7 Fixed Pulley Examples: Critical Facts

The most basic type of pulley we utilise is the fixed pulley. Here are some fixed pulley examples that we come across in everyday life.

Fixed Pulley Examples:

Water Well:

Water well pulley is the first thing that springs to mind when you hear the word pulley. Because it is the most common and practical example one can think of in everyday life. In villages, people use a pulley to draw water from the well. As a result, a water well pulley is regarded as one of the earliest examples of a fixed pulley in use.

fixed pulley examples
Image Credits: Peakpx Free images

To draw water from the well, we use a bucket. A rope that we used to pull the bucket is wrapped around the fixed pulley. One end of the rope is tied to the bucket’s handle, while the other end is in the hand of the person who will exert force to pull it up.

Throwing a tied bucket into the well will fill it with water, and this water bucket will serve as a load. Because the rope is tied to the fixed pulley, you will get the appropriate direction to apply the force as you pull the other end of the rope. Thus, a fixed pulley makes it easy to draw water from the well by providing proper direction to the force.

What if you don’t use a fixed pulley here and instead draw a bucket of water directly from the well? The answer is a fixed pulley, which allows you to exert force in a downward direction with all of your weight. If you don’t use a fixed pulley here, you’ll have to exert force in an upward direction. Also, you can’t use all of your weight to apply upward force.

Flagpole:

Do you know why flag hoisting is challenging to do manually? The flag should be hoisted at very high; thus, the height of flagpoles is also very tall. A fixed pulley is employed to make this process simple and easy.

A rope goes around the pulley, which is fixed at the top of the flagpole. The flag will act as a load, in this case. Thus it is attached to one end of the rope. When the user pulls the other end of the rope, he ultimately pulls the flag via a pulley. When a rope is pulled down, the force is redirected through a fixed pulley, raising the flag. A fixed pulley makes it easier to unfurl the flag at the top of the flagpole in this way.

Window Blinds:

Window blinds are certainly something you use on a daily basis. The most often used blinds are horizontal. Blind slats are composed of materials such as wood, aluminium, or PVC. The strings it employs are known as lift strings. The length of the blinds will determine the number of lift strings required. The more string used by the blinds, the larger they are. 

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Image Credits: Pxhere Free Images

Strings climb, pass through a fixed pulley, and then return to the bottom through holes in each slat. The slats begin to rise as the lift strings are pulled. It’s important to lift all of the strings at the same time. If you forget to tie the cord, your blinds will be uneven. As a result, a fixed pulley ensures that blinds operate smoothly.

Adjustable Clothesline:

Not every person uses a dryer to dry their clothes or laundry. Many of them choose to hang clothes to dry. A clothesline pulley makes it easy to hang the clothes. One can use a pulley clothesline in their balcony, deck, or porch where the exposure of sun and wind is high so that clothes can dry quickly. The clothesline can be used at any level from ground to high. 

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Image credits: “Electrical Clothesline” (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0) by Konradprojects

A fixed pulley should be mounted at a suitable height to establish the clothesline pulley system. The clothesline thread passes through the pulley and makes a closed loop of shape 8. Thus, with the laundry basket standing in one place by just moving the clothesline string, you can hang your clothes to dry.  As a result, you won’t have to walk up and down with your laundry basket to hang your clothing if you use a fixed pulley in your clothesline.

Pulley Lighting:

The purpose of a pulley light is to give your home a lovely vintage appearance. They’re typically utilised for decorative purposes or when the height of a hanging light has to be adjusted. The rope is also employed in the pulley light, with one end tied to the lamp and the other used to alter the height. As the rope goes through a fixed pulley, the free end of the rope should be pulled at an angle determined by the pulley to assist pulling.

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Image Credits: “DIY Barn Pulley Pendant Lights” by Stacie Stacie Stacie, CC BY-SA 2.0

A fixed pulley mechanism is also employed in gravity light, which can be used instead of solar powered lighting. A fixed pulley, similar to the pulley light, is used to control the height of the LED lamp used in the gravity light. It works on the idea of potential energy with the pulley mechanism.

Motor Pulley:

A motor pulley is a fixed pulley used to guide the timing belt or serpentine belt in the engine of an automobile or other vehicle. According to the purpose, different types of the motor pulley can be used. 

Motor Pulley

In the car, timing belts are wounded around the fixed pulley. The circumference of the pulley should be grooved so that belt does not slip off from the pulley. So that it accommodates the belt. Here the pulley system provides engine timing.

Idler motor pulley is the type of motor pulley used to guide the path and provide proper tension to the belt. It does not give power to any peripheral devices connected to the motor pulley. The sewing machine also works on this principle. The motor pulley in the sewing machine provides proper direction and tension to the thread we use to stitch the cloth.

Anatomical Pulley:

You might be surprised to learn that some of our body components operate using a fixed pulley mechanism. The pulley is replaced by a bone or ligament in the human body, and a muscle tendon replaces the cord. Synovial fluid lubricates the tendon, allowing it to glide freely over the bone.

The anatomical pulley is formed when a muscle fibre or muscular tendon crosses over a bone and changes the direction of the force. The fixed pulley’s job is to direct the force in the right direction so that the work can be completed quickly. The movement of body segments is the “Task” in the human body.

Anatomical Pulley

A fixed pulley like structures in the human body:

  • Movement of the knee joint: The fixed pulley principle is used to extend the knee. A bone changes the direction of muscle pull and acts as a fixed pulley. The direction of muscle passing across the knee joint changes due to the larger size of the bone. As a result, the bone acts as a fixed pulley by adjusting the angle of pull of that specific muscle.
  • The hand movement: The delicate movement of the hand is possible only due to the band at the wrist, which acts as a fixed pulley and controls the movement of muscle. Here the pulley changes the direction of muscle pull by preventing its bowstring. This type of pulley is also present in feet.
  • Movement of the eyeball: Even when we move our eyes, a little bone acts as a fixed pulley. The muscle originates in one way but functions in the opposite direction due to the pulley. This pulley increases the efficiency of this little ocular muscle.
  • Movement of the ankle: Same as a knee joint in the ankle, the shape of bone changes the direction of muscle insertion. This changes the direction of muscle pull and acts as a fixed pulley.

In the last post, we have discussed how does a fixed pulley makes work easier. So in this post, we discussed fixed pulley examples. We hope that we have accurately presented fixed pulley examples to you throughout this post.

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