Tick tock, Tick tock - this is the sound we remember when we think about a watch. Although the vast majority of modern watches hardly make any sound. Not long ago, almost every watch made a distinctive watch sound because it was entirely electronic and not electronic. Previously, in order for the watch to work, it was necessary to turn the key, wind the spring, and after listening you could hear how the gears worked. So let's look at how an old-fashioned pendulum clock actually works.
What is a pendulum?
A pendulum is a rod that hangs vertically and swings from side to side under the influence of gravity. As the Italian scientist Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) discovered, a complete swing of a pendulum takes the same amount of time. In theory, the only things that affect a pendulum's oscillation are its length and gravity. For relatively small swings, the time (T) it takes for the pendulum to make one complete swing (known as the period) is calculated from the following equation:
Where, l is the length of the pendulum, g is a measure of gravity (gravitational acceleration). From this equation you can see that you need to quadruple the length of the pendulum in order to double the swing.
How does a pendulum work?
A pendulum works by converting kinetic energy into potential energy and vice versa. When the pendulum is in its extreme position, it has maximum accumulated energy (potential energy). At the lowest point, as close as possible to the ground, potential energy turns into kinetic energy and has its maximum value at this point. Thus, the pendulum is constantly transferring potential and kinetic energy into each other, which is an example of a simple harmonic oscillation. If friction of the contacting elements and resistance of the medium (air) were absent, that is, ideal conditions were created, then the pendulum would oscillate forever. But in real conditions The pendulum, taking into account the above factors, slows down. But what is very important for timing is that even with a decrease in the amplitude of the oscillation, the time of oscillation of the pendulum does not change. Galileo immediately noted this useful function, but he never succeeded in building a pendulum clock; he only managed to present a model of a pendulum clock in 1642. Galileo passed on his works to the Danish scientist Christian Huygens. He made the first pendulum clock in 1650.
How do pendulum clocks work?
Almost all pendulum clocks are designed as follows: in the clock mechanism that you see, weight 1, with the help of a cable through roller 2, drives the wheel system. This weight provides energy for the watch. The force is transmitted through several pairs of wheels to the brake wheel 3. The rotation of the clock mechanism is slowed down as a result of the interaction of the brake wheel 3 and the anchor 4 and is regulated by the pendulum 5. The brake wheel will move further only if the pendulum brings the anchor to a position where it is released brake gear. At the same time, the other end of the anchor passes into the space between the gears and thereby limits the movement of the brake wheel 3 to half the length of the tooth. Now, when the pendulum moves in the opposite direction, the tooth will press on the anchor and transmit force through the rod to the pendulum. At the same time, the pendulum receives a small additional energy, which compensates for its existing friction losses. This game is repeated with each movement of the pendulum. Thus, the brake wheel moves in time with the oscillations of the pendulum. Through several gears it is connected to the minute gear 7. The speeds of the intermediate gears are designed so that the minute gear rotates once per hour, i.e. at the speed of the large hand connected to the minute gear. Finally, gears 8, 9 and 10 are used to make the small hand move 12 times slower than the big one. The combination of arrows 8, 9 and 10 is also called a switch mechanism.
Disadvantages of pendulum clocks.
As we discussed above, the time of oscillation of a pendulum depends on the length of the rod and gravity. But the length of the metal rod can change with temperature changes, this change is insignificant, but will have an effect over time. The same applies to the force of gravity. Clocks closer to the center of the earth, at sea level and high in the mountains will not keep the same time. Also, the use of clock pendulums on a ship is almost impossible, or very difficult. But all these problems existed only at the dawn of the appearance of pendulum clocks. In the process of scientific development, all problems were solved.
Pendulum clock
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Tick tock, Tick tock - this is the sound we remember when we think about a watch. Although the vast majority of modern watches hardly make any sound. Not long ago, almost every watch made a distinctive clock sound because it was entirely mechanical and not electronic. Previously, in order for the clock to work...
13/05/2002
The evolution of pendulum clocks lasted more than three hundred years. Thousands of inventions on the way to perfection. But only those who put the first and last point in this great epic will remain in historical memory for a long time.
The evolution of pendulum clocks lasted more than three hundred years. Thousands of inventions on the way to perfection. But only those who marked the first and last point in this great epic will remain in historical memory for a long time.
TV clock
Before any news programs on television, we see a clock, the second hand of which, with great dignity, counts down the last moments before the start of the program. This dial is the visible part of the iceberg called AChF-3, Fedchenko's astronomical clock. Not every device bears the name of its designer, and not all inventions are reported in encyclopedias.
The watch of Feodosius Mikhailovich Fedchenko was awarded this honor. In any other country, every schoolchild would know about an inventor of this level. And here, 11 years ago, an outstanding designer quietly and modestly passed away and no one even remembers him. Why? Probably, at one time he was stubborn, did not know how to flatter and be hypocritical, which science officials did not like so much.
An accident helped Fedchenko invent the famous watch. One of those mysterious accidents that so adorns the history of science.
The first two points in the history of pendulum clocks were set by two great scientists - Galileo Galilei and Christiaan Huygens, who independently created clocks with a pendulum, and the discovery of the laws of pendulum oscillation came to Galileo also by accident. A brick will fall on someone’s head and nothing will happen, not even a concussion, but for another a simple apple is enough to awaken a thought dormant in the subconscious to discover the law universal gravity. Great accidents happen, as a rule, to great personalities.
In 1583, in the Pisa Cathedral, an inquisitive young man named Galileo Galilei did not so much listen to a sermon as admire the movement of chandeliers. Observations of lamps seemed interesting to him and, returning home, nineteen-year-old Galileo made an experimental installation to study the oscillations of pendulums - lead balls mounted on thin threads. His own pulse served as a good stopwatch for him.
Thus, experimentally, Galileo Galilei discovered the laws of pendulum oscillation, which are studied in every school today. But Galileo was too young at that time to think about putting his invention into practice. There are so many interesting things around, we need to hurry. And only at the end of his life, an old, sick and blind old man, remembered his youthful experiences. And it dawned on him - attach an oscillation counter to the pendulum - and you will get an accurate clock! But Galileo’s strength was no longer the same, the scientist was only able to make a drawing of a clock, but his son Vincenzo completed the work, who soon died and the creation of pendulum clocks by Galileo did not receive wide publicity.
