More basterd sheetmetal - looking for ideas

[mrattray]

I have a basterd sheetmetal part that I managed to surface out. (My first time surfacing in Inventor, I think it turned out pretty decent!) Of course, it's not really sheetmetal as far as Inventor is concerned because it wasn't made with sheetmetal tools and therefore won't flatten.

Well, I need to figure out a way to flatten it. It doesn't need to be accurate, the shop plans to bend it with the BFH method. I just need something to feed the laser so they have some kind of starting point. But I'm hoping somebody has some creative way to at least come up with a guestimation that takes less of a headache then exporting it to ACAD and muscling it. Please don't make me go back to 1985.

Thanks for your thoughts,

Mike

P.S. I had to use the "roll the EOP to the top" trick to post the ipt. Go ahead and drop it all the way to the bottom.

[JDMather]

You are doing wayyy to much work.

...and for this to be made as a sheet metal part (forget Inventor), you must have a bend here -

Here is the same geometry - with bend added and simplfied features.

This would not unfold either (because of the way you created the Loft).
Not sure if there is a way to create this part that will unfold (don't think there is).

[mrattray]

I know it's not pretty, like I said, first time surfacing in Inventor. Heck, last time I used surfacing for anything was about 5 years ago in CATIA.

I tried faking in the bend but it made IV angry so I just left it out. I only need a flat blank to send to the laser. My coworker is doing all of the documentation in ACAD.

Anyways, I'm 110% open to suggestions here. In fact, JD, you're just the one whose attention I was hoping to get.

If you were asked to make this POS of a part, how would you go about it?

[JDMather]

I didn't spend much time looking at it - but I think the only way this would unfold is if it was created with Lofted Flange and then trimmed (Cut).  I wish I had time to experiment as I don't recall ever trying a complex trimming of a Lofted Flange.  (since Lofted Flange only uses 2D sketches you would have a much larger formed "sheet" from which this part would be trimmed (if it is to work at all).

[mrattray]

I tried playing aorund with the lofted flange tool. I didn't have a problem with the start and end 2D sketches, what I had a problem with was the lack of any guide rail options or the ability to have more then two sketches in the lofted flange tool. The transitionary section didn't follow the contour I needed it to follow. That's what led me to using a standard loft, as it would allow me to use 2 3D splines as guide rails.

This is what a lofted flange gives me:

This is what I'm trying to get out of it:

[JDMather]

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@mrattray wrote:

 This is what a lofted flange gives me:

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You are thinking about it the wrong way.

Imagine you had your bent part but the long edges continued to a plane(s).

These 2D intersections would be what you would use for the Lofted Flange.

The trick (that I don't know if it is possible) would be to trim back the unwanted material.