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Show HN: Mechanical Watch with LED Lights (opens in new tab)

(watchesbysjx.com)

2 pointsastennumero1y ago4 comments

The article doesn't get into the details of how the LEDs are powered except for "The four barrels power a tiny generator that’s just 8 mm wide and 2.3 mm high, which provides the electric energy to LEDs under the dial." Anyone have any ideas as to how this works?

4 comments

4 comments · 2 top-level

inhumantsar1y ago· 2 in thread

the article says it has six main springs, four of which are dedicated to the LEDs.

when you wind the watch, the mechanical energy is transferred to these springs.

pushing the illumination button allows the springs to release their tension into the generator, which powers the LEDs.

astennumeroOP1y ago

Yeah. That I understand. What I would like to know is what this generator looks like. How does it work? How can springs power a generator? I would like to understand how they made a generator that small.

I'm also curious.

I'd bet that they use a smaller version of a pancake generator like [0]. And power it through a gear train from four mainsprings as it says in TFA.

[0] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S03062...

ThrowawayR21y ago

The "Show HN" prefix is limited to posting things you personally created yourself according to the guidelines available at https://news.ycombinator.com/showhn.html.

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