Semicompliant Force Generator Mechanism Design for a Required Impact and Contact Forces

A novel design of compliant slider-crank mechanism is introduced and utilized as an impact and contact-force generator. This class of compliant slider mechanisms incorporates an elastic coupler, which is an initially straight flexible beam and buckles when it hits the stopper. The elastic pin-pin coupler, a buckling beam, behaves as a rigid body prior to the impact pushing the rigid slider. At a certain crank angle, the slider hits a stopper generating an impact force. This force can be changed by regulating the angular velocity of the crank and by achieving a desired velocity of the slider. Moreover, after the impact when the slider establishes a permanent contact with the stopper, the maximum contact force can also be adjusted by calculating the coupler dimensions (the length, the width, the thickness, and the amount of compression). The contact duration, the crank angular rotation range, can also be changed and attuned in this mechanism by moving the location of the impacted object. Several mechanism designs with the same working principle are introduced. A prototype compliant slider-crank mechanism is constructed and proved the conceptual contributions of the mechanism.