Disk Cam Mechanisms with a Translating Follower Having Double Oblique Flat Faces

The research purposes a disk cam mechanism with a translating double oblique flat-faced follower and demonstrates how to design such a cam mechanism. The modified follower consists of a circular arc portion tangentially connected to two oblique flat-faced portions. Such geometrical arrangements effectively reduce moment arm about the center of gravity and decrease the overturning moment caused by contact forces between the cam and the follower. This design also increases the overturning moment generated by frictions at the cam–follower interface. However, the increment is much smaller than the reduced amount of the overturning moment. Numerical examples are provided to illustrate the simulated results. The obtained results are further compared with those of the disk cam mechanism with a flat-faced follower. The results indicate that the overturning moment of the novel follower will have a 45.86% reduction during the rising period and a 73.2% reduction during the falling period. While the maximum overturning moment caused by frictions for the novel follower is larger by 8.3% during the high dwell period, the increment is much smaller than the reduction of overturning moment caused by contact forces. The application of this follower can greatly be useful in avoiding follower jamming.