Large deformation analysis and synthesis of elastic closed-loop mechanism made of a certain spring wire described by free curves

Abstract

Recently novel mechanisms with compact size and without many mechanical elements such as bearing are strongly required for medical devices such as surgical operation devices. This paper describes analysis and synthesis of elastic link mechanisms of a single spring beam which can be manufactured by NC coiling machines. These mechanisms are expected as disposable micro forceps. Smooth Curvature Model(SCM) with 3rd order Legendre polynomial curvature functions is applied to calculate large deformation of a curved cantilever beam by taking account of the balance between external and internal elastic forces and moments. SCM is then extended to analyze large deformation of a closed-loop curved elastic beam which is composed of multiple free curved beams. A closed-loop elastic link is divided into two free curved cantilever beams each of which is assumed as serially connected free curved cantilever beams described with SCM. The sets of coefficients of Legendre polynomials of SCM in all free curved cantilever beams are determined by taking account of the force and moment balance at connecting point where external input force is applied. The sets of coefficients of Legendre polynomials of a nonleaded closed-loop elastic link are optimized to design a link mechanism which can generate specified output motion due to input force applied at the assumed dividing point. For example, two planar micro grippers with a single pulling input force are analyzed and designed. The elastic deformation analyzed with proposed method agrees very well with that calculated with FEM. The designed micro gripper can generate the desired pinching motion. The proposed method can contribute to design compact and simple elastic mechanisms without high calculation costs.