US1548019A - Data-displaying device - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 4, 1925. 1,548,019 7 s. BABSON ET AL DATA DISPLAYING DEVICE Filed April 2, 1925 ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 4, 1925.

. UNITED, STATES PATENT oss cs.

STANLEY JVLBABSON, OF WEST ORANGE, AND HERMAN HOLLERITH, JIL, OF RIVER- TON, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO THE BATES. MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF ORANGE, NEW JERSEY, A CORPORATION OF JERSEY.

DATA'QDISPLAYING DEVICE.

Application filed April 2, 1925. Serial 1T0. 20,041. 7

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that we, STANLEY M. BAB- soN, ,a citizen of the United States, residing in the town of West Orange, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, and HER- MAN-HOLLERITH', J r., a citizen of the United States, residing in Rivert-on, in the county of Burlington and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inData-Displaying Devices, of which the following is a description.

Our invention relates to devices for displaying and rendering. readily available re-' corded or inscribed data, and'while' not limitd thereto is particularly directed to mechanical directories of the type employed for indexing and displa'yingthe names of-a large number of telephone subscribers and their telephone numbers.

A device ofthe type referred to comprises a data carrying member, preferably in the fornrof a flexible strip upon which the desired data may be inscribed or recorded and which is preferably of considerable'len'gth so as to be adapted to receive a largenum'ber of items, means preferably including accelerating mechanism for actuating said member so that the inscribed surface thereof may be moved very rapidly in either direction to enable any desired portion of said surfaceto be readily and quickly broughtto a given exhibition or reading position, and means whereby the presentation of the desired portion of the inscribed surface of the datareceiving member at said position or point is facilitated.

One of the objects of our invention is to provide inradevice of this character an arrangement for facilitating the presentation of any desired portion of the data carrying member in reading or. exhibiting position,

including improved indicating means which is adapted to give to the operator or observer of the device, atany and all times, an effective indication of the particular section/of the data carrying member in exhibiting position, regardless of the speed at which such member may be moved, and which is free from the inaccuracies of the 4 indicating devices heretofore employed for this purpose.

' Another object of our invention is to provide a device such as described which is very simple in constructlon and' inexpensive to manufacture and which at'the' same time is extremely, eflicient and accurate in operation. Other ob ects and features of our inventlon W111 be hereinafter more fully described and claimed.

In order that our'invention may be more clearly understood, attention is directed to. the drawing accompanying and forming a part of this specification and in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view, partly broken away, of one form of data displaying device constructed in accordance with the present invention;

Figure 2 is a view in side elevation, partly broken away, of the device shown in Fig.

1; and

Figure 3 is aplan view, partly broken away, of the data carrying strip of the device shown in Figs. 1 and 2, when unrolled. The invention as illustrated in the drawing is embodied in the form of a telephone directory and comprises a casing 1- which is generally rectangular in form and. the top 2 of which has an intermediate inclined por-' tion 3 provided with a rectangular sight opening 11. The data carrying member is preferably in the form of a long, flexible strip 6, and the spcctively suitably secured to a pair of spools or rollers 4 and'5 which mounted within the casing 1 adjacent the top and ends of strip is wound f om either of the rollers onto the other th portion thereof extending between the rollers will be beneath and closely adjacent the inclined portion 3 of the top of the casing. Reference characters 7 and 8 represent lugs formed on one side of the casing 1, and 9 and 10 represent studs or pins respiactively secured to the rollers 4 and 5 axially thereof and f'ournaled in the lugs? and 8 respectively. ,t will be apparent that a portion or section of the str p 6 sight opening 11. The strip 6 is preferably composed of linen or other suitable textile material and has a suitably prepared surface upon .which the desired data may be inscribed. A backing plate 12 is mounted within the casing 1 beneath the strip 6 and are rotatablythe latter so that as the ends of the .strip are re- I 4 directly opposite the sight opening 11; and

is preferably removably supported in this position by means not shown.

The surface of the strip 6 exposed at the opening 11 in the moyernent of the strip past the latter, is divided by substantially equi-spaced transverse lines into a longitudinally -disposed series of spaces 13, each adapted to receive certain data such asa persons name and his telephone number. Adjacent one edge the strip is provided with a longitudinal line whereby the surface of the strip provided with the spaces 13, is formed with a longitudinally extending marginal, portion in which are disposed oppositetheseveral spaces 13 a series of large and prominent index characters 14 of a nature to identify the data inscribed or' to be inscribed in the said spaces. Thus in the construction shown the characters 14 comprise letters of the alphabet corresponding to the initials of the names inscribed or to be inscribed 'in .the adjacent spaces 13, the same letter appearing in most instances a plurality of times opposite successive spaces 13 and the several letters or groups of letters being alphabetically arranged longitudinally of the strip. The data receiving. surface of the strip 6 also has applied thereto indicating means, preferably in the form of a very prominent line A extending longitudinally of the strip and across the spaces 13, preferably from a po'intadjacent one edge or side of the strip to a point adjacent the opposite edge or side thereof, as clearly shown in Fig. 3; A stationary index 15, in the present case an alphabetical index, extends transversely of the strip 6 and is applied to a bevelled surface formed on the casing 1 adjacent the up er edge of the .opening 11, and the line on strip 6 cooperates with thisindex 15 so as to give to the operator or other observer of the directory a correct and accurate indication at any time, of the particular surface portion or section of the data receiving surface of/te strip 6 then presented at the ppening 1 The number of spaces 13 of the strip designated by oneor more of. the letters of the alphabet may sometimes be different than the number of spaces designated by another letter or other letters. Where this is the.

