DATAMATH CALCULATOR MUSEUM |
Texas Instruments TI-5040 (Version 1)
Date of introduction: | June 1976 | Display technology: | Fluorescent |
New price: | $149.95, £109.95 DM 498.00 |
Display size: | 10 |
Size: | 9.5" x 9.2" x 2.7" | Printer technology: | Thermal TP-20225, TP-27225 |
Weight: | 3 pounds 5 ounces | Serial No: | 3931052 |
Batteries: | Date of manufacture: | wk 13 year 1978 | |
AC-Adapter: | 120 V | Origin of manufacture: | USA (LTA) |
Precision: | 10 | Integrated circuits: | TMC1115 (ZA0351), TMC1276 or TMC0261 |
Memories: | 1 + 1 | ||
Program steps: | Courtesy of: | Joerg Woerner | |
Download manual: | (US: 6.0M Bytes) |
It took a long time between the first calculator based on TI's thermal printer technology - the Canon Pocketronic - and this TI-5040 desktop printing desktop calculator. Introduced in 1976 it features both a 10-digit vacuum fluorescent display (VFD) and a quiet, convenient thermal printer. Together with a 4-key memory this calculator defined the standard in its class.
This calculator was a great success for Texas Instruments, it was manufactured more than 5 years before its successor, the TI-5142 was introduced. Later models like the TI-5040 II or the TI-5130 had shorter life cycles.
Dismantling this TI-5040 manufactured in March 1978 by Texas Instruments in Lubbock, Texas reveals a designed centered around two members of the famous TMS1000 Microcomputer family. The first chip labeled TMC1115 is manufactured in PMOS (p-channel metal-oxide-semiconductor) technology similar to the original Canon Pocketronic and features 2k*8 Bits ROM plus 128*4 bits RAM in a 28-pin DIP (Dual In-line Package) housing while the second chip labeled TMS1276 combines half the memory capacity (1k*8 Bits ROM and 64*4 bits RAM) with some extra Input/Output lines and drivers for the VFD in a 40-pin DIP housing.
The internal design of the TI-5040 was optimized in 1978 to a single-chip design based on the TMC0260 family sporting 2k*9 ROM and 144*4 bits RAM.
While the overall appearance of the TI-5040 didn't change, offers the bottom-side of the housing an easy indication of the Version of the TI-5040:
• Version 1: Printed label
with manufacturer/model info in the center of the housing. No cut-out for the printer paper roll • Version 2: Manufacturer/model info molded into the left side of the housing. Cut-out for the printer paper roll on the right side of the housing |
The style of the keyboard and some design elements of the TI-5040 were adopted both by non-printing calculators like the TI-5100 and print-only calculators like the TI-5015.
The TI-5220 printing desktop calculator with similar specifications but sporting a 12 digits display was introduced in 1977 together with its huge sibling TI-5225. Don't miss the TI-5135 introduced in 1980.
The first portable printing calculator TI-5050 appeared one year earlier on the market.
Even Texas Instruments never mentioned the rare TI-500, a printing calculator introduced already in 1974.
TI-5040
Offers the best of two worlds. An easy-to-read display. A printed tape. © Texas Instruments, 1981 |
If you have additions to the above article please email: joerg@datamath.org.
© Joerg Woerner, December 5, 2001. No reprints without written permission.