US1875845A - Record card controlled listing or tabulating or like statistical machine - Google Patents

Description

sept 6 .1932 l.. E. BRouGHAM D CONTROLLED LISTING OR TABULTING\0B LIKE STATISTICA Filed Oct. 27. 1931 RECORD CAR L MACHINE y INV: NTozi- L.E. EJEouGHAn/l.

AfoENEY.

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l the invention to a fiel Patented Sept. 6, 1932 UNITED STATESYPATENT OFFICE LESLIE ERNEST BROUGHAM, 0F PURLEY, ENGLAND; `.ASSIG'rNOR T0 THE ACCOUNTINGv v TABULATING- CORPORATION OF GREAT BRITAIN LIMITED, OF LONDON, ENGLAND RECORD CARD CONTROLLED LISTING OR TABLATING OB LIKE STATISTICAL :MACHINE Application filed October 27, 1931., Serial No. 571,446, and in Great Britain November 7, 1937-0. I

This invention relates to a record card controlled listing or tabulating or `like statistical machine, and has for its main object to provide a method and means of operation whereby the capacity of such machines is increased and whereby an increased number of opeations can be obtained from a record car A further object of the invention is in the provision of such means which will enablea standard machine to be readily converted to function with increased capacity with little alteration to existing parts. To this end th-e invention employs printing elements controlled'by settable swinging controlling members, in such a manner that for each setting of'the swinging member a printing element may have a plurality of settings so that dif-` ferential interpretations of a setting may be obtained. Each column of sensing members in the analyser is associated with a 4plurality of printing elements, which are arranged to be selectively actuated at will from the single column.

In order that the method of controlling the selective mechanism of listing, tabulating or like machines may be fully understood, the application to a card comprising in each column twelve possible-positions for perforation records, will now be described, it be-` ing understood that this is by way of example only, as the method of control can be ap-v plied in a similar manner to cards, in which 1 the columns are of a different capacity.

It is convenient to refer tothe lines on such a card by letters of the alphabet, as the em-Y bodiment now to be described refers to its employment for printing numerals. Accordingly, the lettering on the lines on the column from top t0 bottom will be from` A to L consecutively. I

As is well known a statistical card is divided up into fields each comprising a plurality of columns, and the perforations in a field are employed to select printing elements associated with the field. For convenience of illustration the Vapplication of the method of control according to now be described.

of five columns will The field is divided up into sections, each section being 'employed to cause Aa selective operation of printing elements particular to the section, that'is to say that from the one field including the five columns as many groups of elements will be operated as there are sections in the eld. For convenience of illustration the division of the field into two sections only will be described.

The field is divided into halves so that thel sections are equal. In the top section would' be the lines in the columns correspond-ingto the letters B, C, D, E, F e which represent the numerals 0, l, 2, 3,4and for-each columnv there may be made a perforation in the line A, and if such special ancillary perforation is employed then in conjunction with the perforations inthe lines B, C, D, E, F,`Vthese latterperforations will have a modified or differentiall meaning, 6, 7, 8, 9 respectively.

This arrangement as explained may occur in the upper half of the-field and the printnamely the numerals 5,

ing elements particularl to the upper part of perforations become ancillary to the 'others'l and operate to produce a modified or differential interpretation of the perforations in the lines I-I, I, J, K, L, namely torepresent'f I the numerals 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. y

It will therefore be seen that in each col-A umn of the field records can be provided'in' each half to represent any of the values from- Oto 9.

It will therefore be observed that a'method e of controlling according to the invention in-l creases the recording capacity of an ordinaryt statistical card in that the capacity of eachv field is multiplied according to the number ofsectionsemployed in the field, that is to say in the example just described where lthe adl so; slipplementar-y to the differentv columns,

field is divided into halves, the capacity of lthis field is doubled. Y

In order that constructions of listing or tabulat-ing machines according to the invention may be clearly understood, the application, by-way-of-example only, to a tabulator with printing elements controlled by swingin members of the kind described in United States Patent specification Serial No. 1,27 4,528, will now be `described with reference'to the accompanying drawing wherein- Fig. 1 is a perspective view (partly diagrammatic) showing'in elevation the method of controlling a` plurality of printing elementsv from a single normal column on the card,` f Y l F-igf2 is a perspective view vof a part of y the pin Vbox showing the method of offsetting the extension rods'to the stops in the stop basket., Y

' For dealing 'with cards wherein afield comprises five columns divided into two equal sections, as'previouslydescribed, vto eachfield a printing unit comprising ten type bearing members 'IS-numbered respectively 1-10, of

which only Ythe -membersl and 2'a-re shown in Fig. -1`,*wi.ll Ibe employed. v

In the-drawingfonly onefieldf of five columns-is shown on* the `record card-RC, the lines 4of the columns ybeing'designated4 A to Lorespectively, 'and .the 'topf sectionV or half of the field .including 'the lines A to F,. and the lower sectiony or fhalf including the'lines GrV to -Ii,`-afll as previously described.

