Mechanisms & Machine Design

Four Bar Mechanisms

THEORY OF MACHINES
– Deals with the study of relative motion between the various parts of
machine as well as the determination of the forces and motions of
linkages in machines
– Subdivisions:
• Kinematics : relative motion between various part of the machine
without application of force. It helps to estimate the spatial position
and/or its derivatives (velocity & acceleration) when one or more
boundary conditions are known
• Kinetics : relationship between motion and its causes, the system's
state, cause and reactions can be explained/estimated
• Static : deals with the forces and their effects, while the machine parts
are at rest (a=0). Analysis of force.
• Dynamic : deals with the forces and their effects, while acting upon the
machine parts in motion
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THEORY OF MACHINES
• Analysis – given a mechanism, predict its behavior– DOF,
position, velocity, acceleration
• Synthesis– given a desired behavior, develop a
mechanism

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Introduction
Body at
rest
Mechanisms/
Statics Linkages
Body with
constant
Rigid Body velocity
Mechanics

Body with Parts/ Link Joints

Dynamics accelerate
d motion
Links & joints
Links: rigid member having nodes, i.e. attachment points
– Binary link: 2 nodes
– Ternary link: 3 nodes
– Quaternary link: 4 nodes

Joint: connection between two links (at their nodes) which allows motion
➢Classified by type of contact, number of DOF, type of physical closure, or number of
links joined.

kinematic pair : Joints are also known as kinematic pair

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LINKS & JOINTS
– Joint Classifications:
1. Type of contact between the elements
2. Number of DOF at joint
3. Type of physical closure at the joint
4. Number of links joint (order of the joint)

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Joint Classification
Type of contact:
line/point i.e. higher pair,
area/surface i.e. lower pair
Number of DOF:
full joint=1DOF,
half joint=2DOF
Form closed (closed by geometry) or
Force closed (needs an external force to keep it
closed)
Joint order = number of links-1

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Kinematic Pairs
• Full Joint: permits one relative motion between adjacent links. All of these kinematic
Turning pairs
pairs are referred to as one degree of freedom(DOF) pairs.
• Half Joint: allows two relative motions simultaneously between the adjacent links
and referred to as two degree of freedom pairs.
• Turning pairs allow relative turning motion between two links, e.g. bearings, pivots, Half
Joint
or pin joints.
• Rolling pairs allow relative rolling motion between two links, e.g. pair of friction
wheels For a rolling pair, it is assumed that there is no slippage between the links.
• Sliding pairs allow relative sliding motion between two links, e.g Piston-Cylinder.

Sliding pairs
Types of joints
Lower Pairs Joints

Lower pairs: A kinematic pair or joint

with surface/area contact.
Higher Pairs Joints
Higher pairs: A kinematic pair or
joint with point contact or line contact.
Mechanism
• Mechanism: It is an assemblage of links and joints with at least one link grounded and
interconnected in a way to provide controlled output motions in response to supplied input
motions. (Grounded kinematic chain)
• Kinematic chain: A kinematic chain is an assembly of links formed by placing kinematic
pairs at each of the nodes without specifying the ground link.
• Kinematic chains may be either open type or close type.
• Mobility or DOF of a mechanism: The mobility of a mechanism is defined as the
number of independent parameters required to specify the position of all links of the
mechanism. It also specify the number of input/actuators needed to operate the
mechanism.
Mechanisms
• Mechanisms are widely used in applications where precise relative movement and
transmission of force are required. Motions may be continuous or intermittent, linear
and/or angular.

Worm_gear Gear-gear Gear-rack Cam –follower

Examples of continuous motion output

Sewing machine creating a Sewing machine creating a

lockstitch using an lockstitch using Allen B
Ratchet Cam –follower Geneva oscillating a boat shuttle Wilson's rotating hook
Mechanism Mechanism
Examples of intermittent motion output
Machine & Mechanism
• Machine: mechanism designed to do work.
• A simple machine may also be considered as a single mechanism.

