AutoCAD Inventor :: Sheet Metal Length And Width IProps Flip-flop
Nov 1, 2011
How to predict what Inventor will choose for the length and width on a sheet metal flat pattern? We have similar parts (produced from iPart factory). Some of them use the small dimension for the width and some use the longer dimension for the width. This behavior seems random.
As a temporary fix we have set width = <sheet metal length> and length = <sheet metal width> on some parts to force the numbers where they should be.
I tried to attach the iPart, but it's too big .
Side note:
We DO understand how to use conditional suppression in iParts. We chose to use thicken instead to produce or exclude our notch in this case for reasons I could explain if needed. I don't think this has anything to do with our length/width issue, but wanted to included that info in case I'm wrong.
When referring to flat pattern length and width you can make an custom iproperty and add =<Sheet Metal Width>. You can then add 2 fields in the drawing parts list and set precision, trailing zeroes and unit string on/off.
Most companies have 1 field for 'Size' or put size inside description and then you cannot format
The problem is that if you fill in description: =Sheet <Thickness>mm, <Sheet Metal Width>x<Sheet Metal Length> you get the following:
Description: Sheet 15mm, 3411,978 mm x 2000,000 mm
i Want to have Description: Sheet 15mm, 3412x2000
You can't change property format as you can with user parameters you set to export as far as I know. Is there a way? excluding iLogic, which would only be a half baked solution. I would really like to have width and length as a sheet metal parameter, rather than a iproperties formula.
After having a formed sheet metal part finish the wrong size (.100" long on all sides), I discovered a glitch with the sheet metal flat patterns sizes being.
I created two identical parts, one in IV2013 and one in IVP2014, and came up with two different flat patterns. The two parts are 100% identical. The volume is identical for both, and I did an assembly overlay to double check (everything lined up perfect). However, the flat pattern on the IV2014 part was 0.130" shy of what it should be (total length in both directions).
I haven't been able to recreate this (happened with this part and with a different part that we had formed), but you shouldn't ever have to worry about something like this. I created the same part in 2014 for a second time from scratch and it then came out to the correct dimensions, which worries me even more that this is an intermittent problem.
The JUNK file is the one with the incorrect length.
Also, another IVP2014 issue I have been having is when saving a drawing as an AutoCAD drawing it saves it as a 2013 AutoCAD in a zip file instead of a 2007 as a normal file like I have it set up to. If I click "Options" when saving, then click cancel without selecting anything, it saves it correctly.
I have been using AutoCAD mainly doing shopfitting and construction drawings; occasional 3D presentations. Therefore I am clueless as to how to start drawing something like e.g. the flexi-curvey loop of a flip flop in 3D.
I'm trying to write a VB.Net program (Visual Studio 2010 Express) for Inventor 2012 that will add up the length of all the edges of a flat pattern including any cutouts/holes in the part. I need the total length to do an estimate on the amount of time required to cut out the pattern on a laser. How to get this info programatically in VB?
i7-2720QM Dell Precision M6600, Win 7 Pro 64-bit, 8GB RAM Autodesk Product Design Suite Ultimate 2013 Autodesk Vault Professional 2013
A collegue asked me about this as he has been given a part to model and the details are for the flat sheet not the finished model. Is this possible in 'sheet metal'? I had a quick play but couldn't work it out. Im used to creating the finished part and 'un-folding' to get the flat pattern.Detail supplied below.
With using superelevation wizard in Civil 3d 2012, changing the lane width is not affecting the resulted values of transion length and run-off length, Is that correct ? ( as civil is using standerd AASHTO tables which assume that lane width typically is 3.6m )
Also, There is only 2 tables for 2-lanes and 4-lanes roadway, Is it for total road width or for one directon only, and what about different no. of lanes ?
I am trying to create a iLogic Rule that will measure the Length, Width and Thickness of a part and ut it into the custom fields we have. I am having a hard time remembering how to get it to do it from the assembly level. I want to run this on the assembly and have it populate all the parts inside of it. The code below will do it for a part but what is it I add to get it to drill down into the assembly?
