I have recently taken possession of a set of "Jumping Discs" (as per link).
These are slightly-concave discs of bimetal which, at certain temperatures, flip from being concave to convex. They do so with enough force to launch themselves into the air, hence the name.
Whilst in flight, they ring with a hi-pitched binggggg.
I suggest that much larger (large enough to go "bongggg" in a sonorous way) bimetal discs, mounted on flexible supports, could be installated in public areas. But cunning artifice, the discs could be contrived to flip at particular temperatures. By further cunning artifice, the discs could make a resonant bongggg when flipping one way (as the temperature rises), and a muffled bng when flipping the other way (as the temperature falls).
A series of such discs, tuned to different pitches, could form a sort of thermoacoustic glockenspiel thermometer* for the amusement of passers by.
(*if you delete the spaces from this phrase, you get the German equivalent.)-- MaxwellBuchanan, Mar 17 2014 Jumping discs http://www.grand-il.../Jumping_Discs.htmlEven more exciting than they look. [MaxwellBuchanan, Mar 17 2014] Flexatone http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flexatone [doctorremulac3, Mar 18 2014] Ah - damn, so you did, and it had sunk into my subconscious. Kudit and credos to you.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Mar 17 2014 The gradient takes its toll...-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Mar 17 2014 And here I was thinking this was pubic temperature bells, or balls or whatever.
How high do they jump, [Max]?-- Custardguts, Mar 18 2014 About 6", and the discs are about 1" in diameter.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Mar 18 2014 You could contrive for them to jump through a set of wind chimes, perhaps? A good excuse for the consequent ambiguation would be that a Thermoglöcke without wind chill correction is insufficient for manifesting the psychosomatic atmospherics of the climatepiece.
Then walk away quickly so as to avoid having to explain.
I say so, simply because the market for these automata is the sculpture market - for which there is a right way and a wrong way of saying things.-- skoomphemph, Mar 18 2014 This may explain why our marketing campaign, based around the catchphrase "Large metal discs that go bongggggg and bng as temperature rises and falls" has failed to produce the expected results.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Mar 18 2014 Great idea, I think I'll steal it.
Instead of a flexi disk, you have a large dial thermometer bending a series of Flex-A-Tones arranged around the perimeter. When the hand turns to the right because the temperature is going up, it strikes a flexible piece of metal and bends it, causing an upwards moving tone. When it comes down the other way, it makes a downwards tone indicating that the temperature is on it's way down.-- doctorremulac3, Mar 18 2014 [Max] Yes, I think from a marketing point of view (bearing in mind the proclivities one could abstract from the mien of the standard buying committee) would use what the experts call "indirection" in inducing the sonorizing of the terms bongggggggggggg (A few more g's? ) and bng.
Also if you could somehow manage to find an excuse for using Edward Lear's "abjectly happy", (something like that), then you would caparison this obtrusion into the public Space most efficaciously.-- skoomphemph, Mar 18 2014 Ooops, forgot the flexatone link, without which the anno makes absolutely no sense.-- doctorremulac3, Mar 18 2014 I really want to bun this, but my hatred for bimetallic temperature sensors is as strong as it is specific. It's their fault nearly all the kettles I've owned stopped working, and worse, they perform inconsistently in a toasting environment.-- bs0u0155, Mar 18 2014 You could use the small ones as Pubic Temperature Bells.
The idea is interesting but the intermittent sound at specific temperature changes would be less useful than a constant tone. Perhaps a large swannee whistle with the pokey bit attached to a large dial thermometer. The whistle could be powered by a windvane venturi, so the pitch would tell you the temperature and the loudness would tell you the wind speed.-- pocmloc, Mar 18 2014 //my hatred for bimetallic temperature sensors is as strong as it is specific//
But consider this. The known reserves of bimetal are very limited. If large numbers of Public Temperature Bells are made, there may not be enough bimetal left for sensors.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Mar 18 2014 //But consider this. The known reserves of bimetal are very limited. //
The known reserves of everything are limited. Don't let the bimetal mining industry convince you they're special.-- bs0u0155, Mar 19 2014 I like this. But All the bonggg (3 is enough) tells you is when the temperature has gone above or below a certain temperature. Unless you have more than one, but would need many to produce a meaningful sound. What if you could predictably heat and cool the disc to chime and bounce on the hour?-- shudderprose, Mar 19 2014 If these massive discs of metal were in a public place, and regularly leaping high into the air with a loud bonging sound before falling back to the ground, roughly how many people a year do you think they would kill?-- hippo, Mar 20 2014 It would be interesting to see the demographic breakdown of PTB-related deaths (I would wager mostly children, idiots and the elderly), especially if we had a further breakdown on the basis of direction of travel of PTB at the point of fatal impact (I would wager mostly children on the way down, mostly idiots on the way up and a roughly 50/50 up down split for the elderly).-- calum, Mar 20 2014 Certainly, research is needed. I would also like to throw into the mix the possibility of fatality rates varying between areas susceptible to high winds and other areas. High winds may cause the PTB to descend some distance from where it launched - for example on a nearby bus queue, or morris-dancing championship, or outdoor pub seating area, thus increasing fatality rates.-- hippo, Mar 20 2014 Yes, this research could also support my theory that morris dancers are idiots.-- calum, Mar 20 2014 //If these massive discs of metal were in a public place, and regularly leaping high into the air//
Could I perhaps urge you to read the block of text underneath the title, and above the links?-- MaxwellBuchanan, Mar 20 2014 Are you referring to your weasel words about these things being "mounted on flexible supports"? I think that would damage their artistic integrity.-- hippo, Mar 20 2014 Edmund Scientific used to sell these, 100 to a bag, for less than ten bucks so you're getting ripped off, price wise. The story I got from Edmund is that the guy who knew how to make 'em died and took the manufacturing secret with him. I suspect these disks are Edmund surplus and therefore 'valuable' (??). Oh, and the delta-T needed to change state is inversely proportional to the radius of curvature; i.e. a larger radius disk pops in a narrower temperature range. Let us know if you find a cheaper source: the plastic imitations aren't worth a damn..-- Steamboat, Mar 21 2014 Yes, very much a ripoff.
On Alibaba, there are any number of companies who will sell you thermostatic pop-discs with whatever transition temperatures you want, for about 5p each or less.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Mar 21 2014 random, halfbakery