USE OF COMPATIBILITY LINKAGES AND SOLUTION STRUCTURES IN THE DIMENSIONAL SYNTHESIS OF MECHANISM COMPONENTS

A proposed general method for constructing compatibility linkages for the dimensional synthesis of planar mechanism components is presented. These components include a single link, a dyad, a triad, and a quadri ad for up to the maximum number of precision positions and are derived here for components having one of its links with unknown angular disp lacements. Also included are derived formulas for calculating number o f degrees of freedom and number of links of the respective compatibili ty linkages. Bernshtein formula is introduced for the computation of n umber of possible solutions. The concept of solution structure and the solution procedure are also introduced to assist the application of c ompatibility linkages in solving dimensional synthesis problems and an example is given to demonstrate different solution positions of a com patibility linkage. (C) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd.