Who invented windmills in the 16th century. In which country and when were windmills invented? See what "Windmill" is in other dictionaries
Today's post is dedicated to the history of the invention of the mill- a device that uses not the muscular energy of a person or animals, but the energy of the forces of nature: water and wind.
water mills
The first were water mills invented. In them, the energy of the water flow was converted into rotational energy. This simplest device consisted of the main, two lantern wheels and a working body - two millstones: a movable and a fixed one. The first mills appeared on mountain rivers and quickly spread everywhere where a water drop could be created.
In the 11th-12th centuries, grinding in hand mills was discontinued everywhere. Water mills at that time were placed not only on the rivers: on the territory of modern Iraq in Basra, mills were built at the mouths of canals fed by water due to the tides. They were powered by water that receded at high tide. In Mesopotamia, floating mills operated on the Tigris. The mills of Mosul hung on iron chains in the middle of the river.
Initially, the main purpose of mills was to grind grain. But in the XII century. millstones were replaced by so-called fists, designed to do a completely different job. In the simplest version, instead of a lantern wheel, a fist was rigidly fixed on the main shaft of the mill, which controlled the working body. In the XII-XIII centuries, fuller, iron and making mills appeared.
The desire to increase power forced the construction of large hydraulic installations. In France, the master R. Salem, under the leadership of A. de Ville, built in 1682 the largest hydraulic power plant of 13 wheels, the diameter of which reached 8 m. The wheels installed on the Seine River actuated 235 pumps that raised water to a height of 163 m. This system, which supplied water to the fountains of the royal parks in Versailles and Marly, was called by contemporaries the “Miracle of Marly”.
Great success in the construction of hydraulic structures was achieved by the Russian inventor K. D. Frolov at the Kolyvano-Voskresensky mines of Altai. In the 70s of the XVIII century. in Altai, they began to develop silver ores that lay on deeper horizons. Previously used sump hoisting machines, driven by hand or horse-drawn traction, could not ensure the pumping of water and lifting the ore to the surface. To increase the amount of ore mined, Frolov developed a project for the construction of a complex of water-acting installations. After a long struggle with officials of the Mining Department, K. D. Frolov managed to get his proposals approved. During 1783–1789 he implemented his project. It was the largest hydraulic structure of the 18th century.
K. D. Frolov built a dam 17.5 m high, 14.5 m wide at the top, 92 m at the base, 128 m long, which created the necessary water pressure.
Windmills
In Afghanistan windmills first appeared in the ninth century. The blades of the wind wheel were located in a vertical plane and were attached to the shaft, which actuated the upper millstone. Almost simultaneously with windmills, control devices were also invented. They were necessary, since the wings of the mill were connected almost directly to the millstone and, therefore, the speed of its rotation was very dependent on the vagaries of the wind. In Afghanistan, all mills and water scoop wheels were set in motion by the prevailing north wind, so they were guided only by it. The mills were equipped with hatches that opened and closed to regulate the strength of the wind.
In Europe, windmills appeared in the 12th century, mainly in those places where there were not enough rivers. In their design, they differed from water mills only in the position of the mover and the main shaft.
There are two types of windmills. In the first, when the wind direction changes, the entire body of the mill rotates, in the second, only the head part.
It should be noted that windmills, which are an integral part of the Dutch landscape, are not designed to grind grain, but to pump out water. Therefore, it can be noted that the invention made in Afghanistan helped save the European country.
For dessert, we suggest watching a video about unusual mechanisms, the work of which is interesting to watch.
In which country and when were windmills invented?
The history of the windmill also goes far into the depths of centuries. History has not preserved the exact news about the manufacture of the first windmill. But it is known that windmills have been used in China for several millennia.. The vane wind turbine is the most ancient and at the same time best type engine, which includes a windmill.
