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Designed for accurate multiplication and division, as well as addition and subtraction.

Desktop or Portable: Most often, adding machines were desktop or "knee-type" (like modern laptops), occasionally there were pocket models (Curta). In this they differed from large floor-standing computers such as tabulators (T-5M) or mechanical computers (Z-1, Charles Babbage's Difference Engine).

Mechanical: The numbers are entered into the adding machine, converted and transmitted to the user (displayed in the windows of counters or printed on the tape) using only mechanical devices. In this case, the adding machine can use exclusively a mechanical drive (that is, to work on them, you must constantly turn the knob. This primitive version is used, for example, in "Felix") or perform some operations using an electric motor (The most advanced adding machines are calculating machines, for example, "Facit CA1-13 ", almost any operation uses an electric motor).

Exact calculation: Calculators are digital (not analog, such as slide rule) devices. Therefore, the calculation result does not depend on the readout error and is absolutely accurate.

Multiplication and division: Adding machines are designed primarily for multiplication and division. Therefore, almost all adding machines have a device that displays the number of additions and subtractions - a revolution counter (since multiplication and division are most often implemented as sequential addition and subtraction; see below for more details).

Addition and Subtraction: Adding machines can perform addition and subtraction. But on primitive lever models (for example, on "Felix") these operations are performed very slowly - faster than multiplication and division, but noticeably slower than on the simplest summing machines or even manually.

Not programmable: When working on the adding machine, the order of actions is always set manually - just before each operation, press the corresponding key or turn the corresponding lever. This feature of the adding machine is not included in the definition, since there were practically no programmable analogs of the adding machine.

Historical overview

Adding machine models

Calculating machine Felix (Museum of Water, St. Petersburg)

Adding machine Facit CA 1-13

Adding machine Mercedes R38SM

The models of adding machines differed mainly in the degree of automation (from non-automatic ones, capable of independently performing only addition and subtraction, to fully automatic ones, equipped with mechanisms for automatic multiplication, division, and some others) and in design (the most common models were based on the Odner wheel and the Leibniz roller) ... It should be noted right away that non-automatic and automatic machines were produced at the same time - automatic, of course, were much more convenient, but they cost about two orders of magnitude more expensive than non-automatic ones.

Non-automatic adding machines on Odner wheel

  • "Arimometer system V. T. Odner"- the first adding machines of this type. Produced during the life of the inventor (approximately 1880-1905) at a plant in St. Petersburg.
  • "Union"- produced since 1920 at the Moscow plant of calculating and typewriters.
  • "Original Dynamo" produced since 1920 at the Dynamo plant in Kharkov.
  • "Felix"- the most widespread adding machine in the USSR. Produced from 1929 to the late 1970s.

Automatic adding machines on Odner wheel

  • Facit CA 1-13- one of the smallest automatic adding machines
  • VK-3- his Soviet clone.

Non-automatic adding machines on the Leibniz roller

  • Thomas adding machines and a number of similar lever models produced before the beginning of the 20th century.
  • Keyboards such as Rheinmetall Ie or Nisa K2

Automatic adding machines on the Leibniz roller

  • Rheinmetall SAR - One of the two best computing machines in Germany. Its distinctive feature - a small ten-key (like on a calculator) keyboard to the left of the main one - was used to enter a multiplier during multiplication.
  • VMA, VMM are his Soviet clones.
  • Friden SRW is one of the few adding machines that can automatically extract square roots.

Other adding machines

Mercedes Euklid 37MS, 38MS, R37MS, R38MS, R44MS - these computers were the main competitors of Rheinmetall SAR in Germany. They worked a little slower, but had more features.

Usage

Addition

  1. Set the first term on the levers.
  2. Turn the handle away from you (clockwise). In this case, the number on the levers is entered into the totalization counter.
  3. Set the second term on the levers.
  4. Turn the handle away from you. In this case, the number on the levers will be added to the number in the summation counter.
  5. The result of the addition is on the summation counter.

