Chronograph watch register mechanism

Registration Mechanism

Minute Registration Mechanism

With very few exceptions,
Almost all wrist chronographs in use today are
Utilize at least one additional register, the minute register.
On the dial it is usually found near 3 or 12.
Each time the chronograph hand completes one revolution it moves to one line representing one minute.
The minute register may also be accompanied by one or more registers, the hour registers.
These registers allow
Even very long events can be recorded with a chronometer.
Some typical minute registration systems are described here.
Three types are prevalent:
1. Continuous minute register, 2. Spring register, 3. High speed spring counter.

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Consecutive register

This system requires extra space inside the wheel train,
It was rarely used in wristwatches (except for the Omega caliber 28.9 T.1).
The finely engraved minute registration wheel attached to the upper chronograph bridge and the lower plate
It was rotated by a oscillating pinion which contacted the minute wheel just below the upper wheel bridge.
The movement of the minute register wheel pinion in and out was accomplished by a star gear controlled by a dot on the crown.
The minute register wheel has a heart piece fixed to it which, when set to zero, causes the register to be returned to zero simultaneously with the chronograph hands by the heart rate lever.
The ease of manufacturing of this system is
This is offset by the drawbacks of reading it on the dial.
If the chronograph hands are about to be set to zero,
The register still shows new marks that belong to the old time.
For example, if an event lasts for 5 minutes and 3 seconds,
After 2 minutes and 55 seconds, the chronograph hand is 5 seconds before 12 seconds.
Almost 3 minutes in the minute register.
Now it can be easily read as 3 minutes 55 seconds.
It can be read on a chronograph with a slowly bouncing register.
For that reason, one minute must be subtracted from the minute register as long as the chronograph hand is still just short of 12.
When the chronograph hand passes 12,
You must ensure that the instructions are in fact correct.
These reading comprehension issues were one of the reasons why the registration system was revised to clarify reading comprehension.
So the register hand remains in that position until about 2 seconds before the 12th.
It just moves it half way forward (representing half),
The moment the chronograph hand crosses 12, it advances a (half) minute to the next minute mark.

Spring Minute Register

This system was most often used in wrist chronographs.
It's reliable and easy to read.
The Z 79 denotes a one-button chronograph (similar to the Valjoux Caliber 22),
Used to describe a process.
Under the central chronograph wheel C,
It is fitted with a pointer F which further moves the starwheel S by one position with each revolution of the central chronograph wheel.
This contacts the minute wheel Z,
The length of the minute wheel dial is determined and the minute wheel is set.
The minute register jumper spring B holds the wheel Z immobile at every changeover.
In detail, the counting process works as follows:
Figure 1 shows finger F just touching star wheel S (the black teeth of the minute resistor wheel are to the right of jumper spring B).
In Fig. 2, the pointer F rotates the star wheel S so that the "black tooth" lifts the jumper spring B to its highest point.
and rotate the minute register wheel Z fully.
In this process, the dosing needle has moved half (a half) ahead of the mark.
At the next moment, jumper spring B pushes the minute register hand to the right,
Again it goes between the two teeth.
The black tooth is now located to the left of lock B (Figure 3).
Next, this spring of the minute resistor wheel Z switches the star wheel S a little farther away, so that
Pointer F can move out of contact with the teeth in its continued rotation.
In the "stop" position, the star wheel S
The crown wheel lifts it away from your fingers,
At zero setting, it is always in contact with the minute register wheel Z,
You can move forward or backward freely.

