LEONARDO DA VINCI - Roller and ball bearings for cone-tipped vertical axles - Bearing with mobile rollers shaped in the form of truncated cones

Madrid Ms. I (BNM), fol. 101v (detail)

Two bearings with a truncated-cone profile support a cone-tipped axle. In the top drawing, the axle makes three complete revolutions to one complete revolution of the bearings. In the lower solution, the ratio is one axle revolution to one bearing revolution. Leonardo prefers the first solution because it wears down the bearings more slowly.

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