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{{short description|Simple machine transferring motion to or from a rotating shaft at a distance from the centreline}}
[[Image:Winch.PNG|thumb|Hand crank for a winch on a sailboat - commonly referred to as a winch handle.]]

A '''crank''' is an arm attached at a right angle to a rotating shaft by which [[circular motion]] is imparted to or received from the shaft. When combined with a connecting rod, it can be used to convert [[circular motion]] into reciprocating motion, or vice versa. The arm may be a bent portion of the shaft, or a separate arm or disk attached to it. Attached to the end of the crank by a pivot is a rod, usually called a [[connecting rod]] (conrod).

The term often refers to a human-powered crank which is used to manually turn an axle, as in a [[bicycle]] [[crankset]] or a [[brace and bit]] drill. In this case a person's arm or leg serves as the connecting rod, applying reciprocating force to the crank. There is usually a bar perpendicular to the other end of the arm, often with a freely rotatable handle or [[wiktionary:pedal|pedal]] attached.
== Examples ==
[[File:CrankPencilShapener.jpg|thumb|Hand crank on a pencil sharpener]]

[[Image:Cshaft 18 frame.gif|thumb|Animation of a multi-cylinder engine]]

Familiar examples include:

=== Hand-powered cranks ===
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[Spinning wheel]]
* Mechanical [[pencil sharpener]]
* [[Fishing reel]] and other [[reel]]s for cables, wires, ropes, etc.
*Starting Handle for older cars
* Manually operated car window
* The carpenter's [[Brace (tool)|brace]] is a '''compound crank'''.
* The crank set that drives a [[handcycle]] through its handles.
* Hand winches
{{div col end}}

=== Foot-powered cranks ===
* The crankset that drives a bicycle via the pedals.
* [[Treadle]] [[sewing machine]]

=== Engines ===

Almost all [[reciprocating engine]]s use cranks (with [[connecting rod]]s) to transform the back-and-forth motion of the pistons into rotary motion. The cranks are incorporated into a [[crankshaft]].

== History ==

=== Asia ===

==== China ====
{{See also|Science and technology of the Han dynasty}}
[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 135-BB-152-11, Tibetexpedition, Tibeter mit Handmühle.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Tibetan people|Tibetan]] operating a [[Quern-stone|quern]] (1938). The upright handle of such rotary handmills, set at a distance from the centre of rotation, works as a crank.<ref name="Ritti, Grewe, Kessener 2007, 159">{{harvnb|Ritti|Grewe|Kessener|2007|p=159}}</ref><ref name="Lucas 2005, 5, fn. 9">{{harvnb|Lucas|2005|p=5, fn. 9}}</ref>]]

It was thought that evidence of the earliest true crank handle was found in a Han era glazed-earthenware tomb model of an agricultural [[winnowing]] fan dated no later than 200 AD,<ref>{{citation|doi=10.2307/2051584|title=Review: ''Science and Civilisation in China'' by Joseph Needham|first2=Joseph|last2=Needham|author=N. Sivin|journal=[[Journal of Asian Studies]]|volume=27|issue=4|date=August 1968|pages=859–864 [862]|publisher=[[Association for Asian Studies]]|jstor=2051584|s2cid=163331341 }}</ref><ref name="White 1962 104">{{harvnb|White|1962|p=104}}</ref> but since then a series of similar pottery models with crank operated winnowing fans were unearthed, with one of them dating back to the Western Han dynasty (202 BC – 9 AD).<ref name="Yan">{{cite book |last1=Lisheng |first1=Feng |last2=Qingjun |chapter=Crank-Connecting Rod Mechanism: Its Application in Ancient China and Its Origins |first2=Tong |editor1=Hong-Sen Yan |editor2=Marco Ceccarelli |title=International Symposium on History of Machines and Mechanisms |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dkq6_mdW43IC&pg=PA249 |publisher=Springer Science and Business Media|isbn=978-1-4020-9484-2|page=247|year=2009 }}</ref><ref name="needham volume 4 part 2 118">{{harvnb|Needham|1986|pp=118&ndash;119}}.</ref> The Chinese used the crank-and-connecting rod in ancient blasting apparatus, textile machinery and agricultural machinery no later than the Western Han dynasty (202 BC – 9 AD). It was first used in the manually operated quern and ''long'' (grain decortication item) before evolving into other devices. According to F. Lisheng and T. Qingjun, the hand-crank of the rotary quern was different from a crank, which was the combination of a hand-crank and a push-and-pull connecting rod by a hinge.<ref name=":1" /> Eventually crank-and-connecting rods were used in the inter-conversion or rotary and reciprocating motion for other applications such as flour-sifting, treadle spinning wheels, water-powered furnace bellows, and silk-reeling machines.<ref>{{harvnb|Lisheng|Qingjun|2009|pp=236&ndash;249}}.</ref><ref name="needham volume 4 part 2 118"/>

