Application of the parallelogram mechanism with the effect of quasi-zero stiffness in the vibration protection systems of the operator’s chair of a road construction machine

For vibration protection of operators of construction and road machines, a promising direction is the use of passive vibration protection systems based on mechanisms with quasi-zero rigidity. Passive vibration isolation systems, being less complex than active ones, require less frequent maintenance, are cheaper to manufacture and more reliable than active ones. The problem of selecting the optimal, most reliable and simple design of the mechanism with the effect of quasi-zero rigidity remains urgent. In this case, the most widespread use of elements that create negative stiffness. This requires elements with positive stiffness in the mechanism, which complicates the design. More promising structures of mechanisms, where elements with negative stiffness are not separated into a separate structure. In mechanisms such as the parallelogram, studied in this work, a section with quasi-zero stiffness can be provided with just one tension spring, which simplifies the design and reduces the cost of the entire vibration protection system. By the method of direct analytical inference for the presented diagram of a parallelogram mechanism with one spring, analytical expressions are obtained for the tensile force of the spring necessary to compensate for the force of gravity of the chair with the operator on the height of the chair and the length of the spring. As an example, the graphical dependences of the spring tensile force on the chair lift and on the spring's own length are given as an example. It was found that the static force characteristic of the spring is a straight line passing through the origin. That is, the zero force corresponds to the zero spring length, which is not technically feasible. It is proposed to use a mechanism that replaces the tension spring, which will provide a given power characteristic.