US2153182A - Record controlled machine - Google Patents

Description

April 4, 1939. GRAY 2,153,182

RECORD CONTROLLED MACHINE Filed May 11, 1955 2 Sheets-Shes: l

INVENTOR AFTORNEY April 4, 1939. A. E. GRAY 2,153,182

RECORD CONTROLLED MACHINE Filed May 11, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG.2Q

INVENTOR fin,

AT'ToRNEY Patented Apr. 4, 1939 UNITED STATES 2,153,182 RECORD CONTROLLED MACHINE Alvin E. Gray, Binghamton, N. Y., assignor to 7 International Business Machines Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application May 11, 1935, Serial No. 20,919

6 Claims.

This invention relates to paper feeding mechanisms such as are used in accounting machines, particularly record controlled accounting and statistical machines.

The primary object of the invention is to provide novel means for controlling line-spacing and paper feeding operations.

Another object is to provide means whereby the records which control the operation of record controlled accounting and statistical machines also variably control the paper feeding and line spacing operations of the machine.

A further object is to provide-means controlled by the records for suppressing paper feeding and line spacing operations.

Still another object is to provide means controlled by the records for causing paper feeding and line spacing operations to be effected for certain items represented by records and not for other items.

A specific object is ,to provide means controlled by a special designation in a controlling record for suppressing line spacing operation temporarily.

Another specific object is to provide means whereby the spacing of items may be effected irregularly under control of the records in accordance with designations in the records.

Various other objects, advantages, and features will be specifically pointed out in the fol-' lowing description and claims or will be apparent from a study of saiddescription and claims and the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is an elevation of the. paper spacing mechanism.

Fig. 2 is a. wiring diagram.

The drawings illustrate the present invention as incorporated in a machine like the one described in Patent-No.-1,944,66'7, issued January 23, 1934 to John Royden Peirce. It will be. un-

derstood', however, that the present invention may be used in other machines without alteration in principle as thou-embodiment hereinafter to be described is purely illustrative in nature.

Fig. 1 illustrates the paper feeding mechanism described in the above patent. This paper feeding mechanism, or line-spacing mechanism, as it is usually called, is' arranged to advance the sheet or strip on which the type bars make their impressions as an accompaniment to each item 'and'total printing operation as described in the p tent. j

The numeral 10 designates the usual platen which supports the record sheet 'or strip and cooperates with type bars II and printing harnmers I; to effect printing of numerals and letters as described in the patent. The platen I0 is mounted on platen shaft l3 which is rotatably mounted in the usual paper carriage (not shown) Mounted on shaft I3 is a line-spacing ratchet l4 arranged to rotate the platen Ill when actuated by a feed pawl Hi. The latter is pivotally mounted on an arm (not shown) which is pivoted on shaft l3 and has a pin and slot connection to an arm IS. The arm i6 is secured by an adjustable connection toa shaft ll journaled in the paper carriage. Secured to the ends of shaft I! are two arms like i8 which support a cross rod l9, shaft l'l, arms l8, and rod I9 thus forming a bail rockably mounted in the paper carriage.

Obviously, rocking of'this bail in a counterclockwise direction (Fig. 1) will cause pawl i5 to rotate the ratchet l4 and hence platen ill in a clockwise direction and thereby line space the record sheet or strip.

The amount of movement impartedto ratchet I4 is limited in a forward direction by a block 20 fixed to the carriage frame. This block has a tendency to force pawl I5 toward the center of shaft l3 and thereby not only limits movement of the pawl in a forward direction, but also prevents overthrow of the platen due to inertia.

The pawl I5 is spring urged into contact with a flange or shroud 2| which can be selectively set circiunferentially of ratchet I 4 by means of a finger piece or lever 22 of which the shroud is part. Thus, the point at which pawl l5 engages ratchet l4 and, hence, the amount of line spacing movement imparted to the platen can be regulated by hand in a well known way. Conveniently, the lever or finger piece 22 may be set by hand in either of two positions to enable single and double line spacing to be effected by an invariable movement of-the bail comprising elements l1, l8, l9.

