Synthesis method based on solution regions for planar four-bar straight-line linkages

An analytical method for synthesizing and selecting desired four-bar straight-line mechanisms based on solution regions is presented. Given two fixed pivots, the point position and direction of the target straight-line, an infinite number of mechanism solutions can be produced by employing this method, both in the general case and all three special cases. Unifying the straight-line direction and the displacement from the given point to the instant center into the same form with different angles as parameters, infinite mechanism solutions can be expressed with different solution region charts. The mechanism property graphs have been computed to enable the designers to find out the involved mechanism information more intuitively and avoid aimlessness in selecting optimal mechanisms.