Mechanical power transmission

systems
Task 1
A radial plate cam with knife edge follower
A plate cam is literally made up of a flat plate or disc with an edge profile
that designates the motion. A knife edge follower literally means
that the follower, or the piece of the mechanism that runs across
the edge profile of the cam, has a thin edge. Unfortunately the knife
edge follower can wear rapidly due to the high frictional forces. On
the other hand, the knife edge follower can also track complex
profiles. The mechanism operates when the plate cam turns, causing the
follower to follow the contours of the edge profile of the cam, causing
and down motion.

an up

To the right is a picture of a plate cam (blue) with a knife edge follower (cyan)

A face cam with a roller follower

A face cam, instead of having the profile on its edges, has the profile
engraved on one of its faces. The follower is constrained
within this profile groove. The groove also ensures there is
no need for a return spring on the follower. The roller
follower is different from the knife edge in that it has a
small wheel on the end of it instead of just having the edge
scrape across the profile. This minimizes wear and therefore
cost. At the same time, if the profile has tight contours the
rollers dimensions must be decreased to suit it. The face cam
operates by turning and having the roller follow the groove on the
cam. This also causes the follower to pivot slightly in addition to the up
motion, depening on the profile it follows.

side of
and down

To the right is a picture of a face cam with a roller follower.

A slider crank linkage mechanism

A slider crank linkage mechanism is a method of linking a fixed gear to another moving
object via a linking connector in order to move that object along a certain stroke. The
fixed gear rotates, causing the link, which is connected to the gear, to move along with it.
As the link (brown) is pulled clockwise from its position on the diagram to the right, the
object that it is linked to (purple) will be pulled along to the left as well, eventually
reaching its furthest point on the stroke when the link reaches the far left of the gear. As
the link is pushed further up, towards the top of the gear, the object begins to move back
to the right. As the link approaches the furthest point towards the right of the gear, so
too will the object be approaching the furthest point of its stroke.

A Whitworth quick
return motion
A Whitworth quick return
mechanism converts rotary
motion into reciprocating
motion. This is accomplished
when the wheel begins
turning. The peg (red) on the
wheel (blue) drives the shaft
(green) when it is pushed
along by the pin. It oscillates as it
is pushed along and, depending
on the position of the pin, moves
at variable speeds. For example,
when the pin is closer to the
bottom of the green shaft, the
top of the shaft will move significantly quicker than if the pin was at the top of the shaft,
thanks to the ways levers work. This, in turn, causes the second shaft (yellow) to move
along and various speeds. Overall, the yellow shaft may return one way very quickly,
while taking the rest of the rotation to move to its next position, hence the name quick
return.