Patent GB-374960-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to perforated-record-card controlled printing machines
Filed: 1931-03-20
Abstract: 374,960. Perforated record-cardcontrolled printing-machines. BRITISH TABULATING MACHINE CO., Ltd., Victoria House, Vernon Place, Southampton Row, London.-(Assignees of Daly, G. F.; Johnson City, New York, U.S.A.) March 20, 1931, No. 8689. Convention date, March 22, 1930. [Class 106 (i).] Statistical machinery; controlling printing of zeros.-In perforated card controlled machines, of the kind having a hole-reading device and type bars controlled thereby to print the digits, each type bar is positionable to print " 10 " when a zero hole is read and to print zero when not so positioned ; there are also provided a device which automatically renders a zero hole ineffective to control a type bar and means for selectively associating said device with selected type bars. A main shaft 10, driven continuously from the motor, has a worm 13 driving a wheel 14 rigid with a cam which operates the picker blades 23, Fig. 1. Gearing 25 from shaft 10 drives the shaft 26 for the card-feed roller shafts 29 and for the gears 44 of the rollers 41 which frictionally move the card along a track 42, Fig. 1. After leaving magazine 24 the cards are fed to plates 81 by rollers 33, 34, the gearing of which is mutilated so that each cam halts at the printing station for the requisite time. The type bars 45 are moved horizontally to the left, Fig. 1, by pawls 46 and crosshead 47 driven by members 50, 51, 53, Fig. 2, from a cam 54 on shaft 55; the bars 45 being arrested differentially by pawls 59, Fig. 1, and the printing magnets 58. Subsequently pawls 59 are restored by plate 69 and their latches 62 by plate 71. Plates 81 rotate by frictional engagement with the cards to prevent wear of the latter. The hammers 72 are actuated by bar 75 and cam 78 on shaft 55. Circuit diagram, Fig. 11. A commutator 88 makes and breaks the circuit at each card hole position to prevent sparking, the card-reading circuit being 91, 92, 93, 90, 89, 94, 32, 31, 95, 96, 97, printing magnets 58, 98, 99, 100. When 98 are open this circuit passes through switches 102 and contacts 105 to wire 100. Contacts 105 are cam-controlled from shaft 55 so as to open just before the zero holes are read and close just after these holes have left the brushes. A zero hole is used, for example in the month column, Fig. 13, to print " 10." The type 73 in each carrier, Fig. 1, are for printing (from left to right) 12, 11, 10, 1, 2 .. 8, 9, 0, followed by a blank type 73a. Thus a " 0 " hole prints " 10 " normally. Hence, switches 98, Fig. 11, are opened for all columns except those in which " 10 " is to be printed by " 0 " holes. For such columns the type bars, unless otherwise arrested, will present the dummy 73a at the printing line. " 0's " are printed under control of a significant figure in a predetermined card column by the following means. Members 110, one for each column, pivoted at 111, Fig. 7, are positioned opposite an index strip 113. When a member 110 is rocked counterclockwise from the zero-suppression position shown, it moves lever 114, pivoted to it at 115, to the left. Each lever 114 has an arm 116 projecting under the lever of next higher denomination. If the end of 114 rises in the slot 117 of type bar 45 then the latter moves so that the dummy 73a is at the printing position; but if a lever 114 has been moved to the left, the bar 45 holds its end down so that the end of 114 arrests a lug 118 on the bar to arrest the latter with the " 0 " type at the printing line. A latch bar 112 for all members 110 has arms 119 to release the members for setting. For date printing, switches 98 are open for all columns except the date column. To print from the " Amount " field, Fig. 13, members 110 for the first column to the left of this field and the first field to the right (i.e. the month column) are moved to the position of Fig. 6. This prevents zero being carried into the amount field from the right and from the amount field out to the left. Fig. 10 shows the levers 114 for the first and second columns of the amount field, the first lever having moved to the left without moving out of engagement with arm 116 of the next lower denomination so that if the first lever 114 is depressed because of a significant figure all the levers 116 to the right in the field are depressed also. Fig. 9 shows the lever 114 of the first column in the next field moved to the left and its arm 116 will lie under a notch 120 in the lever 114 to its left. By this, depression of the lever 114 to the left will not affect the lever on its right. If, for example, the amount field has a single entry in the units column and zeros punched in the three remaining columns, these three holes will not complete brush circuits (since 98 are open) and the dummies 73a are positioned at the printing line and only the units type bar effects printing. When start key 122 is pressed, motor relay 124 is energized, cards are fed and cardlever contacts close, energizing magnet 125. 124a, 125a are closed by 124, 1.25 to shunt the start key through stop key 128. Contacts 129 hold the circuit between the cards. The plug connections 96 may be offset so that the printing is offset to positions out of alignment with the card columns.