Pinwheel calculator
Encyclopedia
A Pinwheel calculator was a class of mechanical calculator
popular in the 19th and 20th century using, for its calculating engine, a set of wheels that had an adjustable number of teeth. These wheels, also called pinwheels, could be set by using a side lever which could expose anywhere from 0 to 9 teeth, and therefore when coupled to a counter they could, at each rotation, add a number from 0 to 9 to the result. By linking these wheels with carry mechanisms a new kind of calculator engine was invented. Turn the wheels one way and one performs an addition, the other way a subtraction. As part of a redesign of the arithmometer
, they reduced the cost and the size of a mechanical calculators on which one could easily do the four basic operations (add, subtract, multiply and divide) by an order of magnitude.
Pinwheel calculators became extremely popular with the success of the Odhner Arithmometer
.
described an arithmetic machine he had invented that was made by linking two separate machines, one to perform additions/subtractions and one for multiplications/divisions. Pascal's calculator
was to be used for additions and subtractions (he called it the calculating box of Pascal) and a machine using wheels with movable teeth was to be used for multiplications and divisions. There is no evidence that Leibniz constructed this pinwheel machine, but his Leibniz wheel
, which, when coupled to a sliding counting wheel, can mesh with a variable number of teeth, seems to have been his way of implementing a variable number of teeth design.
- Giovanni Poleni
was the first to build a calculator that used a pinwheel design. Made of wood, his calculating clock was built in 1709; he destroyed it after hearing that Antonius Braun had received 10,000 Gulden
s for dedicating a pinwheel machine of his own design to the emperor Charles VI
of Vienna. Poleni described his machine in his Miscellanea in 1709, but it was also described by Jacob Leupold
in his Theatrum Machinarum Generale, ("The General Theory of Machines") which was published in 1727.
- Antonius Braun was native of Swabia
; his machine, which he presented to the emperor in 1727, was cylindrical in shape and was made of steel, silver and brass; it was finely decorated and looked like a renaissance table clock. It could perform all four operations. His dedication to the emperor engraved on the top of the machine also reads "..to make easy to ignorant people, addition, subtraction, multiplication and even division".
- Lord Stanhope
of the United Kingdom
designed a pinwheel machine in 1775. It was set in a rectangular box with a handle on the side. He also designed a machine using Leibniz wheel
s in 1777.
- Dr. Didier Roth, a French inventor, patented and built a machine based on that design in 1842.
- Izrael Staffel
, a polish clockmaker introduced his pinwheel machine in 1845 at an industrial exposition in Warsaw, Poland and won a gold medal in 1851 at The Great Exhibition
in London.
- Frank S. Baldwin invented a pinwheel calculator in the USA in 1872.
- In St. Petersburg, Russia, Wilgott Theophil Odhner
invented his arithmometer in 1874 and in 1890 it became the first pinwheel calculator to be mass-manufactured. Its industrial production started in Odhner's workshop: W.T. Odhner, Maschinenfabrik & Metallgiesserei and then moved to the Odhner-Gill factory (фабрика Однера-Гиля) in 1891. Odhner type calculators were more popular in Europe
(particularly in Germany) than in the United States
.
- Grimme, Natalis & Co. bought the rights to Odhner's patents in 1892 and soon after started production in Braunschweig, Germany. They sold their machines under the Brunsviga brand name (Brunsviga is the Latin name of the town of Braunschweig); they became very successful on their own and were the first of a long line of Odhner clone makers.
- In 1924, Felix Dzerzhinsky, the head of the Russian Cheka
, initiated the manufacturing of arithmometers. Later they were named arithmometer Feliks and served in the Soviet Union
well into the 1970s, popularly known under the name "Iron Feliks
".
or knobs to set up the desired number. Addition, subtraction, multiplication
, and division
were accomplished by means of revolving drum
s. For addition they revolved in one direction, and for subtraction the direction was reversed. For multiplication the revolutions were repeated in the same direction as for addition, and for division they were repeated in the same direction as for subtraction. Two sets of dials provided a means of reading totals. In one the accumulation of totals appeared; in the other, there appeared the figure which was added, subtracted, multiplied, or divided." (The Office Appliance Manual, p. 88)
Mechanical calculator
A mechanical calculator is a device used to perform the basic operations of arithmetic. Mechanical calculators are comparable in size to small desktop computers and have been rendered obsolete by the advent of the electronic calculator....
