A Brief Introduction To Cams

A cam is a mechanical slewing or sliding part (such as a wheel or protruding part of a wheel) that transmits movement to a roller moving close to its edge or a pin bar that moves freely on the groove surface, or it bears forces from such a roller and needle bar. Cam follower mechanisms can be designed to meet almost any input-output relationship in their range of motion.For some purposes, cams and linkages can play the same role (the trade-off between the two often depends on the designer), for both can be used, cams are easier to design than linkages, and cams can do many things that linkages cannot, on the other hand, cam structures are easier to manufacture than linkages.