Pile-driver



66.2 x 26 x 30.4
Wood and brass

INDEX 1788 : E.V.149

Fistuca elegantissima pro infigendis palis, quae a duobus tantum hominibus facile moveri potest. Haec primum inventa fuit a Comite Gazzola Veronensi. Ejus machinamentum componitur ex Rota dentata, Timpano, et Laterna duobus vectibus instructa.

Extremely elegant pile-driver, which can easily be operated by only two men. It was invented by Count Gazzola of Verona. His device consists of a cogwheel, a drum and a lantern-wheel with two levers.

Dalla Bella, in the Index Instrumentorum, refers to this machine as an invention of Gazzola from Verona.

In the model shown, the object to be lifted is made of wood. Once the object reaches the top of the crane, it is released and falls freely, hitting a stake at the base of the mechanism. Two vertical wooden columns, extending from the base to the top, serve to guide the falling object. On top of the two columns is a pulley with a rope for raising the object: this is done by means of a reel mounted near the bottom end of two inclined columns. These are linked to each other by small wooden cross-pieces giving the appearance of a ladder.

The device allowing the wooden object to be released automatically consists of brass pincers which grip a ring set into the object. Two wedges mounted at the top of the guide columns ensure that the pincers open when the object reaches the summit of the crane.

There is also a mechanism consisting of two reels, a cogwheel and a handle, fixed to the middle part of the base of the crane, but the function of this is not clear.

From Colégio dos Nobres, catalogue n.º 140.


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