Scotch yoke

The element, connected to the Follower, that is in direct and continuous contact with the Cam-Profile. It is usually a Follower-Roller, and occasionally a Flat-faced Follower. Other more general shapes are possible.

Computer-aided manufacturing

The most common Cam-Part. It is rotating-Part (a shaft), to which you add the 2D-Cam (or 3D-Cam) as a Cam-Profile. A Cam-Shaft usually rotates with a constant angular-velocity.

The curved surface of a 2D-Cam (or 3D-Cam) that imparts a motion to a Follower by point or line contact with the surface of a Follower-Profile.

The motion you design for the payload is equally important. A poor motion will needlessly incite vibrations in any mechanical system. A good motion will give you a machine that lasts longer, jams less frequently, and has the same capital cost as a machine with poor motion-design.

The characteristics of the mechanical components that most significantly affect the performance of the Cam-System are the mass moment of inertia (or mass for linear systems), rigidity (or stiffness for linear systems), and backlash in the input-transmission and output-transmission.

Cammechanism examples

A device whose input is a constant-speed Cam-Shaft and output is a rotating shaft with a progressive motion. After the cam-shaft rotates fully a number of times, the output shaft rotates by 360º.

Mechanicallinkage

CAM

Motion-Design for a single axis is fairly straightforward. Motion-Design for multi-axis machines, with many interacting mechanisms and complex material-to-machine interactions, requires experience, skill and a good understanding of the motion-design requirements as a whole.

The surface of a machine component that is rigidly connected to the Follower-Part. The surface that is in continuous contact with the Cam-Profile.

The action must be efficient and have a long life. You must consider: materials, metallurgy, lubrication, heat treatment, wear, rolling contact fatigue, backlash, ...

The design and selection of the mechanical components for the input-transmission and the output-transmission significantly affect the overall performance of the cam-system. The mechanical components are usually conventional machine-elements, such as shafts, gears, couplings, sliders, and linkages. They are usually connected together in series.