Figure 1.3(b) shows a free body diagram of the system

Figure 1.3(a) The tongs can be used to analyze the manual force required to generate
considered either as a machine sufficient gripping force.
or as a mechanism.

Figure: IC Engine Demonstration Figure: Inline 4-Cylinder Engine

Machine & Mechanism

Figure: Scotch Yoke mechanism Figure: Slider crank mechanism

Figure: Quick return mechanism Figure: A Paper/ Card Punching Machine

Planar Mechanism
Planar motion is restricted to a plane. For a planar mechanism, the motions of all of its links must take place
either in the same plane or in planes that are parallel to one another. The slider crank mechanism and four-bar
mechanism are examples of planar mechanisms.

Figure 1.7 Slider crank mechanism Figure 1.5 Slider crank

with offset mechanism

The Gruebler’s equation for the mobility, m,

of a planar mechanism is given as

n= number of links in the mechanism

J1 =umber of one degree of freedom pairs
J2=umber of two degree of freedom pairs Figure 1.8 Four-bar
mechanism
Mobility
Mobility of a mechanism is the number of input parameter that
must be controlled independently in order to bring the device into
a particular position. Number of inputs needed to create a
predicted output/to define the positiong
Planar mechanism
The Kutzbach’s modification of Gruebler’s equation for the
mobility, m, of a planar mechanism is given as
m 3(n  1)  2 J1  J 2
n= number of links in the mechanism
J1 =number of one degree of freedom pairs
J2=number of two degree of freedom pairs
Mobility, m Description

m<0 Preloaded Structure, may require force to

assemble/Indeterminate problem
m=0 Structure
m>0 Mechanism
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Mobility

Figure 1.36 Examples of mobility.

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Mobility Paradoxes 5
The Gruebler criterion pays no attention to link sizes or shapes, it can give
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misleading results in the face of unique geometric configurations. 4
3

5 1
1
1
2 3 4 n=5; J1=6; J2=0; ∴ m=0

1 1 1
n=5; J1=6; J2=0; ∴ m=0 but, m=1. Full Joint,
Half Joint,
Pure rolling,
rolling &
no sliding
sliding
In case of pure rolling, 3
2
n=3; J1=3; J2=0; ∴ m=0
1 1
In case of rolling & sliding,
n=3; J1=2; J2=1; ∴ m=1
Idle Degrees of Freedom
An Idle degree of freedom is one that appears (and is) present but its value has no effect on the input – output
relationships of interest
To identify Idle degrees of freedom, first identify the input and output links
–Then we must determine if a single link or combinations of links can move without affecting the
input/output link positions
–Like a connecting link rotating (about its axis) in a steering mechanism without changing the relationship
between the steering wheel and the front tires in a vehicle
Idle Degrees of Freedom

Note: Pin-in-slot & Cam Contact are half

joints
Here, the Structure has five DOF with two Idle DOF’s. They are the roller and
the cam rocker .
mActual = MTheoretical - mIdle

=5-2 = 3
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Spatial Mechanism
In a spatial mechanism, links move in three dimensions. For example, in a prosthetic hand,
the thumb moves in a plane that is not parallel to the planes of motion of the other four
fingers.

Figure 1.29 (a) a prosthetic hand Figure 1.29(b) Fingers wrap

around an object as shown in

The Kutzbach mobility equation for spatial linkages:

where the subscript refers to the number of freedoms of the joint.

Example of Spatial Linkage
4 Links; 2 spherical Joints, 1cylindrical joint and 1 revolute joint.
DOF of a Spherical Joint is 3
DOF of a Cylindrical Joint is 2
DOF of a Revolute Joint is 1
MECHANISMS INVERSION
Every mechanism has one stationary base link. All other links may move relative to the fixed base
link. From the same kinematic chain, an inversion is a mechanism is obtained by making the
originally fixed link into a moving link and selecting an originally moving link to be the fixed link .

Hand pump
(a) slider crank chain (link 1 fixed),

(b) inversion #1 (c) inversion #2 (d) inversion #3

(link 2 fixed), (link 3 fixed), (link 4 fixed).

