Kempe Straight Line Mechanism
Introduction

 

Kempe's linkage is a planar linkage consisting only of revolute joints, that is capable of transforming rotary motion into perfect straight-line motion, and vice versa. This linkage is a straight line mechanism with revolute joints that is not based on the theory of inversion of a circle.  

The following animation shows the mathematics behind the working principle of the Kempe's straight line mechanism.