Mechanical counter

Last updated
Several mechanical counters CountersMechanical.agr.jpg
Several mechanical counters
Mechanical counter wheels showing both sides. The bump on the wheel shown at the top engages the ratchet on the wheel below every turn. Teller (3).jpg
Mechanical counter wheels showing both sides. The bump on the wheel shown at the top engages the ratchet on the wheel below every turn.
Early IBM tabulating machine using mechanical counters Early SSA accounting operations.jpg
Early IBM tabulating machine using mechanical counters

Mechanical counters are counters built using mechanical components. They typically consist of a series of disks mounted on an axle, with the digits zero through nine marked on their edge. The right most disk moves one increment with each event. Each disk except the left-most has a protrusion that, after the completion of one revolution, moves the next disk to the left one increment. Such counters have been used as odometers for bicycles and cars and in tape recorders and fuel dispensers and to control manufacturing processes. One of the largest manufacturers was the Veeder-Root company, and their name was often used for this type of counter. [1] Mechanical counters can be made into electromechanical counters, that count electrical impulses, by adding a small solenoid.

Contents

History

An odometer for measuring distance was first described by Vitruvius around 27 and 23 BC, although the actual inventor may have been Archimedes of Syracuse (c. 287 BC – c. 212 BC). It was based on chariot wheels turning 400 times in one Roman mile. For each revolution a pin on the axle engaged a 400 tooth cogwheel, thus turning it one complete revolution per mile. This engaged another gear with holes along the circumference, where pebbles ( calculus ) were located, that were to drop one by one into a box. The distance traveled would thus be given simply by counting the number of pebbles. [2]

The odometer was also independently invented in ancient China, possibly by the profuse inventor and early scientist Zhang Heng (78 AD – 139 AD) of the Han Dynasty (202 BC–220 AD). By the 3rd century (during the Three Kingdoms Period), the Chinese had termed the device as the 'jì lĭ gŭ chē' (記里鼓車), or 'li-recording drum carriage' [3] Chinese texts of the 3rd century tell of the mechanical carriage's functions, and as one li is traversed, a mechanical-driven wooden figure strikes a drum, and when ten li is traversed, another wooden figure would strike a gong or a bell with its mechanical-operated arm. [3]

Examples

Related Research Articles

In digital logic and computing, a counter is a device which stores the number of times a particular event or process has occurred, often in relationship to a clock. The most common type is a sequential digital logic circuit with an input line called the clock and multiple output lines. The values on the output lines represent a number in the binary or BCD number system. Each pulse applied to the clock input increments or decrements the number in the counter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zhang Heng</span> Chinese scientist and statesman (78–139)

Zhang Heng, formerly romanized Chang Heng, was a Chinese polymathic scientist and statesman who lived during the Han dynasty. Educated in the capital cities of Luoyang and Chang'an, he achieved success as an astronomer, mathematician, seismologist, hydraulic engineer, inventor, geographer, cartographer, ethnographer, artist, poet, philosopher, politician, and literary scholar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Odometer</span> Instrument used for measuring the distance traveled by a vehicle

An odometer or odograph is an instrument used for measuring the distance traveled by a vehicle, such as a bicycle or car. The device may be electronic, mechanical, or a combination of the two (electromechanical). The noun derives from ancient Greek ὁδόμετρον, hodómetron, from ὁδός, hodós and μέτρον, métron ("measure"). Early forms of the odometer existed in the ancient Greco-Roman world as well as in ancient China. In countries using Imperial units or US customary units it is sometimes called a mileometer or milometer, the former name especially being prevalent in the United Kingdom and among members of the Commonwealth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Watermill</span> Structure that uses a water wheel or turbine

A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in the production of many material goods, including flour, lumber, paper, textiles, and many metal products. These watermills may comprise gristmills, sawmills, paper mills, textile mills, hammermills, trip hammering mills, rolling mills, and wire drawing mills.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Water wheel</span> Machine for converting the energy of flowing or falling water into useful forms of power

A water wheel is a machine for converting the energy of flowing or falling water into useful forms of power, often in a watermill. A water wheel consists of a wheel, with a number of blades or buckets arranged on the outside rim forming the driving car. Water wheels were still in commercial use well into the 20th century, but they are no longer in common use today. Uses included milling flour in gristmills, grinding wood into pulp for papermaking, hammering wrought iron, machining, ore crushing and pounding fibre for use in the manufacture of cloth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wheelbarrow</span> Small hand-propelled vehicle

A wheelbarrow is a small hand-propelled load-bearing vehicle, usually with just one wheel, designed to be pushed and guided by a single person using two handles at the rear. The term "wheelbarrow" is made of two words: "wheel" and "barrow." "Barrow" is a derivation of the Old English "barew" which was a device used for carrying loads.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crank (mechanism)</span> Simple machine transferring motion to or from a rotating shaft at a distance from the centreline

A crank is an arm attached at a right angle to a rotating shaft by which circular motion is imparted to or received from the shaft. When combined with a connecting rod, it can be used to convert circular motion into reciprocating motion, or vice versa. The arm may be a bent portion of the shaft, or a separate arm or disk attached to it. Attached to the end of the crank by a pivot is a rod, usually called a connecting rod (conrod).