Slider crank mechanism and its three inversions 25

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Planar four-bar linkages
• Planar four-bar linkages are important mechanisms found in machines.

The kinematics and dynamics of planar four-bar linkages are important

topics in mechanical engineering.

• Planar four-bar linkages are constructed from four links connected in a

loop by four one degree of freedom joints. A joint may be either a

revolute, that is a hinged joint, denoted by R, or a prismatic, as sliding

joint, denoted by P.
Planar quadrilateral
linkage
• The planar quadrilateral linkage is formed by four links and

four revolute joints, denoted RRRR. The slider-crank linkage is

constructed from four links connected by three revolute and

one prismatic joint, or RRRP. The double slider is a PRRP

linkage.[3]
• Planar four-bar linkages can be designed to guide a wide

variety of movements.
Planar quadrilateral linkage
• Planar quadrilateral linkage, RRRR or 4R linkages have four

rotating joints. One link of the chain is usually fixed, and is

called the ground link, fixed link, or the frame. The two links

connected to the frame are called the grounded links and are

generally the input and output links of the system, sometimes

called the input link and output link. The last link is the floating

link, which is also called a coupler or connecting rod because it

connects an input to the output.

Planar quadrilateral linkage
• Link classification:
▪ Ground: fixed with respect to reference frame
▪ Crank: pivoted to ground, makes complete revolutions
▪ Rocker: pivoted to ground, has oscillatory motion
▪ Coupler: link has complex motion, not attached to ground
Planar quadrilateral linkage
• Assuming the frame is horizontal there are four possibilities for the input
and output links:[3]

– A crank: can rotate a full 360 degrees

– A rocker: can rotate through a limited range of angles which does not
include 0° or 180°

– A 0-rocker: can rotate through a limited range of angles which includes

0° but not 180°

– A π-rocker: can rotate through a limited range of angles which includes

180° but not 0°
Grashof condition
• The Grashof condition for a four-bar linkage states: If the sum of the
shortest and longest link of a planar quadrilateral linkage is less than or
equal to the sum of the remaining two links, then the shortest link can
rotate fully with respect to a neighboring link.
• In other words, the condition is satisfied if S+L ≤ P+Q where S is the
shortest link, L is the longest, and P and Q are the other links.
Four-Bar Mechanism-Grashof's
Criterion
Four-bar mechanisms may be studied by distinguishing the link lengths as follows:
s: the length of the shortest link
l: the length of the longest link
p, q: the lengths of the other two links
To assemble the kinematic chain it is necessary that,

The type of a four-bar mechanism may be determined using Grashof"s Criterion,

(i) (ii) (iii)

Then, only case (i) offers all three types of a four-bar

mechanisms.
Four-Bar Mechanism-Grashof's
Criterion

Class_I Class_II Class_III

Rocker_Rocker Change Point
(i) If s is the input link, then
the mechanism is a crank
rocker.
(ii) If s is the base link, then
the mechanism is a drag link.
(iii) If otherwise, then the
mechanism is a rocker-rocker.
For S+L<P+Q
Crank-rocker if either link adjacent to shortest is grounded
Double crank if shortest link is grounded
Double rocker if link opposite to shortest is grounded

Figure 1.43 Types of four-bar mechanisms (a) crank rocker, (b) drag
link, (c) rocker-rocker.
For S+L>P+Q
All inversions will be double rockers
No link can fully rotate

Figure: Four Bar double rockers

For S+L=P+Q (Special case
Grashof)
All inversions will be double cranks or crank rockers. Linkage can form parallelogram or antiparallelogram.
Often used to keep coupler parallel (drafting machine)

Parallelogram form Anti parallelogram form Deltoid form

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Let the lengths of the three moving links are r2= 2.0 cm; r3=4.0
cm; r4=5.0 cm, adjusting the length of the base link we can get the
following inversion of four bar mechanism.

Figure 1.47 Four-bar mechanisms:

crank rocker