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A low profile battery- or mains-powered device that winds clockwork (spring powered) devices.
The unit is featureless except for a slot to accept the clockwork winder, a button or two and maybe a slider for torque control. The user can select a one time wind or an autowind, constant run mode.
Attaches
to the back of, or acts as a base for, the clockwork device.
Automatic watch winders
http://www.watchwinders.com/
[hazel, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 21 2004]
Nearly Perpetual Clock
http://www.compadapt.com/howitworks.html
Temperature-driven mechanical clock. [Don Quixote, Oct 04 2004, last modified Oct 21 2004]
[link]
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Automatic winders for watches are very baked [link] |
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But certainly not widely known to exist. I hadn't ever heard of watch winders. Interesting link. Pricey, they are. |
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Thanks, [phoenix], we needed that. With all the clockwork around the halfbakery, we've gotten a bit winded running around keeping the clockwork wind-ed. |
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(The pedant and punster had a bit of a duel over that last sentence. While the pedant had excellent form, the punster's attack was more effective.) |
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Now that we have both the electric winder and the clockwork generator, we can loop them for endless amusement and lots of free[1] energy.
[1] Offer void where prohibited by laws of thermodynamics. Subject to a one-time activation charge. Other restrictions may apply. See textbook for details. |
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"Warning: Do not use with Acme
Clockwork-powered Electricity
Generator" |
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I used to have a wall clock which had a lever which activated an electric motor to wind the mainspring. Every 20 minutes or so it would spin the motor a few revolutions. |
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Captain: Me too. Prior to the invention of quartz movements, it was a simple but effective means of running a clock reasonably efficiently off a battery. |
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The Atmos Clock by Jaeger le Coultre isn't electric, but it does wind itself. It uses a piston driven by changes in temperature to wind the mainspring of the clock movement. <link> |
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BTW, with regards the notion of clocks that electrically rewind a clockwork mechanism, the concept actually predates electricity. Some weight-driven clocks have a small weight to run the clockwork and a very large weight which re-lifts the small weight when it gets too low. This is done because it is much easier to make uniform the behavior of a small weight which falls twelve inches in the course of an hour than a large weight which falls three inches in the course of a day. If the geartrain by which the large weight lifts the small one isn't entirely smooth, it won't affect accuracy; by contrast, if the clock were driven directly by the large weight, imperfections in the gear train would cause major problems. |
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