Assembly Configurations and Branches of Planar Single-Input Dyadic Mechanisms

Abstract

This paper examines the problem of enumerating the assembly configurations (ACs), also called circuits, and branches of planar single-input dyadic (SID) mechanisms which have links with pin joints and sliding joints. An SID mechanism is a multiloop mechanism which can be defined by adding one loop at a time such that the mechanism has one degree of freedom after each loop is added. A method is given to find the ACs of such a mechanism. The emphasis is on using graphical interpretation to determine the mobility regions of the mechanism which are preserved when each new loop is added to the mechanism. This method of interpretation is readily automated. Each AC can be represented as a set of instructions for the input link to follow, along with a list of dyad configurations for each instruction. Each instruction corresponds to a branch of the mechanism. Examples are given to demonstrate the use of this method.