Unit record equipment
Encyclopedia
Before the advent of electronic computers, data processing was performed using electromechanical devices called unit record equipment, electric accounting machines (EAM) or tabulating machine
s. Unit record machines were as ubiquitous in industry and government in the first half of the twentieth century as computers became in the second half. They allowed large volume, sophisticated, data-processing tasks to be accomplished long before modern (electronic) computers were invented. This data processing was accomplished by processing decks of punched cards through various unit record machines in a carefully choreographed progression. This progression, or flow, from machine to machine was often planned and documented with drawings that used standardized symbols for the various machine functions, drawings that today would be called flowchart
s. The machines all had high-speed mechanical feeders to process from around one hundred cards per minute, to 2,000 cards per minute, sensing punched holes with either electrical or optical sensors. The operation of many machines was directed by the use of a removable control panel
. Initially all machines were constructed using electromechanical counters and relays. Electronic components were introduced on some machines beginning in the late 1940s.
The largest supplier of unit record equipment was IBM
and this article largely reflects IBM practice and terminology.
invented the recording of data on a medium that could then be read by a machine. Prior uses of machine readable media had been for control (Automaton
s, Piano roll
s, looms
, ...), not data. "After some initial trials with paper tape, he settled on punched card
s..." To process these punched cards, first known as "Hollerith cards" he invented the tabulator
, and the keypunch machines. These three inventions were the foundation of the modern information processing industry. His machines, called unit record machines, used mechanical relay
s (and solenoid
s) to increment mechanical counters. Hollerith's method was used in the 1890 census and the completed results were ... finished months ahead of schedule and far under budget. The company he founded, the Tabulating Machine Company (1896), was one of four companies that merged to form Computing Tabulating Recording Corporation (CTR), later renamed IBM. IBM manufactured and marketed a variety of unit record machines for creating, sorting, and tabulating punched cards, even after expanding into computers in the late 1950s.
Following the 1900 census a permanent Census bureau was formed. The new bureau's contract disputes with Hollerith led to James Powers, an employee of the Census Bureau, developing new machines for part of the 1910 census processing. Powers left the Census Bureau in 1911, with rights to patents for the machines he developed, and formed the Powers Accounting Machine Company. In 1927 Power's company merged with the Remington Typewriter Company and Rand Kardex Company to form Remington Rand
Punched card technology soon developed into a powerful tool for business data-processing with a variety of general-purpose unit record machines from these two competing companies (a duopoly
).
By the 1950s the IBM card and IBM unit record machines had become ubiquitous in industry and government. The warning often printed on cards that were to be individually handled, Do not fold, spindle or mutilate, became a motto for the post-World War II
era (even though many people had no idea what spindle
meant).
With the development of computers in the 1950s, punched cards found new uses as their principal input media. Punched cards were used not only for data, but for a new application - computer programs, see: Computer programming in the punched card era. Unit record machines therefore remained in computer installations in a supporting role;
keypunching, reproducing card decks, and printing.
Many organizations were loath to alter systems that were working, so production unit record installations remained in operation long after computers offered faster and more cost effective solutions. Specialized uses of punched cards, including toll collection, microform
aperture cards, and punched card voting, kept unit record equipment in use into the twenty-first century. Another reason was cost or availability of equipment: in 1965 an IBM 1620
computer did not have a printer as standard equipment, so it was normal in such installations to punch printed output onto cards, using two cards per line if required and print these cards on an IBM 407
accounting machine and then throw the cards away.
. For the IBM 80-column card, introduced in 1928, each column represented a single digit, letter or special character. Data values consisted of a field of adjacent columns. An employee number might occupy 5 columns; hourly pay rate, 3 columns; hours actually worked in a given week, 2 columns; department number 3 columns; project charge code 6 columns and so on.
IBM Stub cards or Short cards required unit record equipment with interchangeable feeds. For 51-column stub cards such feeds were available for the IBM 077, 080, 082, 402, 403, 419, 514, 519, and 523. Other stub cards could be read only by the IBM 514 and 519.