In ancient times, the Israelites, like other nations, ground edible grains “in millstones” to obtain flour. Working at a hand mill was not easy. Gradually, heavier millstones, which were "turned by a donkey" or other animals, came into use. But mills powered by animals also had their drawbacks. By that time, man had already learned to use the energy of water to turn a water wheel, and the energy of the wind to sail a sailboat. Around the 7th century A.D. e. in the arid steppes of Asia or the Near and Middle East combined these two ideas by making the wind turn the millstone. The first mention of windmills used in Iran for grinding grain also refers to the 7th century BC. AD So, a vertical shaft with sails came out of the millstone, which turned when the wind blew. With the help of such simple windmills, wheat or barley was ground, and water was also pumped from underground.
The first wind turbine was probably simple device with a vertical axis of rotation, such as, for example, a device used in Persia 200 years before our era for grinding grain. The use of such a mill with a vertical axis of rotation subsequently became widespread in the countries of the Middle East. Later, a mill with a horizontal axis of rotation was developed, consisting of ten wooden racks equipped with transverse sails. A similar primitive type of windmill finds use to this day in many countries of the basin. mediterranean sea. In the 11th century, windmills were widely used in the Middle East and came to Europe in the 10th century. upon the return of the crusaders. In the Middle Ages in Europe, many manor rights, including the right to refuse permission to build windmills, forced tenants to have land for sowing grain near the mills of feudal estates. Planting trees near windmills was prohibited to ensure "free wind". In the XIV ", the Dutch became leading in the improvement of the design of windmills and widely used them from that time to drain swamps and lakes in the Rhine delta.
Early mills with sails on a vertical shaft were not very productive. But it has greatly increased with the realization that more power is produced when the blades or sails are attached to a horizontal shaft coming out of the tower. The horizontal shaft, through gears, imparted rotational motion to the vertical shaft, which turned the millstone attached to it. Then they came up with mills on goats, or "pillars". These mills rested on a pillar supported by beams, which made it possible to rotate the entire mill barn, setting the wings against the wind. For obvious reasons, the "pillars" could not be very large, and then they came up with another design: a fixed tower with a rotating roof ("tents" or "Dutch"). In mills of this type, the main shaft comes out of the roof, so that wherever the wind blows, it, together with the wings-sails, can be turned against the wind.
It is believed that windmills first appeared in the southern part of Europe (presumably in Greece) and quickly spread everywhere. Most authors believe that windmills appeared in Russia no earlier than the 17th century, although some researchers attribute their appearance in Rus' to the 15th century.
At first, they were brick structures with wings that looked like huge barrels.
In 1772, a Scottish inventor replaced the sails with blinds that open and close automatically.
sea view with a windmill on the beach
Windmill - an aerodynamic mechanism that performs mechanical work due to wind energy captured by the wings of the mill. The most famous use of windmills is their use for grinding flour. For a long time, windmills, along with watermills, were the only machines used by mankind. Therefore, the use of these mechanisms was different: as a flour mill, for processing materials (sawmill) and as a pumping or water-lifting station. With the development in the XIX century. steam engines, the use of mills gradually began to decline. The "classic" windmill with a horizontal rotor and elongated quadrangular wings is a widespread landscape element in Europe, in the windy flat northern regions, as well as on the Mediterranean coast. Asia is characterized by other designs with a vertical placement of the rotor. Presumably, the oldest mills were common in Babylon, as evidenced by the code of King Hammurabi (about 1750 BC). The description of an organ powered by a windmill is the first documented evidence of the use of wind to power the mechanism. It belongs to the Greek inventor Heron of Alexandria, 1st century AD. e. Persian windmills are described in the reports of Muslim geographers in the 9th century, they differ from Western mills in their design with a vertical axis of rotation and perpendicularly arranged wings, blades or sails. The Persian mill has blades on the rotor, similar to those of a paddle wheel on a steamboat, and must be enclosed in a sheath covering part of the blades, otherwise the wind pressure on the blades will be the same on all sides and, since the sails are rigidly connected to the axle, the mill will not rotate. Another type of mill with a vertical axis of rotation is known as the Chinese windmill or Chinese windmill.
Chinese windmill.
