Mechanism Assembly - Defining Catalog Relations



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This step, in defining the Mechanism Assembly, enables you to create Catalog Relations -between components in the Mechanism Assembly. These relations use the parent/child relationships and create filtering rules on the parts in the Mechanism Assembly. These filtering rules enable the catalog to be filtered and only display a specific part size that meets the defined relations.

This means that if, for example, the length of a screw is set to be proportional to “Rail Height”; when the assembly is loaded from the catalog, the screw table display will be filtered to this specific screw length.

The Catalog Relation definition tool dialog is displayed:

This dialog consists of the following areas:

  1. This area displays the parts according to the hierarchy of interchangeable type groups, then parents and children below. Free parts and the main part are also in the first level.

  2. This area displays the component's catalog record.

  3. This area displays the relation expression you are currently creating.

  4. This area displays the list of Catalog Relations that have already been defined.

 

General Interaction

The process of creating catalog relations involves the following stages:

  1. Selecting components

  2. Selecting a specific parameter from the component's catalog record

  3. Editing the expression

  4. Adding the relation to the Relations List

These correspond to the sections of the Catalog Relation definition tool dialog shown above.

When creating catalog relations for the first time, the initial display of the Catalog Relation definition tool dialog is empty.

To demonstrate the use of catalog relations, we will create a catalog relation between:

  1. the height of a Guide Strip (the client) and

  2. the height of a Slide (the server) (for this example - Slide Z 180).

 

  1. Selecting Components

In the Assembly Tree, select the client (in this case - the Guide Strip):

  1. When the component is selected,

  2. The preview information of the component is displayed.

  3. The catalog record of the component is also displayed.

Notes:

  • Only primary dimensions can be selected as client dimensions.

  • Parts can also be picked from the display area.

 

 

  1. Selecting a specific parameter from the component's catalog record

In the Component Record section (which displays the catalog record of the selected component), select the required parameter and press the left (client) Attach Dimension button .

Note: To help you understand what the various parameters represent, scroll down the Preview box until the appropriate parameter is displayed in a diagram.

  1. When the required catalog parameter is selected,

  2. The Attach Dimension button becomes available. Press this button to display the parameter on the left side of the Expression Editor.

 

  1. Editing the Expression

The Expression Editor section now displays the first part of the catalog relation (the client part of the relation).

In this section, define the second part of the relation. This involves:

 

  1. Adding the Relation to the Relations List

When the server part of the relation is added to the Expression Editor, the Confirm Relation button becomes available. Press this button to display the completed relation in the Relations List at the bottom of the dialog.

The catalog relation is complete and is displayed in the Relations List.

The order of relations affects the filtering process. The 1st relation in a specific part will be filtered before the 2nd relation in that part.

When more than one relation is in the list (for the same part), the Relation Location arrows become available. Press the appropriate arrow to move a relation up or down the list. Press the button repeatedly until the relation is in the desired position in the list.

In the examples below, the second Guide strip relation is moved down one position in the Relations List.

 

 

Press the OK button to execute the process and exit from the dialog.

 

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