Kinematic Synthesis of Quasi-Homokinetic Four-Bar Linkages Through the Burmester and Chebyshev Theories

The present paper deals with the formulation of specific algorithms for the kinematic synthesis of quasi-homokinetic four-bar linkages, slider-crank mechanisms included, which are based on the fundamentals of kinematics, as the centrodes, the inflection circle, the cubic of stationary curvature, Freudenstein’s theorem, the Euler-Savary equation and Chebyshev’s theory. These algorithms are aimed to obtain in a given range of motion, a quasi-constant transmission ratio between the driving and driven links, thus producing a quasi-homokinetic behaviour. In particular, the infinitesimal Burmester theory and the Chebyshev optimality criterion are applied to propose a compact closed-form solutions, which are validated through several significant examples.