ANALYSIS, DESIGN AND MANUFACTURING OF SPECIAL CONJUGATE CAM MECHANISMS FOR A TEXTILE MACHINE APPLICATION

Abstract

The paper deals with the design of special conjugate cam mechanisms for the Multiweave project whose objective was a weaving machine to produce a multidirectional woven fabric. This is intended for technical applications, such as the reinforcement of composites, requiring better mechanical properties than the ordinary biaxial fabrics. This results from the four sets of interlaced yarns oriented in four different directions at 45 degrees. The proper design of cam mechanisms is usually one of the most important and difficult steps of the machine design. In the case of Multiweave, a reliable actuation, both on the advancement and returning movements is required; therefore the use of conjugate cams was recommended. The work is concerned with the process of designing and manufacturing such cam mechanisms. For this purpose a mathematical program has been created in MATLAB® environment. This solution produces several benefits that are described in the paper. On the basis of the results, a comparison of several common methods used for cam design could be performed in a very small amount of time, therefore allowing an optimization process before the final design of the mechanism. The work can be applied in other projects involving the design of conjugate cam mechanisms. Keywords: cam mechanism; multiweave; multiaxial fabric; conjugate cams