inventive concept may likewise be applied to other continuous 
forms wherein the forms have metric dimensions, but are adapted to be run 
on printers made on the English dimension system. In such cases, the 
transversely extending separation lines would usually comprise 
perforations rather than the slit lines 12, such perforations being 
aligned with the perforate lines 22, 23 on the longitudinally extending 
carrier portions. 
The method of feeding the forms punched according to the present invention 
through an English dimensioned high speed printing press may best be 
described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. The form web 11 passes over a 
paper entry guide 31, where it is engaged by an acoustical dampener 32. 
The acoustical dampener comprises a brush 30 impinging on the web 11 under 
spring force to create a frictional drag on the web, and prevent an 
acoustical shock wave from travelling down the web and disrupting the web 
flow. These dampening devices are well known in the art, and are commonly 
used in high speed printers, such as the IBM Model 1403 printer. 
The forms shown in the sketch are marginally punched with elongated holes 
as described above on 1.25 centimeter centers. As the forms enter the 
printing area of the press they first encounter the infeed tractor 33, 
which comprises a pair of pin wheels 34 and 36 mounted on a common shaft, 
the right hand wheel 34 being laterally adjustable so that the press can 
accommodate forms of varying width. Both of these wheels are driven. They 
serve the purpose of driving the paper web into the print area, holding it 
flat as it reaches the line printer. The left hand wheel 36 also operates 
a runout switch which turns off the printer when the paper runs out. 
The forms then are printed by the line printer in the print area, and 
subsequently are engaged by the outfeed tractor 37. The outfeed tractor 
includes another pair of pin wheels 38 and 39, and the right hand wheel 39 
is also laterally adjustable. These tractors are driven by a motor through 
a chain drive, and they draw the forms through the machine. All of the pin 
wheels are the ones considered to be standard in the industry, with 3/16 
inch long pins having distal end spacings of 1/2 inch. 
In the situation depicted in FIG. 3, the leading pins 41 of the outfeed 
tractor 37 are about to disengage from the form which is being presented 
to the line printer. The subsequent feed pins 42 of the outfeed tractors 
must travel 0.07874 inches before engaging the leading edges of the 
subsequent holes 45 in the form. During this interval there is no positive 
drive on the form. 
At the same time as the pins A are disengaged, the pins 43 of the infeed 
tractors 33 are engaging the trailing edges of the holes 46 in the web. 
None of the infeed pins are engaging the leading edges of their respective 
holes, and no drive is exerted on the form by either tractor 33 or 37. Due 
to the drag of the acoustical dampener (which helps stabilize the paper 
web), the form actually halts for a brief instant, approximately 0.0823 
seconds at a printing rate of 1100 lines per minute, and a feed rate of 6 
lines per inch. The form does not "coast" through the printer, but 
actually does stop. This is evidenced by the fact that in the experimental 
runs the printout was evenly spaced, and that on a 27.5 centimeter form, 
66 lines were printed at six lines per inch. The next feed pin 42 then 
engages the leading edge of hole 45, and the form accelerates once more. 
It must be emphasized that high speed line printers will not perform the 
method of the present invention when used in conjunction with standard 
forms which are provided with standard circular marginal holes which are 
spaced on 1/2 inch centers. The pins will then engage the holes with exact 
registration, the form will pass smoothly through the printer, and the 
method will not be practised. Thus the form of the present invention is 
its own program, causing a standard line printer to practice the claimed 
method and achieve the printing of a metric form on a conventional English 
dimension press. 
The present invention will also apply to slow speed printers such as the 
IBM System 3, which prints at a rate of 100 to 200 lines per minute. These 
machines employ an outfeed tractor to draw the forms through the printer, 
and replace the infeed tractors with a curved mandrel over which the forms 
pass on their route from a packing carton on the floor to the printing and 
outfeed mechanisms. In this case the gravitational load of the forms 
depending from the one engaged by the outfeed tractor is sufficient to 
cause the form to stop momentarily while the next outfeed pin approaches 
the leading edge of the subsequent marginal hole. 
There are other frictional devices commonly employed in line printers which 
exert the drag on the web required to stop the web momentarily as it is 
fed through the printer. For example, some printers employ an 
electromagnetic acoustical dampener which includes a pair of spaced plates 
through which the web is drawn by the tractors. The plates are actuated 
momentarily and periodically to grip the web, stopping it and blocking the 
passage of an acoustical wave down the web. In other printers the forms 
thickness control exerts a drag on the web which is sufficient to cause 
the feed sequence described in the foregoing to occur. Thus the method of 
feeding the forms punched according to the present invention as described 
herein may be practised on a wide variety of line printing machines. 
It should be emphasized that the form punching as detailed in the present 
invention not only provides a means of running metrically dimensioned 
forms on English dimensioned printers, but also this same manner of 
punching renders the form acceptable to metrically dimentioned printers 
having feed pins spaced on 1.25 centimeter centers.