=== Middle East ===
Ancient Egyptians had manual drills resembling a crank at the time of the [[Old Kingdom of Egypt|Old Kingdom]](2686–2181 BCE) and even a hieroglyph for the tool.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Needham |first=Joseph |title=Mechanical engineering |date=2007 |publisher=Cambridge Univ. Press |isbn=978-0-521-05803-2 |edition=6. print |series=Science and civilisation in China / by Joseph Needham Vol. 4, Physics and physical technology |location=Cambridge |pages=114}}</ref> However the Ancient Egyptian drill didn't operate as a true crank.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hartenberg |first1=Richard S. |last2=Schmidt |first2=John |date=1969 |title=The Egyptian Drill and the Origin of the Crank |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3101475 |journal=Technology and Culture |volume=10 |issue=2 |pages=155–165 |doi=10.2307/3101475 |jstor=3101475 |issn=0040-165X}}</ref>

Later evidence for the crank, combined with a connecting rod in a machine, appears in the Ancient Greek [[Hierapolis sawmill]] in [[Roman Asia]] from the 3rd century AD and two stone [[Sawmill|sawmills]] at [[Gerasa]], [[Roman Syria]], and [[Ephesus]], Greek Ionia under Rome, (both 6th century AD).<ref name="Ritti, Grewe, Kessener 2007, 1612">{{harvnb|Ritti|Grewe|Kessener|2007|p=161}}: {{blockquote|Because of the findings at Ephesus and Gerasa the invention of the crank and connecting rod system has had to be redated from the 13th to the 6th c; now the Hierapolis relief takes it back another three centuries, which confirms that water-powered stone saw mills were indeed in use when [[Ausonius]] wrote his Mosella.}}</ref> On the [[pediment]] of the Hierapolis mill, a [[waterwheel]] fed by a [[mill race]] is shown powering via a [[gear train]] two [[Frame saw|frame saws]] which cut rectangular blocks by the way of some kind of connecting rods and, through mechanical necessity, cranks. The accompanying inscription is in [[Greek language|Greek]].<ref name=":02">{{harvnb|Ritti|Grewe|Kessener|2007|pp=139–141}}</ref> The crank and connecting rod mechanisms of the other two archaeologically attested sawmills worked without a gear train.<ref name=":12">{{harvnb|Ritti|Grewe|Kessener|2007|pp=149–153}}</ref><ref name=":22">{{harvnb|Mangartz|2006|pp=579f.}}</ref>

The crank appears in the mid-9th century in several of the hydraulic devices described by the [[Banū Mūsā]] brothers in their ''[[Book of Ingenious Devices]]''.<ref name="Beeston">{{citation|title=The Cambridge History of Arabic Literature|last=A. F. L. Beeston, M. J. L. Young|first=J. D. Latham, Robert Bertram Serjeant|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|year=1990|isbn=0-521-32763-6|page=266}}</ref> These devices, however, made only partial rotations and could not transmit much power,<ref>{{harvnb|al-Hassan|Hill|1992|pp=45, 61}}</ref> although only a small modification would have been required to convert it to a [[crankshaft]].<ref name="Hill1979">{{citation |author=[[Banū Mūsā]] |title=The Book of Ingenious Devices (Kitáb al-Ḥiyal) by the Banú (sons of) Músà bin Shákir |pages=23–4 |year=1979 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MdpAo6SaOL0C&pg=PA23 |publisher=Springer Publishing |isbn=90-277-0833-9 |last2=Hill |first2=Donald Routledge |author-link2=Donald Hill}}</ref>

