Torchi (1834)

"The young LUIGI TORCHI (pronounce torki) was a carpenter who, so far as I can understand, had only been to primery school.

In 1834 he obtained a gold medal for a calculator he had created from pieces of wood and steel wire. It took him three years to build the first machine. No mention of his birth. So far as I can understand, his machine did three operations (sums, subtractions and multiplications).

It was particularly adapted for products with a common factor. It was built to multiply numbers of 3 digits with 4 digits. The near 66 millions products that could be obtained would have represented at least 44 five-hundred page volumes.

Carlino was the first to report the potential advantages of this machines and various scientists tried to convince the vice king to finance its improvement. This is reported in a letter dated 1835 written by Giuseppe Belli and sent to the mathematician Gabrio Piola.

In March 1840 the vice king authorized the purchase of of a metal model of the Torchi machine capable of products of three per four digits for a price of 1 000 Lire."

summary by Christian Barral

Literature:

Annali Universali di Statistica, Milano, 1836

P.Broglia, L.Massio: Il Calcolo Alla Specola Di Brera

                                                                                        source: La Fama. Giornale di scienze, lettere, arti, industria e teatri' / V.Monnier

Roth (1841)

Martin (US), pages 59 - 60

Martin (Dtsch), pages 63 - 64

Dr. Didier Roth, Paris, designed an adding and subtracting machine with a stylus setting mechanism - similar to Pascal’s machine but materially improved.

Description (in German): 

Bericht des Hrn. Theodor Olivier über die Rechenmaschinen des Hrn. Dr. Roth in Paris.

aus dem Bulletin de la Société d'Encouragement, Sept. 1843, S. 411

Dr. Roth also designed a machine that externally resembles Hahn's machine and possesses gears with a variable number of teeth (pinwheel).

Staffel (1845)

Martin (US), page 60

Martin (Dtsch), page 65

Literature:

  Max Detlefsen: Polnische Rechenmaschinenerfinder des 19. Jahrhunderts; Wissenschaft und Fortschritt, 26 (1976), pages 86 - 90

This is a seven-place adding machine made by I. A. Staffel, a Pole.

The machine is the property of the Muzeum Techniki, Warsaw Poland.

                                                                                                                       source: W.Szrek

Staffel also constructed a full 4-specie (plus square-root) calculating machine, not mentioned by Martin.

At the 2. Greifswalder Symposium zur Entwicklung der Rechentechnik, 12. - 14. September 2003, Timo Leipälä gave a talk about "The life and works of W. T. Odhner". He covers some aspects of the development of this Staffel machine:

  The life and works of W. T. Odhner, excerpt (with permission of the author)

                                                                                                                       source: W.Szrek

Trinks in his book (Trinks F.: Geschichtliche Daten aus der Entwicklung der Rechenmaschine von Pascal bis zur Nova-Brunsviga, Braunschweiger GNC Monatsschrift, 1926, p. 249-276) mentions an adding machine as a third Staffel development:

                                                                                                                       source: Braunschweigisches Landesmuseum, photo: I. Simon

Arithmaurel (1849)

Martin (US), pages 61 - 62

Martin (Dtsch), pages 65 - 66

"This device was made by Maurel and Jayet. The machine is especially well suited for multiplication and division but is also capable of performing additions and subtractions. The operation is very simple. The whole setting mechanism and the result windows are shown in figure 31."

                                                                                                                       source: Braunschweigisches Landesmuseum, photo: I. Simon

Hill (1857)

Martin (US), page 63

Martin (Dtsch), page 67

"Hill’s machine, as illustrated in figure 33, shows considerably more similarity with our modern keyboard adding machines than either Parmelee’s or Schilt’s device, yet it never advanced beyond the experimental stage. The model illustrated may be found in the National Museum in Washington. The individual digit wheels have the digits 0 to 9 inscribed around them seven times. These digit wheels are moved by a gear which, in turn, is driven around by the action of depressing a key on the keyboard. There are no overthrow locks. The tens-carry mechanism is similar to that of Pascal’s machine."

