Dalton Adding Machine mechanism and operation

Pictures of the digital mechanical adding machine.

The machine now viewed from the front, operator view with the large lever at the right. After entering a number, pulling the lever all the way forward enters it into the machine and records it on the paper. The printing mechanism is of the rising segments type, as would I think be fairly common in cash registers and similar machines.

The insides of the machine viewed from the right-hand side. The body panels at the sides come off by sliding forward to unlock. The rear panel comes off also by sliding. This gives access to the main parts of the mechanism. The part that looks like a carriage (it actually is a carriage) surrounded by a frame that takes centre stage in the picture is the number buffer that records the digits as they are entered. When new the mechanism would have been very striking, all shiny and polished with a circular swirl pattern. (Edit update: in 2024 refurbished a Dalton that is all shiny with the swirly Damaskeen finish.)

As digits are entered, the buffer carriage indexes towards the left, to be ready to take another digit in the next decimal position. Here the carriage is moved all the way to the left, the buffer is full.

The serial number NO201609 is on the frame below the lever spindle. From what I've been able to find on the internet, this serial number is towards the end of the range for these machines making this a machine from about 1926. (Edit: more likely from 1930 - 1931.)

As the lever needs to be pulled with some zest and force to operate the mechanism, it is quite long and has a large spring and/or dampener as well. This buffer (the large diagonal tube) almost fits inside the machine, needing a cut-out in the top covering. The totals register is toward the top of the machine, almost visible behind the tube.

When entering a number on the keyboard, there is a display that shows how many digits were entered. Not the number that was entered, but the number of positions. This is by dots, behind a transparent window (now less transparent than it was when new).

(Edit update: having learned a lot more, a new post on how to operate these machines in 2024.)

Here with 4 digits entered (e.g. 24.95 - the machine assumes a decimal currency format).

Here with a full buffer, 8 digits entered.

And again with an empty buffer, no digits. The buffer is emptied when entering the number by pulling the lever. It can also be emptied by pressing the large 'correction' key, this slides the buffer all the way back to the right and clears all digits. (The black spot shown at the left in the window is corrosion or dirt, not one of the dots.)

The keys are labeled with the numbers in black, when entering a number to subtract the complement numbers need to be entered. These are labeled in red on the keys. Press down the subtract key to do subtract the number from the total.

The keys on the front panel of the machine set the machine for doing a total or a sub-total. The sub total does not clear the result buffer when entering the next number, so you can keep adding numbers. One thing that takes a while to figure out with this machine, is that it needs one extra pull of the lever before it is ready to do a total. This adds of course an extra line on the paper (extra paper feed) and I think it is needed to clear and align the mechanism for the printing of the total that is kept in the sum register. Having done one 'enter' without any digits entered, the totals keys are unblocked and can be pressed down. The next pull of the lever prints the calculated total on the paper, the digits are printed with an asterisk behind it to indicate it is a sum.

The release key is the 'undo' of selecting to do a total.

The multiply on the keyboard is a bit of a misnomer, this simply allows for multiple additions. Keep count and pull the lever repeatedly. Pressing down this key prevents the input buffer and the sum-register from being cleared after an addition.

The simple printing mechanism has a key that disables the printing. The printing is actually the only way to read the calculated totals, so that is a bit of an odd option.

The printer has 9 segments that slide upwards to select the correct digit. The right-most does not print digits, but the extra symbol to indicate it is a total or sub-total. It really needs a fresh ribbon, but faintly it shows the sum of 25.92 and 6.10 to be 32.02.

Probably there's an operating instructions booklet for this machine out there on the internet somewhere, but haven't found any yet. Actually the service and repair manual for this machine should be an order of magnitude more complex and interesting. For now, just hope nothing breaks.

Digital machinery

The inside of the Dalton Adding Machine looks slightly better than the outside. Only slightly.

On the plus side and impressively - it still fully functions. No stuck keys or stubborn carry, the printing unit still works fine even. Doubly impressive because it is a very complex mechanism and an early piece of digital information technology. It has a worrying amount of springs to keep it all working. Compared to this machine, a typewriter is simplicity itself.

The drawings of a couple of patents for the machine really illustrate the complexity inside of these digital machines. These pictures also are much easier to view than the machine itself. (I'm not going to dare to dismantle the mechanism from its frame!)

A top and rearview of the machine from this same US patent publication 517,383 are equally dazzling.

Not that is obvious at first glance at the drawings, but it is a rocking-segment adding machine with a mechanism to enable 10-key entry. This '10-key' keyboard means the machine does not have 10 keys for every digit position, but actually does move the entered number up when adding a digit. At every adding (pull of the lever), the number entered in the buffer is added to the accumulator register. All done by the rocking segment gears with proper carry and correct.

The 10-key entry also means it has a backspace key. A backspace key that actually does erase! Pressing backspace deletes the last digit from memory (the buffer) and moves all previously entered digits one position to the right again.