case, as in the device illustrated, the letters of the alphabet constituting the index 15 are preferably spaced in conformity with the number or combined length of the spaces designated by the respective letters 14 of the alphabet in' the longitudinally extending straight and at marginal,

ortion of the strip 6 so that the indlcating ine A may' be made perfectly ate with the index-151w give at all times the desired indication. The letters .of index 15 may, of course, be spaced uniformly and the lndicating line A could, if necessary, be

the same time will cooperstepped or otherwise formed so as to obtain the desired result, but the arrangement shown is referred because of its simplicit andalso cause of the greater ease wit which an observer may follow the apparent transverse movement. of the uninterrupted straight indicating line A with reference to the index 15 as the strip 6 is moved past the opening 11.. r

It is obvious that actuation of the rollers 4 and 5 in one direction or the other will cause a corresponding feed or travel of the strip 6 beneath the inclined portion 3 of the top of the casing and past the sight opening 11 therein. Very simple and effective means is provided wherebya single masiderable length, for example, 6 to 8 feet,

past the opening 11 in either direction. This means consists of'-a pair of spur gears 16 and 17 respectively secured to the spools or rollers 4 and 5 at one end, a large gear 18 meshing with both of the gears 16 and 17 a small gear 19 secured to the gear 18 axially thereof and a gear 22 meshing with the small gear 19 and secured to a stud or short shaft extending throu h the side of casing 1 and provided with a nurled head 24 at its outer end. The gears 18 and 19 are journaled in a lug or bearing 20 formed on the adjacent side of the casing 1 as by means of a stud- 21, and the stud or shaft to which the gear 22 and knurled head 24 are secured is .journaled in a bearing 23 formed on the same side of thecasing. The gears 22, 19, 18, 17 and 16 constitute speed accelerating mechanism and act when the knurled head or a knob 24 is turned, to effect a very rapid rotation of the spools 4 and.5 and consequently a rapid travel oft-he strip 6 past the openindicating lineA visible through the sight opening 11 will appear to travel at a compa'ratively slow rate transversely of the opening and the index 15, enabling theoperator tovery readily observe and-follow.

I the registryof this line with the index 15 at'all times. The gears of the accelerating mechanism are formed so as to fit nicelywithout any binding action, and the inertia of the gears and of the rollers 4. and 5 and the length. of strip 6 are'such, that when the knob 24 is given a quick turn with the fingers and then released, the momentum of the gears and rollers is sufiicient to cause the of said name on inca able of any movement with res ect as explained above,

' the desired portion of the stopped at the proper on,- may entire stri to be unwound from .one roller and woun "onto the -other roller and thus efiectmovement of substantially the entire length pf the strip past the openin 11.;.'

The operation of t e mech'amcal te ephone directory describedherein is believed to be apparent from the foregoing, but may be briefly described as followsr'lhe names and telephone numbers of such persons as the operator of the directory has occasion to call from appropriate spaces 13 on the strip 6 oppo site the proper indx characters or initial letters 14. When it is desired to bring a given name to exhibiting position atfthe openin 11 the knob 24 is given a quick turn with t e fingers in one direction or theother, depending upon therelative position the strip with respect to the section of the strip at that time presented at theopening 1'1, and then released." This an apparent relatively slow movement of the indicating 1in!*A transversely with re-' spect to the stationary alphabetical index following the apparent 15. The operator by of the line A with retransverse movement spect to the index 15, line registers with the letter of such index corresponding to the first letter of the de sired name and may thus determine when strip is approach- Thereupon the ing th'e sight opening 11.

bechecked by travel of the strip 6 may grasping --,the knob clear observation of the passing index characters l4,.which during the rapid movement of the strip are rendered illegible, and the strip may then be readily brought to and position. It is this apparent thatanyportion of the strip, and consequently any name or other -'data' therebe brought to exhibiting or reading position( at the'sight' opening 11, with a minimum expenditure of time and e Moreover, by reason ofthe arrangement 0 the-indicating me-ans disclosed herein,our device is'rendered very accurate. In this connection it is to be noted that the indicat-' ing. mea'ns, consisting in th form of the" invention shown, of the line A, is directly controlledby and, in fact; is directly actuated by, the data carrying member this line, being'applied to the strip 6, bears a constant fixed relation to the spaces 13 and the index characters 14, Land thatitjalso 1i):

the index 15 independently of the strip 6.?

