Automatic watch

An automatic or self-winding watch is a mechanical watch in which the mainspring is wound automatically as a result of the natural motion of the wearer to provide energy to run the watch, making manual winding unnecessary. A mechanical watch which is neither self-winding nor electrically driven is called a manual watch. Most mechanical watches manufactured today are self-winding.

In a mechanical watch the watch's gears are turned by a spiral spring called a mainspring. In a manual watch energy is stored in the mainspring by turning a knob, the crown on the side of the watch, winding the mainspring. Then the energy from the mainspring powers the watch movement until it runs down, requiring the spring to be wound again.

A self-winding watch movement has a mechanism which winds the mainspring using the natural motions of the wearer's body. The watch contains an eccentric weight that turns on a pivot. The normal movements of the watch in the user's pocket or on the user's arm cause the rotor to pivot on its staff, which is attached to a ratcheted winding mechanism. The motion of the watch is thereby translated into circular motion of the weight which, through a series of reverser and reducing gears, eventually winds the mainspring. There are many different designs for modern self-winding mechanisms. Some designs allow winding of the watch to take place while the weight swings in only one direction while other, more advanced, mechanisms have two ratchets and wind the mainspring during both clockwise and anti-clockwise weight motions.

The fully wound mainspring in a typical watch can store enough energy reserve for roughly two days, allowing the watch to keep running through the night while stationary. In many cases automatic wristwatches can also be wound manually by turning the crown, so the watch can be kept running when not worn, and in case the wearer's wrist motions are not sufficient to keep it wound automatically.

Self-winding mechanisms continue working even after the mainspring is fully wound up. If a simple mainspring was used, this would put excessive tension on the mainspring. This could break the mainspring, and even if it did not, it can cause a problem called "knocking" or "banking". The excessive drive force applied to the watch movement gear train can make the balance wheel rotate with excessive amplitude, causing the impulse pin to hit the back of the pallet fork horns. This will make the watch run fast, and could break the impulse pin. To prevent this, a slipping clutch device is used on the mainspring so it cannot be overwound.

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Wikipedia