Mobility and Kinematics Analysis of a Novel 5-DOF Hybrid Manipulator for Reconditioning of Mold and Die Tools: Part 2

Two novel hybrid manipulators that can be used for reconditioning of mould and die tools are presented in this paper. These designs have been developed using the knowledge of the different manufacturing process and defects that occur in mould and die tools. The similarities in the two novel hybrid manipulators are: they all used serial kinematics chains that implement parallelograms for linear translations. The designs differ in the manner the parallelograms are used to achieve linear translations. Moreover, rotary motions are achieved differently in these designs. The mechanical architectures and kinematics capabilities of the novel manipulators are presented. Finally, the kinematics capabilities of the developed manipulators are compared with those of selected 5 axis milling machine.