When is a flirt not a flirt?

The answer is when it is on a carriage clock.  Most mechanical striking clocks have a 'warning' at five minutes to the hour when the toothed rack lever drops onto the snail (both visible in the photo) and then at the hour the gear train is released and the hours are counted as the rack is raised one tooth at a time by the gathering pallet (the steel bar next to the rack). However, on a repeating carriage clock if the button on the top were pressed after five to the hour to sound the hour, the wrong hour would be struck.  A system of striking was devised, therefore, to replace the warning with a 'flirt.'  Instead of a warning, exactly on the hour, a spring will shoot a lever across and make the rack drop just as the gathering pallet begins to rotate to gather up the rack teeth.  The springs are visible in the photo and have to be tensioned exactly right or the striking will be erratic. I was assembling this clock this morning.  They are challenging but all is now well with this one now. Nb. these explanations are easier to understand with the clock in operation.