Cam

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Acamisarotatingorslidingpieceinamechanicallinkageusedespecially
intransformingrotarymotionintolinearmotionorviceversa.[1][2]Itis
oftenapartofarotatingwheel(e.g.aneccentricwheel)orshaft(e.g.a
cylinderwithanirregularshape)thatstrikesaleveratoneormorepoints
onitscircularpath.Thecamcanbeasimpletooth,asisusedtodeliver
pulsesofpowertoasteamhammer,forexample,oraneccentricdiscor
othershapethatproducesasmoothreciprocating(backandforth)motionin
thefollower,whichisalevermakingcontactwiththecam.

Fig.1Animationshowingrotating
Contents camsandcamfollowersproducing
reciprocatingmotion.
1 Overview
2 Displacementdiagram
3 Platecam
4 Cylindricalcam
5 Facecam
6 Heartshapedcam
7 Snaildropcam
8 Linearcam
9 History
10 Seealso
11 References
12 Externallinks

Overview
Thecamcanbeseenasadevicethatrotatesfromcirculartoreciprocating(orsometimesoscillating)motion.[3]A
commonexampleisthecamshaftofanautomobile,whichtakestherotarymotionoftheengineandtranslatesit
intothereciprocatingmotionnecessarytooperatetheintakeandexhaustvalvesofthecylinders.

Displacementdiagram
Fig.2Basicdisplacementdiagram
motionwherethefollowerisatrest,andreturnisthemotionofthefollowertowardthecamcenter.[5]
Certaincamscanbecharacterizedbytheirdisplacementdiagrams,which
reflectthechangingpositionarollerfollower(ashaftwitharotatingwheel
attheend)wouldmakeasthecamrotatesaboutanaxis.Thesediagrams
relateangularposition,usuallyindegrees,totheradialdisplacement
experiencedatthatposition.Displacementdiagramsaretraditionally
presentedasgraphswithnonnegativevalues.Asimpledisplacement
diagramillustratesthefollowermotionataconstantvelocityrisefollowed
byasimilarreturnwithadwellinbetweenasdepictedinfigure2.[4]The
riseisthemotionofthefollowerawayfromthecamcenter,dwellisthe
However,themostcommontypeisinthevalveactuatorsininternalcombustionengines.Here,thecamprofileis
commonlysymmetricandatrotationalspeedsgenerallymetwith,veryhighaccelerationforcesdevelop.Ideally,a
convexcurvebetweentheonsetandmaximumpositionofliftreducesacceleration,butthisrequiresimpractically
largeshaftdiametersrelativetolift.Thus,inpractice,thepointsatwhichliftbeginsandendsmeanthatatangent
tothebasecircleappearsontheprofile.Thisiscontinuouswithatangenttothetipcircle.Indesigningthecam,
theliftandthedwellangle aregiven.Iftheprofileistreatedasalargebasecircleandasmalltipcircle,joinedby
acommontangent,givinglift ,therelationshipcanbecalculated,giventheangle betweenonetangentandthe
axisofsymmetry( being ),while isthedistancebetweenthecentresofthecircles(required),and
istheradiusofthebase(given)and thatofthetipcircle(required)

and

Platecam
Themostcommonlyusedcamisthecamplate(alsoknownasdisccamor
radialcam[6])whichiscutoutofapieceofflatmetalorplate.[7]Here,the
followermovesinaplaneperpendiculartotheaxisofrotationofthe
camshaft.[8]Severalkeytermsarerelevantinsuchaconstructionofplate
cams:basecircle,primecircle(withradiusequaltothesumofthefollower
radiusandthebasecircleradius),pitchcurvewhichistheradialcurve
tracedoutbyapplyingtheradialdisplacementsawayfromtheprimecircle
acrossallangles,andthelobeseparationangle(LSAtheanglebetween
twoadjacentintakeandexhaustcamlobes). Fig.3Camprofile

Thebasecircleisthesmallestcirclethatcanbedrawntothecamprofile.

