Design Table or ??? for a Configurable Roll Assembly...

[DerrickH]

I have a general assembly model I wanted to make of a conveyor roller that we buy a lot of, and I wanted to make different configurations for diameter, length, and hex axle. I made (3) different part files for the roller tube, bearing, and axle, and then an assembly using the parts. How can I drive the parts through the assembly instead of having to make configurations of each part?

Derrick Hochgesang
Design Technician

 

[SBaugh]

In-context the parts in the assembly to offset Assembly Planes.

http://scottjbaugh.com/Tips_Tricks/Assembly_mates_and_best_practices.zip

Regards,

Scott Baugh, CSWP
Berry Plastics
Cad Admin\Design Engineer
GEASWUG Greater Evansville Area SWUG Leader

http://www.scottjbaugh.com

"If it's not broke, Don't fix it!"

faq731-376

 

[dedevo]

If it's a purchased part, you don't need a whole lot of accuracy. ie. you don't need to worry if the edges of filletted, you don't have to add alignment keys, etc.

That being said, reduce the complexity of your purchased parts down to a part. This is just good design practice. Plus, since suppliers often have multiple configurations, a part can be driven by a design table directly; so you don't have to drill down. Reduces the load time on your assembly... The benefits go on and on.

I have attached a part for a roller that I quickly whipped up. Look at the configurations tab to see the Design Table.


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As some additional food for thought, you can also drive dimensions from a .txt file. Just insert the file in to each part (import through the equation manager) and then link dimensions to the imported variables.
To change dimensions, just change the .txt. This isn't a solution to multiple configurations though, it will just let you rapidly change similar dimensions between mating components.

ie. I have a bunch of flanged surfaces between 5 different parts. I want all the flanges to have the same dimensions. So I drive it by a global var

Devon, EIT [Mechanical]
Solidworks 2011 SP 1.0

 

[DerrickH]

Scott-Thanks for the info! I actually printed that off your site a while back when I started working with SW a few months ago. I'll need to review it again and check out the example you have provided.

Devon-I've given that some though, and I may end up going that route. I was looking at it from the standpoint of down the road being able to animate a machine if I needed to. That's a ways into the future though, and something I may never have to actually do. I should probably stick with the "KISS" plan.


Derrick Hochgesang
Design Technician