Cams and toys tt makes use of cams (:

these are one of the MANY toys that uses Cams (:

This is a snail/drop cam. The example snail/drop cam shown opposite rotates in an anticlockwise direction. Rotating in a clockwise direction would probably lead to the entire mechanism jamming. This highlights one possible disadvantage of using this type of cam profile. Also, to ensure the rotation is smooth, the vertical centre line of the snail/drop cam is positioned slightly to the left of the slide (see diagram).

A CAM changes the input motion, which is usually rotary motion (a rotating motion), to a reciprocating motion of the follower. ThA CAM has two parts, the FOLLOWER and the CAM PROFILE they are found in many machines and toys.