The design of the Chinese windmill differs significantly from the Persian one in the use of a free-turning, independent sail. Windmills with a horizontal rotor orientation have been known since 1180 in Flanders, Southeast England and Normandy. In the 13th century, mill designs appeared in the Holy Roman Empire in which the entire building turned towards the wind.
Brueghel the Elder. Jan (Velvet) Landscape with windmill
This state of affairs was in Europe until the advent of engines internal combustion and electric motors in the 19th century. Water mills were distributed mainly in mountainous areas with fast rivers, and wind - in flat windy areas. The mills belonged to the feudal lords, on whose land they were located. The population was forced to look for the so-called forced mills to grind the grain that was grown on this land. Together with the poor road network, this led to local economic cycles in which the mills were involved. With the lifting of the ban, the population was able to choose the mill of their choice, thus stimulating technological progress and competition. IN late XVI mills appeared in the Netherlands, in which only the tower turned towards the wind. Until the end of the 18th century, windmills were widespread throughout Europe, wherever the wind was strong enough. Medieval iconography clearly shows their prevalence.
Jan Brueghel the Elder, Jos de Momper. Life in the field.Prado Museum(on the right in the upper part of the picture behind the field is a windmill).
They were mainly distributed in the windy northern regions of Europe, in a large part of France, the Low Countries, where there were once 10,000 windmills in coastal areas, Great Britain, Poland, the Baltic states, Northern Russia and Scandinavia. In other European regions, there were only a few windmills. In the countries of Southern Europe (Spain, Portugal, France, Italy, the Balkans, Greece), typical tower mills were built, with a flat conical roof and, as a rule, a fixed orientation.When the pan-European economic leap took place in the 19th century, there was also a serious growth in the mill industry. With the emergence of many independent craftsmen, there was a one-time increase in the number of mills.
In the first type, the mill barn rotated on a post dug into the ground. The support was either additional pillars, or a pyramidal log crate, chopped "in cut", or a frame.
The principle of mills-tentacles was different
Shatrovka mills:
a - on a truncated octagon; b - on a straight eight; c - octagon on the barn.
- their lower part in the form of a truncated octagonal frame was motionless, and the smaller upper part rotated in the wind. And this type in different areas had many options, including mill-towers - quadruple, six and eight.
All types and variants of mills amaze with precise design calculations and the logic of cuttings, which withstood strong winds. Folk architects also paid attention to the external appearance of these only vertical economic structures, the silhouette of which played a significant role in the ensemble of villages. This was expressed both in the perfection of proportions, and in the elegance of carpentry, and in the carvings on pillars and balconies.
Description of constructions and principle of action of mills.
Pillars The mills are named for the fact that their barn rests on a pole dug into the ground and lined with a log frame. It contains beams that hold the column from vertical displacement. Of course, the barn rests not only on a pillar, but on a log frame (from the word cut, logs cut not tightly, but with gaps).
circuit diagram post mills.
On top of such a row, an even round ring is made of plates or boards. The lower frame of the mill itself rests on it.
Rows at the posts can be different shapes and height, but not more than 4 meters. They can rise from the ground immediately in the form of a tetrahedral pyramid or at first vertically, and from a certain height pass into a truncated pyramid. There were, though very rarely, mills on a low frame.
Jan van Goyen. Windmill by the river(here is a typical post or goat).
Jan van Goyen Ice scene nearDordrecht(another post-pillar is a goat house in the distance on a hill near the canal).
Base smocks can also be different in shape and design. For example, a pyramid may start from ground level, and the structure may not be a log frame, but a frame one. The pyramid can be based on a log quadrangle, and utility rooms, a vestibule, a miller's room, etc. can be attached to it.
Salomon van Ruysdael View of Deventer from the northwest.(here you can see both smocking and posting).
