Wanted Tips on: Drawings for parts with multiple configurations

[DrGonzo]

Looking for some help trying to convey information in my drawings.

Just wondering if and how people show multiple configurations on one drawing. The part is nearly identical between configurations. Imagine a part cut from particle board that changes length. Features and feature placement stay in their relationship to the ends, the middle stretches. One construction dado is supressed in shorter lengths and present in longer lengths. We use it to place a stiffener into.

Would you show each configuration?
Would you just show one and have a corresponding table to define alpha dimensions? Possibly flag the feature and have present y/n column in the table? Just looking for some ideas if anyone is doing something similar. Heck if you just want to throw your $0.02 in that is cool too.

Just a note: we pretty much generate our own drawing standards since we generally create everything we draw. This doesn't have to conform to any specific drawing standard, just what makes sense.

Thanks,
Dr. Gonzo

 

[ctopher]

Showing only one config is acceptable with a table of dimensions. Under the view insert a line of text saying which config is shown.
e.g. "12345-1 SHOWN"

 

[8Complex]

I would show one view, and then put a vertical break in the center of it. Then when you dimension the length, just make it a alpha character like "A" and make a small table to show the part number versus the length of A, and display the different lengths in there.

I've drafted for 8 years at 10+ companies and never had a problem with that.

 

[DrGonzo]

Thanks for the ideas. Pretty much in line with what I have done. Have a flag next to the feature that is present in longer lengths and in the table have called it out.

Thanks for the input.

 

[aamoroso]

Why not take it a step further and have the dimensions in the table linked to the model.

 

[TheTick]

Not quite the same as your case, but for what it's worth...

We design hinges. Geometry doesn't change, but each assembly has multiple positions. For this, Alternate Position views are invaluable. This allows one to superimpose multiple configurations in phantom mode.

 

[JNR]

You might find as we do sometimes that you need several views to cover all configurations, but not necessarily one for each. Ie: Only a new view for any set that are significantly different in appearance, but generally speaking use tabulated dims. Definitely take aamoroso's tip and look at using associative dimension tables. It make adding new configurations much quicker. Other tricks are to use detail views to show those areas that are significantly different instead of complete new views. and even when using extra views state that all undefined dimensions... etc. are as view 1/table 1/configuration 1/whatever and don't just repeat them all on each view.

John Richards Sr. Mech. Engr.
Rockwell Collins Flight Dynamics

A hobbit's lifestyle sounds rather pleasant...... it's the hairy feet that turn me off.

 

[DrGonzo]

Thanks again for all the great advice, we have been showing our design tables for simple configured parts. I have been trying to use them for these drawings I just find it hard to format the design table reasonably. The cells at the tops of the columns contain dimensions as well as properties. Something like $prp@source. We usually use the source to designate where it came from, duh, but in certain cases we are actually using it to define a blank shape.

Any suggestions on formating the dt to contain the goods you want? Is it possible to modify the text in the dt? I have had no luck with that other than to change my dt in the actually part/assy files. Right now I was thinking about just hiding the top row in the dt shown in the drawing and overlaying it with a custom table of my own to define the columns.

Thanks again,
Drgonzo

 

[JNR]

Some questions and some answers........... Are you using the auto-craeted DT's. Don't! They give you everything under the sun!!! Make your own with only the parameters you want.

Next: (Sorry, CBL, this is kinda another version of the same stuff!) The basic format of the DT has the first column with config names. It may have the first row with the partname - or not - depending on how the DT was made! But once it is started you can't change that - somehow SW knows. The next row (1 or 2) is the parameter names and the remaining ones are the values for the corresponding configurations. This layout can NOT be modified. The config names must match the SW config names and the parameter names must match also. You can change them, but they must match those in the SW part. (Example - go into a dimensions's properties and change its name frome "D1" to "Piston Length".

However, once you leave a blank row below or column to the right this terminates the DT itself and the remainder of the spreadsheet is your little Excel-land to do as you please. Provided you open your DT in a separate window, you will have all the Excel toolbars etc. So you can then do anything you like within the constraints above. Even the cells containing the values can be Excel calculations, links, or other stuff. You can hide rows and columns INCLUDING the DT rows and columns. I have some where the entire DT proper is hidden, all the user sees is a chart of the values, but they cannot be changed as they are linked in from the hidden DT cells which in turn come from somewhere else. They are also very pretty with nice colors and help file hyperlinks, etc. Now the problem is that I doubt that merely hiding the DT cells in the Excel DT window will prevent SW from wanting to show them if you plant it on the drawing. You could test this, but don't hold your breath. However if you can do something like I described above using an external Excel DT rather than an embedded one you might try this. Hide all the DT itself and let SW deal with it. Make a nice chart lower down in the spreadsheet in the layout you want, with all the headings you want and the values linked from the actual DT cells. Then insert it as an OLE object.

BTW: This is hard to find in Excel help. If you hide Row 1 (or column a for that matter) and any immediately next to it, how do you select it to unhide it??!! Use the Go To command (look for it in help - I don't remember which toolbar menu it is on). You type in A1 and then unhide it. Then yo can go from there by the usual highlighting method.

John Richards Sr. Mech. Engr.
Rockwell Collins Flight Dynamics

A hobbit's lifestyle sounds rather pleasant...... it's the hairy feet that turn me off.