The 

Geneva drive or Maltese cross is a gear mechanism that translates a

continuous rotation into an intermittent rotary motion. The rotating drive wheel has a pin that
reaches into a slot of the driven wheel advancing it by one step. The drive wheel also has a
raised circular blocking disc that locks the driven wheel in position between steps.

The name derives from the device's earliest application in mechanical

watches, Switzerland and Geneva being an important center of watchmaking.
The geneva drive is also commonly called a Maltese cross mechanism due to the visual
resemblance.

In the most common arrangement, the driven wheel has four slots and thus advances
for each rotation of the drive wheel by one step of 90°. If the driven wheel has n slots, it
advances by 360°/n per full rotation of the drive wheel.

Because the mechanism needs to be well lubricated, it is often enclosed in an oil

capsule.

Uses and applications

One application of the Geneva drive is in movie projectors: the film does not run
continuously through the projector. Instead, the film is advanced frame by frame, each
frame standing still in front of the lens for 1/24 of a second (and being exposed twice in
that time, resulting in a frequency of 48 Hz). This intermittent motion is achieved using a
Geneva drive. (Modern film projectors may also use an electronically controlled indexing
mechanism or stepper motor, which allows for fast-forwarding the film.) The first uses of
the Geneva drive in film projectors go back to 1896 to the projectors of Oskar
Messter and Max Gliewe and the Teatrograph of Robert William Paul. Previous
projectors, including Thomas Armat's projector, marketed by Edison as the Vitascope,
had used a "beater mechanism", invented by Georges Demenÿ in 1893, to achieve
intermittent film transport.Geneva wheels having the form of the driven wheel were also
used in mechanical watches, but not in a drive, rather to limit the tension of the spring,
such that it would operate only in the range where its elastic force is nearly linear. If one
of the slots of the driven wheel is occluded, the number of rotations the drive wheel can
make is limited. In watches, the "drive" wheel is the one that winds up the spring, and
the Geneva wheel with four or five spokes and one closed slot prevents overwinding
(and also complete unwinding) of the spring. This so-called Geneva stop or "Geneva
stop work" was the invention of 17th or 18th century watchmakers.

Other applications of the Geneva drive include the pen change mechanism in plotters,
automated sampling devices, indexing tables in assembly lines, tool changers
for CNC machines, and so on. The Iron Ring Clock uses a Geneva mechanism to
provide intermittent motion to one of its rings.

Internal Geneva drive

Internal Geneva drive.

An internal Geneva drive is a variant on the design. The axis of the drive wheel of the internal drive can
have a bearing only on one side. The angle by which the drive wheel has to rotate to effect one step
rotation of the driven wheel is always smaller than 180° in an external Geneva drive and always greater
than 180° in an internal one, where the switch time is therefore greater than the time the driven wheel
form is the more common, as it can be built smaller and can
stands still.The external
withstand higher mechanical stresses.
Indexing Mechanisms

Geneva Mechanisms

There are three basic types of Geneva motion as shown in

the figures below. 

External the most common type.

Internal

Spherical ..This is rarely used..

Because the driven wheel in a Geneva motion is always
under full control of the driver there is no problem with
overrunning.    Impact is till a problem unless the slots of
the driven wheel are accurately made and the driving pin
enters these slots at the proper angle.    For best results
the pin should be shaped so tht the pin picks up the driven
member as slowly as possible.    Impact can also be
reduced by leaving the top and bottom of the slot open.
The fingers that form the slot will then have some .  
However strength is of primary importance and the slot
must be bridged by a web .

External Geneva and Internal Geneva have been used for

both light and heavy duties.   They are frequently used as
inputs to high speed devices e.g high speed mechanical
counters use a Geneva between the first and second
wheels.   Mutilated pinions, which connect succeeding
stages, could not absorb the shocks transmitted from the
first to the second wheel. 

When input and output shafts must be perpendicular few

intermittant mechanisms are as suitable as the spherical
Geneva , but this type is bulky and not practical for
significant power levels.    Moulded or cast spherical
Genevas are adequate for light duty applications.
 Typical Geneva with special characteristics are those
driven by 4 bar linkages for improved acceleration
characteristics, Genevas with variable dwells , Genevas
used as planets in planetary chains and those combined
with cycloidal cranks.

Mutilated Gears

Gears can be used in several ways to produce intermittent

motion.    A typical unit is the "mutilated gear" shown in
the figure below.   In this case some of the teeth have been
removed from the driver and a partial holding surface has
been added to each gear to prevent slight rotation of the
drum gear during the dwell period.

Mutilated gears can be run without holding rings but it is

not desirable no matter how slow the motion, the teeth of
the driver will sooner or later top the teeth of the output
gear.    Since the teeth will meet near a centreline, even
small input torque can produce large toggle forces that can
damage the teeth. 

