Micromechanical and Horological Design Laboratory

Laboratory

Chat with Graph Search

Ask any question about EPFL courses, lectures, exercises, research, news, etc. or try the example questions below.

DISCLAIMER: The Graph Chatbot is not programmed to provide explicit or categorical answers to your questions. Rather, it transforms your questions into API requests that are distributed across the various IT services officially administered by EPFL. Its purpose is solely to collect and recommend relevant references to content that you can explore to help you answer your questions.

The present invention concerns a pivot comprising two assemblies, namely a central assembly (401) and a peripheral assembly (400). These two assemblies are mobile in rotation relative to each other around an axis of rotation (A). The pivot is characterized ...

Despite centuries of research and significant advances, the escapement mechanism used to count and maintain oscillations of mechanical time bases remains a complex mechanism and a major source of energy losses. We showed in previous work that, instead of t ...

The recent adoption of silicon components by the mechanical watch industry has triggered the search for new time bases to advantageously replace the traditional balance and hairspring oscillator. In particular, flexure-based oscillators manufactured in sil ...

It appears that the concerted efforts of the watchmaking industry are leading towards a limit in mechanical watch accuracy. The general consensus in horology is that the time base's quality factor, a dimensionless number that characterizes the oscillator d ...

The most important property for accurate mechanical time bases is isochronism: the independence of period from oscillation amplitude. This paper develops a new concept in isochronism adjustment for flexure-based watch oscillators. Flexure pivot oscillators ...

Mechanical oscillator (1) for a timepiece comprising an inertial mass (3) arranged to oscillate about a neutral position under the effect of a restoring force provided by at least one elastic element (5),characterised in that said mechanical oscillator (1) ...

Crank arrangement (1) for driving a pin-driven two degrees? of freedom mechanical oscillator (5), comprising:- a crank element (7) arranged to be rotationally driven about an axis of rotation (19) by means of a mechanical source of energy (M),- a crank slo ...

The Foucault pendulum is a well-known mechanism used to demonstrate the rotation of the Earth. It consists in a pendulum launched on linear orbits and, following Mach’s Principle, this line of oscillation will remain fixed with respect to absolute space bu ...

Sensor system (1) comprising a frame (306) supporting a force-sensing tip (310) arranged to generate a signal based upon a force applied by said force-sensing tip (310) to a material to be tested,characterised in that said system (1) further comprises:- an ...

In 1851 Léon Foucault created a sensation with his pendulum providing a direct demonstration of the turning of the Earth. This simple device consists of a pendulum which is launched in a purely planar orbit. Following Mach's principle of inertia, the mass ...

Oscillator system (1) comprising:- a substantially planar frame (3);- a first sub-oscillator (5), a second sub-oscillator (7), a third sub-oscillator (9), and a fourth sub-oscillator (11), each sub-oscillator (5, 7, 9, 11) comprising a substantially rigid ...

Flexure pivot oscillators have the potential to advantageously replace the traditional balance wheel-spiral spring oscillator used in mechanical watches due to their significantly lower friction. However, they have inherent nonlinear elastic properties tha ...

Horological oscillator comprising: - a first inertial body (141; 151; 1305; 1405; 1505; 301; 311; 314; 41; 51; 507; 529; 544; 541; 901; 903) arranged to rotate with respect to a first axis; - a second inertial body (143; 153; 1306; 1406; 1506; 302; 313; 31 ...

In previous work, we showed that two degree of freedom oscillators can be advantageously applied to horological time bases since they can be used to eliminate the escapement mechanism. We subsequently examined planar two degree of freedom oscillators based ...

Multistable Mechanisms are mechanical devices having more than one stable state. Since these mechanisms can maintain different deformations with zero force, they are advantageous for low power environments such as wristwatches and medical devices. In this ...

Mechanical oscillator (10) comprising an inertial body (101) joined to a support (100) by means of an elastic system (102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107) arranged to provide the inertial body (101) with substantially no degrees of freedom in translation and with ...

wherein k1, k3, k5 . . . are constants and θ is an angle of inclination of said third axis (x, P) of said inertial body with respect to a direction of said third axis (xr) when said inertial body is in said resting position. ...

Flexure pivot based oscillators can advantageously replace the hairspring and balance wheel, the time base used in mechanical watches, by drastically reducing friction. However, flexure pivots have drawbacks including gravity sensitivity and restoring torq ...

The mechanical isotropic harmonic oscillator comprises at least a two degrees of freedom linkage supporting an orbiting mass with respect to a fixed base with springs having isotropic and linear restoring force properties wherein the mass has a tilting mot ...

The mechanical isotropic harmonic oscillator comprises at least a two degree of freedom linkage supporting an orbiting mass with respect to a fixed base with springs having isotropic and linear restoring force properties. The oscillator may be used in a ti ...

Micromechanical and Horological Design Laboratory

Chat with Graph Search

Pivot, process for manufacturing such a pivot, oscillator comprising such a pivot, watch movement and timepiece comprising such an oscillator

Shaking force balancing of a 2-DOF isotropic horological oscillator

Optical measurement method for mechanical time base characterization

Flexure Pivot Oscillators for Mechanical Watches

Flexure Pivot Oscillator With Intrinsically Tuned Isochronism

Mechanical oscillator with tunable isochronism defect

Crank arrangement for driving a mechanical oscillator

Design of a Flexure Based Low Frequency Foucault Pendulum

Sensor system

Foucault pendulum properties of spherical oscillators

Two degree of freedom oscillator system

Conceptual design of a rotational mechanical time base with varying inertia

Horological oscillator

Theory and design of spherical oscillator mechanisms

Programmable Multistable Mechanisms: Design, modeling, characterization and applications

Two degree of freedom mechanical oscillator

Mechanical oscillator

Flexure-Pivot Oscillator Restoring Torque Nonlinearity and Isochronism Defect

General 2 degree of freedom isotropic harmonic oscillator and associated time base without escapement or with simplified escapement

Xy isotropic harmonic oscillator and associated time base without escapement or with simplified escapement