IBM 557
The IBM 557 Alphabetic Interpreter (photo) allowed holes in punched cards to be interpreted and the Hollerith punched card characters printed on any row or column, selected by a plugboard control panel. The machine was a synchronous system where brushes would glide over a hole in a punched card and contact a brass roller thereby setting up part of a character code. There are no 557's operating commercially in the world today.
Read more about IBM 557: Available Features, Maintenance