At the word "guillotine", many people immediately see a terrible picture of execution before their eyes. It is believed that the French invented the instrument of death. Indeed, in France they created the guillotine in the form in which we are accustomed to seeing it, but before that it was also used in other European states. In Ireland and Scotland, this deadly invention was called the Scottish Maiden, in Italy - Mandaia, in Germany - Fallbeil. If earlier this weapon made people tremble from one of its kind, now the guillotine serves for the benefit of mankind. This device is today used for cutting metal, cutting paper and cigars.
What is a guillotine?
In its original sense, the guillotine is a head-cutting mechanism used in a number of European countries to carry out the death pen alty. The tool was a huge oblique knife, the weight of which varied between 40-100 kg, moving between vertical guides. It was lifted with a rope to a height of about 3 m and secured with a latch. sentenced to deathlaid on a bench, and the head was fixed between the boards with a notch for the neck. The lower one was fixed, and the upper one moved up and down in the grooves. The latch holding the knife was opened by a special lever and it fell at great speed right on the victim's neck, due to which death occurred instantly.
Inventor of the instrument of execution
For a long time in France, criminals were burned at the stake, quartered or hanged, only privileged persons were executed by beheading with an ax or a sword to reduce their suffering. Dr. Guillotin, who was a member of the National Assembly, in 1791 for the first time proposed to carry 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 moral pain, because the weapon was quickly activated and took life in a matter of seconds.
The corresponding proposal J. Guillotin submitted to the Constituent Assembly in 1789. This was followed by much 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 penal code. At first, the murder weapon was tested on corpses, but already in the spring of 1792, the first execution took place on the Greve Square 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 a natural death in 1814.
Use of the guillotine in Europe
So many famous personalities beheadedguillotine. 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 pen alty 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 weapon was actively used in Nazi Germany to behead criminals.
The history of the guillotine has left its mark in Italy. In 1819, this mechanism was recognized as the main instrument of execution. The criminals were beheaded near the Castel Sant'Angelo 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. It was last used in the summer of 1870, after which it was cancelled. Cayenne from the 18th to the 20th century was a place of hard labor and exile for political prisoners. In this tropical place, severe fevers were very common, and it was almost impossible to survive here. Sinnamari Prison was known in the city as the "dry guillotine".
Manual guillotine
The terrible times when people were beheaded for the slightest offense are long gone, now the invention of Dr. Guillotin serves for the benefit of mankind. Metal cutting machines have greatly simplified the work of specialists. The material cutting principle is based onprinciple of operation of the very first mechanism. A fixed lower knife was added to the guillotine, so it also looked like scissors. Depending on the intensity of use, the size and thickness of the material, different types of guillotines are used. The simplest of these is the manual version.
This machine works thanks to the lever-spring mechanism. Although the manual guillotine is the simplest equipment that does not require any tricky manipulations, it is very popular in production. With the help of it, plastic, thin metal sheets, thick cardboard, rubber, plexiglass are cut. The machine is good because it does not require additional communications, it does not require electricity, it works in any room, and this reduces the cost of work many times over.
Mechanical guillotine
Mechanical machines have proven themselves on the good side. In practice, the reliability of equipment was tested, which not only correctly and accurately performs the tasks, but also consumes little electricity. A cardan shaft is installed in the mechanism, which drives the knife. Torque is supplied to it through the coupling. The flywheel itself is rotated by an electric motor.
Hydraulic guillotine
Such equipment is mainly used in medium and large enterprises, because it is large, expensive and necessary for the conveyor production of material. The hydraulic guillotine can easily handle 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 pressure hydraulic cylinders, but the gap between the knives has to be adjusted mechanically.
Metal guillotine
Guillotine machines are mainly used for metal roll processing, cutting into strips, cutting sheets in the transverse and longitudinal direction. Handheld equipment easily handles non-ferrous metals (zinc, aluminium, copper and alloys) as well as thin sheets of steel. Thicker material is cut by hydraulic, mechanical, pneumatic, electromechanical machines.
The guillotine allows you to get smooth cut edges, without burrs and other deformations. When cutting the sheet, waste is minimized even in cases where the parts have a complex shape. On such a machine, even painted metal can be chopped, the coating does not chip or deform. Some equipment can cut square, corner, round metal. Guillotines can also cut large stacks of material.
Paper Guillotine
When creating paper-cutting equipment, Dr. Guillotin's terrible invention was also used. Depending on the purpose for which it is used and on what scale, mechanical, electrical, manual and hydraulic types of structures are distinguished. Paper guillotine mainlyapplied on an industrial scale. It is excellent for perfect cutting of large paper reams up to 800 sheets.
The knife of the mechanism cuts the fibers, and does not push through them, this is possible due to the oblique movement. The guillotine cuts a large block of paper leaving a perfectly even cut, and this is its greatest advantage. To improve the performance of the equipment, a ruler, automatic clamping and illumination of the cut line are installed on it. In addition, if necessary, any machine can sharpen a knife.
Cigar Guillotine
The name of the ferocious execution tool, most likely, in an ironic sense of the word, is used to refer to 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 also pocket (portable) devices. They are ideal for use in the break 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 convulsive, but smooth inhalation and exhalation. Portable guillotines come in single or double sided. The knives are sharp, so the deformation of the tobacco leaf is excluded. For ordinary users, it is best to use double-sided guillotines, single-sided are suitable for craftsmen.