Pivotally mounted on the framework of the machine, which slidably supports the paper carriage, is an arm 23 slotted at its free end to embrace rod l9. By this connection the paper carriage may be moved transversely of the type bars ll without disturbing the connection betweenarm 23 and the bail I|l8-l9.

Rigidly connected to arm 23 is a second arm 24 extending horizontally and connected by a link 25 to an arm 26 also pivotally mounted in the framework of the machine. Rigidly connected to arm 26 is a downwardly extending arm 21 normally held against a stop pin 28 by means of a spring 29. A link 301s pivoted to arm 21 and is urged by a spring 3lso as to tend to engage with a pin 32 carried by a restoring bell crank 33 pivoted on a stud 34.

Bell crank 33 co-operates with a restoring disc 35 secured to a shaft 38 which rotates continuously at the rate of one revolution per card cycle of the machine. Disc 35 has two pins 31a, 31b on opposite sides of shaft 36.

Normally movement of link 30 downwardly into contact with pin 32 is prevented by a latch 38 which-engages a shoulder formed in the link as in Fig. 1, latch 38 being held in this position by a spring 39. Secured to latch 38 is the armature of an eiectro-magnet PFM hereinafter to be termed the paper feed magnet. When the latter is energized, link is released and is drawn by gravity and spring 3| downwardly into contact with pin 32.

Link 30 has an L-shaped slot 40 into the horizontal part of which projects a pin 4| carried by one arm of a three-armedI lever 42 also pivoted on stud 34 adjacent bell-crank 33. One arm of lever 42 carries a roller engaging a double-lobed cam 43 secured to shaft 56 adjacent disc 35. A spring 44 has the effect of holding the roller on lever 42 in contact with cam 43 and also holds lever 33 in the path of pins 31a, 31b. Since shaft 36 is running continuously, it is obvious that pin '4I will oscillate in the horizontal part of slot 40 twice for each revolution of shaft 36.

When magnet PM is energized, latch 38 is drawn to the right releasing link 30 which is then urged downwardly by its spring 3| with the result that pin 4| will enter the vertical part of slot 40 when said pin reaches the position opposite to that of Fig. 1, thereby coupling link an and lever 42 together.

The pin 4| will now move to the left, driving link 30 in the same direction, and rocking arm 21 to the left. This causes link 25 to move down- 7 wardly rocking arms 23, 24 clockwise and-bai1 I'|I8I9 counterclockwise, thereby, through feed pawl I5, rotating ratchet I4 and platen I0 clockwise one, two, or three line spaces according to the setting of finger piece 22.

Pin 4| then moves back to its extreme righthand position thereby positively restoring link 30 and. parts actuated thereby to their normal positions. When pin 4| reaches its right-hand position, one of the pins 31a, 31b engages the bell crank 53 and rocks the latter clockwise to lift link 30 and disengage pin 4| from the vertical part of slot 40 and permitting latch 38 to relatch the link 30 in its normal position. An armature knock ofl? lever "a isoperated by the link 30 in its vertical movement to positively force latch 38 into latching engagement with link III in case residual magnetism should be strong enough to prevent springls from-moving latch 38 into latching engagement with link 30 Fig. 2 is a portion of the wiring diagram of the machine described in Patent No. 1,944,667 with the circuits rearranged slightly for compactness and to facilitate tracing of circuits. The letters DM refer to the driving motor which operates the accounting machine. While'the machine is in use this motor drives shaft 36 continuously through connections described in said patent.

The paper feed magnet PFM is connected in a series circuit between line wires WI, W2 which comprises the coil of said manget, contacts B of a double coil relay RI, cam contacts P6, and contacts M13 or the minor control-relay, or switch S211 the latter is closed. When switch S2 is closed line spacing is efl'ected after minor totals but, it open, line spacing is prevented after minor totals. As the automatic group control is not directly involved in the embodiment of the invention described herein and, as only item line spacing is involved, it will be assumed for convenience that switch S2 is closed. The upper coil of relay RI is connected to line wire WI through a fuse and to a plug socketPSI through cam contacts CF8, while the other coil of said relay hole readings of the pins which sense the lower field of the cards into timed electrical impulses corresponding in value to the hole combinations punched in the ,lower fields of the record cards. commutators 45, 46, correspond to commutators I22, I23 of Patent No. 1,944,667. Their construction and operation are fully described in the above patent and need not be treated in detail herein. It will be understood that when any given column of the records has a specified combination of holes, say the combination representing anarbitrary numeral or letter, a circuit will be established through the pair of commutators 45, 46 corresponding to that column at the point in the cycle corresponding to the value represented.

