Research On The Perpetual Calendar Mechanism

Design and manufacture of perpetual calendar is not a simple matter. The first perpetual calendar mechanism was equipped in pocket watches. It is really a tough job to display so many functions in such a small place without any interferences and errors.The two kinds of perpetual calendar which are used now are one made by Audemars Piguet and the other by Patek Philippe. The two aforementioned perpetual calendars are similar in operational principles, but different in gear trains. And it is known that production and finish of the parts of the mechanism are not easy.This paper takes these representative perpetual calendars as an research objective, explains its parts' connections, reveals operational principles of each displace function and analyzes the working process of important parts. It deeply researches the influence factors of each action, uses the finite element analysis of SOLIDWORKS which is helpful for designing spring parts, accesses to definite theory evidences and be as a guide for adjusting and improving the mechanism. It also discovers better assembling procedures and modifications for key parts.The paper discusses both the advantages and disadvantages of these representative perpetual calendar mechanism and makes out valuable influence factors for each part of perpetual calendar.After several year's research, comparing those two aforementioned perpetual calendar, we have made some improvement to the existing perpetual calendar. This essay analyses the new perpetual calendar mechanism, compares the features between old and new ones and discusses the new mechanism's advantages as well as the disadvantages.The paper shows analysises and summarizations of the mechanism and important parts in the actual production process of watches with perpetual calendar, and provides us improving methods.