Patent ID: 6993837

Claim:
A method of assembling a camshaft, said method comprising the steps of: providing a shaft ( 10 ) and a plurality of cams ( 20 ≧ 26 ), each cam ( 20 – 26 ) having an opening for the shaft ( 10 ); packing the cams ( 20 – 26 ) in a magazine ( 40 ), each cam ( 20 – 26 ) being oriented such that the openings for the shaft ( 10 ) are coaxial thereby defining a cam stack; inserting, subsequent to said packing step, the shaft ( 10 ) into the cam stack longitudinally through the openings of the cams ( 20 – 26 ); successively securing the cams ( 20 – 26 ) to the shaft ( 10 ) by the following steps (a), (b), and (c); (a) securing a first cam ( 20 ) to the shaft ( 10 ); (b) after securing the first cam ( 20 ) to the shaft ( 10 ), axially and longitudinally moving the shaft ( 20 ) relative to the cam stack through an opening in at least a second cam ( 21 ) such that the first cam ( 20 ) moves axially away from the second cam ( 21 ); and (c) after the first cam ( 20 ) moves axially away from the second cam ( 21 ), securing the second cam ( 21 ) to the shaft ( 10 ).