[THEORY OF MACHINES] KME-601

UNIT II:
Cams & Gears and gear trains
Cams: Introduction, classification of cams and followers, cam profiles for knife edge, roller and flat
faced followers for uniform velocity, uniform acceleration
Gears and gear trains: Introduction, classification of gears, law of gearing, tooth forms and their
comparisons, systems of gear teeth, length of path of contact, contact ratio, minimum number of
teeth on gear and pinion to avoid interference, simple, compound, reverted and planetary gear
trains, sun and planet gear train.

A cam is a rotating machine element which gives reciprocating or oscillating motion

to another element known as follower. The cam and the follower have a line contact
and constitute a higher pair. The cams are usually rotated at uniform speed by a shaft,
but the follower motion is predetermined and will be according to the shape of the
cam. The cams are widely used for operating the inlet and exhaust valves of internal
combustion engines, automatic attachment of machineries, paper cutting machines,
spinning and weaving textile machineries, feed mechanism of automatic lathes etc.

Classification of Followers
The followers may be classified as discussed below:
1. According to the surface in contact. The followers, according to the surface in
contact, are as follows:
(a) Knife edge follower. When the contacting end of the follower has a sharp knife
edge, it is called a knife edge follower, as shown in Fig. 01 (a). The sliding motion
takes place between the contacting surfaces (i.e. the knife edge and the cam surface).
It is rarely used in practice because the small area of contacting surface results in
excessive wear. In knife edge followers, a considerable side thrust exists between the
follower and the guide.

(b) Roller follower. When the contacting end of the follower is a roller, it is called a
roller follower, as shown in Fig. 01 (b). Since the rolling motion takes place between
the contacting surfaces (i.e. the roller and the cam), therefore the rate of wear is
greatly reduced.
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In roller followers also the side thrust exists between the follower and the guide. The
roller followers are extensively used where more space is available such as in
stationary gas and oil engines and aircraft engines.

Fig. 01. Classification of followers.

(c) Flat faced or mushroom follower. When the contacting end of the follower is a
perfectly flat face, it is called a flat-faced follower, as shown in Fig. 01 (c). It may be
noted that the side thrust between the follower and the guide is much reduced in case
of flat faced followers. The only side thrust is due to friction between the contact
surfaces of the follower and the cam. The relative motion between these surfaces is
largely of sliding nature but wear may be reduced by off-setting the axis of the
follower, as shown in Fig. 01 (f) so that when the cam rotates, the follower also

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rotates about its own axis. The flat faced followers are generally used where space is
limited such as in cams which operate the valves of automobile engines.
(d) Spherical faced follower. When the contacting end of the follower is of spherical
shape, it is called a spherical faced follower, as shown in Fig. 01 (d). It may be noted
that when a flat-faced follower is used in automobile engines, high surface stresses
are produced. In order to minimise these stresses, the flat end of the follower is
machined to a spherical shape.

2. According to the motion of the follower. The followers, according to its motion,
are of the following two types:
(a) Reciprocating or translating follower. When the follower reciprocates in guides
as the cam rotates uniformly, it is known as reciprocating or translating follower. The
followers as shown in Fig. 01 (a) to (d) are all reciprocating or translating followers.
(b) Oscillating or rotating follower. When the uniform rotary motion of the cam is
converted into predetermined oscillatory motion of the follower, it is called
oscillating or rotating follower. The follower, as shown in Fig 01 (e), is an oscillating
or rotating follower.
3. According to the path of motion of the follower. The followers, according to its
path of motion, are of the following two types:
(a) Radial follower. When the motion of the follower is along an axis passing
through the centre of the cam, it is known as radial follower. The followers, as shown
in Fig. 01 (a) to (e), are all radial followers.
(b) Off-set follower. When the motion of the follower is along an axis away from the
axis of the cam centre, it is called off-set follower. The follower, as shown in Fig. 01
(f), is an off-set follower.

Classification of Cams
Though the cams may be classified in many ways, yet the following two types are
important from the subject point of view :

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1. Radial or disc cam. In radial cams, the follower reciprocates or oscillates in a

direction perpendicular to the cam axis. The cams as shown in Fig. 01 are all radial
cams.
2. Cylindrical cam. In cylindrical cams, the follower reciprocates or oscillates in a
direction parallel to the cam axis. The follower rides in a groove at its cylindrical
surface. A cylindrical grooved cam with a reciprocating and an oscillating follower is
shown in Fig. 02 (a) and (b) respectively.

Fig. 02. Cylindrical cam.

Terms Used in Radial Cams

The following terms are important in order to draw the cam profile.
1. Base circle. It is the smallest circle that can be drawn to the cam profile.
2. Trace point. It is a reference point on the follower and is used to generate the pitch
curve.
In case of knife edge follower, the knife edge represents the trace point and the pitch
curve corresponds to the cam profile. In a roller follower, the centre of the roller
represents the trace point.
3. Pressure angle. It is the angle between the direction of the follower motion and a
normal to the pitch curve. This angle is very important in designing a cam profile. If
the pressure angle is too large, a reciprocating follower will jam in its bearings.
4. Pitch point. It is a point on the pitch curve having the maximum pressure angle.

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5. Pitch circle. It is a circle drawn from the centre of the cam through the pitch
points.
6. Pitch curve. It is the curve generated by the trace point as the follower moves
relative to the cam. For a knife edge follower, the pitch curve and the cam profile are
same whereas for a roller follower, they are separated by the radius of the roller.
7. Prime circle. It is the smallest circle that can be drawn from the centre of the cam
and tangent to the pitch curve. For a knife edge and a flat face follower, the prime
circle and the base circle are identical. For a roller follower, the prime circle is larger
than the base circle by the radius of the roller.
8. Lift or stroke. It is the maximum travel of the follower from its lowest position to
the top most position.

Fig. 03.

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Motion of the Follower

The follower, during its travel, may have one of the following motions.
1. Uniform velocity,
2. Uniform acceleration and retardation,
3. Simple harmonic motion,
4. Cycloidal motion.

Displacement, Velocity and Acceleration Diagrams when the Follower

Moves with Uniform Velocity
The displacement, velocity and acceleration diagrams when a knife-edged follower
moves with uniform velocity are shown in Fig. 04 (a), (b) and (c) respectively. The
abscissa (base) represents the time (i.e. the number of seconds required for the cam to
complete one revolution) or it may represent the angular displacement of the cam in
degrees. The ordinate represents the displacement, or velocity or acceleration of the
follower. Since the follower moves with uniform velocity during its rise and return
stroke, therefore the slope of the displacement curves must be constant. In other
words, AB1 and C1D must be straight lines.

Fig. 04. Fig. 05.

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A little consideration will show that the follower remains at rest during part of the
cam rotation. The periods during which the follower remains at rest are known as
dwell periods, as shown by lines B1C1 and DE in Fig. 04 (a). From Fig. 04 (c), we see
that the acceleration or retardation of the follower at the beginning and at the end of
each stroke is infinite. This is due to the fact that the follower is required to start from
rest and has to gain a velocity within no time.
This is only possible if the acceleration or retardation at the beginning and at the end
of each stroke is infinite. These conditions are however, impracticable.
In order to have the acceleration and retardation within the finite limits, it is
necessary to modify the conditions which govern the motion of the follower. This
may be done by rounding off the sharp corners of the displacement diagram at the
beginning and at the end of each stroke, as shown in Fig. 05 (a). By doing so, the
velocity of the follower increases gradually to its maximum value at the beginning of
each stroke and decreases gradually to zero at the end of each stroke as shown in Fig.
05 (b). The modified

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