Origin of M odern C a l cu l a ting

M ach in es

A c h ro n i c l e o f t h e e v o lu t i o n o f t h e
p ri n c i p l es t h a t for m t h e g en eri c
m a k e u p o f t h e M od er n
C a l c u l a t i n g M ac hi n e

BY

1 A v
. . . TU R CK
Mem b er o f The W e s t nSer o c iety of n
E g i n e e rs

C HICAG O 192 1
l
.

P u b is he d u nde r t he a us pi c es o f
Th e W e ste r n SOC I P ! ’
n f Fn o m p m -
c
Co py h t
r ig , 1 92 1 , by
J A V . . T ur ck
 Fo r e w o r d
H E R E i s n oth in g romanti c i n figu re s , an d

I th e a v erage man takes l itt l e i nt erest i n any

s ubj ect p erta ining to them A s a re su lt of
.

th i s antipat h y the re i s p lenty of h i s to ri c e vi d en ce

,
’
of man s en dea v o r to mi n imize th e hate d d rudgery
of calculation .

Wh ile h i sto ry s h o w s that from p reh i stori c man

,

d own to the pre sen t age h uman ingenu i ty h as

,

tu rn e d t o m ec h an ica l means to o v ercom e th e bra in

fatigu e of arith meti cal figu ring i t i s W i th in qu ite
,

recent years th at h e ha s really s u ccee d e d i n de v i s

i ng means m ore rap i d than th e h um an b rain .

O f t h i s mo d ern p ro d u ct l itt l e h a s b een w ri tten ,

exce p t in d i s connecte d a r t i c l e s th at h a v e i n no cas e

off ere d a com p l ete un d erstanding a s to wh o w ere
the great b enefacto rs of manki n d th at ga v e to th e
worl d th e firs t concrete p ro d u cti on of t h ese m o d
ern p ri nci pl es of m echani ca l calcul ation .

Th e w ri ter b el i evin g th at there are many w ho

,

wo ul d b e i ntere ste d to know th e true facts rela

ti ve to t h i s subj ect h as gi v en to th e p ubl i c i n that
, ,

wh ic h follows a ch ronicl e of th e e v ol ution of the

,

p rinci p le s di s clos e d i n th e se modern mach in es ,

along w it h the p roofs th at fo rm th e fo un d ati on

fo r t h e story in a way that all may u n d e rstand .

A lt h ou gh th e s u b j ect ha s b een h an d le d i n a way

that m ake s i t unneces sary fo r th e rea d e r to b e
carrie d thro ugh a j angl e of ti resome m ec hani cal
construction th e wri te r b eli e v e s that t h ere are
,
m an y i nte reste d in th e d etail workings of th es e
m ach i nes and h as fo r that rea son provi ded an
,

i nte res ting and s imple de scription of th e working

of each i llu strated m achine which ma y b e read by
,

tho s e who wi sh or skipped over i f th e reader

, ,

de si re s without th e dange r of los ing knowledge

,

of the relation of each of th es e mach ines to th e

A rt.
 C h a p te r s
PAGE

T y p es of An c i en t a nd M od e rn M a c h i n e s
T h e E a rl y K e y -
Dri v e n
Th e K ey -
D ivr e nC l
a cul a tor

E a rl y E ff or t s in t h e R ecor d in g M a ch i ne Ar t .

F 1 rs t P ra c t i ca l R e cord er s

I n t rod uc ti on of the h l od ern Ac coun ti n g M a ch i ne

T h e H i g h Sp eed -
C l l
a c u a tor

Th e I mp rov e d R ecord er .

Th e Book k eepi n g a nd B i ll i n g M a ch i n e
A Cl os i n g W ord
 I l l u s tra ti o n s
PAGE
F nt p
ro is St n Ag Ca l ul t n g
i ece , o e e c a i
On f th P
e o l M h n e a s ca ac i es
P h t f Bl i P l
o o o a se a sca
P m l P t n t D wi n g
ar e ee a e ra s
H i ll P t n t D wi n g
a e ra s
Ch pin P t n t D win g
F om th St k P t n t D w in g ”
a a e ra s

F m th R bj h n P t n t D wmg ”
r e ar a e ra s
ro e o o a e ra s
F m D w in g f B u h t P t n t 3 1 4 5 6 1
.

ro ra s o o c e a e
D w i n g f Sp l d mg P t n t N 2 93 809
,

ra s o a a e o ,
“
M ni B
a ca ro M d l ox o e
Ph t f D E F lt
.

o o o orr e
T h F i t Co m p t m t
.

“
e rs o e er
F m D wmg f F l t P t n t No 3 7 1
ro ra s o e a e
B il l f F t M n uf tu in g T l f th Com p tom te
or i rs a ac r oo s o e e r
E l y Co m p t m t
ar o e er
L tte f m G o W M tin
er ro e ar
T ti m n i l
. .

es o a
T tim n i l
.

es o a
L tte f om El l i tt nd R o
er s r n o a sec ra s
F om D w in g of B b ou P t n t N 1 33 188
r ra s ar r a e o
F om D w in g f B l d w m P t n t N 1 59 2 4 4
.
,

r ra s o a a e o .
, .

B l d wm M h i n
a ac e
F m D wmg of P ttin Patent N 3 1 2 01 4
ro ra s o o
F m D w in g f B u ug h P t n t N 388 1 1 8
.
, .

ro ra s o rro s a e o
P h t of W m S Bu ugh
.
,

o o r ro s
D win g f Ludl um P t n t N 3 84 3 7 3
. .

ra s o a e o
F m D wmg of F l t P t n t No 4 05 02 4
.
, .

ro ra s e a e

T ti m n i l
.
, .

es o a

F l t R o d ingan
e ec d Li s
ti n g M
r h in ac e
F om D w i n g of F l t P t n t No
r ra s e a e

F l t T b ul t
e a a or
On of th E l y C mp t g p h
e e ar o o ra s
P h t of G tt f i d W l h l m L b n i t
o o o r e i e ei z

L b n i t C l ul t
ei z a c a or

F m D w in g f B u ou
ro ra gh P t n t N 5 04 9 63
s o rr s
’
a e s os .
, a nd
1 36
B urroug h s ’
R e cor e r d 1 37
F om th F O
”
r e eb rua r y 1 9 08 I ss ue of ffi ce Ap p l i a n ces M a g a z in e 14 2
Th H gh e C i Sp eed a l cul a tor 14 8
Tw P g of mW a es l Add g a c i e
ro B ook l e t
a es i n M h nCo . . . 1 65
M oon H op k in s B il l i n g a nd B ook k eep i n g M a ch in e . 1 76
N a p ier s B on es 1 79
’

F rom D ra w in gs of Ba rb our P a ten t No 1 30 4 04

.

”
1 80
P h oto of Joh n Na p ier
, .

1 81
F rom D ra w in gs o f S ollee Pa tent No 556 7 2 0
.

.
,
1 86
 ”
Th e M o d e r n A c c o u n t i n g M a c h i n e
HE te r m adding machine o r calculating
m ach ine to mo s t of u s repre s ents the ma
chi ne we h ave seen i n th e bank T he a v erage .

p er son i s n ot famil iar with th e d iffe rent ty p es of

accounting m achin e s to say noth in g of th e many
,

u se s to wh ich th ey are pu t ; b u t h e has a v agu e

i dea th at to h old an y val u e th e y sh o ul d prod uce a
’
printed record h e d oesn t know wh y an d h e h asn t
,
’

stopped to reason wh y ; b u t th ose h e h as seen i n

th e b ank do pri nt an d an y machi ne th e bank u se s
, ,

to h i s m ind m u st be all ri ght

,
.

Th e re are of cou rse p eopl e who do know th e

, ,

diffe rent t y pe s of acco un tin g mach i ne s an d a re ,

famili ar with thei r special u ses b u t th ere are ve r y

,

few who are fami l iar wi th th e tru e h i stor y of th e

modern accountin g machine .

A rticle s written by thos e n ot fam ili ar wit h th e

tru e facts relative to th e art of accou ntin g ma
( ne ner a l k nowl
ch ines have w rou ght confu si on Th ei r errors have . edge l a c k ing

b een copi ed and n ew e rro rs added thu s increasin g ,

th e c onfu si on A gain clai m s made in trad e a dv er

.
,

t is em e nts an d booklets are m i sl eadin g with th e ,

re sult that th e truth i s but l i ttle kn own .

The s e fact s and th e psychological e ff ect o f see

,

i ng a certai n t y pe of m ach ine i n the b ank w oul d

lead the average man to beli eve th at th e recordin g
add in g machin e wa s th e onl y practi cal mach ine ;
 O RIG IN or M O D ERN C ALCU L A T ING MA CH IN E S

and al so (a s someone stated i n the D ecember 1 9 1 5 , ,

i ss u e of th e G eographi c M agazin e ) that B u rrough s

was the i nvento r of th e recording adding machin e -
.

A lth ough the hi stor y of accou nting machines

date s wa y back into th e tenth centu r y th e mo dern ,

acco unti ng machin es are of qu ite recent origin ,

and are especiall y d is tingu i shed b y th e p resence

of d ep r e s s a b l e ke y s Th e ke y s i n these mach ines
.

act a s a m ean s of gau gin g th e actuation wh i ch

determine s th e valu e i n calcu lation whethe r th e ,

m achi ne is ke y driven o r ke y s e t with a crank o r

- -

moto r drive .

The se m odern machine s wh ich come wi th in th e

,

clas s ificati on of ke y d riven and ke y s et h ave thei r

- -

r es p ec tiv e speci al u se s .

The ke y driven machin e wh i ch wa s the firs t

-
,

prod uced of the s e two t y pe s o f m odern m ach ine s ,

doe s not pri nt and i s u sed fo r all form s of cal e u

,

lati on bu t i s generall y beh ind th e scene s i n th e

,

accounting room s of all line s of b u s ine s s and fo r ,

that rea son i s n ot s o well known as the ke y set -

c rank ope rated or moto r d riven mach ine wh i ch

- -

i s desi gned to print and is alwa y s i n full V i ew i n

the bank wh ere i t i s u se d to pri nt y ou r statement
of accou nt from th e vo u ch e rs y o u h ave i s su ed .

W hen we stop to anal y ze th e qual itie s of thes e

two t y pes of mach ine s we fin d that each has i ts
,

place and that nei th er m a y trul y s erve to di splace

the othe r Th e o rgan ization of each i s de signed
.

with refe rence to th e special wo rk it wa s i ntended

to do .

The calcu lating machine h aving onl y to perform

,

th e work of r e v o l v i n g t h e n u m e ra l w h e e l s i n
calculating add iti on subtraction m ultipli cation
, ,

and divi s ion i n its man y fo rms and combi natio n s ,

 TY P ES or A N CI EN T AN D M O D ERN M A CI i i N E s

ma y be key d ri ven (on a ccount of the sli ght

-

mechanical res i stance me t w i th i n action ) an d ,

th u s a s a one mot i on m ach ine requ i ring onl y th e

,
-
,

depres s i on of th e keys m a y al so b e mu ch mo re
,

rapid of manipulati on th an th e two motion record -

i ng add ing mach in e wh ich after d epre s s ing the

-
,

ke y s fo r each item requ i re s th e second ar y opera

,

ti on of pulling a crank forwa rd or operating a

pu sh bar that connects th e moto r .

T h e record in g adding mach ine being d e signed to

-

p ri nt th e i tem s an d an swers of add ition re qu i re s ,

power fo r th e printing wh ich cannot be s uppli ed

b y key d epre s s ion Thu s an extra m ean s fo r sup
.

p lying that power m u st b e p rovi ded i n the fo rm of

a c rank lever or i n the late st mach ines b y a moto r
, .

Th e ke y s i n s uch mach ine s se rve onl y a s d igital

co ntrol to gauge the setting of mechan i sm wh i ch
prints th e i tem s an d adds th em togethe r The .

seconda r y m otion ope rate s th e mech ani sm to print

and add and finall y to clear th e m ach i ne fo r the
s ettin g up o f the next i tem Th e reco rding of .

added column s of figu re s requ ires that th e an swe r

m u st alwa y s be pri nted Thi s deman d s special .

operation of devi ces provi ded for that pu rpo se ,

which also add s to th e tim e spent i n the operat ion

of s uch mach ine s a s compared wi th th e ke y d ri ven -

calcul ator .

To state wh ich of th e s e two t yp e s of mach ine s

i s th e mo re u sefu l would cau se a showe r of com
m ent and h a s noth in g to d o with the obj ect of
,

th i s arti cle S uffic e i t to s a y th at wh ere a printed

.

record of items added togeth e r with the i r an swe r

is requ i red fo r filing pu rpo se s or to b ring togethe r ,

l oose i tem s like th os e i n y o u r bank statement th e ,

recordi ng add ing machi ne serve s ; bu t wh en rapi d

-
 O RIG IN O F MOD E RN C A L CULA T IN G MA C HIN E S

calculatio n i n add ition m ultiplicati on subtraction

, ,

o r di vi s i on or when combinati on s of the s e fo rm s

,

of cal culati on are requ i red th e ke y d ri ven ca l cu

,
-

l ato r is the practi cal mach i n e for s u ch wo rk .

A lthough th e key d riven calculato r is generally

-

not so well known i t i s a s s tated th e olde st of th e

, , ,

modern acco u nting mach ines and i ts u sefulnes s

,

place s i t i n th e acco untin g room wh e re i t i s oft

,

time s foun d emplo y e d b y th e h und reds i n figu ring

’
up th e da y s work of acco unting .

Th e pu rpos e Of thi s book i s ba sed wh olly upon

showing th e vali d it y an d pri o r i t y of inventio n
wh ich con stitute tru e contribu tion s to th e A rt of
the s e two t y pes of modern acco unting mach ine s ;
to p lace th e facts fo r once an d all time befo re th e
p ubli c i n su ch a wa y th at th e y may j u dge fo r
th ems elve s to whom th e honor is du e an d th u s
s ettle th e controversy that exi sts .

The qu ib b ling of court cont est s ove r the termin

o logy of claim s of patents owned b y th e vari ou s
i nventors have b een s et as i de and only th e tru e
cont ri buti on s to th e A rt wh i ch pertain to th e
fun damental p ri n ci ples that have made th e modern
mach ine s p o s sible are h ere dealt wi th
, .

Th e dates of p atents on i noperati ve o r imp r a c

t ical machin es have from tim e to tim e been h eld
up to th e p ubli c as i n stances of pri o rit y of inven
tion ; b u t when th e v al i dit y of the se patents a s ,

fu rni sh ing any real contribution s to th e A rt i s ,

qu estion ed the y are not foun d to hold th e theme

,

o r p rin ci pl e that made th e mod ern mach ines p os

s ible an d a s i nvention s fade i nto ob scu rit y
, , .

T he A rt of e i th e r th e calculating mach i ne o r the

a d d ing reco rding machin e is not n ew ; i t i s as a
-
,

m atte r of fact ve ry old A s befo re stated th e A rt

, .
,
 Fz gu re I

Fz gu r e 2

One of th e P a s cal M a ch i n es
 TY P E S O F A N CI E N T AND M O D E RN MA CH IN E S 11

of accou nting mach ine d ate s back to th e t enth

centu r y bu t the first authentic evi denc e of a work
,

i ng m ach ine i s extan t i n mo del s m ade by Pascal

i n 1 6 4 2 (s ee illu strati on ) .

THE PAS C AL MACH I NE

R efe rring to th e illu stration F i g 1 of Pa scal s
’
, .
,

machine on th e o p po s ite p age i t wi ll b e noted

,

that there are a s eri es of s quare openings i n the

to p of th e ca sing ; u nder the se o p enings are d rum s ,

each n um b ered on i ts cyl in d rical s u rface .

A s th e machin e i llu strate d wa s m a d e to figure

E ngli sh cu rrency th e two ri ght h an d wh eel s are
,
-

n umbere d for pence an d Sh i llings wh ile th e si x ,

wh eel s to the left a re n umb ered from 1 to 9 an d O

fo r p ounds .

T h e pou n d s regi ste r d rum s o r n umeral wh ee l s

-
, ,

are each operate d b y a trai n of geari ng connecting

th em w i t h a ten arm e d turn stil e wheel wh ich fo rm
-

t h e h ub an d spoke s of what a pp ears to be a s e ri es

of wheel s on th e top of th e cas in g While th e .

spoke s and h ub are m ovable the rim s of the s e

,

wheel s are stati onar y an d are numbered fro m 1 to

9 an d 0 .

T h e geared relati on b etween th e tu rn stile w heel s

and the n umeral wh eel s i s s u ch that rotating a
tu rnsti le wi ll gi v e l ike rotati on to i ts n umeral
w h ee l
.

A ssu ming th at th e n umeral wh eel o f an y one o f

th e different orde rs regi stered 0 th rou gh i ts sight
o p en ing an d th e tu rn sti le of th e s am e or d e r wa s
mo v ed on e spoke of a rotati on i t wo u ld m ove th e
,

wheel so that th e 0 woul d d i sa p pear an d th e fi gu re

1 wo uld a pp ear ; n o w i f we S ho ul d move th e s am e
tu rn sti le th ree more spokes th e num e ral wh eel
'
 O RIGI N OE MOD ER N C ALCU L A T IN G MACHIN ES

would move likewi se three space s and th e 4 wou ld

appear .

A stop i n th e form of a finge r reach in g ove r th e

spoke s i s provi ded to stop th e tu rn stil e at th e ri ght
point s o that the figu re s on th e numeral wh eel s
ma y regi ster prope rl y with th e Sigh t openi ngs i n
th e cas ing .

The figu re s on th e wh eel rim s fast to the casi ng

are arranged anti clockwi se to regi ste r wi th th e
-

S p a c e b e tw e e n t h e S p o k e s t h e 0 r e g i s t e r i n g
,

w ith th e firs t space th e 1 with the second space

,

and so on aro un d th e wheel T h u s b y u se of th e .

.

finger o r a st y lo i n s erte d i n a space Opposite th e

n umbe r to b e ad ded th e operato r m ay move th e
,

spoke d wh eel or turnstil e clockwi s e u nti l stopped

b y the stop finger B y repeate d selecti on and
.

operation for each figur e to be added the wh eel s ,

w ill be revolved th rough th ei r c y cles of rotat i on

cau se d b y th e accu mulation .

A S th e nu me ral wheel s complete each rotati on

th e 0 will appea r so th at a regi strati on of th e ten s
,

m u st b e mad e Pascal provi ded for the accum ula

.

tion of th e ten s b y au tomati call y turning th e

wheel of next h i gh er orde r one poin t through th e
action of th e lowe r wheel .

Th e novel mean s emplo y ed for th i s tran sfe r of

the t en s cons i sted of a one step ratch et d evice —

Operated b y a pi n in th e train of gea ring connecte d

with th e lower numeral wheel wh ich a s th e lowe r , ,

wh eel pa ssed from 9 to 0 fo rced th e lever to wh i ch

,

the ratch et pawl was attach ed in a d i rection to

cau s e th e geari ng of th e h igh e r n umeral wheel to
be ratch eted fo rward far enou gh to add one to th e
h igher nume ral wh eel .
14 O R I G IN or M OD E RN C A L C U L A T I N G MA C H IN ES

T h ere i s n o room fo r dou b t that some of th es e

earl y i nventors ha d th e wi sh o r d e si re t o p ro duce
su ch a key d ri v en m ach i ne an d may h a v e attempte d
-

to pro d u ce one B u t as they l acke d th e ad v antage

.

of an i ns ti tution l i k e th e Patent O ffice in wh i ch

th ey co u l d l eave a recor d of thei r inoperative in
v ention s an d i n V i ew of th e fact th at they w er e
,

dependent on p ro d u ci ng an o p eratin g machine for

c re d it there i s no auth enti c p roof that th ey made
,

attempts i n t h i s lin e .
 D D PARMELEE
. . .

Calculator .

No
. P
atented Feb 5 1850
. . .

P m
ar el ee P a te n t D ra w i n gs
 T he E a r l y Ke y D ri ve n A rt -

”
LE COLO NE L D O CA G NE I ng !ni eu r d e s
’
,

Ponts et C hau s s !e s Profe ss eu r a I E col e ’

,

d es Pont s e t Chau s s !e s R !p !titeu r a ,

I E col e Pol y tec h ni qu e i n h i s L e C a l cu l s imp l ifi e

’ “
, ,

a h i storical re vi e w of cal cul ating d e v i ce s an d m a

ch ine s refers to t h e key d ri ve n mach in e as h a v ing
,
-

first mad e its a pp earan ce in th e S ch i lt mac h i n e of

1 85 1 but t h at th e Ar t reac h e d i t s t r u l y p ra c ti
,

ca l form i n A m erica I n th e l atter p art of h i s

.

s tatement th e p rofe s so r i s correct b u t a s to th e ,

firs t appearance of t h e key d ri v en m ach ine t h e -

U S Patent O ffice recor d s s h o w that a p atent w a s

. .

i s su e d t o D D Parm e l e e in 1 850 fo r a k ey d ri v en
. .
-

ad d ing mach in e (s ee il l u strati on ) .

THE PAR ME L E E M A C H I NE
By referring to t h e il l u strati on of t h e P a rm ele e
mac h in e re p rod uce d from th e d ra w ing s o f t h e
p atent th e rea d er w i ll n oti ce th at th e p atentee
,

d e v i ate d from th e e sta b l i she d p ri nci pl e of u sing

nu mera l wheel s I n p lace of n umeral wh e els 3
. .

l on g ratc h et toothe d b a r h a s b een su pp l i e d th e

-
,

flat face s o f w h i ch are num b e re d p rogres s i vel y

from th e to p to th e b ottom .

A s s h own i n Fi g 2 of t h es e d ra w ings , a sprin g

.

p res sed ratchet pa wl mark e d k engage s the teeth ,

of th e ratchet o r numeral b ar T h e p a wl k is p iv .
,

ote d to a le v er con stru cted d e v i ce m arked E the

-

plan of wh ich is sh o w n i n Fig 3 Th i s l e v e r . .

18 O RI G IN O F MOD E RN C A L C UL A T IN G MA C H I N E S

d e v i ce is p ivote d an d o p erate d b y the keys wh ich

are p ro v i d e d w it h a rm s d s o arranged that wh en ,

a ny one of th e k ey s i s d ep res se d th e arm contacts

w it h a nd op er a tes th e l ev e r d e vi ce an d its p a w l k
to ratc h e t th e num e ra l b ar u pw ar d s .

A n oth er s pr i ng p re s s e d r atc h et p a wl mark e d m

-

(s ee Fi g 2 ) is m ount ed on th e b ot tom of th e ca s
.

ing a nd s er v es to h old th e numera l b ar from r e

tu r ni ng a ft er a k ey d ep r ess io n -
.

I t wil l b e note d fro m Fi g 1 th at th e k ey s e x ten d.

t h roug h th e top of th e ca s ing in p r o g r es s i v ely

va ry ing h ei ghts Th i s va ria tio n is s u c h a s to
.

a ll ow th e No 1 k ey to ra t ch e t u p one t oot h of
.

th e numer al b a r , th e No 2 k ey tw o t e et h etc p r o
.
, .
,

g res s iv el y B y t h i s meth od a l i mit e d c o l u mn of

.

d igit s could b e a dd e d u p b y d e p res s ing th e k ey s

corres p o nd ing to t h e d i g i ts an d th e a n s wer c oul d
b e r ea d from t h e l o w est toot h of th e n umera l b ar
that p rotru d ed through th e to p of th e casing .

I t i s e v i dent that if th e Pa r m el ee ma c h i ne wa s
e v er u se d to a dd w it h th e o p er a tor woul d h a ve to
,

us e a p u s syfoot k ey s trok e or th e num er a l b a r

-

w ould o v e r sh oo t an d g i v e a n e rroneo us a n s w e r
-
,

as no p ro v i s ion w as ma d e to ov er com e th e mom en

tu m th at coul d b e gi v en th e nu me ra l b a r in a n
adding a ct io n .

For e ig n d zy zl T h e forei gn mach in es of th e k ey d r i v en typ e -

a dde r s
w ere made b y V S c h ilt 1 8 5 1 ; F Arz b e r g er 1 866 ;
.
, .
,

S tetner 1 88 2 ; B agge 1 88 2 ; d Az eve do 1 8 8 4

, ,
’
,

Petetin 1 885 ; Ma q M eye r 1 8 8 6 T h es e forei gn

, , .

m a c h i n e s l i k e t h a t of P a r m e l e e a c c or d i n g to
, ,

M l e C olon e l d oca gne w er e li mi te d to th e c a p aci ty

.
’
,

of a d ding a s ing l e col umn of d i gi ts at a time That .

is either a column of u n i ts or ten s or h un d r e d s

, ,

etc , a t a t ime
. S uc h mac h in e s of cou r s e req ui re d
.
, ,
 TH E E AR LY K E Y D RI V EN AR T
-
19

th e adding fi rst of al l th e uni ts an d a n ot e m ad e of

,

the total ; th en th e m ach in e mu st b e cleared and

th e tens figure of the total an d hun d red s i f th e re
, ,

b e one m u st th en b e adde d o r carri ed o v e r to th e

,

t en s column th e s am e as addin g s ingl e col umn s

menta l ly .

O n account of t h es e mach ine s h a v i ng only a

capacity fo r ad d in g one o rder o r column of d igits ,

th e u ni t v alu e 9 was th e greates t it e m that co ul d

b e adde d at a time Thu s i f th e o v erflo w in ad d ing
.
,

th e u nit s col umn o r an y other column amo u nte d to

m ore than on e p lace it re qu i red a m ulti p le o f key
,

depres sion s to p u t i t on th e regi ster Fo r example .

,

s u p pos e th e s um of addin g th e uni ts column s

sho ul d b e 9 8 2 i t wou ld requ i re th e depre s s ion of
,

th e 9 key ten time s an d then th e 8 k ey to b e

- -

struck to pu t th e 9 8 on th e mach in e T hi s o rder

, .

of man ipulation h a d to b e repeated fo r e ac h d enom

ina tiona l col umn of figu re s .

A noth er m eth od that cou l d b e u s e d i n the m an

ip ul a tion of th e se single o rder or digit add ing
- -

mach in es was to s et d own th e s um of each o rde r

a s adde d wi th i ts un it s figu re arrange d re l ati v e to
th e o rder i t repre sents th e s um of an d th en m en ,

tally ad d su ch s um s (s ee exampl e b elow ) th e same

a s you wo ul d s e t d own th e su m s i n m ulti p l icati on

and a dd th em togethe r .

x a mp l e of m e th od th a t ma y b e used w i th s i ng l e c ol um n
ad E
er .

1 7 00 1 2
20 O R IG IN O F MODE RN C ALCULA T IN G MA C H INES

S u ch
machin es of co u rse n eve r became p op u
, ,

la r becau s e of th ei r l imi ted ca p acity which r e ,

qu i red man y extra movements an d cau s ed mental

s train witho ut offering an increas e i n speed of cal
culatio n as compared wi th expert mental calcula
tion The re we re a n umber of patent s i s su e d i n th e
.

U n ited S tates o n mach ine s of th i s clas s wh ich may

well b e named single d i git adders -
.

The m ach ine s of thi s t y pe wh ich were patente d

i n th e U nite d S tate s preced ing th e first practi cal
,

m ultiple o rd er mo dern mach ine were patented b y ,

D D Parm elee 1 85 0 ; W R obj oh n 1 8 7 2 ; D

. .
, .
, .

C arroll 1 8 7 6 ; B o rland
, H offman 1 8 78 ; M , .

B o u chet 1 88 3 ; A S tettn er 1 88 3 ; S palding 1 884 ;

, .
, ,

L M S wem 1 88 5 and 1 8 8 6 ; P T L indholm 1 8 8 6 ;

. .
, . .
,

and B F S mi th 1 8 8 7 A ll of th ese machine s

. .
, .

vari ed in constructi on b ut not in pri ncipl e S ome .

we re reall y operative and oth ers i noperative b ut ,

all lacked what ma y b e termed u seful capacity .

To tho se not famil iar with th e techni cal fea

t ures of th e k e y driven calculating mach in e A rt
-
,

i t would s eem that if a mach ine co uld be made to

add on e column of di gits i t woul d requ i re n o ,

great invention o r ingen u ity to a rrange such

mechan i sm s in a pl uralit y of o rders B ut th e im .

po s s ibi lit y Of effecting s uch a combinati on wi th

o u t exercis ing a high degree of i nvention will
b ecom e evi dent as the read er b ecome s familiar
w ith th e requ i rements whi ch are best i llu strated
,

through th e erro rs m ad e by tho s e wh o tri ed to

produce s uch a machi ne .

A S stated th e first authenti c knowledge we h ave

,

of an actual mach ine fo r add ing i s extant i n mod el s

22 O RI G I N O F MOD ERN C AL CU L A T I NG MA CHINE S

TH E H I LL MACH INE

T h e U S Paten t O ffi c e reco rd s Sh o w that one

. .

amb itio u s i nvento r T hom as H ill i n 1 8 5 7 s ecured

, ,

a p atent o n a mu lti p le orde r key d ri ven calculatin g

- -

mach in e (s e e i llu stration ) wh ich h e claime d a s a,

new an d u sefu l i n v ention T he H ill patent h ow .

,

ever was th e only on e of that clas s i s su ed unti l

, ,

th e firs t reall y operative mode rn machine was ma d e

th i rty years l ater and affo r d s a fine example by
,

whi ch th e featu re s that w ere lacking i n th e make

u p of a really operative mach ine of thi s type may
be b rou ght o ut .

Des cr ip tion of the Th e i l l u strati on s of th e H ill mach ine on th e

H ill ma ch me
oppo s ite p age reprod u ced from th e drawings of
,

the patent Show two n umera l wh eels each h aving

, ,

seven s et s each of large an d smal l figu res running

fro m 1 to 9 an d th e ci p he r marked o n thei r p e
'

r ip h e r y
. Th e large s ets of fi g ur e s a r e a rranged fo r
addi ti on o r p osit i v e c alculation an d th e smal l ,

figu res a re arrange d th e reve rs e fo r s ubtraction o r

negative calculati on Th e wheel s are pro v i de d w ith
.

mean s fo r th e carry of th e tens ve ry simi lar to ,

th at foun d i n the Pascal mach ine E ach of the tw o .

wheel s s h own are p rovi ded with ratc h et teeth

w h ich correspond i n numbe r with th e n umbe r of
figu re s on th e wh eel .

