Principle and technology of Zhuge Liang's wooden horse floating car

Cattle herding Liu Ma was a means of transportation invented by Zhuge Liang, the prime minister of Shu and Han Dynasties, his wife Huang Yueying and Puyuan in the Three Kingdoms period. It was divided into cattle herding and herding, which was used by Zhuge Liang during the Northern Expedition from the 9th to 12th year of Jianxing (23 1-234). Its carrying capacity is "one-year-old grain", about 400 kilograms, and its daily trip is "dozens of special trips, 20 miles in groups". In addition, there are organs to prevent the enemy from taking it. But the specific way and appearance are unknown now, and there are different explanations.

One of them is a single-wheeled wooden cart, which is a wooden human walking machine with a swinging container and is used to transport granular goods on mountain roads.

The picture above shows the wooden ox and flowing horse model exhibited in Zibo Museum.

Imagine a horizontal wooden bar three feet off the ground, four feet long and six inches high. The left end of the batten is cut into the shape of a handlebar, and the right end has three zigzag holes. Imagine that these two pieces of wood are arranged in the left and right axes of a rickshaw. Imagine inserting a three-foot-long shaft between two pin-shaped top holes, and hinging a wooden column that can swing along the small shaft in the two holes below the pin shape, and the other end is supported on the ground. This four-legged rickshaw is a wooden cow.

Liu Ma is a wooden box with an upward opening, and there is a hole on the vertical center line near the upper edges of the left and right side walls. The three-foot shaft of the wooden ox passes through two holes of the flowing horse, and the flowing horse can move back and forth on the shaft. In order to prevent the loads such as millet and rice in the box from moving left and right, there is a longitudinal partition to divide the box into two parts, first put the grain into the bag and then put it into the box.

When the wooden cow spreads its front and rear legs, it can stop on the slope at any time. The degree of bifurcation is limited by the limit pin on the four-foot axle. When the important official handle is pulled forward and pressed down, the pin top hole moves above the pin left hole, that is, the center of gravity moves to the front leg. At this time, the right hole of the pin is pried high, that is, the rear leg is lifted by air without force, and moves closer to the front leg under the action of gravity or the push of the pin to the wheel. When the center of gravity moves to the left hole of the pin, the wooden cow has moved forward half a step, and then it will be subverted. At this time, you can pull up the handle and pull it forward quickly, so that the top hole of the needle moves backward above the right hole of the needle and the center of gravity falls on the hind leg. The result of pulling forward is that the hind legs are opened, and the front legs are pushed forward by the flowing needles on the horse. Mu Niu walked the remaining half step like this.

Under the up-and-down movement of the wooden cow, the floating horse will swing back and forth like a tramp. When to pull the handle up, down and before pulling, of course, it needs to match the swing frequency of the floating horse, so the operation must have certain skills and experience. As long as the floating horse keeps swinging smoothly, it is absolutely the most labor-saving for the operator. The wooden cow can be fully automatic when it runs downhill on a straight road. At this time, the horizontal slats and the front and rear legs can be lifted and pressed by spikes installed on the wheel.

The Notes on the History of the Three Kingdoms quoted the records about the wooden ox flowing horses in Zhuge Jiliang.

"Wooden cow, square abdomen elbow, one foot and four feet, head into the neck, tongue in the abdomen. Mention more and do less, so be useful, not small; Special travel is dozens of miles, and group travel is twenty miles. The machete is a cow's head, two are cow's feet, the horizontal one is a cow's collar, the rotating one is a cow's foot, the square one is a cow's belly, the tongue is hung, the machete is a cow's rib, the carving knife is a cow's tooth, the vertical one is a cow's horn, and the thin one is a cow's martingale. The photographer is a cow's autumn axis. Cattle head up, six steps, cattle four steps. Carrying a year's grain, walking 20 miles a day, people don't work hard. The size of a floating horse is three feet five inches long, three inches wide and two inches thick, which is the same from left to right. The front axle hole is divided into four inches and two inches in diameter. The front foot hole is divided into two inches, the front axle hole is four inches and five minutes, and the width is one inch. The front bumper hole is divided into two inches and seven points except the front foot hole. The hole is two inches long and one inch wide. The rear axle hole is divided into one foot and five minutes without the front bumper, and the size is the same as before. The rear foot hole is divided into ink, and the rear shaft hole is three inches and five minutes, the size is the same as before. The rear bumper hole is divided into two inches and seven points when removing the foot hole, and the rear bumper hole is divided into four inches and five points. The front bumper is one foot eight inches long, two inches wide and one inch thick for five minutes. The rear bumper and the square bag of the same version are two, eight minutes thick, two feet seven inches long, one foot six inches five minutes high and one foot six inches wide, each supported by two meters and three buckets. Remove seven inches from the rib hole, the same as before and after. The upper hole is one foot three inches, the hole is one inch five minutes long and seven minutes wide, and the eight holes are the same. Four feet from front to back, two inches wide and one inch and five minutes thick. The shovel is shaped like an elephant, four inches long and four inches and three minutes in diameter. The tripod in the aperture is two feet and one inch long, one inch and five minutes wide and one inch and four minutes thick, which is the same as the lever ear. "