Wiring and cable assembly / drawing

[Anonymous]

I've been creating documentation for cable assembly for many years now and I am trying to determine a way to use the Inventor Cable and Harness feature to accomplish the same detailed drawings as I previously made by hand.  The first thing I notice is that the connectors do not exist at the cable level, even though this is how they will be manufactured.  Is there any way to generate a cable with wiring and connectors all existing together in an assembly that can then be documented in a drawing?

[Anonymous]

Hello,

Meaby I do not understand your needs but...

In an existing assembly (or new assembly...), put your connectors and then click on wire& hardness. Make your harness by linking the connectors with wires/cable... Then exit wire&harness add-on.

Now you can make a drawing of the assembly...

Regards,

John.

[Anonymous]

John, I don't believe this would let me lay the cable out flat in the drawing though, would it?  The only option for showing the full assembly is "in position", right?  I was hoping that there was a way of showing the nailboard (?) view with connectors attached.

[Anonymous]

I do not  right undestood you would like to make a drawing of your harness only (nailboard) and not of your harness in position into your system.

To make a nailboard drawing then :

In your assembly, double-click to edit your harness.

then click on the nailboard icon and select your template for the drawing.

Now you are in a special menu for nailborad drawing... I'm not an user of  the nailboard function but I now it's probably what you're looking for.

Have a good time with that function 😉

Sorry, Can't add pictures to help you... My computer is boring me today

[Anonymous]

No, Jonathan, I am not talking about nailboard or about a drawing showing the cable "in position into my system".  What I would like is something in-between the two that shows the cable laid out (like drawing board) with the connectors in place (like in position into my system), so that I can show all components and cable lengths at once in one drawing view.

-Thom

[Anonymous]

Could you provided an example (hand-drawing or something else) of what you would like to achieve for better understanding please?

Regards.

[Anonymous]

Jonathan,

Here are some examples of a standard cable assembly I would create.  Notice that the wires / cables are laaying straight, not like they would be in the installed state.

best regards,

Thom Friedrich

[Anonymous]

Nail board drawings are sometimes used in fabrication they are NOT cable drawings. Johnathan wants what most equipment designers want (myself included). That is a drawing of the completed cable showing the connectors and  their orientation in the cable assembly. From that he can specify the wire size and type used, specific pin connections (maybe add a 2D wire diagram), wire color, etc. all in one place so that the cable can be fabricated.