There is an automatic mechanism for shifting the recording pen to keep it from going offscale.
有一个自动装置来移动记录笔，使其不致出格。
2
A strong earthquake near the instrument will usually displace the reading offscale or may even damage the instrument.
如果在这类仪器的附近发生一次强烈的地震，一般就会使记录出格，甚至可能损坏仪器。
3
Newton was a finicky, neurotic, off-scale brilliant character who seemed able to hold a problem in his mind, neither sleeping nor eating, "thinking on it continually," he said, until he'd solved it.