Design and Kinematic Analysis of a Single-Degree-of-Freedom Rigidly Foldable Winding Origami Pattern

The winding origami structure allows the panels to be wrapping folded to achieve a very large deployable ratio. However, the existing winding origami patterns are non-rigidly foldable or multi-degree-of-freedom rigidly foldable. In this paper, a new single-degree-of-freedom rigidly foldable winding origami pattern is designed based on a non-rigidly foldable winding origami pattern. The new pattern is obtained by removing the creases in the area of concentrated panel deformation under non-rigidly folding and then converting the generated virtual creases into actual creases. The panel deformation and folding energy are reduced through the crease transformation. The kinematic analysis by the truss transformation method proves its rigidly foldable characteristics with one degree of freedom. Therefore, this pattern design has an application prospect in aerospace engineering and emergency equipment. In addition, it provides an idea for the transition from non-rigid structures to rigid ones which also has universal significance.