S p ri n g p re s s ed h o ok s h ap e d ratc h e t p awl s
-
,
-

marked b are a rranged to b e i n constant engage

,

ment wi th th e n umeral w h eel s Th es e p awl s are .

each pivotall y mounte d i n th e en d of th e levers

m arked E wh ich are p i v ote d at the front end of
,

th e cas ing .

T h e levers E are h eld in normal o r u pward po si

,

tion b y spri ngs f at the front of th e mach ine

,
.
H i ll P a te nt
.
D n gs
ra w i
 O RIG IN O F M OD E RN C A L C UL A T ING MA CHIN E S

A bov e each of the se leve rs E are a serie s of ke y s

,

wh i ch protru de through th e ca s ing w i th th ei r

l owe r end s resting on th e l evers T h ere are b ut S ix
.

ke y s shown i n the d rawing b u t th e specificati on

,

claim s th at a complete s et of n ine ke y s m ay b e

s upplie d fo r each l eve r .

Th e arrangemen t and spacing of th e keys are

s u ch th at th e greate r th e valu e of th e key th e
n earer i t i s to th e ful cru m or p ivo t of th e lever E .

The length of th e ke y stem u nder the h ead o r b ut

ton of each key i s gau ged to allow depre s sion of
th e ke y th e l ever E and pawl b far enough to
, ,

cau se the numeral wh eel to rotate a s many numeral

p laces a s th e valu e ma rking on th e k ey .

A back stop p awl fo r th e numeral wh eels m arke d

-

p i s mounte d on a cros s rod at th e top of th e

,
-

m ach in e B u t on e of th es e pawl s are shown th e

.
,

sh aft and th e pawl for th e h igh er wh eel b eing

b roken awa y to Show th e devi ce fo r trans ferr ing
th e tens to th e high e r wh eel .

T he tran sfer device fo r th e carry of th e ten s i s

a l eve r a rrangement c on stru cted from a tub e F ,

mo unted on th e cros s rod m wi th arm s G and H

-
, .

Pi voted to th e a rm G i s a ratch et pawl i an d

, ,

attached to th e p awl is a s p ring that ser v es to

hol d th e pawl in engagement with the ratch et of
th e h igh er o rde r numeral wh eel and at th e s am e
-
,

time th rough i ts attachment wi th th e pawl hold s

, ,

th e l eve r a rm s G an d H retracted a s Shown in th e

drawi ng .

A s th e lowe r o rde r numeral wheel p ass es any

-

on e of i t s po ints from 9 to 0 one of th e teeth or,

cam lu gs n on th e wh eel will move th e a r m H of

, ,

th e tran sfer leve r fo rward cau sing th e pawl i to

, ,

move th e h i gh er orde r wh eel one s tep to regi ster

-

th e accumulation of the ten s .

 TH E E A R L Y K E Y D RI V E N AR T
-

”
T he functi on s of th e H ill m ech an i sm would ,

p erha p s b e p ractical i f i t were not for th e ph y sical

,

“
law that bo d i e s s e t i n motion tend to remain i n
moti on .

C on sid e ra b le u nearned publ ici t y has b een gi ven

th e H ill inventi on on account of the patent office
model h avin g b een placed o n exhibi t i n th e N a ti ona l
M u seum at Wa sh ington Ju dgin g from th e out
.

ward appearanc e of thi s model th e a r rangement ,

o f th e key s i n column s wo ul d seem to impa r t th e

im p re ssi on th at h ere was th e foundation of th e
mode rn k e y d riven mach ine The col umna r pri n
-
.

c ip l e u sed i n th e a rrangement of th e ke y s h ow ,

ever i s th e onl y Simil arity

,
.

T h e H ill i nventi on m oreover was lacki ng i n th e

, , I n
nop er a l ire es s

e ssenti al featu re n ece s sary to th e m ake up of s u ch - f H i ll ma ch i n e

o

a m ach ine a lack that fo r th i rt y y ears h el d th e

,

anci ent A rt agai n st th e i n road s of th e m odern A rt

that finally d i spl aced i t T h e feat u re lackin g wa s
.

a m ean s for controllin g th e acti on of th e m echan

i sm un der the tremendou sly i nc reased Speed pro
d uce d by th e u s e o f d ep r e s s a b l e keys a s an a c tua t
i ng m ean s .

H i ll m ad e n o p rov i s i o n fo r o ve rco m i n g th e
l ightning spee d momentum that cou l d b e given th e
-

nu meral wh eel s in h i s mach in e th rou gh m a nip u

lati on o f th e ke y s ei ther from d i rect ke y acti on
,
-

or ind i rectl y th rou gh th e carr y of the ten s I magin e .

th e sudden wh i rl hi s n umeral wh eel wo ul d receive

on a qu i ck d epres si on of a k ey an d then con si der
that h e p rovi ded n o mean s fo r sto p pi ng th ese
wheel s ; i t i s obvi ou s th at a correct resu lt coul d
not b e obtaine d by th e us e of s u ch m ech ani sm .

S om e i dea of wh at wou ld tak e pl ace i n the H ill

mach in e u nder m an ipulation by an ope rato r m ay
26 O RIG IN O F MOD ERN C A L C U L A T IN G MA C H I N E S

b e conceived from t h e s p eed attained i n th e o pe r

ation of th e keys of th e up to dat e mo dern key - -

d riven machin e .

H i gh sp eed of Op erators on ke y d ri v en mach ine s oftenti me s

-

k e v dr i ve
attain a spee d of 5 5 01 key s troke s a m in ute i n
m ultipl icati on L et u s presu me that an y one of
.

thes e strok e s m ay b e a d epre s s ion of a ni ne key .

T h e de p re ss ion and retu rn of co u rs e re p re sent s , ,

a full stroke b ut onl y half of th e stroke woul d

,

rep resent th e time i n whi ch th e wheel acts T h u s .

the num eral wh eel w o ul d be tu rned nin e of its ten

p oints of rotatio n i n an eleven h und redth (1 1 1 0 0 )
of a min ute That m ean s onl y o ne ninth of th e
.
-

time gi ven to half of the k ey st roke o r a n inety ,

nine h u nd redth of a min ute ; a one h un

d red and s ixty fif th -
p a rt of a s econ d fo r
a carr y to b e e ff ected .

I f you have ever w atc h e d a camera Sh utter w ork -

on a t w enty fif th of a s econ d e xp o s u re wh ich is

-
,

th e ave rage tim e for a snap shot w ith an o r d ina r y -

camera it will b e intere sting to kno w that thes e

,

controlling devi ce s of a key dri v en machi ne m u st -

act i n one fif th th e time i n w h i ch th e sh utte r

-

allow s the dayli ght to pas s th ro u gh th e l en s of the

camera .

T h ink of i t ; a mach ine b u ilt wit h th e i dea of

off ering th e p os s ibi lity of s uch key manipulation
and s uppl y ing noth ing to overcome th e tremend ou s
m omentu m set u p i n the n um eral wh ee l s an d thei r
d ri ving mechani sm u nles s pe rchance H i ll thought
,

the o perato r of h is mach ine cou ld mentally c on , ,

trol th e wh eel s against over rotation -

.

L ack of a prope r descripti ve term u sed to refe r

to an obj ect m achi ne etc oftentimes l eads to th e
, , .
,

us e of an e rroneo u s term To call the H ill inve n

.
30 O R I G IN O F MOD ERN C A L CU L A T IN G M A C HI N E S

I n Fi g 1 th e u nits an d ten s w heel are Sho wn

.

me sh e d wi th th ei r d ri v ing gears T h es e gears a r e .

not n umb ere d b u t are s ai d to b e fa st to th e shaft s

N an d M respectivel y (see Fi g
, .

Fa s t o n th e shaft M is a s eries of n i n e ratchet

,

tooth ed gears mar k ed O and a l ik e s eri e s of gea rs

,

P a re fast to th e shaft N Co actin g with e ach

, .
-

of th ese ratch et toothe d gears is a ratch et to othe d

- -

rack F p ivote d at i ts l owe r end t o a key l e v er H

, ,

an d p res se d fo rwar d i nto engagem ent w ith its

ratch et gear b y a spring G .

T he key le v ers H of w h i ch there are two sets

, ,

one s e t with the fi ng er pi eces K an d th e oth er w ith

-

th e fi ng er p i ece s J a re all p ivot ed on th e block I

-
, ,

an d h el d dep res sed at the rear b y an ela sti c b and

L T h e t w o s ets of racks F are each p rovi ded
.
,

with a n um b e r of teet h arrange d p ro g re s si vely

from on e to n in e t h e rack connecte d w ith th e N o 1
, .

k ey h a v ing one ratch et tooth t h e N o 2 h aving two , .

teeth etc
, .

B y th i s a rrangement C ha p in ex p ect ed to a d d
th e u ni ts an d ten s of a col umn of numeri cal item s ,

an d then b y shi fting th e n umera l wh eel s and th ei r

tran sfe r d e v i ce s w h i c h are mounte d o n a frame
, ,

de signed fo r th at pu rpo s e h e expecte d to add up ,

th e h un d re d and th ou s and s of th e sam e column of

item s .

I t i s hardly conceiva b le th at th e i n v ento r sh ould

have o v erloo k ed th e nece ss ity of gauging th e
th ro w of t h e rack s F b u t s u ch i s t h e fact as n o
, ,

provi sion i s ma d e i n th e d ra w ings neithe r w a s ,

m enti on made of su ch mean s i n the specification .

E ven a s ingl e tooth o n h is rack F coul d unde r a , ,

qu i ck key stroke o verthrow th e nume ral w h eel s

-
, ,

a n d th e s am e i s t ru e o f th e c a rry tran sfe r

m ec hani sm .
 m th
Fro e Sta rk P a te nt D n gs
ra w i
 TH E E AR LY K E Y D R IV E N AR T -
33

Th e C ha p in mac h ine lik e that of H ill w a s m a d e

, ,

withou t thought a s to w h at w o ul d h ap p en when a

key was de p res se d wi t h a qu ick st roke a s the re ,

was no provi sion for control of th e n umeral wh eel s

again st overth row A s stated th e m ach in e w a s
.
,

d esi gn ed to add two col umn s of digits at a ti me ,

an d with an attem p t to pro v id e m ean s to S hi ft t h e

accumulator m echan i sm o r th e n u mera l w h eel s ,

an d carry transfe r d evi ces so that column s of

-
,

items h a v in g fou r p laces coul d b e adde d by su ch a

sh ift S u ch a mach in e of cou rs e offere d le ss than
.
, ,

could b e fou nd i n th e H ill mach ine an d that w a s ,

noth ing at all s o far as a p o ss ible operative

m achine i s conce rn e d .

TH E S T ARK M A C H I N E
Th e reprod u cti on of th e patent drawi ngs of th e
S t ark machi n e i llu strate d on the oppo si te p age
show a seri e s of n umera l wh eel s e ach provi d ed ,

with three sets of figu res runn in g from 1 to 9

and 0 .

Pivotall y mo unted u p on th e axi s of th e num eral

whee l s at each en d are s ector gears E and a rm s E 1 4
,

i n wh i ch are pi v ote d a s quare Sh aft E extended from ,

on e a rm to the othe r acro s s th e face of th e n umeral

wheel s T h e shaft E i s claime d to b e h el d i n i ts
.
,

normal p os iti on b y a s p ring s o th at a pawl E 2

, ,

s h if ta b l y mo u nte d on th e Sh aft d es i gn ed to ratch et ,

o r actuate th e n umera l wheel s fo rward may en ,

gage wi th an y one of th e num eral wh eel ratchets .

A b ail mark ed D i s p ivoted to stand ard s A of

,
1
,

th e fram e of th e mach ine and i s provi d ed with ,

th e two radial racks D w h i ch me sh with th e sec

3
,

tor gears E I t may b e conceived that th e act

l
.

of de p res sing th e b ail D will ca u se th e actuating ,

34 O R IG I N O F M O D E RN C ALCU LA T I NG MACH I N E S

pawl E t o ope rate w h i ch e v e r nume ral w h eel it

2
,

engages th e ratch et of .

T h e bai l D i s h el d i n i ts norm al po sition by a

,

spring D and is p rovi ded with nin e ke y s o r fi n

2
,

g e r p i e c e s d e i gh t o f w h i c h c o a c t w i t h t h e
,
-

stepped p late G to regulat e th e additi v e d egree of

,

rotation given to th e n ume ral w h eel s wh ile th e ,

n inth h as a fixed relati on wi t h th e b ai l an d th e

bai l its elf i s stoppe d .

T h e key s d marked from 1 to 8 are p ivote d to

, ,

the bail i n s u ch a manner that th ei r normal rela

tion to th e b ai l w ill allow them to p as s b y th e
s te p s on t h e s te pp e d p late G wh en th e b ai l is ,

depres s ed b y th e fixe d N o 9 key Wh en h o w ever . .

, ,

any one of th e k eys num b ere d from 1 to 8 i s d e

p re s sed th e l owe r en d of th e Shank of th e k ey w il l
,

tilt rearward and a s th e b ai l i s de p re ss e d off ers

, , ,

a s top against th e re s p ective ste p of th e p late G ,

a rranged in i ts p ath th u s s to p ping fu rther action

,

of th e actuatin g p aw l E b u t offering not h ing to

2
,

prevent th e continu ati on of t h e fo rce o f momen

tum s e t up i n th e n umeral w heel s b y th e k ey acti on .

T here wa s small u s e i n stopping th e action of

th e p awl E i f th e ratchet an d n um eral whe el im
2
, ,

p el l e d by th e p awl coul d contin u e onwar d u nde r

,

i ts momentum .

The carr y of th e ten s transfer devi ce i s of th e

same o r d er a s that descri b e d in th e Pascal an d
H ill mach ine s ; that is a one ste p ratchet motion ,
- -

actu ated b y a cam lu g o r p in from th e lowe r wh eel .

T h e carry tran sfe r d evi c e con s i sts of th e lever F ,

an d pawl f acting on th e ratchet of the upper

4
,

wheel wh ich is operated b y th e cam lugs of

th e lower wh eel act ing on th e arm s f an d f of th e
3 1

leve r F .
fl
—
Q

F m th
ro e R ob j oh n P a te nt D ra w i n gs
38 O R I G I N O F M OD ERN C A L CU L A T IN G MA C H I N E S

going d i scu s s ion a s merely a S ingl e d i git ad d in g -

machine h a v ing th e capacity fo r a d ding b u t one

,

column of digits at a time .

R O B J O HN MAC H I NE

R eferri ng to th e illu stration of th e p atent dra w

i ngs of t h e R obj ohn mach ine i t will b e noted that
,

t h e r e a r e t h r e e S i gh t o p e n i n g s i n t h e c a s i n g
th rou gh wh i ch th e regis tration of th e n umera l
wh eel s may be read T h e num eral w h eel s lik e tho se
.
,

of all mach i ne s of th i s character are c onnecte d ,

b y devi ces of a s im i lar n atu re to tho s e in th e H ill

mach in e fo r ca rr y ing th e tens one o p eratin g
,

between th e uni ts an d ten s wh eel an d another b e

tween th e ten s and h u ndredth s w h eel .

The uni ts wheel shown i n Fi g 3 i s connected b y

.

gearing to a l ong p in wh ee l roto r marked E s o

-
, ,

that any rot ati on of th e roto r E w ill give a l ik e

,

rotation to th e un its n umeral wh eel to w h i ch it is

entrai ne d b y gea r i ng .

T o each of th e n in e digi ta l k eys marke d B is , ,

attached an engaging and di s engaging s ecto r gear

d evi ce whi c h a s sho w n i n Fi g 3 alth ough n or
, , .
,

mally not i n engagement w ith th e roto r E wil l ,

u p on depre s si on o f i ts attache d key engage th e ,

roto r an d tu rn i t .

A sto p devi c e i s s uppli ed for th e key acti on ,

wh ich in tu rn wa s suppo se d to sto p th e gear

acti on ; that s eems rath e r dou b tfu l H oweve r .
,

an alte rn ati v e de v i c e is Shown i n Fi gs 4 an d 5 .

,

wh ich p rovide s wh at may without question b e

called a s top devi ce to p revent o v er rotati on of -

th e uni ts wh eel u nder d i rec t key acti on .

I t will b e noted that th e engaging and d is eng a g

ing gear devi c e i s h ere Sh own i n th e fo rm o f a
(No Model ) 2 Sh ee t s —
Sh eet l .

M BOU CHE T
.

. .

ADDI NG MACHI NE .

Pa t e nt e d Ma r .

INVENTUR .

W ITNE

F mD
ro n gs
ra w i of B ouch et P a ten t
 TH E E AR LY K E Y D R I V E N AR T
-
4 1

gear toot h ed rack an d t h at the key stem i s p ro

-

v id ed with a p roj ecting a rm endin g i n a d own

w a r dl y p roj ecting tooth o r d etent which may

engage th e rotor E an d stop it at th e end of th e
,

d o w nward key a cti on Wh il e th e stopping of th e

.

roto r shows a control i n the R obj ohn m ach i n e

wh ich take s plac e unde r direct action from the
ke y s to p revent overth row of th e uni ts n um eral
wheel i t d i d not p revent th e overflow o f th e
,

high e r o r ten s wh eel s i f a carry Sh ould take

,

p lace . T here wa s n o provi s ion for a control

of th e numeral wheel s und er th e act ion received
f r o m t h e c a r r y o f th e t e n s b y t h e t ra n s f e r
mechani sm .

T he firs t attempt to control th e carri ed wh eel

i n a k ey dri v en machin e i s foun d i n a patent i s su ed
-

to B ou ch et i n 1 88 2 (s ee i ll u stration on o pp os it e
p age ) b ut i t was a G eneva motion gearing wh ich ,

as i s generally known may act to tran sm i t p owe r

,

an d then a ct to lock th e w h ee l to w h i c h th e power

h as been tran sm itte d u nti l i t i s agai n to b e t u rned
th ro ugh th e same sou rce S u ch a geare d u p an d
.

locked relati on between th e n umera l w h eel s of ,

cou rse made th e tu rnin g of th e high er wheel

,

(wh i ch had b een so locked ) b y an oth e r s et of key

mechani sm an i mpo s s ibi lity .

B OU C HE T MA C H INE
T h e illu s tration of th e B ou ch et m ach ine on th e
o pp os ite page w a s reprod uce d fro m the d rawings
of t h e p atent w h ich i s th e neare st to th e m ach ine
that w a s p lace d on th e market T h e n um eral .

wheel s like mo s t of th e s i ngle d igi t ad d e rs are

,
-

three i n num b er and con si s t of the pri me actu ated

, ,

o r uni ts wh eel and two overflo w wh eel s to receive

,
 O R I G IN or MOD E RN C AL CU L A T IN G MA C HINES

the carry of th e ten s T he units w hee l h a s fixe d to

.

it a long 1 0 tooth pini on or roto r I w ith whi ch

-
,

ni ne i ntern al segmenta l gea r racks L a r e arrange d ,

to engage and turn th e un it s w heel throu gh thei r

n ine vary i ng ad d i tive degree s of rotati on .

T h e s egm ental gear racks L are norm ally ou t of

,

mesh w ith th e p in ion I and are fas t to the k ey

,

l evers E i n s u ch a manner that th e first d ep r e s

,

sion o f a key cau se s i ts rack to rock fo rwar d and

engage wi th th e p ini on I an d fu rth er de p res sion
,

move s the rack upward and rotate s the pin ion an d

units n um eral wh eel I t w i ll b e noted th at th i s en
.

gaging and d i sengaging gear action i s in p ri ncipl e

like that of R obj ohn .

Th e t ran sfer devi ce s fo r th e carry of th e ten s ,

as al re ady stated belong to th at clas s of m echan

,

i sm commonl y known a s the G eneva motion

“
It .

cons i sts of a m u ti lated o r on e tooth gear fa st to -

th e unit s wheel o p eratin g w ith a n ine toot h gear -

,

m arked D loo sel y mo unted o n an axi s parallel to

1
,

th e numeral wheel axi s E ach revolu tio n of the

.

uni ts wh eel moves th e nine tooth gear th ree S p aces

—

and i n tu rn mo v e s th e n ext h igher n um era l w h ee l

to whi ch i t i s geare d fa r enough to regi ste r one
p o int o r th e carry A ci rcular notche d di s c marke d
.
,

S i s fa st to th e units wheel and th e n in e tooth

, ,
-

gear D ha s part of two ou t of every three of its

,

teeth m u tilated o r cu t a w ay to make a conve x su r

face for th e notch ed d i s c to rotate i n .

With s u ch c o nstru ctio n th e n ine tooth gear may -

not rotate o r b ecom e di s p lace d a s l ong as th e

peri phery of th e d i s c continu es to occupy any one
of th e th ree conve x s p ace s of t h e n ine tooth gear -
.

Wh en however th e n otch o f th e di sc i s p resented

, ,

to th e m u tilated portio n of the nine tooth gear -

,
 TH E E AR L Y K E Y D RI VE N AR T -
43

the sai d gear i s u nlocked T h i s u nlockin g i s co .

i nci dent to the engagem ent of th e s ingle tooth of

the num eral wh eel gear with th e n in e tooth gear
- -

and th e p as sin g of th e nume ra l w h eel from 9 t o 0 ,

du ring whi ch th e n ine tooth gear will b e moved -

th re e space s an d will b e agai n locked as th e notch

,

i n th e d i s c pas ses and th e p eri p h er y fills th e n ext

convex space o f th e mutilate d n i ne tooth gear -
.

T h e B ouchet mach ine wa s m an ufactu red and B o uch et ma ch ine

ma r keted
sold to some e x tent b u t never b ec am e po p ular as
, ,

i t lacked capacity M ach ine s of s u ch lim ite d

.

capacity co ul d not com p ete with o rdinary a c

c ounta n ts m u ch les s with th o s e wh o co ul d mentally
,

ad d from two to fou r column s at a cli p A s i de from .

th e capaci t y featu re th ere was anoth er reason ,

wh y thes e s ingle o rde r mach ine s were u s ele s s

-
,

except to tho s e who could not ad d m ent ally M ul .

ti p l e form s of calcul ation that i s m u ltiplicatio n , ,

an d di v i s ion cal l fo r a mach in e h avin g a m ul ti

,

p l ic ity of or d ers T h e ca p acity of a si ngl e o rd e r

.

woul d b e but wh i ch requ i re s n o m achin e at

all a seven yea r Ol d chi l d know s that To m ulti
— - -
.

ply howeve r i s a d ifferent th ing an d , ,

r equi res a mu ltiple order calcu lator -

.

I t i s p erha p s well at th is tim e to poi nt o ut th e

mi su s e of th e te r m calculati ng where i t is app li ed
to mach in es h avin g only a capaci ty fo r certai n
fo rm s of calcu lating a s compared w i th mach ine s

”
wh i ch p erfo rm i n a practi cal wa y all form s of ca l
culati on that i s addition m ultipl icati on s ub tr a c
, , , ,

“
ti on an d divi s ion To appl y th e te rm calculatin g
.

mach in e to a m ach in e havi ng anything l es s than

a c a p acity fo r all the s e fo rm s i s e rroneou s .

A n adding m ach in e may p e rform one of th e

fo rms of calculatio n b u t to call i t a calculating
,
 O RI G I N O F M OD E RN C A L CU L A T IN G MAC H I NE S

m ach ine w h en i t h as n o ca p acity for d i v i sion s ub ,

traction or m ultipli cati on i s an error ; and yet w e ,

fin d th e U S Patent Ofli c e reco rd s stu ff ed full of

. .

pat ents grante d on mach ines thu s erron eously

named Th e te rm calculating i s t h e b roa d term
.

covering all form s of calculation an d mach ine s ,

perform ing les s sho uld b e d e si gnate d accor d ing to

th ei r specific capaci ti e s .

I t i s tru e th at adding i s calculating an d u n d er ,

th ese ci rcums tances why then may not an addin g ,

m ach ine b e calle d a cal culator ! Th e an swe r is

that it may b e calculating to ad d ; i t may b e ca l cu
lating to eith e r s ubtract mu ltiply o r d ivi de ; b ut ,

i f a machi n e add s an d i s lackin g i n th e m ean s of

p erform ing th e oth er form s of calculation i t i s ,

only p a rt of a calculating mach ine an d lacks th e

featu res th at w i ll g i v e i t title to b eing a full fle dg ed -

calcu lator *
.

C on si derabl e contention was rai sed b y parti es

i n a lat e p atent s u i t a s to what con stit ute d th e
mak e up of a calculati ng m achine O ne of th e
-
.

attorne ys conten d e d that con stru ction wa s the

onl y th ing that woul d d i stingu i sh a calculati ng
mach ine B u t a s m achi nes are n amed by th ei r
.

fu nctionin g th e contention does n ot h ol d w ater

, .

That is to s a y ! A mach in e may b e a calculating

mach i ne and yet its con stru ction b e su ch that i t
p erform s i ts function s of n egati v e an d p o siti v e
calcu lation w itho ut reversa l of its acti on .

A gain a mach ine may b e a calculating mach in e

,

and operate i n one di rection for po sitive calcula

tion and th e revers e fo r negative calculation As .

long a s the mach ine h as been s o arranged that all

”
form s of calculation may be p e rforme d by i t with
NO
* Th t itl f t h i b o k d n t ihn id w it h t h b v
g m n t b ut w f th m m n u f t t m l ul t n g
TE ! e e o s o oe s o co c e e a o e
“

ppl t n b tt u n d t d
ar u e V
, 1 11 ie o e co o se o e er ca c a i
i t s a ica io is e er ers oo .
 0 . G . S PALDI NG .

ADDI NG MACHI NE
No . Pa t e nt e d Fe b . 1 9 1 8 84
, .

l !a

6 5 f6
. . w l fl4 r

D n gs
ra w i of Sp a l d in g P a te n t N0 .
 TH E E ARLY K E Y D R I V E N AR T
-
47

o u t mental com p u ta ti on and the m ach ine h as a

,

reasonable capacity of at lea st ei gh t orders i t ,

should b e entitled to b e called a calculating m ach in e .

TH E S P A L D I N G M A CH I N E
The n ext mach in e th at h a s any b eari ng on th e
k ey driven A rt o f wh ic h there i s a reco r d i s illu s
-
,

t r a te d i n a p atent grante d to C G Sp alding i n . .

1 884 (s ee i llu stration on oppos ite page ) Th e .

Sp alding i nventi on l ike that of B ou chet wa s p ro

, ,

v id e d with control fo r i ts p rimary actuation an d

control for its s econdary or carrying actuati on .

R efe rring to th e S palding mach ine re p ro d uced

from th e drawings of h is p atent th e rea d e r w ill ,

note th at i n place of th e unit s an d ten s n umeral

wheel s a clock han d h as b een su p pli ed c o operat
, ,
-

ing with a dial gra d u ate d from Oto 9 9 sho w in g ,

the figu re s 5 1 0 1 5 etc to 9 5 fo r e very five

, , , ,

graduation s .

A noth er simi lar h an d o r a rrow an d dial to reg

i ster the h undred s is also p rovi de d h avin g a capac ,

ity t o re g i ster n ineteen h undre d A ttache d to th e .

a rrows th rou gh a shaft connecti on at th e back of

,

the casing a re ratche t wh eel s h aving respectively ,

th e same numb er of teeth as th e gra duation of th e

dial to whi ch each hand b elongs .

Co operating wi th the h undred tooth ratch et of

- -

th e u nits an d ten s regi ster hand i s a ratch et and

lever moti on de v i ce (see Fig 2 ) to tu rn th e a rrow .

from on e to nin e p oints of the gra d u ati on o f th e

dial T h e ratch et an d l ever mot i on d evi ce consi sts of
.
-

th e s pring pres sed pawl E mounted on th e leve r

-

arm D en gaging th e h undre d tooth ratchet the

,
-
,

link or p u sh ro d F th e leve r G an d i ts spring 0

-
, , .

I t wil l b e noted that a d ownward action of th e

le v er G wi ll through th e ro d F cau s e a l ike down
, , ,
48 O RIG IN O F MOD E RN C A L C U L A T IN G MA C H IN E S

ward acti on o f th e l eve r D cau s ing the ratch et,

p awl E to b e d rawn o v er th e ratch et teeth U pon .

th e releas e of th e l eve r G th e s p ring 0 w ill retu rn

, ,

i t to its no rmal p o s ition and th rough th e name d

connecting p art s ratch et fo rwar d th e arrow
, .

The normal p o siti on of th e p awl E is j amme d

into th e toot h of th e ratch et an d again st th e
b racket C t h at fo rm s th e pivo t support fo r th e
,

p ivot s haft o f th e a rro w T hi s j amm ed o r locke d

.

combination serves to stop the momentum of th e

ratch et w h eel at th e end of th e ratch etin g action ,

an d h old s th e wh eel an d its arrow n orm ally l ocke d

u ntil th e le v e r G i s again d e p re ss e d .

T he m ean s for gauging th e d e p re ss ion an d

addi tive degrees of action of th e l eve r G i s p ro
d uce d through th e sli de s or keys marke d a ha v ,

i ng fi ng er pi ece s c s p rings f and p in s e b eari ng

-
, , ,

a gainst th e top o f th e l e v er G com b i ne d with w hat

,

may b e call ed a compen sating le v er marke d K .

T he S pecification of th e p at ent state s th at th e

d e p re ss ion of a key will d epres s th e lever G an d
th e free en d w i ll engage th e bent en d t of th e ,

compen sating l e v er K an d roc k i ts envol ute curved

,

arm M u p ward unti l i t engages the p in e of th e

,

key w h i ch will block fu rth e r motion of th e p arts

, .

T he effecti v ene s s of th e con stru ction s h own fo r

th e leve r K i s o p en to qu estion .

T he carry of th e hundred s i s accompli sh e d b y

m ean s of a on e step ratch et d e v i ce re p re sente d b y
-

th e p art s lever R p aw l T s p ri ng P an d o p erating

, , ,

pi n g When th e h u n d red tooth ratchet nears th e

.
-

end of i ts revol ution the pi n g mad e fa st th erein

, , ,

engages th e free en d of the ratch et l ever R an d ,

1. d epres se s i t ; an d a s the h and attached to th e hun

d red tooth ratch et w heel pas se s from 9 9 to 0 th e
-
 TH E E AR LY K E Y D R I V E N AR T
-
49

pin g pas se s off th e en d o f the ratch et leve r R and ,

the spring P retracts th e lever ratcheting the

twent y tooth wheel and its a rrow forward on e
-

p oint so that th e a r row regi sters one point greater

on the h undreds d ial .

