A computer based tool for the design and manufacture of automatic lathe cams

The tool tip motion characteristics required for machining turned components on automatic lathes is a typical example where the compound movements generated by more than one cam plate are practically employed. Achieving problem specific tool tip motion characteristic requires considerable expertise and time in designing two separate planar cams, which when synchronized result in the desired turned component geometric shape. The objective of this paper is to present the analytical models adopted in the design, development and implementation of a computer based prototype tool for supporting the design and manufacture of such planar cams employed by automatic lathes. Evaluation of this prototype reveals that the use of cam profile blending models and edge vector based cam milling path approach, are a beneficial way of employing computers in industry to support the generation of cam plates that cater for profile blending problems inherent with synchronized cams. © 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.