Coil equation/code/program

[knot888]

Hi,

I have a coil pack i need to draw. unfortunately it is not your average circular coil. The general shape is more in the form of a rectangle with rounded edges. Similar to a oval, but has strait lengths on the sides and rounded on the ends. Think of the old fruit snacks called wild things that had a coiled shape on a piece of paper. The coil is planer/flat so its not like your average extension spring. Does anyone know how I could program this or write an equation to make this shape.

any equations or help would be appreciated!!!! If you have some code from Matlab or C++ i could at least interpret it and rewrite for Pro-E.

Thanks!!!

 

[dgallup]

You can create the form as a surface. Then create a dtm curve as a straight line at the pitch angle. Then wrap the curve around the form. Then use the wrapped curve as the path to sweep the coil section along.

 

[LawrenceS2]

I had to do a similar type of coil for a project I worked on once. What I found easiest was to just create a sketch of the path in the plane the part needs to be in, then did a sweep of my profile along that path.
This way is not very parametric, but I do not know if Pro|ENGINEER / Creo can handle a piecewise function.