A lthough th e S pal ding m ean s of control u nd er

carrying diff ered from that of B ouchet i n con
struction its function wa s v i rtually th e sam e i n
,

that i t locked the carried or h igh e r wh eel i n su ch

a manne r as to prevent th e wh eel from being oper
ated b y an o rd inal s et of ke y m echani sm .

A nd the control under key acti on wou l d prevent

a carry being deli vered to that ord er th ro ugh th e
locked relati on of th e ratch et and pawl E .
 T he K e y D r i ve n Ca l c u l a t o r
-

H IL E th e se s ingle d igit a dding m ach ines

h ave b een u s e d to ill u strate h ow th e con
trol wh ich wa s lacking i n th e H ill inv en
,

ti on h ad b een recognized b y oth er i nventor s a s a

,

nece ssary re qui s ite to th e key d rive i t sho ul d not

-
,

be con stru ed that s uch carryin g control a s h ad

been appli ed to th ei r in v ent ion s w as of a ty p e that
co ul d b e u se d i n th e H ill machi n e o r i n any mu l
ti p le o rd er key driven m ach ine
- -
I t was th irty.

years afte r th e firs t attempt to control a k ey

dri v en machi ne w a s made b efore an operative
m ultiple ord e r ke y dri ven m ach in e w ith a con
- -
,

trol that w o ul d p revent o v e r rotation w as finally

-
,

i nvented .

Theory vers us Th eoretically i t wo u l d s eem that th e onl y fea

,

the concr ete

tu re o r element l acking i n the A rt p ri o r to 1 88 6 ,

to p rod uce a real k e y d riven cal culator wa s m ean s

-

that wou l d control th e carry ing an d al so l eave th e

carri e d wh ee l free for k ey actu ati on I t was how .
,

e v er qu ite a d ifferent p rob lem T h eoreti cal func

, .

ti on s may b e patch e d togeth er to m ake a t h eo

r e tic a l mach i ne ; b ut that i s only th eory an d not

th e con crete .

T o take fragmental parts of s uch mach ine s a s

w ere di sclos ed i n the A rt and patch th em together
i nto an y thing p ractica l wa s impo s s ible e v en i f ,

one had b een fam ili ar w i th th e A rt an d co ul d

devi s e me chani sm to s uppl y the n ew el ement T hat .

i s lea v in g as i de th e b roa d o r gene ri c th eoretical

,
 TH E K E Y D R IV E N C A L CULA T OR
-
51

elem ents whi ch today from knowledge gained b y

, ,

later i nvention s se rve th e make up of a ke y driven

,
- -

calculator th ere wa s still lacking an y concrete

,

example or specific de si gn of a whol e mach ine a s ,

there was no s uch mach ine d i sclo s ed i n th e d raw

i ngs of patent s o r an y known mechan i sm which
, ,

i f arranged in m u ltiples woul d b e operative a s a ,

practical m achine even i f mechani sm to s u p ply

the new element were to b e added .

I n oth e r wo rd s wh ile i t i s conc e d ed from o u r

,

pre sent knowledge that all b u t one of th e generi c

theoreti cal elem ent s had b een solved as di sclo sed
i n the vario u s before nam ed mach ine s it requ i red
-

th e applicatio n of thes e elements i n a d ifferent

way from an y th ing b efore d i sclo s ed ; whi ch i n
itself requ i red a different concrete form of th e
generi c principle s fo r the wh o l e machi n e a s well
a s a gen eri c form of in v enti on covering th e new
theoretical element .

I t may b e easy to anal y ze th at wh i c h exi s ts b u t ,

qu ite a different story to conceive th at whi ch d i d

no t exi s t Wi th reference to th e A rt h owever
.
, ,

the p rodu cti on of th e n ew element i s a featu re

th at ma y b e credited witho u t qu e sti on T he con .

crete doe s n ot ente r into i t oth e r th an a s proof

that a new featu re h as b een created .

W hile th e d i scu s si on of th e A rt from a scientific

standpoi nt brings togethe r in after y ears what h as
b een accompli shed by different inventors i t i s do ubt ,

fu l wh ethe r an y o f thes e earl y i nventors had other

kno w ledge than what may pos s ibly h ave been oh
ta ine d from s eein g on e of th e fo rei gn made c rank -

driven mach ine s A ll i nvento rs wo rk wi th an i dea

.

Or ig ina l fl y of
o b tain ed from som e sou rce b u t on the whole few ,
i nve n tions
co p y inventi ons of oth ers When an A rt i s fully .

esta b l i sh ed howe v er and machi ne s repres entin g

, ,
52 O R IG IN O F M O D E RN C A L CULA T ING MA CH IN ES

the A rt are to b e found on the m arket and th e

principal featu re s of s uch mach ines are port raye d
i n a late r p atent i t ma y rightly b e called a co p y
,
.

To a s sum e however that a novi ce has taken th e

, ,

troubl e to delve into th e archive s of th e p atent

off ic e an d s tu dy the scattered theo retical elements
of th e A rt an d s upply a new element to make a
combinati on that is n eeded to p ro du ce a practical
ke y d ri v en calculato r i s n ot a p robable a s s ump
-
,

ti on B ut allowing su ch a ssumption w ere p os s ibl e

.
,

i t i s evi dent that from anyth ing th at th e A rt

di s clo se d p ri or to 1 887 i t wa s not p o s sible t o solv e
th e concrete p rodu ction of a key d ri v en calculato r -
.

I n 1 88 4 a young machini st while ru nning a

, ,

p laner conceived an i dea from watch in g its ratchet

,

feed motion wh i ch w a s i ndi rectl y respons ible for

,

th e final s olu tion of th e m ulti p le o rder key driven - -

calculating mach i ne T he mot ion wh ich wa s lik e

.
,

that to b e foun d on all p laning mach ines cou ld b e ,

adj u sted to ratch et on e two three fou r o r more, , ,

teeth fo r a fine o r coars e feed .

Wh ile th ere i s nothing i n s u ch a motion that

would i n any w ay s olve th e p ro b lem of the mo d
e r n calculator i t w a s eno u gh to excite th e ambi
,

tion s of th e man w h o di d finall y so lv e i t I t i s .

s tate d that th e young m an after m onth s of ,

thought m ade a woo den model wh ich h e fini s h ed

, ,

earl y i n 1 88 5 Th i s mode l i s extant an d i s i llu s

.
,

tr a te d on th e op p os ite page .

The i nventor wa s D orr E Felt wh o is well .

,

known i n th e calculating m ach ine A rt as th e man -

“
uf a c tur er o f t h e C omptomete r an d i n pu b l i c ,

l ife as a keen st u dent of econom ic an d sci entific

s u b j ects T he w oo d en mode l as w ill b e noted w a s
.
, ,

c ru de b u t i t h el d th e nu cle u s of th e mach in e to
,

com e .
 TH E K E Y D R IV E N C ALCU L A T OR
-
55

M r F elt ha s given some i nte re stin g facts r e

.

gardin g h i s experi ence i n making th e wooden

model .

H e says ! W atching th e planer feed s e t m e to -

E vol ution of

sch eming on id eas fo r a mach in e to si mpli fy th e I nventi on

hard grin d of th e bookkeepe r i n h i s da y s calcula ’

tion of accou nt s .

“
I reali zed that for a m ach in e to hol d any val u e
to an acco untant i t m u st h ave greater capaci t y
,

than th e average expert accountant N ow I knew .

that man y accountants c oul d mentall y add fou r

column s of figu res at a time s o I deci de d that I ,

mu st b eat that i n d esignin g m y mach i ne There .

fore I worked on the p rinci p le of d upl icate denom

,

ina tiona l o rd ers that cou ld be stretch e d to any c a

”
p a ci ty withi n reason The p lan I finall y s ettled on
.

i s di spla y e d i n what i s generall y known a s the

“
M acaron i B ox mo del Thi s cru de model wa s made
.

und e r rather advers e ci rcumstance s .

The con struction of s u ch a compli cated mach ine

from m etal a s I h ad schemed up was not with in
, ,

m y reach from a m onetary standpoint so I d ecid ed ,

to put m y i dea s i nto woo d .

“
I t wa s nea r Th ank sgiving D ay of 1 884 an d I ,
Tr i a ls O
f an
I n ven tor
deci de d to u se the holi day i n th e con stru ction of
’
th e wood en model I went to th e grocer s an d
.

s elected a box wh i ch s eem ed to m e to b e abou t th e

right s ize fo r the casi ng I t wa s a macaron i box
.
,

s o I have alwa y s called i t the macaron i bo x mo d el .

For ke y s I procu red some meat Skewers from th e

butch er around the co rn er and som e staple s from
a h ardware sto re for th e ke y gu i de s an d an a s sort
ment of elastic ban d s to be u se d fo r s prings When .

Thanks g iving da y cam e I got u p earl y an d went to

work wi th a few tools princi pall y a j ack kn i fe
, .
56 O RIG IN O F M O D ERN C AL CULA T ING MAC HINES

I soon d is co v ered that there w e re som e p art s

whi ch wou l d requ i re better to ol s than I h ad at
h an d for th e p u r p os e and wh en n i gh t cam e I
,

fou n d that th e model I h ad expected to con stru ct

i n a da y was a l ong w a y from being complete or
i n working o rde r I finall y had som e of th e part s
.

made o u t of m etal and fini shed th e m ode l soon

,

after N ew Y ear s da y ’
,

The f i r s t B y fu r the r experimenting th e scheme of th e

Comp tome ter
‘ ’

wood en mo del w as imp roved u p on an d Felt p ro ,

d uc e d i n th e fall of 1 8 8 6 a fin i sh e d p ractical
, ,

mach i ne made of m etal T hi s mach in e i s i llu s .

tr a te d on th e Oppos ite p age .

THE FE L T C AL C U L A T I N G MACH INE

R eferri ng to the i ll u stration of F elt s first meta l ’

mach ine i t wil l be note d that th e mach ine ha s

,

b een partly di smantle d T h e model w as ro b be d of

.

s ome of its pa r ts to b e u sed a s sample s fo r th e

man u factu re of a lot of mach ines that w ere m a d e
late r I n V i ew of th e fact that th i s mach in e i s t h e
.

fi rst operative m u l ti p le o rder key driven c a l cul a t

- -

i ng machin e made i t s eem s a sham e that it h a d to

,

b e s o d i smantled ; b u t the remain ing o r d ers a re

operative and s erv e well to demon strate th e claim s
held fo r it .

The mechani sm of th e mach in e i s i ll ustrate d i n

th e reprodu ction of th e d rawings of F el t s p atent ’
,

on p age 5 8 T he s p ecificatio n of th i s
.

patent s h ow s that it w a s appli e d fo r in M arch ,

1 8 8 7 an d i s sue d O ctober 1 1 1 8 8 7
, , .

F rom th e o utward appearan ce of th e mach in e i t

h as the same general sch eme of formati on a s is
d i sclo sed i n th e wo oden mo del .

Th e constru ctional scheme of th e m ech ani sm

c on s i sts of a s eri es of num eral wh eel s marked A ,
Th e Fi
rs t C m pt m
o o e te r
 TH E K EY -
D RIV EN C ALCULA T O R 59

i n the patent drawings E ach wh eel i s provi ded

.
Des cr zp tw n of
Fel t ca l c ul a tor
with a ratch et wheel and c o acting with th e
,
-

ratchet is a p awl mounted on a d i s c E carried b y

2
,

the pini on E whi ch i s rotatabl y m ounted o n the

,

sam e axi s as th e numeral wh eel Th e arrangement .

of the se parts i s s uch th at a rotating m otio n

given an y of th e pini on s E i n a clockwi s e d ir ec
1
,

t ion a s shown i n th e d rawings woul d give a like

, ,

acti on to thei r re specti ve n um eral whe el s ; b u t any

motion of the pinion s i n an anti cl ockwi s e dir ec -

ti on woul d ha v e no e ffect on the n ume ral wh eel s ,

owing to back sto p pawl s K and sto p pin s T pro

-
,
-

v id e d to allow movement of the n ume ral w h eel s i n

b u t on e d i recti on .

Co acting with each pinion E

-
i s shown a l ong 1
,

leve r D p i vote d at the rear of th e mach in e an d

,

pro v i ded with a s egm ental gear rack w hi ch m e sh e s

wi t h th e teeth of th e p inion E T hi s lever com e s .

unde r wh at i s now generally te rm ed a se gm ent

lever .

E ach leve r i s provi de d with a spri ng S wh i ch ,

no rmally h old s th e front o r rack en d upward in

th e pos ition shown i n F i g 1 an d ha s co acting
.
,
-

w ith i t a se ri e s of n ine d ep r e s s a b l e keys wh ich

p rotru de th rou gh th e cas ing an d contact with th e
uppe r edge of th e l e v e r .

The arrangement of the ke y s with th ei r segm ent

l evers provid es that th e de p re s s ion of any key w ill
depres s th e s egment l ever of th at order wh ich i n ,

tu rn wi ll rotate the pi nio n E an d i ts nu me ral wh eel

1
.

Wh il e th i s arrangement i s s uch that each k ey

of a se ri es gives a diffe rent d egree of l eve rage
action to th e segment leve r and i n turn a degree ,

of rotati on to th e nu m eral wheel of th e same orde r

i n accordanc e with the nu merical valu e of th e ke y
60 O RIG IN O F M ODE RN C A L CULA T ING MA CH I N E S

depre s sed i t ma y b e conceived that th e

, mentum
s et u p by th e qu ick stroke of a k e y wo u (1 s e t th e

nume ral wheel spinning perh aps two o r th ree revo

l utions o r at any rate way be y ond th e p oi nt i t
,

sho ul d stop at to regi ster co rrectl y .

To p res erve correct actu ation of th e mech ani sm

an d overcom e i ts mom entum Felt provi de d a
,

detent toothed l ever fo r each nume ral wheel whi ch ,

wi ll b e fo und marked J i n th e drawings To thi s

1
.

lever h e linked anothe r l eve r G whi ch extende d

,

below th e keys an d arranged th e l ength of th e

,

key s tem s s o that wh en each key h ad revolved

th e n umeral w heel th e p ro p er d i stance the key ,

will h ave engaged th e lever G an d th ro ugh th e

,

l ink connection will h ave cau se d the detent tooth

of the lever J to engage on e of th e pin s T of th e
1
,

n umeral wh eel th u s b ringing th e numeral wh eel

,

and the w hole trai n of mechan i sm to a dead s top .

T hi s com b i nati on wa s timed s o that th e (1 ) k ey

wou l d ad d one th e (2 ) key wo ul d add t w o etc up
, , .
,

to n in e for th e (9 ) key T h u s th e prime actu ation

.

of each wheel was made safe and p ositive .

B efore ex p lain ing th e m ean s by wh i ch the carry

of th e ten s wa s e ff ected i n th e F elt machi ne
without i nterfe ring with m ultipl e o rder p rime -

actu ati on i t wi ll perhap s h elp th e reade r to recap

,

itul a te on what th e A rt alrea d y offere d .

Going b ack to th e A rt p ri or to F elt s i nvention

,
’
,

the re are a f ew f a c ts worth recon si dering that p oi nt

to th e b roadly n ew contrib ution s pre sente d i n th e
Felt i nventi on and comb ining th e se facts with a
,

l ittle th eo r y ma y p erh aps give a cleare r un der

”
stand ing of what was p ut i nto practi ce .

I n most lin es of m ech ani cal engineering i n th e

“
past th e term th eo ry connecte d with m echani cal
,
62 O RI GIN O F MO D ERN C AL C U LA T IN G MACH INES

a minimu m Sho ul d b e Ob served T h e H ill mach in e

,
.

d e sign i s ab sol utel y lacking in s u ch thought Th e .

d ia mete r of th e numeral wh eel and its heav y con

Lig ht cons tr ue stru ction alon e Sh ow thi s L i ghtn ess of c ons tr uc
.

tton a f ea ture ti on als o enters into th e control of momentum

wh en th e m ech an i sm m u st s u ddenly b e b rough t to
a dead sto p i n i ts lightning spee d acti on A h eavily
-
.

con stru cted n um eral wh e el l ike that sh ow n i n th e

H ill p atent wo ul d b e a s h ard to ch eck as i t woul d
to start even if H ill h ad p rovi de d mean s fo r check
,

ing it .

S trength o f de sign an d cons tru ction wi th ou t ,

th e u su al i n crease in wei ght to attain s u ch end ,

b u t above all th e a b sol ute control of momentum

, ,

were featu re s that h ad to b e wo rk e d out .

R o b j ohn partly reco g nize d the se featu res b ut ,

h e limi te d th e appli cation of such reasoning to

th e prim e actu ation of a singl e ord er and m ade ,

noth ing operable i n a m ultipl e k ey driven mach ine -

.

S palding an d B o u ch et recognized that th e a p p l i

cati on of control wa s n ecessary for both p rim e
actu ati o n and carrying b ut lik e R obj oh n th ey
, , ,

devi sed noth ing th at wo uld Operate w ith a seri e s

of ke y s be y on d a Single o rder .

Op er a tive fea A n o p erative princi p le fo r control u nder prim e

tures neces s a ry
actu ati on w a s p erhaps present i n s ome of the
S ingle ord e r ke y dri ven mach ines b u t whatever
- -
,

ex i ste d wa s appl i e d t o m ach i n e s w i t h k ey s

arranged i n th e bank form of con stru ction and , ,

to b e u se d with the ke y s in col umnar form ation ,

requ i red at least a n ew con stru cti ve type of inv en

tion B ut non e of th e mean s of control for carr y
.

’
i ng prio r to F elt s i n v enti on held an y featu re
, ,

that wo ul d solve th e problem i n a m u ltiple order -

m achine .
 TH E K E Y D R I V EN C ALC U LA T O R
- 63

Wh ile all th e mach ines referred to h a v e n ot been

i llu strated an d described h ere fa i r samples of th e ,

t y pe that h ave an y pertinenc e to th e A rt h ave b een

d iscu ssed and tho se n ot i ll u strated would add
,

nothi ng mo re than h a s been sh own A c l a s s ifi ca .

tion of the i nvention s referred to may b e ma d e a s

follows
Pa rm elee and S tetne r h ad no ca rr y ing m echan
i sm ; H i ll R obj ohn B orland an d H offman S wem
, , , ,

L indh olm and S mith h ad n o control fo r the carr y .

C arroll B ouch et an d S palding Show a control fo r

,

the carr y in g action wh i ch i n i tself w oul d defeat

,

the u s e of a h i gh er wheel fo r prime actuati on an d ,

wh ich obvi o u sly woul d als o d efeat i ts u se i n a

m ultiple o rder ke y d riven mach in e
- -
.

O ne of th e pri ncipa l reason s wh y th eo ry w as

neces sary to solve th e problem of the ke y d ri ven -

calcu lato r exi sted i n th e i mposs ibi l it y of s eeing

wh at took place i n th e actio n of the mechan i sm
un d er th e lightnin g spee d whi ch i t receives i n
o p eration A lmo st any old d evice co uld b e made t o
.

operat e i f m ove d slow enou gh to see an d stu dy

its action ; b u t th e same mechani sm th at woul d
operat e u nde r slow action woul d n ot ope rate cor
r ec t l y u nde r th e lightning speed action they coul d -

receive from ke y dep res si on O nly th eoreti cal .

reasoning cou l d b e u sed to anal y ze th e cau s e wh en

ke y d riven m e ch ani sm failed to operate co rrectly
-
.

R eferri ng agai n to the drawings of the F el t

patent whi ch i llu strate th e fi rst em b odiment of
,

a m u lti pl e ord er ke y d ri ven calculating mach in e

- -

we find what F elt call s i n the claim s an d specifi ca

,

tion s a carr y ing me chani sm for a multi ple orde r

,
-

ke y driven calcu lating machin e T h i s mech ani s m

-
.

wa s a s s et fo rth i n th e s pecificati on a m ech an i sm

, ,
 O R IG IN O F M OD E RN CA CU L ATI N G MACH IN ES

for transferri ng th e tens w h i ch h ave b een accu ,

m ul a te d by one o rder to a hi ghe r o rder b y adding

, ,

on e to th e wh eel of hi gher o rde r fo r each a cc umu

lation of ten by th e lower o rder wheel T hi s i n th e .
,

Felt mach ine a s i n mos t mach ine s wa s e ff ecte d

, ,

b y th e rotati on of a nu mb ered d rum called th e ,

n umeral wheel marked with th e n ine digi ts an d

,

ciphe r .

Th e te rm t ran sfe r d evi ce for su ch m echani sm

devices
was i n common u s e an d a s a te rm it fits c ertain
,

parts o f al l clas se s of de v ice s u sed for that p u r

pose wh ethe r fo r a crank driven key driven or
,
-
,
—

an y oth er type of m ultiple o rder or Singl e order - -

machi ne B ut i n th e F el t inventi on we fin d i t wa s
.

not th e simple devi ce generally u sed fo r t ran s

ferring th e ten s I t wa s i n fact a combination of
.
, ,

devi ces c o acting w ith each oth er wh i ch i n th e

-
,

specification of th e p atent was t ermed the carry ,

ing mechanis m .

N ow carr y ing mechan i sm may i n a s ense b e

,

terme d a transfer devi ce a s on e o f it s function s ,

i s that of tran sfe rrin g power to carr y th e ten s ,

b ut a m ere tran sfer d evice m a y n ot b e t ruthfully

termed a carr y ing m ech an i sm for a m u ltiple orde r -

key d riven mac h i n e u nles s i t perfo rm s th e fun c

-

tion s that go to m ake up a correct carr y ing of the

ten s i n that clas s of m ach ine an d which we find ,

lai d d own under th e h ead of carr y ing m echani sm

i n th e F elt p atents where we find the firs t opera
,

t ive carr y ing m echani sm ever i nvented for a

m u ltiple orde r ke y dri ven m ach in e
- -
.

T h e functi on s demande d o f s u ch a p i ece of

mechani s m are a s follows ! Fi rs t th e storing of ,

p owe r to perform th e carr y ; second th e u nlock ,

in g of the nume ral w h eel to b e carri ed ; th i rd th e ,

 TH E K E Y D R IV EN C AL C U LA T O R
-
65

del ivery of th e power sto red to pe rfo rm s uch

ca rry ; fou rth th e stoppin g an d locking of the
,

carried wheel wh en i t h as b een moved to regi ste r

s uch carr y ; and fifth clearing the carr y in g lock ,
-

d u ring p rim e act uation A s eem ingly s imple ope r .

ation b u t let thos e wh o h ave tri e d to con stru ct

,

s uch mechani sm j udge ; th ey at least have som e

i dea of i t an d they will no doubt b ow th ei r h ead s
in acknowl ed g ment o f the d iffi culti es i nvolved i n
th i s accompl i shment .

M echani sm for carr yin g th e tens i n s ingle di gi t

adde rs wa s on e th ing and s uch a s wa s u s ed could ,

well b e called a trans fe r d evice ; b u t me ch anis m

fo r ca rrying th e ten s i n a real ke y driven c a l c ul a t

”
-

i ng mach i ne wa s anoth er th ing and a featu re not ,

solved u nti l F elt solve d it an d j u stly called s u ch ,

“
com b in ati on o f d evi ces a carr y ing mechani sm .

I n the Felt mach ine th e ca rryin g mechani sm ,

con si s ted of a leve r an d r atch et pawl acti on con ,

stru cte d of the parts M m operate d by a s p ring

2
, ,

m th e p awl actin g u p on th e num eral wh eel pin s

,

T to ratch et th e wh ee l fo rwar d u n de r the S p ring

,

power Th e powe r i n th e Spring w as develo p e d

.

from th e rotatio n of th e lower wheel wh i ch ,

through the mean s of an env ol ute cam attach e d *

t o left s i d e of each wheel operated th e ca rr ying ,

l e v e r i n th e oppos ite d i rect io n to that i n wh ich i t

w as o p erate d by the spring A s th e carrying le v e r .

p as sed th e highe s t p oint of the cam spi ral an d

d roppe d off the s to re d p ower i n th e spring r e
,

tracted th e l eve r M an d th e p awl m acti ng o n the

2
, ,

h igh er o rde r w h eel p in s T an d move d i t one tenth ,

-

of a re v olutio n .

*
N O E A l l t h d w in g f t h F l t p t n t p od u d
h th m n t h w n
T ! s a e n t
ra s o e e a e a re o re r ce
e r e, e ca is o s o .
66 O RIG IN O F M ODE RN C A L C UL A T ING MA C H IN ES

Th i s part of th e m echani sm was i n princi p le an

old an d common l y u sed d evice fo r a one ste p
- -

ratch et moti on u se d i n th e carr y of th e tens I t .

serve d as a m ean s of storing and transferring

power from the lower wh eel to actuate th e h igher
wheel i n a carr y ing operati on bu t a w holl y un ,

qu alified action witho u t control .

I n th e Felt mach ine a spring actu ated l eve r N -

,

m ounte d on th e s am e axi s with th e carrying l ever ,

and provi de d with a d etent sto p hook at its up p er -

end serve d to engage th e nu mera l wh eel at th e

,

en d o f its carried action and normally hold it ,

lock ed .

A n a rm or pi n P fixed i n and exten ding from

,

th e left S id e of th e carrying l e v e r and th rough

a hol e in th e detent le v er acted to withdra w the
,

detent le v er from its locking engagement wi th th e

n um eral wheel a s th e carr y in g lever reach ed th e
extreme poi nt of retraction ; th u s th e w heel t o b e
carri e d w a s u nlo cke d .

Pivoted to th e S i de of th e detent lever i s a catch

0 . Thi s catch o r latch i s s o arranged a s to h ook
on to a cro s s rod q e s p eci ally con stru cted to co
-
.
,

a ct w it h th e catc h an d h ol d th e d etent l eve r —

agains t i mm edi ate relocking of th e numeral wh eel

a s th e carryin g lever and pawl act i n a carr y i ng
motion T h e latch h as a tai l o r arm p w h ich c o
.
,

acts with th e p i n P on th e carr y ing lever i n s u ch

a wa y a s to releas e th e l atch a s th e carrying leve r
fini sh es its carr y i ng functi on .

T h u s th e detent l e v er N i s agai n free to engage

on e of th e control o r stop pin s T to sto p an d lock
-

th e carri ed numeral wh eel when the carr y ing l eve r

and paw ! th rou gh th e action of the Spring stored
,

i n th e carr y i ng has moved th e wh eel th e pro p e r

,

di stance .
70 O RI G IN O F M ODE RN C A L C U L A T ING M AC H IN ES

mach ines b efo re S eptemb er 1 88 7 T wo of these , .

mach ine s were immediately p u t into servi ce fo r ,

the train ing of operato rs a s soon a s the y were ,

fin i shed

”
.

Tra de na me of O f th e fi rst trai ned operators to Operate th ese

Fel t ca l cula tor
mach ines whi ch were given the trademark nam e
,

“
C omptomete r on e was G eo D M ackay and , . .
,

anoth er wa s G eo W M artin A fter thre e o r fo u r . . .

months practice M r M arti n dem onstrated one of

’
.

these m achine s to s u ch firm s a s Sp ragu e Warner ,

Co Pi tki n
.
, B rook s Th e C hicago D ail y N ews , ,

”
and th e C h i cago B u rlington Q u inc y R R Co , . . .
,

an d finall y took emplo y ment with th e E qu itable

G a s L i ght F uel C o of C hi cago (see lette r on .

“
oppos ite page ) a s ope rator of the C omptomete r .

T he G as C o has Sinc e be en merged with s everal

.

othe r compan ie s i nto th e Peoples G a s L i ght

C oke C o o f C hi cago . .

A v ery h i gh tes timonial of the qu al iti e s of th e

Felt i nvention was gi v en b y M r M arti n i n 1 8 8 8 .
,

a y ea r afte r he entered the employment of th e

G as Co an d i s repro duced on page 7 2
.
, .

A noth er fine te stimoni a l was given b y G eo A . .

Yul l e S ec y
, Treas of th e C h icago G a s L i gh t
. .

”
C oke Co i n S eptembe r 1 888 (s ee page
.
, Mr , .

M ackay th e oth e r operato r secu red employment

, ,

w ith A lbert D i ckinson Co S ee d M erchants a s .

, ,

”
“
operator of th e C om p tometer M r M ackay w a s . .

i nter v i ewed a few month s ago and was at that ,

tim e after th i rty years still with the s am e fi rm

, , ,
“
and a strong advocat e of th e C om p tometer .

I n S eptem b er 1 8 8 7 F elt too k one of the first , ,

ei ght machi nes to Wa shington an d exh ibited i t to

G en W S R osecran s then R egi strar of th e
. . .
,

T rea su ry an d left the mach ine i n th e office of D r

, .
Te s t i m n l
o ia
 2
L/
( A ,

m
T e s ti o n ia l
 m E lli
Le tte rs f r o o tt a n d R ose cr a n s
 TH E K EY D R I V E N C A L C U L A T OR
-

E B E lliott A ctua r y of th e Treas u ry whe re i t

. .
, ,

was pu t into constant u se Proof of th e d ate o f .

’
thi s us e of F elt s invention i n th e T reasu ry i s set
fo rth i n the reproducti on of two l etters (se e oppo
s ite p age ) on e w a s w ri tten by M r E lliott and a n
, .

oth er b y G en W S R o secran s i n an swe r to an in

. . .
,

qu iry of th e H al l T y pewri ter C O of S alem M ass .

, .

A noth er of the firs t e igh t m ach ines wa s p laced

wi t h D r D an iel D rape r of th e N Y S tate Weathe r
.
, . .

B u reau N ew Y ork C it y
, .

Fel t finally clo se d a d eal with M r R ob ert T arrant .

of C hi cago wh ereby a partnersh i p contract wa s

,

”
s ign ed N ovemb e r 2 8 1 8 8 7 T he p artne rsh ip w a s
, .

incorp orated Jan ua ry 2 5 1 8 8 9 un de r th e nam e of , ,

the F elt T arrant M f g Co who are still manu . .

,
“
f a ctur ing an d s e l ling C omptometers under that
name .