[[Al-Jazari]] (1136&ndash;1206) described a crank and connecting rod system in a rotating machine in two of his water-raising machines.<ref name=Crank>[[Ahmad Y Hassan]]. [http://www.history-science-technology.com/Notes/Notes%203.htm The Crank-Connecting Rod System in a Continuously Rotating Machine].</ref> His twin-cylinder [[pump]] incorporated a crankshaft.<ref>{{citation|title=Islam and Science, Medicine, and Technology|last=Sally Ganchy|first=Sarah Gancher|publisher=The Rosen Publishing Group|year=2009|isbn=978-1-4358-5066-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/islamsciencemedi0000ganc/page/41 41]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/islamsciencemedi0000ganc/page/41}}</ref> A crank is later also described in an early 15th century Arabic manuscript of [[Hero of Alexandria]]'s ''Mechanics''.<ref name="White Jr. 1962, 170"/>

=== Europe ===
==== Antiquity ====
{{See also|Roman technology|List of Roman watermills}}

The first rotary hand mills, or rotary querns, appeared in Spain (600 BC – 500 BC),<ref name="Ritti et al. 2007, 159">{{harvnb|Ritti|Grewe|Kessener|2007|p=158, 159}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Alonso i Martínez |first=Natalia |date=2015 |title=«Moliendo en ibero, moliendo en griego»: aculturación y resistencia tecnológica en el Mediterráneo occidental durante la Edad del Hierro |url=https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=5294175 |journal=Vegueta: Anuario de la Facultad de Geografía e Historia |issue=15 |pages=23–36 |issn=1133-598X}}</ref> before they spread to the East.<ref name="Ritti et al. 2007, 159" /><ref name=":0" /> The handle near the outer edge of the rotary part makes the crank,<ref name="Ritti et al. 2007, 159" /><ref name="Lucas 2005, 5, fn. 92">{{harvnb|Lucas|2005|p=5, fn. 9}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Needham |first=Joseph |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SeGyrCfYs2AC |title=Science and Civilisation in China, Part 2, Mechanical Engineering |date=1965-01-02 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-05803-2 |pages=186 |language=en}}</ref> a human arm powering the rotation would be the connecting rod.<ref name="Ritti et al. 2007, 159" /> According to F. Lisheng and T. Qingjun, the hand-crank of the rotary quern was different from a crank, which was the combination of a hand-crank and a push-and-pull connecting rod by a hinge.<ref name=":1">{{harvnb|Lisheng|Qingjun|2009|pp=248-249}}.</ref>

