Tolerance Synthesis Method for an Industrial Crank-Rocker Application

Abstract

Abstract An emphasis on reducing product development lead-times in the automotive industry has received much attention recently. The synthesis and design of windshield wiper drive mechanisms is no exception. This paper examines and develops the new concept of performance synthesis for crank-rocker linkages with two prescribed positions as applied to windshield wiper systems. Various performance criteria are evaluated with respect to the effect on the desired motion of the crank-rocker linkage by manufacturing tolerances, elastic deflections and joint clearances. Three performance criteria are mapped in the crank-rocker synthesis solution space to aid in the selection of solutions when considering the performance demands of the windshield wiper system. A case study is presented to demonstrate the effectiveness of the new performance synthesis concept which simultaneously considers position tolerance sensitivity, transmission angles and angular acceleration magnitudes in the synthesis process.