Six-bar linkage
Encyclopedia
A six-bar linkage is a one degree-of-freedom mechanism
Mechanism (engineering)
A mechanism is a device designed to transform input forces and movement into a desired set of output forces and movement. Mechanisms generally consist of moving components such as gears and gear trains, belt and chain drives, cam and follower mechanisms, and linkages as well as friction devices...

 that is constructed from six links and seven joints. An example is the Klann linkage
Klann Linkage
The Klann linkage is a planar mechanism designed to simulate the gait of legged animal and function as a wheel replacement. The linkage consists of the frame, a crank, two grounded rockers, and two couplers all connected by pivot joints....

 used to drive the legs of a walking machine.

In general, each joint of a linkage connects two links, and a binary link supports two joints. If we consider a hexagon to be constructed from six binary links with six of the seven joints forming its vertices, then, the seventh joint can be added to connect two sides of the hexagon to forming a six-bar linkage with two ternary joints. This type of six-bar linkage is said to have the Watt topology.

A six-bar linkage can also be constructed by first assembling five binary links into a pentagon, which uses five of the seven joints, and then completing the linkage by adding a binary link that connects two sides of the pentagon. This again creates two ternary links that are now separated by one or more binary links. This type of six-bar linkage is said to have the Stephenson topology.

The Klann linkage
Klann Linkage
The Klann linkage is a planar mechanism designed to simulate the gait of legged animal and function as a wheel replacement. The linkage consists of the frame, a crank, two grounded rockers, and two couplers all connected by pivot joints....

has the Stephenson topology. An animation of a six-bar linkage with the Watt topology can be found at the link: Animation of a planar six-bar linkage
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