Escapement each time it filled up, thus advancing the clock's wheels each time an equal quantity of water was measured out. The time between releases depended on the rate of flow, which decreased with water pressure as the level of water in the source container dropped. The development of mechanical clocks depended on the invention of an escapement which would allow a clock's movement to be controlled by an oscillating weight. Unlike the continuous flow of water in the Chinese device, the medieval escapement was characterized by a regular, repeating sequence of discrete actions and the capability of self-reversing action: Both
Anchor escapement it unwinds. An escapement in which changes in drive force do not affect the rate is called isochronous. The superior performance of the deadbeat over the recoil is due to improved isochronism. This is due to the different ways changes in drive force affect the swing of the pendulum in the two escapements: When the deadbeat was invented, clockmakers initially believed it had inferior isochronism to the anchor, because of the greater effect of changes in force on the pendulum's amplitude. Recent analyses point out that the nonisochronism of the anchor can cancel the circular error of the pendulum. That