High-speed spring minute register

The high-speed minute register is
It is constructed so that the register hand actually jumps up to the next minute mark only when the chronograph hand passes zero.
This requires a fairly complicated mechanism that has been previously tested and is used in pocket watches.
Its functions are explained based on Ulysse Nardin's patent drawings.
Z 80, Fig. 1 shows how the lever and wheel work together.
There is no conventional pointer below the central chronograph wheel C.
There are conch shells.
Extending from the top of this conch is an angled lever D,
Its extension W collects the minute register teeth.
Latch F is lightly secured to lever D.
The minute register wheel M is held immovably in its position by the minute register jumper spring J.
Just at the last quarter, the eccentric E begins to lift the lever D by its extension D'.
In the process latch E slides somewhat to the left.
In this process:
Latch E slides slightly to the left of the teeth of the minute register wheel,
This causes spring H to lift onto pin G (Figure 2) until the latch falls into the gap between the serrations (shown by dotted lines in Figure 1).
At the next moment, as the chronograph hand passes 12 it extends D' and under the pressure of the spring L snaps the conch shell.
During this movement, Conch F pulls the minute register wheel one tick away.
The minute register hand on the dial thus jumps one more tick.
The Longines company also used such a stamp of authority on its caliber 13.33.
Many designs of this type were later patented, including that of Hassen-Neves & Geneva (No. 150982, filed in 1933).
The minute register wheel was switched via an intermediate wheel.
In 1939, Ebauches SA was awarded patent no. 205246, which featured a spring register.
Z 81 shows the patent drawing.
In this design too, the step 15a is mounted under the central chronograph wheel 2.
There is an eccentric body 15 having a
The minute wheel arm 10 is attached to 11,
It has two extensions 16a and 14.
Figure 1, Figure 2 and Figure 3 show the switching action just before and just after the minute register spring.
The minute wheel arm 10 rotates at the moment the chronograph hand passes through zero.
The extension 14 of the conch 15 lifts it against the pressure of the spring 13 and away from the step 15a.
The extension 16a of the minute wheel arm 10 is shaped so as to reach directly onto the teeth of the minute wheel 3 during high speed movement of the arm 10;
Only one tooth is moved farther at any one time.
The minute register wheels move very fast so they also have brakes.
Spring 17 (Fig. 2 and Fig. 3) acts as a true gather click,
Drives the minute register wheel 3 forward.
Similarly, the extension 16a extending into the tooth has a blocking function,
The minute register wheel can only advance one tooth.
The exact positioning of the minute register wheel is determined by the minute wheel lock 19, which also functions when the rocker arm moves without contact.
To ensure that the eccentric cannot get stuck behind the extension 14 during zero setting,
It is moved away from the eccentric by the heart piece lever 7 (shown in dashed lines) on the pin 18 against the pressure of the spring 13.
Patent No. 209683 published in 1940 by Henry Jacquot Guyot and Marcel Dépraz of Le Lieu (also owned by Ebauches SA)
They involve essentially the same mechanisms, so we won't go into detail here.

Off-center register

In 1940, the beer company Mido AG was founded.
The company patented a minute counter mechanism with a small bifurcated hand located in the center of the dial (patent no. 209685).
Their patent application has a hand in the center of the dial,
It is called a "tin piece with minute register mechanism" and features a fine counting mechanism working together on a fine scale, one tooth,
Through an intermediate wheel attached to a lever that acts simultaneously with the brake for the second wheel
It is secured to the minute by a second wheel containing a catch.
Finally, the pivot of said needle and the pivot of the second wheel are mounted concentrically with each other,
Each has a reversing eccentricity and can be set simultaneously to the zero position.
Z 82, Figure 1 shows a patent drawing in which the essential parts are identified.
The arrangement of the arbor is similar to the second arrangement, which is divided into
Here it is like three arbors placed inside each other.
The arbor is a minute register arbor 20,
Inside this arbor, which is also perforated, is the central chronograph arbor 1.
The central chronograph arbor 1 has a central chronograph wheel 2 attached to the heart piece 24.
The wheels 19 and the heart piece 25 are
Mounted on minute register arbor 20.
The central chronograph wheel 2
It carries a pointer 11 which contacts a pinion 12 which turns on an axis 13 with each revolution of the central chronograph wheel, which means once per minute.
It is fixed to the blocking lever.
The shielding lever 14 switches pin 15 on.
The pinion 12 is in contact with the minute register wheel 19.
It moves one mark every minute.
Before the heart piece lever acts on the zero setting,
This contact only breaks when the heart piece lever lifts the blocking lever 14 and pulls it out of contact with the minute register wheel 14.
This first version of the minute counter was a slow leap type.
On the dial, the chronograph hand 3 is attached to arbor 1 and the minute register hand 23 is on arbor 4 and uses the same markings even when counting only minutes.
The two hands are clearly distinguishable by their color and shape.
Z 82, Fig. 2 shows the centre of the minute register in a modern version in which the mechanism with pinion 12 is not used.
For the sake of clarity, the minute register wheel 19 is arranged so that it is in direct frictional contact with the light dividing minute wheel arbor 4.
Especially in the register hand, it is a continuously moving register.
A coil spring 33 is screwed under the heart piece 25.
Its two free ends are pressed into the notches of the microwheel 4.
In this way the minute wheel 5 and the minute register wheel 19 rotated in the same direction and at the same speed.
The Z 83 is
It shows a later version movement built on the Valjoux Calibre 23.
The chronograph is started and stopped by pressing button G and zeroed by pressing button A.
The mechanism is controlled by the crown wheel D.
The central chronograph wheel C is not only held immobile by the blocking lever J,
The minute wheel L is likewise held by the blocking lever E.
Since the two wheels are attached at the top and bottom,
The two heart piece levers N and M must also be the ones above.
This central registration mechanism for the two needles from the center
It wasn't originally developed for wristwatches.
In principle, it was already invented for pocket watches.
In 1916, Zacharias Pantillon of La Chaux-de-Fonds received patent no. 71947 for a mechanism that required an additional spring hour register connected to it.

