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The Kienzle 1140-20 Taxameter
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The Kienzle 1140-20 Taxameter

This is a taxi fare meter from the 1970's, containing an Intel 4004 CPU ;)

The meter as it was advertised: a Kienzle ARGO with LIBRE and four tariff positions, still labelled for a Paris taxi firm.
The meter as it was advertised: a Kienzle ARGO with LIBRE and four tariff positions, still labelled for a Paris taxi firm.

If it works it would look something like this:

Four of the meters lit and running, showing FAHRPREIS and ZUSCHLAG in Deutschmarks on their orange displays.
Four of the meters lit and running, showing FAHRPREIS and ZUSCHLAG in Deutschmarks on their orange displays.

The electronics are three stacked boards. The CPU board contains the P4004 and some support chips like the P4002-1 (RAM/IO) and the P4308 (?):

The CPU board. The P4004 sits in the middle of the lower edge with the P4002-1 RAM/IO above it and the P4308 ROM below, all dated 1974.
The CPU board. The P4004 sits in the middle of the lower edge with the P4002-1 RAM/IO above it and the P4308 ROM below, all dated 1974.

Connections / installation manual

The following was found on CPU-World, with lots of thanks to user wepwawet:

That document describes a 22 pin connector which my device does not have. The pinout seems to be:

pin Description
10 +12V perm
9 GND
8 Ignition +12V
7..2 Relais lamps
1 ?

Documentation

Last modified: 2026/09/06
© 2024 by Frits Jalvingh. All information in here can be freely used (MIT License)