AutoCAD Inventor :: Retaining Developed Length On Flexible Cable Tray - Adaptivity?
Mar 15, 2012
I want to put a cable tray going from a sliding door to a fixed piece of steelwork. When the door opens and closes, I want the cable tray to adjust to suit the sliding door. I'll upload the file that I have made. When i drag the sketch it all moves accordingly, but when I placed in the assembly and make it adaptive it does nothing, it will not constrain and it will only bring up the errors.
Inventor 2012
Windows 7 64-Bit SP1
Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU X5570 @ 2.93GHz
NVIDIA Quadro FX 3800 (Avail. Graphics Memory 4067MB - Ded. 1024 MB)
12 GB RAM
I want to make a contour roll and use the developed length option. How do I accomplish this.
The only way I can get this option to be available (not greyed out) is to have a closed loop sketch, if I have only a single line line sketch this option is not available.
I am attempting to create a cable tray. I have used Members, and Walls but neither worked really to my satisfaction. With the need for turns, ups and downs. How to accomplish this.
I am attempting to draw a cable tray layout in Autocad 2010. I am very much new to Autocad.
Basically, i want to draw a cable tray on pedestals which are arranged in a rectangular area. Now, I can draw bends so that the tray stay on pedestals but my question is how to draw the tray that is equidistant from both the corners of the pedestal? There are 6 pedestals arranged in a rectangular manner. All the pedestals are of equal length and width.
I need to add "Level" into my Cable Tray schedule; we need to sort the cable trays lengths by floor level. However, "Level" is not listed as one of the available fields, even though level information (show up as "Reference Level) is one of the constraints in the cable tray model.
I am working on a assembly where a cable wrapped around a drum is animated to rotate with the drum, and there is a longer cable coming off of the rotating cable wrap, this longer piece goes down to another cable on a roller assembly. I have edited the assembly to work without the actual cable drum and without the roller assembly ( I wasnt allowed to share those models ) There are now two cylinders in place of the cable drum, a Grounded center to hold everything in place, a Rotating center which is animated so the wrap can rotate.
My problem is when the part named "Drum to Roller" is a lofted cable with angled ends to meet the "Drum wire wrap" at one end and it meets the "Radius cable ends" at the other end. I need the "Drum to roller" to stay constrained to the "radius cable ends" as well as the "drum wire wrap" ... and after being constrained still animate.
I have set up the animation and you will see that the "Drum wire wrap" is animated to keep the end vertical , the animation is set up to look like the "drum wire wrap' is un-raveling cable and the "drum to roller" is to be what un ravels.
I need to find a way so that the "drum to roller" translates down and over , staying constrained to the "drum wire wrap".. You will see that so far it does not.
I have attached two links below they include the two halfs of my assembly, place all the files in the same folder so you wont have to search for them manually.
How to place an ucs on a part, with identical orientation as the containing assembly. I have placed a grounded workpoint in the part, on the assembly origin, but When it asks for a point to give the direction of X and Y, I am unable to select anything as I am in part edit. the only things I seem to be able to select are vectors on the solid. But those cannot be used, since the angles are different from the assembly's.
I have created a standard part that has imates and all features are adaptive. When I create an assembly and then try to place the component I would like for the part to come in adaptive automatically.
For example I have a nightstand I am modeling. The top and endpanels are in the assembly constrained to each other. I have a standard top back rail that is set up in a library and is used in all cases. The rail width and thickness is always the same but the length is different. I have two imates set up on the rail so when it is brought in, it will snap into place with one end of the rail mated to one endpanel and the other end mated to the opposite endpanel. But since the part is not adaptive on input it dosen't work right. One mate works fine but the other doesn't snap into place. Once I make the rail adaptive then it works fine but I have to insert it into the drawing first then make it adaptive then move the imates into place. Is there a way to make it adaptive automatically when it is initially placed in the assembly.
I started my project, the design is basically a bulkhead chassis design with multiple access panels on all 3 sides. I wanted all of the hole patterns on this assembly to be based on one sketch. So I created a base part inside the assembly, this part compiled of sketches and the sketches compiled of construct lines and points (for panel and chassis fastener hole patterns). This was going great, after learning a couple tricks.
Manufactuing had determined that I need to machine the holes on the chassis after welding. Which means I need to move the adaptive features, from the part files, to the assembly file.
So here is my problem, assembly sketchs are not adaptable? Either projecting to (from that base part file), or projecting from (from the assembly sketch to the part file). I tried both. How I should model this? How do I make weldment machining adaptive?
I'm having trouble with a tangent constraint. I have an adaptive part in an assembly and it is a revolution. I am able to constrain the top and bottom of the part so that it expands and contracts with my assembly. But, when I go to constrain the sides of my part via the tangent constraint I get an "inconsistent constraint" error.
I'm having problems using the "Project Geometry" command when I'm editing a sketch on a part, and attempting to project geometry from an assembly on the part.