Subtraction

  1. Set the decrement on the levers.
  2. Turn the handle away from you. In this case, the number on the levers is entered into the totalization counter.
  3. Set the subtraction on the levers.
  4. Turn the handle towards you. In this case, the number on the levers is subtracted from the number on the summation counter.
  5. The result of the subtraction on the summation counter.

If the subtraction results in a negative number, a bell rings in the adding machine. Since the adding machine does not operate with negative numbers, it is necessary to "undo" the last operation: without changing the position of the levers and the console, turn the knob in the opposite direction.

Multiplication

Multiplication by a small number

  1. Set the first multiplier on the levers.
  2. Rotate the knob away from you until the second multiplier appears on the spin counter.

Multiplication with the console

By analogy with column multiplication - multiply by each digit, writing down the results with an offset. The offset is determined by the bit in which the second multiplier is.

To move the console, use the handle on the front of the adding machine (Felix) or the arrow keys (VK-1, Rheinmetall).

Let's look at an example: 1234x5678:

  1. Move the console to the left until it stops.
  2. Set on the levers a multiplier with a larger (by eye) sum of numbers (5678).
  3. Rotate the knob away from you until the first digit (to the right) of the second multiplier (4) appears on the scroll counter.
  4. Move the console one step to the right.
  5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for the rest of the digits in the same way (2nd, 3rd and 4th). As a result, there should be a second multiplier on the scroll counter (1234).
  6. The result of the multiplication is on the summation counter.

Division

Consider the case of dividing 8765 by 432:

  1. Set the dividend on the levers (8765).
  2. Move the console to the fifth position (four steps to the right).
  3. Mark the end of the integer part of the dividend with metal "commas" on all counters (the commas should be in a column before the number 5).
  4. Turn the handle away from you. In this case, the dividend is entered into the summation counter.
  5. Reset the scroll counter.
  6. Set the divider (432) on the levers.
  7. Move the console so that the most significant bit of the dividend is aligned with the most significant bit of the divisor, that is, one step to the right.
  8. Twist the knob toward you until you get a negative number (overkill, indicated by the sound of a bell). Return the handle back one turn.
  9. Move the console one step to the left.
  10. Repeat steps 8 and 9 to the end position of the console.
  11. Result - the modulus of the number on the scroll counter, the integer and fractional parts are separated by a comma. The remainder is on the summation counter.

Notes (edit)

see also

Literature

  1. Organization and technique of accounting mechanization; B. Drozdov, G. Evstigneev, V. Isakov; 1952
  2. Calculating machines; I. S. Evdokimov, G. P. Evstigneev, V. N. Kriushin; 1955
  3. Computing machines, V. N. Ryazankin, G. P. Evstigneev, N. N. Tresvyatsky. Part 1.
  4. Catalog of the central bureau of technical information for instrumentation and automation equipment; 1958

Links

  • // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: In 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
  • Photos of the Adding Machine VK-1 (Schetmash), including the inside (enlarged by mouse click)
  • Arif-ru.narod.ru - Large Russian-language site dedicated to adding machines (Russian)
  • Photos of Soviet adding machines on the website of Sergei Frolov (Russian)
  • rechenmaschinen-illustrated.com: Photos and short descriptions of many hundreds of calculator models
  • (English)

Adding machine(from the Greek arithmys - number and ... meter), a desktop computer for performing arithmetic operations. The machine for arithmetic calculations was invented by B. Pascal (1641), but the first practical machine performing 4 arithmetic operations was built by the German watchmaker Hahn (1790). In 1890, the St. Petersburg mechanic V.T.Odner set up the production of Russian calculating machines, which served as a prototype for the subsequent models of A.

A. is equipped with a mechanism for setting and transferring numbers to a counter, a revolution counter, a result counter, a device for canceling the result, and a manual or electric drive. A. is most effective when performing multiplication and division operations. With the development of computer technology, archeology is replaced by more sophisticated keyboard computers.