Purely for convenience it will be assumed that when the combination of holes representing the value 0" appears in a given column of predetermined cards, line spacing operations are to be suppressed.

At this point it is desired to point out that for simplicity only the commutators 45, 4B and plug sockets PS2 associated with thelower field of the cards have been shown in Fig. 2, but if desired control may be effected from the upper field merely by plugging to one of the plug sockets associated with such field. Or if desired, letter hole combinations might be used to effect the control instead of numeral hole combinations. For instance, the machinecan be arranged to suppress paper spacing when say, :the combination of holes representing the letter K is punched in a predetermined column of the upper field.

Cam contacts CF8, CF9, like others similarly designated CF? in the patent, are operative to open or close circuits only while cards are being fed by virtue of the energization of card feed clutch magnet CFM while contacts P6 are operative only when printing operations are being carried out requiring that print clutch magnet BCM be. energized. It will be understood hereinafter that both of these magnets are energized and that the machine is adjusted for listing all items on the cards. Under these circumstances, cam contacts P6 close before each item is printed and, provided contacts B of relay RI are closed, establish a circuit through magnet PFM after about 65 of rotation of the shaft 26 from its normal stopping point, thus causing the mechanism shown in Fig. 1 to line space the record sheet or strip before the item is printed.

Contacts CF8 are timed to close for a very short period at the point in the cycle where normally a 0 impulse wouldbe emitted by the pair of commutators 45, 46, corresponding to a column of the cards in which a 0" is punched. In the machine described in the cited patent 0 impulses are emitted at the point where of rotation of shaft 36 has been completed, that is, 180 after the card cycle has commenced.

' Cam contacts CFB are timed to close at the same .time as contacts CFB but to remain closed until at least the 4 point of the next card cycle which corresponds to 108 of rotation of shaft 36.

It'will be assumed that certain of the record cards for which paper spacing is to be suppressed are designated 0 in one of the columns of the lower field, which column has been setapart for and on the same line.

special control purposes and will be unpunched in cards for which paper spacing is not to be suppressed. With the system. of code hole combinations disclosed in the cited patent the value 0 is represented by a single hole in the A position of the selected column of the lower field.

Plug socket PSI is connected by a plug wire 41 to the plug socket PS2 corresponding to the column in which the 0 hole appears. The machine operates as described in the cited patent to list and accumulate items and before each item is printed magnet PFM will be energized as described above and cause the record sheet to be line spaced, provided a 0 hole is not present in any of the cards.

If a card is analyzed having a hole in the}. index-point position to designate zero in the column set aside for special control purposes, a circuit will be set up by commutators 45, 46 at the 0 point in the cycle as follows: Line wire WI,

fuse, upper coil of. relay RI, contacts CFB (closed momentarily at the 0 point), plug wire 41, commutators 45, 46, cam contacts CF3, and contacts CI2 (closed by card levers), to line wire W2. Relay RI closes its contacts A and sets up a holding circuit for itself from line wire WI. fuse, lower coil of relay RI, contacts A of said .relay, and contacts CF9 to line wire W2. Contacts B of relay RI interrupt the circuit through magnet PFM which remains open until after contacts P6 close momentarily during the following card cycle.

It will be seen that the effect of the 0" designation in any of the cards is to prevent the paper feed operation from taking place between the card having such "0 designation and the preceding card with the result that an item on the latter will be printed on the same line as the item printed from the 0 designated card.

