science · 20 November 1888 · 136 years ago
In 1888, Willard LeGrand Bundy, a jeweller, was issued the first U.S. patent for a time recording clock (No. 393,205). A workman inserted a key which actuating his number by engaging corresponding catches on a type-wheel mechanism. This printed his identification number and time on a paper tape. In this way, a company could save the expense of watchmen or time-keepers usually employed for the purpose of recording the time of arrival and departure of the employees. With his brother, Bundy formed the Bundy Manufacturing Company (1889), which later was consolidated into one of IBM's forerunners in 1902. Bundy clocks were also sold in England, where they were also used for time recording to regulate schedules on routes of trams and buses.
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