The main thing in mills is their mechanisms.IN smocks The interior space is divided by ceilings into several tiers. Communication with them goes along steep attic-type stairs through hatches left in the ceilings. Parts of the mechanism can be located on all tiers. And they can be from four to five. The core of the shatrovka is a mighty vertical shaft penetrating the mill through to the "cap". It rests through a metal thrust bearing fixed in a beam that rests on a paving frame. The beam can be moved in different directions with the help of wedges. This allows you to give the shaft a strictly vertical position. The same can be done with the help of the upper beam, where the shaft pin is embedded in a metal loop.In the lower tier, a large gear is put on the shaft with cams-teeth fixed along the outer contour of the round base of the gear. During operation, the movement of a large gear, multiplied several times, is transmitted to a small gear or pinion of another vertical, usually metal shaft. This shaft pierces the fixed lower millstone and abuts against a metal bar, on which the upper movable (rotating) millstone is suspended through the shaft. Both millstones are dressed with a wooden casing from the sides and from above. Millstones are installed on the second tier of the mill. The beam in the first tier, on which a small vertical shaft with a small gear rests, is suspended on a metal threaded pin and, with the help of a threaded washer with handles, can be slightly raised or lowered. With it, the upper millstone rises or falls. This regulates the fineness of grinding grain.From the casing of the millstones, a deaf wooden chute with a board with a valve at the end and two metal hooks, on which a bag filled with flour is suspended, is obliquely passed down.Next to the block of millstones, a jib crane with metal arches-captures is installed.
Claude-Joseph Vernet Construction of a big road.
With it, the millstones can be removed from their places for forging.Above the casing of the millstones, from the third tier, a grain supply hopper rigidly fixed to the ceiling descends. It has a valve with which you can shut off the grain supply. It has the shape of an inverted truncated pyramid. From below, a swinging tray is suspended from it. For springiness, it has a juniper bar and a pin lowered into the hole of the upper millstone. A metal ring is installed eccentrically in the hole. The ring can be with two or three oblique feathers. Then it is installed symmetrically. A pin with a ring is called a shell. Running along the inner surface of the ring, the pin changes position all the time and swings the obliquely suspended tray. This movement throws the grain into the millstone. From there, it enters the gap between the stones, grinds into flour, which enters the casing, from it into a closed tray and bag.
Willem van Drielenburgh landscape with a viewDordrecht(tents...)
The grain is poured into a bunker cut into the floor of the third tier. Sacks of grain are fed here with the help of a gate and a rope with a hook. The gate can be connected and disconnected from a pulley mounted on a vertical shaft. This is done from below with a rope and a lever. , passing through the hatch, open the shutters, which then arbitrarily slam shut.The miller turns off the gate, and the bag is on the hatch covers.The operation is repeated.In the last tier, located in the "cap", another small gear with beveled cams-teeth is installed and fixed on a vertical shaft. It makes the vertical shaft rotate and starts the whole mechanism. But it is forced to work by a large gear on a "horizontal" shaft. The word is enclosed in quotation marks because, in fact, the shaft lies with a certain slope of the inner end down.
Abraham van Beveren (1620-1690) sea scene
The pin of this end is enclosed in a metal shoe wooden frame, base caps. The raised end of the shaft, which goes out, rests calmly on a "bearing" stone, slightly rounded at the top. Metal plates are embedded on the shaft in this place, protecting the shaft from rapid abrasion.Two mutually perpendicular beams-brackets are cut into the outer head of the shaft, to which other beams are attached with clamps and bolts - the basis of the lattice wings. The wings can receive the wind and rotate the shaft only when the canvas is spread on them, usually folded into bundles at rest, not working hours. The surface of the wings will depend on the strength and speed of the wind.
Schweikhardt, Heinrich Wilhelm (1746 Hamm, Westphalia - 1797 London) Fun on a frozen canal
The gear of the "horizontal" shaft is equipped with teeth embedded in lateral side circle. From above it is hugged by a wooden brake block, which can be released or strongly tightened with a lever. Sudden braking in strong and gusty winds will cause high temperature when rubbing wood against wood, and even smoldering. This is best avoided.
Corot, Jean-Baptiste Camille Windmill.
Before operation, the wings of the mill should be turned towards the wind. For this there is a lever with struts - "carrier".
