Can You Solve It? That Forgotten Netherlands Creation Which Shaped the Modern World
There are many contenders to claim the designation as “world’s greatest innovation.” The wheel. The printing press. The steam engine.
As per a recent publication, however, that honor belongs to a mechanised sawmill conceived by Dutch inventor Cornelis Corneliszoon in 1593.
“Before mechanised cutting, constructing a simple trading ship necessitated approximately 10 lumberjacks laboring for three months,” notes Jaime Dávila. “Using wind-driven lumber mills, the same amount of processed timber might be produced in less than a week.”
Thanks to this speedy mechanical cutter, that turned timber to boards using almost no human effort, Dutch builders were able to construct vessels more quickly than any other nation, an advantage that unleashed one hundred years of Dutch naval, economic and artistic dominance in the continent and the globe.
The Original Genuine Industrial Device
The inventor's lumber mill, contends Dávila, represented “mankind’s initial authentic industrial apparatus.” A wind turbine rotated a wheel. One component transformed the rotary movement into vertical motion for the cutting blade. A separate mechanism transformed the spinning movement into a sideway’s motion feeding the timber toward the cutter. A geared mechanism moved the log ahead a measured step each cycle.
“Every component was modest on its own. Corneliszoon’s genius lay in how to combine them so they acted within a precisely synchronized sequence, sawing on every downward stroke and moving on every return stroke. This constituted a remarkably clever use of fundamental parts.”
A fact that brings us to the current puzzle. The task is for you to reinvent one of the basic concepts underpinning Corneliszoon’s invention.
Round and Up
Design a machine which converts rotary movement to vertical action. Your available these items only: A rotating disc. Two pins. Two bars. A “sleeve”, that is a cylinder or sleeve through which a single the bars will fit snugly. (Assume it is possible to mount components on a base, so that the parts don’t fall down.)
The solution returns at 5pm UK time featuring the solution.
Meanwhile, PLEASE NO HINTS. Instead, feel free to propose (less celebrated) contenders as the planet’s greatest creation.
