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The deadbeat has a second face on the pallets, called the 'locking' face, with a curved surface concentric with the pivot that the anchor turns on. When an escape wheel tooth is resting against one of these faces, its force is directed through the pivot axis, so it gives no impulse to the pendulum, allowing it to swing freely. During most of the pendulum's swing, the tooth is in this locked position. Near the bottom of the pendulum's swing the tooth slides off the locking face onto the slanted 'impulse' face of the pallet, allowing the escape wheel to turn and give the pendulum a push, before dropping off the pallet. The drag of the escape tooth on the locking face does add a small amount of friction to the pendulum's swing (this is called a frictional rest type escapement), but it is usually negligible. In contrast to the backward slant of the anchor escape wheel teeth, the deadbeat escape wheel teeth usually slant forward to ensure that the tooth makes contact with the locking face of the pallet, preventing recoil.

Deadbeat Escapement

The deadbeat has a second face on the pallets, called the 'locking' face, with a curved surface concentric…

A piece in clocks and watches that converts rotational motion into oscillation, as in a pendulum.

Deadbeat Escapement

A piece in clocks and watches that converts rotational motion into oscillation, as in a pendulum.