Sweep Cut a solid

[dnewman]

Hello all, I hope you can help.

I would like to create a feed scroll.  I know this can be done in solidworks (see link). But can this be done in inventor.

 

The Image is similar to what I'm after,  but my thoughts are that this is not possible in Inventor... yet.  Am I Right?

The Solid in the image wascreated as a rectangular pattern (1200-off) of a cylinder along a helix path that is then cut from the work piece. In essence this is exactly what im after but as you can see there are far too many surfaces and the resultant cut is jagged especially when viewed with the shaded with edges style not to mention its size the file size 11+ Mb and hence i cant attach it to this post.

Is my method the only method available out there at the moment or am I missing a trick?

Solid Works Sweep Cut

[nmunro]

The point in 2D Sketch3 is the point where the attached line is tangent to the projected geometry. This should be the (projected) point where the cutter starts to remove material as it move along the helix. The attached line is parallel to the other construction line in the sketch, which is perpendicular to the projected line representing the plane normal to the end of the helix.

This projected point, along with the Y axis defines the plane that cuts the tool at its maximum boundary when looking normal to the end of the helix. On further thought I'm not sure that this is exact. The projected geometry in the 2D Sketch3 might need to be unfolded onto the sketch rather than projected at 90 deg to give a more precise solution. In addition, creating two guide helices at either end of the profile might help with accuracy.

It did take a couple of kicks at it, Inventor was (as it can be) eager to report profile and intersecting geometry issues where none was apparent.

Neil

[jeroen870]

Does anyone have a 2011 version (or earlier) of this solution?

Thanks!

[gavbath]

Nice solution Neil!

Now can you extend that to a variable pitch example? 

[WHolzwarth]

Good evening,

I stumbled about this thread today for the first time, but I'd like to add some comments.

I've seen every sample here, but all of WHunter's inputs show small collisions being left between cylinder and screw. The same can be said about Neil Munro's approach. I've played with some similar profile contours near Neil's profile, but none of them could be swept without collision.

I've played for myself with this stuff before, even with progressive screws (See STEP-file, I didn't find the original Inventor parts). I used the same method as Sam_M, and IMO that's the best one for Inventor users.

Why is it best? Look at my sample (just a refinement of SAM_M's file). The key is the contact line between screw and cylinder. It's an S-shaped 3D curve.

If this 3D profile curve could be swept along the helix, than it would be perfect. But as it is now, Inventor only can sweep 2-dimensional profiles. Thus,  a boolean operation of cylinder arrays along helix is best.

If you're comparing the imported SWX screw, you can see a similar contact zone between screw and cylinder.

Walter

[WHolzwarth]

I've added a wish in Idea Station.

http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/Inventor-IdeaStation/Need-for-sweeping-of-3D-curves/idi-p/4820977

[MikahB]

I +1'd the Wish List item, but I see it requests wanting to sweep a 3D Curve vs. sweeping a solid. For me, it is sometimes impossible to model cuts that are easy to make on a 5-axis lathe because I cannot sweep/subtract a simple (cylindrical) tool body. Anyway - thanks for generating the idea.

[ijyavaru]

HELLO.

NMUNRO, I LIKE THE WAY YOU THINK.

I HAVE DONE SOMETHING SIMILAR A LONG TIME AGO, AND I CAN GIVE YOU CONGRATULATIONS BECAUSE YOU ARE UNDERSTANDING THE WAY OF DO  IT WELL.

YOU HAS GIVEN THE FIRST STEP TO DO A FEED SCREW, FOR CIRCULAR BOTTLES FOR A NON VARIABLE PITCH HELIX. IF YOU TRY IT A LITTLE BIT HARD, YOU WILL GET IN A SHORT TIME THE WAY TO  DO IT FOR A VARIABLE PITCH AND FOR IREGULAR SHAPES.

AND I CAN CONSIDER THAT THE BEST WAY AND EXACT WAY OF DOING IT  IS WITH A RECTANGULAR ARRAY.  AND AFTER EXPORT IT TO  A STL FILE.
SOME CAM SOFTWARES CAN IMPORT STL FILES, AND CAN SMOOTH ALL SURFACE, SO WHEN PIECE IS MACHINED WE CAN OBTAIN  VERY GOOD RESULTS.

 
THERE ARE A LOT OF  WAYS TO ACHIEVE THE SAME RESULT.

[acanfield]

How is the green sketch created & what's the idea behind it?

Is the dynamic sim video just to illustrate the idea or was it used to calculate the sketch?

Is there a workflow to go from bottle diameter to green sketch?

Thanks

Andrew

[LukeDavenport]

There's a new app that produces bottle feed screws of any bottle profile - variable pitch and rotation. See YouTube videos:

Introduction:
https://youtu.be/E-jymdIma_s

Tutorial:
https://youtu.be/Tn5OMml4eDg

[LukeDavenport]

Also - by request - here's an assembly containing the six example files shown in the videos. (Inventor 2016 files so can't be opened on a previous version)

Dropbox link

Drive the constraint called 'DRIVEME' to see the shafts rotating.

I've used about medium accuracy for the shafts to keep a limit on the filesize, but its still a lot of complex geometry - about 700MB worth.

Thanks