Also, set up formulas for calculating speed, torque, forces etc, of each system.
Then create a modular simulation library and point and click simulator where all the component variants are covered so that the user can piece new systems together using those components.
For me it's a great dataset to train my own brain. This way when I'm in the field and need to come up with a fix for something I can query my intellect and come up with a solution. No accounts, internet connection, or compute needed!
It's a great collection and exploring it is fun, but it misses on titles / names of the given linkage or movement. It makes sense when you are reading the book [0], but on a site like this where you see the individual item in isolation, a title or name would be helpful.
One of my favourite sites! and an interesting example of that class of sites which are book made into sites with animations/interaction --- the another classic and notable example is:
Really wish that the folks doing the 507 Mechanical Movements would finish the balance of the animations.
Curious if folks are aware of other similar text/website combinations which are still extant (many others such as Bembo's Zoo are no longer available, and of course at one point in time, this sort of thing was the province of CD-ROMs such as Leonardo).
If you haven't checked it out before, Nicholas Rougeux often does these types of modernization conversions for older printed content: https://www.c82.net/
Yes, I'm familiar with his work --- it's very nice, but it's not the on-line and animated/interactive thing I was trying to describe/specify/ask about.
Two more great books to have in the mechanical world:
"Manufacturing Processes for Design Professionals" - amazing photos, diagrams, explanations, etc. of every major manufacturing process - great coffee table book.
"Materials Selection in Mechanical Design" - great book with "Ashby Charts" that let you compare materials against their material properties - e.g. strength vs. weight.
Maybe it's for bearing efficiency? Note that the spur gears are rigidly attached to, respectively, the crank and the shaft. So they don't require bearings at their centres. There is a link arm which pulls the gears together, and that rotates. But the key is that this arm is not transmitting the cranking power; it just holds the parts together. So its bushings/bearings don't have to be so hefty. (Their load is going to be proportional to the transmitted power; obviously the bigger the crank and more horsepower going through it, the more tightly you have to hold the gears together. But it's going to be some fraction compared to a bearing that is directly driven.)
The note only alludes to this mechanism being used to elude a patent claim, not mentioning any advantages. Someone had patented cranks in such a way that you can weasel your way out with this arrangement. I'm guessing that the patent's drawings and descriptions specifically indicated a rotating bushing on the crank wheel where the arm is attached, and this has no such arm attachment.
Looks like there's contact between the outer diameter of the sun-gear and a surface close to the center of the planet-gear? The link arm is pulling them together and this contact keeps them apart I guess. The rotation speeds are different so you'd need a bearing? I dunno tbh - I'm not sure what the colors represent and I'm not even sure if I'm using the correct words to describe what I see.
James Pickard modified the Newcomen steam engine to deliver rotary motion using a crank (and patented it). So James Watt used the sun and planet for his steam engine to avoid infringing the patent.
The Picard patent specifies that the crank is fixed to the driveshaft, but it is free to rotate in the sun and planet setup
The developer for TIM made a modern version called Contraption Maker that is a lot of the same feel and available on Steam. There is a free playable demo that plays well on my 16G M1 Macbook Air. Full version is $12.99 USD
Good times. Ever played Sid & Al's Incredible Toons [0]? Same same concept, from the same people (Sierra / Dynamix), but with a slightly different take and an emphasis on silliness / humour. A sound card was a must though.
This so much! What great games, probably my favorites over the early FPSs of the time, but in close contention with Day of the Tentacle and Monkey Island
This is great, but repetitive. A lot of them are minor variances on a previous example. Is there a shorter list that distills it down to novel examples of the major concepts?
You know the Museum of Science in Boston has a bunch of these made in real life iirc for the World Fair in Chicago. They are so fun to see since there's a button you can toggle to activate them. My kid loves watching them go.
They both look fine to me. But I do notice some weird aliasing effects in the animation that makes it difficult to identify the direction of fast moving rope. Maybe that's the problem?
For those who also haven't seen it before who might follow: the presenter (who demonstrates the mechanical mechanisms) lost his wife to a heart attack in 2024, kept the channel going for another 1.5 years, made a seemingly happy 'My Last Video' video that presented the end as just running out of new things to talk about, then he killed himself.
Well, there’s a book from my past. Got the book to see if I could find a clever way to get high speed, low displacement and high torque from small motors without huge gearing.
