Medieval Arabic Timing Devices (3) - Cocktail Timekeeping Entertainment Devices and Maids (2)

In the previous article, we described and introduced two hydromachines from the book Al Ghazali's book "The Knowledge of Ingenious Machines," whose main functions have been gradually evolving from the first timing Has become a large ornamental and entertaining toys, and, in this article to be introduced among the three time-controlled machines, which are more focused on their own service characteristics and entertainment features, however, although the timing function In these devices are weakened, but in the course of its operation, the rhythm of the time interval can also be an indirect reminder to see the people it about how long it has been for this reason, I will still be as a timing Device introduction to you.

The following three machines are used at receptions to serve the caliphs (kings) and to please guests at receptions. Devices of this nature tend to have extremely sophisticated designs in the look and feel of their manufacturing processes, and There are also a large number of moving dolls that are used to enhance visual effects. Among these types of machines, the easiest to introduce is the maid cabinet (Figure 1).

Figure 1 maid cabinet

This device appeared in two books in Al Ghazali, and its structure is basically the same, the function is also similar; therefore, this type of maid cabinet also has an article about its explanation in the book , And in all the machines introduced so far, this machine uses the fewest number of moving parts, and in almost all the introductions the principle of the machine is simplest. The entire cabinet is actually a cupboard in shape, and occupy most of the volume on it, is a double-fan open the door, there is a large space behind the door, in this space is placed a maid stand, Made from lightweight materials, the right hand is made of hollow brass and fixed to the outside of the shaft for movement, with a tall wine cup on the right hand and a towel on the left hand of the maid to allow guests to wipe alcohol Below the maid is a sloping slope with a downward slope. At the maid's foot there is a plate that is as wide as your feet, and there are four bronze wheels on the plate that allow The maid can slide to the front from the rear of the counter and the counter of the counter in the design places the left door behind the right door so that when the maid slides forward the left hand opens the left door while the right door Will be pushed open. In order to fix the maid figure within a certain period of time, there is a stick at the back of the counter, and a long groove behind the maid figure facing the stick. There is a hook in the long groove, And the other end of the hook is connected to the long axis of the fixed maid's right hand so that when the maid's right hand is depressed, the hook behind it will lift up, release the maid and slide it forward, The maid pushed the door forward and appeared in front of the caliphs (kings).

There is a cabinet above the cabinet, and at the top of the cabinet there is a domed dome. At every hour, the glass of the maid's hand was full, the maid sliding forward and opening the door to appear in front of the caliph (king). The caliph (king) removed the cup from the maid's hand and finished drinking the glass , Rub the mouth with a towel, put the cup back maid's hand, push the maid back, the door closed, wait for an hour later, the above action will be repeated again. From its structure point of view, it can be divided into upper and lower parts, the lower part of the structure are focused on the maid portrait of the body, while the portrait has a long axis and fixed the maid's right hand and masturbation from the back Hooks, with four wheels on the board beneath the maid to allow it to slide forward on the slanting board below, while the upper half of the fixtures are mostly placed in cabinets and domes above the counter The interior of the room has a dump and a sink, the same structure as the one mentioned before, which is also applied to the maid's cabinet, where the principle of operation is the same as the other Bucket shaft placed on the sink, and there is a conduit on the sink connected to the bottom, the mouth of the catheter is located in the right hand holding the cup above the high cup, it is worth mentioning that the high cup capacity and water bucket The capacity is similar so that when the wine is turned down from the water bowl, the wine flowing into the tall cups does not spill over, and the dome above the cabinet is designed to store wine Water tank .

After hours, the wine flows into the bucket along its opening from the topmost dome, and after an hour, the bucket is full of wine and gravity causes the bucket to fall down and pour the wine into the sink beneath the bucket , The wine flows down the ducts into the tall cup in the lower cupboard, and when the weight of the tall cup increases to a critical value, the right hand arm of the maid sinks down and lifts the hook behind it by the shaft linkage So as to release the portrait so that it slides forward along the sloping floor below, and the left hand opens the door and appears in front of the people. The caliph (the king) removes the glass from the maid's hand and drinks the glass to return it to the maid Hand and depress the right hand, lift the hook behind it and push it back into the cabinet. The hook will hook back to the stick behind the counter and close the door, waiting for the next repetition.

Although such structures and machinery are commonplace in the current world or in the eyes of our contemporary people, this device of repetition at a specific time in the 11th-13th century Arabs was known to people at the time Beyond what people could achieve at the time, which was tantamount to being shocking to people.

