LCA second generation

An LCA element "Mechanical cam/link mechanism" appeared as schemes to repeatedly produce mass quantities of goods (Ford-ism) developed.
This was an advancement from the first generation LCA elements of rotary to linear motion conversion to use as labor, and the advancement was based on the human dexterity rules replaced with cams and linkages to achieve two and three dimensional motion control.

The cam mechanism was already in existence in Leonardo da Vinci's sketch (see Fig.1). Thereafter, it was used for a variety of decorative wood working tools, then the scheme's high speed and reliability performance were further pursued for textile machinery and internal combustion engines in 1900s. Later, with the advent and advancements of NC machine tools, manufacturing of cams and linkages that are capable of complicated motion control tasks became possible, and became an important element of mass production assembly machinery.

The mechanical cam/linkage mechanism is an important element of the LCA concept due to its advantages such as stable and fast work handling capabilities for pick and place machines and indexing tables, and even for the most advanced surface mount machines for electronic components.

Advantages of the mechanical cam/linkage mechanism

	1.	Deceleration shock can be minimized by a cam curve thus high speed operation is possible.
	2.	Multiple motion tasks can be controlled simultaneously thus the machine cycle time can be shortened.
	3.	Machine size and low parts count result in good system stability and maintainability.

Examples of "Mechanical cam/linkage mechanism"