Escapement the escapement. The deadbeat was first used in precision regulator clocks, but due to greater accuracy superseded the anchor in the 19th century. It is used in almost all modern pendulum clocks except for tower clocks which often use gravity escapements. Invented around 1741 by Louis Amant, this version of a deadbeat escapement can be made quite rugged. Instead of using teeth, the escape wheel has round pins that are stopped and released by a scissors-like anchor. This escapement, which is also called Amant escapement or (in Germany) Mannhardt escapement, is used quite often in tower clocks. The detent or
Escapement main advantage of the deadbeat is that it eliminated recoil. In the deadbeat, the pallets have a second curved "locking" face on them, concentric about the pivot on which the anchor turns. During the extremities of the pendulum's swing, the escape wheel tooth rests against this locking face, providing no impulse to the pendulum, which prevents recoil. Near the bottom of the pendulum's swing the tooth slides off the locking face onto the angled "impulse" face, giving the pendulum a push, before the pallet releases the tooth. This was the first escapement to separate the locking and impulse actions of