The next two wine-based performance devices, completely out of the court party for performance and fun, these extremely sophisticated automation devices can definitely give the aristocracy at the time to participate in court reception, foreign envoys to great Shock, thereby increasing the international influence of the Abbasids at that time, even if only to watch alone, such sophisticated machinery can also cause unlimited thinking. It is known as the "Kiosk Pavilion" (Figure 2) in The Making of Compact Machines, which has a very strong Arabian style in Al Ghazali's design. The Kiosk did not actually have a specific timing function in its original design, but it was active once an hour, making it relatively noticeable to let people in the meeting know the approximate time, and the kiosk was not designed Too much noise, and most of its movements are concentrated on the arm. However, this kind of automated machinery must have caused quite a stir at the time under the conditions.

Figure 2 Master Pavilion

The overall structure of the "Kiosk Pavilion" is made up of four parts. The bottommost base is placed above the base with two hollow "Master" figures made of brass, one for white and one for black, in which a In stark contrast, the figure is kneeling, the two portrait's right hand holds a silver-plated gold-plated high cup; the left hand holds a long-necked flask, and left hand fingers are surrounded by long Bottles bottle neck. Portrait of the right hand and head can be active in order to facilitate the process of action. In the two "pre-teacher" base are equipped with four corners of a brass column, four columns are separated in four corners, the column has a size above the base and the size of the cabinet, and there in the cabinet A round dome, every hour after hour, there will be a side of the "teacher" in the left hand bottle of water will flow out to the opposite of another "teacher" right hand holding the high cup, The second teacher, then, lifted his right arm and stopped when the glass reached his lip, drinking and, after a short period of time, lowered his right arm and nodded to each other's "teacher." After an additional hour, the "first teacher" who just drank alcohol again poured the wine out of his left-hand flask and poured it into the glass After lifting his right arm, the same wine cup will be raised to the mouth for drinking, and after a short time to put down his right arm, and nodded.

Judging from the construction of such a showcase as the "Kiosk Pavilion," the base is actually a water tank with some of the pipes and, after hours, collects the water flowing from the "Master's Cup" behind it A valve to collect water for reuse at the end. While the two precepts on the base are hollow figures made of copper whose right hand can be rotated along the axis mounted on his elbow and the right arm of both the "teacher" is hollow, The "teacher" body, the right arm extends inwardly, and at the end there is a small water tank, its capacity and high cup capacity is similar, and, in the tank is also equipped with a siphon, the top is Welded to the bulkhead of the tank, the two nozzles are downwards and the four posts on the base are likewise made of copper, and they are made hollow at the time of manufacture to draw water from above in operation Below the base of the "teacher" Department, and at the base of the plate with a catheter connected to the copper column, and connected to the "teacher" left hand, "teacher" in the left hand there is a hole, the catheter from Air stretched out, connected to the bottle neck flask. In this way, as the water flows down the tube in the copper column, it can flow out of the conduit to the mouth of the "teacher's" left hand and out of the mouth of the bottle to the "Master's" high cup in. The heads of the two "preachers" can be separated from the body, and there is an axis in the neck of the "preacher" figure so that the head of the figure can swing back and forth along the axis for nodding. Supported by four pillars, is a cabinet with a circular dome in the cabinet, and the dome is designed to be hollow, to be used for water storage, to serve as the dome of a tank, and dome Under the cabinet is equipped with the appropriate water inside the device so that the two "first division" in the hours after pouring wine to each other, there is a small column placed in the first cabinet, which is located in the center of the cabinet , And, on both sides of the column divided into two sinks, each sink has a catheter connected to the hollow copper column, on the left and right sides of the column are equipped with a dump, the bucket can be filled in the hours, and at Tumble over and pour out the water, just like the one we introduced in the previous article.

In the "Kiosk Pavilion", the most exquisite, is at the top of the column, there is a water pipe on both sides of the opening, the central axis connected to the column, so that they can be tilted to the left or right, and the middle of the sub-pipe There is a small hole connected to the reservoir of the reservoir above the cabinet. When the water flows out of the reservoir, it first passes through the sub-pipe. In the center of gravity offset, one of the sub-pipes slopes downward and Will lead the water to the side of the bucket, and when the bucket filled in an hour later, the bucket will fall over, and the water into the sink, when overturning, the end of the bucket will hit the sub-pipe , And when the bucket is turned down, the end of the bucket will lift the sub-pipe to allow water to flow into the other bucket. This clever design exquisite so that every teacher will take turns after pouring hours in the hour, which is very exquisite. In addition, such water diversion pipelines are widely used for the construction of large outdoor fountains in the Abbasids after enlarging, enabling the fountains to change the shape of the water stream they jet out within a set period of time, Automatic fountain nearly 500 years earlier, Arab science and technology is also a demeanor for a large representative! Therefore, after hours, the water flowing from the sub-pipes flows to the side of the bucket and fills the bucket. When the bucket is full of water, the bucket falls down, pouring the water into the tank below, and the bucket Lift the sub-pipe to the other side of the sub-pipe tilt to the other side, the water into another bucket, the water in the previous bucket poured into the sink, the catheter along the sink into the bottom of the column , Shun column flows to the bottom of the base, and then along the base of the catheter into the portrait.

