A Few Basic Concepts and Denitions Related to

Mechanisms
Sandipan Bandyopadhyay
Department of Engineering Design
Indian Institute of Technology Madras
Chennai 600 036
Machines and mechanisms: The terms machine and mechanism are both used in the
same context, to refer to a device constituted of (rigid) links and joints, which transforms and
transfers force and motion from one member of the device (input) to the other (output). When
the transmission of force is the primary objective, the device is referred to as a machine, e.g.,
the toggle press, the dumper-loader etc. On the other hand, if the transformation of motion
is the primary objective, the device is called a mechanism, e.g., the wind-shield wiper of an
automobile, the drive-train of a sewing machine etc.
Link: A link is a rigid member that connects to one or more links to form a linkage. A
link classied as binary, ternary or quaternary if it connects to two, three or four other links
respectively.
Kinematic pairs: Kinematic pairs refer to a pair of links with a mechanical joint between
them. The joints impose certain restrictions (more formally, kinematic constraints) on the
types motions the members in a pair can have relative to each other. Kinematic pairs can
be classied based on multiple criteria. For example, depending on the nature of the contact
between the members of a pair:
Lower pair: The members contact each other along a surface.
Higher pair: The members contact each other along a line or a point.
The lower pairs can be classied further, as shown in Table 1. Another basis for the classi-
cation of the kinematic pairs is the cause of the contact between the members:
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Table 1: Classication of lower pairs
Type of pair Symbol Degree-of-freedom Equivalent representation
Revolute R 1 -
Prismatic P 1 -
Screw (Helic) H 1 -
Cylindric C 2 RP (or PR)
Planar E 3 PPR (or RPP, PRP)
Spheric S 3 RRR
Form-closed pair: The contact is ensured by the geometry or form of the members,
e.g., a cylindric pair.
Force-closed pair: The contact is ensured by an external force, such as the self-weight
or the spring load on a cam-follower pair.
Linkages and mechanisms: Linkages are composed of links and lower pairs. A linkage gen-
erates a mechanism when one or more of its links are xed or grounded. Dierent mechanisms
can be obtained from the same linkage by grounding a (dierent set of) link(s). For example,
dierent fourbar mechanisms can be generated by xing a dierent link of the same fourbar
linkage at a time.
Depending upon the nature of the motion of the links, mechanisms can be classied in the
following manner:
Planar mechanism: If all the points of a mechanism move in planes parallel to a certain
plane (called the reference plane), then it is called a planar mechanism. Note, however,
that the reference plane can be aligned arbitrarily in space.
Spatial mechanism: If all the points of a mechanism do not move in parallel planes,
then it is dened as a spatial mechanism.
Mechanisms can also to classied according to the types on links in them:
Simple mechanism: This is the case when all the links are binary.
Complex mechanism: This is the case when there are one or more ternary or higher
links.
For further reading and more detailed discussions on these topics, please refer to the textbooks [1, 2].
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References
[1] A. Mallik and A. Ghosh, Theory of Mechanisms and Machines. New Delhi: Aliated East-West
Press Private Limited, 2007.
[2] J. J. Uicker, G. R. Pennock, and J. E. Shighley, Theory of Machines and Mechanisms. New
Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2004.
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