Leonardo da Vinci’s chain pump used a wheel-and-chain system to lift water.
A chain pump carries a series of attached plates, disks, or buckets that move through a tube or channel. As the chain rises, it carries water upward. Leonardo studied and drew versions of this mechanism while investigating hydraulic engineering and the movement of water.
Chain pumps were not uniquely Leonardo’s invention; related devices existed in earlier cultures, including China and the ancient Mediterranean world. Leonardo’s contribution was his detailed mechanical analysis and his adaptation of lifting mechanisms for engineering projects. This makes the design a useful example of Leonardo improving and documenting mechanisms rather than inventing every principle from nothing.