249~257()

Journal of the Chinese Society of Mechanical Engineers, Vol.30, No.3, pp.249~257 (2009)

Design of Variable Coupler Curve Four-bar

Mechanisms

Ren-Chung Soong * and Sun-Li Wu **

Keywords: Variable coupler curve, Four-bar One way of doing this is to replace the normal links
mechanism, Continuous path with screw-nut links driven by servomotors, as shown
generation. in Fig. 1. The different desired coupler curves can
then be obtained by controlling the length of the
adjustable links and the angular displacement of the
ABSTRACT driving link.

This paper presents a method for designing a

variable coupler curve four-bar mechanism with one P
link replaced by an adjustable screw-nut link and 4
driven by a servomotor. Different desired coupler
curves can be generated by controlling the angular 3
displacement of the driving link and adjusting the
length of the adjustable links for continuous path
5
generation. This paper also presents a derivation of
the adjustable link lengths and the specified angular
displacement of the driving link corresponding to the
2
desired coupler curves. The conditions for generable
desired coupler curves are also described. The 1
examples and experiments described in this paper (a)
confirm the feasibility and effectiveness of the
proposed method. P
1

INTRODUCTION 3

There are two types of path generation. One is

point-to-point path generation, in which the coupler 4
curves only specify discrete points on the desired
path. The other is continuous path generation, in
which the coupler curves specify the entire path, or at 2
least many points on it. Because the coupler curves of
linkage mechanisms are functions of their link 5
lengths, the only way to generate different continuous
coupler curves with a single linkage mechanism is to (b) 1
make the length of at least one of its links adjustable. 1
Paper Received February, 2009. Revised April, 2009. Fig. 1. Adjustable mechanisms
Accepted May, 2009. Author for Correspondence: Ren-Chung
Soong
The investigation of new synthesis methods for
* Associate Professor, Department of Mechanical and
Automation Engineering, Kao Yuan University, Kaohsiung
path generation using linkage mechanisms has been
82141, TAIWAIN, R.O.C. the subject of some research attention in recent years.
Tao and Krishnamoothy (1978) developed graphical
** Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering, synthesis procedures of adjustable mechanisms for
Kao Yuan University, Kaohsiung 82141, TAIWAIN, R.O.C.
generating variable coupler curves with cusps and

-249-
 J. CSME Vol.30, No.3 (2009)

symmetrical coupler curves with a double point. Y

McGovern and Sandor (1973) used complex number
methods to synthesize adjustable mechanisms for
path generation. Kay and Haws (1975) developed a P
design procedure for a path generation mechanism
with a cam link, which provided accuracy over a
range of motion. Angeles et al. (1998) proposed an
unconstrained nonlinear least-square optimal
r5 R5 R3
RP rp
synthesis method for RRRR planar path generators. r3
Hoeltzel and Chieng (1990) proposed a pattern R4
matching synthesis method based on the 3
classification of coupler curves according to moment
variants. Watanabe (1992) presented a natural
equation that expressed the curvature of the path as R2 4
an equation of the arc length and was independent of r2 2
the location and orientation of the path. Ullah and R1
Kota (1994, 1997) presented an optimal synthesis X
r1
method in which the objective function was
expressed as Fourier descriptors. Shimojima et al.
Fig. 2. The coordinate system of a four-bar linkage
(1983) developed a synthesis method for straight-line
and L-shaped path generation using fixed pivot
positions as adjustable parameters. Unruh and The speed trajectory of the driving link, and the
Krishnaswami (1995) proposed a computer-aided lengths of links 1 or 4 can be adjusted to generate
design technique for infinite point coupler curve new coupler curves. Figure 2 shows that the
synthesis of four-bar linkages. Kim and Sodhi (1996) relationship between the angular displacement of the
introduced a method of path generation that made the driving link 2 and the coordinate of the coupler
desired path pass exactly through five specified point ( Px , Py ) can be written as
points and close to other points. Chuenchom and
Kota (1997) presented a synthesis method for
programmable mechanisms using adjustable dyads. Py
Chang (2001) proposed a synthesis method for ( 2 + ) = tan 1 (1)
adjustable mechanisms to trace variable arcs with Px
prescribed velocities. Zhou et al. (2002) proposed an
optimal synthesis method with modified genetic and the vector loop equation can be written as
optimization algorithms by adjusting the position of
the driven side link for continuous path generation. R2 + R5 RP = 0. (2)
Russell and Sodhi (2005) presented a design method
for slider-crank mechanisms to achieve multiphase
path and function generation. Separating Eq. (2) into two scalar component
In this paper, we propose a new design method for equations in the x- and y-directions yields
continuous path generation by four-bar mechanisms
that incorporates a screw-nut link called an adjustable r2 cos 2 + r5 cos( 3 + ) Px = 0 and (3)
link. Different desired coupler curves can be
generated by appropriately adjusting the length of the
adjustable link and controlling the angular r2 sin 2 + r5 sin( 3 + ) Py = 0 (4)
displacement of the driving link. Examples and
experiments are provided to demonstrate this design where ri and i represent the length and angular
method.
displacement of the ith link, respectively. Adding Eqs.
(3) and (4) after squaring both sides gives
REQUIRED DRIVING LINK
r5 = Px + Py 2r2 ( Px cos 2 + Py sin 2 ) + r2 ,
2 2 2 2
ANGULAR DISPLACEMENT
CORRESPONDING TO THE DESIRED (5)
COUPLER CURVE
which, after rearrangement, gives
The coordinate system of a four-bar linkage is
shown in Fig. 2.

-250-
R.C. Soong and S.L. Wu: Design of Variable Coupler Curve Four-bar Mechanisms.

If we assume that the length of link 4 can be

r5 2 Px 2 Py 2 r2 2 adjusted, then we separate Eq. (9) into two scalar
( Px cos 2 + Py sin 2 ) + = 0.
component equations and rearrange as follows:
2 r
2
(r4 + r4 ) cos 4 = r2 cos 2 + r3 cos 3 r1 cos 1
(6)
(10)

To reduce Eq. (6) to a form that can be solved more (r4 + r4 ) sin 4 = r2 sin 2 + r3 sin 3 r1 sin 1
easily, we substitute the half angle identities to (11)
convert the cos 2 and sin 2 terms to
tan 2 terms: where r4 is the length of adjustable link 4.
By dividing Eq. (11) by Eq. (10) to
eliminate (r4 + r4 ) , the angular displacement of link
2
1 tan ( 2 ) 2 tan( 2 )
cos 2 = 2 ; sin 2 = 2 . 4, 4 , can be expressed as
2 2 2 2
1 + tan ( ) 1 + tan ( )
2 2 r2 sin 2 + r3 sin 3 r1 sin 1
4 = tan 1 ( ) (12)
This results in the following simplified form, where r2 cos 2 + r3 cos 3 r1 cos1
the link lengths ( r2 and r5 ) and the known value
Then r4 can be calculated as
( Px , Py ) terms have been collected as constants A, B,
2 2 r cos 2 + r3 cos 3 r1 cos1
and C: A tan 2 ( ) + B tan( ) + C = 0 where r4 = 2 r4 (13)
2 2 cos 4

r5 2 Px 2 Py 2 r2 2
A= P , B = 2 Py , and Assuming that the length of link 1 can be adjusted,
2 r x we separate Eq. 9 into two scalar component
2 equations and rearrange them as follows:
r5 Px Py r2
2 2 2 2

C = + P . The angular
r4 cos 4 = r2 cos 2 + r3 cos 3 (r1 + r1 ) cos 1
2 r x
2 (14)
displacement of the driving link can then be
calculated as
and

B B 2 4 AC r4 sin 4 = r2 sin 2 + r3 sin 3 (r1 + r1 ) sin 1

2 = 2 tan 1 (7) (15)
2 A

We then square both equations and add them to
and the corresponding 3 can be obtained from Eq. eliminate one unknown, say 4. The adjustable length
(4): of link 1, denoted as r1 , can then be expressed as

Px r2 cos 2 B B 2 4C
3 = tan 1 ( ) . (8) r1 = r1 (16)
Py r2 sin 2 2

B = 2r2 (cos1 cos 2 + sin 1 sin 2 )

where and
ADJUSTABLE LENGTH OF LINKS 1 2r3 (cos1 cos 3 + sin 1 sin 3 )
AND 4
C = r42 + r22 + r32
. The
From Figure 2, the vector loop equation can be + 2r2 r3 (cos 2 cos 3 + sin 2 sin 3 )
written as
corresponding 4 is
R2 + R3 R1 R4 =0 . (9)