This suppression of normal paper feed is advantageous under certain conditions. For example, suppose a card designating a debit item is preceded by a companion card designating a credit item with the debit item punched in a given section of the debit card and the credit item punched in another section of the credit card. By placing a "0 hole in the debit card,

the same line. In a machine equipped with a field selection device of known form, the items can be punched in the same field but printed in different amount columns of the record sheet Either of these methods will suffice to prevent overprinting the debit with the credit item.

' The foregoing is merely illustrative of one way in which the invention may be usefully employed.

During the operation of the machine the cam lobe 43a controls the line spacing operation for items while cam lobe 43b is effective during total printing operations to cause an extra spacing of the sheet after totals as explained in the cited I patent.

RI and has associated with it cam contacts CFG,

CF'I and a plug socket PS3 .corresponding to contacts (3P8, CFS and plug socket PSI, and similarly connected to line wires WI, W2. Contacts CFB close momentarily at .0 in each card feeding cycle while cam contacts CF'I also close at this point but remain closed until after cam contacts P5 close, cam contacts P5 close after about 234 of rotation of shaft 36 and reopen after approximately 261 for rotation.

Assuming plug wire 41 has been inserted in plug socket PS3 instead of plug socket PSI, a card punched 0 in a given column will cause relay R2 to be energized in exactly the same fashion as relayRI was energized with the result that contacts A and B of relay R2 will close.

' Contacts A establish a holding circuit for relay R2 which lasts until contacts P5 have closed during the same card cycle. Contacts P5 close shortly after the pin 31a has operated lever 33 to restore link 30 to latching position subsequent to a normal item line spacing operation, with the result that magnet PFM is energized a second time during the cycle in which the 0 punched card is analyzed. Since the printing of such item takes place during the following cycle, it follows that two line spacing operations will take place before the item is printed as during the next cycle magnet PFM will be again energized in the normal way by closure of contacts P6. The circuit which causes the extra line spacing operation extends from line wire WI, magnet PFM,

contacts B of relay RI, contacts P5 and contacts.

B of relay R2 to line wire W2. Cam contacts CFI replace contacts 271 of Patent No. 1,944,667 and are closed only during card feeding cycles for a brief, per od before the end of each card feeding cycle. They are in closed condition at 0 but open immediately the card feeding cycle starts. If the cycle is a total cycle, however, contacts CFI remain closed, since cards are not fed during total cycles, and the closure of contacts P5 during such total cycle causes an extra line space after the total is printed, the circuit being completed through contacts CFI. Contacts CFI ave exactly the same eifect as contacts 271 of Patent No. 1,944,667 in conjunction with contacts P5. I

It is sometimes desirable to double space all items except those represented by cards which are identified by a special designation, say a 0 hole, and for this purpose relay R3 is provided. This relay has associated with it a plug socket PS4 and cam contacts CFl, CF5 and operates the same fashion as relays RI, R2. Assuming that plug wire 41 is inserted in plug socket PS4, 9. card punched "0 will energize relay R3 and a holding circuit will. be established for such relay through contacts CF5. With switch S3 closed, contacts B of relay R3 will open and prevent a circuit from being established by contacts P5. On the other hand, in the case of all cards not punched 0 relay R3 will remain deenergized and, besides the normal line spacing operation caused by closure of contacts P6, a second operation will be effected by contacts P5 by a circuit extending through contacts B of relay R3 and switch S3. The energization of relay R3 thus has the effect of causing a single line spacing between a card punched 0" and the preceding card not so punched.

Since contacts B of relay R3 are normally closed, this double line spacing operation cannot be prevented merely by omitting to plug the relay R3 to a plug socket PS2. Were switch S3 not provided to open the circuit through magnet PM, it would be impossible to obtain single spacing by setting lever 22 to the single spacing posi tion as all items would be double spaced. By placing the switch S3 in series with contacts B of relay R3, it is possible to render the double line spacing operation controlling means inoperative when single spacing is desired.