The side project was dropped as life got in the way, but I really enjoyed looking at all the different mechanisms.
Honestly, I miss old-style internet sites like this. Nothing fancy, just good niched out information. No 300 MB loads for something that should be simple.
This site is a treasure for anyone who has ever tried to get useful motion out of a small motor. The wish for them to finish the remaining animations is very real.
Way more telling that "draw a pelican on a bicycle"
Then create a modular simulation library and point and click simulator where all the component variants are covered so that the user can piece new systems together using those components.
0: https://archive.org/details/fivehundredseven00browiala
Mechanisms in Modern Engineering Design: A Handbook for Engineers, Designers and Inventors by I. I. Artobolevsky.
In 5 volumes and seven books
https://mirtitles.org/2018/10/13/mechanisms-in-modern-engine...
https://mathcs.clarku.edu/~djoyce/java/elements/elements.htm...
Really wish that the folks doing the 507 Mechanical Movements would finish the balance of the animations.
Curious if folks are aware of other similar text/website combinations which are still extant (many others such as Bembo's Zoo are no longer available, and of course at one point in time, this sort of thing was the province of CD-ROMs such as Leonardo).
e.g. here's a very beautiful reproduction of Euclid's elements https://www.c82.net/work/euclid
"Manufacturing Processes for Design Professionals" - amazing photos, diagrams, explanations, etc. of every major manufacturing process - great coffee table book.
https://www.amazon.com/Manufacturing-Processes-Design-Profes...
"Materials Selection in Mechanical Design" - great book with "Ashby Charts" that let you compare materials against their material properties - e.g. strength vs. weight.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/0750661682
https://archive.org/details/dli.ernet.14756/page/3/mode/2up
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10374436, 27 comments 11 years ago.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26373539, 30 comments 5 years ago.
Five hundred and seven Mechanical Movements - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41579354 - Sept 2024 (5 comments)
507 Mechanical Movements (1868) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26373539 - March 2021 (30 comments)
Five Hundred and Seven Mechanical Movements - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19968114 - May 2019 (147 comments)
507 Mechanical Movements (1868) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10374436 - Oct 2015 (27 comments)
Mechanical Movements, Animated - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8019787 - July 2014 (1 comment)
Five Hundred and Seven Mechanical Movements - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6230363 - Aug 2013 (66 comments)
Five Hundred and Seven Mechanical Movements (1868) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5660770 - May 2013 (25 comments)
Maybe it's for bearing efficiency? Note that the spur gears are rigidly attached to, respectively, the crank and the shaft. So they don't require bearings at their centres. There is a link arm which pulls the gears together, and that rotates. But the key is that this arm is not transmitting the cranking power; it just holds the parts together. So its bushings/bearings don't have to be so hefty. (Their load is going to be proportional to the transmitted power; obviously the bigger the crank and more horsepower going through it, the more tightly you have to hold the gears together. But it's going to be some fraction compared to a bearing that is directly driven.)
The note only alludes to this mechanism being used to elude a patent claim, not mentioning any advantages. Someone had patented cranks in such a way that you can weasel your way out with this arrangement. I'm guessing that the patent's drawings and descriptions specifically indicated a rotating bushing on the crank wheel where the arm is attached, and this has no such arm attachment.
James Pickard modified the Newcomen steam engine to deliver rotary motion using a crank (and patented it). So James Watt used the sun and planet for his steam engine to avoid infringing the patent.
The Picard patent specifies that the crank is fixed to the driveshaft, but it is free to rotate in the sun and planet setup
0: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Incredible_Machine
https://store.steampowered.com/app/241240/Contraption_Maker/
0: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sid_&_Al's_Incredible_Toons
https://youtube.com/@thang010146
For ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Clark_Collection_of_Mechan...
Its great, but also pretty tragic.
For those who also haven't seen it before who might follow: the presenter (who demonstrates the mechanical mechanisms) lost his wife to a heart attack in 2024, kept the channel going for another 1.5 years, made a seemingly happy 'My Last Video' video that presented the end as just running out of new things to talk about, then he killed himself.
The side project was dropped as life got in the way, but I really enjoyed looking at all the different mechanisms.
https://sketchfab.com/Tekniskamuseet/models
https://507movements.com/mm_027.html
Does anyone know
https://507movements.com/