Uploaded November 2020 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Watch a 360-degree view of a mechanical torsion-pendulum oscillator that automates the button-and-string toy known as whirligig.
The button spinner escapement consists of the following components:
1. 8-tooth escape wheel
2. Locking lever that rests on a pin
3. Vertical pallet suspended by a string
4. Sewing button (1" OD) strung on cotton sewing thread
5. Lead mass, 1.5 oz
Static Stage: When at rest, the escape wheel is locked by the locking lever.
Impellent Stage: The escape-wheel tooth slides down and pushes a blue pin on the vertical pallet, which in turn, stretches the twisted string. This results in torque that rotates the button in one direction. During this stage, energy is delivered and stored in the string.
Unlocking Stage: Energy is released and the restoring torque rotates the button in the opposite direction. The yellow right-angle piece that is mounted on the pallet lifts the locking lever, thus releasing the escape wheel. If that yellow piece were missing, the blue pin would engage the escape-wheel tooth, resulting in recoil and oscillations would stop.
The escape-wheel tooth impels the vertical pallet by gradually sliding rather than applying an impulse as in traditional swinging-pendulum clocks. Gradual delivery of torque is needed in order to accommodate the moment of inertia of this torsion pendulum. A mass of 1.5 oz was needed to run the escapement.
The 1” button must be of minimum weight for developing minimum angular momentum, which in turn, would allow sufficient energy to be stored in the string during the impellent phase. The button weight in this escapement was 0.13 oz. This escapement would not run with a 1” plastic button weighing 0.08 oz.
In 2017, Dr. Manu Prakash et al. at Stanford University, created the “paperfuge”, a hand-powered centrifuge, based on the buzzer whirligig that could be used in places that lack resources such as electricity. The paperfuge could separate pure plasma from whole blood for diagnosing conditions where a parasite is in the blood — such as malaria.
Watch a collection of Lego button-spinner torsion pendulums in this playlist:
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCbYhDNjOviH0BQumo0h23OaLd2nzx6LH
#LegoEscapement #ClockEscapement #SimpleHarmonicMotion #whirligig #LegoClockMechanism #MechanicalOscillator #torsionspring
Watch a 360-degree view of a mechanical torsion-pendulum oscillator that automates the button-and-string toy known as whirligig.
The button spinner escapement consists of the following components:
1. 8-tooth escape wheel
2. Locking lever that rests on a pin
3. Vertical pallet suspended by a string
4. Sewing button (1" OD) strung on cotton sewing thread
5. Lead mass, 1.5 oz
Static Stage: When at rest, the escape wheel is locked by the locking lever.
Impellent Stage: The escape-wheel tooth slides down and pushes a blue pin on the vertical pallet, which in turn, stretches the twisted string. This results in torque that rotates the button in one direction. During this stage, energy is delivered and stored in the string.
Unlocking Stage: Energy is released and the restoring torque rotates the button in the opposite direction. The yellow right-angle piece that is mounted on the pallet lifts the locking lever, thus releasing the escape wheel. If that yellow piece were missing, the blue pin would engage the escape-wheel tooth, resulting in recoil and oscillations would stop.
The escape-wheel tooth impels the vertical pallet by gradually sliding rather than applying an impulse as in traditional swinging-pendulum clocks. Gradual delivery of torque is needed in order to accommodate the moment of inertia of this torsion pendulum. A mass of 1.5 oz was needed to run the escapement.
The 1” button must be of minimum weight for developing minimum angular momentum, which in turn, would allow sufficient energy to be stored in the string during the impellent phase. The button weight in this escapement was 0.13 oz. This escapement would not run with a 1” plastic button weighing 0.08 oz.
In 2017, Dr. Manu Prakash et al. at Stanford University, created the “paperfuge”, a hand-powered centrifuge, based on the buzzer whirligig that could be used in places that lack resources such as electricity. The paperfuge could separate pure plasma from whole blood for diagnosing conditions where a parasite is in the blood — such as malaria.
Watch a collection of Lego button-spinner torsion pendulums in this playlist:
youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCbYhDNjOviH0BQumo0h23OaLd2nzx6LH
#LegoEscapement #ClockEscapement #SimpleHarmonicMotion #whirligig #LegoClockMechanism #MechanicalOscillator #torsionspring