Original data was usually punched into cards by workers, often women, known as keypunch operators. Their work was often checked by a second operator using a verifier machine. Cards were also produced automatically by various unit record machines and later by computer output devices.
An activity in many unit record shops was sorting
decks of punched cards into the order necessary for the next processing step. Sorters, like the IBM 80 series Card Sorters
, sorted input cards into one of 13 pockets depending on which hole was punched in a selected column. The 13th pocket was for blanks and rejects. Sorting an input deck into ascending sequence on a multiple column field, such as an employee number, was done by a radix sort
, bucket sort
, or a combination of the two methods.
s, such as the IBM 407
. A deck was fed through the tabulating machine where, as directed by the control panel, each card could be printed on its own line and/or selected fields from each card could be added to the value of one of several counters. At some signal, say a card with a special punch indicating it was a master card, one or more summary lines could be produced containing the summed values.
Card punching machines included:
Later "document origination machines" such as the IBM 519
could perform all of the above operations.
The IBM 549 Ticket Converter read data from Kimball tag
s, copying that data to punched cards.
.
Numeric Interpreter and the IBM 557
Alphabetic Interpreter.
Inventors were Joseph C. Bolt of Boston & Curt I. Johnson; Worcester, Mass. assors to the Tabulating Machine Co., Endicott, NY. The Distance Control Device received a US patent in Aug.9,1932: pat# 1,870,230. Letters from IBM talk about filling in Canada in 9/15/1931.
See Punched tape
.
The operation of most unit record equipment (except for sorters) was directed by a control panel
. The panels had a rectangular array of hubs organized into groups. Wires with metal ferrules at each end were placed in the hubs to make connections. The output from some card column positions might connected to a tabulating machine's counter, for example. A shop would typically have separate control panels for each task a machine was used for.
Note: Control panel wiring is sometimes referred to as Programming. That use, in the context of data processing, to suggest a link with computer programming
, is an anachronism
; the projection of a modern idea on the past.
Tabulating machine
The tabulating machine was an electrical device designed to assist in summarizing information and, later, accounting. Invented by Herman Hollerith, the machine was developed to help process data for the 1890 U.S. Census...
s. Unit record machines were as ubiquitous in industry and government in the first half of the twentieth century as computers became in the second half. They allowed large volume, sophisticated, data-processing tasks to be accomplished long before modern (electronic) computers were invented. This data processing was accomplished by processing decks of punched cards through various unit record machines in a carefully choreographed progression. This progression, or flow, from machine to machine was often planned and documented with drawings that used standardized symbols for the various machine functions, drawings that today would be called flowchart
Flowchart
A flowchart is a type of diagram that represents an algorithm or process, showing the steps as boxes of various kinds, and their order by connecting these with arrows. This diagrammatic representation can give a step-by-step solution to a given problem. Process operations are represented in these...
s. The machines all had high-speed mechanical feeders to process from around one hundred cards per minute, to 2,000 cards per minute, sensing punched holes with either electrical or optical sensors. The operation of many machines was directed by the use of a removable control panel
Plugboard
A plugboard, or control panel , is an array of jacks, or hubs, into which patch cords can be inserted to complete an electrical circuit. Control panels were used to direct the operation of some unit record equipment...
. Initially all machines were constructed using electromechanical counters and relays. Electronic components were introduced on some machines beginning in the late 1940s.
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
and this article largely reflects IBM practice and terminology.