Several more patents were sought and published for the Dalton machine. Some pictures from another, later publication show the outline of the machine filled with the mechanics.

Just hoping nothing will snap in there; this would be a repair job that is way beyond adjusting a carriage :)

Keys to Electri-conomy

Promotional film by Remington Rand.   (Came across it on the Archive, hadn't seen it before there.)

A short (~25 mins) movie with lots of period office scenes, I'm guessing it is from around 1950. Also lots of typewriters of course with the machines being used in ernest; there would be of course - the reason of the whole movie is typewriters.

Even though the full 25 minutes of it tried to convince me of the merit of electrics, I still quite like the manuals.

But then I'm not needing them to do 'production typing'.

:)

Used book

Manufactured in Cincinnati

Made around 1926 I estimate. Serial number NO201609. Looks like it's been in a battle (and came out badly), but it still works fine! Have now had it 10 years or so, a gift from my in-laws (they know me :)

Scratches to the logo probably from an old cleaning attempt of the lettering...

Much of the original woodgrain finish now blends with the brown of surface rust. Nevertheless the mechanism is still oiled well, all springs still attached and working magnificently.

The adding machine adds, subtracts and prints just as it was designed to do.

(The number of ads for adding machine repair men in newspapers of the time make me fear for the mechanism to go wrong. Touching wood.) 

The rise and decline

The rise and decline of the typewriter that is. 

After its gradual invention in the latter half of the 19th century the typewriter as a device equally gradually enters the consciousness of society. By the turn of the century already it is a well-known term and it has achieved a steady presence by 1920. (The 19th century data may be under-reported, being diluted by type-writer and other variations.)

After about 1985 the typewriter rapidly fades from view again, being superseded by the computer as a tool to create printed matter.

The graph that shows the typewriter's steady presence over much of the 20th century is from Google's n-gram viewer. This is a great example of a new tool made possible only by the advances in information processing and storage technology. As a result of the Google project to scan books, a very large body of text from books from several languages over several decades is now available as searchable, digital text. The n-gram tool is introduced and explained in this TED talk, highly recommended if you have twenty minutes or so to spare.

Using this n-gram tool on the English body of text from 1870 to 2000 gives some more information also on e.g. the emergence of the term 'portable typewriter'. The graph shows the portable entering later, matching perhaps the introduction of the first successful model with the Corona around 1912. The odd dip in the mid twenties is also present in the 'typewriter' n-gram, unclear what (if anything) this signifies. This might be a skew in the corpus subject matter; perhaps more novels and fewer magazines and technical publications. (The skew does not show in some other 'technical' terms though.)

Typewriter related terms, such as 'backspace' and 'shift key' begin showing up around the same time that the typewriter becomes mainstream. The prevalence of these terms is probably too low for variations over the decades to have any significant meaning. One pattern that however does stand out is that both terms really gain significance after about 1985. Whilst these terms were (probably) created from the invention of the typewriter, these really take off from their meaning in the realm of computers.

The n-gram for the word 'computer' matches this. Having been a niche term, the computer becomes gradually better known from about 1950 on and steadily rises in the public consciousness. The computer really becomes mainstream and a household word from about 1980. Around that time the computer is not only for (large) companies anymore, but becomes a household tool that can also be used to create printed matter. I think the n-gram probably reflects that. (Though a bias in scanned material could seriously skew here; e.g. including Dr Dobbs instead of a general interest magazine would have an impact.)

The computer is of course more than a tool to create printed texts. It is a ubiquitous tool for a wide range of information tasks. As such it is understandable that the computer has a much higher share of the body of text and share of the public consciousness. The typewriter as a term hovers around the 0.0003 percent mark, the computer seems to level off at a full 0.01 percent!

Fitting then that it is the computer that make such graphs about typewriters possible.

One more thing noticeable about the n-gram for the typewriter is that even in 2000 it still has not dropped entirely out of the public mind. The later data may be slightly less reliable, but might the graph suggest a slowing of the drop? A hint of an upward trend in the typewriter?

:)

Better than good is

Fine as a watch mechanism
Solid as a rock
Better than is good

Picked up from the local Ebay for a small payment and a 5 minute bike ride. A blotter of thick paper printed with the Underwood advertisement on the front. From the style of the graphic and the typeface I guess this is almost a century old.

On the scan those rays show as a greenish-brown, but that is actually printed in gold metallic ink. With the now faded orange and the deep red that would have been quite striking when new. Also fairly expensive to print I think. But at Hfl 325 the machine is not cheap either. It is hard to translate such amounts to modern context, but I guess this would today be in the range of the price of a car.

The advertisement text extolls the virtue of the machine; that it is very good. (Debatable if being better than good is a good thing, but we'll let that pass :)  It does not have a differentiating feature or other unique selling point compared to other typewriters, it just claims superiority in being a typewriter.

It is the star, as it is in this radiant graphic...