Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'

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...
Labyrinfinitum
M25 Clock
Moiré Clock
Newton’s Clock
Not another friggin’ clock?
Palindrome Clock
Quantum Finger Clock
Revolving Door Clock
Revolving Doors Clock
...

product:clock: display: rotation

Not another friggin’ clock?

‘Fraid so, but this one’s unusual in that it’s spring driven.

(+9)

[vote for,
against]

Actually, the clockwork drives springs on the clock face, which in turn propel the hands. The hour, minute and second springs are each circular and held in place and powered at four points on the face. Each spring is made to twist and twirl around itself like a barber pole, not like a corkscrew through a cork.

Each hand is suspended between the central stem and the nearest point of a loop of its spring. As the spring turns, the “loop” moves clockwise pulling the point of the hand with it. The concentric springs moving at different speeds with progressing coils that seem to magically draw the gliding hands forward, would surely be a friggin’ sight.

—	FarmerJohn, Dec 01 2004

illustration http://www.geocitie...e/springclock.html?
springs not shown in their entirety [FarmerJohn, Dec 01 2004]

[link]

I was initially going to vote no, just because it is a clock. But the last sentence you wrote is correct. It would be "a friggin' sight"

—	macncheesy, Dec 01 2004

The illustration shows 3 loops for the inside hand, 2 for the middle and 1 for the outer hand - is that right? I get that the hands are controlled by the movement of the coils along the perimeter of the face but don't you need the coils to exist all the way round? Please help me - I'm friggin' confused.

—	Jinbish, Dec 01 2004

I foolishly didn't draw all the coils of the springs but only in the area of each hand's point.

—	FarmerJohn, Dec 01 2004

Ah - thats ok. I did think that - but just wanted to make sure. It would have cluttered the diagram to do it all the way round.

—	Jinbish, Dec 01 2004

like it, don't understand it , but I like.

—	dentworth, Dec 01 2004

How do you drive the springs or enable them to rotate in a elatively frictionless fashion? Couldn't you train cockroaches or centipedes to walk round the clock face at a constant speed towing the hands behind them?

—	Belfry, Dec 01 2004

I was thinking small rollers (three at each support point) to hold and turn the spring without getting in the way of the hand. Even more halfbaked would be to use bugs, and something similar has been done here.

Cross section of rollers (o), spring (O) and hand (--):

.o
oO-----------+
.o

—	FarmerJohn, Dec 01 2004

Does such a timepiece "tick" or "spring" or "tock" or "sprock" ?

—	skinflaps, Dec 02 2004

"Friggin'" due the spring chafing?

—	bristolz, Dec 02 2004

"Whirrr" while everything works ok.

Then silence when one of the rollers jams against one of the circumferential springs. The spring is still rotated by the other driven rollers, causing torsional energy to be stored in the spring, until the spring buckles out of plane.

Then "Perdoinggggg" as it flies across the room.

—	Belfry, Dec 02 2004

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