The Antikythera mechanism, dated to around 200 BC,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Voulgaris |first1=Aristeidis |title=The Initial Calibration Date of the Antikythera Mechanism after the Saros spiral mechanical Apokatastasis |date=2023-08-27 |arxiv=2203.15045 |last2=Mouratidis |first2=Christophoros |last3=Vossinakis |first3=Andreas}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Carman |first=Christián C. |date=2017 |title=The Final Date of the Antikythera Mechanism |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0021828617721553 |journal=Journal for the History of Astronomy |language=en |volume=48 |issue=3 |pages=312–323 |doi=10.1177/0021828617721553 |bibcode=2017JHA....48..312C |issn=0021-8286|hdl=11336/72114 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> used a crank as a part of its mechanism.<ref>{{Citation |last=Tyaglova-Fayer |first=Svetlana |title=The new reading of the 3D reconstruction of the Antikythera machine (30-day calendar) |date=2023-11-14 |url=https://shs.hal.science/halshs-04223993v3 |access-date=2024-08-25 |language=en}}</ref> The crank was used to manually setup the starting date for a prediction.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Diolatzis |first1=Ioannis S. |last2=Pavlogeorgatos |first2=Gerasimos |date=2018-03-01 |title=Deepening to Antikythera mechanism via its interactivity |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S221205481730022X |journal=Digital Applications in Archaeology and Cultural Heritage |volume=8 |pages=10–26 |doi=10.1016/j.daach.2017.11.005 |issn=2212-0548}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Freeth |first=Tony |date=2022-01-01 |title=An Ancient Greek Astronomical Calculation Machine Reveals New Secrets |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/an-ancient-greek-astronomical-calculation-machine-reveals-new-secrets/ |access-date=2024-08-25 |website=Scientific American |language=en}}</ref>[[File:Römische Sägemühle.svg|thumb|[[Hierapolis sawmill]] (3rd century AD), a machine that combine a crank with a connecting rod.<ref name="Ritti, Grewe, Kessener 2007, 161">{{harvnb|Ritti|Grewe|Kessener|2007|p=161}}: {{blockquote|Because of the findings at Ephesus and Gerasa the invention of the crank and connecting rod system has had to be redated from the 13th to the 6th c; now the Hierapolis relief takes it back another three centuries, which confirms that water-powered stone saw mills were indeed in use when [[Ausonius]] wrote his Mosella.}}</ref>|320x320px]]Later evidence for the crank, combined with a connecting rod in a machine, appears in the Ancient Greek [[Hierapolis sawmill]] in [[Roman Asia]] from the 3rd century AD and two stone [[Sawmill|sawmills]] at [[Gerasa]], [[Roman Syria]], and [[Ephesus]], Greek Ionia under Rome, (both 6th century AD).<ref name="Ritti, Grewe, Kessener 2007, 1612" /> On the [[pediment]] of the Hierapolis mill, a [[waterwheel]] fed by a [[mill race]] is shown powering via a [[gear train]] two [[Frame saw|frame saws]] which cut rectangular blocks by the way of some kind of connecting rods and, through mechanical necessity, cranks. The accompanying inscription is in [[Greek language|Greek]].<ref name=":02" /> The crank and connecting rod mechanisms of the other two archaeologically attested sawmills worked without a gear train.<ref name=":12" /><ref name=":22" />[[File:Roman crank handle, Augusta Raurica, Switzerland. Pic 01.jpg|thumb|right|Roman crank handle from [[Augusta Raurica]], dated to the 2nd century AD<ref name="Schiöler 2009, 113"/>]]

A Roman iron crank of yet unknown purpose dating to the 2nd century AD was excavated in [[Augusta Raurica]], [[Switzerland]]. The {{convert|82.5|cm|in|0|abbr=in}} long piece has fitted to one end a {{convert|15|cm|in|0|abbr=in}} long bronze handle, the other handle being lost.<ref>{{harvnb|Laur-Belart|1988|pp=51–52, 56, fig. 42}}</ref><ref name="Schiöler 2009, 113">{{harvnb|Schiöler|2009|pp=113f.}}</ref>

An true iron crank about {{convert|40|cm|in|0|abbr=in}} long was excavated, along with a pair of shattered mill-stones of {{convert|50 to 65|cm|in|0|abbr=in}} diameter and diverse iron items, in [[Aschheim]], close to [[Munich]]. The crank-operated [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] mill is dated to the late 2nd century AD.<ref>{{harvnb|Volpert|1997|pp=195, 199}}</ref> However an often cited modern reconstruction of a bucket-chain pump driven by hand-cranked [[flywheel]]s from the [[Nemi ships]] has been dismissed as "archaeological fantasy".<ref>{{harvnb|White|1962|pp=105f.}}; {{harvnb|Oleson|1984|pp=230f.}}</ref> 