Mutilated gears of the type shown in the figure below are

subject to large impact loads and accelerations if the
driving speed is high.    The shape of the first teeth that will
mesh is sometimes modified to reduce impact but only a
slight advantage is gained.   Attempts have been made to
slack mount the first teeth but only a slight advantage is
gained.   Geneva or star wheels are usually preferred for
high speeds and for high power applications. 
A desirable feature with mutilated gears is their indexing
accuracy and in addition to the inherent accuracy of the
gears, the output is always under control on the input.   
Mutilated gears as shown below are used in almost all
counters, they are inexpensive reasonably precise and
efficient.   They stand up well under the type of loading
found in instruments.  The mutilated pinions as shown
below are virtually identical to the gear above except that
the locking ring on the output gear has been eliminated.   
Every other tooth on the input end of the pinion has been
cut away so that the remaining teeth can hold the pinion
during dwell periods . In counters the driver has only two
teeth, but it can have any even number of teeth.
Cycloidal Gears

With cycloidal intermittent gearing the input and output

remains in constant mesh.   Cycloidal gearing provides
considerable latitude in selection of operating
characteristics- decelarations, dwell periods, ratio of input
to output motions etc.   A basic cycloidal mechanism is
shown in the figure below.    In this type the drive pin or
roller must on the pitch circle of the planet gear if the
output crank is to stop, Otherwise, the output will either
slow and not stop or actually reverse the motion.

There are many other variations of this type of mechanism

including hyper-cycloidal , epicycloidal & peri-cycloidal
arrangements.    These devices are very versatile and can
be used with Genevas for additional output variations.

The arrangement as shown below can be classed with the

hyper-cycloidal gear arrangements since the driver moves
around the inside of a ring gear.   In this case however the
driver is constrained from rotating by a fixed pin.  The
input shaft turns the eccentric, which is mounted with a
sliding fit within the internal gear and is concentric with
it.   The amount the ring gear is indexed by the internal
gear is determined by relative size diameter of the
eccentric and location of the pin.   In this case the ring
rotates 36 degrees for every 360 degees of input motion,
remaining at rest for the remaining 324 degrees of
rotation.    Accelarations are low and the two gears are
always in mesh.   Since the inner gear is really only link of a
four bar mechanism, the sliding pin can be replaced by a
 link loosely pinned to the gear and to the frame.    This
arrangement is reliable, inexpensive, quiet and compact.  
A company "Ikongear" manufactures a gear reduction
design similar , in principle, to this mechanism. below).

Star Wheels

A different type of intermittent motion mechanism is the

star wheel.   In the arrangement shown in the figure below
pins are used as teeth on the driver, but involute teeth can
be used instead.   This is another versatile mechanism.   It
provides considerable freedom in choosing operating
parameters.   The output wheel for example can be made
to rotate more than one revolution.  This is not possible
with pure simple genevas.    Star wheel devices can rotate
at different amounts at each index point.   Accelerations
and decelerations can be controlled more readily than in a
mulitalted gear pair."  By careful shaping of the teeth.  
Internal pairs are also possible.
Cams

Various type of cams can be used to produce intermittent

indexing rotations.  As an example the scroll-shaped disc
cam shown below indexes a wheel 180o when the solenoid
pulls the levers down and a further 180o when the solenoid
is releases the levers.

A face cam as shown below is also often used for

indexing.   The reciprocating drive arm moves a pin or
roller back and forth in the zig -zag groove in the face of
the wheel.   This simple arrangement is used in moderate
speed counters.   As with many inexpensive cam drives
efficiency is not high.    Impact is light particularly if the
drive arm is itself driven by a properly shaped cam.   In this
form of drive there is little danger of over travel.
A cylinderical cam as shown below can serve as the driver
in another type of indexing drive. a typical commercial unit
can handle moderate to high loads at speeds of 1000 steps
/minute.

The cam system shown below is used often for Sequenced

grabs.  Every time the centre shaft is lowered down the
ring in which internal slots are machined is caused to
rotate a fixed angle.  This is used for sequenced grabs in
which each alternate ring position conforms to a grab open
position and the other positions conform to a grab locked
closed position.
The mechanism shown below is a diagrammatic
representation of a ball point retracting mechanism.  In
practice this mechanism is a cylindrical mechanism
arranged such that at each press of the end projection the
pen is sequentially extended and retracted.   The diagram
below show the cylinder flattened out to illustrate the
action.

One significant advantage of cam drives over most other

intermittent motion drives is that the cams can be shaped
to control such dynamic factors as impact, acceleration
and dwell periods.   However since small changes in cam
contour can result in significant changes in performance
each design must be tailored to the particular application.