WHAT IS CAM AND FOLLOWER?
A cam is a rotating element which transfer its rotary motion into the reciprocating or oscillating motion
of the another element called the follower. The main principle of the cam and follower mechanism is
that the rotary motion of the cam is converted into the reciprocating or oscillating motion of the
follower.
APPLICATIONS OF CAM AND FOLLOWER
- The main application of the cam and follower mechanism is that it is widely used for operating inlet and exhaust valves of internal combustion engines. This cam and follower mechanism is mainly used to dissipate the exhaust gases from the internal combustion engine.
- They are also used in the wall clocks and the feed mechanism automatic lathe machines.
- They are also used in the paper cutting machines and weaving textile machinery.
CLASSIFICATIONS OF CAM
The cam is mainly classified into two types
- The radial or disc cam.
- The cylindrical cam.
RADIAL CAM
In the radial or disc cam the the follower oscillates are reciprocates in the direction perpendicular to the cam axis.
CYLINDRICAL CAM
In the cylindrical cam the follower reciprocates or oscillates in the direction parallel to the camera axis.
CLASSIFICATION OF FOLLOWER
The followers are mainly classified based waste on the surfaces in contact, motion of the follower and the path of the motion of the follower.
ACCORDING TO THE SURFACES IN CONTACT
According to the surfaces in contact the follower is classified as
- knife edge follower.
- roller follower
- flat faced follower
- spherical follower
ACCORDING TO THE MOTION OF THE FOLLOWER
According to the motion of the follower, the followers are broadly classified as
- Reciprocating follower
- Rotary follower
ACCORDING TO THE PATH OF THE MOTION OF THE FOLLOWER
According to the path of the motion of the follower, the followers are mainly classified as
- Offset follower
- Radial follower.
HOW TO APPLY CAM AND FOLLOWER MECHANISM IN CREO
To apply the cam and follower mechanism in Creo go to the applications tab and then select mechanism and in the mechanism, select cams and in the cam1 select the cam and in the cam2 select the follower.
APPLYING CAM MECHANISM
Also apply spring connection. To activate the spring select the spring from the Ribbon panel and also add some damper features to it by selecting the dampers command from the Ribbon panel.
APPLYING SPRING CONNECTION
And that’s it and when you go to the mechanism analyses and run the analysis it should run fine.
In the below video I have explained how to create a cam and follower mechanism in Creo from start to end. Do check it out.