WEEKS 1-2

MECHANISMS
• References
• (METU, Department of Mechanical Engineering) Text Book: “Mechanisms” Web Page:
http://www.me.metu.edu.tr/people/eres/ME301/Index.ht
• Analitik Çözümlü Örneklerle Mekanizma Tekniği, Prof. Dr. Mustafa SABUNCU, 2004
• Mekanizma Tekniği, Prof. Dr. Eres SÖYLEMEZ, 2007
• Theory of Machines and Mechanisms, J.J. Uicker, G.R.Pennock ve J.E. Shigley, 2003

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 Course Policy

One Midterms (25%) +Two Homeworks (25%) + 1 Final (50%)

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What is a mechanism?
A mechanism is a device which transforms motion to some desirable
pattern and typically develops very low forces and transmits little power.
Mechanisms are assemblages of rigid members connected together by
joints.

A machine typically contains mechanisms which are designed to provide

significant forces and transmit significant power

The motion is transferred from the crank

driven by a motor through the coupler to
the left rocker.

The rotary motion is converted into rocking

motion (desired motion)

A windshield wiper mechanism 3

 Gear mechanism (Gearbox)
Robot

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Crank mechanism

Crank mechanism: It is mainly used to convert

rotary motion to a reciprocating motion

An engine, or motor

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suspension system
The vehicle suspension system is
responsible for driving comfort and safety
as the suspension caries the vehicle body
and transmits all forces between the body
and the road.

Airplane nose wheel mechanism

These systems damp the vibration.

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Mechanisms are assemblages of rigid members (links) connected
together by joints.

Rigid link: A rigid link is one which does not undergo any deformation while
transmitting motion. Actually, rigid links do not exist. However, as the
deformation of a connecting rod, crank etc. of a reciprocating steam engine is
not appreciable, they can be considered as rigid links.

Flexible link: A flexible link is one which is partly deformed in a manner not to
affect the transmission of motion. Example: belts, ropes (halat), chains and
wires are flexible links and transmit tensile forces only.

Why do we assume that all links are rigid?

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If the link 2 is assumed that is flexible,
B it can be difficult to obtain the kinematic
equation between A and B points.

Therefore, all links are designed as to be rigid

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Mechanical press for Example
 Theory of machines is separated into two section

Dynamics is also separated into two

section

Kinematics: Kinematic analysis involves determination of position,

displacement, rotation, speed, velocity, and acceleration of a mechanism.

Kinetics: It is that branch of theory of machines which deals with the inertia
forces which arise from the combined effect of the mass and motion of the
machine parts.

Kinematic Synthesis: It is the determination of the mechanism parameters

(dimensions of the link lengths, number of tooth on gears, etc) to realize a
given motion (including velocity and acceleration) 8
TYPES OF MOTION
TRANSLATION. All points on the body describe parallel paths. A reference line
drawn on the body changes its linear position but does not change its angular
orientation.
All the particles forming the body move along parallel paths. If these paths are
straight lines, the motion is said a rectilinear translation; if the paths are curved
lines, the motion is a curvilinear motion

rectilinear translation curvilinear motion

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ROTATION about a fixed axis. The particles forming the rigid body move in
parallel planes along circles centered on the same fixed axis. If this axis, called the
axis of rotation intersects the rigid body, the particles located on the axis have zero
velocity and zero acceleration

GENERAL PLANE MOTION (Complex motion): Any plane motion which is

neither a translation or a rotation is referred as a general plane motion. Plan
motion is that in which all the particles of the body move in parallel planes.
Translation and rotation are plane motions.

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Kinematic element, is that part of a rigid body which is used to connect it to
another rigid body such that the relative motion between the two rigid bodies
can occur
Kinematic
element

Kinematic
element

Kinematic pair (joint) is a

connection between two or more
kinematic elements. The types of
kinematic pairs and their
distribution within the mechanism
determine the main characteristics
of a mechanism.

