Cam Definition and 46 Threads

A cam is a rotating or sliding piece in a mechanical linkage used especially in transforming rotary motion into linear motion. 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. A cam timer is similar, and were widely used for electric machine control (an electromechanical timer in a washing machine being a common example) before the advent of inexpensive electronics, microcontrollers, integrated circuits, programmable logic controllers and digital control.

View More On Wikipedia.org
Recent contents Top users
  1. Ranger Mike

    Internal Combustion engine - evolution regarding parasitics

    I wrote this a while back Forums Engineering Mechanical Engineering Mechanical design - cam timing chain versus gear-driven (1 Viewer) Thread starterpnorm91 Start date Sep 12, 2013 Sep 12, 2013 I have since found some new updates. Back in the early 1990s when the SB2 small block chevy...
  2. W

    Who is a CAD/CAM Technician and What Do They Do?

    New user. CAD/CAM technician.
  3. O

    How to design a barrel cam to improve torque?

    Hallo Could someone suggest me how to design a barrel cam (for example like in the butterfly valve actuator) to improve the initial torque generated by the movement ?
  4. J

    Cam forces acting on a linear motion bearing with nonlinear forces

    I have a machine I am designing that for all intensive descriptions, is a simple press designed to compress loose product into a puck like shape. The press force comes from a roller bearing mounted to a piston shaft, the rod sliding through a rigid linear bearing and the piston on the end of...
  5. teun-lll

    Snail Cam shaft torque calculations

    Hello, Im trying to calculate the torque needed for a system that i want to design. i want to raise and drop a weight of 800 kg. Ive made some calculation but I am not certain i did it right. I think I am on the right track but i feel like the numbers are a bit high. I have a hard time finding...
  6. T

    Calculate the required torque for a cam design

    Hi all, I'm currently designing a cam mechanism. Would like to check how much motor rated torque required for the following design of snail cam ? To ease calculation, i have include some assumed factor as below. Two extreme condition (rotation degree) to compare. What is the motor rated...
  7. I

    Maximizing Cam Follower Mass for Contact with Rotating Cam: A Dynamic Analysis

    Hello, I have a problem in which I know the constant of the spring,the maximum and minimun force that the spring does to the camand the rotational speed of the cam.I am asked to find the necessary mass to attach to the spring in the follower so the follower always stays in contact with the cam.I...
  8. F

    B Have you seen the Space Showers in Chicago?

    I just found this online service http://nusoft.fnal.gov/nova/public/ which shows a different kind of weather: Space Showers in Chicago.
  9. K

    CAM photosynthesis saturation / trying to parse a paper

    Hi - I'm working to accumulate data on photosynthetic flux saturation levels across a range of plant species, and am having a bit of trouble understanding this paper: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.3732/ajb.94.8.1344 Table 5 shows PPFD vs. ETR, and shows photosynthesis saturating...
  10. M

    What Type of Cam Does a Four Arc Design Describe?

    I am trying to determine what type of cam this is from the various cam diagrams but they don't really help as they all seem very similar. I have a simple four arc cam, so a base circle/arc, a nose circle/arc and an arc on one side tangent to the nose and base arcs, and another of slightly...
  11. K

    [Cam Design] Calculation of torque required by cam shaft

    Hello all, I am trying to figure out how to calculate the torque on a cam shaft. Say we are looking at this cam and cam follower: If we know that the total force downward caused by the cam follower is, let's say, 50lb, how do I determine the torque required of the cam shaft to rotate the...
  12. Suraj M

    ATP Requirements for C3 & CAM Photosynthesis

    i was told that the ATP required to form 1/6 Glucose from 1 CO₂ in C4 cycle is just 3 but 5 in CAM plants... dont both need 5 CO₂ and also why 5 CO₂?? 3 for C3 cycle ..fine one for regeneration of pyuruvic acid to PEP..fine what about the other 1 ?
  13. C

    Explain geometric constraints solver for CAD to a newbie

    I have seen the following said on a forum: This makes good sense to me. To me, as a programmer, this sounds like he is asking for a better API to look up the coordinate at runtime; perhaps that would force the engine to evaluate expressions in a particular order, but then that's what functional...
  14. S

    CAM Design with Non-Linear Force Profile

    I need to design a CAM composite with a spring for an exoskeleton to aid elderly mobility. However, the problem I face right now is that the CAM I designed provides a linear force profile, i.e., the force varies proportionally with the extension of the leg. How can I delay this force applied so...
  15. R