Now in this example, this is the structure of my parts:
Assembly 1
-Fabricated Part 1
-Assembly 2 --Fabricated Part 2 --Fabricated Part 3
(Assembly 1 and Assembly 2 do contain more parts than what is listed, I just simplified it so I don't have to type out the hundreds of parts used)
Now, I want to project Fabricated Part 1 onto Fabricated Part 2. I use the following steps to do this, starting out by working in Assembly 1:
Double click on Assembly 2Double Click on Fabricated Part 2Create sketch on Fabricated Part 2Use Project Geometry command to Project Fabricated Part 1 onto sketch of Fabricated Part 2
This is where the trouble starts. When I try to project Fabricated Part 1 onto Fabricated Part 2, it gives me an error message of:
"Cross-Part projection failed because the sketch is in a part which is adaptive in another assembly"
Fortunately this is about as intuitive of an error message as you can get, simply Fabricated Part 2 is already adaptive in another assembly, and when you use "Project Geometry" it automatically makes the part adaptive to the assembly you are projecting from, and you can't have two assemblies driving one part, so it gives me an error message.
Only problem is, this is a part I just made, that isn't used in any other designs, and isn't adaptive in Assembly 2. Nowhere does it say which assembly the part is already adaptive in (I know it must have that info stored somewhere, as it needs to know what is adaptive where, I just don't know how to get to it).
Now that Projecting Fabricated Part 1 in Assembly 1 to Fabricated Part 2 in Assembly 2 doesn't work, I tried to Project Fabricated Part 3 in Assembly 2 to Fabricated Part 2 in Assembly 2, which strangely does work.
Basically whenever I project geometry found in Assembly 1 onto Fabricated Part 2 it fails with the above error message. Whenever i project geometry found in Assembly 2 onto Fabricated Part 2, it works. Neither Fabricated Part 2, or Assembly 2 are adaptive.
Now I'm wondering if this is a workflow problem. This is how these parts were made:
Assembly 2 is similar to another assembly found elsewhere called Assembly 3, the only difference is that in Assembly 3, I need to change Fabricated Part 4 to a different part, all other parts remain the same.
Therefor I open Assembly 3, do a "Save as/Save Copy As" and save it as Assembly 2. Now I need to make my changes to Fabricated Part 4, so I open it, do a "Save as/save copy as" on it, and save it as Fabricated Part 2. In Assembly 2 I then do a Replace on Fabricated Part 4 and replace it with my new Fabricated Part 2. I now make the changes I need to make to Fabricated Part 2.
I started at this company a couple months ago, and that was the workflow explained to me, and it seemed to work. I wasn't aware of any damage it could cause, as I haven't used Inventor before, so I went along with it. Since that time I'm working to implement Vault, and my knowledge of Inventor has increased, and I've become aware of a program thats called Design Assistant. I'm thinking doing the "Save as/Save copy as" function is keeping some legacy information of my old part, making it think it is adaptive in another assembly, when really it isn't, it is the part that I did the save as from.
So two questions: is using Save as/Save copy as a valid way to quickly copy designs, or should all copying of designs be done with Design Assistant?
Also, Is there any way to view where this part thinks it is adaptive in? The trouble I see, is using Save As has been done for a very long time here, so the part I did the Save As from, could have been Saved As from another, then Saved As from another, etc. etc., and it would be almost impossible to track down (if that is what caused the problem).
Can an adaptive part (non involved in the drive constraint animation) bother the contact solver?
I have an assembly, with only one adaptive part, i have activate contact set for other 3 parts (not the adaptive part), activated contact solver and drive the constraints, but in the animation contact solver doesn't work at all.
So, i have tried to move manually the assembly (suppressing angular drive constraint) and the contact solver works fine.If i suppress the adaptive part the driving constraint and contact solver work perfect.
So i wonder... adaptive part can annoying the contact solver functionality?
I am trying to make an angled tray in sheet metal by am having some trouble getting it to work out. I was unable to find an example of this type anywhere. I tried doing it as a sheet metal part first then gave up, created a standard part and shelled it. My problem is ripping the corners.
I have a sub-assembly that is flexible, (constrained properly, not grounded) and when I try to move it in the main assembly, I get the "universal NO" symbol attached to my cursor. There are no constraints preventing the movement in the sub, since I can move it however I want when the sub is opened.
I am wanting to create an assembly that I can manipulate and `pull about'.
To describe what I have and I want to acheive try and picture this very simplistic layout :-
A length of hose 50 meters long.
Another length of 50m long hose 2 meters directly below it.
The 2 lengths of hose rigidly tied together at 2m intervals with a small diameter solid bar and clamps around the hose.
What I need to acheive is :-
An assembly showing the above items in a long straight 50m run.
(I have no problems with creating this assembly.)
From there though I then need to be able to create an `S' shape, with the hose staying at a fixed radius where it is rolled to form that shape, both hoses must stay inline with each other at all times.
