Grant Grasshopper Calculating Machine
date: label: date made
content: 1896
name: label: maker
content: Grant Calculating Machine Company
notes: label: Description
content: This lever-set, non-printing manually operated connection pawl calculating machine has an open iron frame with steel and brass parts and paper labels. Five pins at the front of the machine slide back to set numbers. Next to each pin is a thin strip of paper that has the digits from 0 to 9 printed on it, the digits increasing toward the back of the machine. Each strip also has complementary digits in smaller type, for use in subtraction and division. Moving back a pin drives back a toothed rack.
label: Description
content: Behind the racks is a movable carriage with 11 gears on it. A paper strip with digits on it is next to each gear. Turning a crank at the front right of the machine moves the racks back so that they engage the gears, turning each one of them in proportion to the number set.
label: Description
content: This machine has a pin which can be set to prevent the crank from turning. When the adding frame reaches the end of its backward movement, a cam set on the crank shaft at the front raises all the register gears a little so that the gears are disengaged from the racks and not moved in the return motion.
label: Description
content: The cam on this machine is smaller than on other Grant grasshopper machines. One tooth on each gear extends so that when the gear has made a complete rotation, it engages one of the carry teeth arranged on a spiral shaft above the carriage. As the adding racks return to position, the shaft revolves and the carry tooth pushes the next gear up by one, resulting in a carry. Releasing the carriage and turning it one revolution zeros the result shaft.
label: Description
content: The carriage on this machine appears to be frozen in place. An aluminum support at the back causes the top to slope forward.
label: Description
content: A paper tag to the right of the pins for setting up numbers reads: Grant Calculating Machine Company (/) LEXINGTON, MASS., U.S.A. (/) MACHINE NUMBER 41 M.
label: Description
content: Compare MA.310647, MA.310648, MA.323615 and MA.335633.
label: Description
content: This machine is from the collection of L. Leland Locke.
label: Description
content: References:
label: Description
content: <I> Machinery</I>, October, 1895.
label: Description
content: E. Martin, <I>The Calculating Machines (Die Rechenmaschinen)</I>, trans. P. A. Kidwell and M. R. Williams, Cambridge: MIT Press, 1992, p. 77.
label: Description
content: G. B. Grant, "Calculating-Machine," U. S. Patent 605,288 (June 7, 1898).
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Massachusetts, Lexington
topic: label: Subject
content: Mathematics
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Mathematics
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content: Calculating Machines
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content: Science & Mathematics
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content: Mathematical Association of America Objects
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of L. Leland Locke
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: MA.311941
label: catalog number
content: 311941
label: accession number
content: 155183
label: maker number
content: 41M
objectType: label: Object Name
content: calculating machine
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: iron (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: steel (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: brass (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: paper (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: aluminum (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 19.1 cm x 24.5 cm x 24.5 cm; 7 17/32 in x 9 21/32 in x 9 21/32 in