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Kinematic pair (joint)

Note: DOF is Degree of Freedom

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 Wheel

Planar pure-roll (R), pure-slide (P), or roll-slide (RP)

joint - 1 or 2 DOF (higher pair) 13
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Kinematic pairs (joints) may be classified in
several diffrent forms. Classification Mechanisms of Kinematic Pairs

Type of contact

Closed kinematic form Open kinematic form Lower kinematic pairs Higher kinematic pairs

Force closed Form closed

Contact along a surface

A nut and a bolt have been assembled

to each other by its geometry

The spring provides contact between

the follower and cam.

Contact at a point or on a line

Closed kinematic pairs are those in which the contact between the kinematic elements is maintained within all possible
positions of a mechanism.
In force closed kinematic pairs, there exist an external force ( spring force etc.) which keeps the two kinematic elements
in contact.
In form closed kinematic pairs, one of the kinematic elements envelopes the other.
An open kinematic pair is one whose pairing and unpairing of its kinematic elements that form the joint are controlled. 15
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Degree of freedom of a rigid body:
The degree of freedom (DOF) of a rigid body is the number of independent
parameters that define its configuration

Six independent parameters are required to

define the motion of the ship.

DOF=6, =6 (spatial space)

DOF=3, =3 (planar space)

An unrestrained rigid body in space has six degrees of freedom: three translating
motions along the x, y and z axes and three rotary motions around the x, y and z axes
respectively.

Degree of freedom a kinematic pair:

The degrees of freedom (DOF) of a kinemtaic pairs defined as the number

of independent movements it has.

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Degree of freedom a kinematic pair:

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Degree of freedom a kinematic pair:

Joint with Highest freedom. Translation

perpendicular to the plane is restricted.
Translations within the plane and rotation in all
three axes are possible

the ball can rotate around

the x,y and z-axes

When a Cylinder is confined between two parallel planes,

there is no translation perpendicular to the planes and no
rotation about an axis within the plane perpendicular to the
cylinder axis. Translation about two perpendicular axes
**In force closed kinematic pairs, there within the plane and rotation about the cylinder axis and
about an axes perpendicular to the plane are possible
exist an external force ( spring force etc.)
which keeps the two kinematic elements in
contact.
**In form closed kinematic pairs, one of the
kinematic elements envelopes the other.

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Degree of freedom a kinematic pair:

Joint with Highest freedom. Translation perpendicular to the plane is

restricted. Translations within the plane and rotation in all three axes
are possible

When a Cylinder is confined between two parallel planes, there is no translation

perpendicular to the planes and no rotation about an axis within the plane
perpendicular to the cylinder axis. Translation about two perpendicular axes within
the plane and rotation about the cylinder axis and about an axes perpendicular to
the plane are possible

Three axes of rotation intersect at the center of the sphere

If a pin perpendicular to the axes of translation is inserted into a slot, then rotation
about the translation axis is constrained. If the slot is cut in a different direction,
rotation about one axis will be constrained.
Translation in two axes (in plane) and rotation (perpendicular to the plane) are
possible.

Rotation axes are skew (they do not intersect).

The rotation and translation axes are coincident

Axes of translation and rotation are perpendicular to each other.

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If a rigid body contains at least two kinematic elements we shall call it a link. A link may have more than two kinematic
elements (but not less than two). One can classify links according to the number of kinematic elements it contains.
These are binary, ternary or quarternary, etc.

