SolidWorks 2010- P14 pdf

Add Configurations to an Assembly 359 6. Select the cell that corresponds with the Shade – 20 Degrees configu- ration in the Modify Configurations window. Change the value from 10° to 20°, as shown in Figure 9.40. Click OK to accept the change. FIGURE 9.40 Updating the value of the Angle mate in the Modify Configurations window Switch Between Configurations Switching between the available configurations allows you to see the differences between them. In this assembly, switching between the three configurations will give the illusion that the shade is moving between the three predefined locations. Switching between configurations will also allow you to make additional modifi- cations to the assembly. When you added the Angle mate to the second and third configurations, it also added the same mate to the Default configuration. As we mentioned earlier, this will cause a conflict and over-define the assembly. You can now switch back to the Default configuration to address the error. You can activate a configuration in a couple of ways. One way is to right- click the desired configuration and select Show Configuration in the menu (Figure 9.41). FIGURE 9.41 Selecting Show Configuration in the right-click menu 505434c09.indd 359 1/26/10 2:44:49 PM Chapter 9 • Modeling Parts Within an Assembly 360 The second, and in our opinion the easier, way to activate a configuration is to simply double-click the configuration in the ConfigurationManager. Using this technique, you will address the error created by adding the Angle mate. 1. Activate the Default configuration in the FeatureManager. 2. After activating the Default configuration, you will see that the FeatureManager design tree lights up like a Christmas tree with red and amber colors. That is because there is an error somewhere in the assembly. Oftentimes you will not know what the error actually is until you do a little detective work. The first place you should look is in the status bar below the graphics area. There you will see a mes- sage giving a hint as to what the issue is in the assembly, as shown in Figure 9.42. Click the error shown in the status bar. FIGURE 9.42 Over-defined message in status bar 3. Clicking the error message in the status bar will display a window showing the mates that are causing the assembly to be over-defined, as shown in Figure 9.43. Since you already know that this configura- tion should not have the Angle mate active, you can select the mate to suppress it in the window. Select the mate, and click the Suppress button in the context bar. FIGURE 9.43 View Mate Errors window 4. After suppressing the offending mate, the View Mate Errors win- dow will become empty, and the colored error messages in the FeatureManager will disappear as well. Click the red X in the upper- right corner of the View Mate Errors window to close it. After fixing the error, you will be able to switch between all the assembly con- figurations to see how the shade moves between its three predefined locations. Save the assembly, and you are ready to move to the next chapter. 505434c09.indd 360 1/26/10 2:44:51 PM Are You Experienced? 361 Are You Experienced? Now You Can… Create in-context models Use the Shell tool Save virtual components externally Modify appearances Add and show multiple congurations in an assembly Suppress and edit mates in congurations 505434c09.indd 361 1/26/10 2:44:51 PM 505434c09.indd 362 1/26/10 2:44:51 PM Chapter 10 Making Modifications Update Components in Isolation  Update the Drawing Document  Update Components Within Assemblies  Replace Components in Assemblies  505434c10.indd 363 1/26/10 2:44:55 PM Chapter 10 • Making Modifications 364 C hanges to the model are to be expected. They are unavoidable and part of the design process. Before they are even prototyped, most parts and entire assemblies will often get redesigned and altered for many different reasons, such as to fit within size or weight restrictions, to reduce cost of manufacturing, to compensate for substitutions made because of lack of avail- ability or excessive cost of materials, or even to comply with laws and regula- tions of the particular region where the product will be manufactured, used, or disposed of. However, this doesn’t mean you’ll have to remodel the whole thing from scratch over and over again to incorporate these alterations; rather, you can make small modifications, also called revisions, to the original models. So far, you’ve learned how to use different features available in SolidWorks to create the parts for your model, and you’ve joined them together in assemblies and subassemblies. You’ve also learned how to generate a drawing from a part. In this chapter, you will now learn how to make modifications to your model and how to update those changes into your assembly and drawing documents. We will demonstrate how to make changes to sketches and features inside a part, how to make modifications to parts within an assembly, how to update the revi- sion table in your drawing to