I have been working on redesigning the mechanism inside the wheel, because it sometimes locks in a half-way position. This is due to the close proximity of another part of the mechanism. I have changed one of the levers for a longer version and then I took up the extra length by creating a hump or bridge in part of its length. This enables it to pass over the offending obstacle in its path.
The mechanism moves freely now and does what I want it to do, so my next task is to assemble the remaining mechanisms in the same way as the first. This design won't suffice for a finished product but it will certainly do for a proof of principle model which is all I want.
In attempting to make this machine I have, over the years, used and reused various parts, and the part which has suffered the most is the backplate which is what I call the wooden supporting structure to which all the parts are attached. It is in the form of a three foot wide circular disc of MDF (medium density fibreboard). The current backplate is nearing the end of its useful life and will have to be pensioned off soon. The disc is so full of drilled holes from previous attempts at making a working model that now when I drill I often drill into an adjoining hole and when held up to the light the backplate looks like a representation of the sky at night!
I'd put up a picture but it has a number design features drawn on the backplate which might give someone a clue to the direction I'm taking.
JC
ohn, you remember these statements, don't you?
ReplyDelete"Interior of the machine was a simple arrangement of weights and levers." -
Prince Karl, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel, eyewitness account
About 8 weights fell during each revolution of the wheel, which took about 3
seconds. Joseph Fischer, eyewitness account
So we may assume that you had to change eight levers for a longer version and then you took up the extra length by creating eight humps or bridges in part of their length of each lever, one for each weight. Because if you didn't you are not doing a simple arrangement of weights and levers, and you might not be in the right way.
Friendly
Lucius Anneus