General Information

Serial #

N/A

Part Number

1

Total Parts

1

AKA

N/A

Patents

N/A

General Description

METAL WITH SYNTHETIC PARTS

Dimensions

Note: These reflect the general size for storage and are not necessarily representative of the object's true dimensions.

Length

68.2 cm

Width

35.0 cm

Height

50.2 cm

Thickness

N/A

Weight

N/A

Diameter

N/A

Volume

N/A

Lexicon

Group

Computing Technology

Category

Digital peripheral devices

Sub-Category

N/A

Manufacturer

AKA

Honeywell

Country

United States of America

State/Province

Massachusetts

City

Wellesley Hills

Context

Country

Canada

State/Province

Ontario

Period

LATE 1960'S TO 1980

Canada

USED IN A REGIONAL OFFICE OF METROPOLITAN LIFE TO INPUT DATA RECEIVED FROM AN AGENT & TO PASS THE DATA TO A CENTRAL OFFICE. THE OBCR REPRESENTS THE FIRST INCURSION OF COMPUTERS INTO AUTOMATIC RECORD KEEPING & DATA TRANSFER VIA PHONE LINES.

Function

USED TO READ MARKED CARDS & TRANSFER THE DATA ON THE CARDS TO PAPER TAPE. SPECIFICALLY, IT WAS USED BY AN INSURANCE COMPANY: AN AGENT WENT TO BUSINESSES EACH WEEK & COLLECTED A MARKED CARD FROM EACH INSURED EMPLOYEE. AT THE CENTRAL OFFICE, THE CARDS WERE READ BY THE OBCR & TRANSFERRED TO TAPES, WHICH WERE PULLED BY THE HEAD OFFICE VIA TELEPHONE CONNECTIONS USING DDD/WATTS LINES.

Technical

AN EARLY EXAMPLE OF OPTICAL READING OF DATA MADE POSSIBLE BY THE DEVELOPMENT OF OPTICAL SWITCHES IN THE EARLY 1966'S. THIS EARLY COMMERCIAL DEVICE WAS AN ADVANCEMENT FROM THE PAPER TAPE PUNCH USED IN TELEGRAPHY & THE COMPUTER CARD READER & WAS A FORERUNNER OF LATER BAR CODE READERS USED BY STORES.

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

WHITE LETTERING FOR CONTROL FUNCTIONS

Missing

THIS IS A SUB-COMPONENT OF A LARGER SYSTEM BUT IS COMPLETE AS IS, ALTHOUGH THE COMPLETE SYSTEM IS REQUIRED TO OPERATE

Finish

BLACK ENAMEL PAINTED, BRUSHED, & PLATED METAL/ MULTICOLOURED SYNTHETIC

Decoration

N/A