ABSTRACT
Mechanisms have a number of roles or functions within a mechatronic system. Change of Speed has been a necessary function of mechanisms and transmission systems in the past as a result of the use of constant speed motors, as on machine tools, or prime movers with limited torque envelopes such as automobile engines. Lever mechanisms may still be employed with benefit to provide a feedback which the user receives in the form of 'feel' as to the amount of effort being applied, as for example in the master-slave manipulator. Various mechanisms, such as the Geneva mechanism and walking beam conveyors, have been devised for this purpose. These may still be perfectly adequate for many materials handling applications, or where very high inertia forces are to be encountered. The Whitworth quick-return mechanism is typical of a family of mechanisms which were used principally in the machine tool industry to save time on unproductive motions.
