swash plate

or swashplate

noun

, Machinery.

1. an inclined circular plate on a rotating shaft for transferring force and motion to or from parts reciprocating in a direction parallel to the axis of shaft rotation.

swash plate

noun

1. engineering a collar or face plate on a shaft that is inclined at an oblique angle to the axis of rotation and either imparts reciprocating motion to push rods parallel to the shaft axis as in a swash plate pump or, conversely, converts reciprocating motion to rotation as in a swash plate motor Also calledwobble plate

Word History and Origins

Origin of swash plate¹

from swash (obsolete n) an oblique figure or ornament, from aswash: see swash letter

Example Sentences

For instance, the company redesigned a wrench after a data-driven analysis of repairs on the CH-53E heavy-lift helicopter revealed that mechanics were damaging the swash plate part of the rotor if they slipped while tightening bolts.

From Reuters

Swash′-plate, a disc set obliquely on a revolving axis, to give a reciprocating motion to a bar along its length; Swash′-work, lathe-work in which the cuts are inclined to the axis of rotation.—adj.

From Project Gutenberg

As the gas shuttles between interconnected cylinders, the pistons move back and forth and piston rods push against a so-called swash plate, or disk.

From Time Magazine Archive