The Vlines numbered B, C, D, E, F,inthe top half and the lines numbered :I-I, I, J, K, L, lin the'lower half of the field normally represent the- numerals 0, 1, 2', 3, '4 respectively, thesectionalized columns :in each halfj each being adapted for setting, through :eX-l tension v*rodsA ER, fdia-grammatically illustratedby dotted lines in Fig. 1, corresponding rows of stops S associated with type bearing members TS. The lines-A and/G are for ancillary lperforations Vto obtain a differential interpretation of lperforfations in the other lines of the associated section, and are arranged to actu-v atelcorresponding selective or ancillary 'stops whereby, when :an ancillary perforation occursa sectionalized column =onfthe card, the stops associated 'therewith then Irepresent the numerals 5, 6, 7 ,8., 9.

.Accordinglyze'ach Atype bearing member TS isprovided with twosets of type i, the top set being numbered O, 1, 2, 3, 4, and they bottom set being numbered 5, 6, 7 8, 9', the

fil-rst set gbeingoperated when ancillary perforations '-are--notpresent and the latter when they are.

.'As will beclearly seen with referencer to.

-1,-eac'h normal column of the card is respectively ,divided into .two -sectionalized columns-with five places forkpossible .holes representing numerals, and one place for an ancillary hole in each, each sectionalized column having a corresponding row of siX stops including the ancillary stop, the numeral stops each having an indication as to what numerals they represent.

Thus, to each normal column, two type bearing members are provided, thereby doubling the capacity of the column.

Associated with and controlling eachmemlberTS is a spring controlled swinging memin@ elements TS. Swinging of the members AS is :also Veffected and: controlled Yby the springs SSy in' a similar manner to 'that as described in the United States Patent Specification Serial No. 1,245,502'above referred to'.`

In order that the sensing pins S'P corresponding to the lines B, C, D, VE, F may operate Vthe members TS 'numbered respectively 1, 3, 5, 7, 9 of the -unitand that thev sensingpins SPcorresponding tothe perforar tions in the lines `H,'I, J, K, VL'may control' the swinging members AS -of the printing members TSV `numbered respectively 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, it is preferred toconne'ct the lsensing. pins corresponding to thek 'perforations in the flower half ofthefield :in normal manner to the stops S corresponding to the members. TS numbered 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and to'foffset the extension rodsERactuated bythe sensing pins corresponding to the upper half ofthe field to actuate the members TS numbered 1, 3, 5, '7, 9, as will Abe clearly-seen from. Fig. 2. y Y

In Fig. 2, only two columns of' stops are shownrespectively corresponding to members' TS numbered 1 and 2, and associated with a single normal column of sensing pins SP, the extension rods ER connected to the sensing pins in the lines I-I, I', J, K, L leading directly tothe stops in column numbered 2, and the extension rods' connected to the sensing pins on the lines B, C, D, E, F having oset portions OS for leading them to the stops in column numbered -1. v

The means lfor modifying the movement of the members TS produced by actuating the stops S aforesaid so as to obtain thedifferential interpretation thereof, comprises selective or ancillary sensing'pins SSP correspondingto-the llines A 4and G on 4the card, the sensingvpins SSP in the liner A sensing perforations in the upper part ofthe field and the sensing pins SSP ino-the line G sensing perforations in the lower half ofthe iield, these pins SSP being connected by eX- tension rods ER to the supplementary ancillary stops SSS in the associated columns.

In a similar manner as the other sensing pins in the columns associated therewith, the extension rods ER for the sensing pins SSP in the line A are offset, and those corresponding to line G are connected direct, as will be clearly seen from Fig. 2.

Each pair of members AS and TS are normally connected together by means of a latch LL, the construction being similar to that described in United States Patent specification Serial No. 1,274,528 and release o-f the latch permitting the member TS to swing forwardly under the action of the spring SS until the abutment AA engages the end of the slot SL when the second set of type t will be in a position for operation upon the member AS being actuated.

