Abstract
Link mechanism is widely used as transmission/conversion device of simple motion by prime mover. The input-output relationship, however, is highly non-linear and it makes the synthesis of link mechanism complex. The synthesis of link mechanism is generally a process of trial and error of modification and correction of past design cases. This article discusses the optimal synthesis of four-bar mechanism realizing specified trajectory and velocity profiles in a given design space. A design case-base is constructed for link size and the coupler curves profile. For the target trajectory and its velocity profiles, several example cases are retrieved from the case-base based on the similarity of coupler curves. Then, the size constants are optimized for each example case retrieved by the simplex method to minimize the resultant error function of trajectory profile and velocities profiles. Through a couple of synthesis cases, the described approach have been examined with satisfactory design examples.
