diff --git a/akka-stream/src/main/scala/akka/stream/impl/ActorBasedFlowMaterializer.scala b/akka-stream/src/main/scala/akka/stream/impl/ActorBasedFlowMaterializer.scala
index bd2388856e..e335b19d0c 100644
--- a/akka-stream/src/main/scala/akka/stream/impl/ActorBasedFlowMaterializer.scala
+++ b/akka-stream/src/main/scala/akka/stream/impl/ActorBasedFlowMaterializer.scala
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ import akka.actor.ExtendedActorSystem
 import akka.actor.ActorSystem
 import akka.actor.Extension
 import akka.stream.actor.ActorConsumer
+import scala.concurrent.duration.FiniteDuration
 
 /**
  * INTERNAL API
@@ -108,6 +109,11 @@ private[akka] object Ast {
             name = s"$flowName-0-future"), Some(future))
       }
   }
+  final case class TickProducerNode[I](interval: FiniteDuration, tick: () ⇒ I) extends ProducerNode[I] {
+    def createProducer(materializer: ActorBasedFlowMaterializer, flowName: String): Producer[I] =
+      new ActorProducer(materializer.context.actorOf(TickProducer.props(interval, tick, materializer.settings),
+        name = s"$flowName-0-tick"))
+  }
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/akka-stream/src/main/scala/akka/stream/impl/TickProducer.scala b/akka-stream/src/main/scala/akka/stream/impl/TickProducer.scala
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..99a4e53f61
--- /dev/null
+++ b/akka-stream/src/main/scala/akka/stream/impl/TickProducer.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,136 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright (C) 2014 Typesafe Inc. <http://www.typesafe.com>
+ */
+package akka.stream.impl
+
+import scala.collection.mutable
+import scala.concurrent.duration.Duration
+import scala.concurrent.duration.FiniteDuration
+import org.reactivestreams.spi.Subscriber
+import org.reactivestreams.spi.Subscription
+import akka.actor.Actor
+import akka.actor.ActorRef
+import akka.actor.Props
+import akka.actor.SupervisorStrategy
+import akka.stream.MaterializerSettings
+import scala.util.control.NonFatal
+import akka.actor.Cancellable
+
+/**
+ * INTERNAL API
+ */
+private[akka] object TickProducer {
+  def props(interval: FiniteDuration, tick: () ⇒ Any, settings: MaterializerSettings): Props =
+    Props(new TickProducer(interval, tick, settings)).withDispatcher(settings.dispatcher)
+
+  object TickProducerSubscription {
+    case class Cancel(subscriber: Subscriber[Any])
+    case class RequestMore(elements: Int, subscriber: Subscriber[Any])
+  }
+
+  class TickProducerSubscription(ref: ActorRef, subscriber: Subscriber[Any])
+    extends Subscription {
+    import TickProducerSubscription._
+    def cancel(): Unit = ref ! Cancel(subscriber)
+    def requestMore(elements: Int): Unit =
+      if (elements <= 0) throw new IllegalArgumentException("The number of requested elements must be > 0")
+      else ref ! RequestMore(elements, subscriber)
+    override def toString = "TickProducerSubscription"
+  }
+
+  private case object Tick
+}
+
+/**
+ * INTERNAL API
+ *
+ * Elements are produced from the tick closure periodically with the specified interval.
+ * Each subscriber will receive the tick element if it has requested any elements,
+ * otherwise the tick element is dropped for that subscriber.
+ */
+private[akka] class TickProducer(interval: FiniteDuration, tick: () ⇒ Any, settings: MaterializerSettings) extends Actor with SoftShutdown {
+  import TickProducer._
+  import TickProducer.TickProducerSubscription._
+
+  var exposedPublisher: ActorPublisher[Any] = _
+  val demand = mutable.Map.empty[Subscriber[Any], Long]
+
+  override val supervisorStrategy = SupervisorStrategy.stoppingStrategy
+
+  var tickTask: Option[Cancellable] = None
+
+  def receive = {
+    case ExposedPublisher(publisher) ⇒
+      exposedPublisher = publisher
+      context.setReceiveTimeout(settings.downstreamSubscriptionTimeout)
+      context.become(waitingForFirstSubscriber)
+    case _ ⇒ throw new IllegalStateException("The first message must be ExposedPublisher")
+  }
+
+  def waitingForFirstSubscriber: Receive = {
+    case SubscribePending ⇒
+      exposedPublisher.takePendingSubscribers() foreach registerSubscriber
+      context.setReceiveTimeout(Duration.Undefined)
+      import context.dispatcher
+      tickTask = Some(context.system.scheduler.schedule(interval, interval, self, Tick))
+      context.become(active)
+  }
+
+  def active: Receive = {
+    case Tick ⇒
+      ActorBasedFlowMaterializer.withCtx(context) {
+        try {
+          val tickElement = tick()
+          demand foreach {
+            case (subscriber, d) ⇒
+              if (d > 0) {
+                demand(subscriber) = d - 1
+                subscriber.onNext(tickElement)
+              }
+          }
+        } catch {
+          case NonFatal(e) ⇒
+            // tick closure throwed => onError downstream
+            demand foreach { case (subscriber, _) ⇒ subscriber.onError(e) }
+        }
+      }
+
+    case RequestMore(elements, subscriber) ⇒
+      demand.get(subscriber) match {
+        case Some(d) ⇒ demand(subscriber) = d + elements
+        case None    ⇒ // canceled
+      }
+    case Cancel ⇒
+      softShutdown()
+
+    case SubscribePending ⇒
+      exposedPublisher.takePendingSubscribers() foreach registerSubscriber
+
+  }
+
+  def registerSubscriber(subscriber: Subscriber[Any]): Unit = {
+    if (demand.contains(subscriber))
+      subscriber.onError(new IllegalStateException(s"Cannot subscribe $subscriber twice"))
+    else {
+      val subscription = new TickProducerSubscription(self, subscriber)
+      demand(subscriber) = 0
+      subscriber.onSubscribe(subscription)
+    }
+  }
+
+  private def unregisterSubscriber(subscriber: Subscriber[Any]): Unit = {
+    demand -= subscriber
+    if (demand.isEmpty) {
+      exposedPublisher.shutdown(ActorPublisher.NormalShutdownReason)
+      softShutdown()
+    }
+  }
+
+  override def postStop(): Unit = {
+    tickTask.foreach(_.cancel)
+    if (exposedPublisher ne null)
+      exposedPublisher.shutdown(ActorPublisher.NormalShutdownReason)
+  }
+
+}
+
diff --git a/akka-stream/src/main/scala/akka/stream/javadsl/Flow.scala b/akka-stream/src/main/scala/akka/stream/javadsl/Flow.scala
index 8a462ca683..c2bc467d17 100644
--- a/akka-stream/src/main/scala/akka/stream/javadsl/Flow.scala
+++ b/akka-stream/src/main/scala/akka/stream/javadsl/Flow.scala
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ import akka.japi.Util.immutableSeq
 import akka.stream.{ FlattenStrategy, OverflowStrategy, FlowMaterializer, Transformer }
 import akka.stream.scaladsl.{ Flow ⇒ SFlow }
 import org.reactivestreams.api.Consumer
+import scala.concurrent.duration.FiniteDuration
 