ADDING MACHINE- a desktop calculating machine for the direct execution of four arithmetic operations. In A., a single-digit number from 0 to 9 is represented by turning a wheel, called a counting wheel, at a certain angle. Each digit of a multi-digit number corresponds to its owncounting wheel, the angles of rotation of which represent all 10 digits of a given category; these numbers are marked on the circumference of wheel 1. A system of counting wheels equipped with a device for transferring tens, that is, a device due to which a complete revolution of a wheel of one category entails a rotation of the wheel of the next category through a unit angle (36 °), is called counter 2. The counter is one of the main mechanisms of the adding machine. In addition to it, A. has a mechanism for setting these numbers 3, a device for damping the result 4 and a drive 5, manual or electric. The operation of summation in the adding machine is carried out by sequentially summing the angles of rotation of the counting wheels corresponding to the summand numbers, subtraction is by subtracting the angles of rotation of the counting wheels. Multiplication is performed by bitwise addition, and division is performed by bitwise subtraction. The counting principle inherent in A. has been known for a very long time, but the first practical models of A were very primitive. Setting the numbers was inconvenient and time-consuming, the task of transferring tens was unsatisfactorily solved, etc. Over time, the models underwent fundamental improvements: the design changed, the operational capabilities expanded. The original design of A. belongs to I. L. Chebyshep, who proposed a calculating machine "with continuous motion." A significant improvement in the conventional design of A. with a discontinuous change in the sum of the digits was achieved thanks to the invention ( 1871) Russian engineer Odnerim installation mechanism. Odner wheels are still used in automobiles of domestic and foreign designs. Modern A. have a number of further improvements: electric. drive, key setting of these numbers, devices for automatic counting, for automatic recording of results, etc. I! In the Soviet Union, the most widespread were A. "Felix" and semi-automatic A. "KSM".

Lit .: Chebyshev II. L., Counting machine with continuous movement, trans. with fraip., Complete eib. cit., v. 4, -M, - L. 1948; Bool V.G., Adding machine 4i bysheia, “Proceedings of the Branch of the FSPP. Sciences of the Society of Natural Science Lovers ”, 1894, vol. 7, no. 1; Scientific heritage of P. L. Chebyshev, vyi. 2, M, -. 1., 194 5 (p. 72); G and and about dm and V. A., Accounting machinization. M., 1940.

Adding machine (from the Greek αριθμός - "number", "account" and Greek.μέτρον - "measure", "meter"), desktop (or portable) mechanical computing machine designed for accurate multiplication and division, as well as addition and subtraction.

Desktop or portable: Most often, adding machines were desktop or "knee" (like modern laptops), occasionally there were pocket models (Curta). In this they differed from large floor-standing computers such as tabulators (T-5M) or mechanical computers (Z-1, Charles Babbage's Difference Engine).

Mechanical: Numbers are entered into an adding machine, converted and transmitted to the user (displayed in counter windows or printed on tape) using only mechanical devices. In this case, the adding machine can use exclusively a mechanical drive (that is, to work on them, you must constantly turn the knob. This primitive version is used, for example, in "Felix") or perform some operations using an electric motor (The most advanced adding machines are calculating machines, for example, "Facit CA1-13 ", almost any operation uses an electric motor).

Precise Calculation: Adding machines are digital (not analog like slide rule) devices. Therefore, the calculation result does not depend on the readout error and is absolutely accurate.

Multiplication and division: Arithmometers are designed primarily for multiplication and division. Therefore, almost all adding machines have a device that displays the number of additions and subtractions - a revolution counter (since multiplication and division are most often implemented as sequential addition and subtraction; see below for more details).

Addition and Subtraction: Adding machines can perform addition and subtraction. But on primitive lever models (for example, on "Felix") these operations are performed very slowly - faster than multiplication and division, but noticeably slower than on the simplest summing machines or even manually.

Non-programmable: When working on the adding machine, the order of actions is always set manually - just before each operation, press the corresponding key or turn the corresponding lever. This feature of the adding machine is not included in the definition, since there were practically no programmable analogs of the adding machine.

