Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
h a l f b a k e r y
Sugar and spice and unfettered insensibility.

idea: add, search, annotate, link, view, overview, recent, by name, random

meta: news, help, about, links, report a problem

account: browse anonymously, or get an account and write.

user:
pass:
register,


         

Bicycle Pump Clock

 pneumatic clock powered by a bicycle pump
  (+2, -1)
(+2, -1) 		  [vote for,
against]

Pneumatic clocks are not new (see link for a very fine article on the subject) but this is a domestic version that's powered by a bicycle pump. Once a week the owner must deliver a fresh change of air to the clocks reservoirs via a standard bicycle pump.

The modestly amount of stored compressed air is sufficient to drive the tiny piston, and escape mechanism that operates the clock.

De-luxe version comes in the form of a miniature of the famous Popp clock of which there were once 7,800 on the streets of Paris examples (link)

—xenzag, Feb 22 2020

Popp Clock http://www.douglas-...rclock/airclock.htm
The French were always innovators of gloriously designed eccentricity [xenzag, Feb 22 2020]

Please log in.
If you're not logged in, you can see what this page looks like, but you will not be able to add anything.
Short name, e.g., Bob's Coffee
Destination URL. E.g., https://www.coffee.com/
Description (displayed with the short name and URL.)






       // escape mechanism //   

       Sp. "escapement"   

       This could be an interesting constant-force energy source for a clock, so [+].   

       Also in the Museum of Retro Tech there's a whole gallery of "Oddly powered clocks" including several powered by changes in atmospheric pressure.
—8th of 7, Feb 22 2020
   

       //constant-force energy source// I'm not sure how you plan to keep the driving force constant, as it will tend to decline as the pressure falls. That's not a disaster (most spring-powered clocks and watches don't have a constant driving force), but it will affect the timekeeping.   

       You could always use a fusée, though, to recover a constant driving force.
—MaxwellBuchanan, Feb 22 2020
   

       A slow moving wide area piston - or a diaphragm - driven by very low pressure air via a regulator, and gearing to a fusée as described. If the flow rate is low, there will be little energy lost in the regulator, and it can be valved by a cam on the fusée.
—8th of 7, Feb 22 2020
   


 

back: main index
business  computer  culture  fashion  food  halfbakery  home  other  product  public  science  sport  vehicle