Subsequently, Christian Huygens had to prove throughout his life that the honor of creating the first pendulum clock belonged to him. On this occasion in 1673 he wrote:
“Some claim that Galileo tried to make this invention, but did not complete the job; these persons rather diminish the glory of Galileo than mine, since it turns out that I completed the same task with greater success than he.”
It is not so important which of these two great scientists is “first” in creating clocks with a pendulum. Much more significant is that Christiaan Huygens did not just make another type of watch, he created the science of chronometry. Since that time, order has been restored in the construction of watches. The “horse” (practice) no longer ran ahead of the “locomotive” (theory). Huygens' ideas were brought to life by the Parisian watchmaker Isaac Thuret. This is how clocks with various designs of pendulums invented by Huygens saw the light of day.
The beginning of the “career” of a physics teacher
Feodosia Mikhailovich Fedchenko, born in 1911, knew nothing about the passions for the pendulum of three hundred years ago. And he didn’t think about watches at all. His "career" began in a poor rural school. A simple physics teacher was forced to become an involuntary inventor. How else, without the proper equipment, can you explain the fundamental laws of nature to inquisitive children?
A talented teacher constructed complex demonstration installations and, probably, schoolchildren did not miss his lessons. The war changed the fate of the young inventor; Fedchenko became an outstanding mechanic of tank instruments. And here is the first bell of fate - after the end of the war, Feodosius Mikhailovich was offered a job at the Kharkov Institute of Measures and Measuring Instruments, in a laboratory where, among scientific topics The following was also written down: “Exploring the possibility of increasing the accuracy of a clock with a free pendulum of the “Short” type.”
His reference book was “Treatise on Hours” by Christian Huygens. This is how F. M. Fedchenko met his famous predecessors Christian Huygens and Wilhelm X. Short in absentia.
The penultimate point in the history of pendulum clocks was set by the English scientist Wilhelm H. Short. Is it true, for a long time It was believed that it was impossible to create a pendulum clock more accurate than Short's clock. In the 20s of the 20th century, it was decided that the evolution of pendulum time devices was completed. Each observatory was not considered sufficiently equipped if it did not have Short's astronomical clock, but they had to be paid for in gold.
One copy of Short's watch was purchased by the Pulkovo Observatory. The English company that installed the time keeper forbade even touching it, otherwise it abdicated all responsibility for setting up the cunning mechanism. In the 30s, the Main Chamber of Weights and Measures in Leningrad was tasked with unraveling the secret of Short's clock and starting producing similar devices on its own. The talented metrologist I. I. Kvanberg looked at the clock mechanism for a long time through the hermetic glass of the cylinder and tried, without drawings, to make a copy. The copy was good enough, but not perfect. It was impossible to see all the English subtleties through the glass. However, before the war, the Etalon factory produced several copies of Kvanberg watches.
It was this “simple” topic - to make a watch more accurately than Short did - that was entrusted to the newcomer F. M. Fedchenko, who came to the Kharkov after the war institute
Back to the roots
The Kharkov craftsman established that back in 1673, Christiaan Huygens in his “Treatise on Clocks” said almost everything about how to make pendulum clocks. It turns out that in order for the clock to be accurate, it is necessary that the center of gravity of the pendulum in space describes not an arc of a circle, but part of a cycloid: the curve along which a point on the rim of a wheel rolling along the road moves. In this case, the pendulum's oscillations will be isochronous, independent of amplitude. Huygens himself, who theoretically substantiated everything, tried to achieve his goal by making thousands of inventions, but did not come close to the ideal.
Huygens' followers, including Short, achieved accuracy in a different way - they isolated the pendulum as much as possible from external influences, placing the precision clock deep in the basement, in a vacuum, where vibration and temperature changed minimally
Fedchenko, on the other hand, wanted to fulfill Huygens’ dream and create an isochronous pendulum. They say that everything perfect is simple. So Fedchenko hung the pendulum on three springs in total - two long ones on the sides and one short one in the middle. It would seem nothing special, but on the way to the discovery there were thousands of experiments. We tried springs thick and thin, long and short, flat and with a variable cross-section. Five long years of patient and painstaking work, the disbelief of his colleagues, they simply stopped paying attention to him, and suddenly a happy accident, thanks to an elementary mistake in assembling the suspension.
Several screws were not tightened properly, and the suspension behaved in such a way that the pendulum began to perform isochronous oscillations. The experiments were checked and rechecked, everything remained the same. A three-spring pendulum suspension solved Huygens' problem - when the amplitude of oscillation changed, the period remained unchanged.
The capital, of course, lured away the talented inventor. In 1953 F.M. Fedchenko was transferred to Moscow, to the laboratory of pendulum time instruments of the All-Union Scientific Research Institute of Physical, Technical and Radio Engineering Measurements that was being created.
Of course, Kharkov didn’t like it. Fedchenko was dealt a blow below the belt - they did not give him a high-precision imported machine tool that cost a lot of money. The inventor brought only three copies of the first experimental watch AChF-1 to Moscow. To continue working, the machine was necessary; such equipment was not sold in stores across the country. It was difficult, but it was possible to find the required machine from private owners, and Fedchenko found it. But how to pay? Cash in government agency they didn’t give out, especially such an amount - eleven thousand rubles.
Desperate Fedchenko, realizing that without precision equipment he was like without hands, went on a real adventure. He directly turned to the manager of the State Bank and found such convincing words about the significance of his invention that an intelligent and courageous man, a professional in his field, trusted the master, gave him the required amount in cash, requiring simply a receipt as a document. This is one example of "obvious but incredible."
For several more decades, the mechanism of Fedchenko’s astronomical clock was improved, until the famous model “ACHF-3” appeared, which brought fame to both the author and the country. High-precision watches were demonstrated at the World Exhibition in Montreal and were awarded VDNKh medals; descriptions of watches are included in encyclopedias and in various serious publications on chronometry.
