chips vs chad

[CSquared]

Nigel Williams wrote:
> I looked in charles j. sippl's computer dictionary and handbook, SAMS,
> May 1966 and there is no mention of "chip" but these explanations of
> "chad":
> 
> chad - That piece of material removed in punching a hole in perforated tape.
> 
> chadded - Pertaining to the punching of tape in which chad results.
> 
> chadded tape - Perforated tape with the chad completely removed.
> 
> chadless - A type of punching of paper tape in which each chad is left
> fastened by about a quarter of the circumference of the hole, at the
> leading edge. This mode of punching is useful where it is undesirable
> to destroy information written or printed on the punched tape, or it
> is undesirable to produce chads. Chadless-punched paper tape must be
> sensed by mechanical fingers, for the presence of chad in the tape
> would interfere with reliable electrical or photoelectric reading of
> the paper tape.
> 
> chadless paper tape - A paper tape with the holes partially punched.
> It is commonly used in teletype operations.
> 
Interestingly enough I believe I've seen one optical reader for chadless 
paper tape.  This thing routed the tape across the read head at such an 
extreme angle that the attached chads would all pop up out of the way 
during the time the corresponding holes were over the optical sensor.  I 
remember being pretty amazed at the time.  BTW this paper tape was 
probably two or three inches wide - not exactly a common configuration IMHO.
Later,
Charlie C.