vederstein
Must do dumb things....
- Joined
- Feb 26, 2011
- Messages
- 927
- Reaction score
- 760
Hi.
My name is Camgine!. As far as I know, I'm the only one of my kind in existance. Some of you have seen (in other areas in this forum) my design and parts of me running. To close the chapter, I'm considering this post my formal introduction. From the outset I'm a two cylinder, single acting steam/air engine. Yet, as far as I know, my movements are entirely unknown in this application until now.
You see, at my heart is a 1204 spherical ball bearing. Though the 1204 has traditionally been used to compensate for slight shaft misalignments, my creator and benefactor could see that spherical bearings have the possibility of translating linear motion to rotary motion at nearly any angle (my creator chose 90 degrees). In some ways, I have a kinship with a scotch yoke engine, yet I'm significantly different. I did encounter some issues with my heart. Because the 1204 seems to have a very slight crown on the outer surface, the contact between the 1204 and the plates is a point contact.
This point contact would cause the 1204's outer race to rotate out of position and its balls would fall out. To compensate, my (sometimes intelligent) creator added a plate limiting the rotation of the 1204 outer race. Without this addition to my design, I couldn't function.
My muscles consist of two 3/4" diameter pistons. Originally I was to have a single, double sided piston, but I proved to be too finicky about cylinder alignment. Therefore, during my gestation I was redesigned to a three piece piston which compensates for my not perfectly aligned cylinder assemblies.
Feeding my cylinders are simple spring loaded spool valves which are activated via valve tappets and rocker arms. My rocker arms contact to my flywheel which is also my brain. For my flywheel is also my valve actuation cam profile. With proper formation of my cams, my pistons receive a full complement of pressurized gas throughout my piston's power stroke. I am not an early cutoff engine. With a revised cam profile, I could be an early cutoff engine though.
But alas, although my gestation was fairly well construed only some minor issues along the way, I must address the elephant in the photos. During my birth I was stricken with Novice Anodizing Syndrome (NAS). My creator had the foresight to realize the forces between my cam rollers and my soft aluminum cams would most likely destroy my cams over time. So my creator deemed that my cams should be subject to a layer of hard aluminum oxide (anodize) to protect the cam's aluminum core.
So if my cams needed anodized, why not my entire body? If my entire body is to anodized, why not dye my components for an added visual impact? But alas, even with much Internet research, what looks easy was not necessarily and I became affected by NAS. My creator tried and did have some good anodizing successes, but just as often had anodizing failures. My creator's second attempt proved fruitless, whatever was the problem with the first anodizing session, continued into the second session even though all new chemicals and solutions were used.
So as a sufferer of NAS I'm a hodgepoge of good and bad colors, good and bad anodizing. I still run well and my affliction is only cosmetic, a birth mark. In no way do I regret my creator's decision to use me as a prototype for this process for I always was a prototype.
So I ask you, the reader, to look over my life and my movements. If you are interested in creating more of my kind, my entire design is freely available in the Plans section of this forum. If my design allows you expand your ideas of what an engine can look like and inspire you to create your own, non-traditonal action, I applaud you.
In fact, if you have an engine that is a one of a kind or is excessively weird, I'd like to meet you. Post your story below my own.
Sincerely,
Camgine!
My name is Camgine!. As far as I know, I'm the only one of my kind in existance. Some of you have seen (in other areas in this forum) my design and parts of me running. To close the chapter, I'm considering this post my formal introduction. From the outset I'm a two cylinder, single acting steam/air engine. Yet, as far as I know, my movements are entirely unknown in this application until now.
You see, at my heart is a 1204 spherical ball bearing. Though the 1204 has traditionally been used to compensate for slight shaft misalignments, my creator and benefactor could see that spherical bearings have the possibility of translating linear motion to rotary motion at nearly any angle (my creator chose 90 degrees). In some ways, I have a kinship with a scotch yoke engine, yet I'm significantly different. I did encounter some issues with my heart. Because the 1204 seems to have a very slight crown on the outer surface, the contact between the 1204 and the plates is a point contact.
This point contact would cause the 1204's outer race to rotate out of position and its balls would fall out. To compensate, my (sometimes intelligent) creator added a plate limiting the rotation of the 1204 outer race. Without this addition to my design, I couldn't function.
My muscles consist of two 3/4" diameter pistons. Originally I was to have a single, double sided piston, but I proved to be too finicky about cylinder alignment. Therefore, during my gestation I was redesigned to a three piece piston which compensates for my not perfectly aligned cylinder assemblies.
Feeding my cylinders are simple spring loaded spool valves which are activated via valve tappets and rocker arms. My rocker arms contact to my flywheel which is also my brain. For my flywheel is also my valve actuation cam profile. With proper formation of my cams, my pistons receive a full complement of pressurized gas throughout my piston's power stroke. I am not an early cutoff engine. With a revised cam profile, I could be an early cutoff engine though.
But alas, although my gestation was fairly well construed only some minor issues along the way, I must address the elephant in the photos. During my birth I was stricken with Novice Anodizing Syndrome (NAS). My creator had the foresight to realize the forces between my cam rollers and my soft aluminum cams would most likely destroy my cams over time. So my creator deemed that my cams should be subject to a layer of hard aluminum oxide (anodize) to protect the cam's aluminum core.
So if my cams needed anodized, why not my entire body? If my entire body is to anodized, why not dye my components for an added visual impact? But alas, even with much Internet research, what looks easy was not necessarily and I became affected by NAS. My creator tried and did have some good anodizing successes, but just as often had anodizing failures. My creator's second attempt proved fruitless, whatever was the problem with the first anodizing session, continued into the second session even though all new chemicals and solutions were used.
So as a sufferer of NAS I'm a hodgepoge of good and bad colors, good and bad anodizing. I still run well and my affliction is only cosmetic, a birth mark. In no way do I regret my creator's decision to use me as a prototype for this process for I always was a prototype.
So I ask you, the reader, to look over my life and my movements. If you are interested in creating more of my kind, my entire design is freely available in the Plans section of this forum. If my design allows you expand your ideas of what an engine can look like and inspire you to create your own, non-traditonal action, I applaud you.
In fact, if you have an engine that is a one of a kind or is excessively weird, I'd like to meet you. Post your story below my own.
Sincerely,
Camgine!
