NCR-340
Encyclopedia
The NCR-340 was NCR
's first line "High Speed" 300-line-per-minute computer printer
. It used a 3 inches (76.2 mm) drum made up of 120 (later 132) hardened steel discs with the upper-case alphabet, the numbers 0-9 and a few special symbols. The discs were keyed on an armature, but could be changed if a character were damaged.
The drum sat above an 18 inches (457.2 mm) ink ribbon
. Below the ribbon the green-bar continuous form paper was moved into and out of the printer head on four tractor assemblies. Below the paper path were a set of 120 or 132 “hammers” that were triggered by electric solenoid
s.
Each line of a report was sent from the 315 to the printer and loaded into a buffer. As the print drum spun, a glass timing disc on one end would indicate to the internal logic that a character was in position to be printed. All of the “A” characters in the buffer would trigger the appropriate hammer to fire. The hammer would force the paper up against the ribbon, and hit the “A” character on the spinning drum for its position in the line. This would continue for one revolution of the drum printing.
The printer could print up to eight copies of a report by using carbon paper between each layer of paper. There was a whole industry and series of auxiliary machine (collators) that would separate the different copies of the report and remove the carbons. Then the continuous reports were sent through a burster to separate individual pages.
NCR Corporation
NCR Corporation is an American technology company specializing in kiosk products for the retail, financial, travel, healthcare, food service, entertainment, gaming and public sector industries. Its main products are self-service kiosks, point-of-sale terminals, automated teller machines, check...
's first line "High Speed" 300-line-per-minute computer printer
Computer printer
In computing, a printer is a peripheral which produces a text or graphics of documents stored in electronic form, usually on physical print media such as paper or transparencies. Many printers are primarily used as local peripherals, and are attached by a printer cable or, in most new printers, a...
. It used a 3 inches (76.2 mm) drum made up of 120 (later 132) hardened steel discs with the upper-case alphabet, the numbers 0-9 and a few special symbols. The discs were keyed on an armature, but could be changed if a character were damaged.
The drum sat above an 18 inches (457.2 mm) ink ribbon
Ribbon
A ribbon or riband is a thin band of material, typically cloth but also plastic or sometimes metal, used primarily for binding and tying. Cloth ribbons, most commonly silk, are often used in connection with clothing, but are also applied for innumerable useful, ornamental and symbolic purposes...
. Below the ribbon the green-bar continuous form paper was moved into and out of the printer head on four tractor assemblies. Below the paper path were a set of 120 or 132 “hammers” that were triggered by electric solenoid
Solenoid
A solenoid is a coil wound into a tightly packed helix. In physics, the term solenoid refers to a long, thin loop of wire, often wrapped around a metallic core, which produces a magnetic field when an electric current is passed through it. Solenoids are important because they can create...
s.
Each line of a report was sent from the 315 to the printer and loaded into a buffer. As the print drum spun, a glass timing disc on one end would indicate to the internal logic that a character was in position to be printed. All of the “A” characters in the buffer would trigger the appropriate hammer to fire. The hammer would force the paper up against the ribbon, and hit the “A” character on the spinning drum for its position in the line. This would continue for one revolution of the drum printing.
The printer could print up to eight copies of a report by using carbon paper between each layer of paper. There was a whole industry and series of auxiliary machine (collators) that would separate the different copies of the report and remove the carbons. Then the continuous reports were sent through a burster to separate individual pages.