The idea that a machine can be decomposed into simple movable elements led
Archimedes to
define the lever, pulley and screw as simple machines. By the time of the Renaissance this list
increased to include the wheel and axle, wedge and inclined plane. The modern approach to
characterizing machines focusses on the components that allow movement, known as joints.
Wedge (hand axe): Perhaps the first example of a device designed to manage power is the hand
axe, also called biface and Olorgesailie. A hand axe is made by chipping stone, generally flint, to
form a bifacial edge, or wedge. A wedge is a simple machine that transforms lateral force and
movement of the tool into a transverse splitting force and movement of the workpiece. The
available power is limited by the effort of the person using the tool, but because power is the
product of force and movement, the wedge amplifies the force by reducing the movement. This
amplification, or mechanical advantage is the ratio of the input speed to output speed. For a
wedge this is given by 1/tanα, where α is the tip angle. The faces of a wedge are modeled as
straight lines to form a sliding or prismatic joint.
Lever: The lever is another important and simple device for managing power. This is a body that
pivots on a fulcrum. Because the velocity of a point farther from the pivot is greater than the
velocity of a point near the pivot, forces applied far from the pivot are amplified near the pivot
by the associated decrease in speed. If a is the distance from the pivot to the point where the
input force is applied and b is the distance to the point where the output force is applied,
then a/b is the mechanical advantage of the lever. The fulcrum of a lever is modeled as a hinged
or revolute joint.
Wheel: The wheel is an important early machine, such as the chariot. A wheel uses the law of
the lever to reduce the force needed to overcome friction when pulling a load. To see this notice
that the friction associated with pulling a load on the ground is approximately the same as the
friction in a simple bearing that supports the load on the axle of a wheel. However, the wheel
forms a lever that magnifies the pulling force so that it overcomes the frictional resistance in the
bearing.
Illustration of a four-bar linkage from The Kinematics of Machinery, 1876
The classification of simple machines to provide a strategy for the design of new machines was
developed by Franz Reuleaux, who collected and studied over 800 elementary machines.[49] He
recognized that the classical simple machines can be separated into the lever, pulley and wheel
and axle that are formed by a body rotating about a hinge, and the inclined plane, wedge and
screw that are similarly a block sliding on a flat surface.[50]
Simple machines are elementary examples of kinematic chains or linkages that are used to
model mechanical systems ranging from the steam engine to robot manipulators. The bearings
that form the fulcrum of a lever and that allow the wheel and axle and pulleys to rotate are
examples of a kinematic pair called a hinged joint. Similarly, the flat surface of an inclined plane
and wedge are examples of the kinematic pair called a sliding joint. The screw is usually
identified as its own kinematic pair called a helical joint.
This realization shows that it is the joints, or the connections that provide movement, that are the
primary elements of a machine. Starting with four types of joints, the rotary joint, sliding joint,
cam joint and gear joint, and related connections such as cables and belts, it is possible to
understand a machine as an assembly of solid parts that connect these joints called a mechanism .
[51]
Two levers, or cranks, are combined into a planar four-bar linkage by attaching a link that
connects the output of one crank to the input of another. Additional links can be attached to form
a six-bar linkage or in series to form a robot.[51]