Historical overview

    150-100 BC e. - Antikythera mechanism was created in Greece

    1623 Wilhelm Schickard invents the "computing clock"

    1642 Blaise Pascal invents the Pascaline

    1672 - The Leibniz Calculator, the world's first adding machine, was created. In 1672, a two-digit machine appeared, and in 1694, a twelve-digit machine. This adding machine did not receive practical distribution, since it was too complicated and expensive for its time.

    1674 - Morland's car created

    1820 - Thomas de Colmar began the serial production of adding machines. In general, they were similar to the Leibniz adding machine, but had a number of design differences.

    1890 - the serial production of Odner's adding machines - the most widespread type of adding machines of the XX century - was started. The famous "Felix" belongs to Odner's adding machines.

    1919 - Mercedes-Euklid VII appeared - the world's first computing machine, that is, an adding machine capable of independently performing all four basic arithmetic operations.

    1950s - The flourishing of calculating machines and semi-automatic adding machines. It was at this time that most of the models of electromechanical computers were released.

    1969 - Peak of production of adding machines in the USSR. Produced about 300 thousand "Felix" and VK-1.

    late 1970s - early 1980s - Around this time, electronic calculators finally ousted adding machines from store shelves.

Adding machine models:

Calculating machine Felix (Museum of Water, St. Petersburg)







Adding machine Facit CA 1-13


Adding machine Mercedes R38SM


The models of adding machines differed mainly in the degree of automation (from non-automatic ones, capable of independently performing only addition and subtraction, to fully automatic ones, equipped with mechanisms for automatic multiplication, division, and some others) and in design (the most common models were based on the Odner wheel and the Leibniz roller) ... It should be noted right away that non-automatic and automatic machines were produced at the same time - automatic, of course, were much more convenient, but they cost about two orders of magnitude more expensive than non-automatic ones.

Non-automatic adding machines on Odner wheel

    "Arithmometer system VT Odner" - the first adding machines of this type. Produced during the life of the inventor (approximately 1880-1905) at a plant in St. Petersburg.

    "Soyuz" - produced since 1920 at the Moscow plant of calculating and writing machines.

    "Original Dynamo" has been produced since 1920 at the "Dynamo" plant in Kharkov.

    "Felix" is the most widespread adding machine in the USSR. Produced from 1929 to the late 1970s.

Automatic adding machines on Odner wheel

    Facit CA 1-13 - one of the smallest automatic adding machines

    VK-3 is its Soviet clone.

Non-automatic adding machines on the Leibniz roller

    Thomas adding machines and a number of similar lever models produced before the beginning of the 20th century.

    Keyboards such as Rheinmetall Ie or Nisa K2

Automatic adding machines on the Leibniz roller

    Rheinmetall SAR - One of the two best computing machines in Germany. Its distinctive feature - a small ten-key (like on a calculator) keyboard to the left of the main one - was used to enter a multiplier during multiplication.

    VMA, VMM are his Soviet clones.

    Friden SRW is one of the few adding machines that can automatically extract square roots.

Other adding machines

Mercedes Euklid 37MS, 38MS, R37MS, R38MS, R44MS - these computers were the main competitors of Rheinmetall SAR in Germany. They worked a little slower, but had more features.

Usage

Addition

    Set the first term on the levers.

    Turn the handle away from you (clockwise). In this case, the number on the levers is entered into the totalization counter.

    Set the second term on the levers.

    Turn the handle away from you. In this case, the number on the levers will be added to the number in the summation counter.

    The result of the addition is on the summation counter.

Subtraction

    Set the decrement on the levers.

    Turn the handle away from you. In this case, the number on the levers is entered into the totalization counter.

    Set the subtraction on the levers.

    Turn the handle towards you. In this case, the number on the levers is subtracted from the number on the summation counter.

    The result of the subtraction on the summation counter.

If the subtraction results in a negative number, a bell rings in the adding machine. Since the adding machine does not operate with negative numbers, it is necessary to "undo" the last operation: without changing the position of the levers and the console, turn the knob in the opposite direction.

Multiplication

Multiplication by a small number

    Set the first multiplier on the levers.

    Rotate the knob away from you until the second multiplier appears on the spin counter.