However, the first two portraits of the two portraits do not pour wine into the glass of the other, because as the water flows down the column, it passes through the conduit in the base and moves up the conduit down Pass to the bottle of "preacher" portraits, and the first time the water is poured downwards, the amount of water on both sides is sufficient to keep the water in the portraits of the portraits. After the second hour, the second batch of water flows Column, before the first water can be pressed into the flask from below, from the bottleneck to the bottle, and then flow to the opposite of the "teacher" cup, and "teacher" the right hand high cup base One hole, connected to the arm of the "teacher," and the water flowing through the hole from the hollow arm of the "teacher" figure to the water tank at the end of the body's extended arm, at which point the tank becomes heavier, And the "teacher" arm lifted up in the cup hit the "teacher" lips, will be "teacher" head back pressure, but because of the shaft, "teacher" head Will be backwards to make a drinking-like, but at this time, because the water level in the tank has exceeded the U-shaped siphon on the tank The highest point of the tube, the water will be all drawn from the tank, then, the weight of the tank to reduce the arm back to the original position in the glass left the lips, the original was pushed back to the original head , And will swing several times because of its own inertia, much like nodding his compliments to each other. Eventually, the water drawn from the tank will flow into the water tank on the base. After the water tank on the top has run out, the water may be poured out of the base and poured into the water tank again.

Such a show-like machine has many designs in Al Ghazali, of which only one is of a regular nature. In the book "Manufacturing Machinery of Compact Machines," a similar "performer" There are several other "toys" in the class because they are not designed at the timing of the time and are therefore not covered in this article for the moment.

The above two kinds of machines in the design of the original intention are focused on the performance of its own automated entertainment performance, especially in the "teacher pavilion" design, in a set period of time, "teacher pavilion" Free to run, all actions do not need to rely on human resources, which in the automation of its development has a very important impact. Moreover, the mechanical service of such a service, which indeed did not occur in other parts of the world in the same period, also became a very unique symbol of the Arab Empire at the time.

The last style of machine is not only highly ornamental and entertaining, it also interacts with visiting guests at receptions, using the simplest mechanics to regularly and regularly interact with guests around them, making it possible It is extremely effective to mobilize the atmosphere of the reception to make it all the people concerned.

Such machinery is known as the wine table (Figure 3), which is generally divided into three layers, the overall shape of a four-story Arab-style small building, at the bottom of the floor is a maid's like, and portraits placed A four-foot base with feet, the maid holds a right-hand flask, cross-legged sitting on the base, and then, in the maid's left knee before a high cup, the maid's base in the four corners There are four copper columns, a two-story cabinet on the column, and in the lower floor there is a prominent station, which has four musicians, there is a flute at the far right, She sat a tambourine to the left, and then to the left of the musician holding a lute in the hand, and the leftmost musician hung a double-sided drum; the top of the music teacher station, a small cabinet in the middle, There was a dancer in the pavilion with a larger cabinet above the cabinet, with a small door made up of two door panels behind which an image of the waiter was laid flat with both hands flat There is a brand, one of which is written as "no wine" and another sign reads "two more cups "There is a large dome at the top of the upper compartment, and at the top of the dome there is a hollow bronze statue of brass, riding right and a spear pointing down.

Figure 3 wine station

Such a wine table is connected to each other by a convex and concave tenon structure, and the guests will be around the wine table. After 20 minutes, the musician begins to play and the flute plays a flute. Tambourine percussion tambourine, the luthier playing pipa; drummer's hands percussion drumming. The dancers above them would swing their bodies from side to side and the top knight would start to spin. After a while, the knight would stop turning and the musicians and dancers would stop. The knight's spear point will point to one of the guests, then the bottom of the maid's flask will flip the bottle to the left of the high cup, and the wine will flow from the bottle, the high cup Filled, the waiter will walk from the front of the maid of the high cup, the end to the spear just selected by the top knights of the guests, the guests finished drinking, the cup will be placed back in front of maid. This operation takes place every 20 minutes and after the last completion of these actions the door of the upper compartment is opened with a portrait of both holding "no alcohol" and "two more cups" "Brand. At this time, you will need to re-wine in the machinery.

