The 'Zurich' Linkage Mechanism

Tim's not quite sure how he came by this toy. Although it was maybe 25 or 30 years ago. Since it was hand made, there is no box unfortunately. And if there was any paperwork (unlikely) it has got lost. Suffice it to say, this is an ingenious little mechanism. Turn the handle, and the axle at one side transmits the rotary motion to the axle on the other side. However the two axles are displaced by about an inch - one is lower than the other. Typically you would use gears or maybe a pulley system to do this. But this mechanism uses a rectangular metal frame, with sliding connections.

Knowing there is a linkage called the Geneva mechanism, Tim has christened this the Zurich mechanism, until he learns if there is a better or maybe a proper name for this linkage mechanism.