Around the mill, small columns of at least 8 pieces were dug in. They were "driven" and fastened with a chain or a thick rope. With the strength of 4-5 people, even if the upper ring of the tent and parts of the frame are well lubricated with grease or something similar (previously lubricated with lard), it is very difficult, almost impossible, to turn the "cap" of the mill. "Horsepower" does not work here either. Therefore, they used a small portable gate, which was alternately put on the posts with its trapezoidal frame, which served as the basis of the entire structure.
Brueghel the Elder. Jan (Velvet). Four windmills
A block of millstones with a casing with all the parts and details located above and below it was called in one word - setting. Usually, small and medium-sized windmills were made "about one set." Large windmills could be built with two stands. There were also windmills with "crushes" where linseed or hemp seeds were pressed to obtain the appropriate oil. Waste - cake - also used in household. "Saw" windmills did not seem to meet.
Bout, Pieter village square
The sun blushed in the evening.
Fog is already spreading over the river.
The ugly wind has died down,
Only the windmill flaps its wings.
Wooden, black, old -
Not good for anyone
Tired of worries, tired of troubles,
And, like the wind in the field, free.
Disperses ink clouds
Entertains the wanderer of the wind -
She didn't find anything better.
How to meet the dawn and dawns.
What are you standing black mill
A carousel of alien winds?
You are unhappy, you are a loafer,
You are the keeper of desires and dreams.
You spread your hands in despair -
- Wooden, long poles,
And I heard, by chance,
How you prayed to heaven for death.
I'm an old, black mill -
- Carousel and the abode of devils,
I'm tired and lazy
- Hit me with thunder soon.
Thunder obeyed - thundered and slammed,
And lit up with hot fire.
I didn’t have time to scream, or gasp, -
- All burned down today.
Only the groans of the mill were heard
In pre-sunset, sleepy rays - http://www.vika-nn.ru/texts/verces/65
17. MILL
The first tools for grinding grain into flour were a stone mortar and pestle. Some step forward in comparison with them was the method of grinding grain instead of crushing. People very soon became convinced that grinding flour turns out much better. However, it was also extremely tedious work. The big improvement was the transition from moving the grater back and forth to rotation. The pestle was replaced by a flat stone that moved across a flat stone dish. It was already easy to move from a stone that grinds grain to a millstone, that is, to make one stone slide while rotating on another. Grain was gradually poured into the hole in the middle of the upper stone of the millstone, fell into the space between the upper and lower stones and was ground into flour. This hand mill is the most widely used in Ancient Greece and Rome. Its design is very simple. The basis of the mill was a stone, convex in the middle. At its top was an iron pin. The second, rotating stone had two bell-shaped recesses connected by a hole. Outwardly, it resembled an hourglass and was empty inside. This stone was planted on the base. An iron strip was inserted into the hole. When the mill rotated, the grain, falling between the stones, was ground. Flour was collected at the base of the lower stone. Such mills were of various sizes: from small ones, like modern coffee grinders, to large ones, which were driven by two slaves or a donkey. With the invention of the hand mill, the process of grinding grain was facilitated, but still remained a laborious and difficult task. It is no coincidence that it was in the flour-grinding business that the first machine in history arose that worked without the use of the muscular strength of a person or animal. This is a water mill. But first, the ancient masters had to invent a water engine.
The ancient water-motors apparently developed from the watering machines of the Chadufons, with the help of which they raised water from the river to irrigate the banks. Chadufon was a series of scoops that were mounted on the rim of a large wheel with a horizontal axis. When the wheel was turned, the lower scoops sank into the water of the river, then rose to the top of the wheel and overturned into the chute. At first, such wheels were rotated by hand, but where there is little water, and it runs quickly along a steep channel, the wheel began to be equipped with special blades. Under the pressure of the current, the wheel rotated and drew water itself. The result was a simple automatic pump that does not require the presence of a person for its operation. The invention of the water wheel was of great importance for the history of technology. For the first time, a person has at his disposal a reliable, versatile and very easy to manufacture engine. It soon became apparent that the movement created by the water wheel could be used not only to pump water, but also for other needs, such as grinding grain. In flat areas, the speed of the flow of rivers is small in order to turn the wheel with the force of the impact of the jet. To create the necessary pressure, they began to dam the river, artificially raise the water level and direct the jet along the chute onto the wheel blades.
