CHAPTER FIVE

CAMS
 5. Introduction
 A cam is an irregular shaped mechanical member
for transmitting a desired motion to another
element, known as follower, by direct contact. (OR)
 A cam is a rotating machine element which gives
reciprocating or oscillating motion to another
element known as follower.
 The cam and the follower have a line contact and
constitute a higher pair.
 The cams are usually rotated at uniform speed by a
shaft, but the follower motion is predetermined and
will be according to the shape of the cam.
 The cam and follower is one of the simplest as well
as one of the most important mechanisms found in
modern machinery today.
 The cams are widely used for operating the inlet
and exhaust valves of internal combustion engines,
automatic attachment of machineries, paper cutting
machines, spinning and weaving textile
machineries, feed mechanism of automatic lathes
etc.
5.1 Classification of Followers
The followers can be classified as;
1. According to the surface in contact. The
followers, according to the surface in contact, are
as follows:
a) Knife edge follower. When the contacting end of
the follower has a sharp knife edge, it is called a knife
edge follower.
 The sliding motion takes place between the
contacting surfaces (i.e. the knife edge and the cam
surface).
 It is seldom used in practice because the small area
of contacting surface results in excessive wear.
b) Roller follower. When the contacting end of the
follower is a roller, it is called a roller follower.
 Since the rolling motion takes place between the
contacting surfaces (i.e. the roller and the cam),
therefore the rate of wear is greatly reduced.
c) Flat faced or mushroom follower: When the
contacting end of the follower is a perfectly flat
face, it is called a flat-faced follower.
d) Spherical faced follower: When the contacting
end of the follower is of spherical shape, it is called
a spherical faced follower.
2) According to the motion of the follower. The
followers, according to its motion, are of the
following two types:
a) Reciprocating or translating follower. When the
follower reciprocates in guides as the cam rotates
uniformly, it is known as reciprocating or
translating follower.
b) Oscillating or rotating follower. When the
uniform rotary motion of the cam is converted into
predetermined oscillatory motion of the follower, it
is called oscillating or rotating follower.
3) According to the path of motion of the follower.
The followers, according to its path of motion, are
of the following two types:
a) Radial follower. When the motion of the follower
is along an axis passing through the center of the
cam, it is known as radial follower.
b) Off-set follower. When the motion of the follower
is along an axis away from the axis of the cam
center, it is called off-set follower.
 Classification of cams
 Though the cams may be classified in many ways,
yet the following two types are important from the
subject point of view:
1) Radial or disc cam: In radial cams, the follower
reciprocates or oscillates in a direction
perpendicular to the cam axis.
2) Cylindrical cam: In cylindrical cams, the follower
reciprocates or oscillates in a direction parallel to
the cam axis. The follower rides in a groove at its
cylindrical surface.
Nomenclatures for cam profile
The following nomenclatures are used in order to draw
the cam profile.
1) Cam profile: the surface in contact with the
follower is known as cam profile. This is the actual
working curve of the cam.
2) Base circle: It is the smallest circle that can be
drawn to the cam profile.
3) Trace point: It is a reference point on the follower
and is used to generate the pitch curve.
4) Pressure angle: It is the angle between the
direction of the follower motion and a normal to
the pitch curve.
5) Pitch point: It is a point on the pitch curve having
the maximum pressure angle.
6) Pitch circle: It is a circle drawn from the center of
the cam through the pitch points.
7) Pitch curve: It is the curve generated by the trace
point as the follower moves relative to the cam. For
a knife edge follower, the pitch curve and the cam
profile are same whereas for a roller follower, they
are separated by the radius of the roller.
8) Prime circle: It is the smallest circle that can be
drawn from the center of the cam and tangent to the
pitch curve.
 For a knife edge and a flat face follower, the prime
circle and the base circle are identical.
 For a roller follower, the prime circle is larger than
the base circle by the radius of the roller.
9) Lift or stroke: It is the maximum travel of the
follower from its lowest position to the topmost
position.
10) Period of dwell: Is the period during which the
follower remains stationary during some finite
rotation of the cam.
Motion of the Follower
The follower, during its travel, may have one of the
following motions.
1. Uniform velocity
2. Simple harmonic motion
3. Uniform acceleration and retardation, and
4. Cycloidal motion.
Displacement Diagrams when the Follower Moves
with Uniform Velocity;
The displacement diagram when a knife-edged
follower moves with uniform velocity is shown below.
 In figure below the abscissa (base) represents the
time (i.e. the number of seconds required for the
cam to complete one revolution) or it may represent
the angular displacement of the cam in degrees.
 The ordinate represents the displacement of the
follower.
 Since the follower moves with uniform velocity
during its rise and return stroke, therefore the slope
of the displacement curves must be constant. In
other words, AB1 and C1D must be straight lines.
 The periods during which the follower remains at
rest are known as dwell periods, as shown by lines
B1C1 and DE in figure above.
Displacement Diagrams when the Follower Moves
with Simple harmonic motion;
The displacement diagram when the follower moves
with simple harmonic motion is shown in figure
below.
The displacement diagram is drawn as follows :
1. Draw a semi-circle on the follower stroke as
diameter.
2. Divide the semi-circle into any number of even
equal parts (say eight).
3. Divide the angular displacements of the cam during
out stroke and return stroke into the same number
of equal parts.
4. The displacement diagram is obtained by projecting
the points.
Let S = Stroke of the follower,
θO = Angular displacement of the cam during out
stroke
θR = Return stroke of the follower, in radians, and
ω= Angular velocity of the cam in rad/s.
 Therefore time required for the out stroke of the
follower in seconds, to= θO/ ω