Are You Able to Solve This? That Overlooked Dutch Invention That Forged the Modern World
One can find numerous candidates for the title of “planet’s greatest invention.” The circular axle. The printing press. The combustion motor.
According to a recent publication, though, that honor belongs to the mechanised timber mill conceived through Dutch inventor Corneliszoon van Uitgeest during 1593.
“Before mechanised cutting, constructing a modest merchant vessel required approximately ten lumberjacks laboring for 90 days,” notes the author. “Using wind-powered lumber mills, the same quantity of cut lumber could be produced in less than a week.”
Owing to this speedy automated cutter, which converted logs into planks with almost no human effort, Dutch builders were able to construct vessels faster than anyone else, which unleashed a century of Netherlands naval, financial as well as cultural dominance in Europe and the world.
The First Genuine Manufacturing Device
The inventor's lumber mill, contends Dávila, represented “mankind’s initial authentic industrial machine.” A wind turbine rotated a gear. A single part transformed the rotary movement to up-and-down motion for the cutting blade. A separate mechanism transformed the rotary motion into a lateral movement advancing the timber to the cutter. A geared mechanism shifted the log forward a measured step per cycle.
“Every component seemed simple on its own. The Dutchman’s brilliance was to combine these parts so the machine operated within a precisely synchronized sequence, sawing on every descending motion and moving on every upward stroke. It was a remarkably clever use of fundamental components.”
Which leads us up to the current challenge. I’d like for you to reimagine a key the fundamental concepts behind Corneliszoon’s invention.
Circular to Vertical
Design a mechanism which converts circular motion to vertical action. Your available these components exclusively: A rotating disc. Two pegs. Two bars. A “sleeve”, which is a tube or sleeve through which a single the bars will fit perfectly. (Assume you can mount components on a stand, so that the components do not collapse.)
The solution returns at 5pm UK featuring the answer.
Meanwhile, PLEASE NO HINTS. Instead, please suggest (non obvious) candidates for the planet’s greatest creation.
