TANSA TURNSTILE

Tansa was established in 1962 with the purpose of designing and manufacturing precision gears as well as automated mechanical wall pendulum and table clocks. When Tansa became Europe’s second largest mechanical wall clock manufacturer, one of its prime export territories was Switzerland. With the advent of quartz technology in the 1980s, however, the worldwide mechanical wall clock industry collapsed. Tansa stopped manufacturing wall clocks, instead manufacturing products for the security industry, such as watchman clocks and turnstiles. The security industry placed demands on Tansa for reliable turnstile able to operate many years with no compromise on performance. After closely observing the requirements of the industry, Tansa designed and manufactured a functional, easy to install and service turnstile mechanism that would meet the industry’s needs. Tansa took a unique approach in developing this turnstile mechanism, completing its design prior to investigating other manufacturer’s models in order to avoid repeating others’ issues. Tansa preferred this approach, relying on its strong foundation in fine mechanics, knowing that a turnstile mechanism does not need the extreme fine precision required to construct a mechanical clock.