Cam

Fig. 1 Animation showing rotating cams and cam

followers producing reciprocating motion.

A cam is a rotating or sliding piece in a

mechanical linkage used especially in
transforming rotary motion into linear
motion.[1][2] It is often a part of a rotating
wheel (e.g. an eccentric wheel) or shaft
(e.g. a cylinder with an irregular shape)
that strikes a lever at one or more points
on its circular path. The cam can be a
simple tooth, as is used to deliver pulses
of power to a steam hammer, for example,
or an eccentric disc or other shape that
produces a smooth reciprocating (back
and forth) motion in the follower, which is
a lever making contact with the cam.

Overview
The cam can be seen as a device that
rotates from circular to reciprocating (or
sometimes oscillating) motion.[3] A
common example is the camshaft of an
automobile, which takes the rotary motion
of the engine and translates it into the
reciprocating motion necessary to operate
the intake and exhaust valves of the
cylinders.

Displacement diagram

Fig. 2 Basic displacement diagram

Certain cams can be characterized by their
displacement diagrams, which reflect the
changing position a roller follower (a shaft
with a rotating wheel at the end) would
make as the cam rotates about an axis.
These diagrams relate angular position,
usually in degrees, to the radial
displacement experienced at that position.
Displacement diagrams are traditionally
presented as graphs with non-negative
values. A simple displacement diagram
illustrates the follower motion at a
constant velocity rise followed by a similar
return with a dwell in between as depicted
in gure 2.[4] The rise is the motion of the
follower away from the cam center, dwell
is the motion where the follower is at rest,
and return is the motion of the follower
toward the cam center.[5]

However, the most common type is in the

valve actuators in internal combustion
engines. Here, the cam prole is
commonly symmetric and at rotational
speeds generally met with, very high
acceleration forces develop. Ideally, a
convex curve between the onset and
maximum position of lift reduces
acceleration, but this requires impractically
large shaft diameters relative to lift. Thus,
in practice, the points at which lift begins
and ends mean that a tangent to the base
circle appears on the prole. This is
continuous with a tangent to the tip circle.
In designing the cam, the lift and the dwell
angle are given. If the prole is treated
as a large base circle and a small tip circle,
joined by a common tangent, giving lift ,
the relationship can be calculated, given
the angle between one tangent and the
axis of symmetry ( being ),
while is the distance between the
centres of the circles (required), and is
the radius of the base (given) and that of
the tip circle (required)

and
Plate cam

Fig. 3 Cam prole

The most commonly used cam is the cam

plate (also known as disc cam or radial
cam[6]) which is cut out of a piece of flat
metal or plate.[7] Here, the follower moves
in a plane perpendicular to the axis of
rotation of the camshaft.[8] Several key
terms are relevant in such a construction
of plate cams: base circle, prime circle
(with radius equal to the sum of the
follower radius and the base circle radius),
pitch curve which is the radial curve traced
out by applying the radial displacements
away from the prime circle across all
angles, and the lobe separation angle (LSA
- the angle between two adjacent intake
and exhaust cam lobes).

The base circle is the smallest circle that

can be drawn to the cam prole.

A once common, but now outdated,

application of this type of cam was
automatic machine tool programming
cams. Each tool movement or operation
was controlled directly by one or more
cams. Instructions for producing
programming cams and cam generation
data for the most common makes of
machine were included in engineering
references well into the modern CNC era.[9]

This type of cam is used in many simple

electromechanical appliance controllers,
such as dishwashers and clothes washing
machines, to actuate mechanical switches
that control the various parts.

Cylindrical cam


Motorcycle transmission showing cylindrical cam with

three followers. Each follower controls the position of
a shift fork.

Constant lead barrel cam in an American Pacemaker

lathe. This cam is used to provide a repeatable cross
slide setting when threading with a single-point tool.

A cylindrical cam or barrel cam is a cam in

which the follower rides on the surface of
a cylinder. In the most common type, the
follower rides in a groove cut into the
surface of a cylinder. These cams are
principally used to convert rotational
motion to linear motion parallel to the
rotational axis of the cylinder. A cylinder
may have several grooves cut into the
surface and drive several followers.
Cylindrical cams can provide motions that
involve more than a single rotation of the
cylinder and generally provide positive
positioning, removing the need for a spring
or other provision to keep the follower in
contact with the control surface.
Applications include machine tool drives,
such as reciprocating saws, and shift
control barrels in sequential
transmissions, such as on most modern
motorcycles.

