camshaft

camshaft

Engineering a shaft having one or more cams attached to it, esp one used to operate the valves of an internal-combustion engine

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Camshaft

 

a distributing shaft of a machine; a shaft with cams that impart motion to the separate mechanisms of the machine in a given sequence. For example, in internal combustion engines the camshaft allows opening and closing of the valves at the proper times; in fuel pumps the plungers are worked by cam action. Camshafts are stamped from steel or cast from high-strength cast iron. Camshaft cams and journals are hardened to a Rockwell C hardness of 53–62, after which they are ground and polished.

---

Camshaft

 

the part in the timing mechanism of a machine, instrument, or apparatus that ensures a definite order in the execution of functions and the cyclic recurrence of the operation. In internal-combustion engines, a camshaft is part of the valve-timing system and has a specified number of cams, which corresponds to the number of cylinders. It is rotated by a connecting mechanism from the crankshaft so that the operation of the valves and pistons is coordinated. In various automatic machines, camshafts are part of the control systems of production and operating processes that conform to a specified program. Programs can be changed by using replaceable camshafts corresponding to the appropriate operating cycle, or by using camshafts wih cams that can be moved along the shaft or turned to a certain angle, thus changing the eccentricity.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.

camshaft

[′kam‚shaft]

(mechanical engineering)

A rotating shaft to which a cam is attached.

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

camshaft

A straight, gear-driven shaft that contains lobes used to operate the intake and exhaust valves of a reciprocating engine. The camshaft is geared to the crankshaft in such a way that valves close and open at the correct time relative to the position of the piston in the cylinders.

An Illustrated Dictionary of Aviation Copyright © 2005 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved