Design of Dyads with helical, cylindrical, spherical, revolute and prismatic joints

Abstract In this paper, an “equivalent screw triangle” is introduced from which the design equations can be determined for any combinations of helical, cylindrical, revolute, spherical, and prismatic joints for both finitely and infinitesimally separated position problems in kinematic synthesis. In addition to presenting a new and unified approach to previously solved problems, this paper presents an entirely new treatment of helical joints. The equations developed in this paper can be applied to the design of binary links for rigid body guidance, function generation and similar problems. A numerical example illustrating the design of H-H links is included.