Bart Bear's Blog

It seems like there is not much in the engineering line that Leonardo DaVinci didn't think of first. Here's another couple of things. The left model is of a ratchet gear to make it easier to lift weights. Just about every windlass and winch since then has used this system. Wind the handle around, the weight goes up.When you let the handle go a stopper slips into the cog teeth and stops the handle whizzing backwards and tossing the small bear off the table.
The gadget on the right is a model of probably the first extension ladder. The design is for a ladder that can extend its length, be raised and lowered, and mounted on a turntable so that it can reach in all directions. It also uses a ratchet gear to stop the moving bit of the ladder falling back when the winding handle is let go. You can see the modern version of this sort of ladder on some of the big fire trucks. Modern versions use hydraulics to do the lifting and extending, and guess who designed the first hydraulic machines? My cobber Leonardo, who I have now included in my list of heroes.

Labels: Canberra, engineering, heroes