The brilliance and tragedy of Fedchenko’s invention
F. M. Fedchenko - created high-precision electronic-mechanical pendulum clocks at a time when quartz, molecular and atomic time devices had already begun to appear. These systems cannot be compared. Each performs its own specific tasks and is irreplaceable in its field. But, unfortunately, not everyone understands this. Feodosia Mikhailovich Fedchenko was never deprived of the attention of scientists and his colleagues. But officials, on whom both the fate of the inventor himself and his invention often depend, do not always know what they are doing.
The USSR State Standards Committee treated the famous designer coolly. In 1973, VNIIFTRI offered to pay the inventor a decent remuneration for more than twenty-five years of work on creating domestic astronomical clocks, which brought the country a huge economic effect and independence from the import of precision watch movements. Gosstandart considered it possible to cut the proposed remuneration by 9 times, citing the fact that “the accuracy of the AChF-3 clock is lower than the current atomic clock.” Of course, lower. But there are only atomic clocks in the whole country, they are serviced by a whole team of employees, this is the State standard of time and frequency, and Fedchenko’s clocks have a completely different purpose - they are time keepers. Until now, many television centers, airports, cosmodromes, and observatories are equipped with Fedchenko watches.
Would anyone even think of comparing the speed of a bicycle and a space rocket? And Gosstandart compared Fedchenko’s pendulum clocks, which give an error of one second in 15 years, with atomic clocks, which err by the same second in three hundred thousand years. You can only evaluate a system of a similar class. For example, Fedchenko's watches, compared to Short's watches, are much cheaper, more economical, more reliable, more convenient to use and much more accurate. Let's not pay attention to short-sighted and unscrupulous officials of all ranks. The main thing is that we will remember and be proud that our compatriot Feodosia Mikhailovich Fedchenko put the last point in the development of pendulum clocks. Listen to how proudly it sounds - from Galileo and Huygens to Fedchenko!
The master, of course, knew his worth and knew that there would be spiteful critics who would try to belittle the significance of his invention. So that they would not forget about his life’s work, Fedchenko himself came to the Polytechnic Museum in 1970 with an offer to accept a gift and exhibit a clock of his design. Today in the small hall of the Moscow museum you can see many masterpieces of watchmaking art, including the watch of the inventor capital letters- Theodosius Mikhailovich Fedchenko
Mechanical watches, similar in structure to modern ones, appeared in the 14th century in Europe. These are watches that use a weight or spring energy source, and they use a pendulum or balance regulator as an oscillating system. There are six main components of a watch movement:
1) engine;
2) transmission mechanism made of gears;
3) a regulator that creates uniform movement;
4) trigger distributor;
5) pointer mechanism;
6) mechanism for moving and winding the watch.
The first mechanical clocks were called tower wheel clocks and were driven by a descending weight. The drive mechanism was a smooth wooden shaft with a rope attached to a stone, which acted as a weight. Under the influence of gravity of the weight, the rope began to unwind and rotate the shaft. If this shaft is connected through intermediate wheels to the main ratchet wheel connected to the pointer arrows, then this entire system will somehow indicate the time. The problems with such a mechanism are the enormous heaviness and the need for the weight to fall somewhere and the not uniform, but accelerated rotation of the shaft. To satisfy everything the necessary conditions, to operate the mechanism, huge structures were built, usually in the form of a tower, the height of which was no less than 10 meters, and the weight of the weight reached 200 kg; naturally, all the parts of the mechanism were of impressive size. Faced with the problem of uneven rotation of the shaft, medieval mechanics realized that the movement of a clock could not depend only on the movement of the load.
The mechanism must be supplemented with a device that would control the movement of the entire mechanism. This is how a device restraining the rotation of the wheel appeared, it was called “Bilyanets” - a regulator.
The bilyanets was a metal rod located parallel to the surface of the ratchet wheel. Two blades are attached to the bilian axis at right angles to each other. As the wheel turns, the tooth pushes the paddle until it slips off and releases the wheel. At this time, another blade on the opposite side of the wheel enters the recess between the teeth and restrains its movement. While working, the Bilyanian sways. Each time it swings completely, the ratchet wheel moves one tooth. The swing speed of the bilian is interconnected with the speed of the ratchet wheel. Weights, usually in the form of balls, are hung on the rod of the bilyan. By adjusting the size of these weights and their distance from the axle, you can make the ratchet wheel move at different speeds. Of course this one oscillatory system In many respects it is inferior to a pendulum, but can be used in a clock. However, any regulator will stop if its oscillations are not constantly maintained. For the clock to work, it is necessary that part of the motor energy from the main wheel constantly flows to the pendulum or beater. This task is performed in the clock by a device called the escapement distributor.
Various types of Bilyans
The escapement is the most complex component in a mechanical watch. Through it, the connection between the regulator and the transmission mechanism is carried out. On the one hand, the descent transmits shocks from the engine to the regulator, which are necessary to maintain the oscillations of the regulator. On the other hand, it subordinates the movement of the transmission mechanism to the laws of movement of the regulator. The exact movement of the watch depends mainly on the escapement, the design of which puzzled the inventors.
The very first trigger mechanism was a spindle one. The speed regulator of these watches was the so-called spindle, which is a rocker with heavy loads, mounted on a vertical axis and alternately driven to the right or to the left. The inertia of the loads had a braking effect on the clock mechanism, slowing down the rotation of its wheels. The accuracy of such watches with a spindle regulator was low, and the daily error exceeded 60 minutes.
Since the first watches did not have a special winding mechanism, preparing the watch for operation required a lot of effort. Several times a day it was necessary to lift a heavy weight to a great height and overcome the enormous resistance of all the gears of the transmission mechanism. Therefore, already in the second half of the 14th century, the main wheel began to be fastened in such a way that when reverse rotation shaft (counterclockwise), it remained motionless. Over time, the design of mechanical watches became more complex. The number of wheels of the transmission mechanism has increased because the mechanism was under heavy load and quickly wore out, and the load dropped very quickly and had to be lifted several times a day. In addition, to create large gear ratios, wheels of too large a diameter were required, which increased the dimensions of the watch. Therefore, additional intermediate wheels began to be introduced, whose task was to smoothly increase gear ratios.
