SolidWorks 2011 Exercise 11

Rocker CAM Profi/e

Exercise 11 : In this exercise we will create a

Rocker CAM multi-piece cam that is used to
Profile control the motion of a slider.

The toothed wheel rotates and has attached to ita drive plate and guides
for the slider.

The roller will ride in a path between two

stationary cam plates. This system uses the
inner cam to move the slider radially .
outward and the outer cam to move the
slider radially inward.

1~ .
This exercise reinforces the following
skills:
J
see Generating a CAM Profile on
page 165 .
see Trace Path on page 167.
see Create Curve From Trace Path on
page 168.

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Exercise 11 SolidWorks 2011
Rocker CAM Profile

Project The assembly rotates at 8,000 deg/sec. On each rotation, the rocker will
Description move radially based on a predefined schedule which is provided in an
attached file .
Create the cams from the existing parts based on a predefined motion
path provided in the separate file.
o
-5 \ r
-10 \ 1
-15 \ 1
-20 \ 1
-25 \ 1
-30 \ 1
-35
\ 1
-40
\ J
-45

1 Open an assembly file.

Open rocker cam profile exercise from the Lesson06\Exercises
folder.
2 Examine the assembly.
Ifwe hide the toothed wheel and
drive_plate assembly. We can see that
the two cam plates are in place, but the
cam paths have not been defined.
3 Units.
C_:nfirm that the assembly is set to use
MMGS units .
4 New study.
Create a new motion study.

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SolidWorks 2011 Exercise 11
Rocker CAM Profile

5 Define the rocker motion.

Add a linear motor to the bottom face ofthe rocker.
This motion must be specified relative to another component, so select
the guide plate (699-0431) shown.
Use Data Points, Displacement and load the file Slide Translation
Motion.csv. For Interpolation type, select Cubic.
Make sure that the direction is radially outward.

Hotor Type

Note You may hide the Plate CAM Assembly for easier definition.
6 Define the rotation.
Adcl a rotary motor to the drive_plate assembly (or part 699-0414).
Set the motor to ro tate at a constant speed of 8,000 deg/sec. The
direction should be counterclockwise when viewed from the Top view.
7 Motion Study Properties.
As the time ofthe simulation is very short, we will need a high frame
rate to ha ve sufficient points to get a smooth result.
Set the Motion Study Properties to capture 2,500 trames per second.
8 Run the study.
Set the length to 0.045 seconds. This will be one full revolution ofthe
assembly at the speed of 8,000 deg/sec. The assembly should make one
revolution .

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Exercise 11 SolidWorks 2011
Rocker CAM Pro file

9 Define a result plot.

Crea te a trace path of the center of the
roller (699-0413) on the rocker.

Note lfthe curve does not look smooth, increase the image quality in
SolidWorks Tools, Options.
10 Create curve.
With nothing se lected, right-click the Trace Path plot and se lect Create
curve from trace path, and then Create curve from path .
Because we have nothing selected, this curve will be a feature in the
assembly FeatureManager design tree.
11 Model.
We are now going to work on individual components ofthe assembly,
so we do not want to be in the Motion Study.
Click the Model tab.
12 Hide components.
We will be creating the cam paths while in the assembly, so it will be
easier to see what we are doing if parts that are not affected are hidden .
Hide the toothed wheel, Slide Assembly and drive plate
assembly.
13 Edi. part.
Select the part 699-0416 in the Plate CAM Assembly and click Edit
Part ~-

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SolidWorks 2011 Exercise 11
Rocker CAM Profile

14 Edit sketch.
Edit Sketch3 under Base-Extrude.
This is justa circu lar sketch that defines the o uter fa ce of the part. We
wi ll replace thi s sketch with the trace path curve with an offset for half
the diameter ofthe roller.
ln the FeatureManager design tree,
select the curve (it wi ll be above
the parts and assembli es).
Use Convert Entities to create a
curve from the trace path curve
created in the previous step and set
its property to For construction .
Click Offset Entities and type
6 mm for the offset (half ofthe
roller diameter). Make sure the
direction ofthe offset is inside.
Click OK to confirm the offset.
Delete the original circle from the sketch .
Exit the sketch and the part edit
mode. The profile should look
like the image.

15 Outer cam.
Edit the part 699-0417 in the
Plate CAM Assernbly.
On the face fac ing the 699-0416
component (closer face when viewed
using the Bottorn view), create a
sketch using the same procedure.
Offset the same curve, but this time
6 mm to the outside.
Extrude a cut toa depth of 8.8 mm .
Exit the part edit mode.

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Exercise 11 SolidWorks 2011
Rocker CAM Profile

16 Determine the inner radius .

Measure the distance from the
center ofthe outer cam plate
to the vertex shown. This is
the same radius that is needed
to create the curve ofthe
profile on the keeper.
Highlight the distance and
press Ctri-C to copy this value
to the clipboard as we will
need it in the next step.

17 Show part.
Retum to the Edit Assembly mode and Show the part keeper.
This is the keeper that is used to allow access when assemb ling the
rocker.
18 Edit sketch.
Edit the sketch for Boss-Extrudel.
Double-click the dimension for the radius of
the are and paste the measured distance from
the clipboard.

19 Examine the completed cams.

Retum to the assembly and examine
the cams that have been created.
We should now have a smooth cam
path.

20 New motion study.

Duplicate the existing motion study into a new one. Name the new
study with contacts.

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SolidWorks 2011 Exercise 11
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21 Suppress the linear motor.

Duplicate the existing motion study into a new one. Name the new
study with contacts and suppress the linear motor feature.
22 Contacts.
Create sol id body contacts between all necessary components.

Tip You can conveniently use the contact groups to minimize the number of
definitions.
23 Motion study properties.
Actvate Use Precise Contact.
24 Calculate the motion study.

25 Analyze the results.

Verify that the designed cam assembly provides the desired motion of
the rocker.
26 Save and clase the file.

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