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.
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.
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!
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).
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?
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
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.
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.
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.
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.
0: https://archive.org/details/fivehundredseven00browiala
Of possible interest
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...
What is the purpose of using bearings to build a crank mechanism as in 39? https://507movements.com/mm_039.html
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.
Many of these aren't animated... which gives me a great(?) idea for a new AI benchmark: "Animate the mechanical movement at this URL: ..."
Way more telling that "draw a pelican on a bicycle"
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.
Also include sliders so parameters can be adjusted to see how it affects the mechanism (ex. wheel radius).
Ironically, before coming to the comments I was thinking this would be a good dataset for llms to learn real world mechanics.
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!
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:
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).
Past discussions:
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10374436, 27 comments 11 years ago.
https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26373539, 30 comments 5 years ago.
Thanks! Macroexpanded:
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)
Passim: https://news.ycombinator.com/from?site=507movements.com
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?
It makes me want to find a way to boot up The Incredible Machine [0], so many hours spent on TIM and TIM2 back in the day.
0: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Incredible_Machine
Here you go: https://archive.org/details/the_incredible_machine_1992
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.
0: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sid_&_Al's_Incredible_Toons
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
Plugging a yt channel that posts lots of these sort of models:
https://youtube.com/@thang010146
I’ve had this book for a few years. It’s nice to see it in this format.
Robert Murray Smith made many videos on mechanisms like these https://www.youtube.com/@ThinkingandTinkering/videos
The first two examples I looked at (https://507movements.com/mm_016.html and https://507movements.com/mm_015.html) have the ropes partially going in the wrong direction.
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.
Don’t most of these have ”names”? At least I would assume they have names so people know what they are talking about.
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.
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.
As a "wannabe" DIY engineer/maker and also in the 3d-printing hobby world, this is a wonderful resource...
Also, Christopher Polhem was a Swedish inventor who created the "mechanical alphabet"
https://sketchfab.com/Tekniskamuseet/models
I was expecting a new HTTP status code
Can these be generated automatically from a small set of primitives?
414 is just 1 with extra steps.
It reminds me of a YouTube channel where I found the best song ever made.
Does anyone know
I would love to see good animations of a differential gear and a detente escapement.
Ineed, it's a very good book. Someone should make an animated website version, though.
I found this which might interest you:
https://507movements.com/
This would be cool AI training data.
It is already in current training data. Both the book and website.
Now imagine if each of them got the ciechanow.ski treatment