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INTRODUCTION done by a crank. An example is the

crankshaft of a car, which takes the
A cam is a mechanical member used to
reciprocating motion of the pistons and
impart desired motion to a follower by direct
translates it into the rotary motion necessary
contact. A cam is a rotating or sliding piece
to operate the wheels. Cams can also be
in a mechanical linkage used especially in
viewed as information-storing and -
transforming rotary motion into linear
transmitting devices.
motion or vice-versa. The cam may be
rotating or reciprocating whereas the A cam & the follower combination belong

followers may be rotating, reciprocating or to the category of higher pairs. Necessary

oscillating. It is often a part of a rotating elements of a cam mechanism are

wheel (e.g. an eccentric wheel) or shaft (e.g. ● A driver member known as the cam
a cylinder with an irregular shape) that
● A driven member called the follower
strikes a lever at one or more points on its
● A frame which supports the cam & guides
circular path. The cam can be a simple tooth,
the follower
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.

The cam can be seen as a device that

translates from circular to reciprocating (or
sometimes oscillating) motion. 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. The
opposite operation, translation of
reciprocating motion to circular motion, is
An early cam was built into Hellenistic
water-driven automata from the 3rd century
BC. The use of cams was later employed by
Al-Jazari who employed them in his own
automata. The cam and camshaft appeared
in European mechanisms from the 14th
century.
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tune" through wear and tear, string stretch,

or just general age. The effect of a detuned
twin cam bow is that the two cams rotate out
of sync with each other, causing the
bowstring to accelerate in two alternating
directions upon release. This causes a
number of adverse consequences, the most
obvious being unsteady arrow flight.

The binary cam overcomes this by 'slaving'

each cam to the other; as one cam is unable
to rotate without the direct equivalent action
The binary cam is a design for the pulley of the other, the two rotate in near perfect
system of a compound bow. Craig Yehle, synchronization, with any possible
director of research and development at differences in rotation automatically
Bowtech Archery, received a patent for the correcting themselves as the shot cycle is
design on December 11, 2007. Bowtech completed.
started equipping its bows with the new cam TYPES OF CAMS
design in the 2005 model year.
Cams are classified according to
The binary cam is described as a modified
twin cam setup where each cam is slaved to 1) Shape,
the other via a loop of string connecting the 2) Follower movement, &
two cams. This is contrasted with a typical 3) Manner of constraint of the follower.
twin cam setup where the ends of the
bowstring are physically anchored onto each According to Shape:-

of the bow limbs. 1. Wedge & Flat Cams: A wedge

As a twin cam system relies on each cam generally has a translational motion. The

rotating independently, based solely on the follower can either translate or oscillate.

force of the string and the resistance of the Spring is used to maintain the contact

bow limbs being absolutely symmetrical, between the cam & the follower. The

there is room for a twin cam system to "lose

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cam is stationary & the follower causes

the relative motion of the cam.

5. Conjugate Cams: Conjugate cams are a

double-disc cam, the two discs being
keyed together & are in constant touch
2. Radial & Disc Cams: A cam in which
with the two rollers of a follower.
the follower moves radially from the
centre of rotation of the cam is known as
a radial or a disc cam.

6. Globoidal Cams: A globoidal cam can

have two types of surfaces, convex or
concave.
3. Spiral Cams: A spiral cam is a face cam
in which a groove is cut in the form of a
spiral. The spiral groove consists of teeth
which mesh with a pin gear follower.

7. Spherical Cams: In a spherical, the

follower oscillates about an axis
perpendicular to the axis of rotation of
the cam.

4. Cylindrical Cams: A cylinder which

has a circumferential contour cut in the
surface, rotates about its axis.
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According to follower movement
1. Rise-Return-Rise (R-R-R): In this,
there is alternate rise & return of the
follower with no periods of dwells.
The follower has a linear or an
angular displacement.
2. Dwell-Rise-Return-Dwell (D-R-R-
D): In such a type of cam there is
rise & return of the follower after a
dwell.
3. Dwell-Rise-Dwell-Return-Dwell
(D-R-D-R-D): It is the most widely
used type of cam. The dwelling of
the cam is followed by rise & dwell
& subsequently by return & dwell.
According to Manner of Constraint of the
Follower
1. Pre-loaded spring cam: Is used for
the purpose of keeping the contact
between the cam & the follower.
2. Positive-drive cam: Constant touch
between the cam & the follower is
maintained by a roller follower
operating the groove of cam.
3. Gravity cam: If the rise of the cam
is achieved by the rising surface of
the cam & the return by the force of
gravity or due to the weight of the
cam, the cam is known as the gravity
cam.
TYPES OF FOLLOWERS
Cam followers are classified according to
the
1. Shape
2. Movement &
3. Location of line of movement.
According to shape
1. Knife-edge Follower: Simple in
construction. However, its use is
limited as it produces a great wear of
the surface at the point of contact.
2. Roller Follower: Widely used cam
follower & has a cylindrical roller
free to rotate about a pin joint. At
low speed, the follower has a pure
rolling action, but at high speeds,
some sliding also occurs.
According to Movement
1. Reciprocating Follower: As the
cam rotates, the follower
reciprocates or translates in the
guides.
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2. Oscillating Follower: The follower Now the follower performs both the relative
is pivoted at a suitable point on the turning and translating motions. We have
frame & oscillates as the cam makes inverted the mechanism
the rotary motion.

