Autodesk Inventor

[#1]

Hi everyone,

I worded the title so it can be found easily for anyone with the same problem.

Also - I'd like to mention first that I have searched and searched, finding many threads & reading through them, but despite trying all the suggestions I could not make this thing work.  I am using Inventor 2010 - so half the threads 2011 onwards couldn't apply due to newer model versions (I was just going to download a fixed one and modify it to suit my problem).

Anyway - I want to put a cable tray going from a sliding door to a fixed piece of steelwork.  When the door opens and closes, I want the cable tray to adjust to suit the sliding door.  I'll upload the file that I have made if someone can figure out what I have done wrong.  When i drag the sketch it all moves accordingly, but when I placed in the assembly and make it adaptive it does nothing, it will not constrain and it will only bring up the errors.

I know I am missing something which should be very clear to me.  If someone could get that cable moving with those two plates I can incorporate it into my sliding doors.  I would appreciate it a lot!

Thanks in advance

[#2]

I didn't look at the attached files. It sounds like you need to take a look at making the part or sub assembly 'Flexible'. An example of this would be a hinge that you want to use in a higher level assembly and have the door swing, you set the hinge assembly to 'Flexible' in the higher level assembly to allow the hinge parts to move in the higher level assembly.

Hope this helps, Paul

[#3]

As far as I know, it isn't possible to make a part flexible is it?  I don't think there'll be any point in trying that due to the fact that I cannot get the part to move about, so putting it another level into an assembly would do nothing, as the part itself will not move.  

The only way I can get the part to move is by going into the sketch and mouse-dragging one bit of it, and it all moves together (retaining the developed length), nicely. 

I want to be able to put this part straight into the assembly, fix one end to the sliding door, the other to the steelwork holding the door, and then have it change to suit the door as it opens/closes.

[#4]

Try taking the constraint off the curve centre point to origin and constrain the endpoint of the short leg to the origin.

[#5]

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jaredhowell1337 wrote:

As far as I know, it isn't possible to make a part flexible is it?

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 The meaning of making a sub-assembly "Flexible" in Inventor (or SWx) is different than what you might be thinking.

You are probably thinking flexible like a rubber band.  In these programs setting a sub-assembly to Flexible means allowing the sub to have motion on it's unconstrained degrees of freedom and for multiple instances of the same sub to move independently.

[#6]

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JDMather wrote:

The meaning of making a sub-assembly "Flexible" in Inventor (or SWx) is different than what you might be thinking.

You are probably thinking flexible like a rubber band.  In these programs setting a sub-assembly to Flexible means allowing the sub to have motion on it's unconstrained degrees of freedom and for multiple instances of the same sub to move independently.

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I understand the flexible sub-assemblies, but I was referring to the .ipt not being able to be made flexible.  For example if I was to drop that long part into an assembly, I could not right click on it in the browser and tick the "Flexible" option as it will not be there due to it being a part (.ipt).

I tried moving the centre point constraint so the top of the short end was constrained to it.  This worked and the small assembly I attached in my first post operates OK.  However, when I place the long piece in a larger assembly with steelwork in place of the upper piece of plate, and a sliding door in place of the lower piece - Inventor will have none of it.  I have tried the same constraints and all I keep getting is the red cross with constraint errors.  I can't understand why the same principle in a larger assembly will not work.

[#7]

This will work if you rebuild your model with the extrusions normal to the direction of adaptability. With this method you can change Mate1 in my example but you cannot drive it. Sorry I can only upload IV2012 data.

[#8]

The assembly.

[#9]

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if I was to drop that long part into an assembly, I could not right click on it in the browser and tick the "Flexible" option as it will not be there due to it being a part (.ipt).

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You attached an assembly. 

[#10]

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JDMather wrote:

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if I was to drop that long part into an assembly, I could not right click on it in the browser and tick the "Flexible" option as it will not be there due to it being a part (.ipt).

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You attached an assembly. 

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I think we are getting confused here.  I attached the assembly with two plates.  The actual application I will be using it in is a sliding door mechanism.  I did this because the size of the assembly is massive, and wouldn't be able to be attached.  The upper plate is to represent the steelwork, the lower plate is to represent the sliding door.  The information I gain from this thread would be used to implement the runner in the sliding door assembly.  I would just be placing the long part (.ipt) into the assembly with the steelwork and the door.