popular in the 19th and 20th century using, for its calculating engine, a set of wheels that had an adjustable number of teeth. These wheels, also called pinwheels, could be set by using a side lever which could expose anywhere from 0 to 9 teeth, and therefore when coupled to a counter they could, at each rotation, add a number from 0 to 9 to the result. By linking these wheels with carry mechanisms a new kind of calculator engine was invented. Turn the wheels one way and one performs an addition, the other way a subtraction. As part of a redesign of the arithmometer
Arithmometer
An Arithmometer or Arithmomètre was a mechanical calculator that could add and subtract directly and could perform long multiplications and divisions effectively by using a movable accumulator for the result. Patented in France by Thomas de Colmar in 1820 and manufactured from 1851 to 1915, it...
, they reduced the cost and the size of a mechanical calculators on which one could easily do the four basic operations (add, subtract, multiply and divide) by an order of magnitude.
Pinwheel calculators became extremely popular with the success of the Odhner Arithmometer
Odhner Arithmometer
The Odhner Arithmometer was a very successful pinwheel calculator invented in Russia in 1873 by W. T. Odhner, a Swedish immigrant. Its industrial production officially started in 1890 in Odhner's Saint Petersburg workshop...
.
History
- In "Machina arithmetica in qua non additio tantum et subtracto sed et mutiplicatio nullo, diviso vero paene nullo animi labore peragantur", written in 1685, LeibnizGottfried Leibniz
Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz was a German philosopher and mathematician. He wrote in different languages, primarily in Latin , French and German ....
described an arithmetic machine he had invented that was made by linking two separate machines, one to perform additions/subtractions and one for multiplications/divisions. Pascal's calculator
Pascal's calculator
Blaise Pascal invented the mechanical calculator in 1642. He conceived it while trying to help his father who had been assigned the task of reorganizing the tax revenues of the French province of Haute-Normandie ; first called Arithmetic Machine, Pascal's Calculator and later Pascaline, it could...
was to be used for additions and subtractions (he called it the calculating box of Pascal) and a machine using wheels with movable teeth was to be used for multiplications and divisions. There is no evidence that Leibniz constructed this pinwheel machine, but his Leibniz wheel
Leibniz wheel
A Leibniz wheel or stepped drum was a cylinder with a set of teeth of incremental length which, when coupled to a counting wheel, was used in the calculating engine of a class of mechanical calculators...
, which, when coupled to a sliding counting wheel, can mesh with a variable number of teeth, seems to have been his way of implementing a variable number of teeth design.
- Giovanni Poleni
Giovanni Poleni
Giovanni Poleni was a Marquess, physicist, and antiquarian; the son of Marquess Jacopo Poleni. He studied the classics, philosophy, theology, mathematics, and physics. He was appointed, at the age of twenty-five, professor of astronomy at Padua...
was the first to build a calculator that used a pinwheel design. Made of wood, his calculating clock was built in 1709; he destroyed it after hearing that Antonius Braun had received 10,000 Gulden
Rhenish guilder
Rhenish guilder is the name of the golden, base currency coin of the Rhineland in the 14th and 15th centuries.- Formation :...
s for dedicating a pinwheel machine of his own design to the emperor Charles VI
Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles VI was the penultimate Habsburg sovereign of the Habsburg Empire. He succeeded his elder brother, Joseph I, as Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia , Hungary and Croatia , Archduke of Austria, etc., in 1711...
of Vienna. Poleni described his machine in his Miscellanea in 1709, but it was also described by Jacob Leupold
Jacob Leupold
Jacob Leupold was a German physicist, scientist, mathematician, instrument maker, mining commissioner and an engineer. He wrote the important and popular book Theatrum Machinarum Generale, which was published in 1727.- Early life :Jacob Leupold was born on July 22, 1674 as a son of a craftsman...
in his Theatrum Machinarum Generale, ("The General Theory of Machines") which was published in 1727.
- Antonius Braun was native of Swabia
Swabia
Swabia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany.-Geography:Like many cultural regions of Europe, Swabia's borders are not clearly defined...
; his machine, which he presented to the emperor in 1727, was cylindrical in shape and was made of steel, silver and brass; it was finely decorated and looked like a renaissance table clock. It could perform all four operations. His dedication to the emperor engraved on the top of the machine also reads "..to make easy to ignorant people, addition, subtraction, multiplication and even division".
