The Printing Press
The printing press was one of the most useful creations Leonardo came up with. When Leonardo was born, a printing press already existed, it was invented in 1450 by Johannes Gutenberg. Although it was very unpredictable, didn't work very well and was quite noisy. Da Vinci however, thought of two more designs, both worked better as they had a double thread which enabled the press to travel further for wach turn made of the lever. An automatic bed connected to a pressure system enabled the printer to print and move the sheet of paper in one operation by moving a lever on the front. It was invented in 1478 by Da Vinci and it was predictable that he would sketch something like this as he was inspired by making things automated which saves time and labour. The exact mechanics of this machine would probably have worked like this: When the operator had moved the mechanical lever, the gears began turning which therefore made the machine carry out certain movements enabling it to print. The large toothed wheel at the top of it moved the other parts which in turn moved the vertical pulley. There is a moveable slide in which you place the paper on and that is pulled towards the press by the wheel turning at the top which turns the cage-shaped gear, twisting the vertical pulley at the bottom which in turn, pulls the slide towards the press and then releases the printed paper to slide back down into its initial position. All of this is accomplished by one simple push of a lever.
Due to this amazing invention, that has been developed for hundreds of years into our modern version today (see picture top right), we have been able to spread information all over the world via newspapers. Not just that though, it has saved valuable time and labor, as now with the printing press there is no writing out copies like monks in medieval times, now with the push of a lever, or the press of a button, or the click of a mouse, we can print off pieces of information quickly and easily. This invention was ground breaking with its consequences, we can print off anything nowadays due to this great idea by Da Vinci 536 years ago.
Due to this amazing invention, that has been developed for hundreds of years into our modern version today (see picture top right), we have been able to spread information all over the world via newspapers. Not just that though, it has saved valuable time and labor, as now with the printing press there is no writing out copies like monks in medieval times, now with the push of a lever, or the press of a button, or the click of a mouse, we can print off pieces of information quickly and easily. This invention was ground breaking with its consequences, we can print off anything nowadays due to this great idea by Da Vinci 536 years ago.
Above is a CGI version of how the da vinci printing press would have looked, it shows the paper sliding under the press, which is controlled by the lever at the top, and the press printing onto the paper. I did NOT make this video, it was by WalczakPhoto.