User:Gauravgharlach

COUPLER CURVES

The curve traced by any point on coupler when mechanism is in motion, is called coupler curve. The crank and follower links of the planer four bar mechanism, which undergo pure rotation and the slider crank mechanism which undergo pure translation but the coupler links of both mechanism undergo combination of simultaneous rotation and translation. All linkages that possess one or more "floating" coupler links will generate coupler curves.It is interesting to note that these will be closed curves even for non-Grashof linkages. The complex motion of the coupler link enables it to trace curves of higher orders than the crank and follower link. The shape of the coupler curve is determined by the mechanism link length proportion and the specific coupler point location from which the curve is traced. According to Wunderlich, the maximum order of a coupler curve (m) for a mechanism with (n) links connected with only revolute joints is defined by-

m=2.3^(n/2-1)