Being Inventive

Creating non-perpendicular sheet metal cut-outs

A question that regularly pops-up is about how to create cut-outs in Inventor for a part that is sticking through a sheet metal part.

When the penetrating part is perpendicular to the sheet metal face it penetrates, there is no issue as you can use the regular "Cut" command.

But what if the penetration happens under an angle like in below image of a cylindrical part?

The cutout will have to be wider than the cylinder diameter to avoid interference.
It is relatively easy to determine mathematically what the width W of the opening needs to be.
I'll spare you the gory details on how exactly I got to these formulas but here they are:

 
 

 

Width of opening = d1 = Thickness / tan(TOOLANGLE) + TOOLWIDTH / sin(TOOLANGLE)

Height of opening = d7 = TOOLWIDTH (the Height of the opening is rather arbitrary and can even be made smaller if required).  

With

TOOLANGLE = the smallest angle between the penetrating tool and the sheet metal face. This angle is always <= 90 deg and > 0 deg.

TOOLWIDTH = maximum cross-sectional dimension of the tool when it penetrates the opening

 

With this knowledge, I decided to create three iFeatures. The three different cutout shapes are circle, oblong and rectangle.

You can download the metric 2012 part that I used to create the iFeatures here (so you can build more shapes if you like)

You can download the finished 2012 iFeatures here and use the "Insert iFeature" command rather than the "Cut" command for situations where the regular sheet metal "Cut" command is not giving the results you want.

Here is a snapshot of the 3 cutout shapes in action. Note that the cross-section of the penetrating parts can be an irregular shape different from circle,oblong or rectangle.

Cheers

Bob

How to handle this family of parts

You have a bunch of parts.

They all are similar, but have some different lengths that can range within an interval.

You want to be able to place these parts in your assemblies and get the correct parts list. 

Using a “normal” ipart is not an option, because the parts can differ of small length increments within the interval, and the ipart will end up with a very large number of rows.

The custom ipart seems like the best solution for this.

You can create an ipart with three rows and define the lengths columns as Custom Parameter Columns.

 

When you insert the ipart in the assembly, you can specify the desired values for the lengths.

 

By the way, if you want to include the length values in some iproperties of your parts, as, for instance the Part Number, this is not a solution, because, when you insert the part in the assembly, specifying the length values, the equation in the Part Number property field doesn’t update accordingly.

 

In this case, the solution is publishing the custom ipart in an user CC library, setting the lengths columns as key columns.

 

Then editing the Family Table, you can edit the Part Number column properties and set an expression as, for instance, the one in the image below.

 

So, when you need to insert the part in one assembly, you can do it from the Content Center, selecting the option “As Custom”, specifying the desired values for the lengths and saving the file in the desired location with the desired name.

 

The Part Number property of the file will be set correctly.

 

In case, later on, you need to edit the part you have published, you can open one member of the family with the command Open from Content Center and the option “As Custom”.

 

Make your changes and save the file.

Then, in the CC Editor, select the user library in the Library field, select the family, right-click, Replace Family Template, and select the file you have modified.

 

Ale

Switching the Inventor License type

AutoCAD has been offering license switching for a while now but prior to the Inventor 2012 release, this was not possible on Inventor.

I have heard of usage scenarios where users received a temporary stand-alone license while waiting for the official network license information to arrive.

In a case like the one above, once the network license arrived, users had no other choice but to reinstall Inventor just for changing the license type L

Since Inventor 2012, you can avoid the reinstallation and change to a different license scheme after you have installed or deployed the product.

Keep in mind that this is a product feature, not a feature valid for the entire suite. To read more about it, please consult this technical support article.

Cheers
Bob

Parts List in Russian

Since this seems to be a recurring question on the Inventor Discussion Groups we have decided to create a post on our Blog for it.

You insert the Parts List in your drawing and you get it in Russian.

 

If you need to use ESKD Unified System of Design Documentation in your drawing, and therefore you have intentionally enabled the ESKD Support Add-in, this should not be an issue for you.

Instead, if this is a problem for you, it is because you have unintentionally enabled the ESKD Support Add-in.

You can notice this as well looking at the name of the Annotate tab that displays as in the image below.

 

For solving the problem, go to menu Tools > Options > Add-Ins.

Select ESKD Support in the Add-In manager list and uncheck the boxes “Loaded/Unloaded” and “Load Automatically” in the Load Behavior section in the lower part of the Add-In Manager dialog.

 

In case, you can find more information about ESKD in the help.

Ale

Autodesk Suites: Product Design Suite will not install.

When trying to install the Product Design Suite, none of the products will install.

 

In some instances, there maybe a higher version of the Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 Redistributable Package on your computer.