document the changes made to the model, and how to replace components in an assembly. Update Components in Isolation Continuing with the traditional bottom-up design approach that you’ve used so far, you will now make changes to a part in isolation. For this purpose, you’ll open and edit the part individually, in its own window. Changes made to the part will later propagate to other documents. This method is usually preferred when editing off-the-shelf parts and other standard components. The most basic and also the most common modifications that will usually need to be made to a model are changes to dimensions in sketches and features. Changes to dimensions can be made the “old-fashioned” way, by editing sketches and features separately as needed, or in a much faster and easier way, as long as Instant3D is enabled. In Chapter 3, “Creating Your First Part,” you used Instant3D to create an extruded boss in your part simply by selecting and dragging a sketch. Here we’ll demonstrate how, when Instant3D is enabled, you can resize features by editing sketch dimensions directly in the graphics area, without even having to go into Edit Sketch mode. This method is simple and can save you a few extra steps in the editing process, thus allowing you to make better use of your time. 505434c10.indd 364 1/26/10 2:44:55 PM Update Components in Isolation 365 NOte Remember, Instant3D is enabled by default, but it can be tog- gled on and off by clicking Instant3D on the Features tab. Parts and assem- blies support Instant3D. Inside an assembly, you can use Instant3D to edit components within the assembly, edit assembly-level sketches and features, and modify mate dimensions. You will learn how to edit a component within an assembly later in this chapter. Change Dimensions in Sketches with Instant3D We will first demonstrate the way to make changes to sketch dimensions while Instant3D is enabled. For this purpose, you’ll change the dimensions of one of the extrude features in the Base, Lamp part from Chapter 3. 1. Open the Base, Lamp model you created in Chapter 3. 2. Select Extrude6 in the FeatureManager. Notice that all dimensions asso- ciated with this feature will immediately show up in the graphics area. 3. In the graphics area, select the dimension for the diameter of 1.000 by clicking and releasing the left mouse button once. 4. After selecting the dimension, a small field will appear next to the dimension with the current value. In the field, change the value from 1.00 to 1.100, as shown in Figure 10.1. To apply the updated value, hit Enter on your keyboard, or click anywhere outside the field. FIGURE 10.1 Applying the updated dimension value 505434c10.indd 365 1/26/10 2:44:58 PM Chapter 10 • Making Modifications 366 Change Dimensions in Sketches Without Instant3D As we mentioned, it was only recently that Instant3D technology was introduced in SolidWorks. Some users still prefer to disable this option and make modifica- tions to features and sketches the way it was done in the past, before Instant3D was available. We will now demonstrate how it’s done by changing another dimension of the same Base, Lamp model with Instant3D disabled. As you will see, this method requires a few extra steps and takes just a little longer than the previous one, but it’s always a good idea to learn different ways to do the same in SolidWorks. There’s no particular “right” way to do things, although some methods could save you some time and effort. 1. On the Features tab of the CommandManager, deselect the Instant3D button to disable it (see Figure 10.2). FIGURE 10.2 Disabling Instant3D 2. Select the Extrude7 feature in the FeatureManager, and notice that the dimensions of the sketch are no longer displayed in the graphics area. 3. Click the plus (+) next to the Extrude7 feature to display the child sketch. 4. Select the child sketch, Sketch7, and click the Edit Sketch button on the context toolbar (see Figure 10.3). Clicking this button will take you to Edit Sketch mode, or you can also double-click the sketch name in the FeatureManager design tree. FIGURE 10.3 Edit Sketch button on context toolbar 5. Double-click the .700 diameter dimension in the graphics area to edit the dimension. 505434c10.indd 366 1/26/10 2:45:00 PM Update Components in Isolation 367 6. In the small Modify window that is displayed next to the mouse pointer, change the value to .755, as in Figure 10.4. Click the green check mark or hit the Enter key on the keyboard to accept the change. FIGURE 10.4 Modifying the dimension of the diameter 7. Click the Exit Sketch button in the confirmation corner to accept the change made to the sketch and to update the part geometry. 