Regulator (clock)

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A regulator is used in watch technology

description

Precision regulator

Precision regulators with a compensated pendulum were used as time standards for scientific purposes and for official time determination until the late 1960s, and were called regulators . Very good regulators have a rate deviation of less than one second per month. In the regulator used in the scientific field, the hands were arranged on different axes of the dial to make the time more precise : The minute hand is the only large hand that dominates the central axis, while the hour and second hands are usually decentralized above and below in smaller areas of the dial rotate.

Pendulum wall clock

In principle, the term “regulator” comes from the verb regulate, so in the original sense it was a watch that the master watchmaker used to regulate his other watches. So he put all his skills and knowledge into the production of this watch in order to achieve the least possible error. The real “regulator” also has a very special “regulator dial” in which the minute hand dominates the large dial while the hour and second hands move on their own smaller sub-dials. Unfortunately, as can be seen below, the term is used incorrectly today for many “normal” simple wall clocks. The term regulator is also used for certain wall clocks with a pendulum. The criteria that define a wall clock as a regulator are less the performance and equipment features of this wall clock, but rather the shape of the watch case and the way in which the watch components are accommodated in this case. A wall clock can in principle be referred to as a regulator, in which the clockwork with dial together with drive , pendulum and escapement is housed in a mostly rectangular, upright clock case behind a door with glass insert or sets. These clocks were industrially manufactured in large numbers by many companies, especially in Germany, beginning in the second half of the 19th century and ending in the first half of the 20th century. But they were also produced in France and Austria ( Viennese weight regulator ).

The design of the watch case has adapted to the respective styles depending on the production time. There is the historicist regulator with elaborate ornaments, the Art Nouveau regulator with floral decoration and the Art Deco regulator with its clear geometric shapes. At the same time as the respective styles, regulators are still produced today, the design of which is based on the criteria of objectivity and modern functional style, but there are also replicas of historical models.

The components of the movement, such as the drive, the escapement and the pendulum, are usually not optimized for high accuracy, but for domestic use the accuracy was sufficient at the time (i.e. at the end of the 19th and early 20th centuries) and was higher than that of many older ones Watch models. The majority of the regulators have a spring drive , anchor escapement and a relatively short pendulum. The pendulum was often made as a compensation pendulum from several rods of different metals, whereby the change in length with temperature fluctuations should be reduced. Often there are the letters "A" and "R" on the pendulum lens of the regulator, for avancer and retarder (= accelerate and slow down) as instructions for precise setting by moving the pendulum lens accordingly, there is often a scale on the back of the housing, where you can read the pendulum swing. Later regulators also used wooden pendulum rods, which were supposed to be made to stop working by absorbing or releasing moisture using a special varnish.

In most cases, the regulator is equipped with a striking mechanism . The standard striking mechanism has the half-hour strike. In addition, you can also find striking mechanisms with a three-quarter hour strike, hour repeater or Westminster strike.

From the end of the 19th century until the 1930s, regulators were popular pieces of furniture in the “living room”, often selected to match the furniture and sold in large numbers. Accordingly, the models produced during this period can still be found today in many families as "heirlooms" and are quite common on the antiques market.

Wrist watch

Special wristwatches called regulators have the typical scientific regulator dial described above with separate positioning of the hour and minute hands.

Regulator

There is also the term regulator for regulators that ensure the smooth running of the striking mechanism or music boxes .

photos

literature

  • Klaus Erbrich: Precision pendulum clocks. From Graham to Riefler. Callwey, Munich 1978; ISBN 3-7667-0429-X .
  • Richard Mühe , Horand M. Vogel: Old clocks. A handbook of European table clocks, wall clocks and floor clocks. Callwey, Munich 1997, ISBN 3-7667-1018-4 .
  • Peter Heuer, Klaus Maurice: European pendulum clocks. Decorative instruments of timekeeping. Callwey, Munich 1988, ISBN 3-7667-0858-9 .
  • Lenzkircher Watch Friends e. V. (Ed.): 150 years of Lenzkircher watches 1851–2001. The stock corporation for watchmaking in Lenzkirch. (Accompanying publication for the exhibition from August 17 to September 2, 2001), Probst, Villingen-Schwenningen 2001, ISBN 3-925221-17-4 .

Web links

Commons : Regulator  - collection of images, videos and audio files
Wiktionary: Regulator  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Viktor Pröstler: Callweys manual of the clock types. From the wristwatch to the zappler. Callwey Munich 1994, ISBN 3-7667-1098-2 , p. 135.
  2. ↑ Regulator (3) in the UhrenLexikon.
  3. ↑ Rudi Koch (Ed.): BI-Lexikon - Clocks and Time Measurement , Bibliographical Institute, Leipzig 1986, ISBN 3-323-00100-1 ; P. 171.
  4. ↑ Regulator (2) in the UhrenLexikon.
  5. ↑ Fritz von Osterhausen: Callweys lexicon . Munich 1999, ISBN 3-7667-1353-1 ; P. 267.