You will need to uinstall Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 Redistributable (x86) via the Control Panel,  then install the Product Design Suite.  You will need to goto Microsoft site to install the latest Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 Redistributable (x86) afterwards:

http://www.microsoft.com/download/en/details.aspx?id=5555

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How to change the location of MITSI temporary files folder

The default location where Inventor creates the temporary files when you work with the Mold Design (Tooling) module is C:\MITSI 2012 Temporary Files\.

If you want to change this location, because, for instance, you don’t have enough space on disk C, you can do the following.

• Close Inventor.
• On the Start menu (Windows), click Run.
• In the Run dialog box, enter REGEDIT.
• In the Registry Editor, locate the following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Autodesk\Moldflow MITSI\2012\Environment

• Make a backup copy of this key, exporting it and saving the reg file on your machine.

 

•  On the right side of the Registry Editor, select the string MITSI_TMP, right-click, Modify.

 

• In the following dialog, edit the path for the MITSI temporary files folder redirecting it to the desired location.

 

Ale

JIT error when creating iLogic rule

You want to create an iLogic rule in Inventor 2012, clicking on the Add Rule button, and you receive the error below.

 

In order to fix the problem check first if the solution http://usa.autodesk.com/getdoc/id=TS16903013 can help.

If not, try the following.

• Exit Inventor.
• Open a Windows Explorer window, and type this directory name into the address bar:

(For Windows Vista and 7)

%LocalAppData%\Autodesk,_Inc.\DefaultDomain_Path_2awpc0kafrjcv03lo0bxxge1dqftrp20\Autodesk®_Inventor®_2012

(For Windows XP)

%USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Application Data\Autodesk,_Inc\DefaultDomain_Path_2awpc0kafrjcv03lo0bxxge1dqftrp20\Autodesk®_Inventor®_2012

• You should see a file named user.config in this directory.  Make a backup copy of it, and then delete the file.
• Restart Inventor.

Ale

Migrate custom Desktop Content library to Inventor 2012

You have created a custom Desktop Content library in Inventor 2010 or 2011 and you want to migrate it to Inventor 2012.

In order to do this, follow the steps below.

Copy the idcl file of the custom library (i.e.: Demo.idcl) from the R2010 or R2011 location (i.e.: C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\Inventor 2011\Content Center\Libraries\) to the R2012 one (C:\ProgramData\Autodesk\Inventor 2012\Content Center\Libraries\).

In case, you can check the location paths in Inventor, menu Tools > Options > Application Options > Content center tab.

 

In Inventor 2012, Open the Projects dialog and click on Configure Content Center Libraries.

 

You should see your library in the list with an exclamation mark.

Select the checkbox near your library, click Ok for closing the Configure dialog and click on Save for saving the change in the project.

 

Click again on Configure Content Center Libraries.

In the Configure dialog, click on the Update Tool button.

 

Click Next in the following dialogs for migrating and synchronizing your library that you should see listed and selected in some of them.

When the migration and the synchronization are finished, click on Close for closing the Update Tool dialog.

 

In the Configure dialog your library should display selected and without the exclamation mark.

Click on Ok for closing the Configure dialog and on Done for closing the Projects dialog.

 

After that, your library should be available in Inventor 2012 as well.

Note. In case you need to convert your ADMS Content library to a Desktop Content one, see the solution http://usa.autodesk.com/getdoc/id=TS14048360

Ale

Inventor 2012 (Plain) Subscription license doesn't allow us to run Inventor 2011 Professional/Suite

If you are planning to purchase Inventor 2012 (Plain) with Subscription expecting to use Inventor 2011 Suite/Professional, please confirm with your reseller what products you plan to use. Inventor 2011 (Suite/Professional) can’t use the license issued to Inventor 2012 (Plain) Subscription.

If you wish to use Inventor 2011 Suite/Professional with the Subscription, you will need to purchase a 2012 Factory Design or a Product Design Suite.

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Loop length of a sweep as custom parameter

You want to get the sweep length into the parameter of the part to pass it, for instance, to the parts list or for other purposes.

For doing this:

• Download and unzip this iLogic Rule to your local drive.
• Open your part file that contains the sweep.
• Rename the sweep (or the one you are interested in, in case you have more than one sweep in your part) as "TheSweep"

 

• Create an iLogic rule copying the script from the file you have downloaded.
• Run the rule.
  •  The rule creates or updates an user parameter called "Sweeplength" that contains the length of the sweep.

 

• Trigger the rule on "Part Geometry Change" for updating the "Sweeplength" parameter automatically if you change the sketch dimensions of the sweep path.

 

Note. The rule works on both 2D and 3D sweeps with the exception including 3D sketches that have bends in them.