Cam pumps – cam-driven lubrication pumps

A cam pump needs no power supply of its own. It is driven by a motion the machine already performs — a cam, a shaft, a door swinging open. Lubrication is therefore tied to the working cycle by construction: no movement, no stroke. For agricultural machinery and simple chain drives that is not a compromise but the wanted behaviour.

Source: DropsA manufacturer data, retrieved 31 July 2026 – product page and datasheet C2310PG. * The two sources differ: the German datasheet states 6 cm³/stroke and +5…+45 °C, the English product page 7 cm³/stroke and +5…+40 °C. The datasheet figures are reproduced here; confirm the exact version with the manufacturer for a specific design.

The drive travel is the real design detail

The pump draws in while the piston is pushed in and delivers when a spring in the cylinder releases it; two check valves near the ports set the direction. Hence the most important installation rule: the drive must actually travel the distance the design assumes. A cam that uses only 7 of the 10 mm stroke does not deliver slightly less oil — it delivers a permanently wrong dose, with no fault ever being reported.

The maximum actuation force of 300 N also bounds what the machine's mechanism must provide. At five strokes per minute the pump is explicitly built for slow, cycle-bound sequences, not for continuous delivery.

Where it is used

DropsA names fixed- and variable-chamber round balers, combine harvesters and low-pressure chain or geared-motor lubrication. On a baler the door provides the drive: it opens every time a bale is finished — one bale, one stroke.

The installation consists of a 2 or 3 litre tank with suction filter, the piston pump, a distributor with 3 to 11 outlets and metering valves, plus brushes or nozzles at chain and gear. At 3 bar working pressure it is clear what the pump is not for: grease and long line runs need more — those belong with electric pumps.