Record 140/143 |
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Description
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| 1999.42.1--Mechanical IBM card punch for visually impaired programmers based on the Hollerith Keypunch Code. This code is similar to braille and was fairly easy for braille readers to learn. (Sighted programmers used a typewriter keyboard.) A label on top of the punch reads "Wright Punch Model 2600, Wright Line, Worcester, Mass. USA." It also lists the key numbers, and letter and symbols code. The card punch has 13 keys attached to a movable carriage. Letters and punctuation marks are made by pressing multiple keys, and a spacing key advances the carriage. The keys punched holes into the IBM card placed beneath the carriage. Eighty columns can be punched. 1999.42.2--Card reader into which the punched card is placed for reading by visually impaired programmers. A sliding bar, attached to the top frame of the reader, moves across the columns of holes in the punched card. A braille stylus is moved down into a vertical slot on the sliding bar until it drops into a hole in the card. The programmer feels the reference hole to the right or left of the vertical slot to determine the holes punched in each column. A click can be felt as the bar moves across a column. Notches in the frame of the card reader allow the sliding bar to move in 10 column increments. Column 1 can be read by sliding the bar all the way to the right; column 80 can be read by sliding the bar all the way to the left. The card punch has a black carrying case. The lid is hinged and has a handle on top of it. A card holder is attached to the inside of the lid. Metal clasps keep the case securely closed. |
Wright Punch Model 2600 card punch and card reader
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Copyright Museum of the American Printing House for the Blind
Image Courtesy of the Museum of the American Printing House for the Blind. Note: use of some materials may be restricted, please call before publishing in any format.
| Punch card fitting |
Image Courtesy of the Museum of the American Printing House for the Blind. Note: use of some materials may be restricted, please call before publishing in any format.