Analog Computing Component - Oldham Coupling
date: label: date made
content: ca 1925-1955
name: label: maker
content: Ford Instrument Company
notes: label: Description
content: This is an example of a steel Oldham coupling. An Oldham coupling, named for the Irish engineer John Oldham (1779-1840) who invented it, consists of three discs, one coupled to the input of a mechanical device, one to the output, and one in the middle that is joined to the others by tongue and groove. There also is a spring between on outer disc and the middle one to reduce backlash. A mark on one disc reads: 146353 10. A mark on the center disc (which is linked to the other outer disc) reads: 1463 53 11. According to the donor: “This type of coupling is used for quick dissociation of a unit and has some compensation for shaft mis-alignment. Used on various Range Keepers, Computers and other equipment.”
label: Description
content: This museum number also includes an adjustable hub Oldham coupling disc. A mark on the side of it reads: A-44.
label: Description
content: References:
label: Description
content: “Coupling,” <I>Wikipedia</I>, accessed February 27, 20.
label: Description
content: Accession File.
label: Description
content: K.C. Epstein, <I>Analog Superpowers: How Twentieth Century Technology Theft Built the National Security State<I>, Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 2024.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: New York, Queens, Long Island City
topic: label: Subject
content: Mathematics
setName: label: See more items in
content: Medicine and Science: Mathematics
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Ford Instrument Company, Division of Sperry Rand Corporation
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 1982.0751.21
label: catalog number
content: 1982.0751.21
label: accession number
content: 1982.0751
objectType: label: Object Name
content: analog computing component
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: steel (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: bronze (bearing hole material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 4 cm x 2.8 cm x 2.8 cm; 1 9/16 in x 1 3/32 in x 1 3/32 in