Tower clock mechanisms
The tower clock was a capricious mechanism and required constant supervision (due to the force of friction it needed constant lubrication) and the participation of maintenance personnel (lifting the load). Despite the large diurnal error, for a long time these watches remained the most accurate and widespread instrument for measuring time. The clock mechanism became more complicated, and other devices began to be associated with the clock, performing various functions. Eventually, the tower clock evolved into a complex device with many hands, automatic movable figures, a varied striking system, and magnificent decorations. These were masterpieces of art and technology at the same time.
For example, the Prague Tower Clock, built in 1402, was equipped with automatic moving figures that performed a real theatrical performance during the battle. Above the dial, before the battle, two windows opened from which 12 apostles emerged. The figurine of Death stood on right side dial and at each strike of the clock she turned her braid, and the person standing next to him nodded his head, emphasizing the fatal inevitability and the hourglass reminded of the end of life. On the left side of the dial there were 2 more figures, one depicted a man with a wallet in his hands, who every hour jingled the coins lying there, showing that time is money. Another figure depicted a traveler rhythmically striking the ground with his staff, showing the vanity of life. After the striking of the clock, a figurine of a rooster appeared and crowed three times. Christ appeared last at the window and blessed all the spectators standing below.
Another example of a tower clock was the construction of the master Giunello Turriano, who required 1800 wheels to create a tower clock.
This clock reproduced the daily movement of Saturn, the hours of the day, the annual movement of the Sun, the movement of the Moon, as well as all the planets in accordance with the Ptolemaic system of the universe. To create such machines, special software devices were required that were driven by a large disk controlled by a clock mechanism. All the moving parts of the figures had levers that rose and fell under the influence of the rotation of the circle, when the levers fell into special cutouts and teeth of the rotating disk. Also, the tower clock had a separate striking mechanism, which was driven by its own weight, and many clocks struck noon, midnight, an hour, and a quarter hour in different ways.
The invention of constipation gave impetus to the creation of spring watches. It was a small latch that was placed in the teeth of the wheels and allowed the spring to unwind only in such a way that at the same time its entire body turned, and with it the wheels of the clock mechanism.
Since the spring has unequal elastic force at different stages of its unfolding, the first watchmakers had to resort to various tricks to make its movement more uniform. Later, when they learned how to make high-quality steel for watch springs, they were no longer necessary. In modern inexpensive watches, the spring is simply made long enough, designed for approximately 30-36 hours of operation, but it is recommended to wind the watch once a day at the same time. A special device prevents the spring from collapsing completely during the factory. As a result, the spring stroke is used only in the middle part, when its elastic force is more uniform.
The next step towards improving mechanical clocks was the discovery of the laws of pendulum oscillation made by Galileo.
The creation of a pendulum clock consisted of connecting a pendulum to a device to maintain its oscillations and count them. In fact, a pendulum clock is an improved spring clock.
At the end of his life, Galileo began to design such a clock, but the development did not go further. And after the death of the great scientist, the first pendulum clocks were created by his son. The structure of these watches was kept strictly secret, so they did not have any influence on the development of technology.
Independently of Galileo, Huygens assembled a mechanical clock with a pendulum in 1657.
In 1676, Clement, an English watchmaker, invented an anchor escapement, which was ideal for pendulum clocks that had a small amplitude of oscillation. This descent design consisted of a pendulum axis on which an anchor with pallets was mounted. Swinging along with the pendulum, the pallets were alternately embedded in the running wheel, subordinating its rotation to the period of oscillation of the pendulum. The wheel managed to turn one tooth with each vibration. Such a trigger mechanism allowed the pendulum to receive periodic shocks that prevented it from stopping. The push occurred when the road wheel, freed from one of the armature teeth, hit the certain force about another tooth. This push was transmitted from the anchor to the pendulum.
The invention of Huygens' pendulum regulator revolutionized watchmaking technology. Huygens spent a lot of effort on improving pocket spring watches. The main problem of which was in the spindle regulator, as they were constantly in motion, shaking and swaying. All these fluctuations had negative impact for precision. In the 16th century, watchmakers began to replace the double-shouldered rocker-shaped bell with a round wheel-flywheel. This replacement significantly improved the clock's performance, but remained unsatisfactory.
An important improvement in the regulator occurred in 1674, when Huygens attached a spiral spring - a hair - to the flywheel.
Now, when the wheel deviated from the neutral position, the hair acted on it and tried to return it to its place. However, the massive wheel slipped through the balance point and spun in the other direction until a hair brought it back again. This is how the first balance regulator or balancer was created, the properties of which were similar to those of a pendulum. Brought out of the state of equilibrium, the balance wheel began to make oscillatory movements around its axis. The balancer had a constant period of oscillation, but could work in any position, which is very important for pocket and wrist watches. Huygens's improvement produced the same revolution among spring clocks as the introduction of the pendulum into stationary wall clocks.
The Englishman Robert Hooke, independently of the Dutchman Christiaan Huygens, also developed an oscillatory mechanism, which is based on the oscillations of a spring-loaded body - a balancing mechanism.
The balance mechanism is used, as a rule, in portable clocks, since it can be used in different positions, which cannot be said about the pendulum mechanism, which is used in wall and grandfather clocks, since immobility is important for it.
The balancing mechanism includes:
Balance wheel;
Spiral;
Fork;
Thermometer - accuracy adjustment lever;
Ratchet.
To regulate the accuracy of the stroke, a thermometer is used - a lever that removes some part of the spiral from working.
With the development of science, the clock mechanism became more complex, and the accuracy of the movement increased. Thus, at the beginning of the eighteenth century, ruby and sapphire bearings were first used for the balance wheel and gears, which improved accuracy and power reserve and reduced friction. Gradually, pocket watches were supplemented with more and more complex devices, and some samples had a perpetual calendar, automatic winding, an independent stopwatch, a thermometer, a power reserve indicator, a minute repeater, and the operation of the mechanism was made possible by a back cover made of rock crystal.
