USUS
letter scale

design: firm Balduin Heller's Söhne, Teplitz-Schönau, Czechoslovakia, now Czech Republic
maker: Philipp Jakob Maul, Hamburg, Germany
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letter scale, maker Philipp Jakob Maul
USUS letter scale made by
Philipp Jakob Maul

This letter scale was designed by the firm Balduin Heller's Söhne, from Teplitz-Schönau, Czechoslovakia, now Czech Republic. A Deutsches Reich Gebrauchs Muster -a cheaper patent- was granted February 1936. The German firm Philipp Jakob Maul from Hamburg has manufactured this letter scale under the model name USUS. The front of the housing has a name shield with left the model name USUS, in the middle the large brand mark of Ph.J. Maul and on the right the D.R.G.M. patent indication. The letter scale is self-adjusting to different slopes, has a clever mechanism with two counterweight-arms, this enables an easy reading of the chart in the whole range of 500 grams. In the first 50 grams of the chart each gram has a stripe of measure. Above this, there is a stripe per five grams. A checkered band helps the reading. The letter scale has a handy profiled top plate, this makes the scale suited for weighing eggs. However the text of the original D.R.G.M. patent application only speaks of "Briefwage" (in the old spelling). A second-hand USUS is sometimes offered as an egg scale, namely because it's more profitable. This letter scale was made in black and also in dark red. One sees also specimens offered without the three texts (USUS + Ph.J.Maul + D.R.G.M.). I have no idea if they ever were present. The shield with texts is a separate component that is attached with two screws on the scale housing.
Below some more pictures of this USUS letter scale.
 
 
 
 

rear of the letter scale
rear of the letter scale
 
detail 1
the disassembled scale with
mid left the name shield
detail 2
the drawings of the D.R.G.M.-application from 1936
 
detail 3
the mechanism-part
 

detail 1
handy profiled top plate
 
detail 2
an egg stands unsteady in the lowering
 
detail 3
an egg lies stable in the lowering
 
detail 4
the model name USUS
 
detail 5
large brand mark of Ph.J. Maul
 
detail 6
the D.R.G.M. patent indication
 
detail 7
up to 50 Gr. each gram has a stripe
 
detail 8
a slanted positioned scale
which is thus easier to read
detail 9
maximum weighing is 500 Gr. (grams)
 
detail 8
bottom with cut-out for
counterweight arms
 
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« collection part 15 «© copyright André Solversion: January 1, 2015