However, the invention of the engine immediately gave rise to another problem: how to transfer the movement from the water wheel to the device that should perform useful work for humans? For these purposes, a special transmission mechanism was needed, which could not only transmit, but also transform rotational motion. Solving this problem, the ancient mechanics again turned to the idea of the wheel. The simplest wheel drive works as follows. Imagine two wheels with parallel axes of rotation, which are in close contact with their rims. If now one of the wheels begins to rotate (it is called the driver), then due to the friction between the rims, the other (slave) will also begin to rotate. Moreover, the paths traversed by the points lying on their rims are equal. This is true for all wheel diameters.
That is, bigger wheel will make, in comparison with the smaller one associated with it, as many times less revolutions, how many times its diameter exceeds the diameter of the latter. If we divide the diameter of one wheel by the diameter of the other, we get a number that is called the gear ratio of this wheel drive. Imagine a two-wheel transmission in which the diameter of one wheel is twice the diameter of the other. If the larger wheel is driven, we can use this gear to double the speed, but at the same time, the torque will decrease by half. This combination of wheels will be convenient when it is important to get a higher speed at the exit than at the entrance. If, on the contrary, the smaller wheel is driven, we will lose output in speed, but the torque of this gear will double. This gear is useful where you need to "strengthen the movement" (for example, when lifting weights). Thus, using a two-wheel system different diameter, you can not only transmit, but also transform the movement. In real practice, gear wheels with a smooth rim are almost never used, since the couplings between them are not rigid enough, and the wheels slip. This drawback can be eliminated if gear wheels are used instead of smooth wheels. The first wheel gears appeared about two thousand years ago, but they became widespread much later. The fact is that cutting teeth requires great precision. In order for the second wheel to rotate evenly, without jerks and stops, with uniform rotation of one wheel, the teeth must be given a special shape, in which the mutual movement of the wheels would be as if they were moving over each other without slipping, then the teeth of one wheel would fall into hollows of the other. If the gap between the teeth of the wheels is too large, they will hit each other and quickly break off. If the gap is too small, the teeth cut into each other and crumble. The calculation and manufacture of gears were difficult task for ancient mechanics, but they already appreciated their convenience. After all, various combinations of gears, as well as their connection with some other gears, provided enormous opportunities for transforming movement. For example, after connecting a gear wheel to a screw, a worm gear was obtained that transmits rotation from one plane to another. Using bevel wheels, it is possible to transmit rotation at any angle to the plane of the drive wheel. By connecting the wheel with a gear ruler, it is possible to convert the rotational motion into translational, and vice versa, and by attaching a connecting rod to the wheel, a reciprocating motion is obtained. To calculate gears, they usually take the ratio not of the diameters of the wheels, but the ratio of the number of teeth of the driving and driven wheels. Often several wheels are used in the transmission. In this case, the gear ratio of the entire transmission will be equal to the product of the gear ratios of the individual pairs.
When all the difficulties associated with obtaining and transforming movement were successfully overcome, a water mill appeared. For the first time, its detailed structure was described by the ancient Roman mechanic and architect Vitruvius. The mill in the ancient era had three main components interconnected into a single device: 1) a motor mechanism in the form of a vertical wheel with blades rotated by water; 2) a transmission mechanism or transmission in the form of a second vertical gear; the second gear rotated the third horizontal gear - the pinion; 3) an actuator in the form of millstones, upper and lower, and the upper millstone was mounted on a vertical gear shaft, with the help of which it was set in motion. Grain poured from a funnel-shaped bucket over the top millstone.
The creation of a water mill is considered an important milestone in the history of technology. It became the first machine to be used in production, a kind of pinnacle reached by ancient mechanics, and the starting point for the technical search for Renaissance mechanics. Her invention was the first timid step towards machine production.