Multiplication with the console

By analogy with column multiplication - multiply by each digit, writing down the results with an offset. The offset is determined by the bit in which the second multiplier is.

To move the console, use the handle on the front of the adding machine (Felix) or the arrow keys (VK-1, Rheinmetall).

Let's look at an example: 1234x5678:

    Move the console to the left until it stops.

    Set on the levers a multiplier with a larger (by eye) sum of numbers (5678).

    Rotate the knob away from you until the first digit (to the right) of the second multiplier (4) appears on the scroll counter.

    Move the console one step to the right.

    Repeat steps 3 and 4 for the rest of the digits in the same way (2nd, 3rd and 4th). As a result, there should be a second multiplier on the scroll counter (1234).

    The result of the multiplication is on the summation counter.

Division

Consider the case of dividing 8765 by 432:

    Set the dividend on the levers (8765).

    Move the console to the fifth position (four steps to the right).

    Mark the end of the integer part of the dividend with metal "commas" on all counters (the commas should be in a column before the number 5).

    Turn the handle away from you. In this case, the dividend is entered into the summation counter.

    Reset the scroll counter.

    Set the divider (432) on the levers.

    Move the console so that the most significant bit of the dividend is aligned with the most significant bit of the divisor, that is, one step to the right.

    Twist the knob toward you until you get a negative number (overkill, indicated by the sound of a bell). Return the handle back one turn.

    Move the console one step to the left.

    Repeat steps 8 and 9 to the end position of the console.

    Result - the modulus of the number on the scroll counter, the integer and fractional parts are separated by a comma. The remainder is on the summation counter.

Literature:

    Organization and technique of accounting mechanization; B. Drozdov, G. Evstigneev, V. Isakov; 1952

    Calculating machines; I. S. Evdokimov, G. P. Evstigneev, V. N. Kriushin; 1955

    Computing machines, V. N. Ryazankin, G. P. Evstigneev, N. N. Tresvyatsky. Part 1.

    Catalog of the central bureau of technical information for instrumentation and automation equipment; 1958

| Informatics and information and communication technologies | Lesson planning and lesson materials | 6 grades | Material for the curious | Adding machine

Material
for the curious

Adding machine

As time went on, the needs of people in the processing of numerical information increased. The first ideas for mechanizing the computing process appeared in the late 15th - early 16th centuries. This is evidenced by a sketch of an adder, developed by Leonardo da Vinci, found in the late 60s of the last century.

In the 17th century, physicists and astronomers were faced with the need to perform complex and cumbersome calculations. They needed machines that could perform a large amount of computation in a short time and with high accuracy.

In 1642, the first mechanical calculating machine, the adding machine, was created and gained immense popularity by the young Frenchman Blaise Pascal, who became a famous physicist and mathematician in the future. Pascal's counting machine looked like a small box, on the lid of which, like on a clock, there were dials. The numbers were set on them. For numbers of different categories, different gears were assigned. Each previous wheel was connected to the next with one tooth. This tooth came into engagement with the next wheel only after all nine digits of this category had been passed. Let, for example, five are added to six, then the wheel of units will make a total of 11 steps; in position "0", following after position "9", it will engage the wheel of tens and rotate it by one tooth. As a result, the wheels will show the number 11.

Over the three centuries that have passed since the creation of the first adding machine, about four hundred types of various mechanical counters and calculating machines have been created. Most of these inventions have already been forgotten. But there were also such inventions that were important events in the history of computers.

In 1677, the great German mathematician and philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz constructed his own calculating machine, which allowed not only to add and subtract, but also to multiply and divide multidigit numbers. In his adding machine, Leibniz used cylinders instead of wheels. Numbers were applied to the cylinders. Each cylinder had nine rows of protrusions: one protrusion in the first row, two in the second, and so on up to the ninth, containing nine protrusions. These cylinders were movable and set in specific positions by the operator.

Russian scientists and engineers made a great contribution to the improvement of calculating machines. So the adding machine, created in 1874 by the Russian engineer Odner, successfully competed with the best adding machines of European firms and found application all over the world. Its modification "Felix" was produced in our country until the 50s of the XX century.

