Design of a bistable mechanism with B-spline profiled beam for versatile switching forces

摘要

A compliant bistable mechanism composed of B-spline curved beams for design of switching forces in the forward and backward directions is developed. The parametric B-spline curve has five control points to give a high design freedom in the output force of the beam-type compliant mechanisms. An analytical model is developed to provide an efficient tool to obtain the force-displacement characteristics of the B-spline profiled bistable mechanism. B-splined profiled bistable mechanisms with various ratios of the switching forces in the forward and backward motions are designed. The results are confirmed by experiments. The developed bistable mechanism with high force versatility has applications in devices where precise geometric activation and quantifiable load bearing capacity are desired. (C) 2019 Published by Elsevier B.V.