Laying as id e al l the evi dence set forth i n the

fo regoing h i story of ke y d riven mach ine s an d -

’
t h ei r i d i o s y n c ra s i e s Si gn ificant proof of Felt s
,

claim a s th e first i nventor of th e mode rn ca l c u

l ating machine i s j u stified b y th e fact t h at no othe r
mu l ti p le o r d e r key d ri ven calculating machi ne wa s
- -

p lace d on th e market p ri o r to 1 9 02 .

L est we lo s e s ight of a mo st im p ortant featu re

i n dealing with th e A rt of the M o d e r n C alcu l ato r ,

we shou ld call to m ind th e fact that a s F elt w a s

the ori ginato r of th i s ty p e of mach ine h e wa s als o ,

th e originato r of the scheme of operati on i n its

p erformanc e of the many an d vari ed sho rt c uts i n
arithmetical calculation .

T he p erfo rmance o f calculation o n mach ine s of

the older A rt diffe red s o enti rel y from th e new
that any schem e of operation th at may h ave b een
d evi sed fo r thei r u se would len d n oth ing to th e
76 O R IG IN or M OD ERN C A L C UL A T ING MA C H INE S

d erivati on of th e new proces s for operating th e

”
key driven mach ine of th e n ew A rt
-
.

A superfici al examination of one of th e ins tr uc

“
ti on b ooks of the C omptometer wi ll convince
mo st an y one that i t i s not onl y th e mech ani sm o f
th e m ach i ne th at made th e mo d ern calcul ato r s o
valuable to th e bu sine s s worl d b u t al so th e ,

scheme s l ai d d o w n for its us e Th e in stru ction s

.

fo r figurin g M ulti p l ication S u b traction D ivi s ion

, , ,

S qu are R oot C ub e R oot I nteres t E xch ange Dis

, , , ,

count E ngl i sh C u rrency etc i n v olved har d study

, , .
,

to d e v i s e s u ch S im p le met h od s and rule s .

T h e in stru ction b ooks w ritten b y Felt fo r th e

C omptom et e r the M o d ern C alcu lato r
, reflect ,

th e geni u s di scl ose d i n the invention of th e mach in e

i tself .
 E a r l y E ffo r ts i n th e R e c o rd i n g
M a c h i ne A rt
H E A rt o f record ing t h e addit ion of co l umns
o f figu re s i s ol d i n p rinciple b u t no t i n ,

practi ce M any attempts to mak e a mach ine

.

that would recor d legi b ly unde r all con di ti on s

fail ed T h es e attempt s h ave b ee n pointe d o ut
.

from tim e to time as th e fi rs t i nventi on of th e

reco rding adding mach ine e spec i all y b y th os e
-
,

desi ro u s of claiming th e lau rel s .

T h e fi rs t attempt at arithm etica l recording for

wh ich a p atent w a s is su ed was m ad e b y E D
, . .

B ar b o u r i n 1 8 7 2 (se e illu strati on on op p os ite p age ) .

E D B ar b ou r h a s also th e hono r of b eing

. .

’
th e fi rst invento r to a pp ly N a p ie r s princi p l e to
m echan i sm i ntended to automatically regi ster th e
re s ult of mu ltipl y in g a n umbe r h a v ing s everal
o rdina l pl aces by a s ingl e d i gi t w ith ou t mentally
a dd ing togethe r th e overlap p in g figu re s resulting
from d i rect m ulti p l icati on .H e patente d th i s
mach in e i n 1 8 7 2 j u st p rior to th e i ssu e of h i s
arithmeti cal reco r d er p atent (S e e p age
.

TH E BAR B OUR M A C H I N E
T h e p rinting de vi ce d i s clo se d i n connection
wit h t h e Bar b o u r mach in e for recor d ing calcula
tion s w as of th e mo st simpl e natu re allowin g only,

fo r t h e p ri nting of total s an d s ub tota l s -

.

I ts m anipulation con si ste d of pl acin g a p iec e

of paper und e r a h inged p laten an d depre s sin g th e
79
 M OD E RN C A L C U L A T IN G MA CHIN ES
-

80 O R IG IN or

platen b y h an d i n th e s am e mann er that a time

stamp i s u se d The i nk h a d t o be daub ed o n th e
.

ty p e b y a h an d o p eration to ma k e legible th e im
pre s s ion s of th e ty p e .

The patent d rawi ngs of th e B arbo u r m achin e

are s o fragmentary that i t i s almo st impo ss ible
to d raw any concl u s ion a s to its function s w i thou t
reading the s pecificat ion s .

Fi g 1 re p resents th e b a s e of th e mach ine wh i l e

.
,

Fig 4 Shows a carri age w h ich when i n p lace i s

.
, ,

s u p eri m p o sed a b o v e th e bas e a s i llu strated i n

F igs 3 an d 5
. .

T he ope ratio n of th e mach in e i s p erforme d b y

firs t pulling o u t th e sli des B (sho w n in Fi g .

wh ich s e t th e d igital d egree s of actu ation of eac h

ord er ; an d secon d b y o p erating th e h and lever
, ,
-

K from its norma l p o s ition at 0 to 1 if i t is desi re d

, ,

to add o r to any of th e othe r numbers i n accor d

,

ance to th e val ue of th e m ultipli er i f mu l ti p licati on

is d es i red .

Th e movement of th e han d le K from one figu re ,

to th e other gi v es a reciprocation to th e carri age

, ,

s o th at for eac h figu re a reci p rocation w ill take

pl ace .

E ac h of t h e sli d es B h as a s eri e s o f n ine gea r

,

rack s ; each rack h as a n umb er of teeth ranging

progres s i v e l y from 1 tooth for th e first gear rack
to 9 teeth for the la st rack t h u s th e p ulling o u t of ,

th e s l i d e s B wi ll p res ent on e of th e gear rack s i n

l in e to act upon th e accum ulator mechan i sm of th e
ca rri age as th e carri age i s m o v ed b ack and forth
ove r i t .

T h e accumulator m echani sm con si sts o f the

regi ster w h eel s M an d M an d th e ty p e wh eel s M
1 2 3
 E AR LY E FF OR T S I N T H E R E C ORDIN G MA CH IN E AR T 81

and M mo u nte d o n a common arb or and a carry

4

transfer d evi ce between th e wheel s Of each order .

O p eratin g b etween th e accumulato r wheel s an d

th e rack s of plate B are a pai r of gears one i n th e
,

form of a lantern wh eel loosely m ou nte d on th e

accum ulato r wheel sh aft b ut connecte d thereto by
a ratch et wh eel an d paw l connection ; t h e oth er a ,

smal l p in ion mes hing with th e l ante rn wheel on

a separate axi s prot ru de s bel ow the carriage into
,

th e p ath of th e rack s .

Thu s a s th e carri age i s move d b y th e r e c ip r o

catin g device connecte d with th e h and leve r K -
,

the pi ni on s o f th e accum ulato r will engage what

eve r rack s h a v e b een S et an d th e n umeral wh eel s
and type wheel s w ill b e o p erate d to give the res ult .

T he n u meral an d ty p e wh eel s h a v e two s ets of

figu re s on e of w h i ch i s u sed fo r a ddi ti on an d m ul
,

t ip l ica tion wh ile th e othe r s e t run s i n th e op p o

,

s ite di rection for negative computati on o r s ub

traction and d ivi s ion .

A p late a rrange d w ith s igh t apertu res covers

th e n ume ral o r regi ster w heel s w h ile the t y pe
,

wh eel s are left u nco v ere d to allow a hinged p laten

F mo unte d on th e to p of the carri age (see F i g
, .

to b e swu ng o v er on t op o f th em an d depre s sed .

A ttach ed t o th e platen F are a s eri e s of spri ng

,

cl ips (1 un d er wh ich stri p s of pa p er may b e s lip p e d

,

(a s shown b y D i n F i g
, .and wh ich serve s to
hol d the p a p er w hi l e an imp res sion is taken .

T hu s the B arbou r i n v ention stand s i n th e A rt B a r bo ur ma ch me

not p ra ctica l
a s something to Show that a s earl y a s 1 8 7 2 an
e ffo rt wa s m ad e to provi de m eans to pres erve a
record of calculati on s b y p rinting the total s of
s uch calculati on s .
82 O R IG IN or M OD E RN C A L C U L A T IN G MA C H IN ES

TH E BA L D W IN MA C H I NE
The next effort i n thi s class of mach ine s is illu s
tr a te d i n a p atent i s su ed to Frank S B al dwin .

i n 1 8 75 (se e i llu strati on on op p osite p age ) T he .

B aldwin mach in e i s al so of m oment as h aving th e

s chem e fo un d i n th e mach ine s known a s th e
B r uns v ig a mad e u nde r th e O dhner p atent s a
,
—

fo rei gn i nventi on late r than that of B al dwin u sed

, ,

extens ively ab road and to a lim ited extent i n thi s

co u ntry .

Th e contri b ution of Ba ldwi n to th e A rt of recor d

ing calculatin g devi ce s seems to b e onl y th e roll
-

p aper i n rib b on form an d th e appl i cation of th e i nk

ribbon Th e m ethod u se d b y B arbou r fo r ty p e im
.

p res si on w as ada p ted and u s e d b y B al d wi n ; th at

i s th e h inged platen and its op eration by hand
, .

O f th e i l l u s t r a t i o n s s h o w n of th e B al d win
mach in e on e i s reproduced from th e drawings of
,

the patent wh ile th e oth er is a p hoto repro du ction

of th e actual machine w h ich wa s p l ace d on th e
m arket b ut a s may b e noted m i nu s th e p rinting
, , ,

o r re cording d evi ce Shown i n th e p atent drawings .

R efe rring to th e photo re p ro ducti on th e u p per ,

row of figu re s sho w i ng th rough th e s i ght a p er

tu re s i n the casi ng are thos e of th e numeral w h eel s
w h ich accu mu late th e total s an d wh ich i n the ,

patent d rawings woul d re p resent th e type of

th e accumu lator wh eel s fo r pri nting th e total s of
a dd ition and mu ltipl icati on o r the remainders of
s u b tracti on an d d ivi s ion .

T h e figu re s sh o w ing b elo w s er v e to regi ste r

m ultip l e s of a d dition an d s u b traction whi ch w ou ld
read as th e mu ltiplier i n multiplication s o r th e
qu oti ent i n di vi s ion Th ese w heel s are th e ty p e
.
F mD
ro n gs
ra w i Of B a l d w m P a te nt N0 .

Ba l d w m M a ch i n e
86 O RIG IN O F MODE RN C AL C ULA T IN G MAC H IN ES

o rder a s h ave been s et up by t h e knob s g i n th ei r

respective o rders .

T he lateral p osition s of t h e p roj ecta b l e gear

teeth correspon d to th e S p acing of th e ty p e
wh eel s and an inte rm e d i ate gear G mesh ing w ith
, ,

each ty p e o r regi ster wh eel i s loo sely mounted

, ,

on the Sh aft H inter p os ed b etween th e s ai d wh eels

,

and th e a ctuating dru m E so that wh en th e drum

,

i s revo lve d b y the cran k pro v i d e d fo r that pu rp o se ,

the ge ar teeth p rotru ding from th e d ru m w ill

-

engage th e interme d i ate gears G an d tu rn th em ,

and th ei r ty p e or regi s ter w he e ls a s many of thei r

ten poi nts of rotati on a s h a v e b een s et up in th ei r
res p ecti v e or d ers of th e s etting de v i ce s of th e
drum .

R evolving t h e d ru m i n one d irection a dd s whi le ,

revolving i t in th e o pp os ite di recti on s ubtracts ,

an d repeate d re v ol ution s i n eit h er di rection give

respecti v ely th e m ulti p le form s of add i tion o r s ub
traction wh ich re sult in e it h er m u ltipli cation o r
d i v i s ion a s th e ca se may b e
, .

T h e actu ating d rum E is p rovi ded wi th mean s

,

b y w h ich i t may b e Sh ifte d to the left to fu rni sh

mean s fo r m u ltiplying b y more than one factor
an d to s implify th e p ro ce s s of d ivi sion .

Th e mean s for t h e carry o f th e ten s cons i st of

a s eri es of teeth i fo rm e d b y th e b ent en d of a
,

pivoted spring pre ssed lever arm which is p ivote d

-

to th e in s id e of th e actuating d rum w ith th e tooth

protru d ing th rou gh a slot i n th e d rum s o arranged ,

a s to allow motion of th e to ot h i n a d i rection p aral

lel to the dru m axi s .

N o rmally thes e teet h are held i n a pos ition to

e sc a pe engagement wi th the i ntermediate gears
G b ut p rovi s ion i s mad e for camming the teeth i
, ,
F mD
ro ra w in g s of Pottin P a te nt No .
 EARLY E FF OR T S IN T H E R E COR D ING MA C H IN E AR T 89

to th e left i nto th e path of an i nte rm ed iate gea r

of one o rder a s th e t y pe or regi ster wheel of th e
lower order pa ss es from 9 to O .

Th e parts wh ich p erfo rm th i s fun cti on a re th e

cam m located on the left s i de of each wh eel th e
, ,

plunger M wh ich o p erate s i n th e fixed Shaft H

, ,

and wh ich has a T shaped h ea d that wh en pro

-
,

j ec ted into th e path of th e carry ing t eeth i se rve ,

to cam th em Si dewi s e an d b rin g a b ou t th e engage

ment refe rred to whi ch res ults i n th e h igh e r type
,

o r n u meral w h eel b eing s te p ped fo rw ar d one space .

T h e cam lugs j on th e d ru m s e rv e to engage and

-

p u sh back the T h ead s of th e cam p lungers M ,

after they have b rought abo u t th e one step m ove -

ment of th e h i gh er wh eel .

T he p ri ntin g d evi c e cons i st s of a h and m a nip u -

’
B a ldw in s p r int
i ng mec ha n i s m
l ated fram e p ivote d to the mai n frame of th e
mach ine b y th e shaft t T h e p aper i s su ppl i ed
.

from a roll a b o ut the sh aft t an d an ink ri bbon i s

,
-

fed b ack and forth from t h e roll s u an d 11 o v er 1

bars of th e pri nting fram e w h ich protru d e thro ug h

-

s lot s i n th e ca sing an d act a s p laten s fo r th e im

pres si on of t h e p a p e r an d ink rib b on agains t th e
-

typ e.

I t i s pre sumed th at the pa p e r wa s torn off after

a record wa s p rinte d i n th e same manner a s i n th e
mo re mode rn mach ine s .

TH E POTT I N M ACH I N E

E i ght y ears afte r th e B a ldw i n p atent was i s s u ed ,

a F renchman named H enry Pottin res i din g i n ,

Pari s F rance i nvente d a machi ne fo r reco rding

, ,

cash tran saction s wh i ch h e patented i n E nglan d

,

i n 1 8 8 3 an d i n th e U nited S tates i n 1 88 5 (see i ll u s

t r a tion on oppo s ite p age ) .
90 O R IG IN O F M OD E RN C AL CULA T IN G MA CH IN E S

T h e fo rm an d d es i gn o f the mach ine a s w i ll b e ,

noted co rr e spon d qu ite fa v o rabl y with th e sch eme

,

of th e pre sent da y cash regi ster alth ough i t lacks

-
,

th e late r refinement that ha s made th e cash regi s

t e r accepta b l e from a vis i b le p o i nt of v i ew

”
.

F irs tkey -
s etc r a nk Th e Pottin i nventi on i s n am e d h e re as t h e firs t
i n wh ich two of th e p rim e p rin cipl es of th e reco rd
to recor d the i tems ing ad d ers of to da y are di s clo s ed ; on e i s th e de
-

a dd d ‘ o
p re ssable key s et featu re and th e oth er i s th e
-

reco rd ing of th e n um erical i tems Th e Pottin .

m ach in e wa s t h e first kno w n d ep r es s a b l e k ey set -

c rank o p erated m ach i ne made to a dd col umn s of

-

figu res and th e first machine in whi ch an attem p t

w a s made to p rint the numeri cal i tem s a s they
w ere adde d .

T u rning t o th e illu stration of th e U S p atent . .

drawings of t h e Pottin m ach in e th e reader w ill ,

note that th ere are fou r large w h eel s sh own ,

m arke d B T he se wh eel s are w h at may b e called

.

the type w heels although they als o s er v e as i ndi

-
,

cato r wheel s for regi stering ca sh sales T h e t y pe .

figu res a re formed by a seri e s o f n ee d le s fixe d i n

th e face of th e wh eels .

T h e m eans empl o y e d fo r p re senti ng th e p roper

t yp e figu re fo r p rinting an d likewi s e the in d ica
to r figu re s to in d icate th e amo unt s e t up i n each
d enominational o rde r was as follo w s
R eferrin g to F i g 1 i t w il l b e note d th at to each
.
,

type wh eel i s geared a spri ng actuated se g mental

- -

rack marked D wh ich a s shown in the drawing

, , ,

i s i n contact with a pin marke d i wh ich protrud es ,

from th e s i de of th e depres sed n umber (9 ) k ey .

The no rm al po si ti on o f th e rack D i s i n d icated ,

i n dotted line s showing th e next h igh er secto r

wh i ch ha s not b een d i splace d by key depres s ion .
 E ARLY E FF OR T S IN T H E R E COR D ING MA CH IN E AR T 91

E ach key a s will b e n oted from Fi g 7 i s p ro

,
.
, Des cr i p l io n of
Potti n ma c h i n e
v id ed with on e of th e p in s i wh ich i s n o rm all y o u t ,

of the path of th e lug j as th e rack s D d rop for , ,

ward ; b u t when any key i s depres sed th e pin i s

pre sente d i n th e path of th e lu g j and stops fu r ,

th e r forwar d actio n of th e rack .

I t wi ll b e noted that th e arrangemen t of th e

ke y s i s s u ch a s wi ll allow p rogre ss ivel y var y ing
d egree s of action to the se gm ental rack s D T h i s .

variation combined with the geared relation of

,

th e type wh eel s and rack s i s equ ival ent to a tenth

-

of a rotation o f th e type wheel fo r e ach su cce s -

s ive key i n th e o rde r of th ei r a rrangement fro m 1

to 9 .

T h e m ean s provi de d fo r holding th e segmental

racks D at norm al al so s erv e s to hold a key of th e
, ,

sam e orde r depres s ed an d cons i sts of a pi v oted ,

spring p re s sed latch fram e marke d E (s ee Fi gs

- -
.

7 and

With s uc h a com b ination t h e d epre ss ion of keys ,

i n th e s e v eral orde rs wil l unlatch th e s egm ental

rack s an d th e rack s th ro u gh the tens ion of thei r
, ,

actuating s p rings will tu rn th e w h eel s an d present

,

a t yp e correspon din g to th e n umeri cal v al u e of

eac h k ey d epre ssed .

A han d lever marked R located on l eft s ide of

, ,

t h e machine pro v i des p owe r for p ri ntin g th e i tem s .

A noth e r hand l eve r m arked J serves to restore , ,

th e s egmental racks t y pe wh eel s and the keys to ,

-

normal an d th rough the c o operation of th e lever

,
-

R adds the i tem s to the totalizer n um eral wh eel s

, ,

whi ch are Shown i n F ig 1 as the n umb e re d wh eels .

mark ed v .
92 O RI G IN O F MO DERN C AL C UL A T I N G MA CH IN ES

The pa p er i s su p pl i ed from a roll mo u nted on a

h inged p laten fram e P supported in i ts normal
1
,

p o s i tion b y a spring P Th e p ape r pa ss es unde r

3
.

th e roller P whi ch acts a s a platen fo r the impres

,

s ion of th e t y pe A Shaft Q p a s sing under th e

.
,

frame P i s fa st and ri g idly conn ecte d on the l eft

I
,

hand s i de of th e mach ine with the hand leve r R ,

and acts as a pivot fo r th e sai d lever an d b y mean s

of late ral p roj ection s q serves when th e l eve r R i s
,

o p erated to engage th e fram e P and depre s se s i t

1
,

unti l the needle t y pes ha v e p ri c k ed th e n ume rical

i tem s thro ugh th e p ape r .

A slit i n th e cas ing p rovi ded m ean s fo r p r inting

th e i tem on a se p arate p i ece of p ape r o r b i ll .

A lthou gh th ere is no mean s sh own b y w h ich the

p ape r is fed afte r an item i s p rinte d i t i s claime d ,

i n th e s p ecificati on that th e w ell known mean s fo r -

such feeding may b e em p loye d Th e actuatin g .

lever J refe rre d to i s connecte d by a ratchet an d

,

gea red acti on wi th th e shaft F so that a r e vol u

*
,

tion i s given th e s ai d shaft each tim e the l ever i s

operate d .

T o th e Sh aft F (s ee Fi g 1 ) i s attached a seri e s

, .

of a rm s H one for each o rd er wh ich a s th e shaft

, , ,

re v ol v e s i n th e d irection of th e arrow engages a ,

l ug marked I on th e s egm ental racks D thu s rock

, ,

i ng the s egments back to no rmal turning th e t y p e ,

wh eel s w ith them .

T he retu rn of th e segm ent racks D cau se th e ,

b ack of th e latch tooth f (s e e F i g 8 ) to engage

l
, .

th e latch to oth f of th e latch ba r E camming i t

, ,

out of engagement w it h th e keys s o th at any k ey

that h as b een s et will retu rn by mean s of its ow n
s p ri ng .

* N O A l l t h d w in g f t h P t t in p t n t
TE ! e ra t
s o h wn he o a e a re no s o e re .
 E AR LY E FF OR T S IN T H E R E C ORD ING MA C H I N E AR T 95

T he total o r accu mulato r numeral w h eel s are

connectable wi th th e type o r i ndicatin g wheel s B ,

by an enga g i ng an d d i sengagi n g gear motion s et

u p b y th e com b ined action of th e han d l evers R
an d J wh i ch fi rs t cau s e s u ch gear engagement
, ,

and then th ro ugh th e retu rn of th e type wh eel s

,

to zero turn the accu mu lato r wheels th u s tran s

, ,

fe rring th e am ount of the i tem set u p on th e ty p e

wheel s to the accumulato r wh eel s .

T h e specification c l aim s the mach i ne i s i ntende d

for us e by c as h i ers bank t el l ers an d others to
,
-
, ,

recor d recei p ts or di sb u rs ements .

I t i s al s o claime d in the s p ecificati on th at i n stead

of th e ne edle ty p e o rd inary typ e may b e u sed i n
comb ination w ith an i nk ing ribbon i f s o d esi red .

O n e o f the n ext attempts to p ro duce a recor d ing E a r ly efl or l s of

'

W m S B ur r oug h s
a dd e r w as ma d e by Wm S B u rro ugh s w ho s e
. .
,
. .

name s i x teen years later w a s u sed t o renam e th e

A m eri can A ri thmom ete r Co no w kno w n a s th e.
,

B u rrough s Ad din g Machi ne C o .

T he first p aten t i s s u ed to B u rro ugh s N o 388 1 1 6 , .

,

under date of A u gu st 2 1 1 888 l ike th e mach in e of

, ,

B arbou r an d B aldwin wa s desi gn e d to record only

,

th e final re s ul t of calcu l ati on .

O n th e sam e date b ut of later a p p l ication a n

, ,

o the r p atent N o 3 8 8 1 1 8 was i s s u e d to B u rrou gh s

, .
,

wh i ch claimed to comb in e t h e recording of th e

num eri cal items an d th e recording of th e total s in
one mac h ine S om e of th e d rawi ngs of th i s p atent
.

h ave b een re p ro du ce d (S ee op p osi te p age )

. .

M A C H I NE O F E AR LY BURROU G H S PA T E N T
R efe rring to th e d rawi ngs of th e B u rrough s
p atent i t will b e noted that i n o u tward fo rm
, , ,

th e mach ine is S im ilar to th e B u rrou gh s mac h in e

96 O R IG IN O F M O D ERN C ALCU LA T ING MAC H IN ES

of toda y To give a detailed d es cription of th e

.

con stru cti on of th e m ach ine of th i s B urro ughs

patent woul d mak e tediou s reading an d take un
nece ssar y space .

Th e pri ncipl e i nvolved in th e m e chani sm for

recording th e i tems is ve ry S im ilar to that of th e
Pottin i nventi on ; the s etting of th e t y pe wh eel s
b eing effecte d as in th e Pottin machine b y m ean s
of segment gears whi ch th e depres sion of the ke y s
se rv e s to unlatch and acts to gau ge th e additive
,

degre e of th ei r movement .

A B u rrou gh s u sed th e i nkin g form of t ype pro

posed as a n alte rnat ive b y Pottin i n h i s patent
Specification in stead o f th e needles s hown in th e
Pot tin d rawin gs
V
.

I n th e B u rrou gh s patent as i n th e Pottin it will

, ,

b e noted th at there are two s ets of whe el s b earing

figu re s one s et of wh ich marke d J s itu ated at
, , ,

t h e rear are th e t y p e wheels an d th e other s et

,
-
, ,

marked A at th e front of th e machine are fo r th e

, ,

accum u lation of th e total s .

F o r each d enom inational orde r o f th e type an d

total wheel s the re i s p rovi d ed an actu ating s eg
,

mental gear con s i sting of a two arm ed s egmental

,
-

lever pivote d to t h e s haft C an d ha v ing the gear,

teeth of i ts rear arm con stantly in mesh w ith the

pinion gea r of t h e ty p e wheel J an d th e gear teeth
-
,

of th e fo rwa r d a rm n ormally p resented to b ut out ,

of me sh wi th the p in i on gea r of i ts tota l wheel A .

E ach of th es e d enomi nati onal actuators o r s eg

ment gears i s p ro v i d e d with a s to p p roj ecti on X 2
,

at the to p en d of i ts for w ar d gear rack whi ch serves -

,

a s a means fo r i nterru p ting t h e do w n w ar d move

ment of that en d of th e s egm en t l eve r an d thu s ,

c o n t r o l s it s m o v e m e n t a s a d e n o m i n a t i o n a l
actuato r .
98 O RIG IN O F MOD E RN C A L C ULA T ING MAC H IN ES

Th e backward o r rear stroke of the h and leve r

cau se d th e accum ulato r o r total numeral wh eel s to
be engage d and the i tem to be a d d e d to them .

F rom thi s s in gl e lever action i t wi ll b e noted

that th ere i s an improvem ent sh own over an d
above the Pottin i nvention in th e fact that b u t on e
leve r moti on i s requi red ; Pottin having p rovi ded
two leve rs s o that i n th e e v ent of erro r th e opera
t ion of one leve r w ou l d re set th e mach ine with ou t
'

p e rfo rmi ng any add iti on or p rinting .

I n th e B u rrough s i nvention th e motion of de

,

nomina t ion a l a ctuators an d thei r t y pe wh ee l s n ot -

being effecte d th ro ugh d e p res s ion of ke y s a s i n ,

th e Pottin machine allowe d any e rror i n th e s et

,

ting up of an item to b e co rrecte d b y the re setting

of th e ke y s and r el a tch ing of th e gears wh ich i t ,

i s claimed w a s p rovi de d for b y o p eration of th e

lever m ark e d B (F i g 1 of the drawings )
7
. .

A s a m ean s of s u pp lying power to h i s d enom

ina tiona l actuators B u rr o u gh s provi de d what may
,

b e cal l ed a un i v ersal actu ator common to all or d e rs .

compo s ed of a rock fram e (arm s D loo s e on each

2
,

en d of actu atin g sh aft C and h avi ng th ei r out

,

ward en d s rigidly connected by the bar a ) and 9

the arms E fixed to each end of th e sh aft C

, .

Proj ectin g from the in si de of each of th e arm s

E are two lu gs b an d b wh ich contact w ith th e
, ,
l 3
,

a rm s D of th e rock fram e as th e shaft C i s rocked

2

back and fo rth by i ts hand crank C an d thu s5

,

lowe r and rai se th e rock fram e -

.

Th e means em p lo y ed to tran smi t th e r ec ipr oc a t

ing action of the un ive rsal actuato r to s uch d e
nom ina tiona l actu ators a s may b e unlatche d b y
key depres sion co ns i sts o f a s e ri e s of s p ring
,

p res sed arc sh aped le v ers D pivoted to th e rock

-
1
,
 E AR LY E FF OR T S IN TH E R E C ORDIN G MA C H IN E AR T 99

fram e ba r a which bea r again st a p i n b fixe d in

!
,
2

the front a r m of th e d enominati ona l actuato rs .

E ach of th e l evers D i s pro v i de d wi th a notch 1

,

y wh ich se rve s on th e downward action o f th e

,

rock frame to engage th e pin s b of th e d e nom i

-
2
,

nati onal actu ators an d d ra w down with them su ch

actuato rs a s have b een unlatched b y k ey d ep r es
s i on an d to p as s o v e r th e p i ns of s u c h actu ato rs
a s have no t b een unlatch ed .

Wh en i n th e co u rs e of su ch do w n w ar d move
ment th e d enominati onal actuato rs are interce p te d
by th e sto p wi res C the yi el d ing spri ng p re s su re
-
‘
,

of th e l e v ers D allo w th e n otche s y to sli p o v e r th e

1
, ,

pin s b an d leave t h e denominati ona l actuato rs

3
,

and thei r ty p e whee l s s et fo r reco rd ing th e item

-

thu s s e t up.

The mean s p rovi de d fo r impres s ion of the type

is shown i n oth e r drawings of a paten t not repro
d uce d h ere T h e m ean s provi ded con si s te d of a
.

un ive rsal platen wh i ch th e s p ecificati on states

, , ,

ser v e s to p res s th e i nk ribbon an d pape r agains t -

the t y pe after all th e figu re s of each i tem w ere s et .

Wh ile Barbou r Baldwin and Pottin all u s ed th e

,

uni v ersal platen to pri nt th e collective s etting of

t y pe repre sented i n th e item s o r total s a s th e cas e ,

may b e each vari ed somewh at i n detail B al dw in

, .

u s ed a toggle to p re s s th e p laten toward the t y pe ,

wh ile B u rrough s u sed a spring to pre s s th e platen

agains t th e ty p e and a toggl e to pre s s i t away
from the ty p e .

B u rrou gh s claimed to have combine d i n h i s in

v e ntion th e printing o f th e total s with th e print ,

i ng of th e item s each of w h i ch i t h as b een shown

,

wa s claime d b y th e p atentees of p revi ou s inven

1 00 O R IGIN O F M O D E RN C A L C U L A T IN G MACH I N ES

tions b ut had not b een com b ine d in on e mach ine

prior to the B u rrou gh s attempt .

