Chapter 13 · Machine props

Props of shelves and machines

Troughs, flaps, levers and mirrored shelves: the moving parts of streams, heaps and designs.

A shallow wooden tray holds five painted slats in different colours, each lying at its own careless angle so ends cross and overlap with no two aligned; the tray simply waits, and nothing has been lifted out or placed anywhere yet.

Picture path

  1. Five coloured slats lie tossed at random angles in a wooden tray beside the booking board. What does the tray hold?Check whether the slats follow any order at all before a single one reaches the board.
  2. A grey trough offers exactly three box slots with an exit ramp, and as a new box arrives the oldest slides out. What is the trough keeping?Count the slots: the capacity never grows, so something must leave for each arrival.
  3. A rubber flap curls up inside its metal frame so the slot beneath can be seen, yet nothing rolls forward on the belt. What operation is this?The flap only opens a view; watch whether the item actually leaves its slot.
  4. In an open breaker box, one master toggle sits flipped above two rows of small switches that remain untouched. What does the flip record?Only the top toggle has moved; every smaller switch below still waits unchanged.
  5. A cream box offers only a slot, one lever, and a small lip tray, while its side panel leans open to show an empty hollow. What do the three fittings claim?The panel is only leaned aside for the viewer; every working touch goes through the front fittings.
  6. A boy hugs three stacked boxes in a single armful while more boxes wait behind him on the bench. How is the work being taken?Count how many boxes travel in one trip compared with how many wait.
  7. A paper tag marked 4 is lashed to a gold trophy's handle with rope so the two can only travel together. What does the lashing say?The rope means neither piece can move or be stored without the other.
  8. A plate flies from a tilted tower on one cork mat onto a second tower on another mat. Why pour plates between two towers?The pour reverses the order, so the oldest plate ends up on top of the second tower.
  9. Three glass jars, each already filled with white contents, sit on a plank directly in front of a nest of brass gears. Why are the jars there?The jars are already filled before the gears move; something is consulted first.
  10. Two mirrored staircase shelves climb toward one centre post, gold trophies rising the same number of steps on each side. What is the furniture keeping?The two sides stay the same size, so the middle is always readable at the post.