 /**
  * Java API
@@ -64,6 +65,16 @@ object Flow {
    */
   def create[T](block: Callable[T]): Flow[T] = new FlowAdapter(SFlow.apply(() ⇒ block.call()))
 
+  /**
+   * Elements are produced from the tick `Callable` periodically with the specified interval.
+   * The tick element will be delivered to downstream consumers that has requested any elements.
+   * If a consumer has not requested any elements at the point in time when the tick
+   * element is produced it will not receive that tick element later. It will
+   * receive new tick elements as soon as it has requested more elements.
+   */
+  def create[T](interval: FiniteDuration, tick: Callable[T]): Flow[T] =
+    new FlowAdapter(SFlow.apply(interval, () ⇒ tick.call()))
+
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/akka-stream/src/main/scala/akka/stream/scaladsl/Flow.scala b/akka-stream/src/main/scala/akka/stream/scaladsl/Flow.scala
index 9a175c1fab..dc63b98614 100644
--- a/akka-stream/src/main/scala/akka/stream/scaladsl/Flow.scala
+++ b/akka-stream/src/main/scala/akka/stream/scaladsl/Flow.scala
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@ import akka.stream.{ FlattenStrategy, OverflowStrategy, FlowMaterializer, Transf
 import akka.stream.impl.Ast.{ ExistingProducer, IterableProducerNode, IteratorProducerNode, ThunkProducerNode }
 import akka.stream.impl.Ast.FutureProducerNode
 import akka.stream.impl.FlowImpl
+import akka.stream.impl.Ast.TickProducerNode
+import scala.concurrent.duration.FiniteDuration
 
 /**
  * Scala API
@@ -59,6 +61,15 @@ object Flow {
    */
   def apply[T](future: Future[T]): Flow[T] = FlowImpl(FutureProducerNode(future), Nil)
 
