Cyclostyle

Ball clock.

This clock was made from an old Gestetner Cyclostyle printer, a bottling line star and an old soap dispenser. The principle is as follows: each full hour releases a ball which falls into a labyrinth of three grids and three nails. It then pushes the balance wheel in the direction of oscillation by the force of its own gravity. The gain in amplitude is then 5 millimetres, which is more than enough for a one-hour inertia. A sensor counts the passages of the balance and sends its impulses to the seconds of a clock. The ball is wound by means of a disc with a hole that starts to turn every hour, releasing the ball at the top and recovering it at the bottom as soon as it has restarted the balance. The ball then nestles in the hole, waiting for the next hour.