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90 Mechanical Principles to Get Savvy Design Solutions

Mechanical Principles

Ralph Steiner’s Mechanical Principles movie from 1930 is a brilliant way to get a fresh (!) reminder to your school time to get ideas to solve in an efficient way modern motion transmission or transformation.

 

Ready to be used as inspiration for your next design and mechanical challenges, not only in the traditional watch industry.

From Ralph Steiner’s Mechanical Principles …

And if a picture is worth a thousand words, then what is the price of a video to show the kinematics principles?

Not only watch-industry related: whether you want to change speed, transform a rotation to a linear motion, or a continuous motion to some alternating or counting motion, you’ll get ideas here

Mechanical Principles
Mechanical Principles
  • cam mechanisms
  • all kinds of cogwheels
  • maltese cross mechanisms
  • eccentrics mechanism
  • ratchet mechanisms
  • Reuleaux triangles mechanisms
  • gerotor gears
Ralph Steiner Mechanical Principles 1933.

Thumbs up Ralph Steiner!

And their CAD-rendered versions

“Art of rendering” made a CAD modern version of these principles in 6 parts (and gives credit to Ralph Steiner) and even added more. Grab a coffee and enjoy:

Mechanical principles part 01
Mechanical  principles part 02
Mechanical principles part 03
Mechanical principles part 04
Mechanical principles part 05
Mechanical principles part 06

Or a recent Lego implementation of some of the principles

20 Mechanical Principles combined in a Useless Lego Machine

… to Theo Jansen’s Living Mechanisms

As our beloved Form Follows Function approach, Theo Jansen has brilliantly applied shape and simple principles (the principle is simple, and the application is extremely smart and complex). But let’s have the kinetics principles of his walkers explained first:

Theo jansen walking leg mechanism animation

And then applied to his living wind-powered creatures so-called Strandbeests (≈beach beasts):

strandbeest evolution

More on Wikipedia or on a site dedicated to his movies and shows.

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    Topics covered: mechanical principles, motion transmission, transformation, kinematics, cam mechanisms, cogwheels, maltese cross mechanisms, eccentrics mechanism, ratchet mechanisms, Reuleaux triangles, gerotor gears, CAD rendering, design inspiration, mechanical challenges, speed transformation, linear motion, StrandbeestsISO 12100, ISO 13849, ISO 14121, ISO 11202, ISO 14739

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