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Storing Energy in a Machine
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Siege engines that store energy and use a throwing arm typically need some sort of winch. There are many forms of winch, and they are actually somewhat uninteresting. Of greater interest is how to use them most effectively. Tricks for tall trebuchets can greatly enhance cocking time. Often, an in line trigger is quite useful, though we haven't used one.
This image is from Juggernaut 2.
In the below image sequence, you can see how the pulley slowly moves from one end of the arm to the other.
The observant may notice that the handle has moved on this winch. It is fortunate that most boat winches can have their gear system reversed or transposed with ease.
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Contact: Team Tormentum Copyright © 2000-2022 Eric M. Ludlam All rights reserved. Twas' brillig, and the slithy toves did gyre and gimble in the wabe... | Last Modified: 05/10/09 |
A boat trailer winch is a mighty fine thing if you are in a
hurry. You can get them at any marine hardware store, they are
cheap, and can handle vast loads. Be very careful when picking out a
winch. They are typically rated in terms of how big a boat you can
haul out of the water with it. If a winch can haul a 5000 lb boat
out of the water, it cannot handle a 5000 lb torsion load. This is
because the winch isn't suspending the boat in the air. Most of the
weight is on the trailer wheels, or floating in the water.
You could also roll your own winch with a gear and pawl. This
image from Baby Treb shows a gear and
pawl scavenged from U-Mass. I don't know what it's previous life
purpose was. The dowel it is attached to runs through the frame of
the machine, and a rope wraps around it as the dowel is turned.
You could also just rely on manly prowess as does 
On 
We recycled the 
Here you can see the additional pulley attached to the arm.