For a long time, adding machines had a serious drawback: each result of calculations was manually recorded on a piece of paper. It was time to see to it that the calculating machine typed the answer on the paper itself, especially since the typewriter had already been invented. And so in 1889 the first calculating machine, equipped with a printing device, appeared.

Desktop or portable Most often, adding machines were desktop or "knee-type" (like modern laptops), occasionally there were pocket models (Curta). In this they differed from large floor-standing computers such as tabulators (T-5M) or mechanical computers (Z-1, Babbage's machine).

Mechanical Numbers are entered into the adding machine, converted and transmitted to the user (displayed in the windows of counters or printed on the tape) using only mechanical devices. In this case, the adding machine can use exclusively a mechanical drive (that is, to work on them, you must constantly turn the knob. This primitive version is used, for example, in "Felix") or perform some operations using an electric motor (The most advanced adding machines are calculating machines, for example "Facit CA1-13", almost any operation uses an electric motor).

Accurate Calculation Arithmometers are digital (not analog like slide rule) devices. Therefore, the calculation result does not depend on the readout error and is absolutely accurate.

Addition and Subtraction Adding and subtraction calculators can perform addition and subtraction. But on primitive lever models (for example, on "Felix") these operations are performed very slowly (faster than multiplication and division, but noticeably slower than on the simplest summing machines or even manually).

Not programmable When working on the adding machine, the procedure is always set manually - just before each operation, press the appropriate key or turn the corresponding lever. This feature of the adding machine is not included in the definition, since there were practically no programmable analogs of the adding machine.

Review of definitions from literature sources.

In the domestic special literature, it is difficult to find a definition of an adding machine. Usually it means an adding machine (in a general sense) with a manual drive and a lever input; sometimes the term "adding machine" was used to refer to a specific model - the "Felix" adding machine. The above general definition of an adding machine corresponds to the second subgroup of the first group of machines according to the classification given in the book of Evstigneev, Ryazankin and Tresvyatsky.

However, oddly enough, the definition of an adding machine can be easily found in almost any non-specialized dictionary or encyclopedia.

The book "Soviet Encyclopedic Dictionary" [M., "Soviet Encyclopedia", 1980] provides the following definition:
Adding machine is a desktop mechanical calculating machine for performing addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, in which the setting of numbers and the actuation of the counting mechanism is carried out manually.

In the Great Soviet Encyclopedia (Moscow, 1969 - 1978), a different definition is given:
ARITHMOMETER (from the Greek arithmos - number and ... meter) - a desktop computer for performing arithmetic operations. The machine for arithmetic calculations was invented by B. Pascal (1641), but the first practical machine performing 4 arithmetic operations was built by the German watchmaker Hahn (1790). In 1890, the St. Petersburg mechanic V.T.Odner set up the production of Russian calculating machines, which served as a prototype for subsequent models of adding machines.

The following definition is taken from the "Dictionary of the Russian language" by S. I. Ozhegov [M., "Russian language", 1984. Fifteenth stereotyped edition]:
Adding machine - desktop hand-held calculating device for mechanically performing arithmetic operations

Dictionary of Foreign Words by ME Levberg [M., 1924, II ed., Ed. S. A. Adrianova] is limited to the brief:
Adding machine - calculating device

The pre-revolutionary dictionary [imprint lost along with the cover] offers the following definitions of an adding machine (adding machine):
Ariθmograph, Ariθmometer is a calculating machine that mechanically performs arithmetic action.