History
Beginnings
In the 1880s Herman HollerithHerman Hollerith
Herman Hollerith was an American statistician who developed a mechanical tabulator based on punched cards to rapidly tabulate statistics from millions of pieces of data. He was the founder of one of the companies that later merged and became IBM.-Personal life:Hollerith was born in Buffalo, New...
invented the recording of data on a medium that could then be read by a machine. Prior uses of machine readable media had been for control (Automaton
Automaton
An automaton is a self-operating machine. The word is sometimes used to describe a robot, more specifically an autonomous robot. An alternative spelling, now obsolete, is automation.-Etymology:...
s, Piano roll
Piano roll
A piano roll is a music storage medium used to operate a player piano, piano player or reproducing piano. A piano roll is a continuous roll of paper with perforations punched into it. The peforations represent note control data...
s, looms
Jacquard loom
The Jacquard loom is a mechanical loom, invented by Joseph Marie Jacquard in 1801, that simplifies the process of manufacturing textiles with complex patterns such as brocade, damask and matelasse. The loom is controlled by punched cards with punched holes, each row of which corresponds to one row...
, ...), not data. "After some initial trials with paper tape, he settled on punched card
Punched card
A punched card, punch card, IBM card, or Hollerith card is a piece of stiff paper that contains digital information represented by the presence or absence of holes in predefined positions...
s..." To process these punched cards, first known as "Hollerith cards" he invented the tabulator
Tabulating machine
The tabulating machine was an electrical device designed to assist in summarizing information and, later, accounting. Invented by Herman Hollerith, the machine was developed to help process data for the 1890 U.S. Census...
, and the keypunch machines. These three inventions were the foundation of the modern information processing industry. His machines, called unit record machines, used mechanical relay
Relay
A relay is an electrically operated switch. Many relays use an electromagnet to operate a switching mechanism mechanically, but other operating principles are also used. Relays are used where it is necessary to control a circuit by a low-power signal , or where several circuits must be controlled...
s (and solenoid
Solenoid
A solenoid is a coil wound into a tightly packed helix. In physics, the term solenoid refers to a long, thin loop of wire, often wrapped around a metallic core, which produces a magnetic field when an electric current is passed through it. Solenoids are important because they can create...
s) to increment mechanical counters. Hollerith's method was used in the 1890 census and the completed results were ... finished months ahead of schedule and far under budget. The company he founded, the Tabulating Machine Company (1896), was one of four companies that merged to form Computing Tabulating Recording Corporation (CTR), later renamed IBM. IBM manufactured and marketed a variety of unit record machines for creating, sorting, and tabulating punched cards, even after expanding into computers in the late 1950s.
Following the 1900 census a permanent Census bureau was formed. The new bureau's contract disputes with Hollerith led to James Powers, an employee of the Census Bureau, developing new machines for part of the 1910 census processing. Powers left the Census Bureau in 1911, with rights to patents for the machines he developed, and formed the Powers Accounting Machine Company. In 1927 Power's company merged with the Remington Typewriter Company and Rand Kardex Company to form Remington Rand
Remington Rand
Remington Rand was an early American business machines manufacturer, best known originally as a typewriter manufacturer and in a later incarnation as the manufacturer of the UNIVAC line of mainframe computers but with antecedents in Remington Arms in the early nineteenth century. For a time, the...
Punched card technology soon developed into a powerful tool for business data-processing with a variety of general-purpose unit record machines from these two competing companies (a duopoly
Duopoly
A true duopoly is a specific type of oligopoly where only two producers exist in one market. In reality, this definition is generally used where only two firms have dominant control over a market...
).
Timeline
- 1884: Herman Hollerith files a patent application titled "Art of Compiling Statistics"; granted on January 8, 1889.
- 1890: U.S. Census is tabulated using equipment built by Hollerith
- 1896: Tabulating Machine Company founded by Hollerith
- 1901: Hollerith Automatic Horizontal Sorter
- 1906: Hollerith Type I Tabulator, the first tabulator with an automatic card feed and control panel.
- 1914: CTR produces 2 million punched cards per day.
- 1920: The first CTR printing tabulator.
- 1925: The first IBM horizontal card sorter, the IBM Type 80.
