Leonardo Da Vinci and the Cam

Leonardo Da Vinci, an artist of the Italian Renaissance, is also called by another title: the "Universal Man."
Leonardo left to posterity a huge body of important work and findings in many fields, including art, architecture, music, science, anatomy, and engin eering.
His "Mona Lisa" and "Last Supper" are especially renowned paint ings.
On the other hand, he also left us an enormous volume of handwritten manuscripts and sketches related to the natural sciences and mechanical eng ineering.
In the field of mechanical engineering, his sketches of basic mechanisms and instruments presaged the development of items that are still used on the front lines of modern manufacturing, including bearings, gears, and cams.
Leonardo's cam mechanism sketch is the archetype of Sankyo Seisakusho's technology.
Some of his cam mechanism sketches indicate that he understood various that cams can make different movements.
Since Leonardo made those sketches 500 years ago, the basic con cept of the cam is unchanged, and even today Sankyo Seisakusho continues to use this technology in its cam products.

A wooden model of a cam, handcrafted by an employee in Sankyo America, based on a sketch by Leonardo DaVinci.