Geneva movement is so called because of its use in Geneva watches as a stop wind. The projection on the driving disk acts as the pawl drive, and the concave projections on the lower disc act as stop pawls. This is used at the present time in motion picture machines for moving the film in front of the lens and is known as the intermittent movement. If applied as a stop wind, one of the concave projections must be shaped convex, and the rotation is stopped.
[Virginia Downward & William M. Clark, 1930]

[Editor’s Note: This is a classic Geneva mechanism used in Swiss watches in the late 19th century. It is also of a general class of intermittent ratchet kinematic devices that change continuous rotary motion into digital motion. Such devices are often used in counting mechanisms. Similar Models in the Reuleaux-Voigt catalog include N-8 and N-9. FCM]

Francis Moon 2005-00-00