Theory of Machines & Mechanisms

MCT 2212
Introduction
Body at rest

Statics
Body with
under the action constant velocity
Rigid Body
Mechanics of forces and
moments

Body with
Dynamics accelerated
motion
 Introduction
Parts/ Link
Theory of Machines Mechanisms/
and Mechanisms Linkages
Subsystems
deals with the of machines
determination of to facilitate
the forces and analysis Joints
motions of links
in machines
Types of Mechanisms
• Kinematic pairs
• Planar mechanism
• Spherical mechanism
• Spatial mechanism
• Gears and gear trains
• Cam and follower mechanisms
• Linkages
• Flexure mechanisms
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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 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 pairs are referred to as one degree of freedom(DOF)
pairs.
Turning pairs allow relative turning motion between two
Turning pairs
links., e.g. bearings, pivots, 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, Sliding pairs
e.g Piston-Cylinder.
Half Joint: allows two relative motions simultaneously
between the adjacent links and referred to as two degree of Half Joint

freedom pairs.
Types of joints
Higher Pairs
& Lower Pairs

Lower pairs: A kinematic

pair or joint with

surface/area contact.
Higher Pairs & Lower Pairs
Higher pairs: A kinematic pair or joint with point contact or line contact.
 Mechanism
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.

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.

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.
Machine: mechanism designed to do work.
 A machine (or mechanical device) is a mechanical structure that
uses power to apply forces and control movement to perform an
intended action.
 Machines can be driven by animals and people, by natural forces
such as wind and water, and by chemical, thermal, or electrical
power.
 Machines include a system of mechanisms that shape the actuator

Linkinput to achieve a specific application of output forces and

classification:
 movement.
Ground: fixed wrt. 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
A selection of prehistoric stone tools. Neolithic artifacts, including bracelets,
axe heads, chisels, and polishing tools.

Flint hand axe

found
in Winchester
Polished Neolithic Jadeitite axe
from the Museum of Toulouse
Table of simple mechanisms, from Chambers' Cyclopædia, 1728
Table of simple mechanisms, from Chambers' Cyclopædia, 1728
Machine & Mechanism
A simple machine may also be considered as a single mechanism.

Figure 1.3(a) The tongs Figure 1.3(b) shows a free body diagram of
can be considered either the system used to analyze the manual force
as a machine or as a required to generate sufficient gripping force.
mechanism.

Figure: Inline 4-Cylinder Engine

Figure: IC Engine Demonstration
Machine & Mechanism

Figure: Slider crank mechanism

Figure: Scotch Yoke mechanism

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

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

Mechanism 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 os
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 .

(a) slider crank mechanism (link 1 fixed),

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

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

Figure 1.39 Slider crank mechanism and its three inversions

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 with offset Figure 1.5 Slider crank mechanism

The 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 =umber of one degree of freedom pairs
Figure 1.8 Four-bar mechanism
J2=umber of two degree of freedom pairs
Mobility

If, m< 0 i.e. “–ve”, Preloaded Structure, may require force to

assemble / Indeterminate problem .
If, m= 0 , Structure.
If, m>0 i.e. “+ve”, Mechanism.
Mobility

If, m< 0 i.e. “–ve”, Preloaded Structure, may require force to

assemble.
If, m= 0 , Structure.
If, m>0 i.e. “+ve”, Mechanism.

Figure 1.36 Examples of mobility.

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Figure 1.36 (Continued)

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Mobility Paradoxes
5
The Gruebler criterion pays no attention to
2
link sizes or shapes, it can give misleading 4
3
results in the face of unique geometric
1
1
configurations. 1
5 n=5; J1=6; J2=0;  m=0
2 3 4

1 Full Joint,
Half Joint,
1 1 Pure rolling,
rolling &
n=5; J1=6; J2=0;  m=0 but, m=1. no sliding
sliding
3
2
In case of pure rolling,
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
n  12
J1  13
J2  2
m  3(n  1)  2 J 1  J 2
 3(12  1)  2  13  2
5

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

11/25/2021 ME 3230 Page 25

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:

M  6(n  1)  5 J 1  4 J 2  3J 3  2 J 4  J 5
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

M  6(n  1)  5 J 1  4 J 2  3J 3  2 J 4  J 5
 6(4  1)  5  1  4  1  3  2
3
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,
s pq l
The type of a four-bar mechanism may be determined using Grashof"s
Criterion,

(i) s  l  p(ii)
q (iii) s  l  p  q sl  pq

Then, only case (i) offers all three types of a four-bar mechanisms.
Four-Bar Mechanism-Grashof's Criterion

sl  pq sl  pq sl  pq

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

For S+L=P+Q (Special case Grashof) Figure: Four Bar double rockers
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