SolidWorks 2011 Assemblies Bible - Matt Lombard [42]
6. Press and hold Ctrl and select the Base Motor, the Main Arm Motor, and the Cradle, and make another new subassembly. After you create this subassembly, right-click it and select Save Assembly (In External File) from the menu. Change the name of the assembly from Assem2 to Cradle. Save it in the same path as the rest of the parts.
Once a virtual component is saved externally, you cannot use the Undo command to reverse it, but you can right-click the external file in the FeatureManager and select Make Virtual from the menu.
FIGURE 4.22
The newly created virtual component subassembly and its external parts
In Figure 4.23, notice that several of the mates came along into the new subassembly. These are the mates between the motors and the cradle. The mates that locate the cradle to the other parts in the assembly have remained in the upper-level assembly.
FIGURE 4.23
The cradle assembly brings along internal mates
Note that you cannot undo the subassembly operations. If you need to remove the assembly but keep the parts, right-click the assembly and select Dissolve Subassembly from the menu.
If you try to move the parts in the assembly, you should notice that all parts work as they should, except that the Main Arm does not move up and down. This is because you turned the cylinder and piston into a subassembly, and the subassembly mates are not solved in the top level, which means the subassembly cannot move within itself.
To get around this, you need to make the subassembly into a flexible subassembly, which will solve the subassembly's mates in the top-level assembly.
7. Right-click the cylinder subassembly in the FeatureManager, and select Component Properties from the menu. In the lower-right corner of the dialog box, there is an option to Solve as Rigid or Flexible. Change this setting to Flexible.
After you click OK and return to the assembly, the main arm moves as it did originally, and the piston moves in and out of the cylinder. Notice that the symbol for the assembly changes when it is changed to a flexible subassembly.
Tutorial: Managing the FeatureManager
This tutorial uses the BibleBikeAssembly.sldasm file located in the Chapter 4 folder on the DVD. Open the file and follow these steps to learn about managing the FeatureManager:
1. Create a new subassembly within the existing assembly using the parts BibleBikeFrame and ChainstayBibleBike. Name this new assembly FrameAssembly.SLDASM.
2. Reorder the new FrameAssembly to the top of the design tree.
3. Reorder the other parts and assemblies so that the bigger assemblies appear higher on the list, and the parts appear at the bottom. (Remember that Alt+dragging a component prevents it from being placed into a subassembly.)
4. Drag the part called BB (for Bottom Bracket) into the Frame Assembly (drag without using the Alt key). The assembly FeatureManager at this point is shown in Figure 4.24.
FIGURE 4.24
The starting state and the state as of Step 4
5. Select both wheels and then select Add To New Folder from the RMB menu. Name the new folder Wheels, and move it to the bottom of the tree.
6. Expand the Mates folder, select the first four mates, and put them in a new folder (select Add To New Folder from the RMB menu). Name the new folder Centering Mates.
Summary
Assemblies are more than simply parts and subassemblies put together with mate relationships; several other types of features and placeholders can also exist in the assembly FeatureManager. Organizing assembly components is fairly straightforward and can offer benefits for finding parts as well as controlling suppression and display states globally.
The assembly FeatureManager contains several options for the data to display for subassemblies, parts, configurations, and features within. Remember that all the data that you include in your SolidWorks documents can be accessed and reused later on, so it is worth the effort to name it properly. Descriptions