The early history of the crossbow

[Thomas V.]

I'm a little confused, and never said I was smart... :-)
It seems like the pressure of the bow string against the notched part of the nut would press back against the rod. What keeps the rod from just slipping back on its own under the pressure? That looks like it would make for a very dangerous situation. You couldn't, say, lay the cocked crossbow on a table without holding the handle, or it would simply release on its own, and launch the arrow unexpectedly.

Or am I missing something?

Hello M. Demetrius,

I had the same thought/doubt at first, but now I think that Robert's mechanism would in fact work.

Just take a look at Robert's drawing. The force transmitted by the string would initiate a counterclockwise rotation of the nut. Because of the rotation, the lip of the nut would push the rod back, but as the top side of the rod prevents the front half of the nut's underside from travelling downwards, the nut doesn't move and hence the rod stays in place.

Regards,

Thomas