Difference between revisions of "Cam"

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{{Automobile configurations}}
 
{{Automobile configurations}}
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{{Piston engine configurations}}
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{{Machine configurations|state=uncollapsed}}

Revision as of 12:26, 15 July 2008

A cam is a projecting part of a rotating wheel or shaft 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 oscillating motion in the lever.

The cam can be seen as a device that translates motion from circular to linear. Another common example is the camshaft of a car or automobile, which takes the rotary motion of the engine and translates it into the linear motion necessary to operate the intake and exhaust valves of the cylinders.

The opposite operation, translation of linear motion to circular motion, is done by a crank. An example is the crankshaft of a car, which takes the linear motion of the pistons and translates it into the rotary motion necessary to operate the wheels.

See also


Piston engine configurations
Straight Single, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12, 14
V 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 16, 20, 24
Flat 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 16, H
W 8, 9, 12, 16, 18
Other inline H, VR, Opposed, U (Square), X
Other Hemi, Radial, Rotary, Pistonless, Deltic, (Wankel)



Heat engines
Stroke cycles
OneTwoFourSix
Engine types
Gas turbinePistonJetRocket engineSteam engineStirling engineTschudiTwingle
RotaryWankelFree-pistonBritalusCoomberSwing-pistonOrbitalQuasiturbine
Valves
Cylinder head portingD slideFour-strokeManifoldMultiPistonPoppetSleeve
Piston layouts
Single cylinderStraightOpposedFlatVWHDelticRadialRocket engine nozzleRotaryStelzerControlled CombustionBourke
Motion mechanisms
CamConnecting rodCoomber rotaryCrankCrank substituteCrankshaftLinkages (EvansPeaucellier-LipkinSector straight-lineWatt) • Double acting/differential cylinder
Thermodynamic cycle