On the geometry of the planar 4-bar mechanism (Q1094157)

Altough there exists a considerable literature on mechanisms which has a clear mathematical content, there does not exist a systematic mathematical theory dealing with the most basic questions about the geometry of coupler curves and surfaces. However, there does exist a natural strategy for making substantial progress on these problems, though the mathematics involved is far from being elementary. The purpose of the paper is to illustrate this strategy for the simplest nontrivial example, namely the planar four-bar mechanism. The authors are concerned with the algebraic geometry of the coupler curve. The results of some of their computations are well known for the specific example, however, the method presented is general. The paper written in mathematical language will be of interest to engineers and research scientists working in the area of machine and mechanism theory.