Cam and Follower, Scotch Yoke, Slider Crank, Geneva Wheel and Quick Return | Mechanical Animation

Cam and Follower, Scotch Yoke, Slider Crank, Geneva Wheel, Quick Return | Mechanical Animation
00:00 intro
00:02 Cam and Follower
00:10 Scotch Yoke Mechanism
00:18 Slider Crank Mechanism
00:26 Geneva Mechanism
00:33 Quick Return mechanism

A gear is a rotating circular machine part having cut teeth or, in the case of a cogwheel or gearwheel, inserted teeth (called cogs), which mesh with another (compatible) toothed part to transmit (convert) torque and speed. The basic principle behind the operation of gears is analogous to the basic principle of levers.[1] A gear may also be known informally as a cog. Geared devices can change the speed, torque, and direction of a power source. Gears of different sizes produce a change in torque, creating a mechanical advantage, through their gear ratio, and thus may be considered a simple machine. The rotational speeds, and the torques, of two meshing gears differ in proportion to their diameters. The teeth on the two meshing gears all have the same shape.
Spur gears or straight-cut gears are the simplest type of gear. They consist of a cylinder or disk with teeth projecting radially. Though the teeth are not straight-sided (but usually of special form to achieve a constant drive ratio, mainly involute but less commonly cycloidal), the edge of each tooth is straight and aligned parallel to the axis of rotation. These gears mesh together correctly only if fitted to parallel shafts.[23] No axial thrust is created by the tooth loads. Spur gears are excellent at moderate speeds but tend to be noisy at high speeds

In mechanical engineering, a cam follower, also known as a track follower,[1] is a specialized type of roller or needle bearing designed to follow cam lobe profiles. Cam followers come in a vast array of different configurations, however the most defining characteristic is how the cam follower mounts to its mating part; stud style cam followers use a stud while the yoke style has a hole through the middle

The Scotch Yoke (also known as slotted link mechanism[1]) is a reciprocating motion mechanism, converting the linear motion of a slider into rotational motion, or vice versa. The piston or other reciprocating part is directly coupled to a sliding yoke with a slot that engages a pin on the rotating part. The location of the piston versus time is simple harmonic motion, i.e., a sine wave having constant amplitude and constant frequency, given a constant rotational speed.


A slider-crank linkage is a four-link mechanism with three revolute joints and one prismatic, or sliding, joint.[1] The rotation of the crank drives the linear movement the slider, or the expansion of gases against a sliding piston in a cylinder can drive the rotation of the crank.
There are two types of slider-cranks: in-line and offset.
In-line: An in-line slider-crank has its slider positioned so the line of travel of the hinged joint of the slider passes through the base joint of the crank. This creates a symmetric slider movement back and forth as the crank rotates.
Offset: If the line of travel of the hinged joint of the slider does not pass through the base pivot of the crank, the slider movement is not symmetric. It moves faster in one direction than the other. This is called a quick-return mechanism.

The Geneva drive or Maltese cross is a gear mechanism that translates a continuous rotation movement into intermittent rotary motion.

The rotating drive wheel is usually equipped with a pin that reaches into a slot located in the other wheel (driven wheel) that advances it by one step at a time. The drive wheel also has an elevated circular blocking disc that "locks" the rotating driven wheel in position between steps.

A quick return mechanism is an apparatus to produce a reciprocating motion in which the time taken for travel in return stroke is less than in the forward stroke. It is driven by a circular motion source (typically a motor of some sort) and uses a system of links with three turning pairs and a sliding pair. A quick-return mechanism is a subclass of a slider-crank linkage, with an offset crank.

Quick return is a common feature of tools in which the action is performed in only one direction of the stroke, such as shapers and powered saws, because it allows less time to be spent on returning the tool to its initial position.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/