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Collection of Models

Description:

A conical lantern gear transmits rotary movement to three toothed wheels of different diameters, which all turn in the same direction but at different speeds according to the time taken by each one to complete a full turn. The toothed wheels are coaxial.
The principle used by this gearbox is identical to that used today in modern cars, whereas in Renaissance times it could be used for gears in mills or other types of machinery, so as to increase the transmission ratio and achieve obvious enhancements in the propulsion output.  
The most modern aspect of Leonardo’s methodology as far as the study of technology is concerned resides precisely in his early awareness that machines are not indivisible wholes, but on the contrary made up of organs that he called elementi macchinali (machine elements), which he designed and analysed both applied to machines in their entirety and, as in this case, alone, extrapolated from the specific context and examined in their particulars.

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