8. For future operations, click the Instant3D button on the Features tab once again to enable it. 9. Save the changes to the model, and click the X in the upper-right corner of the graphics to exit the file. Prevent Loss of Data At this point it is wise to observe that any changes made to the model will become permanent only once the document has been saved. If you fail to save and exit the document, all changes will be lost. It’s good practice to save your work often during the session to prevent loss of data in the unfortunate event of a computer crash or power outage. Save Notification If you are likely to become so engrossed in your work that you forget to save often, you can choose to have SolidWorks remind you to do it every certain amount of time that you specify in advance. If the active document hasn’t been saved within that interval, a transparent message will show up in the lower-right corner of the graphics area as an unsaved document notification, reminding you that you haven’t saved your document yet. Click the appropriate command in the message to save the document. 505434c10.indd 367 1/26/10 2:45:03 PM Chapter 10 • Making Modifications 368 Follow these steps in order to enable this option: 1. Select Tools ➢ Options. 2. Select Backup/Recover on the System Options tab. 3. Under Save Notification, select the option to show a reminder. 4. Type in the proper field the number of minutes for the time interval between reminders. 5. Click OK to accept changes. Document Recovery You can also have SolidWorks automatically save information about your active docu- ment every certain amount of time that you specify in advance. This option is known as Auto-Recovery, and its purpose is not to back up your active file but to save infor- mation of your model that you can retrieve in the event of an abnormal termination. Auto-Recover won’t save the information on top of your original file; it actually creates new files for the active document every time it saves changes. These files are always closed and deleted as soon as the original file is saved. If your computer crashes and you had this option enabled, the next time you start SolidWorks, the recovered files will appear on the task pane. You can choose to save any of these recovered files on top of your original file if it happens to include recent changes you made to the model and that are not present in the original file. Follow these steps in order to enable this option: 1. Select Tools ➢ Options. 2. Select Backup/Recovery on the System Options tab. 3. Under Auto-Recover, select Save Auto-Recover Info. 4. Type the number of minutes for the time interval between saves. 5. Either accept the default folder or browse to a different location of your choice where these temporary recovery files will be stored. 6. Click OK to accept the changes. Update the Drawing Document Once you save your Base, Lamp model, all modifications you’ve made to the part will propagate to all other documents associated with it, such as assemblies and drawings. This is because parts, assemblies, and drawings are all linked docu- ments in SolidWorks. 505434c10.indd 368 1/26/10 2:45:03 PM [...]... assembly, and save it as Desk Lamp.sldasm These steps will guide you through the process: 1 Click New in the menu bar 2 In the New SolidWorks Documents window, select the Assembly template, and click OK 3 If the Begin Assembly PropertyManager does not open when opening a new SolidWorks assembly, click Insert Components in the shortcut bar 4 In the Begin Assembly or Insert Components PropertyManager,... geometry inside that part can be used as reference This way, changes made to that part will not propagate to other components in the assembly Use In-Context Editing As we also mentioned in Chapter 2, SolidWorks allows the user not only to create new parts in the context of an assembly but also to edit parts within the assembly, regardless of how they were created, either independently or while working... Zoom in once again to the revision table in the upper-right corner of the drawing 5 In the Description column, select the cell that corresponds to revision B in the table by clicking it once Prior to SolidWorks 2010, you were required to double-click a cell to edit its value Now all that you need to do after selecting the cell is begin typing the description of change In the cell, provide enough information... Part/Assembly To Insert section If you can’t see it, make sure you have Graphics Preview selected under Options 6 Instead of specifying the location of the lamp base in the assembly, you are going to allow SolidWorks to place the part in the same position it was created in Clicking the green check mark in the PropertyManager without placing the base in the assembly will accept its default positions, and . revisions, to the original models. So far, you’ve learned how to use different features available in SolidWorks to create the parts for your model, and you’ve joined them together in assemblies and. Without Instant3D As we mentioned, it was only recently that Instant3D technology was introduced in SolidWorks. Some users still prefer to disable this option and make modifica- tions to features and. than the previous one, but it’s always a good idea to learn different ways to do the same in SolidWorks. There’s no particular “right” way to do things, although some methods could save you