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The TourbillonAny typos are as a result of direct translation of the original French. 
It is known that the walk of a watch differs according to the driving position
in which it is observed.The essential cause comes from the imbalance of the beam and that from the spiral one. To cancel these differences, it would be necessary that the centre of gravity of the beam-spiral system is in the centre of rotation and is maintained there during the oscillations. The difficulty of the problem is seen. The goal of the swirl or tourbillon is not to remove these differences, but to compensate for them. For that purpose, Breguet had the idea to make take with the exhaust-beam unit all the positions, by imposing a rotation to him which, generally, is of a turn per minute. Under these conditions, one obtains a mixing of the driving positions, which ultimately shows an average walk.  The
cut does not correspond to the photograph which is above.Until and, including the wheel of average (wheel engrainant with the pinion of cage B), the wheel is conventional. The following elements are particular with this construction: A swivelled cage the A, in two parts, lower and higher, connected by three pillars. All the beam-spiral device as well as the exhaust is carried by cage A. It is itself fixed on the tree of the pinion of the second B, which is separated from the wheel of second C. Generally, the pivot of the pinion of second, commonly named pinion of cage, carries the needle of second. A wheel of second, in the shape of toothed ring, is adjusted and fixed at the turntable. The teeth of this wheel gear in the pinion of exhaust E carried by the cage. The center of the cage and that of the wheel of second coincide.  While the beam D traverses its arc of additional oscillation, the cage remains motionless, as well as the exhaust and the wheel. The cage is well under the effect of the driving force operating the pinion of cage, but no rotation is possible because a tooth of the wheel of exhaust F is stopped on the rest. Indeed, the teeth of the pinion of exhaust, interdependent of the wheel of exhaust, are committed in the teeth of the wheel of second fixed; the displacement of the cage is thus impossible. As soon as the wheel of exhaust is released, the cage turns of a small angle (equal to the displacement of the needle of second) to be immobilized at once that the functions of exhaust are finished and that the wheel of exhaust is again stopped. During the rotation of the cage, the pinion of exhaust is actuated in a rotational movement, caused by its engaging in the teeth of the wheel of second, compound to a movement of revolution to the manner of a satellite. The beam is inside and in the axis of the cage; its pivots turn in stages interdependent of the cage. As for the other parts of the exhaust, they swivel between the lower cage and of the bridges carried by this one. In spite of the rotation of the cage, the mobiles which it door preserve their respective sites, which comes down to saying that the functions of exhaust remain similar to those of the conventional watches and that the wheel of exhaust makes the same number of revolutions. After this displacement, the unit carried by the cage occupies a new home position. Thus in a minute by, successive jumps, all the cage will have achieved a turn by involving with it all the bodies which it carries. One notes that the pinion of exhaust will have described a revolution around the wheel of second, while turning in rotation on his axis. It is understood that the execution of such a mechanism requires a great skill and particular care. The greatest difficulty is to ensure the alignment of the four coaxial pivots (cage and beam) and to balance the complete cage, possibly by means of small additional masses. In addition, the cage and the whole of the parts which it contains must be as light as possible. The swirl makes it possible to obtain remarkable chronometric results. |
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