Grooved cam mechanism with a translating follower having an added ternary-roller intermediate link

The paper presents an analytical approach for designing grooved cam mechanisms with a modified arrangement of the common translating follower. That is, an intermediate link having three rollers is added between the cam and the common follower. On the basis of an existing cam mechanism with a common roller follower, an intermediate link that has three rollers is added between the cam and the common follower. Such a cam mechanism has two set of profile and can create multiple contact points between the cam and the follower at any instant. The two sets of profiles of such a cam mechanism can serve as the grooved types. Since the follower has three rollers that can simultaneously contact the cam at any instant, it can be positive driven along the guided groove of cam contour. The contact forces and contact stresses of such cam mechanisms are analyzed to illustrate the advantage of spreading force transmission and reducing contact stress of this uncommon follower. The obtained results indicate that the contact stress at the surface of the cam and the follower for such a cam mechanism can be reduced by 30% to 47% in comparison to those of cam mechanism with a common translating roller follower. In conclusion, the cam mechanism with a translating follower having an added ternary-roller intermediate link can be a preferable choice for the applications that follower is against heavy loads or move at high speed.

Calculation of the Collapsing Critical Load of a Translating Cam Mechanism and Roller Translating Follower Actuating an Elevator

The above-ground parking lot above Dâmbovița river has stemmed from the need to cover the lack of parking lots in Bucharest. The parking lot may be serviced, in case of emergency, by auxiliary elevators that are operated by mechanisms provided with translating cams and roller translating followers. In this paper, a calculation of the collapsing critical load shall be performed. One shall also analyze here the rod model and the model with several rods of the mechanism provided with a translating cam and roller translating follower. In order for the rods to resist collapsing, one must be found in the elastic field, thus verifying Euler’s formula.

Analysis of the combination of the slider-crank and cam mechanism to drive the automatic bandsaw blade grinder

A slide crank and cam mechanism can be combined and used to drive a bandsaw blade grinder. The movement of these mechanisms must ensure a harmonious combination to avoid the impacts of a collision and dynamic load that appears on the cam and roller surfaces. The technical parameters can be determined by methods of geometry, or 3D simulation, or analytical methods. In order to flexibly design the cam and slide crank mechanism, this study uses the analytic method. By setting up mathematical formulas and applying Mathcad software, it allows to quickly determine and change the initial parameters of the mechanisms, evaluates their changes to the stroke and structural profile. Simultaneously, the graphs of the stroke, velocity, and acceleration of the cam mechanism allow the designer to evaluate and select suitable parameters.

Grooved Cam With a Translating Follower Having an Added Ternary-Roller Intermediate Link

The paper presents an analytical approach for designing grooved cam mechanisms with a modified arrangement of the common translating follower. That is, an extraneous intermediate link that has three rollers is added between the cam and the common follower. On the basis of an existing cam mechanism with a common roller follower, an extraneous intermediate link that has three rollers is added between the cam and the common follower. Such a cam mechanism has two set of profile and can creating multiple contact points between the cam and the follower at any instant. The two sets of profiles of such a cam mechanism can serve as the grooved types. Since the follower has three rollers that can simultaneously contact the cam at any instant, it can be positive driven along the guided groove of cam contour. The contact forces and contact stresses of such cam mechanisms are analyzed to illustrate the advantage of spreading force transmission and reducing contact stress of this uncommon follower. The obtained results indicate that the contact stress at the surface of the cam and the follower for such a cam mechanism can be reduced by 34% to 42% in comparison to those of cam mechanism with a common translating roller follower.

The Effect of a Flexible Blade for Load Alleviation in Wind Turbines

This article presents the analysis of the performance of a flexible wind turbine blade. The simulation analysis is based on a 3 m span blade prototype. The blade has a flexible surface and a cam mechanism that modifies the aerodynamic profile and adapts the surface to different configurations. The blade surface was built with a flexible fiberglass composite, and the internal mechanism consists of a flexible structure actuated with an eccentric cam. The cam mechanism deforms five sections of the blade, and the airfoil geometry for each section was measured from zero cam displacement to full cam displacement. The measured data were interpolated to obtain the aerodynamic profiles of the five sections to model the flexible blade in the simulation process. The simulation analysis consisted of determining the different aerodynamic coefficients for different deformed surfaces and a range of wind speeds. The aerodynamic coefficients were calculated with the BEM method (QBlade®); as a result, the data performance of the flexible blade was compared for the different deformation configurations. Finally, a decrease of up to approximately 6% in the mean bending moment suggests that the flexible turbine rotor presented in this article can be used to reduce extreme and fatigue loads on wind turbines.

Study on Non-Axisymmetric 3D Curved Surface Turning by Driven-Type Rotary Tool Synchronized With Spindle

Since shifting to electric vehicles as a countermeasure against global warming is not always easy to complete, the hybrid car has been considered as another possible solution. However, based on the calculation of total CO2 emissions, all hybrid cars which will constitute 90% of all cars are expected to be equipped with an internal combustion engine even after 2030. Therefore, further efficiency improvement of the internal combustion engine is necessary. One of the key factors is the variable valve timing and variable lift with the 3D cam mechanism. Since conventional technology uses a complicated link mechanism and servo motor control, this leads a problem to set into small cars or motorcycles because they cannot afford to install the variable valve timing and variable lift with cam mechanism. To solve this problem, a cam shape with a three-dimensional curved surface has been proposed. In order to create this shape, the machining method for non-axisymmetric curved surface turning (NACS-Turning) is required. To build the new system, our research group has proposed a new machining method using a driven type rotary tool and a linear motor driven moving table to enable to achieve NACS-Turning. In this new system, a new tool rotation axis (B axis) is adopted to synchronize its rotational position with the rotational position of the spindle (C axis) holding the workpiece, the X1-, X2-, and Z-Axis positions in total. In this paper, the new hardware configuration is proposed to overcome the present machining accuracy.

Mechanical Design and Analysis of the End-Effector Finger Rehabilitation Robot (EFRR) for Stroke Patients

Most existing finger rehabilitation robots are structurally complex and cannot be adapted to multiple work conditions, such as clinical and home. In addition, there is a lack of attention to active adduction/abduction (A/A) movement, which prevents stroke patients from opening the joint in time and affects the rehabilitation process. In this paper, an end-effector finger rehabilitation robot (EFRR) with active A/A motion that can be applied to a variety of applications is proposed. First, the natural movement curve of the finger is analyzed, which is the basis of the mechanism design. Based on the working principle of the cam mechanism, the flexion/extension (F/E) movement module is designed and the details used to ensure the safety and reliability of the device are introduced. Then, a novel A/A movement module is proposed, using the components that can easily individualized design to achieve active A/A motion only by one single motor, which makes up for the shortcomings of the existing devices. As for the control system, a fuzzy proportional-derivative (PD) adaptive impedance control strategy based on the position information is proposed, which can make the device more compliant, avoid secondary injuries caused by excessive muscle tension, and protect the fingers effectively. Finally, some preliminary experiments of the prototype are reported, and the results shows that the EFRR has good performance, which lays the foundation for future work.