A Simplified Method for Examining Profile Deviations of Conjugate Disk Cams

Abstract

The profile errors of conjugate disk cams can be indirectly examined by means of measuring the conjugate condition of the assembled conjugate cam mechanism. This paper demonstrates how to measure the conjugate condition of the assembled conjugate cam mechanism to reveal the cam profile errors and also develops an analytical approach for relating the variation of the conjugate condition with the cam profile errors. For the machined conjugate cams with profile errors, if the subtending angle of the oscillating follower arms is intentionally changed to be variable, the variation of the subtending angle of the follower arms may indicate the variation of profile errors when the cams rotate. According to the magnitude of the subtending angle variation, the profile deviations of conjugate disk cams can be analyzed analytically. The profile errors of a pair of conjugate cams can be evaluated by means of the corresponding motion variation of the indicator reading. For such an examining method, the only required measuring instrument is a dial indicator. A pair of conjugate cams were examined by the method and also measured using a coordinate measuring machine to test the accuracy and efficiency of the method.