Object Details
- Sharp Corporation
- Description
- In the second half of the 1970s, taking advantage of the introduction of liquid crystal displays, manufacturers of handheld electronic calculators designed and built ever-thinner products. This is an early example of a Sharp calculator in which the usual keys had been replaced by a single thin plastic membrane. This reduces the thickness of the calculator itself to about .5 cm (about 1/4”). Pushing numbers on such a calculator produces no tactile sensation. To give users a sense that they indeed had entered information, the calculator could be set so that a tone sounded whenever a digit or function was entered. Pushing the section of the membrane with a musical note on it (called the sensor key) activated this part of the calculator. The calculator has a total of twenty-two “keys” In addition to the sensor key, these include ten digit keys, a decimal point key, a total key, four arithmetic function keys, four memory keys, a square root key, a % key, and a clear entry key. Behind these are keys for off and on/clear. Text next to these two keys reads: SHARP (/) ELECTRONIC CALCULATOR (/) ELSI MATE EL-8130A. Behind this is the eight-digit LCD display.
- Text on the back of the calculator reads: ELECTRONIC CALCULATOR EL-8130A. It also reads: NO. 87547779 BM (/) SHARP CORPORATION MADE IN JAPAN. The most recent U.S. patent number listed is 3976994, a patent issued in 1976 and assigned to Sharp.
- The calculator has a black leather case. Text on the front of it reads: SHARP (/) ELECTRONIC CALCULATOR.
- Sharp membrane calculators in the collections include 1997.0032.01 (Sharp EL-8152 or EL-8152A), 1987.0435.13 (Sharp EL-8130A), and 1986.0988.316 (Sharp EL-8145).
- Reference:
- [Advertisement], Los Angeles Times, December 8, 1977, p. WS6. New model EL-8130 calculator selling for $29.95 (no advertisement found for EL-8130A).
- Location
- Currently not on view
- Credit Line
- Gift of John B. Priser
- 1977-1978
- ID Number
- 1987.0435.13
- catalog number
- 1987.0435.13
- accession number
- 1987.0435
- Object Name
- electronic calculator
- Physical Description
- metal (case material)
- glass (display material)
- leather (wallet material)
- plastic (membrane material)
- Measurements
- overall: 1/8 in x 2 3/4 in x 4 7/8 in; .3175 cm x 6.985 cm x 12.3825 cm
- place made
- Japan
- See more items in
- Medicine and Science: Computers
- Computers & Business Machines
- Handheld Electronic Calculators
- National Museum of American History
- Record ID
- nmah_214337
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746a0-ebdc-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
