Burns Addometer
date: label: date made
content: 1858
name: label: maker
content: Burns, Jabez
notes: label: Description
content: This U.S. patent model for a lever-set non-printing adding machine has wooden sides and metal covers for the back and the lower front. Four large toothed wheels are used for setting numbers, with five registering wheels in front and below these. Between each of the large wheels is a strip of metal; the digits from 0 to 9 are indicated along the edges of these strips. Each of the four right registering wheels is attached to a spur wheel with ten teeth that meshes with a large toothed wheel. Placing a finger in one of the teeth of a large wheel and rotating it forward advances the registering wheel proportionally. The number entered is visible in a row of windows at the front of the model. The four registering wheels to the left have on their left side a ring of ten equidistant pins that are used in carrying.
label: Description
content: The patent tag for the machine reads: 21243 (/) J. Burns (/) Addometer (/) Patented Aug 24 (/) 1858 (/) Calculator.
label: Description
content: On March 26, 1867, Jabez Burns of New York City took out U.S. Patent 52934 for an improved powder mixer. The model for this patent is in the Medical Sciences collection of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. It seems likely that this is the same person who invented the addometer and the same Jabez Burns who was born in Ireland in about 1827, came to new York at age 18 in January of 1845, and worked variously as a cartman, peddler, accountant, and inventor. He had a son, also called Jabez Burns.
label: Description
content: References:
label: Description
content: Jabez Burns, "Addometer," U.S. Patent 21243, August 24, 1858.
label: Description
content: U.S. Census records 1850, 1860. Civil War draft regisration records, June, 1863. New York City directories.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: New York, New York City
topic: label: Subject
content: Mathematics
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Mathematics
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content: Adding Machines
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content: Science & Mathematics
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: MA.308911
label: accession number
content: 89797
label: catalog number
content: 308911
objectType: label: Object Name
content: adding machine model
label: Object Type
content: Patent Model
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: tin (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: brass (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: paper (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 16 cm x 38.7 cm x 12.2 cm; 6 5/16 in x 15 1/4 in x 4 13/16 in