SolidWorks 2011 Assemblies Bible - Matt Lombard [126]
Using the Design Library
Once the folders exist and have been populated with library parts, identified in the File Locations area of Tools⇒Options, and added to the Design Library, you can start using them to place parts in assemblies.
Adding Mate References to library parts
Often when parts are placed into the library, they may not be specifically set up for library use. The single most effective thing you can do to improve the efficiency of library parts is to establish Mate References to help them snap into place and create multiple mates by using drag-and-drop placement.
For example, if you use a cylindrical face as a Mate Reference, when you drag that part out of the Design Library into the assembly window, SolidWorks looks for another cylindrical surface to mate the Mate Reference face to. If you select a circular edge as a Mate Reference, SolidWorks looks for a planar face for a coincident mate and a cylindrical face for a concentric mate. This is how Toolbox parts work — using circular edges for Mate References.
Mate References are easy to set up. Here is the workflow for taking an existing part in the Design Library, and assigning a Mate Reference to it.
On the DVD
If you want to follow along with these steps, copy the part called Pulley Screw.sldprt from the DVD folder for Chapter 15, and put it into one of the folders you have designated as a Design Library folder.
1. Right-click a part in the Design Library that you want to modify. Figure 15.6 shows the pulley screw part displaying an RMB menu.
2. Choose Open from the RMB menu. If the part is already open on your computer, SolidWorks asks if you want to use the same one that is open. The usual answer is yes. If you do not want to use the part that is open, you need to change the name of one of them or close the one that is already open.
3. Select Insert⇒Reference Geometry⇒Mate Reference. The PropertyManager for this feature is shown in Figure 15.7.
FIGURE 15.6
Opening a library part to add a Mate Reference
FIGURE 15.7
Adding a Mate Reference
Notice that the Mate Reference enables you to select Primary, Secondary, and Tertiary references. These are in order of which will be sought first. As mentioned earlier, it simplifies things greatly if the Mate Reference is a circular edge, because it only needs to seek one other reference, but it makes two mates out of it. The circular edge snaps to another circular edge, making coincident and concentric “pin in hole” type mates.
4. Once you have selected everything you want to select for the Mate Reference, click the green check mark icon on the PropertyManager to accept it. Notice that a new Mate References folder is added to the top of the FeatureManager of that part. Figure 15.8 shows the Mate References folder and its contents.
FIGURE 15.8
Displaying the contents of the new Mate References folder
5. Save the part, and then click the Refresh toolbar button in the Design Library to make sure the next time the part is used, it uses the updated version.
Placing parts with Mate References into assemblies
When you have Mate References on parts that you use from a library, you are saving yourself a lot of time. Mating parts together can be time-consuming, and whatever you can do to accurately automate part of the process will reduce time and frustration.
Here is a workflow that is used to quickly place library parts with Mate References and size configurations into an assembly.
On the DVD
If you would like to follow along with the steps for this workflow example, use the Pulley Screw.sldprt file from the previous example, open the Rear Derailleur .sldasm assembly from the DVD material for this chapter, and hide the last two parts in the assembly (the last two Pulley Screw instances).