The invention of the tourbillon in 1801 by Abraham Louis Breguet is still considered the greatest achievement in the watch industry. Breguet managed to solve one of the biggest problems of watch mechanisms of his time; he found a way to overcome gravity and the associated movement errors. A tourbillon is a mechanical device designed to improve the accuracy of a watch by compensating for the effect of gravity on the anchor fork and uniformly distributing lubrication to the rubbing surfaces of the mechanism when changing the vertical and horizontal positions of the mechanism.
The tourbillon is one of the most impressive movements in modern watches. Such a mechanism can only be produced by skilled craftsmen, and the company’s ability to produce a tourbillon is a sign of its belonging to the watch elite.
Mechanical watches have always been a subject of admiration and surprise; they fascinated with the beauty of their execution and the difficulty of the mechanism. They also always pleased their owners with unique functions and original design. Mechanical watches are still a source of prestige and pride today; they can emphasize status and will always show the exact time.
At first they were sunny and watery, then they became fiery and sandy, and finally appeared in mechanical form. But, whatever their interpretations, they always remained what they are today - sources of time.
Today our story is about a mechanism that, having been invented in ancient times, remains a faithful assistant to man today - hours.
Drop by drop
The first simple device for measuring time - sundial- was invented by the Babylonians about 3.5 thousand years ago. A small rod (gnomon) was fixed on a flat stone (kadran), carved with lines - a dial, the shadow of the gnomon served as the hour hand. But since such clocks “worked” only during the day, at night they were replaced by a clepsydra - that’s what the Greeks called a water clock.
And he invented the water clock around 150 BC. Ancient Greek mechanic-inventor Ctesibius from Alexandria. A metal or clay, and later a glass vessel was filled with water. The water flowed out slowly, drop by drop, its level dropped, and the divisions on the vessel indicated what time it was. By the way, the first alarm clock on earth was also a water alarm clock, which was also a school bell. The ancient Greek philosopher Plato is considered its inventor. The device served to call students to classes and consisted of two vessels. Water was poured into the upper one, and from there it gradually poured into the lower one, displacing the air from it. The air rushed through the tube to the flute, and it began to sound.
No less common in Europe and China were the so-called “fire” watches. The first “fire” clocks appeared at the beginning of the 13th century. This very simple clock in the form of a long thin candle with a scale printed along its length showed the time relatively satisfactorily, and at night it also illuminated the home.
The candles used for this purpose were about a meter long. Metal pins were usually attached to the sides of the candle, which fell as the wax burned out and melted, and their impact on the metal cup of the candlestick was a kind of sound signaling of time.
For centuries, vegetable oil served not only for nutrition, but also as a clockwork. Based 
Based on the experimentally established dependence of the height of the oil level on the duration of burning of the wick, oil lamp clocks arose. As a rule, these were simple lamps with an open wick burner and a glass flask for oil, equipped with an hour scale. The time in such a clock was determined as the oil burned in the flask.
The first hourglass appeared relatively recently - only a thousand years ago. And although various types of granular time indicators have been known for a long time, only the proper development of glassblowing skills made it possible to create a relatively accurate device. But with the help of an hourglass it was possible to measure only short periods of time, usually no more than half an hour. Thus, the best clocks of that period could provide time accuracy of ± 15-20 minutes per day.
Without minutes
The time and place of the appearance of the first mechanical watches is not known for certain. However, some assumptions on this matter still exist. The oldest, although not documented, reports about them are considered to be references dating back to the 10th century. The invention of mechanical watches is attributed to Pope Sylvester II (950 - 1003 AD). It is known that Herbert was very interested in clocks all his life and in 996 he assembled the first ever tower clock for the city of Magdeburg. Since this clock has not survived, the question remains open to this day: what operating principle did it have?
But the following fact is truly known. In any clock there must be something that sets a certain constant minimum interval of time, determining the tempo of the counted moments. One of the first such mechanisms with a bilyanets (a rocker arm swinging back and forth) was proposed somewhere around 1300. Its important advantage was the ease of adjusting the speed by moving weights on a rotating rocker. On the dials of that period there was only one hand - the hour hand, and these clocks also struck a bell every hour ( English word“clock” - “clock” comes from the Latin “clocca” - “bell”). Gradually, almost all cities and churches acquired clocks that kept time evenly both day and night. They were calibrated, naturally, according to the Sun, bringing them in accordance with its course.
Unfortunately, mechanical wheel clocks only worked properly on land - so the era of the Great geographical discoveries passed to the sound of ship bells gradually pouring sand, although it was the sailors who needed accurate and reliable watches most of all.
Tooth by tooth
In 1657, the Dutch scientist Christiaan Huygens made a mechanical clock with a pendulum. And this became the next milestone in watchmaking. In its mechanism, the pendulum passed between the teeth of a fork, which allowed a special gear to rotate exactly one tooth per half swing. The accuracy of the watches increased many times, but it was still impossible to transport such watches.
In 1670, there was a radical improvement in the escapement mechanism of mechanical watches - the so-called anchor escapement was invented, which made it possible to use long second pendulums. After careful adjustment to the latitude of the location and the temperature of the room, such a clock was inaccurate by only a few seconds per week.
The first marine clock was made in 1735 by Yorkshire joiner John Harrison. Their accuracy was ± 5 seconds per day, and they were already quite suitable for sea travel. However, remaining dissatisfied with his first chronometer, the inventor worked for almost three more decades before full-scale testing of an improved model began in 1761, which took less than a second per day. The first part of the award was received by Harrison in 1764, after the third long sea trial and no less lengthy clerical ordeals.
The inventor received his full reward only in 1773. The watch was tested by the well-known Captain James Cook, who was very pleased with this extraordinary invention. In the ship's log, he even praised Harrison's brainchild: “A faithful friend, the watch, our guide, who never fails.”
Meanwhile, mechanical pendulum clocks are becoming household items. Initially, only wall and table clocks were made, later floor clocks began to be made. Soon after the invention of the flat spring, which replaced the pendulum, master Peter Haenlein from the German city of Nuremberg made the first wearable watch. Their corps, which had only one clockwise, was made of gilded brass and was shaped like an egg. The first “Nuremberg eggs” were 100-125 mm in diameter, 75 mm thick and were worn in the hand or around the neck. Much later, the dial of pocket watches was covered with glass. The approach to their design has become more sophisticated. Cases began to be made in the shape of animals and other real objects, and enamel was used to decorate the dial.
