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Best way to copy parts in an assembly to retain constraints

7 REPLIES 7
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Message 1 of 8
Anthony
11244 Views, 7 Replies

Best way to copy parts in an assembly to retain constraints

Looking for views on what the best method is to copy a selection of parts in IV 2013 which will result in the copied selection to retain it's constraints ? I have an assembly which I have used the mirror method on a batch of parts, also used the standard copy method and pattern components. Are there any other weird and wonderful ways of duplication that work well ? Cheers

Anthony Goodwin ~ Cad Manager/Senior Designer
Autodesk Inventor Professional 2013 SP2 64-Bit Edition
Windows 7 HP Z400, Intel Xeon W3550 3.07GHz
12.0GB RAM, ATI FirePro V4800 (FireGL)
7 REPLIES 7
Message 2 of 8
sathersc23
in reply to: Anthony

I tend to use "Save and replace component" buried under the most useful productivity menu, which hides all the functions I like to use often.

 

A little different functionality than you're describing, but more robust than doing a "save as" on a part and then replacing the edited part.

Sam Sather
CAD Admin
Inventor 2014
Vault Pro 2014 SR: 1 SP: 1
Intel Xeon X5690 @ 3.47 GHz
48.0 GB Ram
Windows 7 x64
AMD FirePro V7900 - 8.830.5.6000

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"We have not succeeded in answering all our problems. The answers we have found only serve to raise a whole set of new questions. In some ways we feel we are as confused as ever, but we believe we are confused on a higher level and about more important things." - Earl C. Kelley
Message 3 of 8
Curtis_Waguespack
in reply to: Anthony

Hi Anthony, 

 

You can use subassembly copies as a trick to retain constraints:

 

  • Demote the parts to be copied into a temporary subassembly
  • Copy the subassembly and constrain it in place
  • Go to Assembly tab > Productivity panel > Save and Replace Component button and save the subassembly copy as a new file
  • Then promote the parts in each subassembly back to the top level assembly
  • Delete the subassemblies from the assembly (and from your computer)

 

It's been a while since I've done this, so there might be some quirks to it, but I recall using this in the past in order to get around some of the issues you mention.

 

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


Message 4 of 8
Doug_DuPont
in reply to: Anthony

I use the copy components, Select all the parts you want copies of. Select copy components on the assembly tab. In the dialog change all the double plus blue circles to yellow plus circles and pick next, and pick OK. It copies all your parts with the constrains that are linked with the copied parts.

Douglas DuPont
Inventor 2016 Pro, Vault 2016 Pro
Quadro M4000
Windows 10 64 Bit
Message 5 of 8


@Anonymous wrote:

... Are there any other weird and wonderful ways of duplication that work well ?


 

 

Hi Doug_DuPont, 

 

Good point. I guess I went straight for the "weird" way and forgot all about the "wonderful" one. Smiley Wink

 

Your solution is the better choice. Mine is used only when needed, and now I can't even remember what the situation was that required it. But I suspect it had do with fixing something that someone else broke in an existing assembly.

 

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


Message 6 of 8
Anthony
in reply to: Anthony

Many thanks for all your great and very useful responses, I will try and work through all the methods and see hopefully see where I get to with the ideas you have mentioned. Thanks again.

Anthony Goodwin ~ Cad Manager/Senior Designer
Autodesk Inventor Professional 2013 SP2 64-Bit Edition
Windows 7 HP Z400, Intel Xeon W3550 3.07GHz
12.0GB RAM, ATI FirePro V4800 (FireGL)
Message 7 of 8
DeerSpotter
in reply to: Anthony

My weird and aweseom way, is to select all the parts that i want to copy, press tab if they arent an assembly to make an assembly, name it whatever i want. Press ok, open up assembly, save-copy as, place new assembly.

 

I came here to try to figure out if i can copy an assembly with the relationships it has to the other assemblies?

 

The same constraints it uses to be reused?

 

Any Help?

 

Thanks!

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Message 8 of 8
mcgyvr
in reply to: DeerSpotter

Or just load 2014.. Now when you copy multiple parts it retains the constraints automagically Smiley Tongue



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