This flat aluminum cam is in the shape of a highly irregular heptagon, An S-shaped space about 1 cm. wide is cut out of it, as well as two holes with threads (as on a screw assembly) and three without threads. The holes without threads are labeled ¼, 3/16, and 7/16 – these numbers represent the diameters of the holes in inches. Another mark reads: item 16.
Ford Instrument Company designed and produced cams like this one to be part of mechanisms that carried out calculations (analog computing devices). According the accession file, this cam was “Probably from the MK 32 Gun Director.” This gun director was in use during World War II, hence the rough date assigned to the object.
References:
A.B. Clymer, "The Mechanical Analog Computers of Hannibal Ford and William Newell," Annals of the History of Computing, 15, #2, 1993, 19-34.
Accession file.
Our collection database is a work in progress. We may update this record based on further research and review. Learn more about our approach to sharing our collection online.
If you would like to know how you can use content on this page, see the Smithsonian's Terms of Use. If you need to request an image for publication or other use, please visit Rights and Reproductions.