Historical information
Willgodt T. Odhner invented his very successful “pinwheel” four-function calculator mechanism in Russia in 1874, and his invention was cloned by numerous companies, resulting in dozens of similar models that remained in wide use for almost a century.
Numbers are dialed into the sliding levers on the top part of the machine, and are added to the register visible in the carriage at the bottom when the large crank is turned. Shifting the carriage sideways allows multiplication through a sequence of addition operations; the two small cranks zero the registers. The design includes ingenious error-preventing interlocks between all the controls: should the operator fail to return a crank to its resting position, the other controls are frozen until this is corrected. A bell indicates calculations in the negative.
Used in Ballarat Institute of Advanced Education (B.I.A.E) Physics department.
Physical description
Black, mechanical calculating machine. Metal. Hand-operated, with three hand-cranks. 10x10 rotor with 13 digit result.
Inscriptions & markings
Ser. No. 29-286781.5
Black symotape on base front: "PHYSICS".
Maker's identification on top surface. Supplier's label (metal, silver & blue) on back: "STOTT & HOARE Pty. Ltd. 171 William St. Melbourne C1 M1991". Stamped on rear panel: "MADE IN SWEDEN". Cast lettering on underside: "M-602 07".
Subjects
References
- Pinwheel calculators. Odhner's machine was developed in St. Petersburg from about 1874. This illustration from his US Patent (No. 209416) of 1878 shows a pinned disk and setting mechanism that is directly comparable to the modern version shown above. Odhner's design had the greater commercial success, and it was his name that became more generally associated with the pinwheel mechanism. By about 1890 (US Patent 514725) the Odhner calculator had developed into the form which was to endure more or less unchanged for the next eighty years. In 1892 the patent rights were sold to a firm in Germany, who developed a very successful line of machines under the name "Brunsviga". Similar machines soon appeared from many other manufacturers. After the Russian revolution in 1917, Odhner's heirs re-established the company in Goteborg, Sweden, under the brand name "Original-Odhner".
- Odhner Pinwheel Calculator