Autodesk Inventor

[#1]

When creating a piping part, like a strainer, I'd like to be able to show something to represent the area that needs to be kept clear to allow for removal of the filter cartridge.  In AutoCAD I'd just draw a phantom circle and a few lines extending from it to show the needed room.  Does anyone have a suggestion of a way to indicate the area in an Inventor part that won't obscure parts of the main object or other objects that may be located behind?  Transparent solids, or maybe sketch entities?  It's primarily needed for design, but if it can show up in the 2D drawing (without totally blocking what's behind it) it would be a plus.

See the attached file for an example of what we've been doing in our AutoCAD models.

Mike

[#2]

You could model a part for the desired clearance and change it to Reference in the BOM.

Reference components have the following characteristics:

They are ignored in the BOM.

They are excluded from the mass calculations.

They are not numbered, and are not directly included in quantity calculations.

Child components of the reference component are ignored in the BOM.

They are shown with a hidden line style in drawing views.

[#3]

If I understand correctly we would make the equipment item one part and the clearance envelope another part, inserted into the assembly seperately?  While it sounds like it would work it means keeping a library of clearance models along side of the equipment models. I'd bet our designers would "forget" to insert the clearances 95% of the time, and insert them in the wrong spot 3% of the time. 

The option I'm hoping for is to have everything contained in the part model so the guys can't mess it up or be lazy not show them.   Would sketches in the part model to show handle swings and clearances be viable?  Is there a down side to doing it that way?

Sorry for being such an Inventor noob. After 25 years of using AutoCAD I'm trying to get us rolling with Inventor.  It's like being a group of professional guitar players who've been given pianos and are expected to play at the same skill level in a few weeks.  There's a lot to learn (and un-learn).

Mike

[#4 · Accepted solution]

Hi CADDapult,

I think you can sketch a circle and extrude it as a surface (rather than a solid) in your part model, and use this for your needs. Surfaces will not show in the drawing views by default but can be turned on, and you can turn their visibility off in the part model as needed also.

I often use surfaces such as this as "helper" geometry to make constraining part models quicker.

Some related tips:

http://inventortrenches.blogspot.com/2011/01/how-to-get-imported-parts-and-surfaces.html

http://inventortrenches.blogspot.com/2011/02/round-peg-in-square-hole-autodesk.html

I hope this helps.
Best of luck to you in all of your Inventor pursuits,
Curtis
http://inventortrenches.blogspot.com

[#5]

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CADDapult wrote:

  In AutoCAD I'd just draw a phantom circle and a few lines Mike

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You could do the same thing in Inventor - but I think I would use the surface body suggestion.

[#6]

Good idea, I am used to using power tools that I have modeled to check for proper clearances for assembly.

[#7]

Curtis, I think extruding surfaces will be our best bet. 

Thanks to all for your suggestions, they are very much appreciated!

Mike