Use Work Features in Inventor, Part 3

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  Posted September 12, 2007

  by Community Admin1
  

  Autodesk Inventor work features are defined as workplanes, work axes, and work points. In part three of this series, we will explore work points and describe how to use work features within a 3D sketch.

  To follow along with the examples in this tutorial, please make sure that you have downloaded the exercise files from part one of this series. If you have a version of Inventor that is older than release 9, you will have to create examples similar to the ones provided. In your version of Inventor, you will want to open Workfeatures4.IPT.

  Work points

  Work points allow considerable flexibility for creating new sketches, reference points, and constraining features.

  Work points by sketch method

  Work points may be attached to various sketch objects, allowing the position of the work points to be determined by the size and shape of the sketch. In Figure 1 below, attach a work point to each of the five indicated locations. When the work points have been attached, edit the dimensions in the sketch to see how the points follow the sketch. When the sketch geometry has been changed, if needed, select Update from the Standard toolbar to update the points.

  

  Work point by face/curve method

  It will often be necessary to place points along a line, curve, or other geometry for the purpose of anchoring sketches, creating a 3D path, or similar workflows. Valid work point locations include part or assembly level vertices, sketch object endpoints, and other selectable objects. In many cases, the placement of work points will require the combined selection of two objects.

  In this example, we will explore placing work points by one of the multiple selection options. To follow along, open the file workfeatures5.IPT.

   

  1. Activate sketch2 for editing.
  2. Using the Look At tool, orient sketch2 by selecting it in the browser.
  3. Select the Arc tool and create an arc starting at the origin, with the second point in the lower left quadrant of the sketch, as shown in Figure 2.
  
  

  

  4. Finish the sketch and select Isometric View.
  5. Using the Work Point tool from the Part Features panel, pick the line and then the YZ origin plane -- a work point will be created at the intersection. Repeat the Work Point command for each workplane/line or arc intersection to create a string of work points.
  6. Edit workplane1 and workplane2 to change the offset distances from the origin YZ plane.
  7. Pick Update to move the workplanes into the edited positions; the related work points will follow. See Figure 3.

   

   

  

  Placing a 3D path by work points

  3D paths are used for many different types of designs, including a sweep, loft rail, pipe or tube path, or other type of objects. It's next to impossible to create a 3D path by itself without some sort of reference objects or vertices.

  For this example, we will use the downloaded 3Dpath1.IAM file. This assembly contains a cylinder and a box that includes a surface feature. See Figure 4.

  

  Our challenge will be to create a 3D path from the center of the circular face to the corner of the surface feature and then continue to the corner of the box as indicated. In order to create the 3D path, we will need to create a new part named Route.IPT.

   

  1. Select the Create Component tool from the Assembly panel and create a new part called Route.IPT. Pick anywhere in the graphics window to create the part. Exit Sketch1.
  2. Right-click and select New 3D Sketch from the in-context menu.
  3. Select the Work Point command.
  4. Select the circular face and then right-click and select Create Axis (see Figure 5). The work point is now created in the center of the circular face.
  
  

  

  5. Repeat the Work Point command and pick on the two vertices on the box as indicated in the illustration below.
  6. Remaining in the current active 3D sketch command, select the Spline tool and connect the three work points to create a 3D path, as shown in Figure 6.
  
  

  

  7. After creating the 3D path, return to the top level assembly, adjust the Mate2 constraint on the box, and watch how the path will change accordingly.

   

   

  Get more information about Inventor’s work features

  There are a wealth of tutorials and examples about work features within the Inventor 2008 help files under the topics: Create a Work Axis, Create a Work Point, and Work Plane References. If you take the time to explore these three topics, you will find valuable methods for using work features within your part and assembly files.

  Dennis Jeffrey is an Autodesk Inventor Certified Expert, Autodesk Implementation Certified Expert, and a five-year instructor at Autodesk University. He is the author of Creative Design With Mechanical Desktop and Creative Design With Autodesk Inventor, and a new book is scheduled for Spring 2008. He is releasing an online version of Creative Design With Inventor 2008 in September 2007.

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Comments

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  September 13, 2007 07:44 AM colin erskine

  Good tutorial but I'm only getting the following files in the download. workplane1.ipt workplane2.ipt workplane3.ipt

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  September 13, 2007 08:37 AM Dennis Jeffrey

  There is an error in the article. There should also be a link at the "you will want to open Workfeatures4.IPT." portion. The missing files will be added to the article, but in the meantime, they may be downloaded here: http://teknigroup.com/mfgcommunity/workpoints.zip

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  September 13, 2007 01:22 PM olamide ogunlola

  i was very helpfull and interestin got more info that i didnt know

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  September 14, 2007 03:07 AM rafael rodriguez

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  September 24, 2007 09:57 AM Javier de Rojas