The crankshaft
The crankshaft, sometimes casually abbreviated to crank, is the part of an engine which translates reciprocating linear piston motion into rotation.
The first known use of a crankshaft in a chain pump was in one of al-Jazari’s saqiya machines. The concept of minimizing intermittent working is also first implied in one of al-Jazari’s saqiya chain pumps, which was for the purpose of maximising the efficiency of the saqiya chain pump.
Read more about the crankshaft on Wikipedia.
Footnotes
- Chain drive preceded the crankshaft.
- The crankshaft enabled the steam engine.