Loading Cords with Rings and Wedges
How the acute angle of paired cords, almost like a screw, multiplies force
Diagrams of weights held by cords drawn together with rings (labelled n a, 2 1 2) and of a wedge that dilates a wound cord, with numbers 4 16 and 4 32. Leonardo notes this is how drums are loaded and that the force grows the more acute the angle the two cords make at the rings, becoming very great, almost as with a screw. He adds that of two equal levers and forces, the thinner cord lifts its weight more easily, and calls the wedge-dilated winding the greatest power among all hauling gear.
On this page
Force from the acute angle of paired cords
Where the rings n a bring the two cords to a sharply acute angle, the force is great, almost as with a screw. Between equal lever and equal force, the thinner cord more easily lifts its weight.
Wedge-dilated cord winding, the greatest hauling power
A cord winding is dilated by the force of a wedge, and cords of various section are wound (4 16; 4 32). Leonardo declares this the greatest power that exists among all pulling devices. A crank-and-block mechanism is drawn below.