Patent ID: 8162926

Claim:
A parallel spherical five-bar linkage with a remote center of spherical rotation, the linkage comprising: a ground link having two axes of rotation; two inboard links, each inboard link pivotally coupled to the ground link at one of the two axes of rotation, each inboard link having an intermediate axis spaced apart from the axis of rotation, the two axes of rotation and the two intermediate axes all passing through the remote center of spherical rotation; two outboard links, each outboard link pivotally coupled to one of the inboard links at the inboard link's intermediate axis, the two outboard links pivotally coupled together at an outboard axis that is spaced apart from the intermediate axes and passes through the remote center of spherical rotation; and a constraint to limit the rotation of a first one of the outboard links about the intermediate axis of the coupled inboard link such that a maximum angle between the links is substantially less than one hundred and eighty degrees; wherein a second one of the outboard links and the coupled inboard link are constructed and assembled such that the two intermediate axes are constrained to be only on the same side of a plane that includes the outboard axis and one of the axes of rotation.