In the 60s of the 18th century, the Swiss Abraham Louis Breguet continued his research in the field of wearable watches. He makes them more compact and in 1775 opens his own watch shop in Paris. However, “breguettes” (as the French called these watches) were affordable only for very rich people, while ordinary people were content with stationary devices. Time passed and Breguet began to think about improving his watches. In 1790, he produced the first shockproof watch, and in 1783 his first multifunctional watch, the “Queen Marie Antoinette,” was released. The watch had a self-winding mechanism, a minute repeater, a perpetual calendar, an independent stopwatch, an “equation of time”, a thermometer and a power reserve indicator. The back cover, made of rock crystal, made it possible to see the mechanism at work. But the irrepressible inventor did not stop there. And in 1799 he made the “Tact” watch, which became known as the “watch for the blind.” Their owner could find out the time by touching the open dial, and the clock would not be interrupted by this.
Electroplating versus mechanics
But Breguet's inventions were still affordable only for the elite segments of society, and other inventors had to solve the problem of mass production of watches. IN early XIX century, which coincided with the rapid development of technological progress, postal services faced the problem of storing time, trying to ensure the movement of mail carriages on schedule. As a result, they acquired a new invention by scientists - the so-called “portable” watches, the operating principle of which was similar to the “Breguet” mechanism. With the advent railways Conductors also received such watches.
The more actively the transatlantic message developed, the more pressing the problem of ensuring the unity of time on different sides of the ocean became. In this situation, “transportable” watches were no longer suitable. And then electricity, in those days called galvanism, came to the rescue. Electric clocks solved the problem of synchronization over long distances - first on continents, and then between them. In 1851, the cable lay on the bottom of the English Channel, in 1860 - in the Mediterranean Sea, and in 1865 - in the Atlantic Ocean.
The first electric clock was designed by the Englishman Alexander Bain. By 1847 he had completed work on this clock, the heart of which was a contact controlled by a pendulum swinging by an electromagnet. At the beginning of the 20th century, electric clocks finally replaced mechanical ones in systems for storing and transmitting accurate time. By the way, the most accurate clock based on free electromagnetic pendulums was the clock of William Shortt, installed in 1921 at the Edinburgh Observatory. From observing the progress of three Shortt clocks made in 1924, 1926 and 1927 at the Greenwich Observatory, their average daily error was determined to be 1 second per year. The accuracy of Shortt's free pendulum clock made it possible to detect changes in the length of the day. And in 1931, a revision of the absolute unit of time - sidereal time - began, taking into account the movement of the earth's axis. This error, which had been neglected until then, reached its maximum of 0.003 seconds per day. The new unit of time was later called Mean Sidereal Time. The accuracy of Shortt's watches was unsurpassed until the advent of quartz watches.
Quartz time
In 1937, the first quartz watch appeared, developed by Lewis Essen. Yes, yes, the same ones that we carry in our arms today, that hang on the walls of our apartments today. The invention was installed at the Greenwich Observatory; the accuracy of this clock was about 2 ms/day. In the second half of the twentieth century, the time came for electronic watches. In them, the place of electrical contact was taken by a transistor, and a quartz resonator acted as a pendulum. Today, it is quartz resonators in wristwatches, personal computers, washing machines, cars, cell phones shape the time of our lives.
So, the age of the hourglass and sundial has sunk into oblivion. And inventors never tired of pampering humanity with high-tech innovations. Time passed and the first atomic clocks were built. It would seem that the age of their mechanical and electronic brothers has also come to an end. But no! These two watch options have proven the greatest accuracy and ease of use. And it was they who defeated all their ancestors.
Science 2.0 NOT simple things. Clocks
The first science of time is astronomy. The results of observations at ancient observatories were used to guide Agriculture and the performance of religious rites. However, with the development of crafts, the need arose to measure short periods of time. Thus, humanity came to the invention of watches. The process was long, filled with hard work from the best minds.
The history of watches goes back many centuries; it is the oldest invention of mankind. From a stick stuck in the ground to an ultra-precise chronometer, the journey is hundreds of generations long. If you make a rating of achievements human civilization, then in the category “great inventions” the clock will be in second place after the wheel.
There was a time when a calendar was enough for people. But crafts appeared, and the need arose to record the duration of technological processes. It took a clock, the purpose of which was to measure periods of time shorter than a day. For this purpose, people have used various physical processes. The designs implementing them were also corresponding.
The history of watches is divided into two large periods. The first is several thousand years long, the second is less than one.
1. The history of the emergence of clocks called simplest. This category includes solar, water, fire and sand devices. The period ends with the study of mechanical clocks of the pre-pendulum period. These were medieval chimes.
2. New story clock, starting with the invention of the pendulum and balance, which marked the beginning of the development of classical oscillatory chronometry. This period is still
Sundial
The most ancient ones that have reached us. Therefore, it is the history of the sundial that opens the parade of great inventions in the field of chronometry. Despite their apparent simplicity, they were distinguished by a wide variety of designs.
The basis is the apparent movement of the Sun throughout the day. Counting is carried out according to the shadow cast by the axis. Their use is possible only on a sunny day. Ancient Egypt had favorable climatic conditions for this. The most widespread on the banks of the Nile were sundials in the form of obelisks. They were installed at the entrance to temples. A gnomon in the form of a vertical obelisk and a scale marked on the ground - this is what an ancient sundial looked like. The photo below shows one of them. One of the Egyptian obelisks transported to Europe has survived to this day. The 34-meter-high gnomon currently stands in one of the piazzas in Rome.
Conventional sundials had a significant drawback. They knew about him, but they put up with him for a long time. In different seasons, that is, summer and winter, the duration of the hour was not the same. But during the period when the agrarian system and craft relations dominated, there was no need for an accurate measurement of times. Therefore, the sundial successfully existed until the late Middle Ages.