In contrast to its construction, the complexity of this mechanical device is indeed fascinating. There is a water tank in the dome at the top of the building, this time with the wine in it, because the final drink is poured into the tall cup for the enjoyment of the guests, and there is a straight-through pipe in the water tank, which is used To place the top of the knights connected to the column. There is also a pontoon in the water tank, and when the wine in the water tank is reduced to nearing and below the predetermined value, the rope attached to the pontoon pulls the portrait with the upper deck up and pushes the portrait forward until it Center of gravity forward, open the door, appeared in front of the guests. In the lower part of the tank there is a large sink with a large hopper in the tank, and the wine flowing from the outlet in the upper tank begins to fill with water. And under the sink there is a conduit, the end of which is fitted with a first waterwheel, a sink below the waterwheel, and a gear on the shaft of the waterwheel, with a horizontal gear on it, horizontally The axis of the wheel extends up to the top of the knight image, and the knight turns as the gear rotates (Figure 4).

Figure 4 wine top half structure

On the sink under the first waterwheel, a short tube is provided for diverting the wine thereunder; a second waterwheel is mounted below them, the axis of the waterwheel being perpendicular to the axis of the first waterwheel , A gear coaxial with it is arranged next to the second water wheel, engaged with a gear of a similar diameter and number of teeth, and on that gear there is a long axis which traverses the interior of the lower compartment and at There are 4 sets of pins on the long shaft to control the 3 musicians and the middle dancers in the next level, respectively; while there is a water tank under the second water wheel and a sealed tank below the water tank, which passes through the water tank The duct is connected and there is an air duct leading to the capsule, a whistle behind the flute, connected to the air duct and a downward U-shaped siphon next to the capsule for taking the wine out of the capsule, The outer tube of the U-tube is connected to one of the hollow columns with a pipe leading to the lower base (Figure 5).

Figure 5 the lower part of the winery structure

Connected with the catheter in the base, while the catheter is connected to the maid body. Here, the maid holds the flask in the right hand and is movable. The bottle is divided into two parts while the center of gravity of the upper and lower parts will be on one axis, and one of the two halves of the boundary The disk is separated so that there is no water leakage between the upper and lower parts, and there will be a small U-shaped siphon on the bulkhead with the orifice down and the highest point of the tube mounted on the bulkhead, and this siphon Is pivoted about the axis in the middle of the bottle so it does not affect the center of gravity of the bottle and a wooden base is attached to the bottom of the bottle so that it always holds the bottle up when the bottle is empty, In the lower half there is also a small hole in the bottle, which is in contact with the maid's knees while the bottle is being placed, and opposite the hole in the maid's knees, allowing the wine to flow into the tall cup (Figure 6).

Figure 6 Flask construction

Every 20 minutes, the wine flowing down from the topmost water tank will fill the water bucket underneath. After it is full, the water bucket will fall due to gravity and pour the wine into the water tank below the water bucket , And under the sink there is a short tube leads the wine, the wine flows to the first water wheel, pushing the water wheel, first to drive the top knight rotation, then, under the first sink into the sink, the wine After which the duct from below the sink is led out onto a second water wheel below it and the second water wheel is rotated to drive the gear to rotate and the long axis and pin dowel beater and dance on the long axis Behind the lever to start the gig, and the wine that has been led out of the short tube below the sink flows into the airtight compartment beneath it and presses the air upwards into the whistle rear whistle Sound, accompanied by the music together. When the capsule is full of wine in the capsule, the reception draws a sealed capsule along the siphon next to the lower hollow column and through the column through the duct in the base into the lower half of the flask and in the lower half When filled, the wine reaches the top of the siphon in the bottle and is drawn from below into the upper half of the flask so that the bottle's center of gravity moves forward and overturns forward and outflows into the bottle On the left of the high cup. After this series of actions are completed, another 20 minutes, the entire device will start again.

In this article, our eyes are always on top of hydraulically-driven mechanical devices that are not, in a strict sense, timepieces, but in terms of their generalized timing properties such machines can be operated from a timed mechanical Angle to share with you, and in these machines, the time requirements are relatively accurately set, and, in the introduction of these devices, almost all covered the structure of the water bucket, as a time The holding and demarcation devices appear in all the mechanisms in both space, so the introduction of two space paragraphs comes to an end here. In the last two articles below, we will introduce more professional mechanical timing All introductions of devices, hydraulically operated timers and automation devices come to an end here.

In the next two articles, we will still cover the next two chapters with a new timing device that is a new category in "The Manufacturing Machinery of Compact Machines," with its new zhongg structure and Different clocks will be shared in the next two essays as the last of the Arabian medieval timepieces, so stay tuned!