From the book 100 Great Myths and Legends author Muravieva TatianaIV. Magic mill Sampo Väinämöinen rode a horse along the seashore, and behind the rock the impudent Joukahainen was waiting for him. Joukahainen drew his colorful bow and shot an arrow. I wanted to hit Väinämöinen, but hit his horse. The horse's legs buckled, Väinämöinen fell into the sea. Eight
From the book 100 great inventions author Ryzhov Konstantin Vladislavovich17. MILL The first tools for grinding grain into flour were a stone mortar and pestle. Some step forward in comparison with them was the method of grinding grain instead of crushing. People very soon became convinced that grinding flour turns out much better. However
author From the book Myths of the Finno-Ugric peoples author Petrukhin Vladimir Yakovlevich From the book We are Slavs! author Semenova Maria Vasilievna author Team of authorsWindmill A windmill is a device powered by wind energy, which is used to grind grain, pump water, and drive machine tools. Windmill. Residents used windmills ancient egypt and China. Remains
From the book Great Encyclopedia of Technology author Team of authorsWater mill A water mill is a device powered by the energy of falling water, used to grind grain. Water mills for grinding grain appeared before windmills. The inhabitants of the state of Urartu used them already in the 8th century. BC e. Wheels of the first water
From the book All About Everything. Volume 2 the author Likum ArkadyHow does a windmill work? No one knows when and by whom windmills were invented. The boats could sail at right angles to the wind with their sails tilted slightly. The wings of a windmill act in a similar way, moving in a circle when they fall under a straight line.
From the book 100 famous inventions author Pristinsky Vladislav Leonidovich From the book Great Soviet Encyclopedia (BA) of the author TSB TSB From the book Great Soviet Encyclopedia (ME) of the author TSB From the book Great Soviet Encyclopedia (ShA) of the author TSB From the book Best for Health from Bragg to Bolotov. The Big Guide to Modern Wellness the author Mokhovoy AndreyHow did the three elements of mankind's oldest technologies influence each other: the wheel, the potter's wheel, and the millstone? But it is absolutely clear that already in the Late Neolithic era, what we call “progress” began with these three adaptations. No one had yet thought about crossbows, door locks and watches, but the millstones were already turning. Also in ancient times grinding grain into flour began to be performed on millstones rotating one relative to the other. For quite some time they continued to spin, thanks to the effort human hands. Perhaps the use of mechanical force was first in demand in the production of flour because this work is very monotonous and unproductive. The greatest discovery in the history of mankind, comparable, perhaps, only with the ability to use fire, was the use of a force other than muscular for the operation of a mechanical device. Water and wind - that's what is called to help for the first time. How was the process of turning grain into flour? On the lower millstone lying horizontally, the upper millstone, having a hole in the middle, moved rotationally. Grain was poured into this hole. It was ground into flour as it moved to the outer edge. To facilitate the grinding process, radial straight or spiral grooves were applied to the millstones. It was then impossible to install heavy stone circles vertically, and how then to bring grain to them for grinding? The shaft, which transmits the force to the upper stone, was located vertically.
One of the earliest types of mills. The rotor (rotating part) of the windmill is located on the vertical axis and its shaft is directly connected to the upper millstone.
The wind trap walls direct the flow of air to half of the windmill, and make it rotate. Such mills have been known since the 7th century AD and may have first appeared in Persia. Model from the Deutsches Museum (1:20 scale model. Inv. No. 79235) reproduces an 18th-century Persian windmill.
