patterns 2

[PROCON]

Pattern never works for me so I know I am doing something wrong. I make a datum through an axis and at an angle to a reference datum. Then when trying to pattern I enter the new angle and the number of items to be patterned. What am I missing.

 

[3dlogix]

Are you patterning the datum plane or a feature that uses that datum plane?

http://www.3dlogix.com

 

[Sauter]

You MUST create that datum ON THE FLY, so to speak. That is, you MUST create that datum through the axis as a reference for the sketch (right, top, left, etc.) or pattern will NEVER work when trying to pattern a feature around a circle. So, you will pick or create a datum plane (as a sketch plane), then you will pick right, left, top, or bottom, and create a new datum AS THAT REFERENCE PLANE. Then it should work. Good luck!

 

[mjcole]

It may be that you didn't select Done for second increment option. Also Identical patterns fail more often than general patterns because they have limited functionality. It's usually good to make a General Pattern and then switch the type later.

-USEFULL INFORMATION-
If you have the datum as a separate feature you can group it with the feature you're patterning and do a Group Pattern.

If you don't know about group patterns they allow you to use the dimension of a reference feature such as a datum plane to pattern another feature that references it.

To do this do the following
Feature > Group > Local Group
Enter a name for group like P1 and hit enter
select the datum and the feature and hit Done.

Now choose pattern from the Group menu and click on the feature on screen or the Group in the model tree and you will see the datum's angle which you can use for your pattern.

Just make sure that your feature does not reference any fixed datum planes like the Default selections of Intent Manager.

If you have any questions let me know.

Michael