Hour Counting System

The hour register is an additional device independent of the minute register,
You can additionally indicate a range of time indicated by the minute register (30, 45 or 60 minutes).
This mechanism is always found beneath the dial of the watch.
The wrist chronographs are from the 1930s and 1940s.
The first patent for a pocket watch time register was issued in 1892.
Three different systems are recognised here:
1. The drive device for the register wheel is
This is transmitted by a link between the barrel cover and the wheel mounted on it.
2.Power is transmitted through an oscillating pinion driven by the teeth of the barrel.
3. There are also systems where the power comes from the hour hand.
In all of these systems,
Starting and stopping is carried out by a crown wheel or corresponding lever system actuated by a push button.
This also applies to the zero setting.

A set of hour registers

The Z 84 reproduces the drawings of a patent number proposed by Veuve James Aubert and Ebauches SA in 1941.
FIG. 2 shows the dial side with the minute register wheel 15.
Figure 3 shows a cut line (III-III, dotted line) through the barrel.
The barrel cover supports a slotted tube that extends beyond the mainspring pivot.
A catch wheel 12 having oblique teeth thereon remains axially movable,
It is mounted so that it must rotate as the barrel rotates.
Potential 17 is formed like a leaf spring,
It can be raised and lowered by means of a pin 20 on a rocker 22 located on the moving side and controlled by a crown wheel.
The drive wheel 12 moves between the leaf spring 17 and the force 19,
The finely angled teeth contact the register wheel 15 when the leaf spring 17 is pushed out (starting) (also angled),
The latter moves with it.
At the stop position, the leaf spring 17 is lifted,
The aforementioned "contact" will be released.
To avoid unintentional rotation of the register wheel 15,
When the register wheel is pressed lightly on it, a fork-shaped leaf spring 16 is placed on it.
During zero setting by pressing button 7
The time register wheel is reset to zero by the heart piece via the heart piece lever 23.
This time registration mechanism involves very few additional components.
In a slightly different version,
The barrel cover is provided with fine triangular teeth directly in its axial direction.
The extended barrel arbor is a pusher pinion,
It can come into contact with the teeth of the barrel cover or the hour register wheel.
Coupling and decoupling are achieved by a fork-shaped spring that can be raised and lowered.
This is done in the same way as above.

Pinion drive time register

As with the chronographs equipped with swing pinions (see Z 62),
This principle is also used in the hour register mechanism.
The Z 85 was designed by Marcel Dépraz
Patent No. 218692 from 1940.
The pinion 39 (Fig. 2) is attached to the rocker arm 37 and is in contact with a double pinion 50 driven by the register wheel 40 or barrel cover.
The rocker 37 has a pin 38 which passes through the plate 36 to the moving side where it is moved by the transport arm.
For starting, contact is made between the pinion 39 and the timing wheel 40 and is broken again when stopping.
Therefore, the hour register wheel 40 does not rotate by itself,
It is lightly damped by spring 49.
The zeroing of the hour register is done completely separately from the zeroing of the chronograph hands and minute register, which has the heart piece lever on the working side with the joint piece lever engaged.
The time heart piece lever 42 is operated by the button 26 on the dial side.
Activates the heart piece lever of the time register when the transport arm 37 is raised.

Hour Wheel Hour Register

Marcel Watch Co. SA in Les Ponts-de-Martel
He filed a patent application (No. 222179, 1937) for a design in which the hour wheel 21 (Z86) was driven by the minute wheel 29 via the transmission wheel 22.
The arm 24 is placed under the dial and is controlled by an eccentric 27,
The eccentric 27 is attached to 29 and moved to the moving side by a crown wheel.
This is the same as the actual clock wheel, except that a second wheel 23 with fine teeth is screwed onto the clock wheel.
This is a configuration very similar to that used to start and stop the chronograph hands.
The ratio of wheel rotation to register wheel rotation is 1:1, so
12 hours can be registered by direct reading.
The hour register wheel has its own heart piece,
Zero setting is activated by button 31 via a separate heart piece lever (shown in black).
In order to avoid undesired movement of the register wheel 21 when in the stopped position,
It is held by a blocking lever 34 which is moved via levers 36, 37 by pressing a button 30.
The blocking lever 35 supported by the heartpiece lever 20 is released.