T h e proces s fo r record ing th es e total s i n th e

B u rro ugh s patent con si sted of u tilizing th e acti on
of th e tota l w h eels during th ei r res etting o r z ero
i zing movement to gauge th e s etting of the t y pe
wh eel s .

The specificati on Shows that d u ring the down

,

ward m oti on or s etting of th e d enomi nati onal

actuators a s the y s et the t y pe wheel s th e n umeral
, ,

wh eels are ou t of gear and receive no motion

th erefrom ; an d that after the recordi ng of each
i tem and du ring th e retu rn motion of denom ina
tiona l actu ato rs th e n u me ra l or total wh eels are
,

revolved forw ard i n the i r accumulati v e action of

addin g th e i tem s an d thu s regi stering th e total .

Provi sio n i s made however w h en i t is des ire d

, ,

to p rint the total s to cau s e th e totaliz in g wheel s

,

to enme sh w ith th e d enominat ional actu ators o n

thei r downward or s etting movement an d fo r th e ,

unlatching of all th e racks s o that by operating

th e han d lev er C th e downward actio n of th e
5
,

racks will revers e th e action of th e totalizing

wh eel s w h ich wi ll revolve b ackward u ntil the
,

z ero s Show at th e vi si b le reading po int where the y

,

will b e arrested by stop s p rovide d fo r that p u r

p os e B y th i s m eth od th e forward rotation accu
.

m ul a te d on each wheel wi ll th rough the reverse

,

action of z e r oiz ing give a l ike d egree of acti on to

,

th e t y pe wh ee l s th ro u gh th e denominational actu
-

a tor s . Th u s t h e regi stration of th e total wh eels ,

i t i s claimed will b e t ran sferred to th e type wh eel s

,
-

and th e record printed thereof as a footing to th e

column of numeri cal items that have b een adde d .
1 02 (
ORI G I N o
‘

Q F MOD E RN C A L C U L A T I N G MA C H I N E S

Th e fact that th e fundamenta l p rinci p le u se d for

th e impres si on of t h e ty p e i n the practi cal recor d er
of to day i s not d i splayed in any of th es e inventi on s ,

rai se s th e qu e stion a s to the e ff ective o p erative

ne s s of th e printing s chem e disclo se d i n th e p at
ents of these early mach ine s .

I n eac h of th e fou r alleged recording add ing ma -

chi ne patent s d es c r ibe d it will b e note d that th e

,

mean s em p lo ye d fo r p ri nting w as that of p res sing

the paper again st th e grou p of ty p e b y mean s of a
un iversa l p laten o r p late .

W hile with s uch a com b inati on i t may b e p os

si ble to pro v i d e a s et p res sure great enough to
legibly p ri nt a numeri ca l i tem or t otal having eight
to t en figu re s th rou gh an i n k ri bb on i t woul d not ,

b e p racti cal to u se th e sam e p re ss u re to p rint a

s ingle d i git figu re a s i t wo uld cau s e th e type to
-
,

b rea k th ro ugh th e pa p e r A n d yet in th e num eri

.

ca l i tem s and total s that ha v e to b e reco r d e d in

machi ne s of th e clas s und e r consi d eration su ch ,

w i d e v ari ati on i s con stantly enco untered .

We are all familiar w i th th e typewri te r an d th e

legibl e printing i t p ro d uce s B u t s uppose i nstea d .

” ”
of p rinting each lette r se p arately th e whole wor d
sh ou ld b e pri nted at once by a s ingle key dep r e s -

s ion then of cou rse s ingle lette r wo rds s uch a s

, , ,
-
,

“ “
t h e arti cl e a o r th e p rono un I wo u l d al so h a v e to
b e pri nted b y a S ingle key d epre s si on I n th i s s up
-
.

p osi tion we fin d a p aral lel of th e requ irements of

a reco rding addin g mach ine
-
.

I f i t we re pos s ibl e to so increa se the leverage of

th e t y pewriter ke y s eno ugh to cau se a word of ten
l etters to b e printe d as legibly as a S ingle letter is
now p ri nted ten ti me s th e power wou ld h a v e to
,

be d elivered at th e type head T h en th ink what -

.
D ra w i n gs Of Ludl u mP a te nt No .
1 06 O R I G IN O F M OD ERN C A L C U L A T I NG MA C H I N ES

A s e ri e s of n umeral wh eel s an d th ei r d evi ces fo r

th e tran sfe r of th e ten s d e signe d to regi ster t h e
,

total s are s h o w n m ounte d i n a s h iftable fram e

,

connected w it h th e b ar m arke d F with th e t yp e ,

wri ter carri age an d i s claime d to mo v e th erewith

, .

E ach nu meral w h ee l i s p ro v i d e d w it h a gear

marke d G w hi c h as th e ca rri age move s after
, ,

w ritin g o r p rintin g eac h figu re of t h e item i s s up ,

po se d t o s l i d e into m es h one at a tim e w ith an a dd ing

gear mark ed H th e engagement taki ng p lace from
,

right to l eft O r b eginning w it h th e ri ght o r units

.

nu meral wh ee l a h i gh e r o r d e r n um eral w h ee l gear

i s suppos ed to s h ift t h rou gh mo v ement of th e car
r ia g e into engagem ent w ith the a d ding gear H ,

each t ime a k ey i s de p re s se d .

T h e a d ding gear H i s sup p os e d to recei v e v ary

,

ing d egree s of rotation from th e k eys accor d ing to

th ei r numeri ca l mark ing an d to rotate th e n um
e ral w h eel w i t h w hi ch i t ha pp ens to b e engaged a ,

co rre s p onding num b er of i ts ten mar k e d points of ‘

regi stration .

Be t w een th e a dding gear H an d th e keys wh ic h

,

act to d ri v e i t i s a ratch et an d gear device con si st

,

ing of t h e ratchet p aw l p ivoted to th e ad d in g gear

H th e ratch et 1 an d its p inion gear the s egm ent
,
6
, ,

gear I fast to th e ro ck s h aft I th e nin e arm s 1 fa st

3
,
1

to th e rock Sh aft and th e p in s 1 wh i c h are arranged

2
,

i n th e k ey l evers to contact with an d d e p res s the

a r m s I of th e roc k sh aft v arying d i stances accord
I
,

ing to th e val u e of th e key de p re s sed T hat i s sup .

,

posing th at th e fu ll th row of th e ke y leve r w a s -

requ i red to actuate th e rock Shaft w i t h its gear

an d ratc h et connecti on to give nine tenth s of a -

re v olu ti on to th e n umera l w h eel in a d ding the

d igit nine th e p i n I i n th e (9 ) key le v e r wo ul d i n
,
2 -
 E AR LY E FF OR T S IN TH E R E C ORDIN G MA C HIN E AR T 1 07

that cas e b e i n con tact wi th it s a rm I of th e rock ‘

,

shaft bu t th e p i n s 1 o f each of th e oth e r ke y

,
2
,

le v ers wou ld b e arrange d to allow l o s t motion b e

fore the p i n shoul d engage its a rm I of th e rock
1

shaft i n acco r d ance w ith th e d i fference o f thei r

,

adding v al u e .

A ccord ing to th e s p e cification L u d lum evi d ently,

had th e i dea th at h e cou l d sto p th e adding gear H ,

whi l e u n d er th e high rate of spee d i t w oul d rece ive

from a qu i c k d epres s ion of a key b y j ab b i ng th e ,

detent J b etw een th e fin e s p acing of the gear teeth

shown i n hi s dra w ing B ut to thos e familiar w ith
.

the p oss ibil ity of s u c h sto p d evi ce s i ts inoperative ,

ne ss w ill b e o b vi ou s ; not that t h e p ri ncipl e p ro

p er l y a p pli e d wo u ld n ot w ork for i ts a pp l i cation
,

by Felt p ri o r to th at o f L u dl u m p ro v ed th e p o ssi
b il ities of thi s m etho d of gau gi ng a d diti v e actua
ti on.

T h e d etent l e v er J a s S h o w n i n th e d rawi ngs is

, ,

operate d b y th e h inge d p lat e D thro ugh acti on of ,

th e key l evers a s any on e of them are d e p res s ed

, .

U n d er depres s ion o f a k ey th e h in ged p late D

, ,

bein g carri e d do w n w i t h i t en gage s th e arm J of

,
3

th e d etent an d th rows th e tooth at i ts upper en d

i nto t h e teeth of th e gear H .

Th e timing of th e entry of th e tooth of the d e

tent i s s up p osed to b e gau ge d t o ente r th e right
tooth b u t a s th e actio n of the se parts i s fast
, ,

slow o r m edi um at th e wil l of th e o p erator con ,

s ide r a b l e tim e mu st be allowe d fo r v ari ati on i n th e

entry of th e detent tooth w h i ch requ i res s p ace as

, ,

certain p arts w i ll fl y ahead u nder th e s u dden im

pact th ey ma y recei ve from a qu ick stroke where ,

they would no t u nder a Slow stroke b u t n o allow ,

ance wa s p rovi ded for su ch contingency .

1 08 O RIG IN O F MO D ERN C AL CULA T ING M ACH IN ES

Th e mean s provi ded for the carr y of th e tens

con si st o f the gears G m eshing with the n um eral
9
,

wheel gea rs and th e S ingle gear tooth g attached

9
,

to i t wh ich at each revolution of th e lower wh eel

, , .

a s it pass es from 9 to 0 engages th e gear of th e,

n umeral wh eel of h ighe r denom ination and w a s

s uppos ed to tu rn th e hi gh er gear one tenth of a -

revolu tion th us regi stering one greater

, .

O n acco u nt of the G ears G of on e o rd er an d 9

, th e
gear tooth g of anoth er o rd e r operating on
9
, th e
same nu mera l wh eel gear th e tran sfe r gears , are
arranged alternatel y on s epa rate Shafts on e at , th e
si de and one belo w th e n umeral w h ee l s .

L ud l um ma ch ine Th e mechan ical sch em e di sclo s e d i n th e L u d

I nop er a l we lum patent to th e un so p h i sti cated ma y se em to
,

b e ope rative B ut to thos e famili ar wi th t h e A rt of

.

key d riven a d d ing m echan is m i t wi ll at once b e

-

obvi o u s that e v en if th e typ e w riter featu re wa s

con stru cted p ro p erly th e p os sib ility of correctly
add ing th e i tem s a s th ey w ere p ri nte d w a s a b s o
l ute l y impos sible .

L aying asi de several oth er feat ure s of inop er a

t iv e nes s obvi o u s to thos e wh o know s u ch mechan
,

is m th e read er although not ve rs e d i n th e A rt of

, ,

ke y driven ad d ing mechani sm w ill obs erve from

-
,

th e prece ding chapte r th at the mean s provi ded fo r

,

transfe rring th e ten s wi tho ut any contro l fo r t h e

nu me ral wh eel s again st over rotation woul d m ak e -
,

co rrect ad d iti on im p o s si bl e .

Th e d rawings an d specification of th e L u dlum

patent di sclo se a m ere dream an d Sho w t h at they
were not co p ie d from th e make up of an o p erati v e -

machin e .

I t w a s a da ri ng sch em e an d one that none b ut a

d reamer w o u ld u nderta ke to con struct i n th e
 -!

Fi r s t Pr a c ti c a l R e c o r de r s
H E fact that Barbou r B al d win Pottin L u d
, , ,

lum and B u rrou gh s attempted to p ro d u ce a

recording adding mach in e show s that a s far
-

back as 1 8 7 2 an d at peri od s down to 1 888 the re

, ,

was at l ea st i n th e m ind s of th es e m en a c onc ep

tion of th e u sefulnes s of su ch a mach in e an d th e ,

fact th at th ere were five with th e same thou gh t i s

fai rl y good evi dence of th e n eed fo r a mach ine of
thi s c l as s
.

I n som e of th e h uman interes t arti cle s i ss u ed

-
B ur roug hs a
ba nk cl erk
through th e adve rti sing department of th e B u r
rough s A d ding M ach in e C o i t i s state d that Wm
. .

S eward B u rrough s wa s a b ank cl er k p ri o r to h i s

effo rts at ad ding m ach ine con structi on I t is con
-
.

ce iva b l e th erefore th at h i s first effo rt s at adding

, ,

mach in e i nvention sh ou l d b e d irecte d toward th e

prod ucti on of a mach ine that wou ld be of servic e
in th e bank for th e b ringing together of th e loos e
item s of account that are to b e fo und i n th e form
of checks drafts an d the like b y pri nting a reco rd
, , ,

of the i tem s and th ei r total s d uring th e proce ss of

add in g th em togeth er .

I t i s not su rp ri sing th erefore that a m a nuf a c

, , F inter es ted
al l
r ecor der Ar t
tu rer of a su cce s sful calculating mach ine s hould ,

th rough h i s contact with th e trade com e to the con ,

e lu s ion th at th ere was us e fo r a machi n e of th i s

clas s in th e bank s A s proof of thi s we find th at

. .

an ap p l icat ion fo r a reco rding addin g mach in e -

F mD
ro n gs
ra w i of F e lt P nt
a te N0 .
1 14 O RI G IN O F MO D ERN C AL C U LA T ING MAC HIN E S

being i n tu rn operate d by an o r d inal series of keys ,

thu s provi ding th e m ean s wh ereby a seri es of d e

nom ina tion a l o rders of key d ri ven adding mechan -

i s m ma y b e i nteroperative .

I n F i g 2 of the drawings i s Sh own the re s ult of

.

striking th e (8 ) key whi ch may b e con sidered ,

illu strative of su ch action i n any o rder wh eth er ,

units tens h un dred s thou sand s etc

, , , , .

T he d e p r e s s i o n o f t h e (8 ) k e y is S h o w n to
have carri ed the lever D d own ei gh t of its n in e
additive po ints of movement cau s ing th e plunger ,

1 5 bearing again st its upper edge to drop with i t

, ,

un de r the action of th e plunger sprin g 1 7 .

To th e upp er end of th i s pl unger i s p ivotally ,

attached an a rm of th e t y pe secto r U wh i c h is i n ,

turn pivoted to th e ro d y an d by th e lowerin g of ,

th e p lunger 1 5 i s rocked on i ts p ivot rai sing the

, ,

ty p e head until th e n umb er (8 ) ty p e i s p resented

-

oppo s ite the p r i nting b ar o r p laten T wh ic h i s ,

hung on th e p ivot arm s T s o th at i t may b e sw un g

1
,

forwar d an d b ac kw ard .

A n i nk ri bb on w an d i ts sh ifting m echani sm i s
-
,

pro v i de d a s shown in Fi g 1 ; th e paper v is su p

, .
,

pli ed in ri bb on fo rm from a roll an d p as se s b etween

th e in k ri bb on an d th e platen T
-
.

N orm a l ly th e p laten th e pa p e r and th e ink rib

, ,
-

bon are i n a retracted p os ition al lowing spac e for ,

th e t yp e s ecto r to rai se an d lower freel y B ut as .

,

sho w n i n Fi g 2 a t y pe im p re ss ion i s taking p lace

.
,

th rough th e e scapement of th e cam w h eel R I

wh ich i s locate d back of the platen an d wh ich a s , ,

\
shown has ,
force d th e cam leve r 1 forward p re ss ,

i n g the spring p again st th e p laten T thu s fo rcing

, ,

th e paper an d ribbo n forwa rd agains t th e t y pe ,

and printing th e figu re 8 .

 F I R ST PRAC T I CAL R E COR D ERS

A fter th e cam tooth pas s es th e platen p aper

-
, , ,

i nk ribbon an d s p rin g retu rn t o n ormal allowing

-
,

th e type sector freedom to d ro p when the k ey i s

released .

The cam wheel R i s pro p elle d by a spring S (F i g .

woun d by th e hand kno b S an d is releas ed

S -

fo r action throu gh th e e scapement of th e p allet

wheel R attache d to th e cam wh e el R an d th e
pallet c .

Th e p allet c i s tri pp ed each t ime a key i s de p re s sed

an d i s sho wn i n th e tri p ped pos i tion o p e rated b y
th e l ink P and th e p lu ral armed lever O N wh i ch
-
, ,

th rou gh its m anifol d arm s N may receive action ,

throu gh p in s a of an y of the rock b ars L a s they

, ,

are d e p res se d by th e k eys .

T h e cycle of acti on d escribed take s p lac e w it h

eve ry key d e p res sed exce p t that th e m ovem ent of
,

the ty p e s e c t o r v a r i e s a c c o r d i n g t o t h e k e y
de p re ss e d .

A s th e p rinting i n t h i s Felt i nventi on wa s b y in

d ividua l iz ed typ e i m p re s s ion legib il ity of reco rding
,

a s w e ll a s accu rate ad d ition w a s ob ta ine d A lth ou gh .

thi s p atent sho w s that Felt ha d p ro du ced su c h an

operati v e combination there are t w o featu res i n
,

thi s p atent wh i c h wou ld pre v en t i ts b ecomi ng a

marketable mach ine .

O n e of the s e featu re s was th at o f ha v ing to w ind

the m oto r s p rin g that fu rn i sh ed power fo r th e
ty p e impre s s ion T h e othe r featu re wa s that there
.

wa s n o p rovi sion fo r printing th e ci p hers Al .

thoug h th e ci p hers were always om i tte d from the

ke yb oar d of non recording add ers a s they cou ld
-
,

perform no fu nction i n a dd ition or oth er fo rm s o f

calculation th ey cou l d not with out i nconveni ence
, ,

be el iminated from i tem s i n record ing .

1 16 O RIG IN O F M O D ERN C A L C ULA T ING MA CH IN E S

TH E SE C O N D FE L T R E C ORDE R
Whi le th e last de sc rib ed Felt p atent was still
-

pend in g F elt improve d h i s m echani sm fo r record

,

in g in stalling n ew featu re s and el iminating th e

,

obj ecti onable featu re s refe rr ed to The s e improve .

m ents were of such a sati sfacto ry natu re that th e

F elt Tarrant M f g C o made twent y fi ve reco rd . .
-

in g adders w i th th e new featu re s wh i ch were sol d

-
, ,

to v ari ou s b an k s Th e first of thes e m achines w as

.

placed on trial with th e M erc h ants Ma n uf a c

t ur e r s N ati onal B ank of Pittsbu rgh Pa i n D ecem , .
,

b er of 1 88 9 .

Good evi dence of th e practical featu res of th i s

mach ine was s et fo rt h i n a testimoni al given at
th e time b y W A S haw th e cashi er of the bank
. .
, ,

after i t h ad b een given a S ix m onth s te st T hi s ’

.

”
te stimon ial is extant and h as b ee n re p ro duce d on
oppos ite p age .

R ecord s S h ow th at th e ba nk p u rch ase d that

Comp tog r a p h wh i ch wa s th e trad e nam e gi v en
,

th e Felt recording ad d er an d u s e d i t until 1 8 9 9 at

-
, ,

whi ch time thi s mach ine along wi th others of th e ,

sam e make p u rch as e d at a later date w e re r e ,

“
place d b y th e bank w i th Comp tog r a p h s of more
modern ty p e .

T hi s Felt recor d ing mach ine w a s withou t qu es

tion th e first p ractical reco rding add ing m achine -

eve r sol d th at w oul d p ro d u ce l egible p rint ed recor d s

o f item s and total s under th e v a ri abl e conditi ons
that h ave to b e m et in s u ch a clas s of reco rdi ng .

A fter ten years of ser v i ce th i s first practical

record ing adding mach ine wa s sti l l i n excellent
-

con dition an d i n 1 9 07 w a s secu red b y th e Com p to

,

graph C o from th e B ank of Pi ttsbu rgh into wh ich

.
,

th e M erchants M an ufactu rers N ationa l B ank ,

F e l t R e c or d i n g a nd Li s t i n g M a c h in e .
 F IRS T P RA C T I CAL R E CORDERS 1 19

along with other bank s h ad b een merged I t w a s

,
.

finally procu re d by M r Fel t an d pre sented to th e

.

N ati onal Mu seum o f Wash ington D C wh ere i t , . .

,

ma y now b e foun d on exh ib i t al on g with oth e r in

v e ntion s p ro d uc ed by F el t A pho to repro d ucti on
.

of thi s m ach in e a s it appeared befo re i t wa s pre

sented to th e Mu seum i s shown on the oppos ite
,

page .

L ike th e mac h ine of the first F elt reco rde r patent ,

Fea tur es of firs t
p r a ctica l r ecorder
i t wa s a vi sibl e p ri nt er each figu re bein g pri nte d
,

as th e k ey wa s depress ed th e pape r being sh ifted

,

by th e h an d lever shown at th e ri ght .

U nlike th e forme r mach ine h owever th e oper , ,

ator was not called upon to pe r form th e extra

o p eration of win ding u p a sprin g to fu rni sh powe r
for th e p rinting .

Powe r fo r the p ri nting wa s stored b y th e acti on

of th e paper shi ft lever an d an enti rel y d ifferent
-

p rinting d e v i ce was u sed Provi si on fo r p rinting

.

th e ciphers au tom ati cally w as al so a featu re of

thi s machine I t wa s n ot nece s sa ry to operate
.

ci p h e r ke y s and the re were no su ch keys to b e

,

operated To print an item h avin g ciphers i n i t

.

requ i red onl y the omi s sion of th e ciph ers a s the

ci p hers w ould automatically fill i n .

T h e arrangement of th e paper s hows a goo d im

p ro v e m ent over th e fi rs t m ach ine as i t was mo re ,

access ible b ei ng fe d from a roll at th e to p d own

,

and around roll s b elow an d looped back so that i t

i s moved upward on th e p rinte d s u rface where i t ,

ma y b e torn off a s de si red .

T he mech ani sm of th i s mach in e i s not illu strate d

i n any one patent Th e F elt patents N o s
. .

and cove r th e n ew featu re b u t th e late r ,

p atent N o
, . shows i t b est S ome of th e .
120 O R IG IN O F M O D ERN C AL C U LA T ING MAC HIN E S

d rawings of th e last named patent are re p ro d uced

-

on th e oppos ite page to h elp in explanation of t h e

detail s of the new featu re s .

B y referring to th e drawings i t will b e note d ,

that the fo r m of th e front of th e casing diff ers

from the mach in e O th e r d rawings of th e patent
.
,

not shown h ere d i sclo se featu re s of still later in

,

v e n tion th an w e re i n th e mach ine of th e photo

reprod ucti on B ut i t i s w ith th e p rinting devi ce

.

th at we are no w i ntere sted an d i t wa s i n th i s ,

patent th at i t wa s firs t shown i n th e fo rm u se d i n

th e firs t markete d mach ine referred to .

Th e ty p e secto r marked 8 1 i s like that of th e

first patent except th at i t i s provi de d w i th t h e
,

ciph ers a s w ell a s t h e n ine d i gits .

T he ciph er ty p e are alwa y s p resented fo r p rint

i ng wh en th e sectors are re sting at norma l Th u s . ,

if an i mpres si on can b e mad e wi tho u t depres s ing

the ke y s i n that o rde r a cipher w il l b e p rinted as
, ,

will b e sho w n l ater .

Back of th e p aper an d p ivote d to th e ro d 9 7 are ,

a s eri es of p ri nting h ammers 8 7 one fo r eac h type ,

sector .

Th e hammers are o p e rated by th e spring 8 8 an d ,

are shown retai ned against th e t ension of th ei r

spri ngs b y t h e tri gger latch e s 8 9 .

T hes e tri gger latch es are p ivote d on th e fixe d

sh aft 1 7 1 an d actu ate d by th e s p rings 9 2 to cau se
3
,

th eir engagem ent w ith th e n otc h 9 0 of the p rint

i ng h ammers .

E ach of th e t rigge r l atche s are provi ded with a

late rall y extend ing l u g 9 3 fo rme d on th ei r lower
,

arm an d each l ug o v erlaps th e b ack of th e lower

,

a rm of th e adj acent tri gger latc h to th e righ t of

i t s o t h at i f any tri gger latch s houl d b e operated
,
122 O R IG IN O F M O D ERN C AL C U LA T IN G MA CH I NES

so as t o extri cate i t from th e notch 5 0 of i ts print

ing h amm er i ts overlapping l ug 9 3 wo ul d cau s e
, ,

a like action of th e tri gger latch to the right o f

that and s o o n ; th u s releasing al l th e trigge r
,

latches to th e right of th e latch o ri ginally released .

S u ch releasing of cou rse allowed th e printing

, ,

hammers 8 7 to spring forward in all th e o rd ers s o

affected .

Th e l ong stop actuating l e v e r marked 1 6 co r re

-

s p on d s wi th th e leve r G o f th e Felt ke y d riven -

calculato r shown i n a preceding chapter and pe r ,

form s th e same functi on as th e rock bars L of th e

first F elt recor d er p atent Th es e stop levers 1 6 .

are p ivoted at 1 7 an d are p ro v i ded with rear arm s

,

8 6 extending u pward wi th th ei r ends op p osit e th e

,

late ral exten d ing l ug 9 3 of the tri gger latch , ,

wh i ch corre spon d s to the orde r of key s wh ich th e

l ever 1 6 serves .

I n th e rear upwardl y extending en d of each of -

th es e l evers 1 6 an adj u stin g s crew 9 1 i s p ro

, ,

v id e d as a tappet fo r tri p pin g th e trigger l atch

co rre spondi ng t o i ts o rder .

F rom th e a b ove d e scrib e d combination of mech-

a n is m it may be se en th at i f a key i n any o rd er i s

,

depress ed i t w ill as i t come s i n contact w ith th e

, ,

sto p leve r 1 6 no t onl y cau s e th e adding mechan

,

i sm to b e stopped th rou gh th e stop 1 9 b u t i t w i ll ,

al so thro u gh i ts rear a rm 8 6 cau s e th e tri gge r

, ,

l atch of its orde r to trip an d likewi se al l th e tri gger ,

latch e s an d p rinting h amm ers to the right thu s -

,

pri ntin g th e figu re p re sente d on t h e p ri ntin g s ec

to r in the order i n wh i ch th e key was ope rated and
the ciph ers in th e orde rs to th e righ t i n case th e
ke y s i n th e order to th e ri gh t ha v e not previ o u sly
b een operate d .
 F IR ST PRA C T I CAL R E COR D ER S 123

The i nd ivi d ual p res entation of th e t y pe figu re s

u pon ke y d epress ion except for th e ci phers wh ich,

were n ormall y presente d fo r printing requ ired ,

that in strikin g th e keys to give co rrect reco rd ,

ing of th e i tems th e operati on m u st be from ri gh t

,

to left That is fo r example i f th e i tem to be

.
, ,

a dded wa s 37 th e ope rator wo ul d depres s th e

(5 ) ke y in th e unit s cents column the (8 ) key i n ,

t h e ten s o f c ents column ; th e ciphe r i n th e units

dollars col umn would b e omitted the (4 ) ke y i n ,

th e ten s of dollars an d th e (7 ) ke y i n th e h un
,

d red s of dolla rs column wo uld b e stru ck .

Th e p ri nti ng hamm ers were provi ded wi th mean s

fo r re setting afte r being trippe d i n th e reco rding
acti on Th i s mean s i s connected with th e paper
.

s hift leve r s o that as th e pape r wa s Shifted o r fe d

-
,

u pwa rd ready fo r reco rd ing th e n ext it em th e

, ,

p rintin g h amme rs were all res et an d latch ed on

-

thei r re spect ive tri gge r latche s read y for a n ew ,

i tem.

F ixed to th e shaft 9 7 o n whi ch th e printing ,

h ammers are pivoted i s a bail marke d 9 8 p art , , ,

of wh i ch i s sh own i n th e drawi ng th e hori zontal ,

b ar of wh i ch normall y li e s un der and ou t of th e

wa y of th e hamme rs as the y pl unge forward i n
pri nting A n d attache d to the right h an d en d of
.
-

th e sh aft 9 7 i s a crank arm connected b y a link to

the pape r Sh ift hand lever wh i ch may b e seen on
- -
,

th e ri ght in th e photo reprodu ction of th e mach ine .

Thi s connecti on is a rranged so th at depres sing the

leve r cau ses th e shaft 9 7 to rock th e bai l 9 8 rear
ward th u s pi cking up any trippe d printi ng ham
,
-

mers an d r el a tch ing th em .

The total s h ad to b e printed a s i n the fi r s t ,

d escrib ed F elt reco rder b y depre ss ing a k e y cor ,

 O RIG IN or MODERN C AL C UL A T IN G MACH INES

re spond ing i n valu e to th e figu re sh owing on th e

wheel i n each orde r .

Th e pri ncipl e i nvolved i n th e i ndi v i d ual ham

mer blow comb ined with th e o rd inal t yp e s ecto r
-
,

for recording i n a recording adder wa s new and -

,

wa s the feat u re th at has made the add ing recor d -

i ng machi ne of today p o ssible as i s well i n evi ,

dence by th e presence of thi s comb inati on i n al l th e

recorders that h ave b een made by th e su ccessful
manufactu rers of li sting o r recording adding and -

calculating mach ines S ome manufactu rers have .

s ubsti tuted a v e r ti cal m o v ing t y pe ba r fo r the

pi v ot ed sector b ut t h e schem e i s the sam e a s the
, ,

pu rp o s e i s to get th e arrangement of th e ty p e i n
colu mnar o r d er an d doe s not c h ange th e fun d a
,

mental featu re s of the combinati on wh i ch furn

is h e d th e practi cal m ean s for the i ndivi du al type
impres sion .

TH E FE L T T A B U L A T OR
The next featu re i n th e A rt that has s erved in ,

the m ake up o f th e up to d ate record ers was the

- - -
,

wi de p a p er carri age T hi s feature wi ll pro b ably be

-
.

recognized by man y a s a means su p pli ed fo r th e

recording of column s of item s i n seri es on sheet
p aper .

A s w i ll b e n oted roll pa p e r i n ri bb on form had

,
-

b een u sed i n all th e pre v i o u sl y illu s trated and des

c r ib e d recorde rs While th e L u dlum p atent sh ows
.

a ca rriage i t ha d n o capacity for h andl ing mo re

,

than a S ingle col umn of num eri cal item s T h e .

carriage i n th e L u dl um m ach ine was a featu re

nece ssa ry to th e typewriter con stru cti on and of
f e r e d no soluti on to the feature of tab ulati ng .

Th e first di sclos u re of th e wid e carri age featu re

fo r tab ulating wa s i n a mach in e m ade b y D E F elt . .
F e lt T a b u l a to r
 F I R ST PRA C T I CA L R ECOR D ER S 127

i n 1 8 8 9 wh ich h e exhib ited to the U S C en su s

,
. . The w ide p a p er
B ureau at W a sh in gton D C I n 1 8 9 0 The ma N 1 rr mqe ma c h inf ’
.