+  /**
+   * Elements are produced from the tick closure periodically with the specified interval.
+   * The tick element will be delivered to downstream consumers that has requested any elements.
+   * If a consumer has not requested any elements at the point in time when the tick
+   * element is produced it will not receive that tick element later. It will
+   * receive new tick elements as soon as it has requested more elements.
+   */
+  def apply[T](interval: FiniteDuration, tick: () ⇒ T): Flow[T] = FlowImpl(TickProducerNode(interval, tick), Nil)
+
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/akka-stream/src/test/java/akka/stream/javadsl/FlowTest.java b/akka-stream/src/test/java/akka/stream/javadsl/FlowTest.java
index d4f9cfcbfd..92fc309427 100644
--- a/akka-stream/src/test/java/akka/stream/javadsl/FlowTest.java
+++ b/akka-stream/src/test/java/akka/stream/javadsl/FlowTest.java
@@ -495,4 +495,26 @@ public class FlowTest {
       String result = Await.result(future, probe.dilated(FiniteDuration.create(3, TimeUnit.SECONDS)));
       assertEquals("A", result);
   }
+  @Test
+  public void mustProduceTicks() throws Exception {
+    final JavaTestKit probe = new JavaTestKit(system);
+    final Callable<String> tick = new Callable<String>() {
+      private int count = 1;
+
+      @Override
+      public String call() {
+        return "tick-" + (count++);
+      }
+    };
+    Flow.create(FiniteDuration.create(1, TimeUnit.SECONDS), tick).foreach(new Procedure<String>() {
+      public void apply(String elem) {
+        probe.getRef().tell(elem, ActorRef.noSender());
+      }
+    }).consume(materializer);
+    probe.expectMsgEquals("tick-1");
+    probe.expectNoMsg(FiniteDuration.create(200, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS));
+    probe.expectMsgEquals("tick-2");
+    probe.expectNoMsg(FiniteDuration.create(200, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS));
+
+  }
 }
diff --git a/akka-stream/src/test/scala/akka/stream/TickProducerSpec.scala b/akka-stream/src/test/scala/akka/stream/TickProducerSpec.scala
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a61a3280e3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/akka-stream/src/test/scala/akka/stream/TickProducerSpec.scala
@@ -0,0 +1,99 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright (C) 2014 Typesafe Inc. <http://www.typesafe.com>
+ */
+package akka.stream
+
+import scala.concurrent.duration._
+import akka.stream.scaladsl.Flow
+import akka.stream.testkit.AkkaSpec
+import akka.stream.testkit.StreamTestKit
+import scala.util.control.NoStackTrace
+
+@org.junit.runner.RunWith(classOf[org.scalatest.junit.JUnitRunner])
+class TickProducerSpec extends AkkaSpec {
+
+  val materializer = FlowMaterializer(MaterializerSettings(
+    dispatcher = "akka.test.stream-dispatcher"))
+
+  "A Flow based on tick producer" must {
+    "produce ticks" in {
+      val tickGen = Iterator from 1
+      val c = StreamTestKit.consumerProbe[String]
+      Flow(1.second, () ⇒ "tick-" + tickGen.next()).produceTo(materializer, c)
+      val sub = c.expectSubscription()
+      sub.requestMore(3)
+      c.expectNext("tick-1")
+      c.expectNoMsg(200.millis)
+      c.expectNext("tick-2")
+      c.expectNoMsg(200.millis)
+      c.expectNext("tick-3")
+      sub.cancel()
+      c.expectNoMsg(200.millis)
+    }
+
+    "drop ticks when not requested" in {
+      val tickGen = Iterator from 1
+      val c = StreamTestKit.consumerProbe[String]
+      Flow(1.second, () ⇒ "tick-" + tickGen.next()).produceTo(materializer, c)
+      val sub = c.expectSubscription()
+      sub.requestMore(2)
+      c.expectNext("tick-1")
+      c.expectNoMsg(200.millis)
+      c.expectNext("tick-2")
+      c.expectNoMsg(1400.millis)
+      sub.requestMore(2)
+      c.expectNext("tick-4")
+      c.expectNoMsg(200.millis)
+      c.expectNext("tick-5")
+      sub.cancel()
+      c.expectNoMsg(200.millis)
+    }
+
+    "produce ticks with multiple subscribers" in {
+      val tickGen = Iterator from 1
+      val p = Flow(1.second, () ⇒ "tick-" + tickGen.next()).toProducer(materializer)
+      val c1 = StreamTestKit.consumerProbe[String]
+      val c2 = StreamTestKit.consumerProbe[String]
+      p.produceTo(c1)
+      p.produceTo(c2)
+      val sub1 = c1.expectSubscription()
+      val sub2 = c2.expectSubscription()
+      sub1.requestMore(1)
+      sub2.requestMore(2)
+      c1.expectNext("tick-1")
+      c2.expectNext("tick-1")
+      c2.expectNoMsg(200.millis)
+      c2.expectNext("tick-2")
+      c1.expectNoMsg(200.millis)
+      sub1.requestMore(2)
+      sub2.requestMore(2)
+      c1.expectNext("tick-3")
+      c2.expectNext("tick-3")
+      sub1.cancel()
+      sub2.cancel()
+    }
+
+    "signal onError when tick closure throws" in {
+      val tickGen = Iterator from 1
+      val c = StreamTestKit.consumerProbe[String]
+      Flow(1.second, () ⇒ throw new RuntimeException("tick err") with NoStackTrace).produceTo(materializer, c)
+      val sub = c.expectSubscription()
+      sub.requestMore(3)
+      c.expectError.getMessage should be("tick err")
+    }
+
+    "be usable with zip for a simple form of rate limiting" in {
+      val c = StreamTestKit.consumerProbe[Int]
+      val rate = Flow(1.second, () ⇒ "tick").toProducer(materializer)
+      Flow(1 to 100).zip(rate).map { case (n, _) ⇒ n }.produceTo(materializer, c)
+      val sub = c.expectSubscription()
+      sub.requestMore(1000)
+      c.expectNext(1)
+      c.expectNoMsg(200.millis)
+      c.expectNext(2)
+      c.expectNoMsg(200.millis)
+      sub.cancel()
+    }
+
+  }
+}
\ No newline at end of file