Viewing Assemblies in Multiple Positions

(continued from page 1)

2A. Family Table Option. Assemble the generic instance in the family table to the top-level assembly.

• Choose Component, Assemble and select the generic instance of the moving component.
• Select Mate and choose the datum planes normal to the hinge axis. Make sure the correct datum sides face each other.
• Select Align and choose the hinge axis and an assembly reference.
• Select Orient and choose the angular datum plane and an assembly reference. Now you can easily swap one family table instance for any other by following these steps:
  • Right click on the moving component in the model tree.
  • Select the Replace option in the pop-up menu.
  • Click on the Browse button (Fig. 4) to select the instance in the family table (Fig. 5) that you want shown in the assembly.

Figure 4. Component Replacement		Figure 5. Family Tree Instance

2B. Family Table/Simplified Rep Option. Assemble all of the instances in the family table to the top-level assembly. Simply repeat, for each instance, the assembly constraints used for a single instance in Step 2A. Using Simplified Reps, you can show the top assembly with all of the family table instances or with a single family table instance. Create a simplified representation for each one of the instances in the family table using the steps below.

Figure 6. Setup for Simplified Reps

• Choose Simplfd Rep, Create and assign a name to the rep.
• Assuming that Master Rep is the default rule, click on all of the components from the family table of the moving part that you do not want to see (Fig. 6).
• Simply Set Current the desired Simplified Rep.

Marty Holman is a senior mechanical engineer in Motorola’s Development Group in Boynton Beach, Florida, USA. He can be reached by e-mail at fmh030@email.mot.com.