Lifting gear and knapsacks with iron frames
Cranes, pulleys and belted carrying-frames sketched in red chalk and ink
The sheet is crowded with rapid red-chalk and ink studies of lifting gear — cranes, pulleys, a triangular frame carrying a winch, and a stepped ramp — together with sketches of knapsacks built on rigid iron frames. Notes identify a small bow or spring that presses against weights above, an iron piece that fastens at the chest, and a belt marked a running between the legs of a second pack. The Codex Atlanticus tags gloss the mechanics as bodies descending toward least resistance, with the heavier part guiding the motion.
On this page
Small bow that presses the heavy weights above
A note beside a spring-like device describes a little bow or arch that touches the heavy weights set above it. The passage survives only in fragments. It sits among the mechanical sketches at the upper left.
Knapsack with an iron chest fastening
Below the first knapsack a note records an iron piece that fastens at the chest. The pack is drawn as a rigid carrying-frame. It is one of several load-bearing frames on the sheet.
Second knapsack with belt a between the legs
A second pack is lettered a, which the note explains is a belt passing between the legs. This secures the frame to the wearer. A third pack is separately noted as having an iron rod.
Cranes, a winch frame and a stepped ramp
Cranes, a triangular frame carrying a winch or pulley, and a hatched stepped ramp are sketched across the sheet as devices for raising loads. A drawing marked bono (good) singles out one solution as satisfactory. Most of these mechanisms carry no further note.