    Calculating Volume of a Double-Lobed Cam Using Polar Coordinates

    Homework Statement The surface of a double lobed cam are modeled by the inequalities: \frac{1}{4}\leqr\leq\frac{1}{2}(1+cos2θ) and -9/(4(x2+y2+9)) ≤ z ≤ 9/(4(x2+y2+9)) Find the volume of the steel in the cam. Homework Equations The Attempt at a Solution I know I...
  16. P

    Mechanical design - cam timing chain versus gear-driven

    mechanical design -- cam timing chain versus gear-driven hey all, I am a mech-e student, but I am still in the infancy of my degree, so I haven't really had any courses pertaining to this sort of thing, but having work with cars for a number of years, and having what I consider a strong...
  17. H

    Barrel cam design, Torsion, Rotational Speed, Displacement

    Hello I'm a student and I have project making a harvesting tool which need barrel cam I need force to cut trunk of coconut tree (I don't know it in english, what I mean is the hard part of coconut leaf) I'm a bit confuse here from Robert L Norton book Cam Design and Manufacturing...
  18. S

    Why is Scalar Cam Built with Second-Order Derivative of Metric Ricci Scalar?

    hi why only scalar cam build with second order of derivative of metric is Ricci scalar? thanks
  19. P

    Cam Lift as a Periodic Forcing Function

    Homework Statement Background: Given a cam and follower system in the valvetrain of an internal combustion engine and a table of values relating follower lift with respect to angular displacement, I would like to model the input delivered to the valvetrain by the cam lobe as a periodic forcing...
  20. T

    Calculating the translation force on a cam follower

    Hi all, I have been trying to solve this problem, I basically have a cam that's pushing up a follower and I was wondering if someone could check my work So from the diagram below I have a force acting on the follower at a 77.6 deg angle. So I did Fy = F x Sin(12.4deg) = 1.012 lbf, Then...
  21. E

    The End of the Internet: Online Cam Psychics

    yes psychics online just how you got girls taking their clothes off now we have psychics online and they even have their website a la cam4. hahaha will the internet become more BS than this? ofcourse 4chan is having a field day with this. http://www.oranum.com/psychics
  22. F

    Automotive Heads are tested need cam help (classic sbc)

    195cc intake runner, 64cc combustion chamber, aluminum, 2.02, and 1.60 valves Superflow sf 600 flow com air speed: 380-400FT, 375-410SC Intake; (.1)66 (.2)141 (.3)200 (.4)242 (.5)270 (.6)265 (.7)268 Exhaust; (.1)55 (.2)107 (.3)139 (.4)167 (.5)192 (.6)209 2500lb car 245/50r16 street tires...
  23. C

    Calculating Cam Gear Bolt Force: Formulas and Tips for Optimal Performance

    Hi, I'm trying to find some formulas to figure out the force on the bolts of a cam gear.
  24. J

    Max Horizontal Force: Calculate with Cam Setup & Motor Torque

    I am having to figure out the maximum horizontal force our cam is able to produce on a pushrod that slides back and forth through bushings. I have attached a picture showing the basic setup. The motor torque, and RPM's are known and for this estimate I am ignoring frictional forces. I'm...
  25. S

    Admissions Troubles applying for US PhD after Cam Part III

    Hello everyone, I have just got admitted by Part III at Cambridge. This is a great program so I probably will go there. One thing concerns me is the troubles applying to US college PhD after finishing Part III. Since all Part III exam results come out around June, and deadlines in applying for...
  26. B

    Designing a High Performance Two Cylinder Eccentric Circular Cam Piston Pump

    This is actually a homework question that i am confused about. This is the question. Design a two cylinder eccentric circular cam-type piston pump to deliver a flow rate of 0.65 m^3/s at a rotational speed of 110 rad/s. Let the stroke length equal the piston diameter and assume a volumetric...
  27. C

    How Do You Calculate Cam Dimensions for Optimal Rod Travel?

    Hi, Im trying to work out the dimensions of the offset on a cam for a project. I know the travel of rod c, as well as the length of the connecting rod b, but I am not sure what the lenth of dimension a should be. I know this is probably simple maths (just pythagoras?) but I need to make sure...
  28. H

    Vibration generated from a specially design cam

    Hi all, I have a question, I am trying to do to measure the stress on human feet while standing on a vibrating platform. The platform was placed on top of a cam and the cam was driven by a motor. I know most of the parameter, i.e. frequency, speed, acceleration but how can i calculate the...
  29. M

    Unlock the Potential of CAD CAM & CAE in Automotive Industries

    What application cad cam & cae in automotive industries...?
  30. S

    What Point Mutations Disable GFP-CaM Function Without Shape Change?

