Geneva Mechanism with belt conveyor application

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; Geneva in Switzerland being an important center of watchmaking. The Geneva drive is also commonly called a Maltese cross mechanism due to the visual resemblance when the driven wheel has four spokes. Since they can be made small and are able to withstand substantial mechanical stress, these mechanisms are frequently used in watches.

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