Basics of Mechanisms
Dr.B.Santhosh
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Amrita School of Engineering
Where we stand in Mechanics?
Wiper mechanism in a car
Definitions Link 3
• Link
• Link is the basic building block of a
mechanism
• Links are assumed to be perfectly rigid Link 4
• For the robotic arm there are four links –
four link mechanism Link 2
• Links are connected at their ends by
joints
• Link 1 – is fixed at the base
• Where is the motor?? – prime mover
Link 1
Types of Links
Binary
????
Ternary Binary
Ternary
Identify the number and types of links
Homework/ Assignment 1
Shear for cutting and trimming
electronic board circuits
Device to move packages in an assembly line
Mechanical press Excavator
Hand pump
Nose wheel assembly for an aircraft
Plier Window
Joints
• Joints are movable connection
between links and allows
relative motion between links Sliding joint
Complex links - more than two joints Revolute joint
Kinematic Pair/s
• When links are connected by joints, they form a kinematic pair
• 1, 2, 3 and 4 – Kinematic links
• (1 – 2), (2 – 3), (3 – 4) and (4 – 1)
are kinematic pairs
Classification of kinematic pairs based on the type
of contact
• Lower pairs : Surface to surface contact
Revolute pair Sliding pair/ prismatic pair Screw/ helical pair
Lower kinematic pairs
Cylindrical pair Spherical pair
Flat/ Surface pair
Lower kinematic pairs
Higher kinematic pairs
• Joints with point or line of contact
Cams Bearings
Gears
Kinematic chain
• When several links are movably connected
together by kinematic pairs, they form a
kinematic chain
• Links containing only two pairs of element
connections are known as binary links, three as
ternary links and so on.
• Links and joints are interconnected to provide
controlled out put motion in respond to
supplied input motion
• A kinematic chain with only binary links are
known as simple chain
• Open closed kinematic chains
Mechanism
• A kinematic chain in which one of the link has been fixed/ grounded is
known as a mechanism
• Mechanisms are used for transforming or transmitting motion
• Mechanisms can be planar, spherical or spatial
Kinematic diagrams
• It is difficult to visualize a full assembly drawing of a
mechanism
• In a kinematic diagram parts are represented in skeleton form
• They are similar to electrical circuit diagrams or piping
diagrams
• Kinematic diagrams are drawn to scale to preserve the
dimensions of the components
Binary link
Binary link with a point of interest
Ternary link
Pin jointed binary links
Slider
Cams
Gears
Kinematic diagrams
• Example 1 : Shear used to cut and trim electronic circuit laminates
Handle (2)
B Bar connecting the
A
cutting blade with
handle (4)
C Frame (1)
Cutting blade (3)
Actual Mechanism Kinematic diagram
• Example 2 : Vise grips
Top handle (1) Bar connecting top and bottom handle (4)
D A
C B
Bottom handle (2) Bottom jaw (3)
• One of the handle to be
considered as frame
• The motion of other links to be
defined with respect to the frame
Homework/ Assignment 1
Degrees of freedom (DOF) / Mobility of a mechanism
• Our study is limited to PLANAR MECHANISMS
• Definition of DOF:
• Number of independent parameters that must be controlled independently in
order to bring a mechanism in a particular position
• Before connecting together, each link in a planar mechanism has 3 dof
with respect to a fixed link
• n link planar mechanism has 3(n-1) DOF before any joints are
connected.
• Each pin joint constraints 2 DOF
• Each higher pair joint constrain 1 DOF
• Translating along the curved surface
• Turning about the instantaneous point of contact
Four bar mechanism
• Number of links (circled) n = 4
• 1 – fixed (frame)
• 2 – rotation (crank)
• 3 – general plane motion (coupler)
• 4 – rotation/ oscillation (rocker)
• Number of lower pair joints j1 = 4
• Total no. of DOF = 3(n-1) = 9
• No. of DOF constrained by joints = 2×j1 = 8
• DOF of four bar mechanism = 3(n-1)-2j1 = 1
• Four bar is a 1 DOF mechanism
• One input is enough to bring the mechanism
to any desired position
Five bar mechanism
• No. of links n = 5
• No. of lower pair joints j1 = 5
• DOF = 3(n-1)-2j1 = 3× 4 - 2×5 = 2
• Two independent inputs are
required to bring the mechanism
to any desired position
• Rotation should be given to link2
and link 5
Three link mechanism
• n=3
• j1 = 3
• DOF = 3(n-1)-2j1 = 0
• Mobility = 0 , it is a structure
Slider crank mechanism
•n=4
• J1 = 4
• J2 = 0
• DOF = 3(n-1)-2j1-j2 = 1
Six link mechanism
•n=6
• J1 = 8
• DOF = 3(n-1)-2j1 = 15 – 16 = -1
• Redundant (no longer needed)
• Statically indeterminate
Mechanism with a ternary link
• 1,2,3,4,5 – binary links
• 6 – ternary link
•n=6
• J1 = 7
• DOF = 3(n-1)-2j1 = 3×5-2×7 = 1
Mechanism with higher pairs
Line / point of contact •n=3
• J1 = 2
• J2 = 1
• DOF = 3(n-1)-2j1-j2
= 3×2-2×2-1
=1
•n=4
• j1 = 3
• j2 = 1
• DOF = 3(n-1)-2j1-j2
=2
Pure rolling will provide only 1 DOF - rotation
Rolling with slipping allow 2 DOF – translation + rotation
Kutzback Criteria for determining DOF of planar
mechanism
• Number of DOF for a planar mechanism is given by
DOF = 3(n-1)-2j1-j2
• where
n = total number of links
j1 = number of joints with ONE dof ( pin joints)
j2 = number of joints with TWO dof ( higher pairs)
Homework / assignment 1
Find the number of DOF for the mechanisms
Homework / assignment 1- Find the number of DOF for the
mechanisms
