Mechanical clocks
May 2nd, 2008What's "Mechanical clocks"?
image : from "http://www.dac-inc.co.jp/~watch/kikai"
A mechanical clock is driven by flat spiral springs and sinkers. Slowly unwinding, the flat spiral springs rotates the main axis while the sinkers rotates the main axis by pulling the chains entwined around the main axis. The flat spiral springs must be wound up once it has unwound and released power. The sinkers must be wound up as well. Generally speaking, it takes about several days or up to a few months for the flat spiral springs to unwind. Some kinds of clocks, like the myriad year clock, can work for one year without another winding.
(Translation based on the material retrieved April 30, 2008 from "http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%99%82%E8%A8%88")
In a nutshell, a mechanical clock is the one driven by flat spiral springs and sinkers. You can make a mechanical clock by meshing numerous toothed gears.
On the other hand, an escape wheel is
a toothed wheel for regulating a moving track to which it is geared, engaging intermittently with the pallets of a pendulum or balance mechanism in such a way as to cause the mechanism to oscillate rhythmically, and in so doing free the moving track for part of each oscillation.
(Source: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/escape%20wheel)
We will discuss pallets next time.