The concept of the crossbow and how it works
Posted on | May 3, 2010 | No Comments
This is a reference to the medieval crossbow. As most historians agree the crossbow was invented in china. According to Wikianswers.com it was invented 678 BCE. However, it emerged in France in 1050 AD. The french version was much more refined and became a powerful stopping weapon. Some historians argue that the crossbow was the first anti-armor weapon although we know that the English had great success with the long bow at taking down armored knights before the discovery of tempered steel. A medieval crossbow uses types of stored energy compression and tension. The mechanical means in the medieval crossbow is the release mechanism and the prod “also called the lathe” where the energy is stored. Although later they added a third, a mechanical means to draw the weapon there were two types of these one utilized a screw type mechanism which was very slow but could pull much greater draw strength much easier. The second was a basic crank system much faster but would not allow for super heavy draw weight limiting the range and power. The one I am talking about had a stirrup on the front so the soldier could put his foot through and draw with both hands. This allowed a soldier to pull double that of a conventional long bow making it indispensable to the French Army. So this crossbow is simple it consists of a prod or the bow, draw string, a stock, a stirrup, and a release mechanism. When the crossbow is drawn a bolt is laid just in front of the draw string. When the string is loosed from the draw the tension in the prod produces a kinetic energy that moves outward from the center where the bolt and the farthest part of the draw string. This in turn causes the center of the draw string forward at high speeds with the bolt in front. When the bow is fully released the bolt is free to continue to its target.
Comments
Leave a Reply