It is possible to obtain quadruple line spacing between all items merely by closing switch S3 and .etting lever 22 to double spacing. With relay R3 not plugged to a plug socket PSI, two impulses will be emitted to magnet PFM during each cycle; one through contacts P5, contacts B of relay R3, and switch S3; and the other through While the invention has been shown and described in connection with the machine described in the patent, which uses a pin-box to sense the cards while they are at rest, it is easily possible to apply the invention to a machine in which brushes sense the holes in conventional Hollerith cards while the cards are moving. In present commercial embodiments of the machine described in Patent No. 1,944,667 the holes in the cards are sensed by two rows of brushes and in such machines it is contemplated that plug sockets PSI, PS3, PS4 be plugged to one of the plug socketsassociated with the lower brushes and the timing of cam contacts CF to CF9 changed to close at the "11 position. As an illustration, with this arrangement an 11" hole in a given column of'the Hollerith card will energize relay RI, contacts CF9, as before, remaining closed until the 4" point of the next cycle.

With this last arrangement, the suppression of the paper feed will take place after an item is printed as inpresent commercial'embodiments of the Peirce patent the items are printed during the cycle in which the cards are analyzed by the lower brushes. By connecting contacts. CF! directly to line wi-re WI and by connecting the common connection between the coils of relay Rl directly to line wire W2, that is, reversing the connections shown in Fig. 2, and by plugging plug socket PSI to the plug socket associated with the proper upper brush, the line spacing operation will be suppressed before the item on an "11 punched card is printed.

In the case of relays R2, R3 plug sockets PS3, PS4 will be plugged directly to the lower brushes and the extra line spacing operation obtained by relay R2 or the line spacing changed from double to single under control of relay RI, will take place after the item on an I I punched card is printed instead of, as described above, before the item is printed. If the connections of relays R2, R3 and cam contacts CF! and CF! are reversed, in the manner explained above, the relays R2, R3 can be plugged to the upper brushes and the effect will be the same as in Fig. 2, that is, the required operations will be effected before the item on an- "11 punched card is printed.

The above remarks explaining how the machine reacts when incorporated in commercial types of the machine described in the Peirce patent are intended not only to show that the present invention is flexible in any machine in which itis incorporated but to show that the invention is readily adaptable to other machines than the one described in the Peirce patent.

While there has been shown and described and pointed out the fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to a single embodiment, it will be understood that various modifications, omissions, substitutions, and changes in the form and details of the device illustrated and in its mode of operation may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention. It is the intention therefore to be limited only as indicated by the scope of the following claims.

Vifhat is claimed is as follows:

1. In a machine controlled by accounting and statistical records, a rotatable platen adapted to support a record sheet on which items are recorded by the machine under control of said records, means to automatically rotate the platen to line space each item from the others, and means controlled by designations in predetermined records for suppressing line spacing with respect to certain items.

2. In a machine controlled by successively fed records, means to sense data designations in said records, means controlled by said sensing means for recording on a record sheet items designated in the records, line spacing mechanism automatically operative as an accompaniment to each item recording operation to space the items at regular intervals on the record sheet, and means controlled by a special designation in a record for temporarily suppressing operation of the line spacing mechanism whereby to cause the items on several records to be recorded on the same line.

3. In a machine controlled by successively presented accounting and statistical records, item recording mechanism operative to list items in vertical columns on a record sheet, means automatically operative as an incident to each item recording operation to feed the record sheet a predetermined extent between recording operations, and means controlled by a designation in one of said records for controlling the automatic feeding means to reduce the amount of feed produced by the feeding means with respect to the record having said designation.

4. In a machine controlled by successively presented records, automatic line spacing mechanism operative to space items at regular intervals on a record sheet, and means controlled by designations in said records for preventing operation of the line spacing mechanism with respect to records having predetermined designations.

5. In a machine controlled by accounting and statistical records, printing mechanism, a rotatable platen associated with said mechanism and adapted to support a record sheet in position to receive item imprints from the printing mechanism, means to rotate the platen to space the imprints apart, and means controlled by certain of the records for preventing rotation of the platen with respect to certain item imprints.

6. In a, machine controlled by accounting and statistical records, recording mechanism, means for spacing a record sheet relative to the recording means whereby each recorded item is spaced uniformly from the others, and means controlled by designations in the records for reducing the spacing for predetermined records.

ALVIN E. GRAY.

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