Digital Analog Register

Just as the register display is done by means of a numbered rotating disk rather than a hand moving on a dial,
Many attempts have been made.
In these cases, the needle was not present,
It simply becomes a dial marking.
The turning disc was generally located below the dial.
Through the opening you can see part of the disc rotating continuously.
You can read the "clocked time" displayed above the markings.
The Z 87 is a dial of typical design, as applied in patent no. 206476 by Philippe J. Weiss of La Chaux-de-Fonds.
The hands at the top of the dial are replaced by a minute register at 9 and a 30-minute register at 3 in the circle below the dial.
Two half-moon cutouts allow the disc to be read on the dial.
The patent document does not refer to a new mechanism but rather to one that improves the visibility of the dial.
On the one hand, the tachometer and telemeter,
On the other hand, the various dials for the second and first minute registrations often overlap, making the auxiliary dials difficult to read on the second and third dials at 9 and 3.
This design by Weiss is divided into scales,
Each is separate to ensure accurate readings.
Indeed, these chronographs usually have
For users who lack perfect vision,
The disadvantage was that for numbers that were so small reading them was itself a problem.
To address this issue, A. Schild SA of Grenchen (No. 531742/1970)
Both the minute register and the second register have displays that seem to show their indications "digitally."
For each indication there is a turning disc with two segment-shaped windows below the dial.
In Z 88, the figure 1 is registered at the temperature above min,
Here is an example of a patent-type instruction where the hours (1 to 12) are indicated below (above 6).
The force for the minute registration disc comes from a double pivot 28 driven directly by the barrel 29.
Figure 2 shows a cut through the movement or dial,
The two register disks 8 and 9 are shown in black.
The hour register disc 9 is actuated by friction from the hour wheel tube.
Each disc has a heart piece for zero setting,
This is done by a common heart piece lever.
A further invention of a digital-analog register was filed for patent (no. 558563) in 1972 by Raoul Henry Erard of La Chaux-de-Fonds.
where the minute register is a disk with a printed number (1-60),
It was under the dial.
Z 89, Fig. 1 shows the patent drawing of the chronograph face.
Chronograph hand 3 is located, as usual, in the center of the dial.
3 displays the number of registered minutes in a similar manner to that used to display dates.
After starting, the minute register disc is driven by the normal seconds wheel via a coupling pivot and runs continuously (1:60 ratio) like the chronograph hands.
For zero setting, the number disc is
It will be moved forward or backward to 0 depending on the connection from the moving side.
The minute heart piece is located on the movement side.
Erard is able to register the time
I proposed a different type of arrangement with a 12-second setting ring.
Z 89, Figure 2 shows this design and the time ring is set by pressing button 7.
To time events lasting more than an hour, place a triangular marking (over 12) so that it coincides with the instantaneous position of the hour hand.
As the time register keeps moving during the start and stop procedures,
The indicated "registered time" can be read directly from the ring via the hour hand.
To set the hour register to zero,
You will need to manually turn button 7 back and forth.

