Page 19 - Cam Design Handbook

THB1 8/15/03 2:42 PM Page 7

INTRODUCTION 7

FIGURE 1.7. Automobile camshaft. (Courtesy of D. Elgin Cams, Redwood City, Calif.)

FIGURE 1.8. Translating cam. (Follower is a translating roller positive-drive type.)

The radial, disk, or plate cam is one in which the position of the follower is deter-
mined by radial distances from the cam axis. Figure 1.9 shows a radial open groove cam
with oscillating roller follower used on a hosiery-making machine. The radial cam is by
far the most popular because of its simplicity and compactness. Cams of this type are the
yoke cams, conjugate cams, wiper cams, roller cams, and circular-arc cams.
The yoke cam is a positive-drive cam enclosed by a follower with opposite rollers
or surfaces a constant distance apart. The rollers or surfaces may or may not be diametri-
cally opposite of each other. The follower may translate or oscillate. Figure 1.10 shows a
single-disk surface yoke cam with a translating follower. Control of follower action on
single-disk cams is limited to 180 degrees of cam rotation. The other 180 degrees are