. .
,
’
chine wa s also exhibited a t th e W o rl d s F ai r i n
C h icago i n 1 89 3 along with othe r prod ucts i n th i s
, ,

line of th e F elt Tarrant M f g C o A photo re p ro . .

duction of th i s machin e i s sh own o n oppos ite p age .

T he machin e was left at the C en su s B ureau ,

where it wa s u s ed for s everal weeks and wa s very ,

m uch liked Felt m a d e a contract to fu rni sh ten

.

mach ines of thi s typ e and th e mach ine w a s r e com

,

mended fo r p u rc h as e by G K H olmes S peci al . .

,

A gent of the C en su s B u reau b ut l ike man y othe r ,

gove rnment de p artm ent requi s iti on s th e pu rch as e ,

o rde r was n e v er i ss u ed .

A lthough thi s featu re i s n ow foun d i n all fi r s t

clas s reco rding adders th e recording m ach ine A rt
-
,

w a s to o n e w i n 1 8 9 0 for th e n ew feature to b e a p
p r ecia ted an d wa s not pu sh e d as th e re seeme d
, ,

to b e no d emand fo r th e wi de carri age then O n .

th i s a ccount F elt delayed applying for a patent

on h i s i nventi on u ntil 1 8 9 9 .

I n 1 9 04 a l i cens e un der th e p atent was grante d -

L itiga tion on
ta b ul a tor p a tents
th e B u rrough s A dd in g M ach i ne Co b u t soon after .
,

the granting o f the l i cen s e anoth er manufactu re r

of recording a dd ers b rought ou t a machi ne with a
-

wi d e carri age wh i ch was the start of a se ri es of

,

long d rawn ou t i nfringement s u its Th e fact that

- -
.

Felt h ad d elayed taki ng o u t h i s patent form ed

th e grou nd s on wh i ch th e C ou rt fin ally dec ided
that F elt from lack of di li gence i n applying fo r a
,

p atent had aban done d h is i nvention wh ich mad e

, ,

i t p ubli c pro p e rty .

Th e tags wh ich may b e s een ti ed to th e carriage

of th e mach ine are th e o ffi cial tags u sed to i dentify
i t a s a cou rt exh i b i t d u rin g th e long term of years
th e su its were pen d ing i n l iti gati on .
128 O RIG IN O F MODE RN C AL CUL AT ING MA CH IN ES

O u tsid e of the tabulating sch eme th e mach in e

wa s i n other re spects th e same as th e rec order j u st
“
descri b e d a s th e roll paper Comp tog r a p h
-

Th e p a p e r a s ma y b e noted i s h eld i n a sh iftabl e

, ,
,

.
”
carriage an d i s operated by two l evers on e to feed ,

th e paper v erti call y and re set the printing h am -

mers while th e othe r moved the carri age laterally

,

for th e spacing of th e col umn s of item s o r th e cro s s

p ri nting when desired B e si des th e leve r acti on fo r
.

sh ifting and paper fee ding mean s were provi de d

-
,

on th e right han d en d of th e carri age fo r perfo rm

-

I ng th es e function s ; one of the s e i s the th umb

knob wh i ch s erved to feed th e sheet of paper into

th e rolls ; th e oth er i s a small l ever whi ch allows
the operato r to Shi ft th e carri age by han d ind e
p endent of the carri age shi ft l ever -
.

TH E T H IRD FE L T R E C ORD E R
Wh i le th e first lot of record ing adders m a nuf a c -

tur e d by F elt were wh olly p racti cal a s wa s well ,

proved b y th e statements of tho s e who purchase d

th em i t is eas y to pi ck ou t featu re s i n thei r m ake
,

u p that toda y wh en compared w ith the new

,

h ighl y developed A rt wo u ld seem t o make them

-
,

impractical .

Th e neces s i t y of ope rating from right to left and

th e nece s s it y of printin g th e totals b y k e y dep r e s
s ion were featu res that in v i ew of there be ing ,

noth ing b ett er i n th os e da y s d i d not s eem ob j ec ,

tiona b l e to tho s e wh o u sed th em They were fea .

tu res however that F elt overcam e and eliminate d

, ,

in th e next lot of m ach ine s man u factu red and

placed on th e market i n 1 8 9 0 .

T hi s lot of mach ine s one hu ndre d i n n umb er (a

,

go odly numb er i n th ose d ays ) we re equ ippe d with ,

a special hand knob i n front on th e left si de fo r

-
 E N G I N E E R I NG .

FELT S ’
C O M P T OG R A PH

It
a nd 4
h
T is I
, w h ich
nc k mg
\Vt at p l l b l l Ld h ) 1 p m !
l s a t cu l l l

re s t ( “g l b L l w
i
Fgs
i th th e tee th of
1

of se tt n hthi ceh s i esi tsot r a te o n roth ise r

i g l d t he num b u
fr ee fro
Th e

t h s c a se of on
'

p p s

m
th c r e a c se
mec h me w we llu p a ge w
t
ofn o s i toth cohsen of ofa t oen er i t r t s n o s a s
k
u u
k ey s l k e
b Th e
I s,

u
m

i g
Bl l d t a a r e

my of
p l ed b y 5
y p w e , h m m g h g u re d
he e k b dd

l a n c e corr e s n in
po d g to th e ke y str c
u k Th e r a tc e t
h

One of th e E a r ly Co m p tog r a p h s
 F IR ST PRA C T I CA L R E COR D ER S 1 31

automaticall y printing the total s and wi th m ean s

,

b y w h i c h t h e c i p h e r s w e re p ri n t e d o n l y o n
operation of th e p a p e r s h ift l ever wh ich allowe d
-
,

the o p e rator t o de p res s th e keys from left to righ t

or any wa y h e p leased .

”
T h e b est evidence a s to wh at thes e mach ine s
looked like i s to b e fo un d i n th e repro d ucti on on
the o pp os ite page of an i llu stration wh i ch a p peare d
“
i n E ngineeri ng of L on d on i n 1 8 9 1 , .

I t will be n ote d t h at th e patent d rawi ngs of th e

Felt calcul ato r are al so d i splayed Th ey w ere u se d
.

to de scribe th e a dd ing m echani sm of t h e reco r d e r .

Th e total p ri nting d e v ice i s sh own an d d e scri b e d

i n p atent N o . w h i le th e p atent for th e
p ri nti ng of th e ci p h ers by the h an d shift l e v er w a s -

not a pp li ed for u nti l 1 9 04 .

I t may b e argu e d and argued tru e that the s e

, ,

two later featu res i n thei r generi c a p pl ication t o

t h e recor d in g ad d ing m achine A rt w ere anticipated
-

b y B u rrough s i n h is i n v enti on h erei n p revio u sl y

d es c ri b e d
. B u t as s um ing that thes e feature s
,

were o p e rat i v e featu res i n th e B urrou gh s mach i ne ,

th ey C oul d no t b e claime d i n c omb inati on w i th a

p ri nting mechan i s m that wa s o p erative to gi v e
p ractical res ults an d i n th em sel v e s di d n ot make
t h e recor d in g a d de r p os si b le N o r wa s th e m ean s
-
.

sho w n fo r reco r d ing th e total s of us e except wit h

mean s fo r l egi bl e recordin g .

T here i s n o d esi re to di scre d i t what B u rrou gh s Tota l r ecor d m0 0

Fel l comb m a l zon
di d bu t let th e credi t fo r what B u rrou gh s a ecom
.

pl is h ed com e i nto i ts own i n acco rdance wi th the

,

c h ronological or d er i n wh i ch i t ma y b e p roved that

B u rrough s reall y produced a mach in e that h ad a
practical and legibl e reco r d ing mechani sm Th en .

we will fi nd th a t to p roduce s uch p roof we mu st

‘
1 32 O RIG IN OF M OD ERN C AL C ULA T IN G MA CHINES

accept th e fact th at i n all th e succes sful recor d ing

machine s manu factu red an d sold b y th e B u rroug h s
A dding M achin e Co th e p ri nting type secto r th e
.
,
-
,

pri nting ty p e hamm ers an d the overla pp in g ham

-

mer tri gge rs w ith thei r b roa d functioning fea

-

’
tu res fo rm ing a p art of Fe l t s i n v ention ha v e b een ,

u se d to p rodu ce l egi b l e reco rding and that the ,

com b ination o f p ractica l total printing was de

’
p endent on Felt s achi evement .

we m igh t s a y that b roadly B u rrou gh s i n v ente d

m ean s t h at co ul d b e w ork e d i n com b i nati on w it h
th e F el t p r i nting s ch eme to a utomatically p ri nt
th e tota l s w h ich i s i n e v i d ence in al l th e p racti cal
,

machin es p u t o u t b y th e B u rr ou gh s Co .

B ut s uch a comb i nation w as first p roduce d b y

‘

Felt i n 1 8 9 0 and wa s no t p ro du ced b y B u rrough s

,

unti l 1 8 92 .

A s has b een s h own Felt b u i lt h is recordi ng ,

s ch eme i nto hi s key driven calculating m ach ine -

,

and ad d ed th e pa p er sh ifting le v er to fu rn i s h t h e -

p owe r w hi ch w as utilize d finall y fo r sett ing the

p r i n t i n g h a m m e r s a n d t r i pp i n g th e m f o r t h e
-

ci p h ers .

S u ch a combi nation d ivi d ed th e wo rk b u t made ,

a t w o m otion mach ine wh ereas th e ad ding mec h

-
,

a nis m w a s d e si gne d o n the one m otion p ri nci p le -

.

Now t h e p rinci p le of th e two motion m ach i ne w a s -

ol d v ery ol d T he great Gottfri ed L eibnitz in

, .

v ented th e fi rst t w o motion calculato r i n 1 6 9 4 -

.

(S ee illu strati on on o p po site p age ) .

Th e L ei b ni tz mach ine w a s a won derfu l in v ention

and there seem s to b e a qu estion as to its o p era
tiv e ne s s A s a featu re of h i stori c i nterest h o w
.
,

e v er it create d con s i d era bl e commoti on i n s cien

,

t ifi c ci rcle s w h en exh i b ite d to t h e R oyal S oci ety of

L ondon .
 F IR ST PRA C T I C A L R E C OR DERS 1 35

”
The first really p ractical mach in e of thi s t y pe ,

however was invented b y a F renchman named

,

C harle s Xavi er T homas i n 1 8 2 0 an d ha s s inc e

, ,

“
becom e known a s th e T homas A r ith m ome tr e .

The T homa s mach ine i s m ade an d sold by a

num b er of d iff erent foreign man ufact u rers and i s ,

u s ed to a con si d erabl e e x ten t i n E u ro p e and to a

l im ite d extent i n t h e U nited S tates .

B ut two moti on cal culators from L eibnitz do w n

-
,

to date h a v e always b een constru cted s o th at th e

,

prima r y o r firs t action i nvol v e d m erel y th e setting

of th e controllin g d e v ices an d perfo rm ed n o func
ti on i n th e s u p p l yi ng of p ow e r t o o p erate th e
mechanis m whi ch d oe s th e a dd ing With s u ch ma .

chine s the loa d was th rown on to t h e secon d ary

action .

Th i s of cou rse mad e th e p ri ma ry action of

, ,

settin g a v ery light action especi ally w h en ke y s

, ,

cam e i nto us e an d a s th ere are s ev eral k ey d e

,

pre ss ion s to each s econd ary or cran k acti on i t ,

’
may b e un d ers too d that wh ile the action of Felt s
p ri nti ng o r p aper s h ift l ever w as light the acti on
-

of th e ke y s w hi ch w ere cal l e d u p on to p e rform

m ost of the wo r k w as muc h har d e r th an it w o u ld
h a v e b een i f h i s adding m echani sm had been d e
s i gn ed on th e key s et crank o p erate d plan of th e
- -

regular t w o moti on machi ne su ch as i llu strat ed i n

-

t h e Pottin o r B u rrough s patents d e scrib ed .

T hu s w hen B u rro ugh s ap p l i ed t h e F el t record

,

ing princi p le to h is key set c rank operated adding

- -

mechani sm h e p roduced a typ e of r eco rdin g m a

,

ch in e wh i ch proved to b e more acceptable from an

operati v e standpoint th an t h e reco rder made by
Fel t ; an d yet t h e wri te r h a s read testi moni als
given by tho se who had both th e F elt key d ri v en -
F mD
ro ra w i n gs Of B urroug h s ’
P a te n ts
N0 8 . a nd
1 38 O R IG IN O F M O DERN C AL C U L A T IN G MA C H I NES

tain th e hamm ers against th e acti on of thei r oper

ating s p rings i s b e st sh own i n the drawings of
patent N o . on page 1 36 F ig 1 shows . .

th e norm al relat ion w h ile F i g 2 ill u strate s th e

, .

s am e mec h ani sm in th e act of printing .

T h e ty p e s ector a s shown i n d rawings of patent

No . i s marke d K whil e i n th e d rawings of ,

N0 . i t W i ll b e found marked 6 1 1 Th ey are 3

.

fo rm e d from a continuati on of the d enominational

actu ato rs fo r t h e total regi ste r i n th e same man
ne r that th e typ e w hee l gear rac k s h of the p re
- -
,

v ious l y d escri b ed B u rro u gh s p atent were fo rm ed .

T h e t yp e 11 are arran ged on movabl e blo cks

,

marke d 6 1 8 w hi ch are shown h el d i n thei r r e

,

tracte d o r normal pos iti on by springs 6 82 bu t ,

wh en p re ss u re i s brou gh t to b ear again st thes e t y pe

b lock s in a d i rection o utward from th e secto r the ,

spring 68 2 will give and the t y pe block s will sli de

o utwar d i n th e slots pro v i de d to gui d e thei r acti on .

T h e pape r a s wi ll b e noted i s fed from a roll

, , ,

u p b etwe en t h e t yp e and th e p ri nting roll 59 9 in -

,

th e same manner a s th e p a p e r of a ty p e w ri ter an d ,

th rough th e i nte r p o si ti on of an i n k ri bb on between -

the t yp e an d t h e p ap er th e p res sing of th e ty p e ,

again st t h e i n k ri bb on p a p e r an d ro ll gi v e s im p rint
-
, .

Th e pres s u re b ro ug h t to b ear on th e t yp e i s
thro u gh th e h amm er b lo w of th e p rinting ham - -

mers 7 1 5 of wh ic h t h ere i s one fo r each o r d ina l

,

p rinting sector T hes e hammers are p i v ote d to

.

th e rod 7 0 1 and are spring actuate d t h rou gh the

,
-

m edi u m of th e p i n 7 4 1 t h e l eve r 7 1 6 an d spri ng

, ,

7 8 0 wh i ch com b i ne d w it h the cam slot w i n th e

, ,
-
,

p rinting h ammers s erv e t o force th e printing

-
,

hammers i nto th e p o sition sho w n i n F i g 2 . .

 F I R ST PRAC T I CA L R E C ORD E RS 1 39

T he pri nting h ammers are no rm ally retracted

-

an d latch e d b y a s eri e s of tri gger latch e s 1 1 7 ,

through th e latch tooth b w h ich engages th e l e v e r

-
,

7 1 6 at v .

E ach trigge r latch 1 1 7 i s p ivoted on th e ro d

-
,

7 0 0 an d p ro v i d ed with an overlapping l u g as shown

,

i n Fi g 4 T h ese ove rla pp in g l u gs l ike th os e d e

. .
,

s cri b ed on th e trigge r latc h es i n th e Felt p atent -

,

s er v e a s an a utomati c mean s of fil l ing i n th e ci

p h er s i n th e s ame manner as de sc ri b e d in th e Fel t
mach ine .

Th e mean s fo r trip p ing the o verlapping t ri gge r

latches natu rally differe d fro m the m eans sho w n
i n th e F el t mach ine a s th e B u rro u gh s mac h in e
,

w a s not key d ri ven -

.

A ve ry ingeniou s m ean s fo r th e tri pp ing of the

trigge r latche s i s sh own consi s tin g of th e d ogs
-

7 1 8 an d rock fram e 7 1 1
, an d ti e rods 7 03 7 04
-
,
- -
,

wh i c h c o operate wit h a cam sho u lde r y on th e

- -

arm of the p ri nting sectors to remai n n eutra l o r

-
,

to d i sengage th e tri gger latch es th rou gh a reci p -

r oca tin g action shown i n dotted l ines i n F i g 1

, .
,

p atent N o .

Th e tripping action takes p lace at th e en d of

th e forward motion of the actuating h and crank -

th rou gh connection s no t Shown i n th e d rawings .

I t may b e u nde rstood that on accou nt of th e

ove rlap p in g of th e trigger latche s of th e printing -

hammers that i f a s de s cribed i n relatio n to th e

,

F elt recording mach ine on e of the tri gger l atch e s

-
,
-

i n any o rde r to the left o f th e u nits o rde r sho uld

b e trip p ed i t wo ul d cau se all th e t ri gger latch e s
,
-

to the ri ght to b e al so trip p ed and th e p ri nti ng ,

hamm ers th u s release d to s p ring fo rw a rd , giving

140 O RIG IN o r MOD E RN C A L CULA T ING MA C HIN ES

an ind ivi du al hamm er blow for each t y pe impres -

s i on .

Th u s if th e fi v e h undred dollar key should b e

,
- -

de p res s ed onl y the trigger latch i n that orde r

,

need b e trip p ed T h i s is b ro ught abo u t th ro ugh

.

th e fact th at no rm ally th e tripping dogs 7 1 8 are -

h el d o ut of tri p p ing engagem ent by th e cam s u r

face y of th e type sector as th e roc k fram e i n -
,
-

w hi ch th e dogs are m ounted i s mo v e d forward i n

its tri p pi ng action B u t as th e h u nd re d d ollar o r d er
.
-

ty p e secto r h as b een lifted th ro ugh th e s etting of

-

th e (5 ) k ey i n t h at o rder it allows th e tri p ping ,

d og to engage t h e tri gger latc h of that o r d er an d -

,

throu gh the overla pp ing featu re of th e t ri gger

latch es to tri p and p ri nt th e ciphers to th e ri ght .

I t w i ll b e note d that the ap p l i cation of th e p rint

ing h amm ers v ari e d i n d etai l f rom that of Felt
-

m u ch th e same as p lacing th e l atc h on t h e gate

po st in stead of o n th e gate I n th e generi c p rin .

cipl e ,
h o w eve r th e i n d i v i dual h amm er b lo w for
,
-

each i ndivi dual i mpress ion w a s maintained .

T here h av e b een many confli cting statements

”
mad e regarding th e d ate of th e first B urrough s

”
l i sting o r r eco rd ing m ach ine w hi ch i s p ro b ably ,

d u e to th e fact that th e statements were not q u ali

“
fi e d b y s uch term s a s p racti cally o p erati v e o r
“
l egi b l e rec ording .

D ates gi v en a s th at of th e fi rst B u rrough s r e

cordin g m ach in e range from 1 88 4 to 1 8 9 2 I n a .

b ook p ubli sh ed by the B u rrou gh s C o in 1 9 1 2 un .

,

d e r the ti tle of th e Book of th e B u rrou gh s th ere ,

was a s tatement that th e fi rst practi ca l m ach ine s

w ere made i n 1 8 9 1 .

H B Wy eth at on e time s ale s agent for th e

. .
,

B u rro u gh s Co and w ho se father was p res i dent

.
,
m
!

in U se (1 8 9 2 )
Fl l St ‘

In usefl l lness B m z! us
ov
e
300 Dl iie re n t L ne s '
o i

in the He a rts of Ove r 63 000

r r ou 3

Adding a nd Lis ting Ma c hine

(I . H wh 08 fin d h dd n g m h n n d t y
ere s
’
ere 19 s t e a i —
ac i e i us r

(I W ld e so m hn ac i es i n 1 9 07

(I T h y l f B UR R OUGH S m h n t th n mb n d l h mk
,

f
'

t h e co a l l ot e r
dd n l tn m hn d n y th tn th m h v b n
is one e a r s s a es o ac i e s is g re a er a i e s a es o a es
m
,

of a g a nd i s d g a l l th e ea rs of e of
m t n ly l n B U OUGH S
i i g ac i es ur i e i r ex i s e ce an so e a e ee on
the a rk e ea r as o g as the RR

A th m ll nl d m tw nty m
a k es fi t l dd n d l t n m h n di ere n t s y es of a “ l l l Cl l
p bl f v n p f t n
(I
h v m d th dd n l t n m h n by W ll m
,
o er i c u es s o e e or oi e i
g an is i g ac i es
f b id th e of the a nd

Sw dB h ft n y M ny f th th d hv p d n t dd n m h n
a e a e e ir or u ic a or S i ce e r ec i o a i g is i g ac i e i ia

u rr oug s fi e w ees e now

h t y S m f t h m w w ll n n d bly n d th y f l d m n d m n t
e ar ee ea rs a g o a o es e o er a a ss e i o a i g
-
ac i e
fi a nd to w the
S ly th m f lt m h n t h m lv m d th m
is or o e o e ere e a ce a org a iz e , y et e ai e e orse e

of comm erCI a l s u cc es s w a s so t he e s W h I Cll

mp t th n w n l b l ty B U ROUGHS
ur e e re e au in ac i es e se a e e un
fi t t ed t o co e e Wi the k o re i a i i of t h e R

(1 R d n th m h n wh h h v d th m B UR R OUGH S n l t o d a y i n a Si g e
St t t h n th m f dd n l tn m hn ld h h l Un t d S t t
, eg a r i g ose ac i es ic a e sur y u e , ere a re or e i n us e -

a e a a ny o er a k er o a i g a nd is i g ac i es has so in t e w o e i e a es

(I T B U R OUGH S ld m m h n
he R n l St t 0 th n m l d n mp t 19 7 e of

t p d d m p d
.
so ore ac i es i n a S i g e a e in a so i ts ea i g co e i

ors ro uce in th e sa e er i o

(I Th.
f t n d t h p l wh h B U R R OUGHS p
es e ac s i i ca e t he tm t n a ce h m ic th e occ u i es I n t e es i a io of t h e p ur c as g
p ub h c

Th ere a re 58 Di f ere f nt Styl es oU ROUGHS O B lt f Ev y L

fB R —
ne ui or er i ne o f Bus mes s

Burroughs Users (Ja n l 8 08)

'

.
,

Bur r oug hs Adding Ma c hine Comp a ny

6 7 Am s te r da m A ve nue , De troit, Mic h ig a n U S A , . . .

F m th F
ro e e b r ua r y 1 9 08 I s s ue of

Offi ce Ap p l i a n c es M a ga z in e
 FI R S T PRAC T I CAL R E CORD ER S 14 3

o f t h e com p an y i n 1 8 9 1 an d s everal years th ere

after testifie d i n cou rt that th e first sal e o f a B u r
,

rough s recor d ing mach in e wa s ma d e a b ou t D ecem

b e r 1 89 2 Corro b oration of h is testimony i s s et
, .

forth i n a B u rrou gh s ad v e rti sement whi ch a p

p ea r e d i n t h e Fe b ru ary nu m b e r of O ffice Ap p l i
a nce s M agazi ne i n 1 9 08 a re p roduction of whi ch i s
,

s h o w n o n th e o p posite p age .

T hat B u rrough s was experimenting as early a s

1 8 8 5 i s no d ou b t correct ; an d that i n thi s res p ect
’
h e a ntida te d Fe l t s firs t attem p t to p ro duc e a r e
co rding add er i s not qu es ti one d B u t wh en i t
-
, .

com e s to th e qu esti on of who p ro d u ce d th e fi rst

p racti ca l recording a d de r th ere i s no room fo r
-

dou b t i n fac e of th e evi dence at h an d .

 I n t ro d u c ti o n Of the M o de r n
A c c o u n ti n g M a c h i n e
S
th e reade r ha s b een carri ed along th rough
th e tangle of mechan i cal e ff ort s of the m en
wh o h a v e r acke d thei r b rain s to p ro d uce
mean s th at w ou ld rel ie v e th e b u rden of thos e who
h a v e to j u ggle with a ri thmeti cal p roblems an d
’
mas se s of figu re s i n the day s accounting there ,

w as on e ph as e of s ubj ect that ha s n ot b een tou ch ed

u p on W h i le th es e i n v ento rs were do ing thei r
.

b est to b enefit man k in d and withou t do u b t with

, ,

t h e t h o ught of rea p ing a h a rvest fo r them se lv e s ,

th e p u bl ic w ho cou ld h a v e b ee n th e p rim e b ene

,

fi cia ry d i d not h asten to a v ai l th em sel v es of t h e

,

o pp ortun i ty .

I n th e early days w h en th e key d riven calcula

,
-

to r was marketed an d late r w h en th e reco r d ing

,

a dd er w a s also p lace d on th e mark et the efforts ,

of t h e sa l esmen fo r eac h o f the s e t yp e s of m a

ch ine s i n thei r endeavo r to i nterest po s si b l e p u r
,

ch ase rs w ere m et w ith anyth ing bu t enthu siasm

,
.

O f cou rs e no w an d then a w i de aw ak e b u sines s

,
-

man wa s willin g to b e shown an d w ou ld p u r

chase b u t nin et y n ine ou t of th e h undred wh o
,
-

reall y had us e fo r a machin e of ei th er t y pe co uld

not at that earl y date be awakened to th e fact .

A lth ough th e calculato r an d th e recording ad d er -

are i nd i spen sabl e facto rs i n b u sine s s today an d ,

h ave s erve d to i mprove the lot of the book keeper -

an d tho s e em p loyed i n expert acco unting in gen

 O RIG IN or M OD E RN C A L C ULA T IN G MA C H I N ES

instead of b eing i nfluence d b y s eeing a mach in e

u sed b y oth ers fo r an enti rely d ifferent p u r p os e .

Th e th eo ry of u s ing th e pri nted l i st of item s a s a

m ean s of c h ecking b ack h as b low n into a b ubble
an d b u rst an d th e non li ster h as come i nto its
,
-

own n ot b ut w h at th ere h a s always b een a goo d

,

sal e for thes e mach ine s exce p t fo r th e first fou r

years .

O n account of th e years i t too k to edu cate b u si

ne s s i nto th e u s e of th e s e two ty p es of accounting
m achi nes an d t h e fact that th e sales of both w ere
,

small at first there w ere fe w im p rovement s for

,

s ev eral years a s im p ro v ements d e p en d upon p ro s

,

p er ity .

S uch chan ges a s h ave b een mad e s in ce w ere

largely ai me d at refinements b u t t h ere are some ,

v ery noteworthy featu res a dde d to th e p erform

ance of b ot h type s of m ach ines w h i c h a re ex ,

p lai ned an d d e scrib ed in following c h ap ters wh ere ,

the s u b j ect w i l l b e treated under th e clas s of ma

c h ine s t h ey aff ect .
T h e H i g h Sp ee d
-
C l l
a c u a tor
1 50 O RIG IN O F M OD ERN C AL CULA T ING MAC HINES

movements to take p lace wh i ch shows that th eo ret

,

ica l r e a s oning w a s th e f ounda tion f or th e d is trib ut ion

of the function s i n th e mach ine of the s e p atents
i nto i ncrem ent s of tim e and that th e arrangement
,

of m echan i sm wa s especi ally d esi gn ed to carry

o u t thi s primary theoretical rea sonin g Whi le i t .

is obvi ou s that su ch p rocedure m u st accom p any

s u cce s sfu l i nvention of m echani sm it is s e l dom
,

that we fin d s uch finene s s d i s p laye d a s may b e

found i n th e timing of th e m echan ical fu nction s
of th e lat er C omptomete r .

The force of th e ab ove s tatement m ay b e real

iz e d b y s tu dy of th e mech ani cal motion s of th e ol d
C omptom ete r an d th en trying to improve on them
'

to attai n greater s p ee d of o p eration S u ch a p oss i

.

b il ity wo u ld de p en d on m ore ra p i d key strokes —

.

A cco r d in g to th e ph ysi cal laws of force an d mo

ti on to attain greater s p ee d of acti on d eman d e d
,

a de crease i n re si stance Th u s les s k ey resi stance

.
,

m u st b e attaine d to i ncreas e spee d of o p eration .

F elt pro b ab ly kn ew from experience that lighter

ke y action coul d not b e had by j u ggling wi th
Spri ngs o r b y p olis h e d s u rface s H e w a s al so aware
.

of the infin itesi ma l space of time allo tte d to each

functi on a s th e p arts of th e m ech ani sm fle w
,

a b ou t i n the m erry d ance th ey p erforme d in w hi rl

ing th e n um eral wh eel s arou nd w h ile under the
’
manipu lat ion of an expert ope rator H e couldn t .

s ee th e p arts work —
h e co ul d only th eorize when
there wa s tro u b le ; th u s h e al on e k ne w the difli cul
t i es to be met in attem p ting to make a m ore rapi d
calculator .

To d es cribe the mechani sm of th e n ew m achin e

from d rawings of the s e p atents woul d leave the
reade r sti ll i n th e dark Wh at was really a ecom
.
 TH E H IG H -
SP E E D C A L C U L A T OR 1 51

can best b e understood by reference to

p l is h ed
the m ech anical action in th e old C omptomete r .

I n o rde r that th e reader ma y u nde rstand th e

”
s ignificance of what wa s accompli sh ed let h im con ,

si de r th i s fact ; that th e ke y actio n of the ol d

“
C om p tomete r m easu red a s h igh a s eighty s ix -

o unces to a ke y depre ss ion wh i le i n th e n e w m a

,

ch ine made u nde r th e two named later patents th e

”
k ey depre s sion wa s red uce d to but twenty two -

o unce s maxi mum o r a li ttle ove r a fou rth of th e

,

powe r requ i r ed to operate th e ke y s of the ol d

C omptomete r .

Facts Show that a ver y la rge part of the re si st

ance met wi t h i n th e key de p re ss i on of the old
mach ine wa s cau sed b y th e hi gh ten sion of th e
s p rings wh ich pe rfo rm ed th e carr y ing Thi s h igh .

ten s i on w a s nece ssary on account of th e e x tremely

smal l fracti on of a second allowe d fo r th e p e rfo rm
ance of th ei r function of s upplyi ng th e power that
tu rned th e h i gh e r wh eel i n carrying .