- 1928: The first IBM tabulator that could subtract, the IBM Type IV tabulator. IBM begins its collaboration with Benjamin Wood, Wallace John EckertWallace John EckertWallace John Eckert was an American astronomer, who directed the Thomas J. Watson Astronomical Computing Bureau at Columbia University which evolved into the research division of IBM.-Life:...
and the Statistical Bureau at Columbia University. Leslie ComrieLeslie ComrieLeslie John Comrie was an astronomer and a pioneer in mechanical computation.-Life:Leslie John Comrie was born in Pukekohe , New Zealand, on 15 August 1893....
described the use of punched card equipment for interpolating tables of data. The IBM 80-column card.
- 1930: The Remington Rand 90 column card.... more storage capacity ... alphabetic capability...
- 1931: The first IBM punched card machine that could multiply, the IBM 600 Multiplying Punch. IBMs first alphabetical accounting machine - although not a complete alphabet, the Alphabetic Tabulator Model B was quickly followed by the full alphabet ATC.
- 1931: The term Super Computing Machine is used by the New York WorldNew York WorldThe New York World was a newspaper published in New York City from 1860 until 1931. The paper played a major role in the history of American newspapers...
newspaper to describe the Columbia Difference Tabulator, a one-of-a-kind special purpose tabulator-based machine made for the Columbia Statistical Bureau, a machine so massive it was nicknamed PackardPackardPackard was an American luxury-type automobile marque built by the Packard Motor Car Company of Detroit, Michigan, and later by the Studebaker-Packard Corporation of South Bend, Indiana...
. The Packard attracted users from across the country: “the Carnegie Foundation, Yale, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Ohio State, Harvard, California and Princeton.”
- 1937: The first collator, the IBM 077 Collator By 1937... IBM had 32 presses at work in Endicott, N.Y., printing, cutting and stacking five to 10 million punched cards every day.
- 1940: IBM booklet has photographs and descriptions of their products.
- 1943: IBM had about 10,000 tabulators on rental ... 601 multipliers numbered about 2000 ... keypunch 24,500.
- 1946: The first IBM punched card machine that could divide, the IBM 602, was introduced. Unreliable, it was upgraded to the 602-A (a "602 that worked"... by 1948. The IBM 603 Electronic Multiplier was introduced, ...the first electronic calculator ever placed into production..
- 1948: The IBM 604 Electronic Punch. ... no other calculator of comparable size or cost could match its capability.
- 1949: The IBM 024 Card Punch, 026 Printing Card Punch, 082 Sorter, 403 Accounting machine, 407 Accounting machine, and Card Programmed Calculator (CPC) introduced.
- 1952: Remington Rand 409Remington Rand 409The Remington Rand 409 control panel programmed punched card calculator, designed in 1949, was sold in two models: the UNIVAC 60 and the UNIVAC 120 . The model number referred to the number of decimal digits of vacuum tube memory storage provided for data.The machine was designed in "The Barn", at...
Calculator (aka. UNIVAC 60, UNIVC 120) introduced.
By the 1950s the IBM card and IBM unit record machines had become ubiquitous in industry and government. The warning often printed on cards that were to be individually handled, Do not fold, spindle or mutilate, became a motto for the post-World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
era (even though many people had no idea what spindle
Spindle (stationery)
A spindle is an upright spike used to hold papers waiting for processing. "Spindling" or "spiking" was the act of spearing a paper document onto the spike....
meant).
With the development of computers in the 1950s, punched cards found new uses as their principal input media. Punched cards were used not only for data, but for a new application - computer programs, see: Computer programming in the punched card era. Unit record machines therefore remained in computer installations in a supporting role;
keypunching, reproducing card decks, and printing.
- 1955: IBM produces 72.5 million punched cards per day.
- 1958: The "Series 50", basic accounting machines, was announced. These were modified machines, with reduced speed and/or function, offered for rental at reduced rates. The name "Series 50" relates to a similar marketing effort, the "Model 50", seen in the IBM 1940 product booklet.
- 1960: The IBM 1401IBM 1401The IBM 1401 was a variable wordlength decimal computer that was announced by IBM on October 5, 1959. The first member of the highly successful IBM 1400 series, it was aimed at replacing electromechanical unit record equipment for processing data stored on punched cards...
