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The going train
is the main part of the clock that is directly responsible for measuring
time. It consists of the weight-driven motor, the release mechanism,
the pendulum, the main system of gears, the hand and winding mechanisms.
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The main train is
made up of gear wheels and has two functions: to pass energy from
the weight motor through the escapement to the pendulum and to count
the oscillations of the pendulum. Through the main train movement
is imparted to the hand mechanism.
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The escapement is
the part of the clock mechanism intended to convey energy from the
weight to the pendulum so as to keep it swinging and control the movement
of the gears. It consists of an escape wheel with pins protruding
from the side of the rim and a special pallet that is like a two-armed
fork with slanting prongs like on an anchor. Hence the term "anchor
escapement".
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The pendulum is
the regulator of the clock mechanism and consists of a rod with a
weight at the end. It is intended to regulate the descent of the weight
and to produce oscillating motion with a particular period. Therefore
the pendulum is used in the clock as the primary measure of time.
The length of the pendulum is 932.4 mm. Its designed period is 0.938
seconds.
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The reduction gear
is part of the hand mechanism of the clock that conveys movement from
the minute hand to the hour hand. It consists of two pairs of cog
wheels turning the minute and hour hands. The minute shaft turns together
with the central wheel and goes through one revolution in 60 minutes,
or one hour. The hour shaft makes one revolution in 12 hours.
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The dial of the clock
is made from a circular piece of steel and covered with black
lacquer. The figures and hands are gilded. The dial is 160 cm in diameter.
The figures are 20 cm high and the distance between the minute marks
is 8 cm. The length of the minute hand is 100 cm, of the hour hand
78 cm. The dial is 22 metres above the ground and is attached directly
to the wall of the Winter Palace.
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The weight motor
allows the mechanical clock to work by converting the energy of the
descending weight. It consists of the steel cable and weight, the
winding shaft and weight drum.
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Weight is the source
of energy for large mechanical clocks. It is a body of a particular
shape made out of metal. The weight is used to create a load that
drives the gear train of the clock. The chiming and striking mechanisms
have two identical steel weights, half a metre tall, the going train
is driven by a lead weight of lesser height.
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An arrangement of metal
pulley blocks moving on the steel cable is used to increase
its length. This method makes it possible to extend the time between
windings of mechanical clocks driven by descending weights. In our
clock the steel cable has a diameter of 5 mm and a length of 45 metres,
although the weight shaft is only 4.6 metres deep.
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The weight drum
is a part in the form of a cylinder rotating on its axis. The drum
is relatively small in size: 176 mm in diameter and 255 mm long. One
turn of the drum corresponds to one full 360? sweep of the minute
hand and this means a relatively brief interval between windings of
the clock (one day).
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The winding mechanism
is a component of any mechanical timepiece and intended to store up
energy. It consists of the splined winding shaft, the weight drum
with winding gear and a ratchet mechanism.
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The winding shaft
is a detail of the clock mechanism located on the same axis as the
weight drum and intended to facilitate the winding process. With the
aid of a removable handle fitted onto the winding shaft, the clock
weights are raised to their top position.
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The removable winding
handle has a square socket. During the winding process it is fitted
onto the winding shaft so that its torque is passed on to the winding
drum.
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The spline is a
part of a series of uniformly spaced ridges on a shaft, parallel to
its axis that fits into corresponding grooves in a gear to transmit
torque.
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The chiming train
is a separate mechanism designed to produce a sound signal every quarter
of an hour. It consists of a weight-driven motor, winding mechanism,
the quarter count wheel, a system of levers, a three-bladed fly and
the actual chimes with the quarter bells.
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The drive wheel of the
going train is located on the axis of the weight drum and performs
one revolution an hour. Spaced equally around the rim of the wheel
are four pins that each 15 minutes raise a lever and set the quarter
chime mechanism in motion.
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The count wheel of the
chiming train is a brass disk with four slots on its outer edge.
The distance between one slot and the next determines the number of
times - from 1 to 4 - the quarter chimes will sound. The chiming train
is halted when the locking lever drops into one of the slots on the
wheel.
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The cog wheel with ten
pins is located at the end of the weight drum for the quarter
train. The ten pins are spaced equally around the edge of the wheel.
When the wheel turns, a pin pulls down two release levers that are
connected by wires to the hammers of the quarter bells. When the pressure
of the pin on the levers is released, they jump up sharply and the
hammers strike the bells.
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The pull wire is
part of the chiming mechanism, connecting a release lever and the
hammer of a bell.
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The quarter chimes
are played on two fairly small bells that differ in size and tone.
They weight 37 and 58 kg. When the chimes sound, the hammers strike
the outer edge of each of the bells in turn. The number of such double
blows corresponds to the quarters of the hour.
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The striking train
is a similar mechanism to the chiming train, but designed to produce
a sound signal at the end of each hour. It consists of a weight-driven
motor, winding mechanism, the hour count wheel, a system of levers,
a three-bladed fly and the signal device with the large hour bell.
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The count wheel of the
striking train is a brass disk with 11 numbered projections on
the rim. Between these are grooves set at different distances apart,
the distance gradually increasing from the first to the eleventh.
The length of the projection corresponds to the required number of
strokes on the hour bell.
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The locking lever of
the striking train has two arms. One of them slides along the
rim of the count wheel, the other, when in the upper position, releases
the locking pin on the shaft of the fly. When the one arm reaches
a slot in the rim of the count wheel and drops into it, the other
arm drops, presses on the locking pin and stops the striking mechanism.
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The cog wheel with eight
pins is located at the end of the weight drum for the striking
train. The eight pins are spaced equally around the edge of the wheel.
When the wheel turns, a pin pulls down a release lever that is connected
by wire to the hammers of the hour bell. When the pressure of the
pin on the lever is released, it jumps up sharply and the hammer strikes
the bell.
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The three-bladed fly
is an air brake that ensures the even movement of the chiming
and striking mechanisms without noticeable "fits and starts".
A fly or fan usually has between 2 and 4 vanes, ours has three. Its
blades can be turned altering its retarding parameters and thus changing
the frequency of the hammers striking the bells.
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The hour
bell is the largest of the clock’s bells with a correspondingly
low note. It weighs 197 kg. After the two smaller bells have chimed
the fourth quarter, the large bell strikes the current hour.
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