FUNDAMENTALS OF

MECHANICAL
LINKAGES

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 MACHINES AND MECHANISMS
• Mechanism: the fundamental physical or
chemical processes involved in or responsible for
an action, reaction or other natural phenomenon.
• Mechanism: Mechanism is a means of
transmitting, controlling, or constraining relative
movement. Movements which are electrically,
magnetically, pneumatically operated are
excluded from the concept of mechanism. The
central theme for mechanisms is rigid bodies
connected together by joints. 2
 MACHINES AND MECHANISMS
• Machine: an assemblage of parts that transmit forces, motion and
energy in a predetermined manner.
• Simple Machine: any of various elementary mechanisms having
the elements of which all machines are composed.  Included in
this category are the lever, wheel and axle, pulley, inclined
plane, wedge and the screw.
• A machine is a combination of rigid or resistant bodies, formed
and connected so that they move with definite relative motions
and transmit force from the source of power to the resistance to be
overcome.
• A machine has two functions: transmitting definite relative motion
and transmitting force.  These functions require strength and
rigidity to transmit the forces. 3
 MACHINES AND MECHANISMS
The similarity between machines and mechanisms is that
1. they are both combinations of rigid bodies
2. the relative motion among the rigid bodies are definite.
Difference Between mechanism and machine
Mechanism Machine
It Transmits and Modifies Motion Machine modifies mechanical work
It is the skeleton outline of the machine Machine may have many mechanisms
to produce definite motion between for transmitting mechanical work or
various links power
Ex:- Clock work, Type writer Ex:- Shapes Machine in a Workshop.
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 KINEMATICS
Kinematics deals with the relative motion between various parts of the machine.
Or
It is also called as study of motion, quite apart from forces which produce that
motion.

Dynamics :- Deals with forces and their effects while acting upon machine parts
in motion.

Kinematics of Machines :- Kinematics of motion i.e Relative motion of bodies

without consideration of the forces causing the motion.
Or
Kinematics deals with geometry of motion and concepts like position,
displacement, rotation, speed, velocity and acceleration considered as function
of time. 5
 KINEMATIC LINK
Kinematic link is the machine member which has relative
motion with respect to other members or each part of a
machine which moves relative to some other part is known as
kinematic link or element.

A link may consists of several parts which are rigidly

fastened together so that they do not move relative to one
another.
Example : - Reciprocating Engine.

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Link 1 – Fixed Link Link 2 – Crank
Link 3 – Connecting Rod Link 4 – Slider / Piston 7
 TYPES OF LINK
Rigid Link : - It is one which does not undergo any deformation while
transmitting motion
Eg:- Connecting Rod, Crank etc.

Flexible link :- One which partially deformed in a manner not to effect

the transmission of motion.
Eg:- Belts, Ropes, Chains and wires.

Fluid Link:- Formed by having a fluid in container motion is transmitted

through pressure or compression only Eg:- Hydraulic Press, Jacks and
Brakes.

Floating Link:- It is a link which is not connected to the frame.

 TYPES OF LINKS
Links can be classified into Binary Ternary, Quaternary etc.
depending upon their ends on which revolute or turning pairs
can be placed.

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 KINEMATIC PAIR
• The 2 links or elements of a machine when in a contact with each other are said
to form a pair if the relative motion between them is completely or successfully
constrained (i.e. in a definite direction) Then the pair is known as Kinematic
pair.
Or
A Kinematic pair is a joint of two links having relative motion between them

If the constraint is not complete the pair is termed as incomplete or unsuccessful.

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 TYPES OF CONSTRAINED
MOTION
1. Completely constrained motion: - When the motion between a pair
takes place in a definite direction, irrespective of the direction of
force applied, then it is said to be a completely constrained motion.

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 TYPES OF CONSTRAINED
MOTION
2. Incompletely constrained motion/Unsuccessful: - When motion
between a pair can take place in more than one direction, then it is
called as incompletely constrained motion.

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 TYPES OF CONSTRAINED
MOTION
3. Successfully constrained motion: - When constrained motion
between a pair is not completed by itself but by some other means, it
is called as a successfully constrained motion.

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CLASSIFICATION OF KINEMATIC
PAIRS

A. According to type of relative motion between the

elements.
1. Sliding Pair
2. Turning Pair
3. Rolling Pair
4. Screw Pair (Helical)
5. Spherical Pair

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CLASSIFICATION OF KINEMATIC
PAIRS

B. According to type of contact between the elements.

1. Lower Pair
2. Higher Pair
C. According to type of closure or mechanical constraint.
1. Self Closed Pair/ Closed pair
2. Force closed pair/ Unclosed pair/ Open pair

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 SLIDING PAIR
• It consists of two elements connected in such a manner that one is constrained to
have a sliding motion relative to other.
Example :-
1. Rectangular bar in a rectangular hole.
2. Piston of cylinder of an engine
3. Ram and its guides in a shaper
4. Tailstock on the lathe bed etc

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 TURNING PAIR
• It consists of 2 elements connected in such a manner that one is constrained to
turn or revolve about a fixed axis of another element.
Example:-
1. A shaft with a collar and both ends revolving in a circular hole
2. Crankshaft turning in a bearing cycle
3. Wheels revolving over their axles etc.