, internally known in IBM for a time as SPACE for Stored Program Accounting and Calculating Equipment, outperforms three IBM 407s and a 604, while having a much lower rental That functionality combined with the availability of tape drives, accelerated the decline in unit record equipment usage.
- 1960: The IBM 609 Calculator, an improved 608 with core memory. This will be IBMs last punched card calculator.
Many organizations were loath to alter systems that were working, so production unit record installations remained in operation long after computers offered faster and more cost effective solutions. Specialized uses of punched cards, including toll collection, microform
Microform
Microforms are any forms, either films or paper, containing microreproductions of documents for transmission, storage, reading, and printing. Microform images are commonly reduced to about one twenty-fifth of the original document size...
aperture cards, and punched card voting, kept unit record equipment in use into the twenty-first century. Another reason was cost or availability of equipment: in 1965 an IBM 1620
IBM 1620
The IBM 1620 was announced by IBM on October 21, 1959, and marketed as an inexpensive "scientific computer". After a total production of about two thousand machines, it was withdrawn on November 19, 1970...
computer did not have a printer as standard equipment, so it was normal in such installations to punch printed output onto cards, using two cards per line if required and print these cards on an IBM 407
IBM 407
The IBM 407 Accounting Machine, introduced in 1949, was one of a long line of IBM tabulating machines dating back to the days of Herman Hollerith. It was the central component of any unit record equipment shop. In the late 1950s, the 407 was adapted as an input/output device on early computers,...
accounting machine and then throw the cards away.
- 1969: The IBM System/3System/3The IBM System/3 was a low-end business computer aimed at new customers and organizations that still used IBM 1400 series computers or unit record equipment...
, renting for less than $1,000 a month, the ancestor of IBM's current midrange computer product line, aka. minicomputerMinicomputerA minicomputer is a class of multi-user computers that lies in the middle range of the computing spectrum, in between the largest multi-user systems and the smallest single-user systems...
s, was aimed at new customers and organizations that still used IBM 1400 series computers or unit record equipment. It featured a new, smaller, punched card with a 96 column format. Instead of the rectangular punches in the classic IBM card, the new cards had tiny (1 mm), circular holes much like paper tape. By July 1974 more than 25,000 System/3s had been installed.
- 1971: The IBM 129 Card Data Recorder (keypunch and auxiliary on-line card reader/punch) is the last, or among the last, 80-column card unit record product announcements (other than card readersPunched card readerA punched card reader or just card reader is a computer input device used to read data from punched cards. A card punch is a output device that punches holes in cards under computer control...
and card punches attached to computers).
- 1975 Cardamation founded, a U.S. company still supplying punched card equipment and supplies .
Endings
- 1976: The IBM 407 Accounting Machine was withdrawn from marketing.
- 1978: IBM's Rochester plant made its last shipment of the IBM 082, 084, 085, 087, 514, and 548 machines. The System/3 was succeeded by the System/38.
- 1980: The last reconditioning of an IBM 519 Document Originating Punch.
- 1984: The IBM 029 Card Punch, announced in 1964, was withdrawn from marketing.
- 2010: A group from the Computer History MuseumComputer History MuseumThe Computer History Museum is a museum established in 1996 in Mountain View, California, USA. The Museum is dedicated to preserving and presenting the stories and artifacts of the information age, and exploring the computing revolution and its impact on our lives.-History:The museum's origins...
reported that an IBM 402 Accounting Machine and related punched card equipment was still in operation at a filter manufacturing company in Conroe, TexasConroe, TexasConroe is a suburban city 40 miles north of Houston in the gulf coastal plains/piney woods region of southeast Texas.It is the seat of Montgomery County and falls within the metropolitan area.As of the 2000 U.S...
.
Punched cards
The basic unit of data storage was the punched cardPunched card
A punched card, punch card, IBM card, or Hollerith card is a piece of stiff paper that contains digital information represented by the presence or absence of holes in predefined positions...