Fowler Adder (1863)

Manufactured by the Fowler Adding Machine Company, New York. Patented by George B. Fowler July 14, 1863. Also marketed under the name "The Universal Adding Machine".

                                                                                                                       source: Oddbits

Webb (1868)

Martin (US), page 63

Martin (Dtsch), page 67

"Designed by C. H. Webb, it consists of two rotable circular disks, one for the numbers up to a hundred, the other one for thousands. The apparatus has automatic tens-carry."

Literature and links:

The Webb Adder in "American Artifacts"

                                                                                                                       source: W.Szrek

Groesbeck (1870)

Martin (US), page 358

Martin (Dtsch), page 383

"This is a small adding machine along the lines of Dr. Roth’s machines (figure 30). It has six places in both adding and subtracting viewing windows. During the seventies, the machine was manufactured by Ziegler and McCudry and distributed in Philadelphia. However, it was never widely sold and production has long since ceased."

Petersson Calculator (1873)

manufacturer: A.J.Petersson, Oslo, Norway

Literature:

E.Anthes: Die zylindrischen Rechenmaschinen von Leupold bis Herzstark, Historische Bürowelt 22, page 16-21 (1988) , IFHB

E.Anthes: Die zylindrische Rechenmaschine von A.J.Petersson, Historische Bürowelt 31, page 17-18 (1991) , IFHB

D.Bölter: Christel Hamann, Paul Haack, Axel Jacob Petersson (2007)

                                                                                    source: ©Tekniska museet, Stockholm

Grant (1877)

Martin (US), page 76 - 77

Martin (Dtsch), pages 80 - 82

"This machine was constructed by George B. Grant as early as 1870, but was not publicized until 1877. Additional publications concerning this machine are likely to appear in Brooklyn in the near future.

An upper cylinder is turned by means of a crank and drives a small shaft mounted underneath. A slide on the cylinder, which may be set in eight different positions, carries eight digit rings that may be set for eight or fewer decimal places. With each turn of the crank, the numbers set up in the rings are added to the value set in the ten numeral wheels of the lower shaft."

"The machine illustrated in figure 51 also originates from the same inventor. In front there arc five setting slots with setting levers protruding from them; each slot has two rows of additive and subtractive setting numbers printed adjacent to it. Movement of the setting lever forward or backward moves the racks visible in the drawing. When the crank is turned, the whole carriage is moved forward, and the setting racks mesh with the gears and move them, together with the appropriate numeral wheels. When the carriage is returned, the connection between racks and gears is broken and a successive tens-carry takes place. Zero setting also occurs by rotation of the crank. "

Burkhardt Arithmometer (1878)

Martin (US), page 78 - 82

Martin (Dtsch), page 82 - 87 & 400 - 401

"In I876 C. Dietzschold, an engineer in the town of Glashütte, set out to build a multiplication machine. He encountered difficulties, however, and asked for help from one of his schoolmates, Arthur Burkhardt, another engineer who was then serving his time in the army. Burkhardt came to Glashütte in 1878, shortly after Dietzschold had supplied one of his machines to the Royal Prussian Statistical Office. The statistical office found that the machine did not operate to their full satisfaction. A year later Burkhardt replaced this machine with two others constructed according to the stepped drum system (Thomas-Colmar) and thus laid the foundation for the calculating machine industry in Germany. Soon afterward Professor Dr. Reuleaux confirmed that Burkhardt's product excelled the French one in many ways. A number of machines were produced for government authorities, insurance companies, and the like, but the demand for such machines was still so insignificant that Burkhardt had to turn to the manufacture of other articles and, in fact, had to leave Glashütte for Braunschweig (during which time he was active in an entirely different line). He later returned to Glashütte and again devoted his time to the manufacture of calculating machines, which were becoming popular in commercial firms, manufacturing enterprises, and banks. Burkhardt is generally regarded as the founder of the calculating machine industry in Germany, and in the course of years he managed to keep improving his product so that, even today, it is still very popular and meets with increasing sales. Burkhardt died on 21 July 1918.

