Statically Balanced Compliant Mechanisms (SBCM’S): An Example and Prospects

Abstract

Abstract In some applications of compliant mechanisms, the fact that energy is stored in the elastic members presents a problem. For instance, in manually operated instruments, such as surgical forceps, the operating force should preferably be proportional to the gripping force, while forces introduced by the bending of elastic elements would disturb this force transmission process. To restore the force transmission quality, compliant mechanisms may be statically balanced, resulting in statically balanced compliant mechanisms (SBCM’s). This paper presents an example of a compliant surgical forceps mechanism, which is statically balanced by a low-friction rolling-link compensation mechanism. Force feedback is restored to the extent that the pulse in an artificial artery can be perceived clearly.