. For the IBM 80-column card, introduced in 1928, each column represented a single digit, letter or special character. Data values consisted of a field of adjacent columns. An employee number might occupy 5 columns; hourly pay rate, 3 columns; hours actually worked in a given week, 2 columns; department number 3 columns; project charge code 6 columns and so on.
IBM Stub cards or Short cards required unit record equipment with interchangeable feeds. For 51-column stub cards such feeds were available for the IBM 077, 080, 082, 402, 403, 419, 514, 519, and 523. Other stub cards could be read only by the IBM 514 and 519.
Keypunching
Sorting
Sorting algorithm
In computer science, a sorting algorithm is an algorithm that puts elements of a list in a certain order. The most-used orders are numerical order and lexicographical order...
decks of punched cards into the order necessary for the next processing step. Sorters, like the IBM 80 series Card Sorters
IBM 80 series Card Sorters
A major activity in many unit record shops was sorting decks of punch card into the proper order as determined by information punched in the card. The same deck might be sorted differently depending on the processing step...
, sorted input cards into one of 13 pockets depending on which hole was punched in a selected column. The 13th pocket was for blanks and rejects. Sorting an input deck into ascending sequence on a multiple column field, such as an employee number, was done by a radix sort
Radix sort
In computer science, radix sort is a non-comparative integer sorting algorithm that sorts data with integer keys by grouping keys by the individual digits which share the same significant position and value...
, bucket sort
Bucket sort
Bucket sort, or bin sort, is a sorting algorithm that works by partitioning an array into a number of buckets. Each bucket is then sorted individually, either using a different sorting algorithm, or by recursively applying the bucket sorting algorithm. It is a distribution sort, and is a cousin of...
, or a combination of the two methods.
Tabulating
Reports and summary data were generated by accounting or tabulating machineTabulating machine
The tabulating machine was an electrical device designed to assist in summarizing information and, later, accounting. Invented by Herman Hollerith, the machine was developed to help process data for the 1890 U.S. Census...
s, such as the IBM 407
IBM 407
The IBM 407 Accounting Machine, introduced in 1949, was one of a long line of IBM tabulating machines dating back to the days of Herman Hollerith. It was the central component of any unit record equipment shop. In the late 1950s, the 407 was adapted as an input/output device on early computers,...
. A deck was fed through the tabulating machine where, as directed by the control panel, each card could be printed on its own line and/or selected fields from each card could be added to the value of one of several counters. At some signal, say a card with a special punch indicating it was a master card, one or more summary lines could be produced containing the summed values.
Paper handling equipment
For many applications, the volume of fan-fold paper produced by tabulators required other machines, not considered to be unit record machines, to ease paper handling.- A decollator separated multi-part fan-fold paper into individual stacks of one-part fan-fold and removed the carbon paper.
- A burster separated one-part fan-fold paper into individual sheets. For some uses it was desirable to remove the tractor-feed holes on either side of the fan-fold paper. In these cases the form's edge strips were perforated and the burster removed them as well.
Calculating
Card punching
- Gang punch - these would produce a large number of identically punched cards—for example, for inventory tickets.
- Reproducing punch - these could reproduce a deck of cards in its entirety or they might just reproduce selected fields. A payroll master deck might be reproduced at the end of a pay period with the hours worked and net pay fields blank and ready for the next pay period's data. Computer programmers who created their programs in the form of punched card decks used these to make backups.
- Summary punch - these were attached to tabulating machines and could punch new cards with details and totals from the tabulating machine.
- Mark sense reader - these would detect pencil marks on ovals printed on the card and punch the corresponding data values into the card.
Later "document origination machines" such as the IBM 519
IBM 519
The IBM 519 Document-Originating Machine, introduced in 1946, was the last in a series of unit record machines designed for automated preparation of punched cards...
could perform all of the above operations.
