SolidWorks 2010- P5 doc

Create a Base Extrusion 89 2. Click the downward-pointing arrow next to the Corner Rectangle com- mand to show the available rectangle types. Select Center Rectangle. This creates a rectangle from a center point in the sketch. 3. After selecting Center Rectangle in the shortcut bar, the mouse pointer will update to show the Sketch tool selected with a small icon next to a pencil, as in Figure 3.4. Select the sketch origin in the cen- ter of the screen by clicking and releasing the left mouse button with the tip of the pencil directly on top of the origin. FIGURE 3.4 Creating a rectangle from a center point in the sketch 4. After releasing the mouse button when selecting the sketch origin, move the mouse pointer away from the origin. A rectangle will be shown but will not actually be created until clicking the mouse but- ton again. Next to the mouse pointer, the X and Y coordinates of the mouse pointer will be displayed in relation to the rectangle origin instead of the sketch origin, as in Figure 3.5. FIGURE 3.5 Coordinate display while sketching 505434c03.indd 89 1/27/10 1:47:49 PM Chapter 3 • Creating Your First Part 90 5. To create the rectangle, after dragging to the shape of the rectangle, click the left mouse button once again. SolidWorks will apply the appropriate relations to the rectangle including making the edges horizontal and vertical and making the center point coincident to the sketch origin, as shown in Figure 3.6. FIGURE 3.6 Undimensioned sketch with relations More About Rectangles When you were selecting Center Rectangle from the shortcut bar, you may have noticed that there are actually five different types of rectangles that can be used in sketches. Each of the five rectangles offers its own advantages, and you will be using each of them at least a few times during your time in SolidWorks. Here is a quick explanation of the five types of rectangles available in SolidWorks: Corner Rectangle T h e Corner Rectangle option creates one of the most com- monly used rectangles in SolidWorks. A corner rectangle is created by selecting two points that make up the opposite corners of the rectangle. Center Rectangle T h e Center Rectangle option creates a rectangle by selecting the center point and then one of the corner locations. The opposite corners of the rectangle are connected with a hidden line, and a point is placed where the lines intersect. 3 Point Corner Rectangle T h e 3 Point Corner Rectangle option creates a rect- angle at an angle by selecting the location of three of the corners. The first point specifies the origin of one of the corners. The second point determines the angle of the rectangle in relation to the first point selected. The third point defines the width or height of the rectangle. 3 Point Center Rectangle T h e 3 Point Center Rectangle option is a combina- tion of the Center Rectangle and 3 Point Corner Rectangle choices. It allows you to specify a center point of the rectangle; then the angle is defined with the  You’ll further dene sketch relations throughout the book as the need arises. 505434c03.indd 90 1/27/10 1:47:51 PM Create a Base Extrusion 91 second point and specifies the midpoint of one the sides. The third point defines the width of the rectangle. Parallelogram T h e Parallelogram option is drawn much like a rectangle (which is a parallelogram as well). The parallelogram is defined with three points that coincide with three of the corners. The first point defines the origin of parallelo- gram, the second point defines the angle of the base of the parallelogram, and the third point defines the angle and length of the adjacent edge. Define the Sketch With the rectangle drawn, you could create the extrusion of the base feature and continue modeling, but it is considered very bad practice to not fully define your sketch. You will be tempted many times in the future to not fully define a sketch in order to save a little bit of time, but keep in mind that the extra couple of minutes you take to do something right the first time will save you even more time in the long run. Not only will you avoid time-consuming errors by fully defining your sketch, but you will also be able to better capture your design intent. Design intent is how your part reacts as parameters are changed. For example, if you have a hole in a part that must always be .250 ≤ from an edge, you would dimension to the edge rather than to another point on the sketch. As the part size is updated, the hole will always be .250 ≤ from the edge. Since this sketch only has a rectangle and no other sketch entities, the only design intent to capture is the overall size and orientation of the rectangle. When the rectangle was created, the orientation was defined with the center point becom- ing coincident to the sketch origin and the sides being made horizontal and verti- cal. That only leaves defining the size of the rectangle. This involves specifying the height and width of the rectangle by using dimensions. To specify the dimensions of your rectangle, do the following: 1. With the mouse pointer anywhere in the graphics area, press S on your keyboard to open the shortcut bar. 2. To view all the available dimension types in sketches, select the downward-pointing arrow next to the Smart Dimension icon. 3. Select the very first option, Smart Dimension. The mouse pointer will change to include an icon that represents the Smart Dimension tool.  You can tell whether an active sketch is under-dened or fully dened by looking in the status bar, as described in Chapter 1. 