Aoncecommon,butnowoutdated,applicationofthistypeofcamwasautomaticmachinetoolprogramming
cams.Eachtoolmovementoroperationwascontrolleddirectlybyoneormorecams.Instructionsforproducing
programmingcamsandcamgenerationdataforthemostcommonmakesofmachinewereincludedinengineering
referenceswellintothemodernCNCera.[9]

Thistypeofcamisusedinmanysimpleelectromechanicalappliancecontrollers,suchasdishwashersandclothes
washingmachines,toactuatemechanicalswitchesthatcontrolthevariousparts.

Cylindricalcam
Acylindricalcamorbarrelcamisacaminwhichthefollowerridesonthesurfaceofacylinder.Inthemost
commontype,thefollowerridesinagroovecutintothesurfaceofacylinder.Thesecamsareprincipallyusedto
convertrotationalmotiontolinearmotionparalleltotherotationalaxisofthecylinder.Acylindermayhave
severalgroovescutintothesurfaceanddriveseveralfollowers.Cylindricalcamscanprovidemotionsthatinvolve
morethanasinglerotationofthecylinderandgenerallyprovidepositivepositioning,removingtheneedfora
springorotherprovisiontokeepthefollowerincontactwiththecontrolsurface.

Applicationsincludemachinetooldrives,suchasreciprocatingsaws,andshiftcontrolbarrelsinsequential
transmissions,suchasonmostmodernmotorcycles.

Aspecialcaseofthiscamisconstantlead,wherethepositionofthefollowerislinearwithrotation,asinalead
screw.Thepurposeanddetailofimplementationinfluencewhetherthisapplicationiscalledacamorascrew
thread,butinsomecases,thenomenclaturemaybeambiguous.
Cylindricalcamsmayalsobeusedtoreferenceanoutputtotwoinputs,
whereoneinputisrotationofthecylinder,andthesecondispositionofthe
followeraxiallyalongthecam.Theoutputisradialtothecylinder.These
wereoncecommonforspecialfunctionsincontrolsystems,suchasfire
controlmechanismsforgunsonnavalvessels[10]andmechanicalanalog
computers.[11]

Anexampleofacylindricalcamwithtwoinputsisprovidedbya
duplicatinglathe,anexampleofwhichistheKlotzaxehandlelathe,[12]
whichcutsanaxehandletoaformcontrolledbyapatternactingasacam Motorcycletransmissionshowing
forthelathemechanism. cylindricalcamwiththreefollowers.
Eachfollowercontrolsthepositionof
ashiftfork.

Constantleadbarrelcaminan
AmericanPacemakerlathe.Thiscam
isusedtoprovidearepeatablecross
slidesettingwhenthreadingwitha
singlepointtool.

Facecam
Afacecamproducesmotionbyusingafollowerridingonthefaceofadisk.Themostcommontypehasthe
followerrideinaslotsothatthecaptivefollowerproducesradialmotionwithpositivepositioningwithoutthe
needforaspringorothermechanismtokeepthefollowerincontactwiththecontrolsurface.Afacecamofthis
typegenerallyhasonlyoneslotforafolloweroneachface.Insomeapplications,asingleelement,suchasagear,
abarrelcam,orotherrotatingelementwithaflatface,maydodutyasafacecaminadditiontootherpurposes.

Facecamsmayproviderepetitivemotionwithagroovethatformsaclosedcurve,ormayprovidefunction
generationwithastoppedgroove.Camsusedforfunctiongenerationmayhavegroovesthatrequireseveral
revolutionstocoverthecompletefunction,andinthiscase,thefunctiongenerallyneedstobeinvertiblesothatthe
groovedoesnotselfintersect,andthefunctionoutputvaluemustdifferenoughatcorrespondingrotationsthat
thereissufficientmaterialseparatingtheadjacentgroovesegments.Acommonformistheconstantleadcam,
wheredisplacementofthefollowerislinearwithrotation,suchasthescrollplateinascrollchuck.Noninvertible
functions,whichrequirethegroovetoselfintersect,canbeimplementedusingspecialfollowerdesigns.

Avariantofthefacecamprovidesmotionparalleltotheaxisofcamrotation.Acommonexampleisthe
traditionalsashwindowlock,wherethecamismountedtothetopofthelowersash,andthefolloweristhehook
ontheuppersash.Inthisapplication,thecamisusedtoprovidemechanicaladvantageinforcingthewindowshut,
andalsoprovidesaselflockingaction,likesomewormgears,dueto
friction.

