SolidWorks 2011 Assemblies Bible - Matt Lombard [129]
3. Mate the Smart Component in the assembly. In this case, it is done with a face-to-face coincident mate and a pair of distance mates.
4. Apply Smart Components by clicking the Smart Component symbol on the part. If this symbol does not appear, then select the part in the FeatureManager. Figure 15.14 shows the Smart Component symbol on the part. If you have inserted many instances of a Smart Component, then each instance has the option to apply the Smart Component features and associated components.
FIGURE 15.14
The Smart Component symbol on a part
At this point, an interface similar to that of the Library Feature interface appears, with the small prompt window and a box for selecting references, as shown in Figure 15.15.
5. Select the references and click the green check mark icon. Then place the Smart Component, as well as the Smart Feature (in-context feature) and associated hardware components, to complete the job. You can rotate the part in the small preview window to get a better look at the part.
FIGURE 15.15
The interface for adding the Smart Feature and additional components of the Smart Component
Auto-sizing Smart Components
Auto-sizing is the capability of a Smart Component to automatically select a size from a list of configurations based on the size of the geometry onto which it is being dropped. At this time, the only shape that can be auto-sized is the cylindrical shape.
Figure 15.16 shows the effects of auto-sizing. Notice the two shaft holders. These are two instances of the same part, using different size configurations. When you drag the Smart Component over the small end of the stepped shaft, the configuration corresponding to that shaft size appears. As you drag the part along the shaft and the shaft diameter increases, the next-larger Smart Component configuration appears. This is part of the functionality of Smart Components. Each configuration of the Smart Component is set up to fit onto a range of shaft diameters. If the diameter of the shaft is outside of the range or between sizes, then the Smart Component is not applied.
FIGURE 15.16
A Smart Component with auto-sizing
Sizes are governed by a configurator table, which looks similar to a design table but works somewhat differently. The configurator table relates the configurations of the Smart Component to configurations of the individual parts, which may also change size with the Smart Component. This serves as a subset of the function of a design table in an assembly, assigning part configurations to assembly configurations. Figure 15.17 shows a sample configurator table made for the assembly shown in Figure 15.16.
FIGURE 15.17
A configurator table
When you look at this table, you begin to understand why creating auto-sizing Smart Components is much more involved than the first example in this chapter. The configurations of the Smart Component are listed to the left, and you can select the individual part configurations in each cell from a drop-down list of all available configurations for that part. There is no way to set configurations for multiple components at once, nor is there a copy-and-paste function. These shortcomings combine to make this format less user-friendly than an Excel-based design table.
Most notable are the Minimum and Maximum Diameter columns to the right. These columns supply the parameters that make the auto-size function work. While the range of sizes used here is too large for real-world design (+/– .050 inch), it serves to convey the idea. More important, SolidWorks understands that mating sizes are not always exactly equal, and the ability to use a range rather than exact values accommodates this limitation very nicely, although it can be tedious to set up.
Another aspect of the setup shown here is that it uses Toolbox parts. If you want to