At the word "guillotine" many people immediately have a terrible picture of execution before their eyes. It is believed that the instrument of death was invented by the French. Indeed, in France they created the guillotine in the form in which we are accustomed to see it, but before that it was used in other European states. In Ireland and Scotland, this deadly invention was called the Scottish maiden, in Italy - Mandaia, in Germany - Fallbeil. If this tool used to make people tremble from one of its kind, now the guillotine serves for the benefit of mankind. This tool is used today for cutting metal, cutting paper and cigars.
What is a guillotine?
In the original sense, the guillotine is a mechanism for cutting off the head, which is used in several European countries to carry out the death penalty. The gun was a huge oblique knife, the weight of which ranged from 40-100 kg, moving between the vertical guides. With a rope he was lifted to a height of about 3 m and secured with a heck. He was sentenced to death on a bench, and his head was fastened between the boards with a neckline. The lower one was motionless, and the upper one moved up and down in the grooves. The latch holding the knife was opened with a special lever and it fell at great speed directly onto the victim’s neck, which caused death to occur instantly.
Instrument of Execution Inventor
For a long time in France, criminals were burned at the stake, quartered or hanged, only privileged persons were executed by cutting off their heads with an ax or sword to reduce their suffering. Dr. Guillotin, who was a member of the National Assembly, in 1791 for the first time proposed carrying out the execution by the same method, without dividing the people into ordinary and aristocrats. In his opinion, the guillotine is an excellent way to save a sentenced person from physical and mental pain, because the gun was quickly put into action and took life in seconds.
The corresponding proposal of J. Guillotin in the
Constituent Assembly introduced in 1789. After this there was a lot of controversy, but in the end most of the members agreed with the doctor, and in 1791 this method of execution was officially introduced into the criminal code. At first, the murder weapon was tested on the corpses, but in the spring of 1792 the first execution on Grevskaya Square was carried out using this mechanism. For a long time there was an opinion that the inventor of the guillotine himself suffered from his own creation, but this is not true. Guillotin died in 1814.
The use of the guillotine in Europe
A lot of famous personalities were decapitated by the guillotine. This instrument of death was common in many European countries, but the French suffered the most from it. During the French Revolution, many criminals were guillotined, this mechanism was used as the main instrument of execution until 1981. In Germany, the guillotine was considered the main type of death penalty until 1949. The German mechanism was slightly different from the French, had a winch for lifting a knife, vertical metal racks and was much lower. The gun was actively used in Nazi Germany to decapitate criminals.
The history of the guillotine has left its mark in Italy. In 1819, this mechanism was recognized as the main instrument of execution. Criminals were beheaded near the castle of the Holy Angel in Piazza del Popolo. The Roman guillotine had its own design features: an angular “vice” for squeezing the body of the convict and a straight knife. The last time it was used in the summer of 1870, after which it was canceled. From the 18th to the 20th century, Cayenne was a place of hard labor and exile for political prisoners. In this tropical place very often severe fevers spread, and it was almost impossible to survive here. The Sinnamari prison in the city was called the “dry guillotine.”
Manual guillotine
The terrible times when people were beheaded for the slightest fault were long gone, now the invention of Dr. Guillotin serves the benefit of mankind. Machine tools for cutting metal many times simplified the work of specialists. The principle of cutting material is based on the principle of operation of the very first mechanism. A fixed lower knife was added to the guillotine machine, so it also looked like scissors. Different types of guillotines are used depending on the intensity of use, size and thickness of the material. The simplest of them is the manual version.
Such a machine works thanks to a lever-spring mechanism. The manual guillotine, although it is the simplest equipment that does not require any tricky manipulations, is very popular in production. Using it, plastic, thin metal sheets, thick cardboard, rubber, plexiglass are cut. The machine is good in that for its operation it is not necessary to supply additional communications, it does not require electricity, it works in any room, and this reduces the cost of work many times.
Mechanical guillotine
Mechanical machines have proven themselves on the good side. In practice, the reliability of the equipment was checked, which not only correctly and accurately performs the tasks, but also consumes a little electricity. A propeller shaft is installed in the mechanism, which drives the knife. Through the
coupling , torque is supplied to it. The flywheel itself rotates using an electric motor.
Hydraulic guillotine
Such equipment is mainly used in medium and large enterprises, since it has large dimensions, expensive and necessary for conveyor production of material. Hydraulic guillotine easily copes with metal of different thicknesses. The high-precision ruler and massiveness of the hydraulic machine guarantees absolute cutting accuracy. The metal sheet along the entire length of the cut is fixed by clamping hydraulic cylinders, but the gap between the knives must be adjusted mechanically.
Guillotine for metal
Guillotine machines are mainly used for roll processing of metal, cutting into strips, cutting sheets in the transverse and longitudinal directions. Manual equipment easily copes with non-ferrous metal (zinc, aluminum, copper and alloys), as well as with thin sheets of steel. The cutting of thicker material is done by hydraulic, mechanical, pneumatic, electromechanical machines.
The guillotine allows you to get smooth edges of the cut, without burrs and other deformations. When cutting a sheet, waste is minimized even in cases where the parts differ in complex shape. On such a machine, even painted metal can be cut; the coating does not chip and does not deform. Some equipment can cut square, angular, round metal. Guillotine machines can also chop large stacks of material.
Paper guillotine
When creating paper-cutting equipment, the terrible invention of Dr. Guillotin was also found. Depending on the purpose for which it is used and on what scale, they distinguish between mechanical, electrical, manual and hydraulic types of structures. The paper guillotine is mainly used on an industrial scale. It is great for perfect cutting large bundles of paper up to 800 sheets.
The knife of the mechanism cuts the fibers, but does not push them through, this is possible thanks to the movement obliquely. The guillotine cuts the bulk block of paper, leaving a perfectly even cut, and this is its greatest advantage. To improve the operation of the equipment, a ruler, automatic clamp and illumination of the cut line are installed on it. In addition, if necessary, on any machine you can sharpen the knife.
Cigar guillotine
The name of the ferocious instrument of execution, most likely, in an ironic sense of the word is used to indicate a device for cutting off the tip of a cigar. For a long time, knives or scissors were used for this, but they did not give the effect that the guillotine gives. Cigars have a closed end, this is done to preserve the original flavor of tobacco. The historical appearance of the guillotine is more reminiscent of desktop options, although there are pocket (portable) devices. They are ideal for use in the relaxation room or at home.
It is quite difficult to smoke cigars, the guillotine makes a smooth cut, which is why the smoker gets more pleasure from the process, because he does not take a convulsive, but a smooth inhale and exhale. Portable guillotines are single and double-sided. The knives are sharp, so the deformation of the tobacco sheet is excluded. For ordinary users it is best to use double-sided guillotines, one-sided ones are suitable for craftsmen.