Facecamsmayalsobeusedtoreferenceasingleoutputtotwoinputs,
typicallywhereoneinputisrotationofthecamandtheotherisradial
positionofthefollower.Theoutputisparalleltotheaxisofthecam.These
wereoncecommonismechanicalanalogcomputationandspecialfunctions
incontrolsystems.[13]

Afacecamthatimplementsthreeoutputsforasinglerotationalinputisthe Sashwindowlock,traditionalcam
stereophonograph,wherearelativelyconstantleadgrooveguidesthe style,fordoublehungsashwindow
stylusandtonearmunit,actingaseitherarockertype(tonearm)orlinear
(lineartrackingturntable)follower,andthestylusaloneactingasthefollowerfortwoorthogonaloutputsto
representingtheaudiosignals.Thesemotionsareinaplaneradialtotherotationoftherecordandatanglesof45
degreestotheplaneofthedisk(normaltothegroovefaces).Thepositionofthetonearmwasusedbysome
turntablesasacontrolinput,suchastoturntheunitoffortoloadthenextdiskinastack,butwasignoredin
simpleunits.

Heartshapedcam
Thistypeofcam,intheformofasymmetricheartsymbol,isusedtoreturnashaftholdingthecamtoaset
positionbypressurefromaroller.TheywereusedforexampleonearlymodelsofPostOfficeMasterclocksto
synchronisetheclocktimewithGreenwichMeanTimewhentheactivatingfollowerwaspressedontothecam
automaticallyviaasignalfromanaccuratetimesource.[14]

Snaildropcam
Thistypeofcamwasusedforexampleinmechanicaltimekeepingclockinginclockstodrivethedayadvance
mechanismatpreciselymidnightandconsistedofafollowerbeingraisedover24hoursbythecaminaspiralpath
whichterminatedatasharpcutoffatwhichthefollowerwoulddropdownandactivatethedayadvance.Where
timingaccuracyisrequiredasinclockinginclockstheseweretypicallyingeniouslyarrangedtohavearollercam
followertoraisethedropweightformostofitsjourneytonearitsfullheight,andonlyforthelastportionofits
travelfortheweighttobetakenoverandsupportedbyasolidfollowerwithasharpedge.Thisensuredthatthe
weightdroppedataprecisemoment,enablingaccuratetiming.[15]Thiswasachievedbytheuseoftwosnailcams
mountedcoaxiallywiththerollerinitiallyrestingononecamandthefinalsolidfollowerontheotherbutnotin
contactwithitscamprofile.Thustherollercamwasinitiallycarriedtheweight,untilatthefinalportionoftherun
theprofileofthenonrollercamrosemorethantheothercausingthesolidfollowertotaketheweight.

Linearcam
Alinearcamisoneinwhichthecamelementmovesinastraightlineratherthanrotates.Thecamelementisoften
aplateorblock,butmaybeanycrosssection.[16]Thekeyfeatureisthattheinputisalinearmotionratherthan
rotational.Thecamprofilemaybecutintooneormoreedgesofaplateorblock,maybeoneormoreslotsor
groovesinthefaceofanelement,ormayevenbeasurfaceprofileforacamwithmorethanoneinput.The
developmentofalinearcamissimilarto,butnotidenticalto,thatofarotatingcam.[17]

Acommonexampleofalinearcamisakeyforapintumblerlock.Thepinsactasthefollowers.Thisbehavioris
exemplifiedwhenthekeyisduplicatedinakeyduplicationmachine,wheretheoriginalkeyactsasacontrolcam
forcuttingthenewkey.
History
AnearlycamwasbuiltintoHellenisticwaterdrivenautomatafromthe3rd
centuryBC.[18]CamswerelateremployedbyAlJazari,whousedthemin
hisownautomata.[19]ThecamandcamshaftappearedinEuropean
mechanismsfromthe14thcentury.[20]

Seealso
Keyduplicatingmachine.The
Reciprocatingmotion originalkey(mountedinthelefthand
holder)actsasalinearcamtocontrol
References thecutdepthfortheduplicate.

