The UNITYPER was an

input device In computing, an input device is a piece of equipment used to provide data and control signals to an information processing system, such as a computer or information appliance. Examples of input devices include keyboards, mouse, scanners, cameras ...

for the

UNIVAC I The UNIVAC I (Universal Automatic Computer I) was the first general-purpose electronic digital computer design for business application produced in the United States. It was designed principally by J. Presper Eckert and John Mauchly, the invento ...

computer manufactured by

Remington Rand Remington Rand was an early American business machine manufacturer, originally a typewriter manufacturer and in a later incarnation the manufacturer of the UNIVAC line of mainframe computers. Formed in 1927 following a merger, Remington Rand wa ...

, which went on sale in mid-1951 but was not in operation until June 1952. It was an early direct data entry system. The UNITYPER accepted user inputs on a keyboard of a modified Remington

typewriter A typewriter is a mechanical or electromechanical machine for typing characters. Typically, a typewriter has an array of keys, and each one causes a different single character to be produced on paper by striking an inked ribbon selectivel ...

, then wrote that data onto a metal

magnetic tape Magnetic tape is a medium for magnetic storage made of a thin, magnetizable coating on a long, narrow strip of plastic film. It was developed in Germany in 1928, based on the earlier magnetic wire recording from Denmark. Devices that use magne ...

using an integral tape drive. The UNITYPER II was an input device for the

UNIVAC II The UNIVAC II computer was an improvement to the UNIVAC I that the UNIVAC division of Sperry Rand first delivered in 1958. The improvements included the expansion of core memory from 2,000 to 10,000 words; UNISERVO II tape drives, which could us ...

. The UNITYPER II was a reduced-size, reduced-cost version of the UNITYPER I subsequently developed as a text-to-tape transcribing device for the UNIVAC I system and released in 1953, also sold as a peripheral to the UNIVAC II. The original required individual motors and control amplifiers to advance, rewind, fast-forward and maintain tension on the tape. UNITYPER II replaced these with a flexible cable and clutch system driven by a single within the typewriter. Coding was accomplished via mechanical lift arms and latching bails added to the typewriter's existing mechanical linkages in place for print-action. When a key was depressed, up to 8 affiliated lift arms were "caught" on latching bails which in turn connected 8 coding switches to the recording head. A commutator, powered by the internal drive motor, would momentarily complete the power circuit through the coding switches to the recording head before advancing the tape to the next recording position. When not encoding, a resistor balance network kept the recording head in an erase mode unless a rewind operation was commanded. This ensured a clearly defined magnetic space between bit patterns. Additional circuits prevented opening of the tape loading door once a tape was loaded. Because the supply and take-up spools of the recording tape were no longer individually powered as in the UNITYPER 1, a "differential moment" was created as the tape moved from one reel to the other during encoding, the supply reel constantly decreasing in effective diameter while the take-up reel correspondingly increased. A differential spring, ratching escapement, and slip clutches were added as a mechanical solution, which functioned also during backspacing and rewinding.

References

External links

UNITYPER II, Data Entry Device for the Univac Computer
Smithsonian National Museum of American History
UNIVAC II
(PDF) Has photo of UNITYPER II UNIVAC hardware {{compu-hardware-stub