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 ROLLING PAIR
• When two elements are so connected that one is constrained to roll in another
element which is fixed forms a rolling pair.
Example :-
1. Ball and roller bearing
2. A wheels rolling on a flat surface constitute a rolling pairs

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 SCREW PAIR
• When one element turns about the other element by means of threads form a
screw pair. The motion in this case is a combination of sliding and turning.
Example
1. The lead screw of a Lathe with a nut
2. Screw with a nut of a jack (Helical pair)

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 SPHERICAL PAIR
• When one element in the form of a sphere turns about the other fixed element it
forms a spherical pair.
Example
1. Ball and socket joint
2. Pen stand
3. Mirror attachment of vehicles

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 LOWER PAIR
B. According to type of contact between the elements.
1. Lower Pair
When two elements have surface contact while in motion and the relative motion
being purely turning or sliding.
Note :- All sliding pairs, turning pairs and screw pairs form lower pairs
Example
1. Nut turning on a screw
2. Shaft rotating in a bearing
3. Universal joint
4. All pairs of slider crank mechanism
5. Pantograph 22
 HIGHER PAIR
B. According to type of contact between the elements.
2. Higher Pair
When two elements have joined are in line contact while in motion and relative
motion being the combination of sliding and turning then the pair is known as
higher pair.
Example
1. Belt drives
2. Chain Drives
3. Gears
4. Cams and Followers
5. Ball and Ball Bearings
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6. Wheel rolling on surface.

 CLOSED PAIR
C. According to type of closure or mechanical constraint.
1. Self Closed Pair/ Closed pair

When two elements of a pair are held together mechanically in such a manner that
only require type of relative motion occurs.
All lower pairs and some higher pair are closed pairs
Example :- Enclosed Cam Followers

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 UNCLOSED PAIR
C. According to type of closure or mechanical constraint.
2. Unclosed pair

When two elements of a pair are not held mechanically are held in contact by the
action of external forces are called unclosed pair.
Example :- Cam and spring loaded Follower

Spring

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SLIDER-CRANK MECHANISM 26
 SLIDER-CRANK MECHANISM
Slider-crank mechanism converts rotary to linear motion and vice versa,
depending on its application.
Link AB is free to rotate 360° around the hinge while link BC oscillates back and
forth because point C is hinged to a roller which restricts it to linear motion.
Either the slider or the rotating link AB can be the driver.
This mechanism is more familiar as the piston, connecting rod, and crankshaft of
an internal combustion engine.

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 OSCILLATORY MECHANISM
• Swing-arm quick-return mechanism rotary motion into nonuniform
reciprocating motion. As drive link AB rotates 360° around pin A, it
causes the slider at B to reciprocate up and down along link CD. This,
in turn, causes CD to oscillate left and right, describing an arc. Link
DE, pinned to D with a rolling slider pinned at E, moves slowly to the
right before being returned rapidly to the left.

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 RATCHET WHEEL AND LATCH
Simple ratchet mechanism can only be turned in a counterclockwise direction.
The ratchet wheel has many wedge-shaped teeth that can be moved
incrementally to turn an oscillating drive lever. As driving lever AB first moves
clockwise to initiate counterclockwise movement of the wheel it drags pawl C
pinned at B over one or more teeth while pawl D prevents the wheel from
turning clockwise.

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 REVERSE MOTION MECHANISM
• Reverse Motion Linkages are used to change the direction of motion.
A single lever with a pivot at its centre reverses an input motion without
affecting the input force. Another way of describing this linkage is the
direction of movement in one rod is reversed in the other rod.

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 REVERSE MOTION

• When a mechanism is desired which is capable of delivering output

rotation in the either direction, some form of reversing mechanism is
required.
• Ex : gear shifting, Closed Belt Drives

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 PAUSE AND HESITATION
MECHANISM
Geneva Mechanism: - Geneva wheel mechanism is an
example of intermittent gearing that converts continuous
rotary motion into intermittent rotary motion. Geneva
wheel C makes a quarter turn for every turn of lever AB
attached to driving wheel A. When pin B on lever AB
turns clockwise, it enters one of the four slots of geneva
wheel C; the pin moves downward in the slot, applying
enough torque to the geneva wheel to turn it
counterclockwise 1/4 revolution before it leaves the slot.
As wheel A continues to rotate clockwise, it engages the
next three slots in a sequence to complete one geneva
wheel rotation. If one of the slots is obstructed, the pin can
only move through part of the revolution, in either
direction, before it strikes the closed slot, stopping the
rotation of the geneva wheel. This mechanism has been
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used in mechanical windup watches, clocks, and music
boxes to prevent overwinding.
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 LOADING AND UNLOADING
MECHANISMS
• Parallelogram mechanism: - In a parallelogram four-bar linkage, the
orientation of the coupler does not change during the motion. The
figure illustrates a loader. The behavior of maintaining parallelism is
important in a loader. The bucket should not rotate as it is raised and
lowered.

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