The
IBM 1627 was a
rebrandedRebranding is the process by which a product or service developed with one brand, company or product line affiliation is marketed or distributed with a different identity. This may involve radical changes to the brand's logo, brand name, image, marketing strategy, and advertising themes...
Calcomp plotterThe Calcomp 560 drum plotter, introduced in 1959, was one of the first computer graphics output devices sold. The computer could control in 0.01 inch increments the rotation of an 11 inch wide drum and the horizontal movement of a pen holder over the drum. A solenoid could press the pen against...
sold by
IBMInternational Business Machines Corporation, abbreviated IBM, is a multinational computer technology and IT consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, Town of North Castle, New York, United States. The company is one of the few information technology companies with a continuous history dating...
for use with the
IBM 1620The IBM 1620 was announced by IBM on October 21, 1959 and marketed as an inexpensive "scientific computer". After a total production of about two thousand machines, it was withdrawn on November 19, 1970...
, and, later, the
IBM 1130The IBM 1130 Computing System was introduced in 1965. It was IBM's least-expensive computer to date, and was aimed at price-sensitive, computing-intensive technical markets like education and engineering. It succeeded the IBM 1620 in that market segment. The IBM 1800 was a process control variant...
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).
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The
IBM 1627 was a
rebrandedRebranding is the process by which a product or service developed with one brand, company or product line affiliation is marketed or distributed with a different identity. This may involve radical changes to the brand's logo, brand name, image, marketing strategy, and advertising themes...
Calcomp plotterThe Calcomp 560 drum plotter, introduced in 1959, was one of the first computer graphics output devices sold. The computer could control in 0.01 inch increments the rotation of an 11 inch wide drum and the horizontal movement of a pen holder over the drum. A solenoid could press the pen against...
sold by
IBMInternational Business Machines Corporation, abbreviated IBM, is a multinational computer technology and IT consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, Town of North Castle, New York, United States. The company is one of the few information technology companies with a continuous history dating...
for use with the
IBM 1620The IBM 1620 was announced by IBM on October 21, 1959 and marketed as an inexpensive "scientific computer". After a total production of about two thousand machines, it was withdrawn on November 19, 1970...
, and, later, the
IBM 1130The IBM 1130 Computing System was introduced in 1965. It was IBM's least-expensive computer to date, and was aimed at price-sensitive, computing-intensive technical markets like education and engineering. It succeeded the IBM 1620 in that market segment. The IBM 1800 was a process control variant...
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 motorA stepper motor is a brushless, synchronous electric motor that can divide a full rotation into a large number of steps. The motor's position can be controlled precisely, without any feedback mechanism...
s. Commands included lowering the pen down to write and raising it up, and moving the drum or the pen holder one step of 1/100 inch (0.254 mm) 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 11 inches (280 mm). 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 29-1/2 inches (750 mm). 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 them 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.
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