The Folding Mechanism:Theory And Its Application To Design Of Light Product Maneuver Manipulators

The folding mechanism refers to a class of mechanisms that have a large range of spatial deformation capacities through changing their structures. Folding mechanisms have many applications in the fields of medicine, construction, space technology and home furniture. However, there is lack of theory of folding mechanisms in literature, which hinders the effective application of folding mechanisms in various fields.This thesis aims to develop theory of folding mechanisms, including the definition of folding mechanisms and classification of folding mechanisms, and operating principles. Manipulators for maneuvering light products (e.g., TV set, Monitor set, etc.) are taken as an application to facilitate the development of the folding mechanism theory and to illustrate how the theory is applied.The specific objectives of this thesis are:(1) to give a general definition of folding mechanisms and develop a general classification of them; (2) to develop some specific design methodology for the folding mechanism for maneuvering light products in space; and (3) to apply the folding mechanism design theory and methodology to the TV monitor space maneuver.To achieve the three specific objectives, this thesis first conducted a comprehensive literature analysis of folding mechanisms and developed two folding principles (hinge-based and deformation-based folding). Then, this thesis concentrated on the study of the hinge-based folding principle, developing the design equations for hinge-based folding mechanisms. Finally, this thesis conducted the detailed design of a TV-set maneuver manipulator. The conclusions that can be drawn from this research are:(1) there is lack of a general definition of folding mechanism in literature, (2) there is lack of a general classification of folding mechanisms, (3) the current design practice of folding mechanisms is ad hoc, (4) it is feasible to design specific folding mechanisms in a more systematical and rational way.The contributions of this thesis are:(1) provision of a unified definition of folding mechanisms and classification of folding mechanisms, (2) formulation of the two folding principles (hinge-based and deformation-based), (3) development of the design equations for hinge-based folding mechanisms, and (4) design of the novel TV-set maneuver with successful validation by simulation.The significance of the contributions lies in a couple. First, the unified definition and the classification based on the definition are a basis for the theory of folding mechanisms. Second, the novel TV-set maneuver device has a high potential to be incorporated into the system concept called "human-centered product".