While the particular construction described 'andshownherein comprises apre-- ferred embodiment, it is-t0' be understood that our invention maybe embodied invarious other .forms and .is subject to many W charges and modifications without deparindex,

time to time are inscribed in the:

data receiving applied causes the strip totravel 7 very rapidly, and at the same time results in" will note when this substantially the 24 in order to permit 6, that ture from the spirit and scope thereof as defined in the appended claims. Having now described'ourinvention, we claim as new and desire. to protect LettersPatent', is as follows: 4

A device of thecharacter described comprising an index and -a member havin a data receivingsurface movable ast said said member -being'provi ed with meansco-operating.with said index to indicate atany time the particular section of the'data receiving surface of said member then adjacent thein'de-x. I 2. A device of the character described comprising an index and a member having a surface movable past said index, said surface having an indicating line thereto and cooperating with said what indexto indicate at any time the particular section of the data receiving surface of sai member then adjacent the index.

1 3. A device of the character described comprising anindex and a member having adata receiving surface movable past said index, said surface having a straight indicating line applied thereto andcooperating with said index to indicateat any time the particular ction of the data receiving surface of sai member then adjacent the index, said line being inclined to the directionof movement-of said surface and extending whole length of said data receiving surface. from'a point adiacent'one edge of such surface to a point adjacent the opposite edge thereof.

4. A device of comprising a data carrying-member, means for moving said'memberand means includmember for clearly indicating to an observer the character described an indicator applied directly to said at any time the position of said member 7 'with respect to a given point regardless of the speed at which the member is moved.

5. A' device of the character described comprising a data carrying member, means for moving said member and means including an indicator directly movable by said member for clearly indicating to an observer at any time he position of said member with respect tE; a given point regardless-of I ich the member is movedi 6. A device ;of the character described comprisingadata carrying strip, means for movingsaidl strip past a gi venfreading point, and means including. an indicator applied'to said strip for clearly indicating at any time the longitudinal section of sard strip'then adjacent said reading point re gardlessqof-the speed mbveda a F '7. 'A device of theycliaracter describedcomprising a casin [provided with a sight] opening, an index a ac ent said opening, a data carrying member within said casing;-

at which the latter is 1 meanssf'or actuating said member to move 1 the data carrying surface thereof past said sight opening and means applied to said member and cooperating with said index to indicate the position of said member with respect to said opening.

8. A device of ,the character described comprising a casing provided with a sight opening, an index adjacent said opening, a data carrying member within said'casing, and means for actuating said member to move the data carrying surface thereof past said sight opening, said member having an indicating line applied to its said surface and cooperating with said index to indicate the position of said member with respect to said opening.

9. A device of the character described comprising a data carrying member, means for moving said member rapidly past an exhibiting point, saiddata carrying member being provided with prominent index charactersQvisible at said point as said member is moved past the latter, and means including an indicator applied to said member for indicating the position of said member with respect to said point even when such membeiis moved at a speed rendering said in dex characters illegible.

10. A device of the character described comprising a casing having a sight opening, a data carrying member within said casing, actuating means including accelerating mechanism for moving said member rapidly past said sight opening, said data carrying i characters illegible.

member being provided with prominent index characters visible through said opening as said member is moved past the latter, and means including an indicator movable directly by said member for indicating the position of the latter with respect to said sight opening even when such member is moved at a speed rendering said index 11.'A device of the character described comprising a casing having a sight opening, a data carrying member having on Its sursaid opening extending transversely of the face a longitudinal series of groups ofspaces for the inscription f data, said groups of spaces varying 1n ength, means for moving said member to cause its said surface to travel in the direction of its length past said sight opening, an index adjacent said sight opening extending transversely of the data carrying member and the index characters of which are adapted to identify the data inscribed in the-said groups of spaces respectively, said characters being spaced apart in conformity with the variation in the lengths of said groups respectively, the data receiving surface of said member having thereon a straight indicating line extending longitudinally thereof and cooperating with said index to indicate at any time. the particular space of said member then adjacent said sight opening.

12. A device of the character described comprising a casing having a sight opening, a data carrying strip mounted'within said casing and provided with a longitudinally extending series of groups of spaces varying in length and adapted to be inscribed with suitable data, means for moving said strip past said sight opening, an index adjacent strip and the index characters of which are adapted to identify the data inscribed in the said groups of spaces respectively, said characters being spaced apart in conformity with the variation in the lengths of said groups respectively, said strip having a straight indicating line. applied thereto and extending longitudinally thereof, said line cooperating with said index so as to indi-' cate at any time the particular data receiv ing space of said member then adjacent the sight opening.

This specification signed this 18th day of March, 1925. I

STANLEY M. BABSON. HERMAN HOLLERITH, J R

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