    Homework Statement The molecule in question is GFP with CaM 1) Suggest several point mutations that will disable the protein's function without dramatically altering the protein's shape. Explain why. 2) Suggest a point mutation that will completely alter the protein's shape. Explain why...
  31. S

    Need equation for modified sine curve for a cam.

    I am looking for the equation used to create the cam shape using a "modified sine curve". I am pretty sure the information is in the "Cam Design Handbook" by Harold A. Rothbart but I don't want to buy the book for just one equation. Any help would be appreciated.
  32. S

    Mechanical engineering - Cam Laws - Ct Accel.

    1. Homework Statement If you could please tell me the "fall" laws for displacement, velocity and acceleration for a cam with constant acceleration. 3. The Attempt at a Solution Could only manage to find the laws for the rising part, in a 1996 book. Didnt find the laws on google...
  33. S

    Mechanical engineering - Cam Laws - Ct Accel.

    Homework Statement If you could please tell me the "fall" laws for displacement, velocity and acceleration for a cam with constant acceleration. Homework Equations The Attempt at a Solution Could only manage to find the laws for the rising part, in a 1996 book. Didnt find...
  34. W

    Need Help with Cam and Gear Homework?

    Hi, I really need help with these two problems from my homework set (got em all done except these two). It would be great if some1 could help me out with this as soon as possible (ESPECIALLY THE FIRST PROBLEM...have no idea how to go about it). Thanks in advance. A cam drive is used for a...
  35. P

    Analysing a photo of a mechanical cam

    hi all I have an image of a mechnaical cam from a linotype printing press. I want to get angular dispalcemetns, angular velocities and angular accelerations of this cam from the image. Is this possible. Does anyone know any software where I can get an image and then get a set of...
  36. V

    Genie 2000 - Find FWTM Paramenter from CAM Files

    I'm a Genie 2000 user, and in order to prepare a template for a customized report I want to retrieve the FWTM. In fact, this value is shown in "Marker Info" window, but I can't find the adecuate Paramenter from CAM files. Does anyone know the paramenter defintion for the FWTM?
  37. D

    Lifting Wood Without a Cam: Is This Idea Any Good?

    Hi, I am creating a mechanism that needs to be able to lift a plank of wood up and down arpund a pivot. However, there isn't enough space below the wood to enable me to place a cam. So i thought I might be able to place a cam above the wood - although this would mean the follower would have no...
  38. D

    Moment of Inertia of a Rotating Cam

    This cam is a circular disk rotating on a shaft that does not pass through the center of the disk. It is manufactured by first making the cam with radius R, then drilling an off-center hole, radius R/2, parallel to the axis of the cylinder and centered at a point R/2 from the center of the cam...
  39. wolram

    Web Cams: Plug & Play, Audio/Visual, Mountable 4yrds from Desk Top

    As i am no computer savy i need one that is just plug and play, with good audio/ visual, it must be mountable 4yrds from desk top, any ideas before i blow a gasket looking through google.
  40. wolram

    Web cam with good picture and audio quality

    Help please, is there such a thing as a wireless web cam that i can just use with out any mods or additions to my desk top? I need one with good picture and audio quality, and i need it to work 4yrds from the desk top. If there is no such thing can some one recommend a standard one for up to £50?
  41. M

    Cam Lobe Question: 60 vs. 45 Degree Angle of Lift

    Hey guys, Let's say we have two cams, and everything is identical (rpms, valves, springs, etc.), except the angle of lift on the cam. For simplicity, let's assume the lobe lifting edges are straight, and we want to achieve a lift of .75" (19 mm) with both cams. Cam #1 has a 60 degree...
  42. wolram

    Rand Cam Engine: New Automotive Technology

    http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2005/05/09/070069.html is this the replacement for the piston engine ?
  43. wolram

    Outer Bay Live Cam: Watch Penguins and Other Fishy Characters!

    This is a fishy one with music, there are penguins and others . http://www.mbayaq.org/efc/efc_outerbay/outerbay_cam.asp
  44. L

    Do You Really Need a Webcam for Your PC?

    Anybody got a camera this or can be connected to their PC?
  45. C

    Cam -follower displacement as a time function

    There is a cam with offset of 10mm. A follower rests on it vertically. When the cam rotates at rpm N. I want to describe the displacement of the follower vertically with respect to time. I can be shown that the displacement is 10*sin(wt) where w=2*3.14*N*t/60. But i want to derive it...
  46. G

    Adapting Variable Cam Timing to DOHC Engines - Brian

    hey i was wondering if anyone can adapt variable cam timing to any DOHC engine? I was thinking in regards to the early northstar v8s. I have seen v-tec on hondas, and how it gives them basically more horsepower at a certain rpm. I think the gains would be more if you have a bigger engine...
Back
Top