The Kinematics of Machinery: Outlines of a Theory of Machines (Classic Reprint) - Softcover

Excerpt from The Kinematics of Machinery: Outlines of a Theory of Machines

I may mention here only one other feature in Reuleaux's work, namely, his treatment of fluids when they occur in mechanisms or machines (chap. IV. It has long been customary, of course, to treat cords, chains, belts &c., as organs which could legitimately form palt of machines, but fluids have been universally (so far as I know) excluded from consideration in this way. Reuleaux points out that fiuids - pressure-organs - are simply contrapositives of the tension-organs just men tioned, and that if one be included in the study of pure mechanism there can be no reason for excluding the other. He gives also many instances of the way in which engineers use the one or the other as the column of fluid or the cord best suits their purpose. In examining mechanisms we consider the motions of each body as a whole, ignoring altogether its molecular condition, or more strictly assuming that it is so arranged that its molecular stability is not disturbed during the motion. This pre-supposition is made tacitly in the case of rigid bodies, where molecular stability is independent of the application of external force. It is made also 111 the case of ropes, belts, &c., for when these occur in machines it is always assumed that they are kept in tension by some force external to themselves, in any other case their motions would be quite indeterminate. With fluids it is not necessary to make any other assumption than this, but the external force must be a pressure instead of a pull, and must be supplied in directions other than that in which motion takes place. 126 shows some of the interesting results to which this treatment of fluid organs may lead.

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Excerpt from The Kinematics of Machinery: Outlines of a Theory of Machines

The greater part of the Theoretische Kinematik of Prof. Reuleaux, which I have now the pleasure of presenting to English and American readers, was originally published in chapters in the Berliner Verhandlungen, under the title of Kinematisehe Mitiheilungen. These papers, revised and enlarged, and with the addition of a chapter on Kinematic Synthesis, were published collectively in 1874-5 in the work of which the present is a translation. They have attracted considerable attention in Germany, and the principles laid down in them have already made their way into Polytechnic School instruction, not only in that country but also in Russia and Italy.

The book addresses itself to somewhat different classes of readers, or rather to readers who have had very different training, on the Continent and here. Its readers there are to a great extent the past or present students of the Polytechnic Schools, or at least those who are acquainted with polytechnic teaching. They are familiar with a regularly systematised system of machine instruction and its somewhat extended literature. Here, on the other hand, neither systematised instruction nor extended literature exists.

About the Publisher

Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com

This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.