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Thread: Steel ball driven clock

  1. #1
    Andy Wai
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    Default Steel ball driven clock

    Antique mechanical clock driven by steel ball, Xinhepu Culture and Art Hall (新河浦文化艺术馆), Guangzhou, China:



    The box just below the lion has a rack for steel balls. The balls are channeled into the track to the right of the clock face. A device at the bottom of the track takes the potential energy from the balls and run the clock. A "spent" ball is ejected into the lower drawer every half an hour.

    Steel ball drive is a weight driving mechanism, but much more compact than the usual clock weights. The advantage of weight over spring is that the former is constant force while the latter varies depending on the state of charge of the spring. Steel ball drive is a way to achieve constant force drive in a very compact package. But somebody will have to move the used balls back to the upper rack frequently.

    Xinhepu Culture and Art Hall is an exclusive private club in the Dongshan area of Guangzhou, the old city center. It's housed in an old mansion from turn of the century, but renovated to modern standard inside and furnished with antiques collected from all over China. My brother-in-law knows the owner so we got a guided tour from a lovely hostess :D

    Andy

  2. #2
    Alfred Forns
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    Hi Andy don't think I've seen one like it !!! Ingenious !!!!

  3. #3
    Gus Cobos
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    This is beautiful Andy,
    I suppose it's not for sale...:D Lovely clock...I collect antique clocks myself...

  4. #4
    Andy Wai
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    Quote Originally Posted by Gus Cobos View Post
    This is beautiful Andy,
    I suppose it's not for sale...:D Lovely clock...
    Came across the following while researching this type of clock after coming back from China:

    http://www.proclocks.com/item_detail...0027_newr.html

    Obviously a modern reproduction but still interesting.

    Andy

  5. #5
    BPN Member Kerry Perkins's Avatar
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    Hi Andy. Very interesting clock and it even seems to have a weather station, with a thermometer and barometer. Before electricity became available, lighthouse lenses were rotated with a weight-driven clock mechanism. The lighthouse keeper had to hoist the weight back to the top of the structure every two to five hours.

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