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A balance wheel, or balance, is the timekeeping device used in mechanical watches and small clocks, analogous to the pendulum in a pendulum clock.It is a weighted wheel that rotates back and forth, being returned toward its center position by a spiral torsion spring, known as the balance spring or hairspring.
An escapement is a mechanical linkage that delivers impulses to the timepiece's balance wheel, keeping it oscillating back and forth, and with each swing of the balance wheel allows the timepiece's gear train to advance a fixed amount, thus moving the hands forward at a steady rate. The escapement is what makes the "ticking" sound in mechanical ...
Its advantages are (1) it is a "detached" escapement; unlike the cylinder or duplex escapements the balance wheel is only in contact with the lever during the short impulse period when it swings through its centre position and swings freely the rest of its cycle, increasing accuracy, and (2) it is a self-starting escapement, so if the watch is ...
In a tourbillon, the escapement and balance wheel are mounted in a rotating cage, with the goal of eliminating errors of poise in the balance giving a uniform weight. [2] Tourbillons are still included in some modern wristwatches, where the mechanism is usually exposed on the watch's face to showcase it.
The fourth wheel also drives the escape wheel of the lever escapement. The escape wheel teeth alternately catch on two fingers called pallets on the arms of the pallet lever, which rocks back and forth. The other end of the lever has a fork which engages with an upright impulse pin on the balance wheel shaft. Each time the balance wheel swings ...
They kept time by using the verge escapement to drive a foliot, a primitive type of balance wheel. [11] The foliot was a horizontal bar with weights near its ends affixed to a vertical bar called the verge which was suspended free to rotate. The verge escapement caused the foliot to oscillate back and forth about its vertical axis. [12]
Escapement An escapement is a mechanism that allows the wheel train to advance, or escape a fixed amount with each swing of the balance wheel or pendulum. It consists of a gear called an escape wheel which is released one tooth at a time by a lever that rocks back and forth. Each time the escape wheel moves forward it also gives the pendulum or ...
Jewel bearing of a balance wheel, supported by a lyre-shaped spring. The Incabloc shock protection system is the trade name for a spring-loaded mounting system for the jewel bearings that support the balance wheel in a mechanical watch, to protect the wheel's delicate pivots from damage in the event of physical shock, such as if the watch is dropped.