Gregory's Serverhere's an interesting question. in the days before ubiquitous quartz clock movements, there were mechanical clocks that used a solenoid or a motor to automatically wind up the mainspring. i remember hearing some clocks make a "clunk" sound every few minutes, or a growling sound once or twice a day. anyone remember that?
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@tubetime I think you might have better luck googling “standard electric time company” they made a line of electric windup reference clocks. IBM also made some as well (https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CkRO3OA2_hE) Gents of Leicester make a “clonk” style clock which has a “hip” toggle to control a solenoid that kicks the pendulum. But they are more of a European thing @tubetime Yes, my grandmother had one that would do that. I figure it had something to do with the chime mechanism, but I couldn't say for sure @tubetime this is basically any google search recently, especially when looking to compare products. Just a seo of auto generated and AI content that offers no actual practical information. Will only get worse from.here 🙃 @tubetime Here’s a video showing the process for a Self Winding Clock Company movement: https://youtu.be/8l7WNQiCE5U I know that some IBM master clocks used Telechron motors to wind their mainsprings. @tubetime - I inherited a funky kitchen wall clock that uses a weight swivelling on a toothed quarter circle which drives the mechanical clockwork. At the bottom point, it closes the contact btw. a battery and a solenoid, kicking the weight back up. Happens a few times per minute, but surprisingly irregular.  @tubetime No. The pre-quartz mechanical clocks that I remember were AC powered and they used the very reliable 60Hz signal in the power line to keep on time. They would often make a low buzzing sound (likely at 60 or 120Hz). @tubetime they're called self winding clocks I think? @tubetime there's a Self Winding Clock Company master clock in the Connections Museum now :) https://youtu.be/rLOMltxqCmU  @tubetime That's actually a pretty old system. Way back Harrison already used an automatic rewind system to minimize the difference in rate due to different winding status. Of course, he used weights to drive that, but still. "Modern" electromechanical pendulum clocks all used a similar system, driven by electromotors. If you go to a clock museum, you will find plenty of those. Later models would use solenoids to directly drive the pendulum, in order to increase the Q factor. |
i tried a few internet searches for more information, but i immediately got lost in a sea of spam and SEO crap