the tape reader which is shown schematically in fig1 has a hinged portion 1 of a reading head and a feeding wheel not shown under the reading head to drive a punched tape 2 in the direction indicated on the input side the punched tape 2 will pass over a resiliently supported yoke 3 when the strain in the tape is increased for example because the input end has been caught the yoke 3 is displaced downwards in the direction of the base plate 4 while rotating about an axis 5 the yoke movement may then be used to interrupt the feeding of the punched tape the functional disadvantages of prior art devices is clear the fact that the sensing of the tape is carried out at a given distance before the engagement point between the feeding wheel and the punched tape in fig2 the principal parts of a tape reader according to the invention as shown as in fig1 the punched tape 2 is fed forward past a reading head 1 by means of a toothed feeding wheel 6 the reading head 1 may for example be an optical type in which the upper part of the reading head normally has eight light emitting diodes arranged along a line transverse to the punched tape and the lower part has the same number of photo transistors each positioned below a corresponding diode the torque sensing device according to the invention has two.