Face Cam Model

[Anonymous]

Anyone have any ideas about how to best model a face cam in inventor?

[JDMather]

>Anyone have any ideas

Yes, I have several ideas on techniques to do this. Can you zip and attach what you have so far?

[Anonymous]

Sorry, I have nothing so far except a cylinder with a hole in it. I realized immediately that this was beyond my level of expertise.

[JDMather]

What release of Inventor are you using? Do you have an specifications for the cam?

[Anonymous]

For now lets say it's a sinusoidal lift which occurs 6 times per revolution, though the shape of the curve will likely vary based on different requirements for the system.

[Anonymous]

I'm sorry--inventor 2009

[JDMather]

Take a look at this tutorial http://home.pct.edu/~jmather/content/DSG322/Inventor%20Tutorials/Inventor%2011%20Tutorial%2011.pdf
from your description I suspect you are looking for only one side rather than the groove. There is an easier method using the guide surface sweep, but I don't have an example of that on hand at this time. Be very very careful that you get the correct geometry - I tried when the guide surface sweep feature became available but was not able to get what I wanted. Later a Desker posted a solution here that appeared correct but I haven't had time to investigate the solution to re-write the tutorial.
Also, if you have Inventor Professional there is an alternate method using Dynamic Simulation. I can post the link to that solution if you have DS.