Then I want to add this formula to the Stock Number iProperty = <Length> X <Width> I can get it to add the values but I can not get it to add the formula to the stock number.
In our “Parts list” (or BOM as we call it) on our .idw’s we have field for “LENGTH”. For example, we use round tubing. We would list the cut length of that piece of tube in the “LENGTH” column. As it stands now, we add “LENGTH” as a custom iproperty in the .ipt. Then in the drawing we add that property to the parts list to capture the length. This works fine, but I’m wondering if we can eliminate some steps by capturing the actual dimension from the sketch to automatically populate the “LENGTH” value. Needless to say, this would eliminate room for error (less typing) and will update the value automatically if length is changed or if the part is copied. I suppose the same would apply for “WIDTH” on sheet metal parts... How do I do this?
I want to have a Blank size custom iproperty using flat extents length and width this is what i did but gives error is there a way to get this to work the way I want it to? I dont want a Length and width to be seperated would like it all in one.
Working with sheet metal and laying out a pattern for the cnc and was wondering if there is a way to imprint an extrusion onto the surface instead of cutting it. Mainly this will be used for a marking tool so the line type or layer would need to be different.
I am working on a bin type unit, and am having trouble creating a flange, I am creating the bin in the final product stage, then I will separate into manufacturer components. I am having trouble adding this flange around the top 4 edges of the bin. I need the four corners to meet on a miter 45. I will then rip down each seam and have 4 separate panels.
Is this a bad workflow? Is there a better route? I attached the part in Inventor 2013 format,
Attached are two sheet metal parts that we need to unfold and make them flat for a drawing. We cannot seem to capture the reference A or reference B planes asked for by the unfold command.
Is there a way to get the appearance of perforation on a sheet metal tube without having to create each and every hole? Looking for an appearance to drag onto the surface. Kind of like when you make a part look like it is made of brick. It being just an image on the model surface.
Very thin gauge aluminum sheets with a composite sandwiched between them.
The challenge is, the panels are relatively thick, 3mm or 4mm, but a router is used on the fold lines before bending to cut through all but the outer aluminum. This makes for a very tight bend radius.
So, thick 3 layer material, tight bend with mitered corners. Can Inventor's sheet metal tools handle this?
Can this part be made with sheet metal tools...it will be made from aluminum. I attach the shape made with standard tools and the sheet metal attempt.......how do add the sides in sheet metal.
how incredible it is that Inventor still does not have a functional normal cut option for sheet metal like Solidworks and Solidedge have long had and I agree. I realize that there are the standard workflows like using derive and thicken to get around this problem. However, for those interested, there is a way to make a normal cut (for laser/cnc) directly in the sheet metal part in many cases. It involves using a sketch to split a face and then using the resulting profile for a thicker/cut feature. I'm always interested in any other methods out there for obtaining normal cuts in complex sheet metal (for a clean dxf export). By the way, Autodesk, do you actually not have any plans of ever adding functionality in this area?
I ran the installer, created a sheet metal part and hit rebuild all, it did not create any proeprties, also tried to manually create the properteis then hit rebuild, no go.
I also did a search on my hardrive for the ApplicationPlugins, and placed the sheet metal folder in all of them(there were 3) tried again noto.
The add-in also does not appear in the add-in manager.
Or is there different what to get the flat pattern dimensions in 2013
I have just modelled a part with some faces and tried to convert to sheet metal to have inventor make the bends between the faces. However when trying to convert to sheet metal i get the following error message (Autodesk Inventor Professional Tip) - "This model cannot be converted to Sheet Metal because it contains features that have created multiple bodies. In order to convert to Sheet Metal these features must first be removed."
As the picture show the part only has 1 solid. Even when deleting all features except the "base" face I get the same error message or Tip as Inventor calls it.
