Powers-Samas
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Unit record equipment, cipher machines |
| Predecessor | Powers Tabulating Machine Company (European branch) |
| Founded | 1915 |
| Defunct | 1959 |
| Fate | Merged with British Tabulating Machine Company to form International Computers and Tabulators (ICT) |
| Headquarters | United Kingdom |
| Products | Unit record equipment, Typex cipher machines |
Powers-Samas was a UK-based firm that specialized in unit record equipment.
The Accounting and Tabulating Machine Company of Great Britain Limited was established in 1915 as the European branch of the Powers Tabulating Machine Company. In 1929, this entity was renamed Powers-Samas Accounting Machines Limited. The name Samas—an abbreviation of Société Anonyme des Machines à Statistiques—had been used by Powers' French sales subsidiary since 1922. Despite the official change, the colloquial term "Acc and Tab" continued to be commonly used.
Throughout World War II, Powers-Samas manufactured substantial numbers of Typex cipher devices, which were adaptations of the German Enigma machine, for use by British military forces and governmental departments. In 1959, Powers-Samas merged with its competitor, the British Tabulating Machine Company (BTM), resulting in the formation of International Computers and Tabulators (ICT).
Description
Unlike IBM’s electrically based card hole detection, Powers-Samas equipment identified punched card holes through mechanical means. When pins passed through these holes, they engaged mechanical linkages that initiated printing, counting, or control operations.
Setting up the machines required assembling a complex system of mechanical connections. A detachable Y-shaped "connection box," located above the reading mechanism, connected matrix pins to print mechanisms, counters, or control elements. Each connection box was custom-wired for specific tasks, allowing sophisticated functions such as multiple actuations or combined code punching. Sales engineers were responsible for designing and configuring these linkage systems, while experienced Powers technicians carried out the precise assembly of these intricate mechanical networks.
Powers-Samas machines accommodated a variety of punched card dimensions and formats—ranging from 21 to 130 columns—with the 40-column card (measuring 4.35 by 2 inches) being the most widely utilized.
Further reading
- an ICL anthology: Anecdotes and recollections from the people of ICL, edited by Hamish Carmichael, Laidaw Hicks, 1996, pp. 23–40
- Harry P. Cemach, The Elements of Punched Card Accounting, Pitman, 1951