• 1949

Hardware Description

The IBM 514 reproducing punch was first announced in February 1949. Subsequent announcements of new and enhanced models occurred through the next 15 years, with the last -- the Model 51 -- rolling out in 1964. This machine was one of the first products shipped by IBM's new manufacturing facility in Rochester, Minn., in 1957. The 514 used a mark-sensing device that operated on the principle that graphite conducted electricity and thus could control circuits to actuate punching mechanisms. It sensed data marked on cards with electrographic lead and converted that data to punched hole form in the desired card column. The last models of the IBM 514 were withdrawn from marketing in September 1978.