Reconfigurable Mechanisms From the Intersection of Surfaces

The method of intersection of surfaces generated by kinematic dyads is applied to obtain mechanisms that are able to shift from one mode of motion to another. Then a mobility analysis shows that the singularities of the generated surfaces can be used to obtain mechanisms which can change their number of degrees-of-freedom depending on its configuration. The generator dyads are connected as usually done by a spherical pair. However, in the cases shown in this contribution the three-degrees-of-freedom of the spherical pair are not all necessary to keep the kinematic chain closed and movable, and the spherical pair can be substituted by either a pair of intersecting revolute joints or a single revolute joint. This substitution can be obtained by means of two methods presented in this contribution.