According to Location of Line of

Movement

1. Radial Follower: The follower is

known as a radial follower if the line
of movement of the follower passes
through the center of rotation of the
cam.
Cam Nomenclature
2. Offset Follower: If the line of
movement of the roller follower is
offset from the center of rotation of
the cam, the follower is known as
offset follower.

CAM PROFILES
DESIGN PRINCIPLE

The method termed kinematic inversions is

commonly used in cam profile design. For
• Base circle: It is the smallest circle
example, in a disk cam with translating
tangent to the cam profile (contour)
follower mechanism, the follower translates
drawn from the center of rotation of
when the cam turns. This means that the
a radial cam.
relative motion between them is a
• Trace point: It is the reference point
combination of a relative turning motion and
on the follower to trace the cam
a relative translating motion. Without
profile such as the knife-edge
changing this feature of their relative
follower and the center of the roller
motion, imagine that the cam remains fixed.
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of a roller follower.
Pitch curve: It is the curve drawn by
the trace point assuming that the cam
is fixed, and the trace point of the
follower rotates around the cam.
• Pressure angle: It represents the
steepness of the cam profile, it is the
angle between the normal to the
pitch curve at a point and the
direction of follower motion. It
varies in magnitude at all instants of
follower motion.
• Pitch point: It is the point on the
pitch curve at which pressure angle
is maximum.
• Pitch circle: It is the circle passing
through the pitch point and
concentric with the base circle.
• Prime circle: The smallest circle
drawn tangent to pitch curve is
known as the prime circle.
• Angle of Ascent (outstroke): It is
the angle turned by cam during the
time of rise of follower.
• Angle of Dwell: It is the angle
turned by cam while the follower
remains stationary at the highest or
lowest position.
• Angle of descent (Return stroke):
It is the angle turned by cam when
follower returns to its initial position.
• Angle of action: It is the angle
turned by cam during beginning of
rise and the end of return of the
follower.
HIGH-SPEED CAMS
A real follower always has some mass &
when multiplied by acceleration, inertia
force of the follower is obtained. This force
is always felt at the contact point of the
follower with the cam surface & at the
bearings. An acceleration curve with abrupt
changes exerts abrupt stresses on the cam
surfaces & at the bearings accompanied by
detrimental effects such as surface wear &
noise. All this may lead to an early failure
of the cam system. Thus, it is very important
to give due consideration to velocity &
acceleration curves while choosing a
displacement diagram.
In low-speed applications, cam with
discontinuous acceleration characteristics
may not show any undesirable characteristic,
but at higher speeds such cams are certainly
bound to show the same. The higher the
speed, the higher is the need for smooth
curves. At very high speeds, even the jerk is
made continuous as well.
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LAYOUT OF CAM PROFILES

A cam profile is constructed on the principle

of kinematic inversion, i.e., considering the
cam to be stationary & the follower to be
rotating about it in the opposite direction of
the cam rotation.

Step1: divide the displacement-diagram

Abscissa into a number of segments.

Step2: divide the prime circle into

↓INVERSION Corresponding segments.

Step3: transfer distances, by means of

dividers, from the displacement diagram
directly onto the cam layout to locate the
corresponding positions of the trace point.

Graphical Representation of Cam Profile

For the case of reciprocating knife-

edge follower

Step4: draw a smooth curve through these

points. The curve is just the required cam
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profile.

For the case of reciprocating

offset roller follower Step1: construct the prime circle with radius
r0.

Step2: construct the offset circle with radius

equal to the amount of offset e.

As shown in above figure, the displacement

diagram of the follower is given, s=s
(φ).Construct the plate cam profile
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Step3: divide the displacement-diagram

abscissa into a number of segments.

Step4: divide the offset circle into

corresponding segments and assign station
numbers to the boundaries of these
segments.

Step5: construct lines tangent to the offset

circle from these station, dividing the prime
circle into corresponding segments.

Step6: transfer distances, by means of

dividers, from the displacement diagram
directly onto the cam layout to locate the
corresponding positions of the trace point,
always measuring outward from the prime
circle.
Step7: draw a smooth curve through these
points. The curve is just the required cam
profile.