Balance wheel in a 1950s alarm clock, showing the (1) balance spring and (2) regulator.Clip of operating balance wheel in a mantel clock, showing motion of balance spring (top center)
A balance spring, or hairspring, is a spring attached to the balance wheel in mechanical timepieces. It causes the balance wheel to oscillate with a resonant frequency when the timepiece is running, which controls the speed at which the wheels of the timepiece turn, thus the rate of movement of the hands. A regulator lever is often fitted, which can be used to alter the free length of the spring and thereby adjust the rate of the timepiece.
The balance spring is a fine spiral or helical torsion spring used in mechanical watches, alarm clocks, kitchen timers, marine chronometers, and other timekeeping mechanisms to control the rate of oscillation of the balance wheel. The balance spring is an essential adjunct to the balance wheel, causing it to oscillate back and forth. The balance spring and balance wheel together form a harmonic oscillator, which oscillates with a precise period or "beat" resisting external disturbances and is responsible for timekeeping accuracy.
The addition of the balance spring to the balance wheel around 1657 by Robert Hooke and Christiaan Huygens greatly increased the accuracy of portable timepieces, transforming early pocketwatches from expensive novelties to useful timekeepers. Improvements to the balance spring are responsible for further large increases in accuracy since that time. Modern balance springs are made of special low temperature coefficient alloys like nivarox to reduce the effects of temperature changes on the rate, and carefully shaped to minimize the effect of changes in drive force as the mainspring runs down. Before the 1980s, balance wheels and balance springs were used in virtually every portable timekeeping device, but in recent decades electronic quartz timekeeping technology has replaced mechanical clockwork, and the major remaining use of balance springs is in mechanical watches.
Types of balance springs:
flat spiral
Breguet overcoil
chronometer helix[1] showing curving ends,
early balance springs
.
^"Skeleton Clock with chronometer escapement - Herschel". YouTube. April 10, 2009. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved May 15, 2010.
A balancespring, or hairspring, is a spring attached to the balance wheel in mechanical timepieces. It causes the balance wheel to oscillate with a resonant...
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wheel and the elasticity of the balancespring. An escapement mechanism, which has the dual function of keeping the balance wheel vibrating by giving it...
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