Autodesk Inventor

[#1]

I can't find any recent Inventor documentation on how to create a plastic living hinge ( most recent post is 6-7 years old with various issues).  Can you tell me how to do this, or point me to an example  (is Inventor the right program to use?).   Any help is much appreciated!  

Please note the hinge model needs to be quite accurate, as the top plastic will also connect to  the bottom plasic with a ratcheting latch (to make a clip), so I need good modelling to see how the latch will work at different hinge angles.

Thanks very much.

[#2]

I would make 3 parts, a lid, a base and a live hinge in its moulded state, then constrain it all together to work out the movement tolerences.  once you are happy with the design, start a new part and derive the assembly into the new part in its moulded position.

When I was at Uni, i created a load of cases with live hinges on a powered RPT machine, I had to do quite a few test to get the thickness correct so it would move but not fatique

[#3]

Thanks for the guidance on using 3 parts.  Given Inventor has 5-6 built-in Plastic Features/Capabilities, plastic hinges are common place, and hinges require significant modelling/iteration as you indicated, I'm surprised this feature does not exist in Inventor, at least in beginning to intermediate form.  

  1) Do you know if any program handles this as a built-in capability?

  2) Were there any modelling "tricks" you remember that you found significant using the 3 parts?

Thanks 

[#4]

>modeling tricks

You could model this (living hinge) as one part with a curve length that remains constant but radius changes.

All other features must be children of this to update correctly.

It is a bit of effort (read hard) to get this all to work correctly.

The latch is a different complicated problem.

I would use FEA with a displaced Fixed constraint to check the forces.

[#5]

If I model this as 3 parts using an assembly, will I still be able to make a mold for it as a single part?

If the answer is yes, is the best way to model it as a 3 part assembly?

Lastly, do you know who I might contact -- perhaps someone that is an Autodesk evangelist -- to make a tutorial on plastic hinges?

Thanks.

[#6]

You can always Derive Component to Combine multiple parts as one.