505434c03.indd 91 1/27/10 1:47:53 PM Chapter 3 • Creating Your First Part 92 4. There are a few ways to apply dimensions to sketch entities. One way is to dimension to points in the sketch to define their relationship to each other. Select the upper-left corner of the rectangle by clicking the corner. The corner will be highlighted with a small filled-in circle when the mouse pointer is in the correct position, as in Figure 3.7. FIGURE 3.7 Selecting a point in a sketch for a dimension 5. Move the mouse pointer over to the upper-right corner of the rect- angle, and click that point, as in Figure 3.8. FIGURE 3.8 Selecting second point for dimension on sketch 6. A dimension will now be shown with the current width of the rectan- gle. Drag the dimension anywhere you want it to sit. We usually like to place it a short distance from the area being dimensioned since it makes it easier to determine which feature is being dimensioned in the sketch. 7. Click the left mouse button once again to place the dimension. 8. Once you place the dimension, the Modify window will pop up and allow you to specify the value of the dimension placed, as shown in Figure 3.9. You can choose to scroll the wheel that spans the entire 505434c03.indd 92 1/27/10 1:48:00 PM Create a Base Extrusion 93 length of the number field, but this is extremely slow and inaccurate. Instead, using the keyboard, enter the width of the rectangle as 6. FIGURE 3.9 Defining the width of the rectangle 9. To accept the value entered and update the width of the rectangle, click the green check mark (or press the Enter key on the keyboard). The width of the rectangle will update, and the dimension will now show the new distance. 10. Now you need to specify the height of the rectangle. As mentioned earlier, there are a number of ways to place dimensions in a sketch. This time, instead of selecting the corners of the rectangle, select the line that makes up the left side of the rectangle, as shown in Figure 3.10. FIGURE 3.10 Applying dimension by selecting a sketch segment 11. The entire length of the line will automatically be dimensioned. Drag the dimension to the side of the rectangle, and place it by clicking the left mouse button once again. 505434c03.indd 93 1/27/10 1:48:09 PM Chapter 3 • Creating Your First Part 94 12. Enter the new height of the rectangle to be 4, as shown in Figure 3.11. You do not need to specify a unit since you specified the units in the document settings. FIGURE 3.11 Defining the height of the rectangle 13. Click the green check mark to accept the new value and update the height of the rectangle. 14. To exit the sketch, click the Exit Sketch icon in the upper-right cor- ner of the graphics area, as shown in Figure 3.12. This area of the graphics window is referred to as the confirmation corner and allows you to exit most editing modes while working in SolidWorks. FIGURE 3.12 Confirmation corner of graphics area Dimension Types in Sketches When you selected the Smart Dimension tool in the shortcut bar while creating the sketch, you may have noticed that there were a few more dimension types 505434c03.indd 94 1/27/10 1:48:18 PM Create a Base Extrusion 95 available. The Smart Sketch dimension type will be the type you will use most of the time, but it still wouldn’t hurt to become familiar with all the dimension types: Smart Dimension T h e Smart Dimension tool will be your most used tool when defining sketch elements. Smart Dimension automatically selects the dimen- sion type that will be used based on the sketch entities that are selected. Not only does Smart Dimension determine the dimension type based on the type of entity selected, but it also can choose another dimension type, such as angles and point-to-point dimensions, based on where you place the dimensions. Horizontal Dimension T h e Horizontal Dimension tool creates a dimension where the dimension line is horizontal and the extension lines are vertical regardless of the entity selected in the sketch. Vertical Dimension T h e Vertical Dimension tool creates a dimension where the dimension line is vertical and the extension lines are horizontal regardless of the entity selected in the sketch. Ordinate Dimension In ASME Y14.5, ordinate dimensions are referred to as rectangular coordinate dimensions without dimensions lines—that’s quite a mouthful. Luckily, in SolidWorks they are only referred to as ordinate dimensions, and you create them with the Ordinate Dimension tool. This type of dimension is shown with the dimension’s value on the extension line without the addition of dimension lines or arrows. In a sketch, a zero dimension is specified, and then each subsequent dimension is shown with the value of the distance from the zero dimension. Like in smart dimensions, the Ordinate Dimension tool automatically determines the orientation of the dimension based on the entities selected. Horizontal Ordinate Dimension T h e Horizontal Ordinate Dimension tool cre- ates a dimension with the value above the extension line without a dimension line or arrows. It will only place ordinate dimensions that are horizontally related to the selected dimension origin. Vertical Ordinate Dimension T h e Vertical Ordinate Dimension tool creates a dimension with the value next to the extension line without a dimension line or arrows. It will only place ordinate dimensions that are vertically related to the selected dimension origin. Use Instant3D With your first sketch created, you are now ready to create the base feature. As with most areas in SolidWorks, there is more than one way to create an extru- sion. Most users will, for this feature, create an extrusion using the Extruded 505434c03.indd 95 1/27/10 1:48:18 PM Chapter 3 • Creating Your First Part 96 Boss/Base command on the Features tab of the CommandManager. That is a perfectly fine approach to creating extrusions, but you’ll learn how to