The "Erste Glashütter Rechenmaschinenfabrik von Arthur Burkhardt in Glashütte" merged, in 1920, with the Glashütter Rechenmaschinenfabrik, Saxonia, also in Glashütte, so that nowadays the Saxonia machine is manufactured by the same firm. The name of the new firm is Vereinigte Glashütter Rechenmaschinenfabriken, Tachometer- und feinmechanische Werkstatt, Glashütte, Sachsen."

On Aug. 28, 1929, the company went out of business.

Burkhardt "A"

                                                                                                                       source: W.Szrek

Burkhardt "E"

                                                                                                                       source: R.Rehbein

Burkhardt "H"

Layton (1883)

Martin (US), page 87

Martin (Dtsch), page 91

"From 1883 to 1886 Layton’s Arithmometer was manufactured and sold by Charles and Edwin Layton on Farrington Road in London. This was the first English stepped drum machine. Later Tate, a sales agent for the machine, improved it. It was sold under the name Tate from 1907 until 1914. "

                                                                                                                       source: Judd

Spalding (1884)

Martin (US), page 87 - 88

Martin (Dtsch), page 92

"This is a single-column adding machine with nine slides, situated in one row, for setting up the individual digits. Instead of the customary counting gears, this machine has mounted on its surface two numeral dials, each with a pointer. The large dial on the left (figure 62) is for the numbers 1 to 99; the hundred is automatically transferred to the smaller dial o n the right. 

The machine was never put into production and remained unknown in practice."

Comptometer (1885)

Martin (US), page 89 - 95

Martin (Dtsch), page 94 - 99 & 401

"Dorr E. Felt was employed as a mechanic in Chicago in 1884 when he was twenty-two years old. He spent his free time on experiments making a calculating machine. In 1885 his first machine, which admittedly was rather primitive, was completed. It is illustrated in figure 64, and since it was built into an old macaroni box. it received the name macaroni box model. This model is still in existence today. In November 1887 the firm Felt and Tarrant was founded. It was registered in January 1889. and since that time the firm has been manufacturing Comptometer calculating machines under the personal management of the inventor."

Literature and links:

Jay M. Goldman has a very nice collection of Comptometer on his web page.

Brooke W. Boering maintains the Comptometer home page. Here you find everything you want to know about the Comptometer.

                                                                                        source: HJ.Denker

Selling (1886)

Martin (US), page 96 - 97

Martin (Dtsch), page 100 - 101

"Professor Dr. E. Selling of Würzburg designed a calculating machine in which the tiresome turning of the crank, and also the jerky tens-carry, was successfully avoided by employment of the device known as the Nuremberg shears (also known as a stork bill).

The machine consists of two separate mechanisms that are brought into joint action during the operation. The two parts are:

I . The Nuremberg shears with toothed racks and keyboard for setting the multiplicand.

2 . The gears and numeral wheels. all mounted upon a common shaft and adapted to receive the longitudinal movement of the racks and convert it into a rotating movement. The numeral wheels are connected with one another by so-called planetary gears for the purpose of tens-carry. Thus a malfunction due to spring obstructions is rendered impossible.

The actual calculating occurs by opening and closing the Nuremberg shears by means of a hand ring, the magnitude of such movement being determined by the multiplier."

                                                                                                                        source: Braunschweigisches Landesmuseum, photo: I. Simon

Bollée (1888)

Martin (US), page 98 - 103

Martin (Dtsch), page 103 - 109

"All calculating machines described so far have implemented multiplication by continued addition and division by continued subtraction. Leon Bollée, born 1 April 1870, constructed in the course of three months (from February until April 1888) a calculating machine in which the multiplication table was mechanically represented for the first time. In other words, he created the multiplication body that we find today in the Millionaire machine, in the Moon-Hopkins machine, and in the Kuhrt machine, although the various manufacturers designed it in slightly different forms."

A very nice movie and animation about the Bollée machine can be found on this web site of the CNAM Musée des arts et métiers (Quicktime required, click on the word VIDEO in the right, lower corner)