Escapement

An escapement is a device in mechanical watches and clocks that transfers energy to the timekeeping element (the "impulse action") and allows the number of its oscillations to be counted (the "locking action"). The impulse action transfers energy to the clock's timekeeping element (usually a pendulum or balance wheel) to replace the energy lost to friction during its cycle and keep the timekeeper oscillating. The escapement is driven by force from a coiled spring or a suspended weight, transmitted through the timepiece's gear train. Each swing of the pendulum or balance wheel releases a tooth of the escapement's escape wheel gear, allowing the clock's gear train to advance or "escape" by a fixed amount. This regular periodic advancement moves the clock's hands forward at a steady rate. At the same time the tooth gives the timekeeping element a push, before another tooth catches on the escapement's pallet, returning the escapement to its "locked" state. The sudden stopping of the escapement's tooth is what generates the characteristic "ticking" sound heard in operating mechanical clocks and watches.

Escapement (disambiguation)

An escapement is a mechanism for imparting power to a clock or watch mechanism, with timing controlled by a pendulum or other resonant device.

Escapement may also refer to:

Escapement (film)

Escapement is a 1958 black and white British science fiction film, known in the U.S. as The Electronic Monster. It was based on the novel Escapement by Charles Eric Maine (London, 1956).

Production

Producer Richard Gordon later said there were major problems with the film's special effects. He also said that he had a dispute with Anglo Amalgamated, who did not want the movie to get an X Certificate in England whereas Gordon wanted more horror for the US.

Plot

Inquiring into the mysterious death of a Hollywood star, insurance investigator Jeff Keenan uncovers an exclusive psychiatric clinic on the French Riviera. Here, patients who want to escape the stresses of life are hypnotized, then laid out in morgue like drawers and left to dream for several weeks. It turns out that Dr. Zakon, the clinic's ex-Nazi owner, is using a "dream machine" to alter the sleepers dreams, and to impose his will on theirs.

Cast