Description:

This model represents a machine for embedding poles which could be used both for reinforcing river banks and for laying the foundations for buildings, as well as for the planking of pound locks.
It is made up of a vertical frame with a hoist to raise the weight of the driver. The head of the driver has a holding mechanism made up of two mobile leaf springs bent at the top into an “S” shape, facing one another and quite close, whereas at the bottom they are held apart so that the whole thing forms an “M” shape. A wedge shaped like an upside-down dovetail, fixed to the rope of the winch and held up by a crosspiece with side wings which act as a guide, is made to descend rapidly until it falls into the central empty part of the “M,” which opens to let it through and then closes on its projecting side-pieces. The hoist lifts the weight up to the point where the two leaf springs of the “M” meet the two sticking-out side pieces inside the frame, which make them close at the bottom and open at the top, consequently releasing the weight, which falls onto the end of the pole below, thus driving it into the ground. This simple and relatively laborious manoeuvre can be rapidly repeated over and over until the pole has been driven into the earth to the required depth.