Page:The Kinematics of Machinery.djvu/13

Rh machine—he points out that they are conditioned simply by the geometric form of the moving bodies. Two bodies, such for instance as a screw and nut, having such forms that at any instant there is only one possible motion for each relatively to the other, form the simplest combination available for machinal purposes—such bodies he calls a pair of elements. Two or more elements from as many different pairs can be combined into a link, and such links united into kinematic chains, and it is by fixing, that is, preventing the motion of, some one link of such a chain that a  is obtained. Stated thus in a few words the analysis is simple and obvious enough; like many other simple things, however, it leads to most important consequences. As one illustration merely of this, I may point to the collection of "rotary" engines and pumps examined in. Here will be found, among others, over thirty forms of "rotary" engines of which the kinematic chain used in the driving mechanism is absolutely identical with that of the common direct-acting engine! Their constructive forms differ most widely, and have of course too often misled their inventors, but the application of what Prof. Reuleaux calls "kinematic analysis" shows at once both their identity as kinematic chains and their relation as mechanisms. In Fig. 3, Pl. XX., for instance, is shown a rotary engine which has been patented every few years since 1805 in one or another form, and in which no doubt some of my readers will recognise an old friend "schemed" in the days of their apprenticeship. Its driving mechanism is absolutely the same as that of the direct-acting engine, but with the crank fixed and the frame allowed to move round it.

In order to utilise the kinematic analysis Prof. Reuleaux has devised and elaborated the notation which is explained in and used in the later part of the book. That this notation is both exceedingly simple and of practical use will be admitted by all readers of, but its full advantages will only be realised by those who use it for themselves. The way in which it aids the resolution of apparently complex mechanisms into quite familiar forms is often most remarkable. Use will no doubt suggest modifications and improvements in its details, but Prof. Reuleaux is very anxious that its essential features, and especially the symbols for the elements (which have been so