For the first time the term "Adding machine" was introduced by K.Sh.K. Tom - as the name of a machine he created in 1820, similar to the one shown on the Bunzel-Delton website. It is probably already clear that there was no established definition of the term "adding machine". The site has adopted the definition for several reasons:

  1. There are a number of models of adding machines (for example, the keyboard KSM-1 or the lever Hamann Elma) with a hybrid drive - that is, capable of operating both from a manual drive and from an electric motor.
  2. There are many pairs of calculator models (for example, "Mercedes-Euklid IV" and "Mercedes-Euklid I"), differing from each other only in the type of input device - key and lever.
  3. There were almost no model series of computers, including devices both suitable and not suitable for this definition of an adding machine (an exception is the most automated summing machines of some lines, for example, Precisa 166-12, close to calculating machines).
  4. The concept of "arithmetic operations" is somewhat vague. Therefore, it is advisable to list these actions in the definition.
  5. This definition most closely corresponds to both accepted in the special and general literature, and found on the territory of the Runet.
  6. Machines corresponding to this definition of an adding machine constitute a group that includes devices of very different design and complexity, but very similar in function and in the algorithm of use.
  7. These devices also differ significantly in their functions and algorithm of use from other types of computers.

Designed for accurate multiplication and division, as well as addition and subtraction.

Desktop or Portable: Most often, adding machines were desktop or "knee-type" (like modern laptops), occasionally there were pocket models (Curta). In this they differed from large floor-standing computers such as tabulators (T-5M) or mechanical computers (Z-1, Charles Babbage's Difference Engine).

Mechanical: The numbers are entered into the adding machine, converted and transmitted to the user (displayed in the windows of counters or printed on the tape) using only mechanical devices. In this case, the adding machine can use exclusively a mechanical drive (that is, to work on them, you must constantly turn the knob. This primitive version is used, for example, in "Felix") or perform some operations using an electric motor (The most advanced adding machines are calculating machines, for example, "Facit CA1-13 ", almost any operation uses an electric motor).

Exact calculation: Calculators are digital (not analog, such as slide rule) devices. Therefore, the calculation result does not depend on the readout error and is absolutely accurate.

Multiplication and division: Adding machines are designed primarily for multiplication and division. Therefore, almost all adding machines have a device that displays the number of additions and subtractions - a revolution counter (since multiplication and division are most often implemented as sequential addition and subtraction; see below for more details).

Addition and Subtraction: Adding machines can perform addition and subtraction. But on primitive lever models (for example, on "Felix") these operations are performed very slowly - faster than multiplication and division, but noticeably slower than on the simplest summing machines or even manually.

Not programmable: When working on the adding machine, the order of actions is always set manually - just before each operation, press the corresponding key or turn the corresponding lever. This feature of the adding machine is not included in the definition, since there were practically no programmable analogs of the adding machine.

Historical overview

Adding machine models

Calculating machine Felix (Museum of Water, St. Petersburg)

Adding machine Facit CA 1-13

Adding machine Mercedes R38SM

The models of adding machines differed mainly in the degree of automation (from non-automatic ones, capable of independently performing only addition and subtraction, to fully automatic ones, equipped with mechanisms for automatic multiplication, division, and some others) and in design (the most common models were based on the Odner wheel and the Leibniz roller) ... It should be noted right away that non-automatic and automatic machines were produced at the same time - automatic, of course, were much more convenient, but they cost about two orders of magnitude more expensive than non-automatic ones.

Non-automatic adding machines on Odner wheel

  • "Arimometer system V. T. Odner"- the first adding machines of this type. Produced during the life of the inventor (approximately 1880-1905) at a plant in St. Petersburg.
  • "Union"- produced since 1920 at the Moscow plant of calculating and typewriters.
  • "Original Dynamo" produced since 1920 at the Dynamo plant in Kharkov.
  • "Felix"- the most widespread adding machine in the USSR. Produced from 1929 to the late 1970s.

Automatic adding machines on Odner wheel

  • Facit CA 1-13- one of the smallest automatic adding machines
  • VK-3- his Soviet clone.

Non-automatic adding machines on the Leibniz roller

  • Thomas adding machines and a number of similar lever models produced before the beginning of the 20th century.
  • Keyboards such as Rheinmetall Ie or Nisa K2

Automatic adding machines on the Leibniz roller

  • Rheinmetall SAR - One of the two best computing machines in Germany. Its distinctive feature - a small ten-key (like on a calculator) keyboard to the left of the main one - was used to enter a multiplier during multiplication.
  • VMA, VMM are his Soviet clones.
  • Friden SRW is one of the few adding machines that can automatically extract square roots.