B y referring t o th e descri pti on of the inop e r a

ti ve feat u res of th e H ill machin e (page 2 5 ) a
parallel exampl e of th e tim e fo r the carry of th e
ten s in the old C omptomete r may b e fo und show ,

ing that b u t a of a s econd was th e allowance .

Th e carr y ing mean s employed i n th e old Compt

om e te r con si sted of levers with dogs o r pawl s

h inged o n th ei r free ends whi ch c o acte d with th e

,
-

ten p in s of the h igher nume ral wh eels to ratch et

th em forward a step at a t im e Th e p owe r fo r s up .

plyi ng s u ch ratcheting act ion in th e delive r y of a ,

carry w a s produ ced i n a spring attached to th e

,

carr y ing le v e r to actu ate i t

-
.

The m ean s u s ed to p rodu ce the powe r in th e

ca rr ying leve r actu ating sprin gs o r be st term e d
-

,
1 52 O RIG IN O F M OD ERN C ALC U LA T IN G MA C HINES

carr y i ng prings wa s t h rough th e tu rning of an

s ,

e nv ol ute cam attache d to th e lowe r o rd er nume ral

wheel s w h i c h acting upon an arm of th e carrying

, ,

le v e rs forced th em away from the wh eels a nd

, ,

th u s tens ioned th e carr y i ng springs Th e cam and .

l ever i s b est shown i n Fi g 7 page 1 3 0 .

, .

T he t imin g of th e del ivery of th e carry a s th e ,

nu meral wheel pas s ed from n ine to ze ro was ,

brou ght abou t by th e h igh p oint of the cam pas s

ing from unde r th e a rm of th e carr y ing leve r ,

whi ch w h en relea sed al l owe d th e carr y ing s p rings

, ,

to act and ratch et th e h igh er w h eel for w ar d a

tent h of a revol ution .

Th i s fo rm of carrying action h ad a p eculi arit y

of reac h ing a ce rtain s et ten si on w hen th ree wheel s
were em pl oyed s o that fo r all th e wh eel s employed
,

i n greater numbers n o h igh er ten s i on wa s r e

qui re d an d no lower ten sion co uld b e attain ed .

A nother featu re abo ut thi s ty p e of tran sfer de

v i ce w a s th e fact that to get th e set ten si on a s low
a s p o s sible requ i red that at least ei ght tenth s of -

th e rotati on of th e lower w h eel Shou l d b e utilized

in camm ing back the carr y i ng lever o r storing the
power for th e carry A decreas e i n thi s timing
.

meant an increas e in th e res i stance offe re d i n tu rn

i ng the lowe r w heel b y the steeper incline of th e
cam and when th e wh eel in turn receive d a carry
, ,

th e increas e of res i stance increa sed the work of

carryin g an d s o on by a geometri c ratio
, .

I n a recent p atent s u it a ph y s i cal test was mad e

,

a s h igh a s th ree o r d ers with a one point cam ; that -

is a cam o p erating to store p ow er du ring a on e

,

tenth rotation of th e lower wh eel (not an unc om

mon combination a s sh own in patents that have
been i s s u ed ) and it was found that b y th e ti me
,

th e th i rd carr y ing wa s reached th e springs were

1 54 O RI G IN O F MOD E RN C ALCULA T ING MA C H I N ES

able with th e i ncrea sed spee d that th e nume ral

wheel s revolved u nde r th e reduce d resi stance
, .

A gain th e featu re of time was at i s s u e The wheel s

, .

could be wh i rled at tremendou s speed o r at a very

slow speed A s u dd en j ab at a key with the finger
.

sent the nume ral wheels ki ting ahead of th e rest

of the mechan i sm s o that th e detent could not be
d epende d u pon to ente r b etween th e ri ght pin s ,

which wo u ld re sult i n erroneou s calculati on .

I n th e n ew m ach ine w e fin d that to overcome

,

th is unevenne s s of acti on F elt re v erse d the ratch et

,

action of th e denominati on actu ators so that no ,

wheel action occu rred on th ei r down stroke u nder

the acti on of the keys b u t on th e upstroke of th e
,

actu ators th e nu meral wheels were tu rn e d b y the

power of th e actuator springs store d b y th e key
depre s sion thu s giving an even set rotating action
,

that cou ld no t b e fo rced and th at coul d b e con

trolled b y a stop detent .

A S the timin g of th i s sto p action was coi ncident

-

with th e stopping of th e actu ato rs on th ei r up

stroke th e actuato r was u sed to perform thi s
,

function i n comb ination with a d etent d evi ce that

could be releas ed from th e wheel independent of
the actuato rs to allow a carry to b e delivere d .

A featu re w orthy of note connected with th i s

change i s di s pla y ed i n th e method i n wh ich F elt
ove rcame th e tim ing of th e stop action of the actu
a tor s i n the downward action the y received from

the ke y s wh i ch w o uld h ave been a s hard to control

,

a s i t wa s to control the wheel s u nder d irect ke y

acti on.

The s ch eme h e devi sed gave more than do uble th e

time to perform th e function of intercepting the
lightnin g acti on wi th wh i ch th e actuato rs moved
under a qu ick ke y stroke The schem e sh ows a
-
.
 TH E H IGH -
SPE E D C A L C U L A T OR 1 55

d ual alte rnating stop acti on con structed b y th e u se

-

of two stops acting at different leve l s an d c o act -

ing alternately with five eq u i s paced stop sh ou l - -

d ers on the front en d of th e actuator s wh ich were ,

als o arrange d i n d ifferent l evel s .

T he two sto p s w ere actuated by th e keys i n a

Sim ilar manner to th e singl e stop wh i ch c o oper -

“
ated w ith th e p in s o f the wh eel i n th e ol d C om p t
om e ter

”
except th at th e o d d key s operate d one
,

stop wh ile th e even keys o p erated the other .

“
Thu s i n th e n ew C omptom eter th e (1 ) ke y
acted t o throw th e h igh e r level sto p into th e path
of the lowe st sto p shoulder on th e actu ato r an d
-
,

th e (2 ) ke y acted to th ro w th e l owe r level s top in

to th e path of the s am e sto p sh oul der on th e actu -

ator I n the same mann er the (3 ) an d (4 ) keys

.

cau sed th e o dd and even stops to engage th e next

hi gher s to p shoulde r on th e actu ator an d so on
“

with th e rest of th e keys .

A s th e S p acin g was d ouble d by th e u s e of bu t

five stop sh o ul ders th e sto p s were allo w e d d o ubl e
-
,

th e tim e for entry b etween the stop s h o ulders -

pl u s the s p ace that th e pin occupie d a s compare d

with fo rm e r method wh i ch wa s cons iderabl y more
,

than d ou bl e th e tim e allo w e d fo r th e same func

tion i n th e ol d mach ine .

B e sides th e redi strib ution of m echan ical func

ti on s anoth e r very n oteworth y featu re i s fo und
,

i n th es e patents wh ich i n the s pecific m ean s d is

,

clos ed con stitute d anothe r d i strib ut ion of tim e fo r

”
,

m ech ani cal action Thi s i n the ca p acity of th e

.

mach in e wa s W h at h as become commerciall y known

a s th e
“
D u p le x feature .

“
I n th e ol d C omptom eter i t wa s neces sary to
operate th e keys alternately a s a carry from one ,

o rd er to a h igh er ord e r mi ght b e tak ing p lace and

1 56 O R IG IN O F M OD E RN C ALCU LA T IN G MA C H IN E S

thu s b e lo st i n the acti on Of the high er order wh eel

whil e rotati ng under key acti on -
.

I n th e mach ine of the l ater patents the carr y

wa s d ela y ed whil e th e h i gher or d er wh eel was -

unde r ke y action Th e con stru ction shown con

-
.

s isted of a latch operated b y the actuato rs wh i ch , ,

when th e ac tuato r was depres s ed l atched u p th e ,

del ive ry end of th e m oto r carrying device s o that -

a carry d u e to tak e place at th at time w o ul d b e

intercepted u nti l th e actu ato r retu rn e d to no rmal
again at w hi ch time th e car r ying m otor de v i ce
,

was agai n free to d el i v e r th e carry T h i s feature .

allowed the s trikin g of ke y s i n se v e ral o r al l th e

o r d ers simu ltaneo usly alte rnately o r any way th e
, ,

ope rato r p l eas ed wh i ch w a s a great improvement

,

i n speedy o p erativene s s .

Wh il e th e genu s of th i s elasti c ke y boar d inven

tio n con si sted of control of t h e carry b y th e n ext
high er act uato r t h e s p eci e of th e gen eric featu re
,

shown was th e d elaye d control T he first p ro du c .

ti on of th i s generi c feature of control of th e carry

by th e n e x t hi gher actuato r that ga v e th e elasti c
key b oard acti on is sh o w n i n th e tw o F el t p atents
-
.

I t may b e argu e d that th i s n e w key b oard fea

tu re wa s s im ultan ei ty of k ey action an d that simul-

t a n eity of ke yb oard action w as old T ru e i t w as

-
.

old bu t th e flexibl e s im u l taneity wa s n ew an d

,

depen d ed u p on i nd i v i du al ity of ordinal contro l for

it s creati on an d F e l t create d th e o rdinal control
,

th at ga v e th e flexible keyboar d .

S imu l tan eity of key acti on w a s ol d i n key d rive n

- -

ca sh regi ste rs ; su ch i nvention a s h a d been d is

clos e d i n th i s l ine h o w e v er w ou ld d efeat th e u se
, ,

fulnes s of si multaneity in a key d riven calcu l ator -

.

Th e u sefu l featu re of depres s ing keys i n s e v era l

1 58 O RI G IN O F M OD ERN C A L C UL A T IN G M A CH i N E s

I t is with i n reason that a lock ing action of that

character would even defea t th e speed of key
“
action th at w a s p os sibl e on th e old C omptomete r
since an o p erato r cou ld overlap the ke y stroke s in
,
”
that mach ine to a c ertain extent ; wh erea s the
forced s imultanei t y of th e cash register if applied ,
“
to th e C omptom eter w oul d p re v ent an y overlap
,

pin g or th e depress ion of a s econd ke y until th e

”
fi rs t d epres se d ke y retu rned .

Th e only simultanei ty of key actio n that could-

“
provi d e a m ean s of speed ing up th e ol d C omp
tom e ter ,
o r any machine of i ts t yp e wa s a mean s
,

that wo uld leave ke y d e p ress i on free a s to matter

-

of time ; one that would b e perfectly flexible i n

grou p m ani pulati on off e ring a complete flu i d ity of
,

moti on s u ch a s not to h in de r th e fingering of the

operato r .

Th e p u rp os e of th e mechani cal m ean s employed

to gi ve simultan eity i n the cash regi ste r w as t o
lock all th e k eys depre s sed together and l o c k al l
others again st d epres s ion u nti l th e form er r e

”
tu rned T h e p u rp os e of m echani cal m ean s em
.

pl oye d in the Felt patent w a s to gi v e p erfect free

d om of k ey action wh e reas fo rm erl y th e ke y man
-
,

“
ip ul a tion of th e ol d C om p tometer w a s re stri cted
i n th e freedom of key acti on to the exten t of b eing
-
,

li mited to s er ia tum action .

Th e above d i scu s sio n ha s b een somewhat elab

or a tel y detai led to o ffset statements that simul

t a ne ity was ol d i n the key d riven A rt Th ere is no

-
.

qu estion a s to the ca sh regi ste r t yp e of i nflexi b le

-

s im ultan eit y of acti on being ol d b efore Felt p a t

e nte d hi s flexible t y pe of s imultaneit y of key

action for a k ey dri v en calcu lating mach ine ; b ut

-

an y statement intended to conve y th e idea that

’
F elt s contri b u tion o f th e flexibl e sim ultaneity of
 TH E H IG H -
SP E E D C ALCU LA T OR 1 59

”
key acti on t o th e A rt was not new m u st come from
-
,

i gn orance of th e facts o r m alic e afo rethou ght

”
.

“
T hi s flexi b le key b oar d C omp tom eter was given
th e trad e name of D upl ex C omptomete r
-
“
th e
term D u p lex mean ing that two key s c oul d b e
“

d epres sed a s di stingu i sh e d from the s e r ia tum on e

,

at a time k ey action fo rm erly requ i red T he te rm

-
. ,

however fell sh o rt of s ettin g fo r th th e capacity of

,

s u ch acti on a s i t wa s i n fact not re stri cte d to

, , ,

mere du p lex acti on it wa s really a m ulti p le x k ey

- —

action havi ng no lim it exce p t th e l ack of fingers on

th e p art of th e operator to d e p res s the keys .

Th e v al i d ity of th es e patents h a s b een su stain ed

i n li ti gation T h e technica l s cope of th e me re
.

claim s has b een d i s p uted a s p atent claim s s ome ,

”
tim es are ; b ut th e b road newnes s and im p o rtance
of th e practi cal calculative capaci ty ach i eved i s
b e y on d di spute Th e recent mach ine calle d th e
.

“
B u rroug h s C alculator h as m ultiplex key action -
,

b u t i t d i d noth ing to advance the practical cap acity

of key dri v en calculating mach in es
-
.

The operation of ke y d ri ven mach ines h a s a l -

ways been attende d mo re o r le s s wi th a feel ing

that a ke y stroke may not have been com p leted
-
,

especially b y a novi ce i n operatin g R ecognition .

of th e p os si b ility of errors occu rring th rou gh in

compl ete ke y stroke s i n key driven adding m ech
- -

a ni s m wa s fi rs t di sclos ed a s earl y a s 1 8 7 2 i n th e

R o b j oh n p aten t (se e p age i n wh ich a full

stroke device i s s hown c o acting with the keys -
.

I n th e drawi ngs i t wi ll be note d that fo r each

key there i s p ro v i d ed a ratch et d evice c o operat -

ing w i t h t h e key to compel a full stroke T h i s -

.

sch eme like oth er s imilar late r attempts wa s

, ,

aim e d at th e p revention of an error i n th e opera

1 60 O R IG IN O F M O D ERN C AL CULA T IN G MACH INE S

ti on of adding mechani sm b ut a s a mean s of pre

,

v e ntion of an erro r i t was lacking b ecau s e u nl es s ,

th e o p erato r noti ce d that th e key h a d not retu rn e d

th e ne x t key de p re s se d woul d th ro ugh t h e action
,

of th e rotor p ull th e p art ly d e p res sed key w ay

,

down u nti l i t w a s release d w h en i t wo ul d ri se

,

agai n p os s i b ly w it h out th e k no w le d ge of the o p er

,

ator T here still remain ed t h e fact t h at t h e occu r

.

rence of th e e rro r w a s not m a d e k no w n to th e

o p erato r u nti l i t w as too l ate to co rrect i t .

E l
r r or S i g na T hat F elt w as i ntere ste d i n t h e sol ution of
key boa rd
th e p ro bl em for d etecti on an d co rrection of th e
errors i n k ey s trok e s i s sh o w n i n t h e s e v era l
-

p atent s i s s u ed to h i m on featu res p ertai n i n g

to t h i s s u b j ect A fter numero u s e x p e r i m ent s
.

Felt cam e to th e conc l u sion t h at i t wa s fu til e to

.

loc k a k ey in e v ent of a p art i a l s tro k e an d t h a t th e

so l ution l ay i n th e l oc k in g of t h e k ey s i n th e ot h er
orders from t h at in w h i ch t h e e rro r h a d b een
ma d e t h u s s igna l ing t h e o p erator an d com p e l l ing
,

correction b efore fu rther man i p ulati on coul d b e

accom pl i s h e d .

A gai n w e fin d a s w it h t h e si mu l tanei ty of k ey
,

action t h at a qu estion m ay b e rai se d as to t h e

,

no v elty o f i n v enti on b y tho s e wh o w i s h to s a y t h at

t h ere are ful l strok e m echan i sm s i n th e k ey d ri v en
- -

cas h regi ste r A rt that l oc k th e re st of th e k ey

boar d B ut th e key l ock s d i scl os e d i n t h e cash
.
-

re gi ster were d i recte d t o a conti nu ity of strok e

e ng r oup a s d i stingu is h ed from th e i ndivi d ual i sm
,

n eces sary t o th e k ey d ri v en ca l culator

-
.

The m echanical mean s employed of cours e , ,

vari ed greatl y from that wh ich wo uld be of any

val ue i n th e calculati ng m achin e A rt an d th e th eo ,

r e tica l scheme w a s aime d at a w idely d i ff erent r e

s ult F lexibility w a s n eces sary

. .
1 62 O R IG IN or MO D ERN C A L CU L A T ING MA C H INES

of th e cash regi ste r the lockin g of the oth er o rde r s

,

i n th e cash regi ster interfered with th e flexib ili ty

of the ke y acti on an d fo r th at rea son wo uld b e
-

impos s ible i n a k ey d ri ven calculator where ra p id

-
,

mani p ul ation is de p end ent on fle x ibil ity .

The sch em e of th e n ew key dri v en calculato r in -

v e n tion s refe rred to were d e signe d to allow p er

,

f ec t freedom of indivi du al key action an d to block -

s u ch action only wh en an error in any i ndi v i dual

ke y stroke shou ld b e mad e T h ere i s noth in g i n
-
.

common i n th e two schemes T h e time p urp o s e

”
.
,

”
and m echani cal means employed di ff er enti rely .

Controll ed key
—
’
Thi s new i dea of Fel t s is embodie d i n wh at i s
Comp tometer
commerci ally known a s th e C ontrol l ed k e y D uple x
“ -

“
C omptomete r T h e term C ontrolled key w as
.
-

coined to fit th i s b roadly n e w comb inati on b u t a ,

wo rd coin ed to fit the function s of a n ew mechan

is m i s s eldom enou gh to convey a complete u nder

”
standing of its tru e qu ali ti es .

A side from the broad n ewne s s of th e Felt C on

trolled ke y featu re referred to even th e m echan
-
,

i cal m ea ns for s afeguard ing th e i ndivi d ual key

action w a s new i n its appl i cation a s a full stroke -

de v ice T h e m ean s emplo y ed o p erated d i rectly on

.

th e accu mu lator m ech ani sm locking i t again st ,

regi stration until th e erro r wa s corrected wh ich ,

d i ff ered greatl y from th e devi ce s a p pli ed to th e

ke y s o r actu ators des igned b y oth e rs to b ring
abou t a Similar res ul t B ut the l ockin g of a l l th e
.

other o rders of mechani sm th rou gh any key action

,
-

Sh ort of a full stroke as a s i gnal or erro r h a s no

, ,

mechanical e qu i v alent o r sim ile i n th e A rt .

 T he I m p ro ve d R e c o r de r
I N C E the gene ral i nstallati on of th e record
“
ing adde r b y th e bank s the m ind s of get
-
,

ri ch qu ick i nventors have been t u rn e d to

-

ward th i s type of mach in e Th e re sult ha s been

.

that a vast n u mb e r of p atents on S u ch mach in e s

were i ssu ed a large proportio n of whi ch represent
,

worthless an d impo ssible m echani sm pu rporte d by

thei r i nvento rs to contain i mprovem ent s o n th e
A rt S ome of th es e p atents on alleged improve
.

ment s d escrib e and pu rpo rt to contain featu re s ,

that i f really made operative i n an operati v e ma

,

ch in e would b e u sefu l t o the publ ic B ut as inve n

, .

tion s th e y m erely illu strate th e conce p ti on s of a

,

new and u sefu l featu re that can ne v er b e of u se t o

an y on e u nti l p u t into concrete operative fo rm .

To d es cri be the s e feature s woul d be u sel e ss a s ,

th e y have no t advance d th e A rt ; they m erely act

to retard i ts a dvancem en t thro ugh th e patent
right s that are granted on th e h atched up inop er -

ative device s o r mechan i sm p u rported to hold s uch

'

featu res .

O f the vast number of p atent s i s su ed b u t few ,

of the machi ne s represented therei n h ave eve r

reached th e market an d of th ese mach ines except
, ,

thos e previ ou sly menti oned there i s li ttle that

,

ma y be sai d re specting n ew elementary featu res

that ma y be called an advancement o f the A rt I t .

i s to be expected of co u rse that th e manufactu re r

, ,

of s uch mach ines will not hol d th e same opinion as

the write r on th i s s ubj ect B ut th e fact that the
.
1 64 O RIG IN O F MO D ERN C ALCULA T ING MA CHIN ES

gene ri c pri ncipl es of record ing t h e i tem s an d total s

w ere worked o u t b efore they even th ought of con
s tr uc t ing su ch a mach ine leaves l ittle ch ance for

an y th ing b u t specific feature s of con struction for

them to make that ma y b e con si d ere d n ew

”
.

A nother feature to b e con si d ered i n th i s l ine i s

that while th es e n ew manufactu rers were work
“
i ng o u t th e kinks or fine adj u stm ents w h ich can ,

only be dete rm i ned afte r a cons idera bl e n um b er

of mach ines h a v e b een p u t into servi ce th e olde r ,

m anu factu rers were working o r h ad worked out

and held i n re serve new im p ro v ements that w ere
not o bv i ou s to thos e n e w at th e game .

I t i s q u ite common fo r man ufactu re rs to h ave

a re s erve d s tock of improved featu re s to draw
from I n fact s u ch a stock i s sometime s the best
.
,

i ns u ran ce th ey have again st being run o u t o f b u si

n es s b y a com p etito r w h o place s a machin e on th e
m arket to u n d ers ell t h em O f cours e al l m a nuf a c
.
,

tur e r s b eli e v e they p u rv ey the b est an d ad v i se the

p ubli c relative to thi s p oint i n th ei r a d verti se
m ents .

O n e manu factu rer of a reco rding a d der a m uch

-

late r i nvention than e ith e r th e F elt or B u rrough s

reco rder ci rculate d som e adverti sing p amphl ets
,

once whi ch contained a statement th at thei r ma

chi ne wa s the first vi s i b l e reco rde r A r ep rod uc
.

ti on of thi s pam p hlet i s Sh own on th e o pp os ite

p age T he reader will at once recognize th e error
.

i n s uch a s tatement as the fi rst F elt recorde r w a s

,

a v i sible p rinter .

T h e statement seems extremely pecu liar afte r

pa y ing tribu te to F elt as th e p ionee r i n the A rt of
ad ding machines O n e woul d suppose that having
.

knowledge enou gh of th e A rt to offe r s uch trib

1 66 O RI G I N or MO D E RN C A L C U L A T ING MACH INES

u te woul d have left th em b etter advi s ed on th e

s ubj ect of v i s ible reco rding .

E r ror k ev Th e first of th e later improvements i n the k e y

s e t crank ope rate d recorde r we re made b y B ur
-

rough s and con si sted o f the featu re s wh ich fo r med

a part of B u rrough s p atent N0 of 1 8 93 O ne . .

of these feature s con s i sted of m ean s p rovi d ed in th e

shape of a specia l key that w hen depre s sed woul d
clear the key settin g thu s al lowin g of an erron eou s
-
,

ke y setting to b e co rrecte d b y clearing and res et

-

ting th e co rrect i tem .

S ub iol a l
- A nother featu re w a s p rovi s ion for p rinting a
total at any time witho u t clearing the machi ne ,

thu s allowing p rinting of what may b e called a

s ub total whil e th e grand total i s carri e d on to be
-

p rinted later .

R ep ea l key Th e th i rd featu re cons i sted of mean s for re p eate d

addi tion and recording of the same item The mean s .

provi ded con si s ted of a key wh ich i f de p re s se d , ,

afte r s etting an item on the ke y s woul d prevent th e ,

k eys from being cleared ; th u s b y repeate d opera

t ion o f th e han d crank the item s et u p would be
-

printed an d ad d e d repeatedly .

Th e next featu re w a s one of con stru ction a s i t ,

wa s d es i gned to overcom e the pos s ibi lity of th e

s ettin g of two ke y s i n the same o rde r b y locking ,

all the oth er keys i n that o rde r Th e i nvention w a s .

shown applie d to th e B u rrou gh s mach ine b ut wa s ,

appl ied fo r by W m H Pike J r and wa s i ss u ed

. .
, .
,

Jan u ary 1 3 1 89 8 , .

Q u ick p ap er I n 1 9 00 F elt p erfecte d a qu ick paper retu rn for

r eturn
h i s wi de pape r carri age an d applie d fo r a patent
-
,

wh ich w a s i s sued M arch 1 1 1 9 02 th e n umbe r of , ,

w h ich i s The featu re was that b y oper ,

ating a lever it serve d to return the pa p e r after

,

recordin g a column of i tem s an d automati cally

 THE I M P ROV E D R E COR D ER 1 67

sh ifted th e carri age read y fo r th e reco rd ing of

anothe r column of item s th u s fac il itating speed y
,

operation .

I n March 1 9 02 a patent wa s allowe d F elt on

, , I ’
i i
lwr
mean s to lock the mechani sm i n a recorde r wh en
th e p aper wa s about to run ou t of th e roll s ; a fea
tu re wh i ch i n tabulating s erved a s a ch eck again st
, ,

th e paper ru nni ng ou t of the roll s and prevente d

fu rthe r operati on u nti l the pape r wa s sh ifted to
commence a new column of item s th u s i ns u ring ,

th e print ing of each reco rd o n th e pape r wh ich

fo rm erl y d epended u pon th e vi gilance of th e
operator .

The next featu re i n the recordi ng mach in e A rt Cr os s ta b ul a ti ng

wh ich Sh ows a n ew o p erative featu re that m ay b e ,

consi dered an improvement i s c ro ss tab ulating I t ,

-
.

cons i sted of m eans for horizontal tab ul ating o r

record ing acro s s a sh eet of paper a s well a s i n
ve rt ical columns While thi s featu re w a s fo r
.

special us e i t s erved to b roaden th e u s efulnes s of

,

the reco rd er i n b ringi ng together cla s sified bal

a nc e s by dates with cro ss added total s and many -
,

othe r Sim ilar u se s Th i s featu re was th e i nvention

.

of D E F elt wh o appli ed for a p aten t A pri l 2 9

. .
, ,

1 901 ,whi ch wa s is su ed O ctobe r 2 1 1 9 02 ; the ,

patent n umb er is
A nother speci al featu re serving to b roaden th e
u s efulne s s of the record ing adde r was i nvented by -

Felt and may be found i n patent N 0

,
ap .

pli ed fo r M a rch 30 1 9 0 1 an d i s s ue d Jan u ary 1 7

, , ,

1 9 0 5 T hi s featu re was a devi ce wh ich controlled

.

the pri nting of a predet ermined n umbe r of i tem s

wh i ch coul d b e s et b y th e operator an d wh i ch , ,

wh en th e predetermined n umbe r had b ee n pri nted ,

would lock the m echani sm agai nst fu rthe r acti on

u nti l th e pape r wa s sh ifted to pri nt a new column .
1 68 O R I G IN O F MO D ERN C A L CU L A T IN G MACH INE S

l l oior dr ive Prio r to M a y 9 1 9 0 1 th ere i s n o recor d of any

, ,

reco rding adder havin g b een operated b y electri c

-

motor dri v e B u t on that date F rank C R inch e

. .

appli ed fo r a p atent s howing su ch a comb in ation

w i t h th e reco rd er whi ch b ecam e comm erci ally
,

k no wn a s th e U n iversal A ccountant T h e p atent .

,

N o 7 2 6 8 03 wa s i ss ued A pri l 2 8 1 9 03 an d i s th e
.
, , ,

firs t of a s eri e s i s su e d to B inch e on v ari ou s com

b ina tion s of m echani cal d riving connections .

A featu re common to re cording of a dd ed column s

of numeri cal item s i s th e di stingu i sh ing characters
for clear sub total s and total s b y the us e of letters
,
-
,

stars an d oth er marks The fi rst patent on any .

th ing of thi s natu re that h as com e i nto general

us e wa s appli ed for June 9 1 9 03 b y A M acauley , , .
,

an d was i s s u ed Jun e 1 2 1 9 06 Thi s p atent is N o , . .

and shown connected with the B u rrough s

reco rder to regi ste r w ith a star wh en the first ite m
i s printed i f th e mach ine i s clear and w h en a total
i s printing Provi si on was al so made for printing
.

an S wh en a s ub total w as p rinte d -
.

Add ing c ut- out T h e u s e of reco rding adders i s often ap p lied -

w hen i t is d es ired to record dates along with tab u

lating adde d column s of reco rded i tem s O f co u rs e .

th ere is no u se of addi ng th e d ate s togethe r and ,

agai n i f th ey were allowed to b e added to th e

total s an erroneou s total of the column s added may
res ult unde r certain con d i tions M ean s fo r auto .

m a tica l l y cutti ng o u t ad d iti on s at certai n p os i tion s

of th e p a p er carriage i n cros s line tab ulating w as -

d e v is ed b y H C Peters an d a p aten t showing

. .
,

su ch c ombi nati on operative on the B u rrough s r e

co rder wa s appli ed for by h i m Ma y 1 2 1 9 04 Th e , .

p atent N o, . was i s sue d Jun e 4 1 9 1 2 , .

1 70 O RIG IN O F MOD ERN C AL CULA T ING MA CH IN ES

moto r to ope rate th e m ach ine as i t di d b y h uman

p ower I n a patent granted to M cF a r l a nd N o
.
, .

ap p li ed for O ctobe r 1 9 1 9 0 5 i s shown a , ,

m ean s for uti l izing th e lap se of ti me which th e

o p erato r wa s form erl y obliged to lo s e wh ile wait
ing fo r the motor to fini sh i ts operation of crank
ing th e m ach ine I t i s shown in combination with
.

the ke y boa rd of the Pike reco rder and con si sts of

a change that allows th e keys fo r th e next i tem
to b e s e t while the moto r is cranking th e mach ine
to pri nt and add the item p revi ou sl y set th u s util ,

izing th e time form erl y lo st .

Non -
t
a dd S and l I n adding an d reco rding col umn s of figu res it ,

q u i te often happen s th at it i s de si rable to prin t

a n umbe r witho u t addi ng it i nto th e total wh ich ,

ma y b e accom p li shed i n gen eral b y d epre ss ing th e

non add key or knob o r what ma y be suppli e d for
-
,

th at pu rp os e Th e se numbe rs h owever were n ot

.
, ,

provi ded with an y m ean s b y which the y co ul d b e

d i stingu i sh ed from thos e added into the total unti l
-

Jes s e G Vincent conce ived th e i dea of p rinting a

.

d i sti ngu ish ing mark b es ide them to de signate that

they were m ere n umb ers not added to the total .