The chain pump is type of a water pump in which several circular discs are positioned on an endless chain. One part of the chain dips into the water, and the chain runs through a tube, slightly bigger than the diameter of the discs. As the chain is drawn up the tube, water becomes trapped between the discs and is lifted to and discharged at the top. Chain pumps were used for centuries in the ancient Middle East, Europe, and China.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yi Xing</span> 8th-century Buddhist monk and astronomer

Yi Xing, born Zhang Sui, was a Chinese astronomer, Buddhist monk, inventor, mathematician, mechanical engineer, and philosopher during the Tang dynasty. His astronomical celestial globe featured a liquid-driven escapement, the first in a long tradition of Chinese astronomical clockworks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lu Ban</span> 5th-century BC Chinese engineer and inventor

Lu Ban was a Chinese architect or master carpenter, structural engineer, and inventor, during the Zhou Dynasty. He is revered as the Chinese Deity (Patron) of builders and contractors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South-pointing chariot</span> Chinese two-wheeled chariot

The south-pointing chariot was an ancient Chinese two-wheeled vehicle that carried a movable pointer to indicate the south, no matter how the chariot turned. Usually, the pointer took the form of a doll or figure with an outstretched arm. The chariot was supposedly used as a compass for navigation and may also have had other purposes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Su Song</span> Polymath (1020–1101)

Su Song, courtesy name Zirong, was a Chinese polymathic scientist and statesman. Excelling in a variety of fields, he was accomplished in mathematics, astronomy, cartography, geography, horology, pharmacology, mineralogy, metallurgy, zoology, botany, mechanical engineering, hydraulic engineering, civil engineering, invention, art, poetry, philosophy, antiquities, and statesmanship during the Song dynasty (960–1279).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cyclocomputer</span> Bicycle device

A cyclocomputer, cycle computer, cycling computer or cyclometer is a device mounted on a bicycle that calculates and displays trip information, similar to the instruments in the dashboard of a car. The computer with display, or head unit, usually is attached to the handlebar for easy viewing. Some GPS watches can also be used as display.

Ma Jun, courtesy name Deheng, was a Chinese mechanical engineer, inventor, and politician who lived in the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China. His most notable invention was that of the south-pointing chariot, a directional compass vehicle which actually had no magnetic function, but was operated by use of differential gears. It is because of this revolutionary device that Ma Jun is known as one of the most brilliant mechanical engineers and inventors of his day. The device was re-invented by many after Ma Jun, including the astronomer and mathematician Zu Chongzhi (429–500). In the later medieval dynastic periods, Ma Jun's south-pointing chariot was combined in a single device with the distance-measuring odometer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hubometer</span> Axle-mounted distance measuring device

A hubometer or hubodometer, is a device mounted on the axle of any land vehicle to measure the distance traveled by a vehicle based on the rotations of the wheel hub.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Science and technology of the Song dynasty</span> Aspect of Chinese history

The Song dynasty witnessed many substantial scientific and technological advances in Chinese history. Some of these advances and innovations were the products of talented statesmen and scholar-officials drafted by the government through imperial examinations. Shen Kuo (1031–1095), author of the Dream Pool Essays, is a prime example, an inventor and pioneering figure who introduced many new advances in Chinese astronomy and mathematics, establishing the concept of true north in the first known experiments with the magnetic compass. However, commoner craftsmen such as Bi Sheng (972–1051), the inventor of movable type printing, were also heavily involved in technical innovations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Field mill (carriage)</span>

A field mill, also known as a camp mill, was a premodern vehicle which acted as a mobile mill used for grinding grains, which had the very practical use of feeding a moving army.

Gilbarco Inc., doing business as Gilbarco Veeder-Root, is a supplier of fuel dispensers, point of sales systems, payment systems, forecourt merchandising and support services. The company operates as a subsidiary of Vontier and its headquarters are in Greensboro, North Carolina, United States. It employs approximately 4,000 people worldwide, with sales, manufacturing, research, development, and service locations in North and South America, Europe, Asia, the Pacific Rim, Australia, the Middle East and Africa.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Science and technology of the Tang dynasty</span>

The Tang dynasty (618–907) of ancient China witnessed many advancements in Chinese science and technology, with various developments in woodblock printing, timekeeping, mechanical engineering, medicine, and structural engineering.

References

  1. VR History, Veeder.
  2. Sleeswyk, Andre, Vitruvius' odometer, Scientific American, vol. 252, no. 4, pages 188-200 (October 1981)
  3. 1 2 Needham, Volume 4, 281.

Further reading