::Stevin stands on his head. Reading Simanek's "Museum of Unworkable Devices" I saw this. My imagination turned it ninety degrees and replaced the peak with a sprocket and the line of balls with roller chain inside of a wheel. Dynamic equilibrium and Real Work: Gravitation to Rotation by Inertial Displacement. Imagine an internally geared sprocket with the teeth off radial by 70 degrees. Place a smaller sprocket inside, at the top of the larger where the larger's gear teeth are horizontal. Now place a roller chain link on the teeth of both. Both wheels are overbalanced, move, and the link falls. Now imagine lenthening the roller chain symmetrically, then to the same horizon. Then imagine the chain is endless. This endless roller chain is hung on raked internal gear teeth on one side of a vertical wheel. Where the outer wheel's teeth let the chain slide off, the chain runs up over a sprocket and down to the outer wheel's teeth again. The axles are fixed, the sprocket and wheel free to rotate, the chain to run. The vertical run of chain is around 2\3 the length on the outer wheel. Will the approximately 1/5 portion of chain overcome summed resistances and overbalance both wheels and chain? I believe this is J.E.E Bessler's, Orffyreus, first design. http://www.besslerwheel.com/ http://www.orffyre.com/ http://evert.de/eft00e.htm 1712: Johann Ernst Elias Bessler (Orffyreus) displays his first perpetually moving machine at Gera/Germany. Please distribute, Public domain, Copyleft, Patent Expired from D. Simanek's "Museum of Unworkable Devices" 1858 [British Patent No. 1870] Pierre Richard of Rue St. Jean, Paris, Engineer. A classic. The picture says it all. It's the "cups and balls" trick with lead balls. Note the brake to keep it from turning dangerously fast. Note the several artistic impossibilities in the drawing, from Dircks (1861) p. 482.