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4<head><!--#set var="title"        value="(Electro-) mechanical calculators"
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10   --><!--#set var="next"         value="electron-tubes.shtm"
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15    <meta name="keywords" lang="de" content="Elektromechanische Rechenmaschienen, Mechanische Rechenmaschienen, Madas, Curta I, Diehl VSR-18" />
16    <meta name="keywords" lang="en" content="technikum, calculator, electromechanical, mechanical calculator, madas, curta I, diehl VSR-18" />
17    <meta name="t29.SVN" content="$Id: electro-mechanical.shtm 168 2010-07-31 15:27:47Z sven $" />
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22    <h2><!--#echo var="title" --></h2>
23
24    <p>The first electronically calculating calculators were gigantic mainframes
25    in the 1940/50s. Until then, calculators worked mechanically.
26    <!--Calculators worked mechanically until they could calculate electronically, which was
27    only possible with gigantic mainframe computers in the 1940/50s.-->
28
29    When the handwheel was replaced by an electric engine, the era of mechanical calculators began.</p>
30
31    <div class="box left clear-after">
32        <img src="/shared/photos/rechnertechnik/burroughs.jpg" width="447" height="606" alt="Borroughs Mod.2" />
33        <p class="bildtext">
34           <b>Burroughs Mod. 2.</b>
35           The first printing calculating machine was invented in the USA (about 1905) and was selled worldwide. It features a complete keyboard for 17 digits, a printing unit and a long carriage for the sheet paper. The device could be used as a simple electronic accounting machine. At that time the engines could already be built just compact enough for such a device. Anyway, the (for today's circumstances) huge engine had to be placed below the device (on the right hand side in the picture). The sack below the engine is intended for collecting the leakage oil.
36        </p>
37    </div>
38
39    <p>The first printing mechanical calculator (1905) is an unicum with an huge exterior engine!
40    From the first fully automatic machines (1927) until these with balancing memory
41    (1960s), mechanical calculators calculated independently after the input of the numbers.
42    The world's first "pocket calculator machine", Curta I, has 1/3 from the volume of a
43    Coca Cola-pin and is consequently the smallest four-species machine ever built.
44    If you look at the picture of Curta I (shown below), you recognize the enormous importance of the
45    positional notation.</p>
46
47    <div class="box center auto-bildbreite">
48        <img src="/shared/photos/rechnertechnik/madas1.jpg" width="600" height="373" alt="Madas Rechenmaschiene" />
49        <p class="bildtext">Shown above: MADAS, an electromechanical calculator from 1927
50        made by the calculating machine factury "Egli AG" in Zurich.
51                Since multiplying and dividing needs some time, the inventors installed a small bell (at the upper
52                left) that rings after the calculation has finished.</p>
53    </div>
54
55    <div class="box center auto-bildbreite">
56        <img src="/shared/photos/rechnertechnik/rheinmetall.jpg" width="600" height="499" alt="Rheinmetall Superautomat" />
57        <p class="bildtext">1932 Rheinmetall extended an adding machine with an "annex",
58          thus they made a 4-species calculating machine.
59          The comfortable usability seems to be the reason why they called it "Superautomat".</p>
60    </div>
61
62
63    <div class="box center auto-bildbreite">
64        <img src="/shared/photos/rechnertechnik/diehl-vsr18.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="DIEHL VSR-18" />
65        <p class="bildtext"><b>DIEHL VSR-18</b>, one of many mechanical calculators
66        built between 1955 and 1965.
67        <br/>The engineers were hardly pressed to design better and better machines, until
68        the limit of feasibility. So the operating instructions say: "This DIEHL-device VSR
69        performs outstanding work". That is really true: For example, one were able to
70        cache results and to transfer back them anytime you want to. With this feature
71        daily calculations like 25 + 12 x 7 - 17 x 6 could be solved without notating
72        anything. However, this luxury still had a drawback: You must not run them wrongly,
73        because they were highly sensitive agains any operating error.</p>
74    </div>
75
76    <div id="sidebar-footnote">
77        <a href="/en/devices/sprocket-wheel-machine.shtm">Big photography &uarr; of the sprocket wheel machine</a>
78    </div>
79
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81<!--#include virtual="/en/inc/menu.inc.shtm" -->
82</body>
83</html>
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