A special case of this cam is constant

lead, where the position of the follower is
linear with rotation, as in a lead screw. The
purpose and detail of implementation
influence whether this application is called
a cam or a screw thread, but in some
cases, the nomenclature may be
ambiguous.
Cylindrical cams may also be used to
reference an output to two inputs, where
one input is rotation of the cylinder, and
the second is position of the follower
axially along the cam. The output is radial
to the cylinder. These were once common
for special functions in control systems,
such as re control mechanisms for guns
on naval vessels[10] and mechanical
analog computers.[11]

An example of a cylindrical cam with two

inputs is provided by a duplicating lathe,
an example of which is the Klotz axe
handle lathe,[12] which cuts an axe handle
to a form controlled by a pattern acting as
a cam for the lathe mechanism.

Face cam
A face cam produces motion by using a
follower riding on the face of a disk. The
most common type has the follower ride in
a slot so that the captive follower
produces radial motion with positive
positioning without the need for a spring
or other mechanism to keep the follower in
contact with the control surface. A face
cam of this type generally has only one
slot for a follower on each face. In some
applications, a single element, such as a
gear, a barrel cam, or other rotating
element with a flat face, may do duty as a
face cam in addition to other purposes.

Face cams may provide repetitive motion

with a groove that forms a closed curve, or
may provide function generation with a
stopped groove. Cams used for function
generation may have grooves that require
several revolutions to cover the complete
function, and in this case, the function
generally needs to be invertible so that the
groove does not self intersect, and the
function output value must differ enough
at corresponding rotations that there is
sufcient material separating the adjacent
groove segments. A common form is the
constant lead cam, where displacement of
the follower is linear with rotation, such as
the scroll plate in a scroll chuck. Non-
invertible functions, which require the
groove to self-intersect, can be
implemented using special follower
designs.

Sash window lock, traditional cam style, for double-

hung sash window
A variant of the face cam provides motion
parallel to the axis of cam rotation. A
common example is the traditional sash
window lock, where the cam is mounted to
the top of the lower sash, and the follower
is the hook on the upper sash. In this
application, the cam is used to provide
mechanical advantage in forcing the
window shut, and also provides a self-
locking action, like some worm gears, due
to friction.

Face cams may also be used to reference

a single output to two inputs, typically
where one input is rotation of the cam and
the other is radial position of the follower.
The output is parallel to the axis of the
cam. These were once common is
mechanical analog computation and
special functions in control systems.[13]

A face cam that implements three outputs

for a single rotational input is the stereo
phonograph, where a relatively constant
lead groove guides the stylus and tone
arm unit, acting as either a rocker-type
(tone arm) or linear (linear tracking
turntable) follower, and the stylus alone
acting as the follower for two orthogonal
outputs to representing the audio signals.
These motions are in a plane radial to the
rotation of the record and at angles of 45
degrees to the plane of the disk (normal to
the groove faces). The position of the tone
arm was used by some turntables as a
control input, such as to turn the unit off or
to load the next disk in a stack, but was
ignored in simple units.

Heart shaped cam

This type of cam, in the form of a
symmetric heart symbol, is used to return
a shaft holding the cam to a set position
by pressure from a roller. They were used
for example on early models of Post Ofce
Master clocks to synchronise the clock
time with Greenwich Mean Time when the
activating follower was pressed onto the
cam automatically via a signal from an
accurate time source.[14]

Snail drop cam

This type of cam was used for example in
mechanical time keeping clocking-in
clocks to drive the day advance
mechanism at precisely midnight and
consisted of a follower being raised over
24 hours by the cam in a spiral path which
terminated at a sharp cut off at which the
follower would drop down and activate the
day advance. Where timing accuracy is
required as in clocking-in clocks these
were typically ingeniously arranged to have
a roller cam follower to raise the drop
weight for most of its journey to near its
full height, and only for the last portion of
its travel for the weight to be taken over
and supported by a solid follower with a
sharp edge. This ensured that the weight
dropped at a precise moment, enabling
accurate timing.[15] This was achieved by
the use of two snail cams mounted
coaxially with the roller initially resting on
one cam and the nal solid follower on the
other but not in contact with its cam
prole. Thus the roller cam was initially
carried the weight, until at the nal portion
of the run the prole of the non-roller cam
rose more than the other causing the solid
follower to take the weight.

