That can't be a build date is it?

[rslaback]

Had to put a battery in one of the calipers at work tonight. Was a little surprised to see it didn't have a battery cover and the entire face had to be removed after removing a couple screws. Was a lot surprised when I found this date? inside.

 

[FrankLee]

Julian date 11.072, March 13, 2011?

Could also be QC or inspector marks.

 

[PCustoms]

Julian date 11.072, March 13, 2011?

Doesn't look like a modern caliper

But not sure they had digitals in 1972?

 

[rslaback]

Doesn't look like a modern caliper

But not sure they had digitals in 1972?

I didn't think so either. This reference indicates that this logo rev was used from 1965 to 1987.

History of the Mitutoyo company logo

Based on The History of Electrical Engineering Newsletter, January 2011 (Japanese). Don’t take this as a completely accurate translation.

leftover.engineering

 

[Sweetcorn]

That absolutely looks like calipers from the 70's to me. I have some of the next generation ones from the later 80's somewhere with some of my stuff. They're still kicking.

 

[neophyte]

A google book search seems to indicate Mitutoyo digital calipers may have been available in 1972, or at least in the 1970s.

 

[brtsvg]

They had Light Emitting Diode (LED) displays in the 1970’s but the Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) displays such as the one shown here came later in the 1980’s and 1990’s. The early LED displays (usually red) used in hand calculators and then watches tended to **** a lot of power so batteries were larger and recharging was much more prevalent. The later LCD displays not so much, and were less expensive so batteries could become smaller.

 

[jsteih]

I was gonna say 80's sometime. The best part about that vintage was the tips were far thinner than the new ones.

 

[dutchgray]

They had Light Emitting Diode (LED) displays in the 1970’s but the Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) displays such as the one shown here came later in the 1980’s and 1990’s. The early LED displays (usually red) used in hand calculators and then watches tended to **** a lot of power so batteries were larger and recharging was much more prevalent. The later LCD displays not so much, and were less expensive so batteries could become smaller.

Seiko lauched their first LCD watch in 1972

 

[milky2k]

Some red LED calipers would be pretty cool!

They had Light Emitting Diode (LED) displays in the 1970’s but the Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) displays such as the one shown here came later in the 1980’s and 1990’s. The early LED displays (usually red) used in hand calculators and then watches tended to **** a lot of power so batteries were larger and recharging was much more prevalent. The later LCD displays not so much, and were less expensive so batteries could become smaller.

 

[908Jim]

I don't think 72 is indicative of the build date. Below is the link to a 1978 Mitutoyo catalog. I gave it a quick look through and I didn't see these offered, so I'm going to assume that it's some time after 1978.

https://archive.org/details/MitutoyoCatalogNo3000/mode/2up

 

[tak1313]

In Japan, it is common for dates to be expressed with the YEAR first, so it may indicate 2011 - not 1972 (assuming it's a date). If it is a date, the 72 COULD be July 2. Going down the wormhole - the sequence would be year/month/day (like Euro).

Pretty sure if it is a date, it's not using the Imperial dating system (that is based on the age of the Emperor).