For the kinematic analysis we shall be

interested only with the kinematic dimensions

The kinematic dimensions of a link in a mechanism are those dimensions which define the relative positions of the kinematic elements
on that link and when these dimensions are specified, the link dimensions are known for motion analysis. These dimensions can be
distances or angles. For the manufacture of the link or for the dynamics, etc other physical dimensions such as the width, height,
thickness, etc. may be important. For the kinematic analysis we shall be interested only with the kinematic dimensions. As seen with the
above figure, on the link at points A and B kinematic elements form revolute joins, whereas at D there is a cylinder in slot joint. For
manufacture besides the thickness, one must specify the radii ( R 1, R2, R3), the slot length and width (L1, L2), the length of the piece (L3)
etc. These have no importance for kinematics. Whereas the distance between revolute joints A and B (a), the angle slot makes with
respect to the line AB () and perpendicular distance from point A to the slot axis (b)are the kinematic dimensions of this link. Once
these four parameters are known, the link is kinematically defined.
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Kinematic diagram: A kinematic diagram or kinematic scheme illustrates the
connectivity of links and joints of a mechanism or machine rather than the
dimensions or shape of the parts. Often links are presented as geometric
objects, such as lines, triangles or squares, that support schematic versions of
the joints of the mechanism or machine

. Connecting rod

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 Kinematic diagram

Crank mechanism

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Shaping Machine (Quick Return Mechanism)
 There are certain joints where more than two links are connected. For such cases we
define the degree-of a joint as the number of links connected at the joint minus one.
One must assume that there joints at this point equal to the degree of the joint,
( please do not confuse the degree of the joint with the degree-of-freedom of a joint)

Degree of a joint is equal to the number of joints at that connection.

Degree of freedom of a joint is the number of independent parameters

required to define the position of one link relative to the other connected by
that joint. 27
Kinematic chain: The links connected to each other by kinematic pairs will form a kinematic
chain. If all the kinematic pairs are closed, than we have a closed kinematic chain. If one of the
kinematic pair is of open type, the kinematic chain is an open kinematic chain.
Kinematic chain is an idealised representation of the mechanism structure. We are not
concerned with the dimensions of the links. Each link is represented as a line or as a polygon
and at each vertex we have a kinematic element which joins with another element on another
link. The dimensions of the edges are not important.

Shaping Machine (Quick Return Mechanism)

Sled element 1- The kinematic diagram of all links is drawn

2- All links are connected according to their kinematic pairs

1 closed kinematic chain.

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3
Slider element

1
4

2
5 5

6 4
3 28
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open kinematic chain

1 2
4
2 3

3 4 1

For higher kinematic pair

2
1 2 3

3 1

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The degree of freedom of a mechanism (mobility) is the number of
independent parameters required to define the position of every link in that
mechanism
Degree of freedom of a mechanism depends on:

• The degree of freedom of space

• The degree of freedom of the joints
• The number of links and joints
• The distribution of links and joints
• Does not depend on the shape of the links.
Determination of the Degree-of- Freedom of a Mechanism

j
F   l  j  1   fi
i 1

*** If F=0 or F<0, the mechanisms can be called static or hiperstatic 35

respectively.
To increase the load carrying capacity there can be several contact points between the two
links. Each contact point cannot be treated as a different kinematic pair. There can be
only one kinematic element between two links.

There is one kinematic element (lower

kinematic pair) between two links.

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 j
F    j  1   f i
Four-bar linkage

i 1
Slider crank mechanism

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F 3(4  4  1)   1 1 1 1 1
i 1
Shaping Machine (Quick Return Mechanism)

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F 3(6  7  1)   1  1  1  1  1  1  1 1
i 1

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 Adjustable Drive Grabber

Second order
pin joints

F 3(7  8  1) 
8 F 3(10  13  1) 
 1 1 1 1 1 1 1  1 2
i 1 13

 13 1
i 1

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 10
F 3(8  10  1)   10  1
i 1

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A simplified engineering drawing of the front loader assembly is as shown.
Note that a lot of details are neglected.

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The Schematic kinematic diagram of the mechanism involved for the front loader is as
shown. Note that each link in practice may be composed of several different rigid bodies
that are rigidly connected to each other.

F 3(9  11  1) 
12

 11 2
i 1

The two degrees of freedom refer to the displacement parameters between

the piston and cylinders. It can be said that two actuators need for the front
loader motion 44