Revolution Counter by A. Sainte of Paris
date: label: date made
content: ca 1880
name: label: maker
content: A. Sainte
notes: label: Description
content: This portable revolution counter has a handle at one end. The point at the other end is pressed against the end of the axis of the shaft whose revolutions are counted. In between are two wheels. When the lower wheel turns once, the upper wheel moves one tenth of its circumference. The edges of both wheels are divided into 100 equal parts. Each tenth division is numbered.
label: Description
content: The lower wheel is labeled: TENS. Its divisions are numbered clockwise from 0 to 9 on the inside, and counterclockwise from 0 to 9 on the outside. The upper wheel is labeled: HUNDREDS. Its divisions are numbered counterclockwise from 0 to 9 on the inside and clockwise from 0 to 9 on the outside. A spring disengages the wheels to allow zeroing.
label: Description
content: A mark on the back of one wheel reads: A. Sainte (/) A Paris.
label: Description
content: The end of the shaft has three attachments. The instrument also has a metal weight and fits into a velvet and satin-lined case.
label: Description
content: By counting the number of revolutions of the shaft of a steam engine and knowing the steam pressure and the properties of the engine, steam engineers could compute the horsepower of the engine. A. Sainte patented a device for this purpose in 1877, and exhibited it at the Exhibition Universelle held in Paris in 1878. A form of the device was still being manufactured as late as 1903.
label: Description
content: References:
label: Description
content: J. Buchetti, <I>Engine Tests and Boiler Efficiencies</I>, trans. Alexander Russell, Westminster: Archibald Constable, 1903, pp. 120-123.
label: Description
content: Science Museum, <I>Catalogue of the Mechanical Engineering Collection of the Science Museum South Kensington</I>, London: HIs Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1919, pp. 234-235.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: France: Île-de-France, Paris
topic: label: Subject
content: Mathematics
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Mathematics
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content: Counters
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content: Science & Mathematics
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1990.0316.01
label: accession number
content: 1990.0316
label: catalog number
content: 1990.0316.01
objectType: label: Object Name
content: counter, analog
label: Object Name
content: counter
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: cloth (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: metal (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 2.7 cm x 14.3 cm x 7.8 cm; 1 1/16 in x 5 5/8 in x 3 1/16 in