Wind-up/wind-down motors are well known and commonly used to drive such items as moving toys and timing devices. A crank is generally wound a plurality of rotations against the torsional force of a helical spring to put the motor into a loaded and readied state. The crank may be integral with the motor shaft or may be rotationally engaged therewith by gearing. A locking element may be used to temporarily secure the motor shaft in the readied state if instant operation of the motor is not desired. Release of the crank, or release of the locking element, allows the energy stored in the helical spring to cause rotation of the motor shaft and thereby drive the item. Generally, an escapement is used to slow the operation of the motor and prevent run-away. The escapement generally includes an escapement wheel which rotates with the motor shaft and a governor having a pair of pallets which alternately rock into and out of the teeth of the escapement wheel. The rotational speed of the motor is directly controlled by the rocking frequency of the governor. A well known example of such a governor is the pendulum of a grandfather clock, the swing frequency of which is used to control the speed of the clock.
There are presently no convenient, economical, and simple means for altering the action of an escapement governor to alter the operation of a wind-up motor during wind-down, and such is a feature and an object of the present invention.
There are presently no convenient, economical, and simple means for electronically controlling the action of an escapement governor to electronically alter the operation of a wind-up motor during wind-down, and such is a feature and an object of the present invention.
There are presently no convenient, economical, and simple means for remotely controlling the action of an escapement governor to remotely alter the operation of a wind-up motor during wind-down, and such is a feature and an object of the present invention.
There are presently no convenient, economical, and simple means for combining sound, such as music, with the action of an escapement governor during wind-down of wind-up motors, and such is a feature and an object of the present invention.
Further features and objects of the invention will become apparent upon review of the disclosure of various exemplary embodiments provided herein.