Give that man first prize! Yes, it's a forms design ruler, based on 1/2"-pitch sprocket feeds (which you'll still see where multipart forms are being printed), 10 characters to the inch horizontal spacing, and 6 lines to the inch (4 to the inch with 1.5 line spacing).
It was made by Stanley Manufacturing for R.L. Crain Canada, a large vendor of computer forms, including customer-specified custom forms. They were in every forms salesperson's customer freebie kit. I used mine, in the 1970s, for the exact purpose for which it was intended. The edge of the ruler with the 32nds, 16ths, 8ths and 4ths has a hole at every 1/4" and 3/4" mark, exactly the right size and right distance from the edge, so as to match the dimensions of the form's sprocket strip. The 150, 300, 450 markings on the successive inches can be used to determine (fairly precisely) the number of punch cards in a deck. Obviously, punch cards were 1/150" thick. As I said to Joe Reid, I think the 5/32" scale corresponds to the character spacing on IBM Interpreters, specifically the IBM 548 and 557. Punch cards were often used as an output medium, placed in special file drawers and used as a reference (or as pull cards for subsequent re-input). Unless one printed on the edge (the "12 edge") the significant parts of the information punched into them, they were useless for reference purposes. As cards were preprinted for easy identification of the data punched in them (and printed on the top edge), they were just like any other form (and, thus, needed to be designed with tools such as the R.L. Crain ruler). There are also larger holes, for aligning file holes (for the special files that were used for separated or unseparated continuous form). Of course, there were also files (e.g., nylon post binders) that made use of the first sprocket hole on either side of each page. The ruler is 15", not 12". Fifteen inches used to be a fairly common length for the continuous forms (especially the wider ones) that were printed, bound, and then used for reference purposes. (No display terminals or PCs in those days.) I've tried scanning it, but black markings on stainless steel come out quite muddy looking, even with brightness and contrast adjustment. Many companies now use laser printers for multipart forms -- simply printing as many nearly identical pages as necessary (with slight changes for, for example, Customer Copy, Shop Copy, Audit Copy, etc.). Others have systems that do away with such forms altogether. And, of course, forms design is rarely done on a drawing board anymore. So the excuses for holding back on SI implementation get rarer and rarer. <g> (See, there was a point to all this.) Bill Potts, CMS Roseville, CA http://metric1.org [SI Navigator] >-----Original Message----- >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] >Behalf Of James Frysinger >Sent: Tuesday, January 13, 2004 18:09 >To: U.S. Metric Association >Subject: [USMA:28296] RE: question > > >What were the lateral and line to line spacings on the old line >printers? The >ones with the whirling belts? > >Jim > >On Tuesday 2004 January 13 13:12, Bill Potts wrote: >> Jim Frysinger wrote: >> >My guess is that the 1/6 and 1/12 inch divisions are useful for >> >page layouts, >> >> O.K., so far. >> >> >figuring 72 picas per inch. If I recall, that makes a 12 point >em equal to >> >1/6 of an inch. >> >> That's true, but it has nothing to do with this ruler. It's not as >> sophisticated as that. >> >> >I'm lost on the 5/32 inch divisions but two things come to mind. >> >First, that's darned close to 4 mm! More likely though is that it would >> >> provide >> >> >a leading allowance for 1/8 inch tall (9 point) type. >> >> See previous comment. (By the way, my own thoughts about the 5/32" >> graduations are tentative. Joe Reid may remember more about that than I >> do.) >> >> Bill Potts, CMS >> Roseville, CA >> http://metric1.org [SI Navigator] >> >> >On Tuesday, 2004 January 13 00:52, Bill Potts wrote: >> >> That's a very broad question, because there are so many kinds >of rulers. >> >> >> >> I have a Canadian steel ruler from the early 1970s with two >> > >> >scales on each >> > >> >> of two sides. On one side, one edge is graduated in 5/32" units, with >> >> the other edge in inches, subdivided into 1/6 and 1/12. The inches >> >> themselves have two markings -- 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. and 6, 12, >18, 24, etc. >> >> >> >> On the other side, one edge has inches in 1/10, with each 1/10 >> > >> >individually >> > >> >> marked from 1 to 150. The other edge has inches with 1/4", 1/8", >> > >> >1/16" and >> > >> >> 1/32" subdivisions. The inches themselves are marked 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. >> >> and 150, 300, 450, 600, etc. >> >> >> >> The ruler has other features I won't mention yet. >> >> >> >> I want to see who can guess what kind of ruler it is, what some of the >> >> numbers mean, and what the other features might be. One clue >is that, in >> >> spite of having no metric units whatever on it, it is still >> > >> >useful and the >> > >> >> units (and features) still have a valid purpose. >> >> >> >> Think "legacy systems." >> >> Bill Potts, CMS >> >> Roseville, CA >> >> http://metric1.org [SI Navigator] >> > >> >.... >> >-- >> > >> >James R. Frysinger >> >Lifetime Certified Advanced Metrication Specialist >> >Senior Member, IEEE >> > >> >http://www.cofc.edu/~frysingj >> >[EMAIL PROTECTED] >> >[EMAIL PROTECTED] >> > >> >Office: >> > Physics Lab Manager, Lecturer >> > Dept. of Physics and Astronomy >> > University/College of Charleston >> > 66 George Street >> > Charleston, SC 29424 >> > 843.953.7644 (phone) >> > 843.953.4824 (FAX) >> > >> >Home: >> > 10 Captiva Row >> > Charleston, SC 29407 >> > 843.225.0805 > >-- >James R. Frysinger >Lifetime Certified Advanced Metrication Specialist >Senior Member, IEEE > >http://www.cofc.edu/~frysingj >[EMAIL PROTECTED] >[EMAIL PROTECTED] > >Office: > Physics Lab Manager, Lecturer > Dept. of Physics and Astronomy > University/College of Charleston > 66 George Street > Charleston, SC 29424 > 843.953.7644 (phone) > 843.953.4824 (FAX) > >Home: > 10 Captiva Row > Charleston, SC 29407 > 843.225.0805 >
