A flip-flow screen can effectively screen viscous particles, and its kinematic characteristics determine its screening performance. Since previous kinematic models have errors, a novel kinematics model of the flip-flow screen panel, namely the inclined catenary model, is developed. It is verified by comparing theoretical motion trajectory with experimental motion trajectory. Then, the kinematic characteristics, i.e., displacement, velocity and acceleration, obtained using four kinematic models, are compared. Finally, the effects of rotation speed n, eccentricity e, incline angle α and tensional amount Δl on displacement, velocity and acceleration of the midpoint are investigated. The results show that displacement, velocity and acceleration of each point in the screen panel can be calculated by using the inclined catenary model, and the inclined catenary model possesses higher prediction accuracy than the three previous kinematic models. Moreover, with the increase in n, the absolute value of velocity and acceleration increases, and the maximum absolute value of displacement remains unchanged. With the increase in e, the absolute value of displacement, velocity and acceleration increases. With the increase in α, the absolute value of transverse components of displacement, velocity and acceleration increases slowly and the absolute value of longitudinal components of displacement, velocity and acceleration decreases slightly. With the increase in Δl, the absolute value of displacement, velocity and acceleration increases. Therefore, the inclined catenary model can provide good guidance for selecting reasonable screening parameters.