Weight-Driven Wheel-and-Drum Mechanism
A hanging weight and cords link a drum to a grooved wheel set above an open trough
The sheet bears no writing (e-Leo: 'Privo di scritti'). It shows a weight-driven mechanism: at the left a large grooved wheel on a stand set above an open box or trough, joined by two long cords running across the sheet to a cylindrical drum at the right, from which a weighted block hangs. The catalogue associates the study with perpetual motion and with pumps.
On this page
Drum and cords transmit power across the sheet to the wheel
Two long cords run from a cylindrical drum at the right to a large grooved wheel mounted on a stand at the left, which sits above an open box. Winding the drum would draw the cords and turn the wheel. This drawing is untranscribed content, grounded here only on what is drawn.
A hanging weight as the machine's motor
A weighted block hangs by a cord from the drum at the right; its fall is evidently meant to power the mechanism. The catalogue lists the sheet among Leonardo's studies of perpetual motion.
Open trough beneath the driven wheel
Below the large grooved wheel sits an open rectangular box or trough of the kind used to hold water. The catalogue lists the device among pumps, the wheel above working the pumping action.