Cam
A cam is a rotating or sliding piece in a mechanical linkage used especially in transforming rotary motion into linear motion or vice-versa. It is often a part of a rotating wheel (e.g. an eccentric wheel) or shaft (e.g. a cylinder with an irregular shape) that strikes a lever at one or more points on its circular path. The cam can be a simple tooth, as is used to deliver pulses of power to a steam hammer, for example, or an eccentric disc or other shape that produces a smooth reciprocating (back and forth) motion in the follower, which is a lever making contact with the cam.
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Famous quotes containing the word cam:
“The youngest stood upon a stane,
The eldest cam and push’d her in.”
—Unknown. Binnorie; or, The Two Sisters (l. 15–16)
“Near this spot are deposited the remains of one who possessed Beauty without Vanity, Strength without Insolence, Courage without Ferocity, and all the Virtues of Man without his Vices. This praise, which would be unmeaning Flattery, if inscribed over human ashes, is but a just Tribute to the Memory of BOATSWAIN, a Dog.”
—John Cam Hobhouse (1786–1869)
“Sometimes she sank, sometimes she swam,
Until she cam to the miller’s dam.”
—Unknown. Binnorie; or, The Two Sisters (l. 21–22)