1. Wooden cows and stray horses exist. Divided into wooden ox and stray horse. According to historical records, Zhuge Liang used it during the Northern Expedition from the ninth to the twelfth year of Jianxing (231-234). Its carrying capacity was "one year's grain", about 400 kilograms or more, and its daily journey was "tens of miles for a special traveler" , the group marched thirty miles" to provide food for the Shu Han army of one hundred thousand. However, the exact method and appearance are still unclear, and there are different explanations for it.
Second, the principle is to use the swing of the center of gravity to move the car forward. The detailed explanation is as follows:
A horizontal wooden bar three feet above the ground, four feet long and six inches high. The left end of the wooden bar is cut into a handlebar shape and there are three fret-shaped holes on the right end. Now imagine that these two wooden bars are arranged as the left and right shafts of a rickshaw. Then imagine that a three-foot-long shaft is inserted between the top holes of the two fret-shaped shapes. In the two holes below the fret-shaped shape, a small axis is installed in each of the two holes, which can swing along the small axis and with the other end touching the ground. The wooden pillar, this four-legged rickshaw is the wooden ox.
Wooden Ox: The carriage of a four-wheeled vehicle is equipped with an ox head, the double shafts are mounted on the front and rear strut axles, the long and short struts are hinged on the strut shafts, and the double shafts are hinged on the body of the car. The double shaft struts support the ground and cause the wheels to rotate.
Liu Ma: The carriage of the two-wheeled vehicle is equipped with a horse head, the double shafts are mounted on the front and rear support rod shafts, the long and short support rods are hinged on the support rod shafts, and the double shafts are fixed on the body. Swing the double shaft struts to support the ground and cause the wheels to rotate.
Extended information:
During the Republic of China, some scholars researched it. One theory is that the wooden ox was the "wooden ox cart" used by miners in Sichuan at that time, and the flowing horse was a A long and narrow boat called "Kuaimazi".
The wooden cow and flowing horse are designed with ugly images of "cow" and "horse". There are two main reasons: on the one hand, the cow or horse shape is easy to hide in the mountains and forests, which is not easy to be discovered by the enemy; on the other hand, the "cow" "Horse" can play a confusing role in pretending to be a ghost.
The wooden ox and the flowing horse "don't work hard, and the ox and horse don't eat" proves that they are controlled by human power. The clever Zhuge Liang created a wooden ox and a flowing horse as a means of transportation with wheels and legs that matched perfectly.
That is, when a person pushes, the center of the wheel moves, causing the four legs to move up and down continuously; while the cow and horse are moving forward, the legs touch the ground and are pressed by the grain board above, and the other two legs are lifted up by the lever. , and the person cooperates to move the center of gravity to the back and raises the legs. In fact, with a press of the wrist, the wooden cow and the flowing horse will advance one diameter of the wheel.
In this way, it is lifted and pressed repeatedly, and the four legs can be vertically extended and retracted to move up and down to match the slope of the mountain road. It is precisely because of this that the detective sent by Sima Yi was stunned and amazed when they found out.
Another special feature of Wooden Cow and Flowing Horse is that it is "anti-theft". That is to say, during the process of transporting grain, if it is discovered or intercepted by the enemy, if it cannot withstand it and abandons the grain and escapes, the promoter only needs to insert a pre-matched tenon (there may be a tenon) into the hidden part of the wheel hub. A matching tool for inserting tenons.
Something like an Allen wrench) so that the wheels cannot rotate and the enemy cannot move away. In this case, the only thing the enemy can do is to use fire to destroy it.
As for why it was not fully promoted later, it is because as the times progressed and the court and the people paid more attention to roads, the roads they built became wider and flatter. It was also discovered that round wheels were more practical and faster. The unicycles and two-wheeled carts commonly used in rural areas were later improved and innovative versions. Because the wooden cow and the flowing horse were extremely "cumbersome", they gradually withdrew from the stage of history.
Reference: Baidu Encyclopedia - Wooden Ox and Flowing Horse