Does anyone recognize this contraption?

[garren]

For the past month we've been hunting a lake site that dates to the mid 1920s. Today I ventured farther down the shoreline from our hunting spot and found these two modern looking mechanisms in the shallow water. It would have taken some effort to dump these in the location where I found them. We have to use a boat to access the site. Maybe parts out of something stolen and stripped down? My first thought was ATM parts but Im not finding any pics on google that look like it.

Sorry the pics arent that good. These are big and stinkin' so I had to photograph them on the porch of my shop. They have a slot in the front and some type of ticker tape inside of them. I tried to get a good shot of it. I figured that might be the easiest thing for someone to recognize. I didnt measure them but one is photographed next to a 5 gal. bucket for reference. One still has a cover on it. They both have modern power cords on them.

 

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[Moonrover]

That does look like a money dispensing/receiving slot on the front shown in the first picture. Is it about the size of the narrow dimension of a dollar bill?

The item could be the bill receiving mechanism for a money changer such as in car washes, laundry mats, etc.

 

[garren]

Thats a good question. I carried a dollar out to the shop and it looks like the slot is a little wider. I went ahead and took some measurement while I was out there. The slot is 3.25" wide. The units are 6" tall 10" wide and 13" deep.

 

[Moonrover]

OK, then the slot may be the opening for a time card. An hourly worker "clocks in" with a card that is kept in a rack beside the machine. The machine stamps the card with the time in/out. Possibly the machines are obsolete now that plastic cards with magnetic strips are used for employees checking in and out.

As to why and how your "finds" got to such a remote location is certainly a mystery.

 

[garren]

As to why and how your "finds" got to such a remote location is certainly a mystery.

It sure is.

Tomorrow I'm gonna hook up the power washer, spray 'em down and crack 'em open to see whats inside...unless someone ID's them first. They may be something boring in which case I'll throw em straight into the scrap pile.

 

[smed76]

Looks like an old camera or projector to me.

 

[jeff of pa]

I'm going to Guess bill Changer, simply because of where you found it & size of opening.

would probably fit something like this.



https://www.google.com/search?clien...estion-which-bill-validator-right-you;300;320


yes I suppose there has been someone who would steal a Time clock & stash it in a Lake

But Personally, If you can, Go back and hammer that area.

F.Y.I. : from what I see The original bill and coin changer (Patent #3690332) was invented by David D. Dykehouse, Oliver G. Okkonen and Norman J. Zoodsma, all of Michigan. They applied for a patent on December 22, 1969, and it was issued in September 1972 and assigned to Rowe International, Inc.

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[copperclad]

Hi
It looks like a paper tape punch , they were used for storing data . Some examples are ticker tape , and computer paper tape readers and punches , And printing telegraph machines . here is a link that shows the tape before punching ( like the tape in your photos ) and after punching , HTH
PS: the tapes were made from both paper and or mylar

Scroll down to the video in this first link , it shows the tape with the single row of timing holes

How it was: Paper tapes and punched cards | EE Times

Punched tape - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[Moonrover]

So then it could possibly be a transfer device between punched tape and IBM punch cards. That does seem to fit the fact that there is a Mylar tape showing.

Many years ago (not saying how many) when computers were first being introduced into engineering classes in college, I was seen carrying around boxes of IBM punched cards that held simple mathematical routines. The cards were fed into a massive sorting machine and "read" into binary code for the main frame computer to swallow. Later on, as the technology progressed, there were card to tape readers attached to the systems. It has been so long ago, I have forgotten what they actually looked like except that "some mechanism" inside the big main panel did the transferring. Fast forward to an analogy in today's technology and that transfer is done on thumb drives.

 

[garren]

I'm going to Guess bill Changer, simply because of where you found it & size of opening.

That was my initial line of thinking. If they didnt have something to do with money then why would someone haul them to such a remote location to dump them? I did, however, run these by a vending company. The owner looked at them and said he had never seen anything like them. He has some of the vintage Rowe validators and they're tiny compared to these.

Hi
It looks like a paper tape punch , they were used for storing data . Some examples are ticker tape , and computer paper tape readers and punches , And printing telegraph machines . here is a link that shows the tape before punching ( like the tape in your photos ) and after punching , HTH
PS: the tapes were made from both paper and or mylar

Thanks for the links. Yes, Mylar! I knew the tape wasn't paper but didnt want to call it plastic either. I would have never guessed Mylar.

So then it could possibly be a transfer device between punched tape and IBM punch cards.

And now we have a possible motive for dumping in a remote location! These devices have sensitive government information encoded on that tape! Its part of a big cover-up. After all, the lake where they came from is near a govt. facility that had ties to the Roswell crash...

 

[BosnMate]

That type of thing was used for sending encoded military messages also. Very early computer technology, probably dates to the 50's or 60's. I remember seeing and reading stuff about it around the time I was in the navy, and that was back when the radiomen still tapped out Morris Code. This is from memory, and I wasn't a radioman or had anything to do with code, but I think the punched holes sent the message, and a printer on the other end printed it out. They keep all that stuff secret, so even at the time you had to guess.

 

[garren]

I opened one up but didnt see anything that would help identify it. Everything is so corroded. The tape is numbered up to 30 something and then repeats. I thought it was on a reel but its folded into the dispenser. Also, I dont think its suppose to come out of the side. The unit that is still intact has a small flap over that slot. The bottom has a couple of micro switches and the sides have some solenoids.

 

[Digg Mo]

You need to take a magnet and check out the deep water to see if you can find any more of them.