single pivot multimeter
Datecirca 1910
Inventory Number0280a,b
ClassificationMultimeter
Subject
Maker
Robert W. Paul Instrument Company
1891 - 1919
Supplier
James G. Biddle Company
fl. 1890 - 1950
Cultural Region
Place of Origin
Dimensions20.9 × 20 × 8.1 cm (8 1/4 × 7 7/8 × 3 3/16 in.)
Material
DescriptionAn electric measuring device made of a case with a shape that is the combination of a square bottom and a fan-shaped top, in a silver metal color. The bottom part has two brass binding posts on its sides, and a large round window with a brass frame through which one sees the instrument's mechanism, a coil. The fan-shaped top of the instrument has a large window with an arc-shaped scale behind. The instrument has two ranges, one in millivolts from 0 to 12, the other in microamps, from 0 to 120. Below the scale is a reflecting band and its pointer is a straight needle.
The instrument is stored in a hinged wooden box with its bottom third padded in green felt. It is locked by two small metal hooks and has a metal handle on top.
The instrument is stored in a hinged wooden box with its bottom third padded in green felt. It is locked by two small metal hooks and has a metal handle on top.
Signedbelow scale: PATENT SINGLE PIVOT. / Robt. W. Paul London, N. / ENGLAND / RES: 100 OHMS No. 797 / AT 16°
case marked: IMPORTED BY JAMES G. BIDDLE PHILADELPHIA, U.S.A.
Inscribedcase marked: PROPERTY OF HARVARD ENGINEERING SCHOOL [and] HARVARD UNIVERSITY 995
on inside of lid handwritten in chalk: Mo / Ig
Function"Based on Jacques Arsène D'Arsonval's moving coil galvanometer, manufactured on a large scale by the Weston Electrical Instrument Company of Newark, New Jersey, Paul devised an instrument in which the moving parts were supported on a single bearing, giving lower friction and therefore greater sensitivity. Other unipivot instruments followed. His instruments gained international recognition, winning gold medals at the 1904 St Louis Exposition and the 1910 Brussels Exhibition."
From Paul's biography at the Institution of Engineering and Technology, online here.
This particular one is designed to measure both current and voltage.
From Paul's biography at the Institution of Engineering and Technology, online here.
This particular one is designed to measure both current and voltage.
ProvenanceOriginally from the Harvard Engineering School. Removed to this collection 11/1956.
Jewell Electrical Instrument Company
Date: 1930-1960
Object number: 1997-1-1019
Weston Electrical Instrument Corporation
Date: circa 1923
Accessories: standardization certificiate (1923) inside lid
Object number: 1997-1-0335
Weston Electrical Instrument Corporation
Date: circa 1929
Accessories: lid of box can be removed; small paper tag loose inside box with assembly & inspection info; standardization certificate (1929) on inside of lid
Object number: 2003-1-0039
See also/See also