The IBM 549 Ticket Converter read data from Kimball tag
Kimball tag
A Kimball tag was a cardboard tag that included both human readable and perforations to support computer processing . A Kimball tag was an early form of stock control label that, like its later successor the barcode, supported back office data processing functions...
s, copying that data to punched cards.
Collating
A collator had two input hoppers and four output pockets. These machines could merge or match card decks based on the control panel's wiring. Collators performed operations comparable to a database joinJoin (SQL)
An SQL join clause combines records from two or more tables in a database. It creates a set that can be saved as a table or used as is. A JOIN is a means for combining fields from two tables by using values common to each. ANSI standard SQL specifies four types of JOINs: INNER, OUTER, LEFT, and RIGHT...
.
Interpreting
An interpreter would print characters equivalent to the values of columns on the card. The columns to be printed could be selected and even reordered, based on the machine's control panel wiring. Later models could print on one of several rows on the card. Unlike keypunches, which printed values directly above each column, interpreters generally used a font that was a little wider than a column and could only print up to 60 characters per row. Typical later models include the IBM 550IBM 550
The IBM 550 numerical interpreter was the first commercial machine made by IBM that read numerical data punched on cards and printed it across the top of each card. The 550 was introduced in 1930....
Numeric Interpreter and the IBM 557
IBM 557
The IBM 557 Alphabetic Interpreter allowed holes in punched cards to be interpreted and the Hollerith punched card characters printed on any row or column, selected by a plugboard control panel. The machine was a synchronous system where brushes would glide over a hole in a punched card and...
Alphabetic Interpreter.
Transmission of punched card data
Electrical transmission of punched card data was invented in the early 1930s. The device was called an Electrical Remote Control of Office Machines and was assigned to IBM.Inventors were Joseph C. Bolt of Boston & Curt I. Johnson; Worcester, Mass. assors to the Tabulating Machine Co., Endicott, NY. The Distance Control Device received a US patent in Aug.9,1932: pat# 1,870,230. Letters from IBM talk about filling in Canada in 9/15/1931.
Processing punched tape
The IBM 046 Tape-to-Card Punch and IBM 047 Tape-to-Card Printing Punch (almost identical, with the exception of the printing mechanism) read data from punched paper tape and punched that data into punched cards. The IBM 063 Card-Controlled Tape Punch read punched cards, punching that data into paper tape.See Punched tape
Punched tape
Punched tape or paper tape is an obsolete form of data storage, consisting of a long strip of paper in which holes are punched to store data...
.
Control panel wiring
Plugboard
A plugboard, or control panel , is an array of jacks, or hubs, into which patch cords can be inserted to complete an electrical circuit. Control panels were used to direct the operation of some unit record equipment...
. The panels had a rectangular array of hubs organized into groups. Wires with metal ferrules at each end were placed in the hubs to make connections. The output from some card column positions might connected to a tabulating machine's counter, for example. A shop would typically have separate control panels for each task a machine was used for.
Note: Control panel wiring is sometimes referred to as Programming. That use, in the context of data processing, to suggest a link with computer programming
Computer programming
Computer programming is the process of designing, writing, testing, debugging, and maintaining the source code of computer programs. This source code is written in one or more programming languages. The purpose of programming is to create a program that performs specific operations or exhibits a...
, is an anachronism
Anachronism
An anachronism—from the Greek ανά and χρόνος — is an inconsistency in some chronological arrangement, especially a chronological misplacing of persons, events, objects, or customs in regard to each other...
; the projection of a modern idea on the past.
See also
- British Tabulating Machine CompanyBritish Tabulating Machine CompanyThe British Tabulating Machine Company was a firm which manufactured and sold Hollerith unit record equipment and other data-processing equipment...
- Fredrik Rosing BullFredrik Rosing BullFredrik Rosing Bull was an Information technology pioneer, known for his works on improved punched card machines....
- Gustav TauschekGustav TauschekGustav Tauschek was an Austrian pioneer of Information technology and developed numerous improvements for punched card-based calculating machines from 1922 to 1945.-Biography:...
