Abstract
Cam mechanism is one of the common devices used in many automatic machinery. Since the motion of the cam mechanism depends on the shape of the cam and the type of the follower, the shape design procedure must be well defined in order to determine the accurate shape of the cam corresponding to the prescribed motion of the follower. This paper proposes a new approach for designing the shape of disk cams. The proposed relative velocity method uses the relative velocity at center of the follower roller or at contact point between the cam and the follower for 4 different types of the disk cam systems. Also, the relative velocity method for determining the cam profile uses the geometric relationships of the cam and the follower.