Linear cam
A linear cam is one in which the cam
element moves in a straight line rather
than rotates. The cam element is often a
plate or block, but may be any cross
section.[16] The key feature is that the input
is a linear motion rather than rotational.
The cam prole may be cut into one or
more edges of a plate or block, may be
one or more slots or grooves in the face of
an element, or may even be a surface
prole for a cam with more than one input.
The development of a linear cam is similar
to, but not identical to, that of a rotating
cam.[17]

Key duplicating machine. The original key (mounted in

the left hand holder) acts as a linear cam to control
the cut depth for the duplicate.

A common example of a linear cam is a

key for a pin tumbler lock. The pins act as
the followers. This behavior is exemplied
when the key is duplicated in a key
duplication machine, where the original
key acts as a control cam for cutting the
new key.

History
An early cam was built into Hellenistic
water-driven automata from the 3rd
century BC.[18] The cam and camshaft
later appeared in mechanisms by Al-
Jazari, who used them in his automata,
described in 1206.[19] The cam and
camshaft appeared in European
mechanisms from the 14th century.[20]

See also
 Reciprocating motion
Cam engine

References
1. "cam denition" . Merriam Webster.
Retrieved 2010-04-05. a rotating or sliding
piece (as an eccentric wheel or a cylinder
with an irregular shape) in a mechanical
linkage used especially in transforming
rotary motion into linear motion or vice
versa
2. G., Shigley, J., & Uicker, J. (2010). Cam
Design. Theory of Machines and
Mechanisms (4 ed.). Oxford University
Press, USA. p.200.
3. Jensen, Preben w. (1965). Cam Design
and Manufacture. The Industrial Press, New
York. p.1.
4. Cam Design and Manufacture. The
Industrial Press, New York. p.8.
5. Introduction to Mechanisms - Cams "rise
is the motion of the follower away from the
cam center, dwell is the motion where the
follower is at rest, and return is the motion
of the follower toward the cam center"
6. "Cams; their proles and the velocity and
acceleration of their associated followers" .
Retrieved 29 August 2013.
7. Jensen, Preben w. (1965). Cam Design
and Manufacture. The Industrial Press, New
York. p.1.
8. Introduction to Mechanisms - Cams
"The follower moves in a plane
perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the
camshaft."
9. Oberg, Erik (1996). Machinery's
Handbook, 25th Ed. Industrial Press.
pp.10501055.
10. Bomar, Null, and Wallace (1996).
Gunners Mate 1 & C NAVEDTRA 14110 .
Naval Education and Training Professional
Development and Technology Center. p.4-
2.
11. Clymer, A. Ben. "The Mechanical Analog
Computers of Hannibal Ford and William
Newell" . IEEE Annals of the History of
Computing. 15 (2): 1934.
doi:10.1109/85.207741 .
12. House handles Klotz lathe .
13. Bomar, Null, and Wallace (1996).
Gunners Mate 1 & C NAVEDTRA 14110 .
Naval Education and Training Professional
Development and Technology Center. p.4-
1.
14. [Link]
[Link]/images?
q=tbn:ANd9GcSnQxblcFmDowNoS4C-
voIymQHG6o8sEAlxC9zAqhVivxtq6nsYwA
15. [Link]
[Link]/images?
q=tbn:ANd9GcQ5FMCIxzU8XAbFpEiXgZGi-
GgRHVeci71oxiGHc9HTn8mUGEhG
16. "Linear cam mechanical interlock" .
17. "Calculation equations:cams" .
Retrieved 29 August 2013.
18. Wilson, Andrew (2002): "Machines,
Power and the Ancient Economy", The
Journal of Roman Studies, Vol. 92, pp.1
32 (16)
[Link]
19. Georges Ifrah (2001). The Universal
History of Computing: From the Abacus to
the Quantum Computer, p. 171, Trans. E.F.
Harding, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (See [1] )
20. A. Lehr (1981), De Geschiedenis van het
Astronomisch Kunstuurwerk, p. 227, Den
Haag. (See [2] )

External links
Cam design pages Creates animated
cams for specied follower motions.
How round is your circle? Contains
various linkages.
Kinematic Models for Design Digital
Library (KMODDL) - Movies and photos
of hundreds of working mechanical-
systems models at Cornell University.
Also includes an e-book library of
classic texts on mechanical design and
engineering.
 Introduction to Mechanisms - Cams
Classication, nomenclature, motion,
and design of cams; information for the
course, Introduction to Mechanisms, at
Carnegie Mellon University.
Polynomial cam function with excel VBA
le to demonstrate its motion

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