-251-
 J. CSME Vol.30, No.3 (2009)

r2 sin 2 + r3 sin 3 (r1 + r1 ) sin 1

4 = tan 1 ( )
r2 cos 2 + r3 cos 3 (r1 + r1 ) cos 1
(17)

CONDITIONS FOR GENERABLE

COUPLER CURVES

The coupler curves that can be generated must

satisfy both the following conditions:

(b)
r5 r2 rp r5 + r2 and (18)

(Px r2 cos 2 )2 + (Py r2 sin 2 )2 = r5 2 (19)

where rp = Px + PY . In Fig. 2, we assume that

2 2

r2 and r5 are not adjustable. Therefore, as long as

the desired continuous coupler curves are in the area
between the two concentric circles with radii
r5 r2 and r5 + r2 , they can be generated by
controlling the angular displacement of the driving
link and adjusting the length of links l or 4.
(c)

EXAMPLES

Burrs have always been a problem for steel pipe

manufacturers. Burrs frequently form on
cross-sections when pipes, especially thick ones, are
cut, as shown in Fig. 3. Eliminating burrs in pipes
with circular cross-sections is relatively easy, but this (c)
is much more difficult for non-circular cross-sections.
Since pipe manufacturers generally produce pipes
with various different cross-sections, clearing burrs
from pipes is very important.

(d)

Fig. 3. Burrs on the cross-section of steel pipes

In following examples, we use the four-bar linkage

shown in Fig. 2 with the dimensions shown in Table 1
to generate the coupler curves shown in Fig. 4 by
controlling the angular position of the input link and
the length of links 1 or 4. The intended application is
the removal of burrs from pipes.

Table 1 Four-bar linkage dimensions

r1 r2 r3 r4 r5
(a) dimension 22.2 cm 10 cm 20.6 cm 23.3 cm 30.6 cm

-252-
R.C. Soong and S.L. Wu: Design of Variable Coupler Curve Four-bar Mechanisms.

20
50
The quarter circle with diameter(r5-r2)

Angular displacement of the driving link (degree)

The Y coordinate of the desired coupler curves(cm)

45 0
The quarter circle with diameter(r5+r2)
40 Desired circle curve
Desired ellipse coupler curve -20
35 Desired square coupler curve
-40
30

25 -60

20
-80
15
Example 1
10 -100 Example 2
Example 3
5
-120
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
0 The number of points on the coupler curve
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
The X coordinate of the desired coupler curves(cm)

Fig. 6. The required angular displacement of the

Fig. 4. The desired coupler curves for examples
driving link for all examples
Example 1.
Generation of a circular coupler curve with the 12
center at (25, 18.5) and radius = 8.5 cm, as shown in
Example 1
The length-adjustable magnitude of the link 1 (cm)

Fig. 4. 10 Example 2
Example 3
Example 2. 8
Generation of an elliptical coupler curve with the
center at (25, 18.5), long axis = 10 cm, and short axis 6
= 6 cm, as shown in Fig. 4.
Example 3. 4

Generation of a square coupler curve with four 2

vertexes p1 (17.5, 22.5), p2 (17.5, 13), p3 (27.5, 13),
and p4 (27.5, 23), as shown in Fig 4. 0

Figure 5 shows the desired coupler curves -2

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
generated for all examples and Fig. 6 shows the The number of points on the coupler curve
required angular displacements of the driving link
corresponding to the desired coupler curves. Figures
Fig. 7. The length-adjustable magnitude of the link
7 and 8 show the required lengths of links 1 and 4,
1 for all examples
respectively, corresponding to the desired coupler
curves for all examples.
2

30
The length-adjustable magnitude of the link 4 (cm)

1
Example 1
Example 2
0
Example 3
25
-1
Y coordinate of coupler point (cm)

-2
20
-3

-4
15
-5

-6 Example 1
10 Example 2
-7 Example 3

-8
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
5
10 15 20 25 30 35 40 The number of points on the coupler curve
X coordinate of coupler point (cm)

