This late 1960s educational color film (#14-676) provides step-by-step operational instructions for the IBM 029 Key Punch machine, which was introduced in 1964. It is one of a seven-part series produced by Moreland-Latchford and distributed by Sterling Educational Films. The film covers the keyboard, card hopper and punching station, reading station and card stacker, manipulative parts, and punching the card. The camera moves in on a woman typing on an IBM 29 card (key) punch machine. (:23-:38). The keyboard is shown on the keypunch machine compared to an IBM typewriter keyboard. Certain keys, such as the numerical and alphabetical shift keys are shown up close. Her fingers type very quickly (:39-2:35). She takes a stack of cards out of the card hopper and new ones placed in. Depressing the feed key feeds them into the card bed. The cards are shown up close as they pass by in the bed (2:36-3:40). A simulation shows how the blades make the punches. The woman pulls out the chip box to show it is full of the tiny chads (3:42-4:17). The punched card moves to the reading station. Pressing the Dup button duplicates a column (4:19-5:32). The card next moves to the stacker. The woman pulls a stack of 500 finished cards out and fans each end (5:34-6:08). The Power On Power Off mainline switch is shown (6:16). More closeups of fingers typing and pressings buttons is shown. Pressing the release key ejects the card from the punching station and the next card becomes ready for punching using the feed key (6:50-7:40). She flips the automatic feed switch at the top of the keyboard and the cards are automatically fed by pressing the release button (7:42-8:10). Pressing the register key moves the card in the card bed from the on-deck position behind the card lever pressure finger and registers itself behind the punching station. The cards are shown moving across the card bed (8:12-9:00). Turning on the print switch causes the machine to print the characters that are punched along the top of the card (9:02-9:35). To pass over a column without punching holes, the space bar is used, shown on an IBM typewriter and the IBM 29 (9:37-9:55). Pressing the duplicating key can make complete duplicate cards (9:56-10:33). The steps to create a single card representing a particular college student is shown up-close on the keyboard and on the card (10:35-12:42). Turning on the clear switch clears the card through all stations and the final punched card is shown (12:43-13:06).
A punched card or punch card is a piece of stiff paper that can be used to contain digital data represented by the presence or absence of holes in predefined positions. Digital data can be for data processing applications or, in earlier examples, used to directly control automated machinery.
Punched cards were widely used through much of the 20th century in the data processing industry, where specialized and increasingly complex unit record machines, organized into semiautomatic data processing systems, used punched cards for data input, output, and storage. Many early digital computers used punched cards, often prepared using keypunch machines, as the primary medium for input of both computer programs and data.
While punched cards are now obsolete as a storage medium, as of 2012, some voting machines still use punched cards to record votes.
The IBM 29 card punch shown was announced on October 14, 1964, the newest version of a device first developed 74 years earlier. The punch and its companion, the IBM 59 card verifier, were used to record and check information in punched cards. The cards were then read and processed by a computer or an accounting machine. The IBM 29 remained in the product catalog until May 1984.
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