I have a sheet metal door with a little bracket that gets welded to the inside lip through a cut-out in the face of the door. (see assembly)
I can't get the cut-out to line up flush with the inside lip of the door, as that is where the brackets gets welded to. the current aseembly is set-up the way I want, but I can't get a flat pattern on the door, becasue of the cut going across the bend.
I have checked off the "cut across bend" in the cut dialogue box, but this leaves a small (~1/32) lip in the cut-out and runs interference in the placement of the bracket.
Inventor Pro Suite 2013 Sean Farr Product Designer at TESInc.ca Inventor Professional 2014-Update 2 - AutoCAD Electrical 2014 Win7-x64 | ASUS P8Z77-V | i7 3770 -3.4 GHz | 32GB RAM | 240GB SSD | nVidia GTX 670 4GB - 320.49
How can I create a sheet metal jog? Like the attached. I used a contor flange to creat this one, but I have to add a jog to an existing part and don't want to have to totally redraw it just to get the jog. I'm hoping you can add it like you can a flange.
I was designing a part which consisted in a circular sheet metal part with a hole in the center, and a bent rectangular radii-oriented section. The second feature is the one I want to give focus in this thread.
Take a circular sheet metal with a diameter of 30 mm and a thickness of 1 mm. Now, to achieve the bent section one would perform - in a workshop or any other equivalent - two parallel slices of about 5 mm in length with a distance from each other of 4 mm. The slice would start in the circumference and end somewhere nearer to the center of the disc, but not parallel to a radius (since its parallel to another slice 4 mm apart as said before). After the slicing was done, one would bend the section between the slices 90 degrees to any of the sides.
Now, in Inventor I couldn't find a way to do this. I couldn't just slice a line through the disc. I worked it around by cutting rectangles of 0.2 mm in width and with the length of the desired slices, and then using the folding command to bend it 90 degrees. Is it possible to perform this so called slices?
I made a part in sheet metal and used the Cut tool for cut-outs...i tried by using flatten Patern,draw sketch but this did not cut part...is there a more better way of making these cuts?
I have been trying to work out how to make interlocking joints in sheet metal parts. The attached screen shot is the only way I have found to do it in Inventor, but it is a cheat. One of the flanges is a 85˚ bend because if it were 90˚ it would give an error "Flange Body intersects with existing body or self intersects."
I have setup all our Sheet Metal Rules to be all of our stocked in house sheet metals. The sheet metal rules are named like:
ALUM 5052 H32 1/2" (Part Number) ST STEEL T304 3/8" (Part Number) STEEL 44W 1/8" (Part Number) etc.
And each rule has the proper thickness, material, and some standardized bend radius's. I've done this to introduce more uniformity in our designs, and to also allow the designer to put as much information into the model as possible, so that if someone else does the drawings, there is no question as to which material is used.
I now want to bring in the Sheet Metal Rule name into the drawing automatically. I can't seem to find a way to reference the Sheet Metal Rule directly from the drawing. What I need to do is pick a standard field in the i Properties (I used Stock Number), and put in =<Sheet Metal Rule> so that now the Stock Number references the Sheet Metal Rule, and then in the drawing I can just reference the Stock Number, and it will come in.
I don't like having to use the Stock Number as a middle man though, as none of our existing models are setup like this. Is it possible to reference Sheet Metal Rule in the drawing without having to use another field as a placeholder for the information?
I recently had an issue in adding flanges to a sheet metal part. The thread for that can be seen here:
[URL].......
The problem I am having now is with the size of the part. I need the linear distance from the bottom edge of a flange to match the inner diameter of my part. As you can see, this is not the case as it stands right now.
I am looking for a solid way of finding the Thickness parameter of a sheet metal part. I have tried two ways so far:
1. oCompDef.Parameters.Item(Thickness)
This works but if Inventor is installed with a different language pack like German for instance then it fails
2. oCompDef.Parameters.Item(1).Value
This also works but if the user started the part with a normal part template and then converts the part to a sheet metal part down the line, then this method fails.
