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• Associated hardware that may also be driven by size configurations

• A training assembly that is used to define the Smart Component

Some minor limitations exist, as you might expect:

• A Smart Component part cannot have references that are external to the Smart Component group of which it is a member.

• When placed in the assembly, the associated library feature can only affect one component.

• The associated library feature is limited to one of several feature types:

• Extruded or revolved cuts or bosses

• Hole Wizard holes

• Simple hole features

The setup time for Smart Components can be significant for the first one or two that you create, especially if you use the auto-size option. The complexity of the setup depends mainly on the number of configurations and configured parts that you use. The auto-sizing function takes the most time to set up because it requires matching configurations, and the auto-size table takes a while to manage, especially for multiple parts. Still, if you end up placing a given part with associated features and other components many times manually, or you have others in your group that do it, this technique can save you and your team a lot of time.

Using Smart Components

Figure 15.12 shows a simple assembly. It took approximately 20 minutes to model all the parts, set up the Smart Component, and test it in an assembly. This example does not use auto-sizing, but it does use a library part, an in-context feature, and two instances of a single hardware piece. This is an excellent example of Smart Component functionality because it is fast to create and apply and saves you time whenever you use it.

FIGURE 15.12

A simple Smart Component

Getting started with a simple Smart Component

In this assembly, you first place the electrical connector part in the assembly, mate it in place, and then apply Smart Components. You can apply Smart Components by clicking the Smart Component icon that appears on the part in the graphics window when you select it. SolidWorks then prompts you to select the inside and outside faces of the sheet metal part (the hardware references the outside and the cut-out feature references the inside). SolidWorks then creates the cut-out as an in-context feature that it places in the sheet metal part.

When you create the Smart Component, a new folder is added to the FeatureManager of the component. This folder contains all the required information about the other elements, such as the in-context feature, any other parts that go with the Smart Component, the “training assembly” location, and the face references to locate everything. The left image in Figure 15.13 shows this folder in the connector part that is used in this example. The right image shows what is added to the assembly FeatureManager when you add a Smart Component. The only thing that existed in the design tree shown in Figure 15.13 before the Smart Component was the Test Box sheet metal part.

FIGURE 15.13

The Smart Component folder in the connector part

A star appears on the part symbol at the top of the FeatureManager, indicating that the part is a Smart Component. You can place this Smart Component by following these steps:

1. Create an assembly, and add the target part to it. The target part is the one that the Smart Component will be mated to and the one that will have the in-context cut-out inserted into it. In this case, the target part is a sheet metal box.

Caution

It is a good idea to save the assembly before you add the Smart Component to it. If the Smart Component is placed before the assembly is saved, the assembly has a tendency to forget that it has not been saved, and bumps the in-context feature to out-of-context when the name is changed from whatever the default name is (for example, Assem1.sldasm) to the name that you assign to it.

2. Put the Smart Component into the assembly. You can do this in the same way that you would add any normal part, including from the Design Library.