T h e mean s for accom p li sh ing th i s featu re i s sh own

in p atent N o . applied for S e p tember 2 4 ,

1 9 06 an d i s s u ed N ovemb er 1 2 1 9 1 2
, , .

S elec tive s p l i t A n ew imp rovement i n the s p li t ke y board fo r

”
y
ke boa r d
m erly devi sed b y C W G ooch is shown i n a patent
. .

i s su ed to Wetmore N i emann appli ed to th e F el t

“
Comp tog r a p h Thi s i mprovement consi sts of a
.

selective d evi ce fo r s p li tting the ke y board i nto

fou r d iffe rent combination s s elective to any com
bi nation The patent wa s appli e d for A pri l 2 4
.
,

1 9 07 and i s s ued F ebruar y 2 1 9 1 5 th e numb er i s

, ,
 THE I M P ROV E D R E COR D ER 171

I n some clas se s of record ing i t i s d es i rable at S rlt t l l l’ ‘

l
‘

p r ui l m q
i ui —
Ou l
time s to cu t o u t th e printing of some of th e o rders
and in oth ers the wh ole of the printing mechani sm .

M r F red A N i emann patented a mean s fo r s uch

. .

a contingenc y T h e patent was appl ied for A pril

.

2 4 1 9 0 7 b u t wa s n ot i s su ed unti l March 9 1 9 2 0
, , ,
.

T he f ea t u re wa s shown appl i ed to th e F elt C om p

tog r a p h fo r ta b ulating o r pri ntin g verti call y a
s e ri e s o f added and footed column s of figu res .

I t i s sometimes des i rable to p ri nt th e s um of all d tota l i z e r

'

. ra n

th e total s of th e fo oted column s o r what ma y be

called a grand total Willi am E S w a l m i n p atent
. .
,

No . appli ed fo r O ctob er 2 4 1 9 07 an d , ,

i s su ed A pril 2 1 1 9 08 shows h ow th i s featu re m ay

, ,

b e accompli shed on th e B u rro ugh s recorde r I t .

cons i sted of an extra seri e s of acc umulato r wh eel s

that could b e mesh ed with the regular accumu la
tor wh eels and thu s receive actu ation re s ultin g in
,

accumulation the sam e as th e regu lar whe els

, .

Wh en h owever the regular wheels are z e r oiz ed i n

, ,

printi ng th e ind ivi d ual totals th e extra a c cum u ,

lato r wheel s are left o u t of me sh Th u s th e gran d .

totals are accumulated Th e printing of th e gran d .

total i s accompli she d b y th e me shing of th e gran d

total wh eel s with the regular an d the u sual opera
tion of taking a regula r total Th e regular wheels .
,

h owever m u st be cleared first

, .

Th e Sh uttle carri age a mean s devi s ed to print ,

l l ier na l f cros s c

p r m l i ng
two columns of figu re s b y printi ng a n umber in
on e column and a s um in the othe r b y alternate
action was th e conception o f C l y d e E G ardner
, .
,

and i s shown a p pli ed to the carri age of th e Pike

recorde r i n patent N o of F ebruar y 1 1
.
,

1 913 . Th e p atent wa s appl ied fo r S eptemb er 2 4 ,

1 9 08 and con s ists of mean s fo r automaticall y

,

shi fting th e carriage back and forth .

 1 72 O RIG IN O F MO D ERN C AL CULA T ING M AC H IN E S

A nother mean s than th at i nvented b y Felt to

si gnal th e operator when a predetermined n umb er
of i tem s h ave b een record ed cons is ts of a b ell
, ,

whi ch rings to n oti f y the operato r to that effect .

Thi s signal wa s the i nvention of J G Vincent and . .

,

is shown i n paten t N o . o f A u gu st 2 3 1 9 1 0 , ,

and w a s a pp li ed fo r D ecember 3 1 9 09 a s an a t , ,

ta c h m ent to the carri age of th e B u rrou gh s mach ine .

S ub tra ction by A lthough subt racti on has always b een a c com

rever s e a cti on
p l is h e d on th i s t y pe of mach in e a s a mean s of
co rrecting an erro r it was alwa y s accompli she d
,

on th e B u rrough s recorder by th e us e of w h at i s

generall y known a s th e complim ental m etho d ,

whi ch without speci al provi s ion i s rath er ob j ec

, ,

t iona b l e .O n the 2 2 d of A pri l 1 9 1 0 W m E , , . .

S w a l m appli ed fo r a patent wh i ch wa s i s s u e d J un e
4 w h ich sh ows means conne cted wi th th e B ur
,

rough s m achin e th at allowe d s ubt raction to b e

mad e by th e di rect method by s etting th e keys
the sam e a s for add ition Th e p atent n um b er i s
.

Selective Sp l it for A furthe r i mprovement on the Spl i t ke y board

key boa rd featu re i s sh own i n a patent i ss ue d t o Fre d A .

N iem a nn i n wh ich is sh own an indivi d u ally s electi v e

ciphe r cu t ou t that Splits the keyboard i nto any
-

comb ination at the will of the operato r The sai d .

pat ent is N o appli ed fo r O cto b er 7

”
. ,

1 9 1 2 and i s s u e d Ju l y 1 5 1 9 1 9 an d shows the im

, , ,

“
p rovemen t i n combinati on wi th the F elt Com p to
graph .

R ap id p ap er in I n som e clas se s of li sting o r tab ulating i t is

sert a nd ej ector
an advantage to ente r th e pa p er an d ej ect i t w i th
a rapi dit y th at will faci litat e the handling of a
large num b e r o f sheets s uch for i ns t ance a s the
,

u s ual b ank statements I n p atent N o

. .
 The Bo o k k ee p i n g a n d Bi ll i ng
M a c h i ne
N o utgro w th of the recording mach ine A rt -

i s re p re sente d i n a n e w type of recor d ing

mac h in e es p eci a ll y a d a p te d to b oo k kee p ing
an d t h e makin g out of i n v o i ces o r re p ort s w h ere
typ ew ri ting com b ined w i th a ri thmetical reco rd ing
i s nece ssary T hi s clas s of w ork d emand s a com
.

b ination of th e ty p ewriter with ad d ing an d multi

p ly in g mechani sm having a capaci ty fo r p ri nting
,

th e t otals of eith er ad dition or multipli cati on .

E a r ly S eve ra l att em p ts h ave b een ma d e to com b ine

Comb ina tions
th e t yp ewri ter an d ad d ing reco rder ; an d t h ere
-

h ave b een com b inati on s of m u l ti p lyin g an d r e

co rding A nother combinati on th at ha s b een u se d
.

to som e extent for b ookkeeping an d b illing is an

ad ding attachment fo r t yp ewriters b ut all th e se
,

comb ination s were l a c k i n g i n one featu re o r

.

anoth er of what ma y b e called a real bookkee p ing

mach in e and b illing machi ne .

T h e combinati on of th e t y pewrite r and multi p le

orde r ke y board record ing adde rs w a s too cumber
-

s ome an d th e mean s employe d for multi p li cati on

,

on su ch mach i nes requ i re d to o many m anipul ati v e

moti o ns from th e operato r I n s imple cas es of m ul
.

tip l ica tion a s h igh as fifty mani p ulative motion s

wo uld b e requ i red to p erform an e x ample on such
a mach ine .

T he combination of m ulti p l y ing m ec h ani sm ,

e ith er d i rect or b y re p eated stroke w ith th e ,

1 74
M oon -
H op k i n s B i ll i n g a nd B ookk e e p i n g
M a ch i n e
Na pie r B on e s
’
s
F mD
ro ra w i n gs of B a r b our P a te nt No .
1 82 O RIG IN or MO D ERN C ALCULA T ING MA CHINE S

m eral wheel and conne cte d th ereto b y a ratch et

,

and p awl action T h e p i nion s are each s o arrange d

.

a s t o b e operative with a gear rack beneath th e

carri age wh en the car ri age i s sli d back an d forth .

Thu s th e wh eels rece ive d acti on from on e dir ec

tion of th e motion of th e carriage and remai n i dle
du ri ng the movement i n th e othe r di rect ion T h e .

degree of moti on s o rece ived wou l d of cours e d e

, ,

pend upon th e number of teeth in th e rack s b elow

encountered by th e pin ion s .

T h e gear rack s emplo y e d by B a rb o ur were n u

m er ous on e b eing provi ded fo r each mu lti p le of
,

the nin e di gits a rrange d i n group s constituting

,

n ine s ets mounted on th e drums marke d B (se e

Fi g. E ach of th es e sets contain nine m u tilate d
gear racks th e arrangement of th e teeth of wh ich
,

s e rv e a s th e m ult iples of th e d igit th e y represent .

T h e teeth of th e racks representi ng th e m ul

tiple s of th e digits w ere arranged i n gro up s o f
u ni ts an d tens F o r i nstance !
. th e rack
repre senting th e m ultipl e of 4 x 6 w o u ld h ave two
gear teeth i n th e ten s p lace an d fo u r gear t eeth i n
th e units p lace and likewi se for th e eighty othe r
,

com b ination s .

A dding the m ultiple s of th e di gits by overlap

ping th e orders was accom p li sh ed b y a v ery sim p l e
m eans th e a rrangement of th e rack s b eing s u ch
,

th at a s th e carri age w as moved from left to righ t

th e n umeral w h ee l p inion s w oul d move o v er th e
u nits rac k teeth of a m ulti p lying rack of on e o rde r
an d th e tens ra c k teet h of a m ulti p lyi ng rack in
th e next lowe r o rder .

B y clos e exami nati on th e rea d er w il l note from

t h e d rawin gs that t h e lowe r on e of th e sets of
m ulti p lying gear rac k s sho w n on t h e d ru m B to ,
 TH E B O O K K E E P IN G AN D B ILLIN G MACH IN E 1 83

t h e l eft i n Fi g 4 i s th e s erie s of one time s th e n ine

.
,

di gi ts th e next s et o r seri es of rack s abo v e are th e

,

multipl y ing rack s fo r the multiple s of t w o th e ,

l owes t rack i n that s eri e s ha v in g b ut two teeth ,

th e next h i gher rac k fou r te eth th e n ext rack s ix ,

an d the next ei ght .

S o far no mu ltiple of two h as amo unted to mor e

th an a u n its o rd inal p lace therefore th e s e rack s
,

o p erate on a l o w er order n umeral wh ee l an d are

-
,

al l p laced to the right of th e center o n th e d ru m B ,

b u t th e next rack above for a dd ing th e m ulti p l e of

two time s five requ i re s that on e sh al l b e ad d ed to
a h i gh er o rder and i s th erefore p laced on the left
,

s i de of th e center of th e d rum .

T h u s i t will b e note d t h at by reading th e num

b er of te eth on th e ri ght of each rack a s u nit s and
t h os e on th e left a s ten s t h at ru nn ing anti c l o ck
,
-

wi s e arou nd th e d rum each s eri e s of m ulti p lying

,
”
racks Show multiple s of th e d i gi ts from on e to
fo u r i t b eing obvi ou s that th e r ack s for ad ding t h e
,

m ulti pl e s of t h e h igher digi ts are o n the o p po s it e

si de of the drums .

From the l a y o u t of th e rack s i t i s also o b vio u s

that th e s tart in g o r norm al p o siti on of th e car
r ia g e would be wi th th e num eral wheel p ini on s of

each order i n the center of each drum s o that a s ,

th e carriage i s moved to th e rig h t th e uni ts wheel

w ill receive mo v em ent from th e u nits teeth of th e
rack on th e u ni ts d rum wh i l e th e ten s wheel wil l
,

receive movem ent from th e u nits teeth of th e

ten s d rum an d th e ten s teeth of th e u nit s d ru m ,

an d s o on w i th t h e h i gh er W h eel s as eac h n um er a l ,

w h ee l p ini on e x cept the u ni ts p as se s from th e

center of one d rum to th e cente r of t h e n ext lo w e r
and engages s u ch t eeth a s may b e p resente d
-

.
1 84 O R IG IN O F M O D ERN C A L CULA T ING MA C H IN E S

E ach of the d rum s B are i ndependently mounted

on th e pivot shaft C and are p rovi d ed with th e
,

hand o p erating s etting racks I an d E c o actin g

- -

,
-

with th e gears R and D to h elp i n bringing th e ,

proper racks i nto eng a g e a b l e position s with th e

pin ion s of th e accum ulator n umeral o r total wh eels .

Th e h and knob G F i g 4 and th e gears f fas t

-
, .
, ,

to a common Shaft fu rni sh a mean s for operating

,

th e whol e s eri es of d rum s wh en th e righ t multi p le

series of rack s of each d ru m have been b rought
i nto po s ition .

A s an example of th e operati on of th e B arbo u r

calculato r l et u s as s um e that 7 8 9 4 i s to b e multi
,

p li ed b y 3 4 8 Th e fi rst d rum to th e right woul d

.

be moved b y i ts setting rack s u ntil the serie s

of m ulti pl ying rack s for adding th e multi p les of
fou r are pre sented th e n ext higher d rum to t h e
,

l eft wou ld b e s et u nti l the serie s of m ulti p lyin g

rack s f or add ing th e m ultiple s of n in e were p re
sented the n ext h igh er d rum woul d b e s et for th e
,

m u lti ple s of eight and th e next highe r drum o r

, ,

th e fourth to the left wo ul d b e s et for th e m ul

,

tiple s of seven T h en th e hand knob G first turne d

.
-
,

to regi ster zero may b e shoved to the ri ght en

, ,

gaging th e pin ion s f with th e gears D an d b y ,

tu rni ng th e knob to regi ste r (8 ) th e first figu re i n

th e m ultipli e r th e rack s are then s et ready to
,

move th e n umeral w he els to regi ster a s follo w s !

T h e d rum to th e righ t or th e u ni ts d rum h as p re
s ented the mu lti p lyin g rac k fo r add ing the mul
tiple of thu s i t w ill p res ent th r ee teeth for
th e ten s wh eel an d two teeth for th e u nits w h eel .

Th e ten s d rum pre senting th e rack for adding th e

multiple of 8 x 9 w i l l p resent s even teeth fo r th e
hu ndred s wh eel and two fo r th e ten s wheel T he .
 TH E B OO K K E E P ING AN D B ILLING MA C HIN E 1 87

h un dre d s d ru m p re sentin g th e rack for a d d ing th e

mu ltiple of will p re sent s ix teeth fo r th e
th ou s an d s wheel an d fo u r for th e h un d reds wh eel .

T h e rack of th e th ou san d s d rum repres enting

th e mu ltiple of will p resent five teeth fo r th e
ten s of tho u san d s wh ee l an d s ix fo r the th ou san d s
wh eel T hu s b y sl id ing th e carri age to th e right
.

on e space the n um eral wh eel pi nion s will engage

,

firs t th e u ni ts teet h on on e dru m th en th e ten s

,

teeth on th e next lower d rum an d cau se th e wh ee l s

to re g i ster 6 3 1 5 2 T h e o p erator b y tu rning th e
.
,

kno b G to regi ste r th e n ext figu re of th e m ul

tip l ier tu rn s th e d ru m s o th at a seri es o f m ulti
,

p lying rack s re p re senting mu ltiple s of 4 time s

each figu re i n th e m ultiplican d are p resented s o ,

that b y sli d in g th e carri age anoth e r space to t h e

right th e m ultiple of
,
will b e add ed to th e
n umeral wheel s T h e Operator th en tu rn s th e
.

knob to regis ter th re e an d move s th e carriage one

more s p ace to th e ri ght adding th e multi p le of
,

to the wh eel s i n th e next h igh e r o rdina l

seri es re sulting i n th e an swer of 2 7 4 7 1 1 2
, .

The re a re of cou rse many que sti onable fea

, ,

tu re s abou t th e con stru ction shown i n th e ma

ch in e of th e B arb ou r p atent b u t as a featu re of
,

h i sto ri c i nteres t it i s worth y of con s ideration l ike ,

many oth e r attempts i n th e ea rl y A rt .

TH E B OLL E E MUL T I P L I E R
Pro b a b ly th e firs t s ucces sful d i rect mu ltipl y ing
mach ine was mad e by L eon B ol l e e a F renchman
, ,

w h o p atente d hi s i nventi on i n F rance i n 1 8 8 9 A .

patent on th e B ol l ee mach ine was appli ed fo r i n

th i s countr y an d wa s i s su ed March 1 7 1 8 9 6 som e
, ,

of th e drawings of wh ich are repro d uce d on th e

o ppo s ite page .
1 88 OR IG I N or MOD ERN C A L C ULA T ING MA C HIN ES

Des cr ip tion of I n stead of u s ing ei gh ty on e mu ltipl y ing gear

-

B otl ee M a ch in e racks fo r each o rde r as i n th e Ba rbou r p atent ,

B ol l e e u se d b u t two gear rack s fo r each o rder ; one

for add ing t h e units an d th e oth er fo r a d ding th e
te ns ; thes e rack s o p erat e v e r t i c a l l y an d are
marked re spectivel y B b an d B e (S ee F i g
i . .

T he rac k s are frictiona ll y h el d against gravity

i n th e p e rm anent fram e w or k o f the mach ine an d ,

are move d up an d down by contact at each en d

. ,

re ceived from ab ove b y b ar I e and fro m below by

,

pin s of vary ing len g th s e t i n th e movabl e plate s A b .

”
T he bar I e form s part of a reci p rocating fram e
wh ic h move s v e rtically an d i n w hi ch are slid ably
mounted th e p in pl ates Ab T he s e p l a tes are what
.

“
B ol l e e calle d h is mech ani ca l mul ti p l ication ta b l es .

T he arrangement of the p in s and thei r length s

a re s u ch a s to give degre es of add itive movement
to the units an d ten s gear racks equ al to th e m ul
tipl y ing racks i n the B arb ou r multipli er .

Th e p in p late s are moved by th e han d knob s -

Ab an d th e p lat e Shown i n Fi g 3 is po si tione d

,
z
.

for m ulti p les of n ine .

T h e m ean s fo r setting th e multipl es co rrespon d

to th e i n d e x h an d kno b of th e B ar b ou r m ach in e
-
,

and con si sts of the crank A m w h ich w h en o p er , ,

ated sh ift s th e w ho l e s eri e s of plate s l a terally

, .

A gradu ate d dial s erv es th e o p erato r to s et the

m ultiple that th e m ultipl ican d s et by th e pos iti on
,

ing of th e p lates i s to b e multiplie d b y

, .

Th e accumulato r mechanism i s mo unte d i n a

reciprocating fram e wh ic h move s ho rizontally ,

cau sing th e gears of th e n um eral whee l s to engage

first th e units rack s on thei r u p st roke under action
of th e pin s an d then th e ten s rack s on th eir down
,

stroke under th e acti on o f th e to p b ar of th e ver

ti cally moving frame th e downward motion of
, ,
 A Cl o s i n g W o rd
S p reviou sly stated i t i s i mpos sibl e to de
,

scrib e or i l l u strate th e t h o u sand s of inv en

tion s that ha v e b een p atente d in the A rt of
accou nting m ach ine s and som e of th e invento rs
,

ma y feel that the writer has shown p artial ity T h e .

s ubj ect of thi s book h oweve r h as to do onl y

, ,

with th e A rt a s it stan ds commercialize d and th os e

wh o are res p on si b l e for its e x i stence .

I n th e arguments to prove v a l id ity of contr ib u

ti on s of v ita l im p ort ance to th e A rt many oth er ,

patented mach ine s h ave b een u sed wh i c h really

h ave no b earing on t h e A rt B ut t h e w rite r w a s
.

obl iged to Sh o w th ei r d efects othe rw i s e th e mis

,

conce p tion deri v e d from a rtic l es w ritten b y a u

tho rs incom p eten t to j udge woul d leave th e publi c
i n erro r a s to th e real truth relative to the A rt of
th e mode rn acco unting mach i ne s .

That all inven tors d e s er v e credit even i n th e

,

face of fail u re i s w ith out question T h e h ou rs

, .
,

da y s month s and som etime s years gi v en u p to

, , ,

t h e wo rking ou t of any mach in e intende d to b ene

,

fit mankind wh ethe r th e re sult b rings a retu rn o r

,

n ot, wh ethe r th e i n v ention hol d s v al u e or no

—

, ,

leaves a re co rd that the w orl d m ay b enefit b y ,

i n p ointing o ut th e erro rs or p rod uctive res ults .

I f i t were not fo r the ambiti on s and u nti ri ng

effo rt s of m en of th i s type w h o give heart and
,

so u l to the workin g o u t of i nt ri cate p roblems th e ,

wo rld woul d not b e a s far advanced a s it i s today .

 A C LOS I N G WOR D 191

T he w rite r h a s kept i n clo se touch with the A rt

of calcu latin g mach ine s Since 1 8 9 3 an d m ade e x
,

h a us tive re search of i t p ri o r to th at pe ri od There

.

h ave b een th ou sand s of patents i s su ed on machi nes

of th e class h erei n s e t forth b u t o u ts id e of th e
,

features revi e w ed th ere h ave been no b roadly n ew

ones of p ra ctical import ance that h ave a s yet
p ro v e d to b e of great v al u e to th e p ublic What i s
.

i n t h e ma ki ng an d w h at may b e de v elo p e d l ater

, ,

is o p en to conj ectu re I t i s a safe conj ectu re h ow

.
,

e v e r that in t h e p resent h igh state of th e A rt i t

,

w i l l ta x the w i ts of h igh class engineers to o ff e r

-

any s u b stanti al an d b roa d l y new featu re w h i ch

-

w i ll b e hera l de d a s a n oticea b le ste p i n th e A rt

.

A n d that a s i n th e p ast thou s ands of mi stakes

, , ,

an d im p ractica l a s w ell a s i no pe rati v e machine s

w i ll b e mad e an d patented to one t h at wi ll h ol d
,

real v a l u e
.
1 94 O R I G I N O F MODE RN C A L CU L A T I N G MACH INES

D
T HE K E Y RIVEN AL CULATOR C P a ge
T h eory v ersus th e con crete 50
Al l b ut one Of th e g en eri c e l e m e n ts 51
Origin a l i ty Of i n ve n tion s 51
A con cep tion wh i c h l ed to th e fin a l i n
sol ut o 52
E vol ution of a n i n v en tion 55
“
55
Th e first Comp tometer 56
Fe l t p a tent 3 7 1 4 96 56
D F u
, . .

es cri p tion of e l t ca l c la tor 59

R eca pi tul a tion of Art p rior to el t ca l cul a to
r F 60
Why H il l fa i l ed to p rod uce a n Op era ti ve a chi n e m 61
I d I osy ncra sies of force a nd otion in crea sed by use Of k e s m y
Lig h t con s truction a fea ture ” 61
62
Op era tive fea tures n eces sa r y 62
C l a ssi fi ca tion of t h e fea tur es con ta in e d in th e ea rl y Art
of k ey d r i v en a c h i n es m
C a rr yi n g m
ec h a n i s of m
e l t s ca l cul a tor F ’

Tra n s fer d evi ces

C a rr yi n g m
ech a n i s m
v ersus ere tra n s fer d evices m
D e ta il s Of F
el t ca rr y i n g ec h a n i s m m
M a n ufa ctur e Of th e el t ca l cul a tor F
m F
Tra d e n a e of el t ca l cul a tor
F e l t ca l cul a tor ex h i b i t a t N a ti on a l
Si g n ifi ca n t p roof Of el t s cl a I m of p riori t yF
se u Mu m ”
”
m Om n
”
R ul es for Op era tion a n i p orta n t fa ctor
c a l cul a tor
f o
der

E ARLY E FFORTS IN THE R ECORD ING M ACHINE AR T

F i t tt m p t t
rs a e m o m
record a ri t h eti ca l co p uta ti on
D iption f B b u m hin
.

escr o ar o r ac e
B b u m h i n not p ti l
ar o r ac e ra c ca
D ip ti n Of B ldwi n m hin
.

escr o a ac e
B l d wi n p in ting
’
a s r
Fi t k y t n k Op t d m hin nd fi t tt mp t to
rs e se cra era e ac e a rs a e
o d th it m in dd iti n
rec r e e s a o
D ipti n f P ttin m hi n
.

escr o o o ac e
E l y ff t
ar e f W m S B u oug h
or s o rr s
h m f B u ug h fi t i n v n
. .

G n e l
era sc e e o ti n rro s
’
rs e o s
Bi fd
r e ip tion f m h in f
escr l y Bu
o ug h pt n
ac t e o ea r rro s
’
a e s
All ly
ea r t h m ti l p in ti n g d vi
a ri e i m p ti l
ca r e ces ra c ca
P ti l m t h d f
.

ra c ca e d in g d i l o d l t
o or r ecor sc se a er
din g m h ni m
.

In po era tiv f tu eof lyea res ea r recor ec a s

Add i n g m h n i m tt h d t t y p w it
ec a s a ac e o e r er
D ip ti n Of Lud l um m hi n
es c r o ac e
Lud l um m h i n i n p
.

ac tiv e o era e

F I ST PRACTICAL R ECORDER S
R
B u ug h b n k l k
rro s a a c er
F l t i n t t d n o d At
“

e eres e I rec r er r
F lt fi t di n g m h i n
m
’

bi ned w
e 3 rs recor ac e
F lt di n g m h n i m ith hi l u
.

e re cor ec a l t ng
s co s ca c a i

m hi nac e .
 I N D E X T O S U BJ E C TS 1 95

FIR ST PRACTICAL R ECORDERS CON D —

T
'

p ti n Of F l t fi t
.

D escri o d e s rs reco r er
F i t i n d id u l d t y p I m p i n m b in d
rs iv a iz e e r es s o co e W it h
p i n t in g
r t sec or
Fi t p ti l t h m t l
rs rac cad a ri e i ca reco r er

Th fi t e l f
rs d n g dd n g m h n n
sa e o a r ecor i a i ac i e o re co r d
F tu Of fi t p ti l
ea r es d rs ra c ca recor er
D i p t n Of F l t
escr io nd d e
’
s se co recor er
F l t p n ipl Of p i n t n g d p t d b y l l m n uf tu
e ri c e r i a o e a a ac re rs Of
re cor d er s
W i d e p a p er ca rria ge for ta b ul a ti n g
T h e W i d e p ape r ca rri a g e m a c h i n e
Li tig a tion o n t a b ul a tor p a ten ts
Cross Ta b ul a tin g
“ ”
F el t record er i n E n gi n eeri n g of Lon don E n gl a n d
“

Tota l record i n g a Fel t com b i n a ti on

,

Leg i b l e l i s ti n g Of i tem s a nd a utom a ti c r ecord i n g Of tota l s

fi rst a chi eve d b y F el t
Th e k e y set p ri nCi p l e m orep ra cti ca l for record ers
.

D escri p tion Of fi rst p ra ctica l B urroug h s recorder

D a te Of use of fi rst pra cti ca l B ur roug h s recorder
I NTRODU CTION OF THE M ODE RN ACCOUNTING M ACHINE
Op p osi tion to th e use Of a c h i n e s for a ccoun t i n g m
m
B a nk s ore l i b era l in recogn i tion
m m
I p rov e en t s l ow for fi rst few y ea rs .

THE H IGH SPEE D ALCULATOR

-
C
F
el t i m m
p rov e e n t s on o p to e ter Cm m .

Scien ti fi c d i stri b ution Of

P m
ow er con s u e d b y ol d ca rr yi n g eth od m
Ca m a nd l ev er car r yi n g ec h a n i s m m
One poi n t ca rryin g ca m i p oss ib l e
-
m
F
el t s i
’
m
p rov e d m
et h od o f ca rr yin g
G a ugin g a nd con t rol l i n g p ri e a ctua ti on m
Al tern a ti n g s top sc h e e m
M ul ti p l ex k e y a ction
C
.

on trol o f t h e car r y by t h e n ex t h i g h er a ct ua tor

F m
. .

or ced si ul ta n eous k ey a cti on Ol d

F m
or ce d Si ul ta n ei t y a pp l i e d to a ca l cul a tor i po ss i b l e m
F m
l ex i b l e s i ul ta n ei t y Of k e y a cti on a e l t i n v en tion F
D up l C mp t m
.

m nm
ex o o eter
I n t rod uc tion Of ful l s trok e echa is .

E rror si gn a l k e yboa r d .

Lock i n g of t h e ot h e r orders by a s h ort k e y s trok e

I n acti v e k e y s l ock e d d uri n g p rop er k ey a c tion I n ca s h

I n a c ti v e k e y s not l ock e d d uri n g prop er k ey a ct o i n in

Com p t m t
-

Con t l l d k y Com
o e er

ptoriet
'

ro e e r er
Th m e f d I n v n ti
a ss o r ecor er e n
o s p a ten te d
B ut fe w of th e record er p a ten t s Of v a l ue .

R ese rv e i n ve n tion a s good i n s ura n ce

E rron eous a d vert i smg .
1 96 O R I G IN O F MO DERN C A L C U L A T IN G MA C HIN ES

T H E H IGH SPEE D ALCULATOR

-
C —
CONT D ’

E rror k ey .

Sub tota l
-

R epea t k e y
Lock ed k e yb oa rd .

Q ui ck p a per retur n
C o t b ul tin g
r ss a a
I t m top
e s .

M oto d i v r r e
D i tin gui h in g m
.

s s a rk s for cl ear , tota l s , a nd sub -

tota l s
Add ing cut out -
.

Se l f correctin g k eyboa rd
-

Sp l it k eyb oar d
D ua l a cti on k eyboa rd
Non ad d sign al
Sel ecti v e Sp l i t k eyboa r d
”
Sel ecti v e p ri n ti n g cut out
G ra n d tot a l iz er
Al tern a t e cross p rin ti ng
D m m
.

et er in a te i te si gn a l .

Sub tra ction by reverse a ction

Se l ective sp l i t for k e y b oa rd .

R a p i d p a p er i n sert a nd ej ector .

THE B OOKKEE P ING AND B ILLING M ACHINE

m
E arl y co b in a tion s
First p ra cti ca l co b i n a tion m
M oon H op k in s B ill in g a ch in e
-
m
Na p ier s Bon es fi rst d i rect ul tip l i er
’
m
F m
i rst di rect ul tip l yin g a c h i n e m
D
.

es cri p tion of B a rb our M ul ti p l i er

D escri p ti on of B ol l ee a c h in e m
mm
.

B ol l ee s p ri n cip l e co erci a l iz ed
’

A CLO S ING W OR D
.