Continuous Band Adders

A handful of adders represented numbers by continuous loops of metal. On some, this loop stretched over a wheel, and had projections representing different digits. On others, holes in the metal allowed one to advance the band with a stylus. The Russian J. Diakoff suggested this as early as 1829, and the idea was adopted by the American journalist Charles Henry Webb in the 1880s.

This patent model for an adder has wooden sides and a brass strip that covers the front, bottom, and back. The top of the instrument is curved at the front to the shape of two wheels that rotate inside it.
Description
This patent model for an adder has wooden sides and a brass strip that covers the front, bottom, and back. The top of the instrument is curved at the front to the shape of two wheels that rotate inside it. A strip of wood between the wheels has the digits from 1 to 9 marked on it. Each wheel has the digits from 0 to 9 marked on it three times. A pin protrudes from the wheel between each digit, and each tenth pin is slightly longer than the others. The spacing of the digits is the same as that on the case. The large wheels are linked to two smaller toothed wheels at the back of the instrument. These wheels are marked with the numbers from 0 to 13, and are meant to move forward every time the large wheel passes a “10” pin, recording numbers that should be carried. There are no separate wheels for registering results.
A mark on the right side reads: Milton W. Hinkle (/)] INVENTOR (/) Memphis Tenn (/) 1877. Another mark there reads: 27-101.
Compare to Burns addometer (308911) and Ballou adding machine (309323).
There was a Milton Washington Hinkle Jr., born January 8, 1848, in Carrollton, Carroll County, Kentucky, with parents Jacob and Nancy Kennedy Hinkle. Whether this is the same Milton Washington Hinkle is unclear.
This machine was once in the collection of L. Leland Locke and was exhibited at the Museums of the Peaceful Arts in New York City.
References: U.S. Patent 200911, January 11, 1878. Munn & Co. attorneys for patent.
William Sumner Junkin, Minnie Wyatt Junkin, The Henckel genealogy. . ., New Market, Va., Henckel Family Association, 1964, p. 109.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1878
patentee
Hinkle, Milton W.
maker
Hinkle, Milton W.
ID Number
MA.311956
accession number
155183
catalog number
311956
This silver-colored metal instrument has eight columns, each revealing a perforated paper strip. On the right side of the strip, the perforations are numbered with the digits 0, 1, 2, 3, . . . 9.
Description
This silver-colored metal instrument has eight columns, each revealing a perforated paper strip. On the right side of the strip, the perforations are numbered with the digits 0, 1, 2, 3, . . . 9. These numbers appear in windows at the bottom of the columns when terms are entered. On the left side of the strip there are 20 perforations with no number (ten of these are never seen). Beyond this, ten perforations are numbered on the left with a “1," ten with a “2,” and so forth to ten numbered “29.” These numbers to the left indicate terms to be carried. They appears in windows across the top of the adder. A zeroing handle is on the right. The instrument has a fold-up support and fits in a leather-covered, velvet-lined case. Two pencil stubs, one with a stylus, are also in the case.
The Russian J. Diakoff had suggested in 1829 that one might represent numbers on an adder by a long strip with regularly spaced holes. The New York journalist and inventor Charles Henry Webb picked up on this idea. He applied for a patent in the United States in 1886, received one in England in 1888, and patented the Webb ribbon adder in the United States in 1891. He sold this example to New York meteorologist Daniel Draper, but the device never proved popular. Webb also patented a small adding machine, marketed as the Webb adder, that was a more successful product.
References: P. Kidwell, “Scientists and Calculating Machines,” Annals of the History of Computing 12 (1990): 31-40.
P. Kidwell, "Adders Made and Used in the United States," Rittenhouse, 1994, 8:78-96.
C. H. Webb, “Adding Machine,” U.S. Patent 465120, December 15, 1891.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1893
maker
Webb, Charles H.
ID Number
MA.335356
accession number
304826
catalog number
335356

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