Kinematic Investigation of the Deployable Bennett Loop

Abstract

Despite the many studies devoted to it and its value as a learning tool, the Bennett linkage has never been employed as a working mechanism. It has recently found favor, however, among structural analysts as a possible unit in deployable networks owing to the potential for true spatial displacement without flexure. Although the loop can be analyzed in this application by means of purely geometrical methods, a wealth of kinematic examinations is available for more efficient treatment. The particular form that the chain must adopt as a deployable object and the special case of the linkage demanded by the purpose constitute the subject of the present exposition, which takes full advantage of prior analyses of the chain’s kinematic characteristics.