1."camdefinition".MerriamWebster.Retrieved20100405."arotatingorslidingpiece(asaneccentricwheelora
cylinderwithanirregularshape)inamechanicallinkageusedespeciallyintransformingrotarymotionintolinearmotion
orviceversa"
2.G.,Shigley,J.,&Uicker,J.(2010).CamDesign.TheoryofMachinesandMechanisms(4ed.).OxfordUniversityPress,
USA.p.200.
3.Jensen,Prebenw.(1965).CamDesignandManufacture.TheIndustrialPress,NewYork.p.1.
4.CamDesignandManufacture.TheIndustrialPress,NewYork.p.8.
5.IntroductiontoMechanismsCams(http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~rapidproto/mechanisms/chpt6.html)"riseisthemotionof
thefollowerawayfromthecamcenter,dwellisthemotionwherethefollowerisatrest,andreturnisthemotionofthe
followertowardthecamcenter"
6."Camstheirprofilesandthevelocityandaccelerationoftheirassociatedfollowers".Retrieved29August2013.
7.Jensen,Prebenw.(1965).CamDesignandManufacture.TheIndustrialPress,NewYork.p.1.
8.IntroductiontoMechanismsCams(http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~rapidproto/mechanisms/chpt6.html)"Thefollowermoves
inaplaneperpendiculartotheaxisofrotationofthecamshaft."
9.Oberg,Erik(1996).Machinery'sHandbook,25thEd.IndustrialPress.pp.10501055.
10.Bomar,Null,andWallace(1996).GunnersMate1&CNAVEDTRA14110.NavalEducationandTrainingProfessional
DevelopmentandTechnologyCenter.p.42.
11.Clymer,A.Ben."TheMechanicalAnalogComputersofHannibalFordandWilliamNewell".IEEEAnnalsofthe
HistoryofComputing.15(2):1934.doi:10.1109/85.207741.
12.HousehandlesKlotzlathe.
13.Bomar,Null,andWallace(1996).GunnersMate1&CNAVEDTRA14110.NavalEducationandTrainingProfessional
DevelopmentandTechnologyCenter.p.41.
14.https://encryptedtbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSnQxblcFmDowNoS4C
voIymQHG6o8sEAlxC9zAqhVivxtq6nsYwA
15.https://encryptedtbn2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ5FMCIxzU8XAbFpEiXgZGi
GgRHVeci71oxiGHc9HTn8mUGEhG
16."Linearcammechanicalinterlock".
17."Calculationequations:cams".Retrieved29August2013.
18.Wilson,Andrew(2002):"Machines,PowerandtheAncientEconomy",TheJournalofRomanStudies,Vol.92,pp.132
(16)http://www.jstor.org/stable/3184857
19.GeorgesIfrah(2001).TheUniversalHistoryofComputing:FromtheAbacustotheQuantumComputer,p.171,Trans.
E.F.Harding,JohnWiley&Sons,Inc.(See[1](http://www.banffcentre.ca/bnmi/programs/archives/2005/refresh/docs/co
nferences/Gunalan_Nadarajan.pdf))
20.A.Lehr(1981),DeGeschiedenisvanhetAstronomischKunstuurwerk,p.227,DenHaag.(See[2](http://odur.let.rug.nl/
~koster/musicbox/musicbox2.htm))

Externallinks
 Camdesignpages(http://www.Saltire.com/CamDesign)Createsanimatedcamsforspecifiedfollower
motions.
Howroundisyourcircle?(http://www.howround.com/)Containsvariouslinkages.
KinematicModelsforDesignDigitalLibrary(KMODDL)(http://kmoddl.library.cornell.edu/index.php)
MoviesandphotosofhundredsofworkingmechanicalsystemsmodelsatCornellUniversity.Alsoincludes
anebooklibrary(http://kmoddl.library.cornell.edu/ebooks.php)ofclassictextsonmechanicaldesignand
engineering.
IntroductiontoMechanismsCams(http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~rapidproto/mechanisms/chpt6.html)
Classification,nomenclature,motion,anddesignofcamsinformationforthecourse,Introductionto
Mechanisms,atCarnegieMellonUniversity.
PolynomialcamfunctionwithexcelVBAfiletodemonstrateitsmotion(http://mechanicaldesignhandboo
k.blogspot.com/2010/07/polynomialcamfunctionintroduction.html)

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Categories: Mechanicalengineering

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