Self-winding chronograph

Automatic watches were released frequently in the 50s,
It was a very convenient automatic watch (a short-winding automatic watch).
Does not affect the chronograph mechanism.
It was used for essential independent development.
However, at the end of the 60s, when several companies began equipping their chronograph movements with automatic winding capabilities,
It was clear that an effort had been made to make the traditional hand-wound chronograph more appealing by modern standards.
On the other hand, quartz watches have all the diverse features and
It has almost pushed mechanical watches out of the market.
The whole mechanical clock thing seemed to be heading towards oblivion.
The initial inclination towards mechanical watches began with lunar watches.
Suddenly, not only the day and date, but also the phase of the moon,
It became fashionable to wear mechanical watches which came in attractive designs.
In the process of this new watch fashion, including mechanical watches
It was based on two different designs,
In 1969, two automatic wristwatches were introduced simultaneously.
Perhaps the most well-known principle is
In other words, placing the rotor in the center of the movement's chronograph mechanism
Believed to have been used by the Zenith-Movado group (Z90).
This group was the first to produce a chronograph with automatic winding.
He named it "El Primero" (meaning "the first").
The Ligne El Primero movement (PHC 3019 caliber)
As well as the Zenith Moveaud group for chronographs,
Used as raw movement sold to other interested companies,
He put his own signature on the movement.
Other designs that appeared on the market in Basel in 1969 were:
Breitling, Hamilton Buren,
and the Heuer Group of Companies.
This design included a small large rotor mounted eccentrically in a 13.75 ligne (caliber 11) movement.
This rotor had been previously developed by Büren specifically for use in flat conventional automatic watches (Z91).
Of course, these first chronograph movements
It stretched quite thick (6.5-7.5mm) due to the automatic winding, which did not allow its use in an elegant flat watch.
Nevertheless, the production of such thick watches was favored by new sporty watch designs that were becoming increasingly popular.
The deciding factor here was not the customer's new taste,
Rather than requiring any manual work later,
It was a streamlined manufacture with the case machined entirely from solid material.
On the other hand, the Breitling Wheeler models, which were primarily intended for sporting events and aviation, did not require a flat construction.
In any case, the additional lathes, the additional indications, and the specific size of the numbers to ensure accurate reading meant that the case had to be made larger.
The Omega Group has been responding to market reactions for some time now.
Until 1972 13.75 liter automatic central rotor (caliber 1040)
We have released a chronograph equipped with
It was developed by Lemania.
Again, the flat structure (8mm higher in movement)
It wasn't important primarily.
The register for the out-of-center portion and the auxiliary 24-hour display are
It didn't help with the flat construction.
A year later (1973), Valjoux SA also became a producer of raw chronograph movements.
The 13.75 ligne movement (caliber 7750) is now automatically wound.
Like the automatic Omega movement,
It was 8mm tall, but today many companies buy it signed as a raw movement (ébauche).
A somewhat smaller 11.5 ligne movement (TDBK caliber 1369)
It was brought out by Kellec in 1974.
At 7.6mm, its height was still quite large,
The somewhat larger case diameter could make the watch look at least a little flatter.
This movement can also be used as a raw movement and incorporated into your own clock.
It was signed by many companies.
The Dubois-Dépraz design, which included a complete plate with a complete chronograph mechanism, was the beginning of a modular type of construction that would allow the use of automatic movements with or without a chronograph mechanism.
This "chronograph module" contained not only a complete set for the normal time display but also the chronograph hand arbors, minute and hour registers.
The power for the needle came from a minute wheel located eccentrically in the movement.
The arbor is not a regular quarter pipe,
It carried a long pinion that reached into the chronograph module to drive the long mechanism.
The chronograph hands and registers are
I was unable to determine the exact position of the chronograph hands,
Also, due to the extra transmission wheel required by this design,
The readings were particularly inaccurate, down to the fifth of a second.
Frederic Pigou and Co.
He developed the chronograph movement that was first introduced by Blancpain in 1988.
This automatic winding chronograph movement is just 5.5mm high.
Compared to the Dubois-Dépraz design, it has a lower height of movement and
One of the reasons for the simultaneous major redesign of the transmission mechanism is
It was a vertically coupled chronograph mechanism.
Inadvertent advancement or retreat of the chronograph hand during start-up
This was eliminated by the vertical coupling mechanism used here.
This marked a breakthrough into the flat wrist chronograph.
Unlike other companies' thick, sporty chronographs, Blancpain
For the first time, we are able to offer an automatic, extremely flat wrist chronograph.
Soon after, Blancpain also introduced a chronograph with a sweeping hand, which was the pinnacle of the basic movement of a simple chronograph.
We were able to reduce the overall movement to a height of just 6.9mm.
This new development is despite the fact that the vertical coupling mechanism has already appeared before.
It was certainly a remarkable achievement in horological engineering in constructing a chronograph.
This very flat structure features a movement with date display,
Chronograph mechanism (first chronograph hand), split second hand (second chronograph hand)
and a highly developed modular design that allowed for automatic winding.
If desired, a chronograph with split seconds can also be offered without automatic winding.
In this case, the movement height is less than 4mm.
In conclusion, the International Watch Company Group and Jaeger-LeCoultre in a joint venture in 1988 presented a chronograph with two still mechanical chronograph mechanisms and minute and hour registers with a small motor powering the basic movement instead of automatic winding.
Here the principle of a purely mechanical watch was abandoned.
The microelectronics take up very little space, resulting in a total movement of just 3.7mm.
This development can no longer be called a "mechanical" wrist chronograph.