In ancient literature, there is a reference to the workings of water-powered [[marble]] saws close to [[Trier]], now [[Germany]], by the late 4th century poet [[Ausonius]];<ref name="Ritti, Grewe, Kessener 2007, 161"/> about the same time, these mill types seem also to be indicated by the Greek [[Christian saint]] [[Gregory of Nyssa]] from [[Anatolia]], demonstrating a diversified use of water-power in many parts of the Roman Empire<ref>{{harvnb|Wilson|2002|p=16}}</ref> The three finds push back the date of the invention of the crank and connecting rod by a full millennium:<ref name="Ritti, Grewe, Kessener 2007, 161"/>
 
{{blockquote|With the crank and connecting rod system, all elements for constructing a steam engine (invented in 1712) — [[Hero of Alexandria|Hero]]'s [[aeolipile]] (generating steam power), the [[Pneumatic cylinder|cylinder]] and [[piston]] (in metal force pumps), non-return [[valves]] (in water pumps), [[Gear train|gearing]] (in water mills and clocks) — were known in Roman times.<ref>{{harvnb|Ritti|Grewe|Kessener|2007|p=156, fn. 74}}</ref>
}}

==== Middle Ages ====
{{See also|Medieval technology}}
[[File:Skizze Kurbelwagen (Vigevano).jpeg|thumb|upright|[[Guido da Vigevano|Vigevano]]'s war carriage]]

A rotary [[Grindstone (tool)|grindstone]] − the earliest representation of one −<ref name="White Jr. 1962, 110">{{harvnb|White|1962|p=110}}</ref> which is operated by a crank handle is shown in the [[Carolingian dynasty|Carolingian]] manuscript ''[[Utrecht Psalter]]''; the pen drawing of around 830 goes back to a late antique original.<ref>{{harvnb|Hägermann|Schneider|1997|pp=425f.}}</ref> A musical tract ascribed to the abbot [[Odo of Cluny]] ({{Circa|878}}−942) describes a fretted stringed instrument which was sounded by a resined wheel turned with a crank; the device later appears in two 12th century illuminated manuscripts.<ref name="White Jr. 1962, 110"/> There are also two pictures of [[Fortuna]] cranking her wheel of destiny from this and the following century.<ref name="White Jr. 1962, 110"/>

The use of crank handles in [[trepanation]] drills was depicted in the 1887 edition of the ''[[Dictionnaire des Antiquités Grecques et Romaines]]'' and ascribed to the [[Al-Andalus|Spanish Muslim]] surgeon [[Abu al-Qasim al-Zahrawi]]; however, the existence of such a device cannot be confirmed by the original illuminations and thus has to be discounted.<ref name="White Jr. 1962, 170">{{harvnb|White|1962|p=170}}</ref> The [[Benedictine]] monk [[Theophilus Presbyter]] (c. 1070−1125) described crank handles "used in the turning of casting cores".<ref>{{harvnb|Needham|1986|pp=112&ndash;113}}.</ref>

The Italian physician [[Guido da Vigevano]] (c. 1280−1349), planning for a new crusade, made illustrations for a [[Paddle steamer|paddle boat]] and war carriages that were propelled by manually turned compound cranks and gear wheels (center of image).<ref>{{harvnb|Hall|1979|p=80}}</ref> The ''[[Luttrell Psalter]]'', dating to around 1340, describes a grindstone which was rotated by two cranks, one at each end of its axle; the geared hand-mill, operated either with one or two cranks, appeared later in the 15th century;<ref name="White Jr. 1962, 111">{{harvnb|White|1962|p=111}}</ref>

Medieval [[Crane (machine)|crane]]s were occasionally powered by cranks, although more often by [[windlass]]es.<ref>{{harvnb|Hall|1979|p=48}}</ref>

==== Renaissance ====
{{See also|Renaissance technology}}
[[File:Anonymous of the Hussite Wars. Clm 197, Part 1, Folio 17v Supra.jpg|thumb|left|15th century paddle-wheel boat whose paddles are turned by single-throw crankshafts (Anonymous of the [[Hussite Wars]])]]