Fig. 8. The length-adjustable magnitude of the link 4

Fig. 5. The desired coupler curves in all examples
for all examples

-253-
 J. CSME Vol.30, No.3 (2009)

EXPERIMENTS

The angular displacement of the driving link (degree)

20

Command
1 Experimental Setup 0
Actual

-20
Figure 9 shows the schematic of a planar
PC-based controlled variable coupler curve four-bar
-40
mechanism used in our experiments. The setup
included the four-bar mechanism, two AC
-60
servomotors with encoders and drivers, and a belt.
One AC servomotor was used to control the angular
-80
displacement of the driving link while the other drove
the screw to adjust the length of link 1
-100
simultaneously. 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
The hardware specifications of the control system Time (s)
were as follows:
(1) Intel Pentium IV 400-MHz microcomputer (a) Angular displacement of the driving link
with 512 MB RAM;
(2) Motion control card (PCI-8164; Adlink
The length-adjustable magnitude of the link 1 (cm)
12
Technology, Inc.);
(3) AC servomotors (400 W; Mitsubishi Co.) and 10
Command
Actual
drivers (MR-J2S-A; Mitsubishi Co.); and
(4) Incremental encoder (10,000 pulses per 8
revolution).
6

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

Time (s)

(b) The length-adjustable magnitude of the link 1

28

26
Y coordinate of coupler point (cm)

Fig. 9. The variable coupler curve mechanism

24

22
2 Implementation 20
Command
Actual
Three experiments corresponding to the examples 18
listed in Section 6 were conducted, but only link 1
16
was adjusted. The desired (command) and actual
coupler curves, the angular displacement of the 14
driving link, and the corresponding length of link 1
are shown in Figs. 10, 11, and 12, respectively. The 12
experimental results in this section agreed with the
10
design results in Section EXAMPLES. These 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34
examples and experiments thus confirm the practical
X coordinate of coupler point (cm)
feasibility of the proposed design method.

(c) The coupler curves

Fig. 10. The experimental results of the Example 1

-254-
R.C. Soong and S.L. Wu: Design of Variable Coupler Curve Four-bar Mechanisms.

The angular displacement of the driving link (degree)

The angular displacement of the driving link (degree)

40 0

20 Command
-20
Actual
Command
0
Actual
-40
-20

-40 -60

-60
-80

-80
-100
-100

-120 -120
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14

Time (S) Time (s)

(a) Angular displacement of the driving link (a) Angular displacement of the driving link

The length-adjustable magnitude of the link 1 (cm)

The length-adjustable magnitude of the link 1 (cm)

14 10

12
8 Command
Command Actual
10
Actual

8 6

6
4
4

2 2

0
0
-2

-4 -2
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14

Time (s) Time (s)

(b) The length-adjustable magnitude of the link 1 (b) The length-adjustable magnitude of the link 1

26 24

24
Y coordinate of coupler point (cm)

22
Y coordinate of coupler point (cm)

22
20
20
Command Command
Actual Actual
18 18

16
16

14
14
12

10 12
10 15 20 25 30 35 40 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30

X coordinate of coupler point (cm) X coordinate of coupler point (cm)

(c) The coupler curves (c) The coupler curves

Fig. 11. The experimental results of the Example 2 Fig. 12. The experimental results of the Example 3

