Patent GB-460025-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to machines for perforating statistical record-cards
Filed: 1935-07-19
Abstract: 460,025. Punching statistical record-cards. BRITISH TABULATING MACHINE CO., Ltd. July 19, 1935, No. 20585. Convention date, July 21, 1934. [Class 31 (ii)] In a machine for punching statistical recordcards under the control of perforated pattern cards, means are provided whereby the number of copies punched can be varied with different pattern cards. Six different ways of operating the machine, Fig. 1, are described, for each of which a particular setting of switches and connections on a plug-board 23 are necessary. (1) Data from a pattern card and from hand-set wheels 133 is punched on a single blank card. (2) Data as at (1) is punched on a number of cards which are counted by a counter U and automatically compared after each punching operation with a number set up on hand wheels 133D, the feeding of blank cards being stopped and of pattern cards restarted when these numbers are equal. (3) Similar to (2) except that the number of punched cards shown by the counter U is compared with a number read from the pattern card and set up in a register T. (4) Similar to (3) except that the number set up in the register T is read from a supplementary card which precedes the pattern card. (5) Data as at (1) is punched on a number of cards which are counted by the counter U and compared after each punching operation with a number set up in the register T ; this latter operation is effected as follows : a classification number is read from each pattern card and compared with numbers set up on hand wheels 133A, 133B, 133C, and when agreement is found, the number set up on the corresponding hand wheels 133A<1>, 133B<1>, 133C<1> is entered in the register T and that number of copies is punched. (6) Similar to (5) except that the classification numbers are read from supplementary cards instead of the pattern cards. The machine is driven by a motor M which through suitable gearing drives a shaft 34, Fig. 6, provided with a notched clutch disc 35, 36 at each end and cams CR1<1>-5<1> which close contacts at predetermined points in each cycle of the machine. The shaft 34 is clutched to a gear 43 by a pawl 42 which engages the disc 36 when a magnet CFM is energized. The gear 43 operates, through suitable gearing, Fig. 2, a pattern card picker 63 and feed rollers 62 ; it also drives a shaft 45 carrying contact-closing cams FC1<1>-12<1>. The pattern and supplementary cards are fed by the rollers 62 past upper and lower sensing brushes, of which the former read the classification number and the latter, the number of copies and the data to be punched. The shaft 34 is clutched to a gear 39 by a pawl 38 which engages the disc 35 when a magnet FPM is energized, whereby a shaft 41 provided with contact-closing cams CC1<1>-7<1>, is driven to feed blank cards and to operate the punches. The blank cards 72, Fig. 5, are fed from a stack 24 by reciprocating pickers 73, 75, positioned on a die-plate 77 by fingers 78 and removed after perforation by grippers 81. A cranked shaft 87, driven by the shaft 41, is connected by a link 89 and lever means 91a, 91b, 91, yieldable if a card sticks, to a sliding block 93 carrying the pickers 73, 75 ; the lever 91 is connected by a link 94 and lever 95 to a sliding block carrying the grippers 81. Punch operation and selection.-The die-plate 77 is operated from the shaft 87 through cams 98, and all the punches 76 rise freely upwards with it, resting on top of the card, except those which are prevented by lugs 103 on interposer bars 101 positioned above them. The interposer bars are moved by pinions 106 which mesh with racks 104 thereon and are loosely mounted on a shaft 107 with friction spacing discs 108 pressed together by a spring. The shaft 107 is driven through a 'cam 109, links 110, 111, 113 and gears from a shaft 58 which is clutched to a shaft 49 when a magnet SCM is energized to engage a pawl 51 with a notched disc 50. The shaft 58 is provided with contactclosing cams DS1<1>-9<1>. Each interposer bar 101 has twelve ratchet teeth 105 on its upper face corresponding to the positions of the punches and adapted to be engaged by pawls 125 which are held retracted by latches 121 until an associated magnet PM is energized due either to a lower sensing brush finding a hole in the pattern card or to the setting of the hand wheels 133. Each hand wheel 133, Fig. 10, carries a brush holder 138 having two brushes 140 which contact with a conducting segment 141 and with one of a number of contacts 146. The contacts 142 are connected to contacts 146, Fig. 2, of an emitter 144 having a brush holder 148 driven in synchronism with the pattern card feed and engaging the contacts 146 and a segment 150, whereby a circuit is completed through a magnet PM according to the setting of the hand wheel 133. Counting.-The counter U, Fig. 8, and the register T are of similar construction. A shaft 154 is driven by gearing from the main shaft 31 when a toothed clutch sleeve 153 thereon is freed to engage with clutch teeth on a gear 155 by energization of a magnet AM to release a lever 156. The magnet AM is under the control of a pattern card reading or the wheels 133A<1>, 133B<1>, 133C<1>, and the wheel 155 is turned accordingly. The gear 155 meshes with gears 161, 162 carrying, respectively, an indicating wheel 163 with a resetting pawl 164, and a brush holder 166 which co-operates with a segment 168 and contacts 167 corresponding to the various numbers. When the numbers indicated by the wheels 163 in the counter U and the register T are the same, that is, the brush holders 166 are in the same positions, a circuit is completed which restarts the pattern card feed and restores both the counter and register to zero. To effect the latter operation, a shaft 181, driven from the main shaft 31 through means including a Geneva gear, carries a pair of notched discs 184 with which a pair of pawls 185 pivoted on gears 195 and controlled by magnets TRM, URM co-operate to drive shafts 169 of the register and counter so that notches therein pick up all the pawls 164 to restore the wheels 163 to zero.