A novel 2-DOF planar translational mechanism composed by scissor-like elements

Abstract. The kinematic chain comprised by SLEs (scissor-like elements) has a wide range of motion, which provides a benefit for the mechanism design. A family of SLE-Pa (SLE-parallel) legs which consist of two identical SLE limbs are proposed in this paper. The mobility and kinematics are discussed for three kinds of SLE-Pa legs which are distinguished by the different positions of the middle links in legs. Through assembling these SLE-Pa legs, a novel 2-DOF planar translational mechanism is developed and its work space is studied. For the purpose of adding the recovery function, the elastic elements are installed for this mechanism. The stiffness synthesis of the mechanism is investigated for the various elastic elements and their positions. The approximation of the stiffness coefficient is also derived. Further, this kind of mechanism is applied for the design of the passive docking device. The docking procedure is simulated by Adams, and the prototype of one SLE-Pa leg is presented at the end.