Creating Fixture Features

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Creating Fixture Features

The features of the Fixture are assumed to have identical coordinates as the Bracket. To create them, we will create the features on the Bracket  and copy them to the Fixture. Since feature mesh cannot be copied, we will create Feature Points on the Bracket to represent the mounting features. Three surface feature points and two hole feature points will be needed on the Bracket.

 

Create three Feature Points on the surfaces of the Bracket and name them "O_Fixture_X1", "O_Fixture_X2" and "O_Fixture_X3" according to the image below.

 

L10 V5 Fixture X1-3L10 SW Fixture X1-3

 

Create a point at the Center of the hole feature Fixture_YZ in the Bracket and name the point "O_Fixture_YZ_Pt".

 

L10 V5 Fixture YZL10 SW Fixture YZ

 

To get a point at the center of the Bracket's slot we will have to do a little more work. We will use the two half cylinders of the slot and a dynamic midpoint to create the final point needed for the Fixture.

 

Create two points in the Bracket's large slot, one at the Center of each of the half cylinders as shown below.

 

L10 V5 Bracket Slot Points 14 15L10 MC Bracket Slot Points 14 15

 

Click the DVTI_dynamicpoint Dynamic Point button then click [Create].

Select the two points you just created in the slot.

Set the Dynamic Scale to 0.5.

Click [OK]. You should have a Dynamic Midpoint as shown below.

 

L10 V5 Bracket Dynamic Point dyn14 15L10 MC Bracket Dynamic Point dyn14 15

 

Change the name of the Dynamic Midpoint to "O_Fixture_Z_Pt".

 

We now have all of the points necessary to create the Fixture.  We will use a different method to copy the points from the Bracket to the Fixture.

 

Click DVTI_pointlist Points and select the Fixture to open up the Points dialog for the Fixture.

In the Points dialog, verify that Use Local Coordinate System is selected in the lower right then click [Select] (shown below) to open the Pick FeatureSelect dialog.  While the Pick FeatureSelect dialog open, any point in 3DCS selected will copy to the Fixture.

 

L10 SW Points Dialog Empty

 

Select point O_Fixture_X1 in the Bracket and select [Yes] in the 3DCS dialog to copy the point into the Fixture point list using the Local Coordinate System.

With the Pick FeatureSelect dialog still open, copy O_Fixture_X2, O_Fixture_X3, O_Fixture_YZ_Pt, and O_Fixture_Z_Pt into the Fixture point list too following the same steps.

Select [Close] in the Pick FeatureSelect dialog to return to the Points dialog for the Fixture.  The Points dialog should now look like the image below.

 

L10 SW Points Dialog Unnamed

 

Select [OK] to save and close the Points dialog.

 

We no longer need three of the points in the Bracket. We will delete them to clean up the model.

 

Click DVTI_pointlist Points and select the Bracket.

Select O_Fixture_Z_Pt and the two points used to create the Dynamic Point (14 and 15Pt14 and Pt15 in the image above) then click [Delete].

Click [OK] to close the Points dialog.

Also select the two new round features used to create the points for the Dynamic Point from the 3DCS Model Navigator and delete these Features as well.

 

Next we will use the DVTI_dcsFindReplace Find/Replace tool to quickly update the names of the points in the Fixture.

 

Select DVTI_dcsFindReplace Find/Replace to open the Find/Replace dialog.

 

L10 SW Find Replace Dialog

 

Select [Select Part] and select the Fixture from the 3DCS Model Navigator.

In the Find what: text entry field type in "O_" (without the quotation marks) and select [Find].  Notice that all occurrences of "O_" within the Fixture part are shown in the table at the bottom of this dialog.

In the Replace with: text entry field type in "T_" (again, without the quotation marks).

Hold Ctrl and select all five of the points shown in the table at the bottom of the Find/Replace dialog.

Select [Replace Substring].  All occurrences of "O_" should now be replaced with "T_" within the Fixture.

Select [Close] to exit the Find/Replace dialog.

 

The Points section for the Fixture in the tree should now look like the following image.

 

L10 Fixture Tree

 

Two of the Fixture points need to be modeled as Pins and given the correct Diameter.

 

Click DVTI_pointlist Points and select the Fixture.

Select the point T_Fixture_YZ_Pt and click [Size Tolerance].

Set the point as a Pin by using the drop-down list to select Pin Type with a Nominal Diameter of 10 mm and Range of 0.1 mm.

Change the Size Entity Name to "Size_T_Fixture_YZ_Pt".

Repeat this process to make point T_Fixture_Z_Pt in the Fixture a Pin with a Size Entity Name of "Size_T_Fixture_Z_Pt".

 

The Points dialog for the Fixture should be similar to the image below.

 

L10 SW Fixture Points Dialog Complete

 

Select [OK] to close the Points dialog.

Save the model.