If you can imagine how a hose would react as you rolled it in reality I want to try and replicate that within my assembly if it is possible?
I realise I could create one long flat assembly then create another seperate assembly showing it in it's rolled up `S' shaped state but that is not what I am wanting.
What I am trying to do is place a hinge as a subassembly. I know in Solidworks there is an option to add it as a rigid or non rigid assembly. I have seen an option for flexible when you right click on assemblies that allow parts to be moved which is what I need but the hinge file I have from the company that sells them doesn't have that option when I right click on it and I need the hinge to be able to rotate in the model to simulate the hinge opening/ closing.
I need to model up a convoluted flexible hose as a component part for use in an assembly. What is the best approach to creating this with a realistic and natural look?
I'm trying to make this assembly flexible in that the bar will flex so the "s-clip" can hold the 2 handles together. I read some of the forums about the scissors assembly in the autodesk folders and I can see it working in that assembly btu can't figure out how to make it apply to mine. It is basically one of those camping grills that makes hot sandwiches or pies.
I want to put a flexible hose into an assembly in different places.
In the real world it would be the same part, but as the hose would needs to bend at different angles for the different positions I would need different models.
I know I can group components with the same part number in the Parts List, but how do I make sure the components are seen by Vault and other users as being the same component ?
Currently using Inv 2011sp2 Pro and Vault 2011. But I don't have much experience of using Pro
I'm running Inventor 2008 SP2. Each time I open the assembly 2 subassemblies always explode. You can see the red and blue subs in the attached picture. I thought this was supposed to be fixed by now. Actually I thought this was supposed to be fixed in R11 a long time ago. When I grab and drag either component, everything snaps back to where it's supposed to be.
If this isn't fixed (along with a laundry list of stuff that's been broken since R10) you will be losing customers. This and all the other bugs have cost me countless hours in lost productivity.
The company I work for manufactures safety covers of all types. Some are pretty easy to model. The ones made from folded fabric,....not so much.
I have taken a couple of photos and uploaded them so that you could see what I'm trying to model.
As you can see from the photo, it's an accordion like cover that is "U-Shaped". You would install this over a linear rail and have one end anchored to the frame and one end anchored to the carriage. So it would collapse and expand as the carriage moves back and forth.
We call the convolutions "vees" (obviously because they look like the letter V). When you compress the cover the Vee Depth increases. And when you expand the cover it will decrease. The folded section at the ends, at the small "legs" is where I have the difficulty. It's sort of hard to explain. That's why I uploaded the photos.
I'd like to be able to make a single "Vee", and have it have adjustable constraints so that I can expand or contract the cover by adjusting one number.
I'm going through some customer equipment models and setting them up in my library for referencing. For example, I'll setup a machine that belongs to a customer, then reference it through a library when I design new tooling and/or components to work with existing equipment.
One such machine is a simple positioner. It's got a linear slide for "X" movement that's got an arm on a mounting plate. The slide has some amount of travel, say 500mm or so. And the mounting plate has 5 sets of mounting holes. So the arm can have four bolts removed and be mounted in any (1) of (5) different locations. This is in addition to the slide's travel.
When I design future assemblies and components for this, I'd like to be able to insert the assembly from a library into my "new" assembly in a flexible configuration where I can set it up using any combination of mounting holes AND slide travel.
So I can setup (5) different positional reps for the mounting hole configs. That's easy. With respect to the slide, I can create a constraint that allows the arm to extend and retract, but how can I get the library assembly to "rest" in multiple locations? For example, I may work on Design A that needs the extension at 241mm and Design B at 316mm.
Would I need to setup a different Pos Rep in the library assembly for the requirements of every new design? Unfortunately, the design is proprietary to the customer, so I really can't post anything about it.
I need to make a 1/8" diameter flexible hose, but the sizes listed for the Parker Hydraulic Hose only go down to 1/4". The closest solution I could find is here:
[URL]........
Here is what I did:
In my assembly, click "Place From Content Center"
Find "Parker Hydraulic Hose"
When I right click on it, the only selection is "Add to Favorites"
Double click on "Parker Hydraulic Hose"
Go to "Table View" tab
Right click on a row, but there is no "Input" selection.
Usually what I do is download a 3D CAD part from McMaster Carr or some other place and start from scratch trying to recreate the part or, in this case, the assembly. I'm working on modeling a simple swing-arm type of machine I've made in the past and the I've been able to recreate all of the parts with their proper ranges of motion except one. It's an Inline Ball Joint Linkage that has a rubber boot around it to keep the dust out and possibly grease in. I want to know if it is possible to model the rubber boot so that it would mimic real life movement. Right now, the boot is basically a rigid cylinder and as the linkage swivels, the solid bodies clip through each other.
I've been able to make a flexible hose type of assembly as shown here: [URL]... However, creating a 3D drawing with a spline that attaches to work points on the other assemblies causes the Ball Joint to no longer work. It will only rotate as opposed to swiveling.
