clock designs
the near frictionless jewels can keep the internal watch mechanics running smoothly for decades
-------------------------- pendulum-like movement
produces ticking sound
circa 6 beats per sec
Unboxing a clock: 5 elements
1) energy: clock is a machine, all machines need a source of power,
this clock is driven by a weight (--> counterweight)
2) wheels: teeth, one wheel can drive another with no slippage very precisely
2 mechanisms: going train--> time keeping,
striking train--> mechanism for striking the bell,
wheels increase speed
3) escapement (beating heart if the clock): in horology the louder the tick-tock the worse, because it indicates that more energy is wasted
the rotating motion of the wheels are here converted into an oscillatory motion that drives the controller
4) controller (brain of the clock): it is governing the rate in which everything happens
What determines the rate?
a) the power that the clock is getting
b) the weight and the size of the balance wheel
5) indicator: hour hand for 12 hours, bell
from oscillation to vibration with quartz cristal
the most precise clocks (tuned to a frequency)
In 1967 the standard was decided: a second was defined at 9.192.631.770 oscillations of a caesium (133) atom
The atomic is self-adjusting by means of a feedback loop
Japanese clocks: unequal hour system
Trying to adjust mechanics to unequal hours
1) The daytime hours are shorter in winter --> the hand was moved faster during the day --> to adjust the speed of the hands, the location of the weights was changed daily
2)Tanaka Hisashige: he built the myriad year clock
He employed the insect gear to adjust the spacing of the chapter marks on the dial --> the hands move steadily while the dial changes
1. hourglass: glass vessel, constriction in the middle that allows sand to fall at a "right"? pace, sand, frame to hold the hourglass
or
connect 2 plastic bottles, put a filter in between them with a hole in between them so that the grains can seep through but not too quickly
volume of vessel + volume of sand + type of sand grains + size of constriction --> rate of seeping through + duration
2. sundial: panel (wood, stone, marble), display of hours, vertical shadow casting piece (angle according to latitude?)
3. water clock (for keeping time after the sun has set)
same idea as hourglass but with water: clay, oven, sculpting tools, bees wax, water
4. candle clock: bees wax, fire, pot, molds, string, base, tape, ruler
draw a scale on the candle that indicates how much is burnt in 10 minutes
hydraulic calendar
scale: day and night hours varying according to seasons
The Chink's clockworks, "Even cowgirls get the blues" p. 210
a bunch of junk: garbage can lids, saucepans, tins, car fenders
wired together in the middle of the cave
movement mechanics: a bat will fly into it, a rock will fall on it, an updraft will catch it, a wire will rust through, or it'll just move for no apparently logical reason
striking freely, crazily, at odd intervals
Original clockworks of Clock people, p. 187-194
26 hour day
hourglass that measures 13 hours, 7ft. diameter,
13 ft. tall, filled with acorns
Catfish clock
Hourglass sits in a pool of water, in a cave on a branch of the San Andreas Fault.
Pool is inhabited by catfish, which sense pre-quake vibration
Clock people mark the dates and intensities of all tremors