How Does a Regulator Clock Work?
- There are two different definitions for a regulator clock. The first and most traditional definition pertains to the scientific definition of a regulator. These clocks were designed to function with weights and gears to attain a very high degree of accuracy. They were first created in the 1700s by Englishmen James Harrison and Benjamin Vulliamy and eventually adopted by Vienna where the regulator clock became not only a scientific instrument by also a popular style of clock, using a complex set of pendulums that controlled each of the clock's hands.
- The developing popularity of the regulator led to three main styles of regulator clocks: business regulators, used to monitor official business practices; astronomical regulators, designed to be highly accurate for scientific purposes; and fashionable regulators, used in homes. The rising trend in the style of the clock led to the second definition, a brand of clocks eventually developed in the early 1900s. These clocks were not what is known as the Vienna-style regulators, but were instead produced primarily by the New Haven Clock Co. While newer versions, these clocks are also considered antiques, and many are prized by collectors.
- Clocks before the regulator design were made with anchor-style pendulums. Regulators replaced these anchors with a weight-driven mechanism known as a dead beat escapement. The most advanced versions of these clocks tended to avoid extra features such as bells and chimes and focus only on accurate timekeeping over a long period. The deadbeat escapement, also known as the Graham escapement, uses a lock-and-slide mechanism to restore energy to the gears. Pendulums swing in different ways for different types of regulators--Vienna regulators, for instance, have pendulums that swing only a short distance, sometimes with an arc only an inch long. The key is how much energy the clock saves.
- The escapement has a verge that is designed to allow the escape wheel (the most important gear in the regulator clock) to rotate tooth by tooth without allowing any energy to escape. This is done with the tiny working faces of the verge, which lock on the teeth to keep them moving only one at a time as the pendulum swings. Even the edges of these working faces, where the tips of the teeth slide along to be locked into place, are specifically angled to keep energy from being wasted. The faces give the wheel an extra push with every swing of the pendulum. This makes regulator clocks highly accurate but only if they are properly adjusted.
