Abstract
Cams and cam mechanisms are widely spread in mechanical engineering design, mostly to transform uniform rotary motion into non-uniform rotary motion or into linear motion. Sometimes cams and cam mechanisms are coupled with linkages, thus giving a broader variety of output motions and applications. From the historical point of view it is possible to derive cam mechanisms from some of the “mechanical abilities” in the antiquity. The present paper tries to reveal the roots of cams and cam mechanisms starting in the time of Leonardo da Vinciand ending with some well-known applications of today. It refers to two preparatory papers (Muller and Mauersberger, Zur Entwicklungsgeschichte der Kurvengetriebe, 1988; Muller and Mauersberger, LEONARDO DA VINCI – Seine Beziehungen zum Kurvengetriebe im Vorfeld der Technikwissenschaften, 1990) written in 1988 and 1990 by the late Prof. Jorg Muller (Rostock, Germany) and the second author as co-author. The rather concise retrospective is mainly taken from a post in Germany.
Published Version
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