On large millstones, levers were attached to it, which were pushed by workers, bypassing the millstone in a circle. Then animals were harnessed to the levers. At that moment, when sails began to be used instead of slaves and animals, one of the first mechanical drives in the history of mankind was born. The wind rotated the construction of several panels, fixed on the spokes of a giant wheel. And she set in motion the upper millstone. No gears, and therefore no power loss: the proto-rotor worked in any wind direction. A similar pattern was found in Persia. Only there soft sails were replaced by hard wooden blades, the whole structure was stretched in height, and the structure was supplemented with walls to direct the wind. Such a mill was somewhat more productive, but, unfortunately, it worked only with a certain direction and strength of the wind. And here it is appropriate to recall that simultaneously with the wind drive, a water wheel already existed, but at first it was not used for grinding, but only for raising water during artificial irrigation in agriculture. In order for the power of water to be able to set the millstones in motion, it was necessary to invent an angular gear, which made it possible to turn the working shaft at a right angle. Such difficulties were inevitable due to the fact that it was not possible to either put the millstones on edge or position the wheel, driven by the force of falling water, horizontally. And as soon as the efforts coped with the task of turning, the water wheels began to rotate the millstones. In the period of late antiquity, such structures were quite well developed. Water mills became widespread in Europe and successfully survived the collapse of the Roman Empire and continued to be used in the Middle Ages. Somewhere in the south of Europe at the beginning of the second millennium AD, for the first time, the drive of a water mill was “crossed” with a windmill, creating the same model that existed from early XII century to the beginning of the 20th century.
Despite the apparent simplicity of design and the solid age of the invention, the pyramid of knowledge and technology, at the top of which was the first mechanical wind-driven mill, was already quite large. There was also knowledge about metal processing, without which it is impossible to make tools for working with wood, and a wheel, as well as its derivative - a still primitive, but already working gear from pin and lantern wheels, and ceramics, aerodynamics (so far at the level of experiments and conjectures , but ...) and even knowledge of the weather and the prevailing winds, i.e., the beginnings of meteorology. The first windmills belonged to the tower and did not have a mechanism for turning the windmill. The windmill itself was a soft construction of slanting sails stretched over the spokes of a yard wheel. Later, the sails were replaced by blades. The tower house, together with millstones, mechanisms, a windmill and a miller (as in the painting by Jan Brueghel the Elder), began to turn into the wind. It is possible that such a mill entered the folklore in the form of “a hut that turns its back to the forest, to me in front”. It is simply impossible to call the gantry structure on which the mill was based other than a “chicken leg”. In Russia, such a mill was called a post-mill, or a German mill. Over time, the bollard was replaced by a device for turning only a tent with a windmill. In this case, turning into the wind was much easier. The fixed tower began to be made more durable - stone or brick, which increased the service life and resistance to the elements. Mills, gradually improving, regularly grinded, sawed, pounded and frayed until the beginning of the 20th century. Only in Germany in 1910 there were 22,000 windmills, by 1938 there were only 4500 left. After World War II, windmills were practically not used. Alexander Ivanov
The water wheel is the first mechanical drive in the history of mankind. water through a special chute is brought to the wheel from above and with its weight makes it rotate. Such wheels were used in the mining industry as a drive for winches and hoists. With a water flow of approximately 50 l / s. the wheel develops up to 1.3 kW of power. The first wheels appeared in Mesopotamia 3000 years ago and were used for irrigation. Two millennia ago, they began to be used in water mills. One of the earliest types of mills. The rotor (rotating part) of the windmill is located on the vertical axis and its shaft is directly connected to the upper millstone. The wind trap walls direct the flow of air to half of the windmill, and make it rotate. Such mills have been known since the 7th century AD and may have first appeared in Persia. Model from the Deutsches Museum (1:20 scale model. Inv. No. 79235) reproduces an 18th-century Persian windmill. Tower mill. Although the model in the German museum (Scale 1:20. Inv. No. 79227) repeats the mill from the island of Crete built in 1850, windmills equipped with sails appeared in the Mediterranean region at the beginning of the first millennium of our era. A complex spatial design of a windmill with yard spokes on which the sails are fixed. Rope extensions perceive axial wind load and make the whole structure simple and reliable. Jan Brueghel the Elder. Road after the flood, 1614 
However, the idea to adapt wind energy to work has not died. In 2012, wind farms around the world generated 430 terawatt-hours (2.5% of all electrical energy produced by mankind). Their total capacity reaches 283 gigawatts, which is about ¾ of the capacity of all nuclear power plants on the planet. In Denmark, for example, one third of all electricity is generated by wind turbines, while Germany intends to increase generation to 20% of total energy consumption by 2020, and to half of the total by 2030.
