Cam mechanisms are widely used in industry, in applications requiring quick-return and indexing motions. A current research effort at the Robotic Mechanical Systems Laboratory of McGill University's Centre for Intelligent Machines aims at the application of cam mechanisms as speed reducers. The accuracy required in these mechanisms is of the utmost importance, especially when cams are rotating at a high speed. / In this thesis, the design for manufacturability of planar speed-reduction cam mechanisms is studied. In particular, the thesis focuses on a speed reducer with a rotating follower to couple shafts of parallel axes, termed planar Speed-o-Cam. Principles of the design for manufacturability are applied to Speed-o-Cam and a unified method for obtaining the optimum parameters satisfying the curvature constraints and pressure-angle bounds is developed. These two factors are relatively important because Numerically Controlled and Computer Numerically Controlled machine tools could be very sensitive to changes of curvature of the workpiece, especially when milling complex shapes such as those of cam plates. / Cam-mechanism balancing is also studied because unbalance in a high-speed rotating element can cause severe vibrations and greatly affect the bearings and hence, the performance of the machine. This is done by not only adding counterweights, which unavoidably increase the weight and volume of the mechanism, but also by removing material.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.31056 |
| Date | January 2001 |
| Creators | Lee, Mern Keat. |
| Contributors | Angeles, J. (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Engineering (Department of Mechanical Engineering.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001810819, proquestno: MQ70237, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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