Chebyshev linkage

Animation for the Chebyshev linkage.
Dimensions (unit length a):
  Link 3: a + a
  Links 2 & 4: 5a
Link 1 (horizontal distance between ground joints): 4a
Illustration of the limits

In kinematics, Chebyshev's linkage is a four-bar linkage that converts rotational motion to approximate linear motion.

It was invented by the 19th-century mathematician Pafnuty Chebyshev, who studied theoretical problems in kinematic mechanisms. One of the problems was the construction of a linkage that converts a rotary motion into an approximate straight-line motion (a straight line mechanism). This was also studied by James Watt in his improvements to the steam engine, which resulted in Watt's linkage.

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