Patent GB-1017634-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to calculating apparatus
IPC: G06F15/02
Filed: 1963-08-22
Abstract: 1,017,634. Electronic digital calculators. NATIONAL CASH REGISTER CO. Aug. 22, 1963 [Sept. 10, 1962], No. 33202/63. Heading G4A. Calculating apparatus includes a manually operable keyboard, mechanically actuable means which may be set to represent data entered in the keyboard, a magnetic store and an electrical operations unit, the arrangement being such that the mechanically actuable means may also be set under the control of the electrical operations unit to represent data derived from the magnetic store, the electrical operations unit being adapted to process data derived from the magnetic store and the mechanically actuable means. As described, the mechanical portions of the calculating apparatus are generally as disclosed in Specification 680,992 (except that the totalizer wheels and associated mechanisms are omitted) and are coupled to an electrical processing unit including a magnetic disc memory. Mechanical arrangements.-The mechanical structure (Fig. 1, not shown) comprises an amount keyboard, typewriter keyboard, control keys, and printing unit. Carriage stops 30, Fig. 3, are provided to control printing format and carriage tabulation functions and may be effective either automatically or, after manual data entry, on depression of a motor bar. At each stop position there are provided programme switches (Fig. 10, not shown) to control the electrical operations to be performed at that position. On depression of any key in a column 15<SP>1</SP> of keys (Fig. 3) slides 44a, 44b move to the left and right respectively and the depressed key is latched under a nose 43d on the slide 44b until released on depression of another key in the column. The differential actuator 111 associated with the column 15<SP>1</SP> comprises an amount portion 52, an engaging portion 53 and a driven portion 54 and during a machine operation cycle, the portion 54 is urged by the operation of drive means 75 to the right, Fig. 3, until a stop on the amount portion 52 engages a lug on the depressed key, the resultant lateral positioning being transmitted to a type sector 13 for printing. During the printing period, an arm 89a is rocked to operate and latch a switch 92a thereby applying a voltage on a particular output lead 92b representative of the depressed digit key. When the carriage is at a position at which it is desired to position the actuator 111 in response to electrical data instead of from a manual key, a member 69 is driven downwards, to disengage the portion 53 of the actuator freeing the portion 54 which is driven by the drive means 75 until on energization of a solenoid 94a by the electrical unit, a latch 94c engages one of a set of teeth 89d on the actuator portion 54 which is halted at a position representative of the digit supplied from the electrical unit. The solenoid 94a is energized when a wiper (Fig. 6, not shown) driven by the drive means 75 marks a contact in a set of ten contacts, which contact represents the digit to be registered as determined by a comparator in the electrical unit. Electrical circuits.-The calculating circuits employ 64-bit words D 0 b 0 -D 15 b 3  (Fig. 7) comprising a 5-bit address portion D 0 b 0 -D 1 b 0 ; a sign bit D 1 b 3 ; and a 56-bit number magnitude D 2 b 0 -D 15 b 3  in binary coded decimal form. Data is stored on a magnetic disc 141 (Fig. 8) having a clock channel 142; a " Z-channel " 143 which in conjunction with flip-flops Z R , Z 1 -Z 4 , Z w  constitutes a recirculating " Z- line "; six data channels 100-105 each channel being capable of storing a word in each of twenty sectors S 0 -S 19  therein; and a permanently recorded address channel 144, each sector S 0 -S 19  of which contains only the sector address in the address portion corresponding to bit position D 0 b 0 -D 1 b 0 . The electrical unit is under the control of a programme counter 222 which produces a sequence of programme counts dependent on inputs 137a from the programme switches (Fig. 10, not shown) inputs 116b, the keyboard control keys, and an output from the processing logic 220. The inputs 137a, 116b are applied to a programme logic circuit 212 to produce four types of programme signals: (1) signals N p  to advance the programme counter 222; (2) channel number signals N ch  applied to the processing logic 220 to select a particular data channel for reading or writing; (3) sector address signals N a  applied to a sector address input logic 210 to determine a particular sector S 0 -S 19 ; (4) miscellaneous programme signals N m  for controlling the processing logic 220. The recirculating Z-line comprising flip-flops Z R , Z 1 -Z 4 , Z w  and the track 143 of the disc can contain a recirculating 64-bit word (Fig. 11, not shown) and can be employed as an inputoutput register for the disc. Thus to read out a word stored on the disc, first the channel number signals N ch  select the read and write amplifier of the required channel 101-105. Next the sector address signals N a  applied to the sector address logic 210 cause the five bits of the sector address to be fed into the Z-line via the flip-flop Z 2 . The sector address in the Z-line is now compared at 214 with the sector addresses read from channel 144 of the disc until equality is attained whereupon the required data word is read out into the Z-line and can be erased from the disc if required, e.g. for a totalling operation, by recording " 0 "s. The Z-line serves similarly for sector addressing and for a data input line when it is desired to record a word on the disc. If desired, the sector address digits D 0 b 0 -D 1 b 0  need not be written on the data channel since they correspond to the address on the address channel 144. Co-operation between mechanical and electrical portions.-If a stop 30 requires the actuators 111 to be set in accordance with a number stored in the disc memory 141, this number is first transferred to the Z-line as described above and subsequently each decimal digit of the number is compared in an encoder-comparator 216 (Fig. 13) with the decimal digit position of the driving means 75 which is available as a signal on one of leads Q 0 -Q 9  (Fig. 13) from the ten contacts associated with the driving means, so that for each comparison, all the digits of a particular value in the number to be transferred are registered to halt the movement of the actuators 111 in the respective denominations containing that digit, the appropriate denominational order being selected during each digit comparison by the successive enabling of AND gates 302-315 (Fig. 13) by timing pulses P 2 t 1 -P 15 t 1  corresponding to the fourteen denominational positions circulating in the Z-line. When the number has been set up in the actuators 111, it is printed by the type bars 13 and transferred to switches 92, the actuators 111 being subsequently restored. The number transferred to the switches 92 is compared with the number circulating in the Z-line and a circuit (Fig. 14, not shown) produces an error signal if the two numbers are unequal. Electrical processing.-The processing logic 220 includes serial computing circuits (not described) capable of performing addition, subtraction, multiplication or division and can receive as inputs both a number from the disc memory 141 via the Z-line and a number from the positioned actuators 111 via a converter 218 which converts the decimal digits to binary coded form. The result of a processing operation is transmitted to the Z-line for return to the disc memory 141, and can also be transmitted to an external unit 380, Fig. 8. The processing logic 220 can also receive an input number from an external source 390, Fig. 8. Means are provided for initiating a multiple print operation in which the numbers in various storage location in the disc memory 141 may be printed out.