Image: Wikimedia Commons

cam

Rotating or sliding piece, with eccentric or variegated profile, in a mechanical linkage

EntityQ495933

Subclass of: physical component
, manufactured good
Part of: linkage

Overview

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · Read full article · Text CC BY-SA 4.0

A cam is a rotating or sliding piece in a mechanical linkage used especially in transforming rotary motion into linear motion. It is often a part of a rotating wheel or shaft that strikes a lever at one or more points on its circular path. The cam can be a simple tooth, as is used to deliver pulses of power to a steam hammer, for example, or an eccentric disc or other shape that produces a smooth reciprocating motion in the follower, which is a lever making contact with the cam. A cam timer is similar, and these were widely used for electric machine control before the advent of inexpensive electronics, microcontrollers, integrated circuits, programmable logic controllers and digital control.

Overview

All data

22 statements · 23% with external sources · numbers in brackets are citations

Different from: Cam criterion used: descriptive page and disambiguation page have to be in different items
Connects with: camshaft
Has use: change has effect: reciprocating motion · criterion used: rotation around a fixed axis
Has characteristic: asymmetry relative to: camshaft

On other databases

13 identifiers linking cam across the web's reference databases

Data quality

statements

23%

externally sourced

Source last edited June 19, 2026. AIDB refreshes this page daily.

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AIDB. (2026). cam (Q495933). Retrieved from https://aidb.si/e/cam-Q495933