The crank became common in Europe by the early 15th century, often seen in the works of those such as the [[Germans|German]] military engineer [[Konrad Kyeser]].<ref name="White Jr. 1962, 111"/> Devices depicted in Kyeser's ''[[Bellifortis]]'' include cranked windlasses (instead of spoke-wheels) for spanning siege crossbows, cranked chain of buckets for water-lifting and cranks fitted to a wheel of bells.<ref name="White Jr. 1962, 111"/> Kyeser also equipped the [[Archimedes screw]]s for water-raising with a crank handle, an innovation which subsequently replaced the ancient practice of working the pipe by treading.<ref>{{harvnb|White|1962|pp=105, 111, 168}}</ref> The earliest evidence for the fitting of a well-hoist with cranks is found in a miniature of c. 1425 in the German ''Hausbuch of the Mendel Foundation''.<ref>{{harvnb|White|1962|p=167}}; {{harvnb|Hall|1979|p=52}}</ref>

[[File:Altarpiece of St Sebastian (detail).jpg|thumb|German crossbowman cocking his weapon with a cranked rack-and-pinion device (ca. 1493)]]

The first depictions of the compound crank in the carpenter's [[Brace (tool)|brace]] appear between 1420 and 1430 in various northern European artwork.<ref name="White Jr. 1962, 112">{{harvnb|White|1962|p=112}}</ref> The rapid adoption of the compound crank can be traced in the works of the [[Anonymous of the Hussite Wars]], an unknown German engineer writing on the state of the military technology of his day: first, the connecting-rod, applied to cranks, reappeared, second, double compound cranks also began to be equipped with connecting-rods and third, the flywheel was employed for these cranks to get them over the 'dead-spot'.

One of the drawings of the Anonymous of the Hussite Wars shows a boat with a pair of paddle-wheels at each end turned by men operating compound cranks (see above). The concept was much improved by the Italian engineer and writer [[Roberto Valturio]] in 1463, who devised a boat with five sets, where the parallel cranks are all joined to a single power source by one connecting-rod, an idea also taken up by his compatriot [[Francesco di Giorgio]].<ref name="White Jr. 1962, 114">{{harvnb|White|1962|p=114}}</ref>

[[File:Fotothek df tg 0006690 Mechanik ^ Wasserförderung ^ Pumpe.jpg|thumb|left|Water-raising pump powered by crank and connecting rod mechanism ([[Georg Andreas Böckler]], 1661)]]

In [[Renaissance Italy]], the earliest evidence of a compound crank and connecting-rod is found in the sketch books of [[Taccola]], but the device is still mechanically misunderstood.<ref name="White Jr. 1962, 113">{{harvnb|White|1962|p=113}}</ref> A sound grasp of the crank motion involved demonstrates a little later [[Pisanello]] who painted a piston-pump driven 
by a water-wheel and operated by two simple cranks and two connecting-rods.<ref name="White Jr. 1962, 113"/>

The 15th century also saw the introduction of cranked rack-and-pinion devices, called cranequins, which were fitted to the [[crossbow]]'s stock as a means of exerting even more force while spanning the missile weapon (see right).<ref>{{harvnb|Hall|1979|pp=74f.}}</ref> In the textile industry, cranked [[reel]]s for winding skeins of yarn were introduced.<ref name="White Jr. 1962, 111"/>

Around 1480, the early medieval rotary grindstone was improved with a treadle and crank mechanism. Cranks mounted on push-carts first appear in a German engraving of 1589.<ref>{{harvnb|White|1962|p=167}}</ref>

From the 16th century onwards, evidence of cranks and connecting rods integrated into machine design becomes abundant in the technological treatises of the period: [[Agostino Ramelli]]'s ''The Diverse and Artifactitious Machines'' of 1588 alone depicts eighteen examples, a number which rises in the ''Theatrum Machinarum Novum'' by [[Georg Andreas Böckler]] to 45 different machines, one third of the total.<ref>{{harvnb|White|1962|p=172}}</ref>

=== 20th century ===
Cranks were formerly common on some machines in the early 20th century; for example almost all [[phonograph]]s before the 1930s were powered by [[clockwork]] motors wound with cranks. Reciprocating piston engines use cranks to convert the linear piston motion into rotational motion. [[Internal combustion engine]]s of early 20th century [[automobile]]s were usually started with hand cranks (known as ''starting handles'' in the [[UK]]), before [[Automobile self starter|electric starters]] came into general use. The last car model which incorporated a crank was the [[Citroën 2CV]] 1948-1990

The 1918 [[REO Motor Car Company|Reo]] owner's manual describes '''how to hand crank the automobile:'''

* First: Make sure the gear shifting lever is in neutral position.
* Second: The clutch pedal is unlatched and the clutch engaged. The brake pedal is pushed forward as far as possible setting brakes on the rear wheel.
* Third: See that spark control lever, which is the short lever located on top of the steering wheel on the right side, is back as far as possible toward the driver and the long lever, on top of the steering column controlling the carburetor, is pushed forward about one inch from its retarded position.
* Fourth: Turn ignition switch to point marked "B" or "M"
* Fifth: Set the carburetor control on the steering column to the point marked "START." Be sure there is gasoline in the carburetor. Test for this by pressing down on the small pin projecting from the front of the bowl until the carburetor floods. If it fails to flood it shows that the fuel is not being delivered to the carburetor properly and the motor cannot be expected to start. See instructions on page 56 for filling the vacuum tank.
* Sixth: When it is certain the carburetor has a supply of fuel, grasp the handle of starting crank, push in endwise to engage ratchet with crank shaft pin and turn over the motor by giving a quick upward pull. Never push down, because if for any reason the motor should kick back, it would endanger the operator.

== Crank axle ==
A '''crank axle''' is a [[crankshaft]] which also serves the purpose of an [[axle]]. It is used on [[steam locomotive]]s with inside cylinders.

== See also ==
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}
* {{annotated link|Beam engine}}
* {{annotated link|Crankshaft}}
* [[Human power]]
* {{annotated link|James Pickard}}
* {{annotated link|Piston motion equations}}
* [[Slider and crank mechanism]]
* {{annotated link|Slider-crank linkage}}
* {{annotated link|Sun and planet gear}}
* {{annotated link|Trammel of Archimedes}}
* {{annotated link|Winch}}
{{div col end}}

