IBM 519
| Industry | Computer hardware |
|---|---|
| Founded | June 16, 1911 in Endicott, New York, United States |
| Headquarters | Armonk , United States |
| Products | Punched card machines, computer hardware |
The IBM 519 Document-Originating Machine, launched in 1946, represented the culminating model within a line of unit record equipment engineered for the automated generation of punched cards. This series included predecessors such as the IBM 513 and IBM 514 Reproducing Punch machines.
At the time of its debut, the IBM 519 was regarded as highly advanced, offering capabilities that included:
- duplicating entire or partial data sets on punched cards
- performing "gangpunch" operations to transfer information from a master card onto multiple detail cards
- printing up to eight digits along the edge of a card
- comparing two separate card decks for differences or matches
- conducting "summary punch" functions by producing punch cards containing aggregated totals from linked accounting machines
- identifying marks made with an electrographic pencil ("mark sense") and punching holes accordingly
- optionally assigning sequential numbering to cards
The IBM 519's features for reproducing, gangpunching, summary punching, and comparison bore strong similarities to those found in the IBM 513 and IBM 514 models.
IBM 513 Reproducing Punch
Introduced around 1933, the IBM 513 Reproducing Punch provided certain functionalities that were later incorporated into the IBM 519, though it did not encompass the full range of capabilities available in that later machine.
IBM 514 Reproducing Punch
The IBM 514 Reproducing Punch entered the market in February 1949. While it shared some features with the IBM 513, it offered fewer functions than the IBM 519 and remained in production until its withdrawal in 1978.
It is noteworthy that the "IBM 514" designation was partially reassigned to an "IBM 514 Watt Hot-Swap Power Supply" utilized within System x226 servers.
Capabilities table
| Capability | 513 Repro Punch |
514 Repro Punch |
519 Doc Mach. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Comparing | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Editing | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| End Printing | — | — | Yes |
| Gangpunching | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Mark-Sense Punching |
Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Reproducing | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Summary Punching | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Each of these three machines operated at a speed of 100 cards per minute and utilized removable plugboard panels for control. Their card feeding mechanism involved inserting cards "face down, 12-edge first," consistent with IBM's standard for automatic punches.
History
By the years 1956 to 1957, IBM centralized manufacturing of the IBM 519 at its Rochester facility in the Americas and its Milan plant in Italy. The company ultimately discontinued punched card production entirely in 1984, concluding nearly one hundred years of punched card technology that began with Herman Hollerith's initial card sorter invention in 1886.
References
IBM manuals:
External links
- Columbia University Computing History: IBM Reproducing/Summary Punches
- Photograph of IBM 513 (distinct from the IBM 514)
- Photograph of IBM 514 (for comparison with the IBM 519)
- Photograph of IBM 519
