Horological Meandering

CTCT
112

• Show profile
• Show other posts

Pics from the testing facilities.

Hi Tim,

(info taken from the Sattler web site)

To determin the influence of temperature and pressure to different length of the pendulum, the size and shape of the pendulum weight and barometric compensation, it was necessarry to create an hermetic tank, that keeps its pressure and temperature over a long time (several weeks) with very minor alterations.

In the basement, Sattler has a research and testing facility where they perform various test to prototype models. Here is where watchmakers Christian Schaffer and J.Münch do most of the work to establish the testrack. The massive foundation of concrete pics up the airproof glas cylinder.

The removable ring of solid brass is the only possibility to install the pendulum.
The 3 bearings enable a precise orientation of the complete tank. Wind-Up Motor and Light Barrier. Never ending Wind-Up of Huygenss.

Between the plates the winding motor with the polished pinion and the gold plated gear is visible. From the side you can see the cables, witch lead to the light barrier for the control unit of the winding mechanism.

To provide energie to the clock works without disturbing the results of the measuring, a never ending wind-up, designed by Chrisstian Huygens, was installed. So it is possible to wind up without opening the tank.
The installed system provides allways constant force to the movement.

The very precise time signal calculated from 11 GPS - satellites is used to control the frequency of the pendulum with the help of 2 light barriers.

With the help of a vacuum pump the airpreasure can be adjusted in a wide range to test the influence of air pressure to the pendulum' speed.

 Carlos Torres