- IBM Electromatic Table Printing MachineIBM Electromatic Table Printing MachineThe IBM Electromatic Table Printing Machine was a typesetting-quality printer, consisting of a modified IBM Electromatic Proportional Spacing Typewriter connected to a modified IBM 016 keypunch...
- IBM 632 Accounting MachineIBM 632The IBM 632 was a valve-and-relay driven basic accounting machine, introduced in 1958, that was available in seven different models. It consisted of an IBM Electric typewriter and at least a punched card unit that housed the "electronics" in two gates . Some machines also had a card reader unit...
- IBM 6400 Series
- Leslie ComrieLeslie ComrieLeslie John Comrie was an astronomer and a pioneer in mechanical computation.-Life:Leslie John Comrie was born in Pukekohe , New Zealand, on 15 August 1893....
- List of IBM products
- Powers Accounting Machine CompanyPowers Accounting Machine CompanyPowers Accounting Machine Company was an early 20th century tabulating machine company. It was founded in 1911 in Newark, New Jersey and moved in 1914 to Brooklyn....
- Powers-SamasPowers-SamasPowers-Samas was a British company which sold unit record equipment. The company was in competition with the British Tabulating Machine Company , with which it eventually merged in 1959 to form International Computers and Tabulators...
- Remington RandRemington RandRemington Rand was an early American business machines manufacturer, best known originally as a typewriter manufacturer and in a later incarnation as the manufacturer of the UNIVAC line of mainframe computers but with antecedents in Remington Arms in the early nineteenth century. For a time, the...
- Wallace John EckertWallace John EckertWallace John Eckert was an American astronomer, who directed the Thomas J. Watson Astronomical Computing Bureau at Columbia University which evolved into the research division of IBM.-Life:...
Further reading
Note: Most IBM form numbers end with an edition number, a hyphen followed by one or two digits.-
- Hollerith, Hollerith's early machines From the Columbia Univ. History site: This article is the basis for his 1890 Columbia Ph.D. Extracts reprinted in (Randell, 1982). From (Randell, 1982) ... brief... fascinating article... describes the way in which tabulators and sorters were used on ... 100 million cards ... 1890 census. Includes extensive, detailed, description of Hollerith's first machines and their use for the 1890 census.
-
- Histories includes reprint
-
- Punched card applications – With 42 contributors and articles ranging from Analysis of College Test Results to Uses of the Automatic Multiplying Punch this is book provides an extensive view of unit record equipment use over a wide range of applications. For details of this book see The Baehne Book.. (source: ) There is a 1954 edition, Ann F. Beach, et al., similar title and a 1956 edition, Joyce Alsop. Describes several punched card applications. Note: ISBN is for a reprint ed.
-
- The machines Unabridged edition of "Data Processig Tech 3 &2", aka. "Rate Training manual NAVPERS 10264-B", 3rd revised ed. 1970 An accessible book of recollections (sometimes with errors), with photographs and descriptions of many unit record machines. A simplified description of common IBM machines and their uses. The IBM Operators Guide, 22-8485 was an earlier edition of this book With descriptions, photos and rental prices. Has extensive descriptions of unit record machine construction.
External links
- Columbia University Computing History: IBM Tabulators and Accounting Machines
- Columbia University Computing History: IBM Calculators
- Columbia University Computing History: IBM Card Interpreters
- Columbia University Computing History: IBM Reproducing / Summary Punches
- Columbia University Computing History: IBM Collators
- Columbia University Computing History: L.J. Comrie From that site Comrie was the first to turn punched-card equipment to scientific use
- Early office museum
- IBM Archives
- IBM Punch Card Systems in the U.S. Army
- IBM early Card Reader and 1949 electronic Calculator video of unit record equipment in museum
- Still working Tabulating machines and punched card equipment in a German computer museum
- IBM Punched Card Accounting Machines (1955)
- IBM Punched Card Data Processing Principles (1961)