MECHATRONICS ASSIGNMENT

COMPLIANT AND LINKAGE MECHANISMS

BY: Ajay S Sathya 12ME11

Jerry George 12ME61
Karan Goyal 12ME67

Silicon linkage with novel compliant mechanism for piezoelectric

actuation Of an intraocular implant
Introduction
Using a novel compliant mechanism the artificial lens is being moved
linearly without any tilt. This innovation is being mainly directed towards
the accommodation ability of the human eye.

Concept of the mechanism

A Fourbar mechanism is used to move the lens tilt free in the horizontal
direction. The links are joined by flexure hinges. The parallel links are of
equal length. One of the links is actuated by a piezo-bender. This
actuation causes the link to rotate about hinge A. The link parallel to this
link mimics the motion. The coupler link as a result moves predominantly
in the horizontal direction by delta x. If the length of the link is L. Then a
small parasitic displacement in y-direction also occurs. This is equal to:
.

DESIGN of the silicon wafer in which mechanism is implemented:

The entire setup I.e. linkages and flexural hinges have been made out of
a silicon wafer. The labels A,E,C+D and B represent the flexural hinges.
The hinge E is reinforced in the form of long leaf type hinge as it has to
bear the axial load from the bending of the piezoelectric bender.
Other hinges are relatively softer.
Working
At point 1 the piezoelectric bender exerts a force along the axis of hinge
E which causes the link 3 to rotate about the junction where the hinge A
meet the link arm 3.
This rotation causes the hinges CD and B to bend and cause the linear
motion of the output lens (2) predominantly in the horizontal direction.
Also there is a parasitic displacement in the vertical direction of very
small magnitude.
Actuation Range

The linear displacement of the lens in X axis reaches a maximum of

232.5 microns and reaches 4.35 microns along Y axis. But the
movement along Y direction wont affect the image quality unless it
displacement crosses 20 microns.
The bending radius of the piezoelectric bender under no load condition
is 51 microns for a bending length of 9 mm.
Fabrication
It is based on deep reactive ion etching of a single silicon wafer. First the
silicon wafer is coated with silicon oxide layer using a process called
plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition method.
The parts which have to be kept i.e. the linkages remain masked while
the remaining is etched

The above image is the experimental setup of the entire mechanism. It is

scaled up by a factor of 1.5 .

Watts Linkage
Watt's linkage (also known as the parallel linkage) is a type of
mechanical linkage invented by James Watt (19 January 1736 25
August 1819) in which the central moving point of the linkage is
constrained to travel on an approximation to a straight line. It was
described in Watt's patent specification of 1784 for the Watt steam
engine. It is also used in automobile suspensions, allowing the axle of a
vehicle to travel vertically while preventing sideways motion.

Description
Watt's linkage consists of a chain of three rods, two longer and equal
length ones on the outside ends of the chain, connected by a short rod
in the middle. The outer endpoints of the long rods are fixed in place
relative to each other, and otherwise the three rods are free to pivot
around the joints where they meet. Thus, counting the fixed-length
connection between the outer endpoints as another bar, Watt's linkage is
an example of a four-bar linkage.
Applications
1. Double Acting Cylinder

The earlier single-action beam engines used a chain to connect the

piston to the beam and this worked satisfactorily for pumping water from
mines, etc. However, for rotary motion a linkage that works both in
compression and tension provides a better design and allows a doubleacting cylinder to be used. Such an engine incorporates a piston acted
upon by steam alternately on the two sides, hence doubling its power.
The linkage actually used by Watt (also invented by him) in his later
rotary beam engines was called the parallel motion linkage, a
development of "Watt's linkage", but using the same principle. The
piston of the engine is attached to the central point of the linkage,
allowing it to act on the two outer beams of the linkage both by pushing
and by pulling. The nearly linear motion of the linkage allows this type of
engine to use a rigid connection to the piston without causing the piston
to bind in its containing cylinder. This configuration also results in a
smoother motion of the beam than the single-action engine, making it
easier to convert its back-and-forth motion into rotation.
An example of Watt's linkage can be found on the high and intermediate
pressure piston rod of the 1865 Crossness engines. In these engines,
the low pressure piston rod uses the more conventional parallel motion
linkage, but the high and intermediate pressure rod does not connect to
the end of the beam so there is no requirement to save space.
2. Automobile Suspension

Watt's linkage as part of an automobile suspension

Watt's linkage used in a 1998 Ford Ranger EV

The above image with the linkage movement animated

Watt's linkage is used in the rear axle of some car suspensions as an
improvement over the Panhard rod, which was designed in the early
twentieth century. Both methods intend to prevent relative sideways
motion between the axle and body of the car. Watts linkage
approximates a vertical straight line motion more closely, and does so
while locating the centre of the axle rather than toward one side of the
vehicle, as more commonly used when fitting a long Panhard rod.
It consists of two horizontal rods of equal length mounted at each side of
the chassis. In between these two rods, a short vertical bar is connected.
The center of this short vertical rod the point which is constrained in a
straight line motion - is mounted to the center of the axle. All pivoting
points are free to rotate in a vertical plane.
In a way, Watts linkage can be seen as two Panhard rods mounted
opposite each other. In Watts arrangement, however, the opposing
curved movements introduced by the pivoting Panhard rods are
compensated by the short vertical rotating bar.
The linkage can be inverted, in which case the centre P is attached to
the body, and L1 and L3 mount to the axle. This reduces the unsprung
mass and changes the kinematics slightly. This is used on Australian V8
Supercars.
Watt's linkage can also be used to prevent axle movement in the
longitudinal direction of the car; however, this is more common in racing
suspension systems. This application usually involves two Watt's
linkages on each side of the axle, mounted parallel to the driving
direction.