Mechanism Design: An Introductory Text

This book is intended for machine designers and students of machine design. It describes some of the simpler (and often more useful) methods of analysing and synthesising mechanisms, which can be carried out on the drawing board or, in some cases, fairly easily on a computer or even a calculator. I have avoided diffi¬ cult techniques altogether, and omitted proofs of even the easy ones where those proofs are difficult. But at the end of the book there are some suggestions for further reading in case the reader wants to know more. The book is mainly about linkages and gear-trains. I include nothing on cams because elementary methods of laying out a cam are properly part of a technical drawing course and advanced methods, if they are to be used for any sensible purpose, involve difficult con¬ siderations beyond the level of what is intended as an elementary book.
Some exercises are provided, in which the design of a mechanism is intended to mean determining those dimensions that settle the kinematics, such as the centre-distances on a link or the number of teeth on a gear. If the book is used in a more general design course these exercises can, where appropriate, be extended to include detail design. I have made some attempt at realism by including exer¬ cises that require practical judgment as well as graphical or analytical skill, and to which there are no single correct answers. Most of the benefit of this type of exercise is found when students compare and discuss their results.