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== Bibliography ==
* {{cite book| editor-last1 = Oleson| editor-first1 = John Peter| title = The Oxford Handbook of Engineering and Technology in the Classical World| chapter=Food Processing and Preparation |author-last=Curtis|author-first=Robert I.| publisher = [[Oxford University Press]]| location = Oxford| year = 2008| isbn = 978-0-19-518731-1}}
*{{Citation 
 | last = Frankel
 | first = Rafael
 | title = The Olynthus Mill, Its Origin, and Diffusion: Typology and Distribution
 | journal = [[American Journal of Archaeology]]
 | pages = 1–21
 | issue = 1
 | volume = 107
 | year = 2003
 | doi=10.3764/aja.107.1.1
| s2cid = 192167193
 }}
*{{Citation 
 | last = Hall
 | first = Bert S.
 | title = The Technological Illustrations of the So-Called "Anonymous of the Hussite Wars". Codex Latinus Monacensis 197, Part 1 
 | place = Wiesbaden
 | year = 1979
 | publisher = Dr. Ludwig Reichert Verlag
 | isbn = 3-920153-93-6
}}
*{{Citation 
 | last1 = Hägermann
 | first1 = Dieter 
 | last2 = Schneider
 | first2 = Helmuth 
 | title = Propyläen Technikgeschichte. Landbau und Handwerk, 750 v. Chr. bis 1000 n. Chr.
 | place = Berlin 
 | edition = 2nd
 | year = 1997
 | isbn = 3-549-05632-X
}}
*{{Citation
 | last1 = al-Hassan
 | first1 = Ahmad Y.
 | author1-link = Ahmad Y. al-Hassan
 | last2 = Hill
 | first2 = Donald R.
 | author2-link = Donald Routledge Hill
 | title = Islamic Technology. An Illustrated History
 | year = 1992
 | publisher = Cambridge University Press
 | isbn = 0-521-42239-6
 | url-access = registration
 | url = https://archive.org/details/islamictechnolog0000hasa
 }}
*{{Citation 
 | doi = 10.1353/tech.2005.0026 
 | last = Lucas
 | first = Adam Robert 
 | title = Industrial Milling in the Ancient and Medieval Worlds. A Survey of the Evidence for an Industrial Revolution in Medieval Europe 
 | journal = Technology and Culture
 | pages = 1–30 
 | issue = 1
 | volume = 46
 | year = 2005
| s2cid = 109564224
 }}
*{{Citation 
 | last = Laur-Belart 
 | first = Rudolf 
 | title = Führer durch Augusta Raurica
 | place = Augst
 | year = 1988
 | edition = 5th
}}
*{{Citation 
 | last = Mangartz
 | first = Fritz
 | journal = Archäologisches Korrespondenzblatt
 | title = Zur Rekonstruktion der wassergetriebenen byzantinischen Steinsägemaschine von Ephesos, Türkei. Vorbericht
 | pages = 573–590
 | issue = 1
 | volume = 36
 | year = 2006
}}
*{{Citation | last = Needham | first = Joseph | title = Science and Civilisation in China: Volume 4, Physics and Physical Technology: Part 2, Mechanical Engineering | publisher = Cambridge University Press | year = 1986 | isbn = 0-521-05803-1}}.
*{{Citation 
 | last = Oleson
 | first = John Peter
 | author-link = John Peter Oleson
 | title = Greek and Roman Mechanical Water-Lifting Devices: The History of a Technology
 | year = 1984
 | publisher = University of Toronto Press
 | isbn = 90-277-1693-5
}}
*{{Citation 
 | last = Volpert
 | first = Hans-Peter
 | journal = Bericht der Bayerischen Bodendenkmalpflege
 | title = Eine römische Kurbelmühle aus Aschheim, Lkr. München
 | pages = 193–199
 | volume = 38 
 | year = 1997
 | isbn = 3-7749-2903-3
}}
*{{Citation 
 | last = White
 | first = Lynn Jr.
 | author-link = Lynn Townsend White Jr.
 | title = Medieval Technology and Social Change
 | place = Oxford
 | year = 1962
 | publisher = At the Clarendon Press 
}}
*{{Citation 
 | last1 = Ritti
 | first1 = Tullia
 | last2 = Grewe
 | first2 = Klaus
 | last3 = Kessener
 | first3 = Paul
 | title = A Relief of a Water-powered Stone Saw Mill on a Sarcophagus at Hierapolis and its Implications 
 | journal = Journal of Roman Archaeology
 | pages = 138–163
 | volume = 20
 | year = 2007
| doi = 10.1017/S1047759400005341
 | s2cid = 161937987
 }}
*{{Citation
 | last = Schiöler
 | first = Thorkild 
 | year = 2009 
 | title = Die Kurbelwelle von Augst und die römische Steinsägemühle
 | periodical = Helvetia Archaeologica
 | volume = 40
 | issue = 159/160
 | pages = 113–124
}}
*{{Citation
 | last = Wilson
 | first = Andrew
 | author-link = Andrew Wilson (classical archaeologist)
 | year = 2002
 | title = Machines, Power and the Ancient Economy
 | periodical = [[The Journal of Roman Studies]]
 | volume = 92
 | pages = 1–32
}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.asterpix.com/console?as=1187646878192-e57383c789 Crank highlight: Hypervideo of construction and operation of a four cylinder internal combustion engine courtesy of Ford Motor Company]
* [http://kmoddl.library.cornell.edu/index.php Kinematic Models for Design Digital Library (KMODDL)] - Movies and photos of hundreds of working mechanical-systems models at Cornell University. Also includes an [http://kmoddl.library.cornell.edu/e-books.php e-book library] of classic texts on mechanical design and engineering.

{{Piston engine configurations |uncollapsed}}
{{Automotive engine}}
{{steam engine configurations}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Linkages (mechanical)]]

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