Cutting Floor Plates - 'Cookie Cutter'

[DuncanAnderson]

I'm looking for some innovative solutions.

We buy open grid floor plates in 6m X 1m sections. The workshop then cuts the required flooring from the various sections.

I the BOM to show the correct number of floor plates needed without 'frigging' it.

It would also be helpful if I could also show the workshop how I had intended 'nesting' the various sections within the 6m X 1m sections.

I'm not looking for professional nesting software, but a way to do it in Inv.

Initially I had though about using a solid derived into another solid as a 'cookie cutter'. But that didn't work.

I should also point out, I want to use the final item in an assembly.

I've also though about deriving sketches into the floor plane part, but you can't position the sketches }:~( to act as 'cookie cutters' in different places. I don't mind positioning the sketches by hand a locking them via dimensions.

I've no doubt there is a simple answer that I can't see.

But it is important that the BOM shows the correct number of open grid floor plate that needs to be purchased.

[conklinjm]

Cannot say that I have done much with plate nesting in Inventor; however, one approach is:

1) Create a 'blank' plate that represents your raw material

2) Create the various parts required for the nesting process

3) Create an assembly using the plate from (1) and the parts from (2)

4) Nest the parts as required using assembly constraints

- - - - -

Note: The 'blank' plate is optional but may be helpful in ensuring that the parts remain within the geometric boundary -- the plate outline could alternatively be sketched on the drawing of the assembly of 'nested' parts.

[dan_inv09]

So you are trying to start with a plate part and have Inventor pull a bunch of parts out of it?

And you need Inventor to know that it's say 10 pieces when the parts in the assembly are like 30 at 3 a sheet? (Just throwing some random numbers out for the sake of argument.)

I don't really have any answers but I kind of think we haven't found quite the right questions yet.

[karthur1]

Duncan,

We do lots of these just so we can order the raw material.  We do it like Conklinjm says.  The clear looking item shown is the actual raw plate and the round things are the parts positioned on it.  When it actually gets programmed to be burned, they will do a better job at nesting of coarse.  This is just to get us in the ballpark.

Kirk A.

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