The gnomon was replaced by more progressive designs. Improved sundials, in which this drawback was eliminated, had curved scales. In addition to these improvements, various options execution. Thus, wall and window sundials were common in Europe.
Further improvements took place in 1431. It consisted in orienting the shadow arrow parallel to the earth's axis. Such an arrow was called a semi-axis. Now the shadow, rotating around the semi-axis, moved evenly, turning 15° per hour. This design made it possible to produce a sundial that was quite accurate for its time. The photo shows one of these devices preserved in China.
For proper installation, the structure was equipped with a compass. It became possible to use the watch everywhere. It was even possible to produce portable models. Since 1445, sundials began to be built in the form of a hollow hemisphere, equipped with an arrow, the shadow of which fell on the inner surface.
Searching for an alternative
Despite the fact that sundials were convenient and accurate, they had serious objective flaws. They were completely dependent on the weather, and their functioning was limited to the part of the day contained in the interval between sunrise and sunset. In search of an alternative, scientists sought to find other ways to measure periods of time. It was required that they should not be associated with the observation of the movement of stars and planets.
The search led to the creation of artificial time standards. For example, it was the interval required for the flow or combustion of a certain amount of a substance.
The simplest watches created on this basis have gone a long way in developing and improving designs, thereby preparing the ground for the creation of not only mechanical watches, but also automation devices.
Clepsydra
The name “clepsydra” has been assigned to water clocks, so there is a misconception that they were first invented in Greece. In reality it was not like that. The oldest, very primitive clepsydra was found in the temple of Amon at Phoebus and is kept in the Cairo Museum.
When creating a water clock, it is necessary to ensure a uniform decrease in the water level in the vessel as it flows through the bottom calibrated hole. This was achieved by giving the vessel the shape of a cone, tapering closer to the bottom. It was possible to obtain a pattern describing the rate of liquid outflow depending on its level and the shape of the container only in the Middle Ages. Before this, the shape of the vessel for the water clock was selected experimentally. For example, the Egyptian clepsydra mentioned above gave a uniform decrease in level. Albeit with some error.
Since the clepsydra did not depend on the time of day and weather, it best met the requirements of continuous time measurement. In addition, the need to further improve the device and add various functions provided space for the designers to fly with their imagination. Thus, clepsydra of Arabic origin were works of art combined with high functionality. They were equipped with additional hydraulic and pneumatic mechanisms: an audible time signal, a night lighting system.
Not many names of the creators of water clocks have been preserved by history. They were produced not only in Europe, but also in China and India. Information has reached us about a Greek mechanic named Ctesibius of Alexandria, who lived 150 years before new era. In clepsydras, Ctesibius used gears, the theoretical developments of which were carried out by Aristotle.
Fire clock
This group appeared in the early 13th century. The first fire clocks were thin candles up to 1 meter high with marks applied to them. Sometimes certain divisions were equipped with metal pins, which, falling on a metal stand as the wax burned around them, produced a distinct sound. Such devices served as the prototype of the alarm clock.
With the advent of transparent glass, fire clocks were transformed into lamp clocks. A scale was applied to the wall, according to which, as the oil burned out, the time was determined.
Such devices are most widespread in China. Along with lamp clocks, another type of fire clock was widespread in this country - wick clocks. We can say that this was a dead-end branch.
Hourglass
It is not known exactly when they were born. We can only say with certainty that they could not have appeared before the invention of glass.
The hourglass consists of two transparent glass flasks. Through the connecting neck, the contents are poured from the upper flask to the lower one. And nowadays you can still find hourglasses. The photo shows one of the models, stylized as antique.
When making instruments, medieval craftsmen decorated hourglasses with exquisite decor. They were used not only to measure periods of time, but also as interior decoration. In the homes of many nobles and dignitaries one could see a luxurious hourglass. The photo represents one of these models.
The hourglass came to Europe quite late - at the end of the Middle Ages, but its spread was rapid. Due to their simplicity and ability to be used at any time, they quickly became very popular.
One of the disadvantages of hourglasses is the rather short period of time measured without turning them over. Cassettes made from them did not take root. The spread of such models was hampered by their low accuracy, as well as wear and tear during long-term use. It happened as follows. The calibrated hole in the diaphragm between the flasks was worn out, increasing in diameter, the sand particles, on the contrary, were crushed, decreasing in size. The outflow speed increased, the time decreased.
Mechanical watches: prerequisites for their appearance
The need for more accurate measurement of periods of time with the development of production and social relations steadily increased. The best minds have worked to solve this problem.
The invention of mechanical watches is an epoch-making event that occurred in the Middle Ages, because they are the most complex device created in those years. In turn, this served as an impetus for further development science and technology.
The invention of watches and their improvement required more advanced, accurate and high-performance technological equipment, new methods of calculation and design. This was the beginning of a new era.
The creation of mechanical watches became possible with the invention of the spindle escapement. This device converted forward movement a weight hanging on a rope into the oscillating back and forth motion of a clock wheel. Continuity is clearly visible here - after all, complex models of clepsydras already had a dial, a gear, and a strike. I just needed to change driving force: Replace the water jet with a heavy weight that is easier to handle, and add a trigger and control.
On this basis, mechanisms for tower clocks were created. Chimes with a spindle regulator came into use around 1340 and became the pride of many cities and cathedrals.
The emergence of classical oscillatory chronometry
The history of the clock has preserved for posterity the names of the scientists and inventors who made its creation possible. The theoretical basis was the discovery made by Galileo Galilei, who voiced the laws describing the oscillations of a pendulum. He is also the author of the idea of mechanical pendulum clocks.
Galileo's idea was realized in 1658 by the talented Dutchman Christiaan Huygens. He is also the author of the invention of the balance regulator, which made it possible to create pocket and then wrist watches. In 1674, Huygens developed an improved regulator by attaching a hair-shaped spiral spring to a flywheel.
Another iconic invention belongs to a watchmaker from Nuremberg named Peter Henlein. He invented the winding spring, and in 1500 he created a pocket watch based on it.
