Based on previous research results presented by authors, this paper proposes a novel systematic approach for structure synthesis of all parallel mechanisms (excluding Bennett mechanism etc), which is totally different from the approaches based on screw theory and based on displacement subgroup. Main characteristics of this approach are: (a) the synthesized mechanisms are non-instantaneous ones, and (b) only simple mathematical tools (vector algebra, theory of sets, etc.) are used. Main steps of this approach include: (1) Determining functional and structural requirements of the parallel mechanism to be synthesized, such as position and orientation characteristic (POC) matrix, degree of freedom (DOF), etc. (2) Type synthesis of branches. (3) Assembling of branches (determining the geometry constraint conditions among the branches attached between the moving platform and the frame, and checking the DOF). (4) Identifying the inactive joints. (5) Selecting the actuating joints. In order to illustrate the whole procedure, the type synthesis of spherical parallel mechanisms is studied using this approach.