Kinematic Synthesis of Adjustable Mechanisms : Part 1, Path Generators

Abstract

Adjusting methods and the types of the outputs of some kinds of planar adjustable mechanisms are investigated, and optimum syntheses of such mechanisms are carried out. In the part 1, the path generators are studied, in which the adjusting methods and the types of the outputs are classified and planar 4-link and multi-link mechanisms are synthesized by considering the pressure angles and the ratios of link lengths. In the mechanisms which generate the ideal straight line and L-path, as examples, the relationships among the number of links, the number and kinds of the adjustable parameters, and the structural errors are analyzed.