A Novel Single-Loop Mechanism and the Associated Cylindrical Deployable Mechanisms

Abstract

This paper presents a new type of 2-DOF single-loop mechanism inspired by the Sarrus mechanism, and it utilizes this mechanism to construct 2-DOF cylindrical deployable mechanisms. First, the motion pattern of the single-loop mechanism is analyzed utilizing screw theory. According to the structural symmetries, the cylindrical deployable mechanisms are constructed through the linear pattern combination and circular pattern combination of the single-loop mechanisms. After the geometrical analysis and interference condition analysis, the axial, circumferential and area magnification ratios are defined and, furthermore, applied to the parameter optimization of the deployable mechanisms, forming an example surface. Finally, a simplified 1-DOF single-loop mechanism is derived from the proposed 2-DOF mechanism, which is used to construct 1-DOF cylindrical deployable mechanisms with singular free workspaces.