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Flat pattern tribulations

7 REPLIES 7
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Message 1 of 8
bcrowell
316 Views, 7 Replies

Flat pattern tribulations

The attached part was derived as such:

  • it matches the outer geometry of a part that we need to make a trim template for
  • copied object, creating a surface
  • thickened the surface (to get a perfectly uniformly thick part)
  • derived second solid into this part

I need to create a flat pattern of this part and for some reason Inventor is only wanting to flatten one of the three "prongs".  In a perfect world, it would be nice to flatten the entire part so I could get the entire part shape cut.

 

I have tried:

  • cutting the longer portion of the uncooperative prongs off and getting even just the radiused portions flat
  • choosing a stationary surface prior to clicking on the flat pattern or unfold command
  • unfold and flat pattern commands

If you have success with flattening the part please share your method!

 

Thank you

INV Professional 2017 (Build: 142, Release: 2017RTM), Windows 10 Professional (64-bit), Intel Xeon E5-1620 3.5GHz CPU, 32GB RAM, NVIDIA Quadro K2200, Vault Basic 2017
7 REPLIES 7
Message 2 of 8
mpatchus
in reply to: bcrowell

Just curious, but why was this created initially as a derived solid?

 

Mike Patchus - Lancaster SC

Inventor 2025 Beta


Alienware m17, Intel(R) Core(TM) i9-10980HK CPU @ 2.40GHz 3.10 GHz, Win 11, 64gb RAM, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Super

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Message 3 of 8
bcrowell
in reply to: mpatchus

The part that this was originally created from was modified to be a fixture for that part.  I didn't realize it at the time (and it was a customer supplied model) but the model did not have uniform thickness. 

 

The only way (that I know of) to get the model of varying thickness to an exactly uniform thickness was to copy the surface that I needed from the original part, and then thicken that surface into a new solid.  Of course, to try and unfold or flat pattern the part it had to be the only solid in the file, so I derived the new solid out of the original part model.

INV Professional 2017 (Build: 142, Release: 2017RTM), Windows 10 Professional (64-bit), Intel Xeon E5-1620 3.5GHz CPU, 32GB RAM, NVIDIA Quadro K2200, Vault Basic 2017
Message 4 of 8
JDMather
in reply to: bcrowell

Sheet metal features must be planar, cylindrical or conic or created with the Lofted Flange tool.

You can check that those faces aren't planar by trying to start a new sketch on them.

 

This part will have to be created from scratch following the limitations given above.


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Message 5 of 8
mpatchus
in reply to: bcrowell

Recreated using Inventor Sheet metal tools (dimensions are just estimated).

 

Mike Patchus - Lancaster SC

Inventor 2025 Beta


Alienware m17, Intel(R) Core(TM) i9-10980HK CPU @ 2.40GHz 3.10 GHz, Win 11, 64gb RAM, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Super

Did you find this reply helpful ? If so please use the Accept as Solution or Kudos button below. 🙂
Message 6 of 8
bcrowell
in reply to: mpatchus

I'm on 2011 😞

 

I can try and recreate the part closely with the sheet metal tools, I just don't know that it will be accurate enough to get laser cut to use as a template because of the contours that prevent it from folding in the first place.  I guess I'll see what I can do with it now that I know it won't unfold (and it wasn't something I was doing wrong or not doing).

INV Professional 2017 (Build: 142, Release: 2017RTM), Windows 10 Professional (64-bit), Intel Xeon E5-1620 3.5GHz CPU, 32GB RAM, NVIDIA Quadro K2200, Vault Basic 2017
Message 7 of 8
JDMather
in reply to: bcrowell


@Anonymous wrote:

 I just don't know that it will be accurate enough


 

It looks to me that it could be modeled with out these twists and be exactly the same size as the part with these twisted.  (the two arcs indicated are slightly off, but not enough to be concerned about)

Twist.png
 

 


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Autodesk Inventor 2019 Certified Professional
Autodesk AutoCAD 2013 Certified Professional
Certified SolidWorks Professional


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Message 8 of 8
bcrowell
in reply to: JDMather

That's what I'm working towards.

 

Thank you

INV Professional 2017 (Build: 142, Release: 2017RTM), Windows 10 Professional (64-bit), Intel Xeon E5-1620 3.5GHz CPU, 32GB RAM, NVIDIA Quadro K2200, Vault Basic 2017

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