Patent GB-858856-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to statistical machines
Inventor: NOBLE ERNEST CYRIL
Filed: 1956-08-01
Abstract: 858,856. Selective punching-machines. INTERNATIONAL COMPUTERS & TABULATORS Ltd. July 25, 1957 [Aug. 1, 1956], No. 23727/56. Class 31 (2). Apparatus for sensing data from a statistical record includes means for rendering a sensing means effective to sense the record, means for maintaining the sensing means effective, punching means adapted to be operated by the sensing-means, and means operated by the punching means for rendering the sensing means ineffective when punching is completed. As shown in Fig. 1, a perforated ticket 2 positioned on a carriage 1 is moved to the left, to bring the ticket into sensing position, by moving downwardly a handle 7 mounted on a shaft 8, the handle engaging a pin 9 on an arm 10 also mounted on the shaft 8, the arm 10 being connected to one end of a link 11, the other end of which is connected to the carriage 1. As the carriage reaches the correct sensing position, a projection 13 thereon is engaged by a slot 19 in an extension 14 of the armature 15 of an unlatching electromagnet 16. As the ticket is moved into sensing position, it rocks a lever 36 to close a pair of interlock contacts 37. The link 11 has connected thereto a slotted member 20 so that on continued downward movement of the arm 10, the upper end 21 of the slot in the member 20 engages a pin 22 carried by a spring-influenced plate 23 so as to stroke of the handle 7, the plate 23 is locked in its downward position by means of a latch member 30 secured to the shaft 8 entering a notch 31 in a spring-influenced rocking arm 32. At the same time, a pair of interlock contacts 38 are closed by a pin 39 on the latch member 30. On release of the handle 7, it returns to its inoperative position in which a pin 41 on the handle closes a pair of interlock contacts 40. Each sensing-pin 27 carries a block 34 of insulating material which normally separates a pair of contact-blades 35 so that when a sensing-pin enters a perforation in the ticket, the block 34 is withdrawn to allow the related pair of blades 35 to make contact. The pairs of contacts 35, which are associated with diodes 46, and the three pairs of interlock contacts 37, 38 and 40 are included together with punch magnets P1 to P9 and relays R1 to R6, R7 and R10 in an electric circuit, Fig. 2, so that a card positioned in the card carriage of the punch can be punched according to the data sensed in the perforated ticket. The circuit also includes keys K1 to K9 move the latter downwardly. The plate 23 carries a cage having a bottom plate 26, and the plates 23, 26 support a set of spring-influenced sensing-pins 27. At the end of the operating so that, when a contact R6a is closed, additional information can be punched manually into the card. When the card is completely punched, a relay R7 is energized to energize an ejector magnet EM to eject the card from the card carriage and the carriage to be returned to pick up a new card from the card magazine. At the same time, the unlatching magnet 16 is energized and, by attracting the armature 15, allows the notch 19 to disengage the projection 13 on the carriage 1 and the latch member 30 to disengage from the notch 31. These operations allow the arm 10 and carriage 1 to be restored to their original positions under the influence of springs 48, 49, respectively. The manual punching operation(s) may be replaced by automatic punching of information from a master card carried by the card punch. The sensing pins may be replaced by other forms of sensing mechanism, e.g. brushes. The tickets may carry code marks, instead of holes, in which case the sensing pins are each replaced by a photo-electric cell. Specification 562,278 is referred to.