機械式振り子塔時計の振り子周期測定の試み

抄録

Many Pendulum Clocks are installed in the tower of churches, on the walls of city halls and other public spaces all over the world. In Ecuador, a country in South America just below of the equator, it has been confirmed by authors and others that there are over 163 tower clocks. Some are from overseas and some of others are made in Ecuador. Some of them have mechanical parts replaced with electrical ones. These clocks have a cultural value as, thank to them, we can learn about the history of Ecuador’s industry and culture. The preservation of the peculiar characteristics to the tower clock attracts significant attention. We were granted the opportunity to make restorations to one of Ecuador’s pendulum clock and measure pendulum oscillation of the clock. The pendulum clock is installed on the tower of Church of San Vicente, in El Pan, Azuay Province. We developed a measuring system accurate to 1pps by using a satellite GPS signal and verified the period of the pendulum’s oscillation without damage antique clock. We report the results of measurement. The measuring system can determine the time precision in a few minutes which is helpful for preservation of the clock. We think that cultural heritage preservation is important, and, with this paper, we would like to contribute to the preservation cultural properties.