In his latest video, British maker and YouTuber Robert Murray-Smith shows how a complete clockwork mechanism can be built from individual components – with a surprising drive.
The core of the construction is a 3D-printed housing with a drum and a gear wheel. Murray-Smith mounts a ball bearing on top of this, which allows the drive to rotate without friction. Another printed component is the pawl mechanism that controls the rotation process.
A simple rubber band is used as the energy source. This is attached to a special holder and can be wound up manually. As soon as the rubber band releases the energy, the pawl mechanism transmits the rotary movement precisely to the gear wheel.
Murray-Smith explains that the rubber band-based drive can be replaced by other methods such as springs, weights or even an electric motor. The concept of power transmission via a pawl mechanism always remains the same.
“In reality, complex machines can be broken down into relatively simple subsystems,” explains the inventor. “The key is to understand these subsystems individually and then link them together in a meaningful way.”
To implement the time display, Murray-Smith designs a pendulum structure. The rotary movement of the drive is translated into the rotations required for the minute and hour hands via another gear. The pendulum swing serves as a regulator to keep the time display precise.
The resulting 3D printed model of the complete movement is available free of charge on the online platform Thingiverse. Murray-Smith encourages hobbyists to develop the concept further and adapt it to their own projects.
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