Other adding machines

Mercedes Euklid 37MS, 38MS, R37MS, R38MS, R44MS - these computers were the main competitors of Rheinmetall SAR in Germany. They worked a little slower, but had more features.

Usage

Addition

  1. Set the first term on the levers.
  2. Turn the handle away from you (clockwise). In this case, the number on the levers is entered into the totalization counter.
  3. Set the second term on the levers.
  4. Turn the handle away from you. In this case, the number on the levers will be added to the number in the summation counter.
  5. The result of the addition is on the summation counter.

Subtraction

  1. Set the decrement on the levers.
  2. Turn the handle away from you. In this case, the number on the levers is entered into the totalization counter.
  3. Set the subtraction on the levers.
  4. Turn the handle towards you. In this case, the number on the levers is subtracted from the number on the summation counter.
  5. The result of the subtraction on the summation counter.

If the subtraction results in a negative number, a bell rings in the adding machine. Since the adding machine does not operate with negative numbers, it is necessary to "undo" the last operation: without changing the position of the levers and the console, turn the knob in the opposite direction.

Multiplication

Multiplication by a small number

  1. Set the first multiplier on the levers.
  2. Rotate the knob away from you until the second multiplier appears on the spin counter.

Multiplication with the console

By analogy with column multiplication - multiply by each digit, writing down the results with an offset. The offset is determined by the bit in which the second multiplier is.

To move the console, use the handle on the front of the adding machine (Felix) or the arrow keys (VK-1, Rheinmetall).

Let's look at an example: 1234x5678:

  1. Move the console to the left until it stops.
  2. Set on the levers a multiplier with a larger (by eye) sum of numbers (5678).
  3. Rotate the knob away from you until the first digit (to the right) of the second multiplier (4) appears on the scroll counter.
  4. Move the console one step to the right.
  5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for the rest of the digits in the same way (2nd, 3rd and 4th). As a result, there should be a second multiplier on the scroll counter (1234).
  6. The result of the multiplication is on the summation counter.

Division

Consider the case of dividing 8765 by 432:

  1. Set the dividend on the levers (8765).
  2. Move the console to the fifth position (four steps to the right).
  3. Mark the end of the integer part of the dividend with metal "commas" on all counters (the commas should be in a column before the number 5).
  4. Turn the handle away from you. In this case, the dividend is entered into the summation counter.
  5. Reset the scroll counter.
  6. Set the divider (432) on the levers.
  7. Move the console so that the most significant bit of the dividend is aligned with the most significant bit of the divisor, that is, one step to the right.
  8. Twist the knob toward you until you get a negative number (overkill, indicated by the sound of a bell). Return the handle back one turn.
  9. Move the console one step to the left.
  10. Repeat steps 8 and 9 to the end position of the console.
  11. Result - the modulus of the number on the scroll counter, the integer and fractional parts are separated by a comma. The remainder is on the summation counter.

Notes (edit)

see also

Literature

  1. Organization and technique of accounting mechanization; B. Drozdov, G. Evstigneev, V. Isakov; 1952
  2. Calculating machines; I. S. Evdokimov, G. P. Evstigneev, V. N. Kriushin; 1955
  3. Computing machines, V. N. Ryazankin, G. P. Evstigneev, N. N. Tresvyatsky. Part 1.
  4. Catalog of the central bureau of technical information for instrumentation and automation equipment; 1958

Links

  • // Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron: In 86 volumes (82 volumes and 4 additional). - SPb. , 1890-1907.
  • Photos of the Adding Machine VK-1 (Schetmash), including the inside (enlarged by mouse click)
  • Arif-ru.narod.ru - Large Russian-language site dedicated to adding machines (Russian)
  • Photos of Soviet adding machines on the website of Sergei Frolov (Russian)
  • rechenmaschinen-illustrated.com: Photos and short descriptions of many hundreds of calculator models
  • (English)

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