- Lord Stanhope
Charles Stanhope, 3rd Earl Stanhope
Charles Stanhope, 3rd Earl Stanhope aka Charles Mahon, 3rd Earl Stanhope FRS was a British statesman and scientist. He was the father of the great traveller and Arabist Lady Hester Stanhope and brother-in-law of William Pitt the Younger. He is sometimes confused with an exact contemporary of his,...
of the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
designed a pinwheel machine in 1775. It was set in a rectangular box with a handle on the side. He also designed a machine using Leibniz wheel
Leibniz wheel
A Leibniz wheel or stepped drum was a cylinder with a set of teeth of incremental length which, when coupled to a counting wheel, was used in the calculating engine of a class of mechanical calculators...
s in 1777.
- Dr. Didier Roth, a French inventor, patented and built a machine based on that design in 1842.
- Izrael Staffel
Izrael Abraham Staffel
Izrael Abraham Staffel , Polish inventor, watchmaker, mechanic, designer of calculating machines.Staffel was born in 1814 in Warsaw to an impoverished Jewish family. He received an elementary education in a Jewish school and was then sent to a watchmaker to continue his education. He taught himself...
, a polish clockmaker introduced his pinwheel machine in 1845 at an industrial exposition in Warsaw, Poland and won a gold medal in 1851 at The Great Exhibition
The Great Exhibition
The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations or The Great Exhibition, sometimes referred to as the Crystal Palace Exhibition in reference to the temporary structure in which it was held, was an international exhibition that took place in Hyde Park, London, from 1 May to 15 October...
in London.
- Frank S. Baldwin invented a pinwheel calculator in the USA in 1872.
- In St. Petersburg, Russia, Wilgott Theophil Odhner
Wilgott Theophil Odhner
Willgodt Theophil Odhner was a Swedish engineer and entrepreneur, working in St. Petersburg, Russia. He was the inventor of the Odhner Arithmometer, which by the 1940s was one of the most popular type of portable mechanical calculator in the world.According to a brochure distributed by Odhner's...
invented his arithmometer in 1874 and in 1890 it became the first pinwheel calculator to be mass-manufactured. Its industrial production started in Odhner's workshop: W.T. Odhner, Maschinenfabrik & Metallgiesserei and then moved to the Odhner-Gill factory (фабрика Однера-Гиля) in 1891. Odhner type calculators were more popular in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
(particularly in Germany) than in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
- Grimme, Natalis & Co. bought the rights to Odhner's patents in 1892 and soon after started production in Braunschweig, Germany. They sold their machines under the Brunsviga brand name (Brunsviga is the Latin name of the town of Braunschweig); they became very successful on their own and were the first of a long line of Odhner clone makers.
- In 1924, Felix Dzerzhinsky, the head of the Russian Cheka
Cheka
Cheka was the first of a succession of Soviet state security organizations. It was created by a decree issued on December 20, 1917, by Vladimir Lenin and subsequently led by aristocrat-turned-communist Felix Dzerzhinsky...
, initiated the manufacturing of arithmometers. Later they were named arithmometer Feliks and served in the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
well into the 1970s, popularly known under the name "Iron Feliks
Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky
Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky was a Communist revolutionary, famous as the first director of the Bolshevik secret police, the Cheka, known later by many names during the history of the Soviet Union...
".
Operation
"The operation of machines of this type was accomplished by means of pulling leversLever
In physics, a lever is a rigid object that is used with an appropriate fulcrum or pivot point to either multiply the mechanical force that can be applied to another object or resistance force , or multiply the distance and speed at which the opposite end of the rigid object travels.This leverage...
or knobs to set up the desired number. Addition, subtraction, multiplication
Multiplication
Multiplication is the mathematical operation of scaling one number by another. It is one of the four basic operations in elementary arithmetic ....
, and division
Division (mathematics)
right|thumb|200px|20 \div 4=5In mathematics, especially in elementary arithmetic, division is an arithmetic operation.Specifically, if c times b equals a, written:c \times b = a\,...
were accomplished by means of revolving drum
Drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
s. For addition they revolved in one direction, and for subtraction the direction was reversed. For multiplication the revolutions were repeated in the same direction as for addition, and for division they were repeated in the same direction as for subtraction. Two sets of dials provided a means of reading totals. In one the accumulation of totals appeared; in the other, there appeared the figure which was added, subtracted, multiplied, or divided." (The Office Appliance Manual, p. 88)