overall: .2 cm x 13.3 cm x 9.3 cm; 3/32 in x 5 1/4 in x 3 21/32 in
Object Name:
analog computing component
Place made:
United States: New York, Queens, Long Island City
Date made:
ca 1932 -1945
Description:
This aluminum piece includes a linear gear or rack and an indentation that serves as a cam. There also are five holes. A mark next to the rack reads: DRIFT (/) 8 IN. 55CAL. 260LB. H.C. PROJ. (/) 2600 F.W.I.V. 1/25 TWIST (/) O.P. 992 JULY 1943.
Ford Instrument Company built devices like this one a part of mechanisms that carried out calculations (analog computing devices). According to the accession file, this component was used either in the Mark VIII Range Keeper or the Computer Mark 3.
References:
A.B. Clymer, "The Mechanical Analog Computers of Hannibal Ford and William Newell," <I>Annals of the History of Computing</I>, 15, #2, 1993, 19-34.