-255-

CONCLUSIONS
The proposed approach was based on a variable
coupler curve four-bar mechanism in which one link
was replaced by a screw-nut link driven by a
servomotor. The different desired couple curves could
be generated by controlling the angular displacement
of the driving link and changing the length of the
adjustable link. The derivations of the adjustable link
length and the specified angular displacement of the
driving link corresponding to the desired coupler
curves were presented along with the conditions
required to achieve the desired generable coupler
curves. The examples and experiments confirmed the
feasibility of this design method, which is suitable for
cases that require several different coupler curves
within a specific area for practical applications.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
This research was supported by the National
Science Council Taiwan, R.O.C, through the grant
NSC 94-2212-E-244-003.
REFERENCES
Angeles, J., Alivizators, A., and Akhras, A., An
Unconstrained Nonlinear Least-square
Method of RRRR Planar Path Generators,
Mechanism and Machine Theory, Vol. 23, No.
5, pp. 343353(1998).
Chuenchom, T., and Kota, S., Synthesis of
Programmable Mechanisms Using Adjustable
Dyads, ASME Journal of Mechanical Design,
Vol. 29, No. 5, pp. 232237.
Chang, C.F., 2001, Synthesis of Adjustable Four-bar
Mechanisms Generating Circular Arcs with
Specified Tangential Velocities, Mechanism
and Machine Theory, Vol. 36, No 3, pp.
387395(1997).
Hoeltzel, D.A., and Chieng, W.H., Pattern Matching
Synthesis as An Automated Approach to
Mechanism Design, ASME Journal of
Mechanical Design, Vol. 112, No. 2, pp.
190199(1990).
Kay, F. J., and Haws, R. E., Adjustable Mechanisms
for Exact Path Generation, ASME Journal of
Engineering for Industry, Vol. 97, No. 2, pp.
702707(1975).
Kim, H.J,. and Sodhi, R.S., Synthesis of Planar
Four-bar Mechanisms for Generating A
Prescribed Coupler Curve with Five Precision
Points, Journal of Applied Mechanisms and
Robotics, Vol. 3, No 2, pp. 913(1996).
McGovern, J. F., and Sandor, G.N., Kinematic
Synthesis of Adjustable Mechanism (Part 1:
-256-
J. CSME Vol.30, No.3 (2009)
Function Generation), ASME Journal of
Engineering for Industry, Vol. 95, No. 2, pp.
417422(1973).
McGovern, J. F., and Sandor, G.N., Kinematic
Synthesis of Adjustable Mechanism (Part 2:
Path Generation), ASME Journal of
Engineering for Industry, Vol. 95, No. 2, pp.
423429(1973).
Russell, K., and Sodhi, R. S., On The Design of
Slider-crank Mechanisms. Part II: Multi-phase
Path and Function Generation, Mechanism
and Machine Theory, Vol. 40, No. 3, pp.
301317(2005).
Shimojima, H., Ogawa, K., and Sato, O., Kinematic
synthesis of adjustable mechanisms, Bulletin
of JSME, Vol. 26, No. 214, pp 627632(1983).
Tao, D. C., and Krishnamoothy, S., Linkage
Mechanism Adjustable for Variable Coupler
Curves with Cusps, Mechanism and Machine
Theory, Vol. 13, No. 6, pp. 577583(1978).
Tao, D. C., and Krishnamoothy, S., Linkage
Mechanism Adjustable for Variable
Symmetrical Coupler Curves with a Double
Point, Mechanism and Machine Theory, Vol.
13, No 6, pp. 585591(1978).
Ullah, I., and Kota, S., A more Effective
Formulation of the Path Generation
Mechanism Synthesis Problem, ASME
Design Technical Conference, Minneapolis,
USA, 11-14 September, DE-Vol. 70, pp.
239244(1994).
Ullah, I., and Kota, S., Optimal Synthesis of
Mechanisms for Path Generation Using
Fourier Descriptors and Global Search
Methods, ASME Journal of Mechanical
Design, Vol. 119, No. 4, pp. 504510(1997).
Unruh, V., and Krishnaswami, P., A computer-aided
Design Technique for Semi-automated Infinite
Point Coupler Curve Synthesis of Four-bar
Linkages, ASME Journal of Mechanical
Design, Vol. 117, No. 1, pp. 143149(1995).
Watanabe, K., Application of Nature Equations to
The Synthesis of Curve Generating
Mechanisms, Mechanism and Machine
Theory, Vol. 27, No. 3, pp. 261273(1992).
Zhou, H., and Cheung, E.H.M., Analysis and
Optimal Synthesis of Adjustable Linkages for
Path Generation, Mechatronics, Vol. 12, No.
7, pp. 949961(2002).
Zhou, H., and Ting, K.L., Adjustable Slider-crank
Linkages for Multiple Path Generation,
Mechanism and Machine Theory, Vol. 37, No.
5, pp. 499509(2002).
R.C. Soong and S.L. Wu: Design of Variable Coupler Curve Four-bar Mechanisms.

-257-