quickly create extrusions by using Instant3D. Instant3D was introduced to SolidWorks in the 2008 release; it allows you to create and modify features by using drag handles and on-screen rulers. Ultimately, this means fewer mouse clicks and less keyboard entry, which will make modeling and modifying parts and assemblies much quicker and easier. The Extruded Boss and Extruded Cuts options still serve an important role in SolidWorks, and you will definitely be spending some time on those commands later, but I wanted you to become familiar with using Instant3D since it is a method that is largely ignored by many users. Here’s how to use it: 1. Using the middle mouse button to rotate the view, or by pressing Ctrl+7 on keyboard, rotate the sketch to an isometric view or some- where close to isometric. Since using Instant3D requires dragging the sketch out to extrude, you need to have a good angle on the sketch in order to do this. It is not possible to drag a sketch that is normal to the viewing plane. 2. Before being able to use Instant3D, you need to ensure that the abil- ity is enabled. Turn on Instant3D by clicking the Features tab in the CommandManager and clicking the Instant3D button, if disabled. 3. With Instant3D enabled, select any of the lines in the sketch. A green arrow, or drag handle, will be shown originating from the selected point on the sketch perpendicular to the sketch plane. If you do not see a drag handle when selecting the sketch line, ensure that you have exited the sketch and that Instant3D is enabled per the previous step. 4. Click and hold the left mouse button with the mouse pointer any- where on the drag handle. You will know you are directly on the drag handle when its color changes from green to amber. 5. While still holding the left mouse button, drag the arrow away from the sketch. This will create the actual extrusion. Using the on-screen ruler, you can specify the extrusion height. With the mouse pointer directly on top of the on-screen ruler, specify the value of 1.5, and release the left mouse button, as shown in Figure 3.13. 505434c03.indd 96 1/27/10 1:48:22 PM Create a Base Extrusion 97 FIGURE 3.13 Creating an extrusion using Instant3D Understanding the on-screen ruler is an important aspect of using Instant3D. The on-screen ruler allows you to precisely select the value of any operation that uses a drag handle to create or modify geometry. As you drag the drag handles, the ruler will appear on-screen running perpendicular to the feature being dragged. As you drag, the ruler will show the distance from the origin, and a green line and number with your current value in relation to the origin will be shown. Figure 3.14 shows the on-screen ruler as it appears while moving the mouse pointer. FIGURE 3.14 On-screen ruler in Instant3D As you drag the location of your mouse pointer in relation to the on-screen ruler, you can snap the values to the ruler increments. If your mouse pointer is not directly over the ruler, the value does not snap, and you can change the value freely. This approach is not at all precise. On the on-screen ruler, two levels of increments appear. The major increments are shown with longer ticks and a number value. The intermediate increments are shown with shorter lines and no numbers. The numbers and increments shown are based on your current view. As you zoom in closer, the increments become finer, giving you more accuracy, and as you zoom out, the increments are less accurate.  Throughout this book you’ll learn about tools such as Instant3D, FilletXpert, and others that reduce mouse clicks and save time. 505434c03.indd 97 1/27/10 1:48:26 PM Chapter 3 • Creating Your First Part 98 When dragging the drag handle, when the mouse pointer is over the outside of the ruler with the larger increments, the values will only snap to the number increment. At any point you can release the mouse button when your desired value is highlighted green. Figure 3.15 shows the mouse snapping to the larger increments of the on-screen ruler. FIGURE 3.15 Snapping to major increments on the on-screen ruler If the mouse pointer is over the inside of the ruler with the finer increments, you will be able to select a value that is a little more precise. The smaller hatch marks will be displayed with a value when the increment is active while drag- ging. Figure 3.16 shows how the mouse will snap to the smaller increments. FIGURE 3.16 Snapping to minor increments on the on-screen ruler tIp Even when Instant3D is not activated, the on-screen ruler can be used when using the Extruded Boss, Extruded Cut, Extruded Surface, Revolved Boss, Revolved Cut, Revolved Surface, and Base Flange commands. 505434c03.indd 98 1/27/10 1:48:34 PM [...]... 3 2 1  ​ Closing the profile Fully Define the Sketch Two of the lines in the sketch are black to represent that these segment directions are fully defined Although you did not specify any relations, SolidWorks assumed that the points you selected on the corner and the two edges are coincident These automatically placed relations were enough to define these two segments, leaving only the hypotenuse . each of them at least a few times during your time in SolidWorks. Here is a quick explanation of the five types of rectangles available in SolidWorks: Corner Rectangle T h e Corner Rectangle option. rectangle, after dragging to the shape of the rectangle, click the left mouse button once again. SolidWorks will apply the appropriate relations to the rectangle including making the edges horizontal. SolidWorks: Corner Rectangle T h e Corner Rectangle option creates one of the most com- monly used rectangles in SolidWorks. A corner rectangle is created by selecting two points that make up the opposite corners