Changes were happening at the same time appearance. At first, one arrow was enough. But since the clocks became very accurate, they required an appropriate indication. In 1680, a minute hand was added, and the dial took on its familiar appearance. In the eighteenth century, they began to install a second hand. At first it was lateral, and later it became central.
In the seventeenth century, watch making was relegated to the category of art. Exquisitely decorated cases, dials decorated with enamel, which by that time were covered with glass - all this turned the mechanisms into a luxury item.
Work to improve and complicate the instruments continued continuously. The accuracy of the move increased. At the beginning of the eighteenth century, ruby and sapphire stones began to be used as supports for the balancer and gears. This reduced friction, increased accuracy and increased power reserve. Interesting complications have appeared - perpetual calendar, automatic winding, power reserve indicator.
The impetus for the development of pendulum clocks was the invention of the English watchmaker Clement. Around 1676 he developed the anchor-anchor descent. This device was well suited to pendulum clocks, which had a small amplitude of oscillation.
Quartz watch
Further improvement of instruments for measuring time occurred like an avalanche. The development of electronics and radio engineering paved the way for the emergence of quartz watches. Their work is based on the piezoelectric effect. It was discovered in 1880, but quartz watches were not produced until 1937. The newly created quartz models differed from classic mechanical ones with amazing accuracy. The era of electronic watches has begun. What makes them special?
Quartz watches have a mechanism consisting of an electronic unit and a so-called stepper motor. How it works? The engine, receiving a signal from the electronic unit, moves the arrows. Instead of the usual dial, quartz watches can use a digital display. We call them electronic. In the West - quartz with digital display. This doesn't change the essence.
In fact, a quartz watch is a mini-computer. It is very easy to add additional functions: stopwatch, moon phase indicator, calendar, alarm clock. At the same time, the price of watches, unlike mechanics, does not increase so much. This makes them more accessible.
Quartz watches are very accurate. Their error is ±15 seconds/month. It is enough to correct instrument readings twice a year.
Digital wall clock
Digital display and compactness - that's it distinctive feature this kind of mechanisms. are widely used as integrated ones. They can be seen on the dashboard of the car, in mobile phone, in the microwave and TV.
As an element of the interior, you can often find the more popular classic version, that is, with a dial indicator.
Electronic wall clocks organically fit into the interior in high-tech, modern, and techno styles. They attract primarily with their functionality.
According to the type of display, electronic watches can be liquid crystal and LED. The latter are more functional, as they are backlit.
Based on the type of power source, electronic clocks (wall and table clocks) are divided into network clocks, powered by a 220V network, and battery clocks. Devices of the second type are more convenient, since they do not require a nearby outlet.
Wall clock with cuckoo
German craftsmen began making them from the beginning of the eighteenth century. Traditionally, cuckoo wall clocks were made from wood. Richly decorated with carvings and made in the shape of a bird's house, they were a decoration of rich mansions.
At one time, inexpensive models were popular in the USSR and the post-Soviet space. For many years, cuckoo wall clocks of the Mayak brand were produced by a factory in the Russian city of Serdobsk. Weights in the shape of fir cones, a house decorated with simple carvings, paper bellows of a sound mechanism - this is how representatives of the older generation remembered them.
Nowadays, classic cuckoo wall clocks are a rarity. This is due to the high price of high-quality models. If you do not take into account the quartz crafts of Asian craftsmen made of plastic, fairy-tale cuckoos cuckoo only in the homes of true connoisseurs of exotic watchmaking. A precise, complex mechanism, leather bellows, exquisite carvings on the case - all this requires a large amount of highly skilled manual labor. Only the most reputable manufacturers can produce such models.
Alarm clock
These are the most common “walkers” in the interior.
The alarm clock is the first additional function that was implemented in the watch. Patented in 1847 by the Frenchman Antoine Redier.
In a classic mechanical desktop alarm clock, the sound is produced by striking metal plates with a hammer. Electronic models are more melodic.
According to their design, alarm clocks are divided into small-sized and large-sized, tabletop and travel.
Table alarm clocks are made with separate motors for and signal. They start up separately.
With the advent of quartz watches, the popularity of mechanical alarm clocks fell. There are several reasons for this. with a quartz movement have a number of advantages over classic mechanical devices: they are more accurate, do not require daily winding, and are easy to match to the design of the room. In addition, they are lightweight and less susceptible to bumps and falls.
A mechanical wristwatch with an alarm clock is usually called a "signal". Few companies produce such models. Thus, collectors know a model called “Presidential Cricket”
“Cricket” (in English cricket) - under this name the Swiss company Vulcain produced wristwatches with an alarm function. They are famous for the fact that their owners were American presidents: Harry Truman, Richard Nixon and Lyndon Johnson.
History of watches for children
Time is a complex philosophical category and at the same time physical quantity, requiring measurement. Man lives in time. Already with kindergarten The training and education program provides for the development of time orientation skills in children.
You can teach your child to use a watch as soon as he has mastered counting. Layouts will help with this. You can combine a cardboard clock with your daily routine, placing it all on a piece of Whatman paper for greater clarity. You can organize activities with game elements, using riddles with pictures.
History at the age of 6-7 years is studied in thematic classes. The material must be presented in such a way as to arouse interest in the topic. Children are introduced in an accessible form to the history of watches, their types in the past and present. Then they consolidate the acquired knowledge. To do this, they demonstrate the principle of operation of the simplest clocks - solar, water and fire. These activities awaken children's interest in exploration, develop creative imagination and curiosity. They cultivate a careful attitude towards time.
At school, in grades 5-7, the history of the invention of watches is studied. It is based on the knowledge acquired by the child in astronomy, history, geography, and physics lessons. In this way, the learned material is consolidated. Watches, their invention and improvement are considered as part of the history of material culture, the achievements of which are aimed at meeting the needs of society. The topic of the lesson can be formulated as follows: “Inventions that changed the history of mankind.”
In high school, it is advisable to continue studying watches as an accessory from the point of view of fashion and interior aesthetics. It is important to introduce children to watch etiquette and talk about the basic principles of selection. One of the classes can be devoted to time management.
The history of the invention of watches clearly shows the continuity of generations, its study - effective remedy formation of a young person’s worldview.
