The IBM 1627 was a rebranded

Calcomp plotter Calcomp plotters (sometimes referred to as CalComp plotters) were the best known products of the California Computer Products company ( Calcomp or CalComp). Overview The Calcomp 565 drum plotter, introduced in 1959, was one of the first comput ...

sold by

IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...

for use with the

IBM 1620 The IBM 1620 was a model of scientific minicomputer produced by IBM. It was announced on October 21, 1959, and was then marketed as an inexpensive scientific computer. After a total production of about two thousand machines, it was withdrawn on N ...

, and, later, the IBM 1130 computers. It became perhaps the first non-IBM peripheral that IBM allowed to be attached to one of its computers. The plotter fed a roll of paper with perforated edges over a drum with matching sprockets at the sides. The drum could move the paper forward and backward (the X-axis). A pen holder slid horizontally over the paper (the Y-axis). Both the drum and the pen holder were controlled by

stepper motor A stepper motor, also known as step motor or stepping motor,Clarence W. de Silva. Mechatronics: An Integrated Approach (2005). CRC Press. p. 675. "The terms ''stepper motor'', ''stepping motor'', and ''step motor'' are synonymous and are often u ...

s. Commands included lowering the pen down to write and raising it up, and moving the drum or the pen holder one step of in either direction. There were also commands to move the drum and pen together one step in the four diagonal directions. The standard size 1627 Model 1 was a Calcomp model 565 plotter and used 12-inch-wide paper (305 mm) with a plotting area of . Model 1 could operate at 18,000 steps per minute. Model 2 was a Calcomp 563 and used 31-inch-wide paper (787 mm) with a plotting area of . Model 2 could operate at 12,000 steps per minute. The paper rolls were long. A metal bar above the take-up reel allowed a finished plot to be torn off and removed. The drum would then be advanced using the manual controls and the fresh paper end taped to the take-up reel. The standard pen was a ball-point, but liquid ink pens were available, and typically used for higher quality plots intended for publication. Other paper stock could be taped to the drum if desired. A chart drive switch was provided to turn off the motorized paper supply and take-up reels for this purpose.

References

IBM 1627 documentation

External links

Photo of 1627 attached to an IBM 1620
at the Seattle World's Fair in 1962
Photo of Calcomp 565 plotter at Stuttgart Computer MuseumA working Calcomp 565 on Youtube.com
{{Compu-hardware-stub 1627 1627