The latches LL are actuated by actuators AM formed integral with the supplementary stops SSS, the latter extending up through the stop basket, as explained in the United States Patent specification Serial No. 1,274,- 528 above referred to, so that when a supplementary stop is raised the actuator AM lifts the associated latch LL to free the members TS, and thereby permit of the second set of type t thereon being positioned. In F ig. l the type bearing member numbered 2 is sho-wn with its second set o-f type t in position, and with the heel of the member AS abutting the second stop in the associated column, so that the type numbered 6 is set adjacent the printing line onV the platen P.

Restoration of the members AS and TS subsequent to actuation may be effected in any well known manner, such as described in either of the British Patents hereinbefore referred to, the latches LL being held engaging the abutment AA under the action of the spring LS each having one end connected to the associated member T'S and the other end to a pivoted catch CH engaging the latch LL.

Thus, for any one column in the iield there are two sets of sensing pins SP and a stop pin SSP ancillary to the sensing pins, which modifies the movement of the corresponding printing element derived from the operation of the said sensing pins SP.

Ey such an arrangement it is possible to print from each column in the eld two numbers each of which can be any of the numerals between O and 9.

Accordingly, it will be seen that by constructions according to the present invention, a plurality of printing elements can be actuated from a single column and consequentially the usefulness of the column is multiplied and the capacity of the machine consequentially increased.

Alternatively, stops and actuating means for the latch as described in United States Patent specification Serial No. 1,274,528may be actuated electrically as will be well vunderstood in theart. f Y i It will `be seen that by a preferred construction according to the present invention a standard tabulator may be readily adapted to Yfunction`.w ith increased capacity as, one y having a plurality of type bearing members each associated with a settable `controlling swinging member, of groups of settable stops for determining the movement of the swinging members at each operation of the ma,- ch'ine, said groups of stopseach corresponding to a predetermined section of la card column, ancillary stops to said groups vfor controlling the position of the type bearing members with respect to the swinging controlling members, special sensing members in the analyser for actuating said ancillary stops and-means for actuating stopsin a plurality of groups from a single column of sensing members correspondingtov a` card column in the analyser.

Y 2. A listing, tabulating or .like statistical machine, comprising in combination a .plurality oftype bearing members, aplurality of settable controlling swinging members each associated with and controlling the setting of a type bearing member; an analyser, means for setting a plurality of swinging members from a single column in the analyser, and mea-ns for obtaining differential settings of thetype bearing members for each setting of the associated controlling swinging members. l l

8. A listing, tabulating or like statistical machine, comprising in combination with an,

analyser and a plurality of combined type bearing elements and swinging controlling elements therefor, greater than the number of columns'of sensing members in the analyser, of means for actuating at will the surplus elements from the sensing columns selectively, and means for differentially control ling the setting of any type bearing element with respect to its associated swinging controlling element for each sensing position in the associated column.

4. A listing, tabulating or like statistical machine, comprising the combination with printing mechanism including type bearing elements respectively controlled by settable swinging controlling elements of analysing mechanism in which each column of sensing members is sectionalized, means for settin a predetermined swinging controlling mem er from each section and ancillary sensing means ico to eachl section for differentially controlling the position :of the. respective type bearing elements withrespect to the associated swinging controlling elements to obtainzdiiferential interpretation of each `sensing position in a section.

`5. .Ina listing, tabulating or like statistical machine, the combination with printing mechanism including type bearing elements respectively controlled by settable swinging controlling elements of a stop basket, including a row of stops'for each swinging element, a ,pin box analyser ofY which each column comprises sensing pins less in number than the rows of stops, a connection box including normal Vand oset wiring between the rows of stops and the columns of sensing pins whereby a plurality of type bearing elements maybe operated from a single column in the 'i analyser and lmeans for differentially controlling they position of the type bearingelements with respect to the associated swinging controlling elements to obtain differential interpretations of each sensing position.

6; In a listing, tabulatingor like statistical machine' vthe combination with printing mechanism including type bearing elements respectively controlled by settable swinging controlling'elements of a stop basket, including'a row ofvstops foreach swinging member, a pin box analyser, of which each column of sensing pins is sectionalized, the number of sections corresponding to the number of rows of stops, a connection box including normal and-offset wiring, the normal wiring proceeding between one section of a column and a rowlof stops, Aand the oliset wiring between another section of said column and-a row ofV stops, whereby a plurality of type bearing elements may be operated from a single column lin the analyser, and ancillary sensingy means-toeach section for differentially controlling the position of the respectiveV type bearing'elements with respect to the associf ated'swinging controlling elements to obtain differential interpretation of each sensing position.- y

In ytestimony whereof I aiiix my si nature. LESLIE ERNEST BROUG AM.

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