• View
• Edit
• History
• Print

MotorMechanisms

 
Cams
Cams are an extremely useful type of mechanism because of their usefulness in converting simple rotary motion from a motor shaft into a huge variety of outputs. A good example of this is a car engine.

Notice the main cam that drives the piston and the secondary cam shafts in the top part that determine the position of the valves.

A cam shaft used to time various component in a car engine.

A snail shell cam is a particular type of cam thats great for creating varied motion. The website below has various examples.
http://www.technologystudent.com/cams/snail1.htm

Examples

This project by yours truly and Christian Cerrito used snail shell cams to raise and release a percussion mechanism. The project was powered by a BEAM Circuit that stored solar energy and then released it to drive the motor.

Check out Reubin Margolin's work (linked on the Artists page) for amazing examples of what can be done with cams.