Sliding an Object Along a Curved Surface

[dhillyar]

Good afternoon everyone,

I am attempting to make a ball joint "slide" through a curved rail, but I am having difficulties figuring out which constraints to use. I have made sure that both the rail and the ball joint are assigned to the contact set and the contact solver was activated. The curved rail was made originally as a long, normal rail, and then the "Bend Part" feature was used to bend the rail at the desired location. I am working with Inventor Professional 2014.

My first attempt involved making a cylindrical joint between the ball joint and the cross-section of the rail, but once the ball got to the curved portion of the rail, it fell off of the path and would not travel through the curved surface.

I have also tried a transitional constraint between the curved portion of the rail and the ball joint which was unsuccessful.

Finally, I tried mating the center point of the ball joint to the sketched curve line of the curved portion of the rail, but that was unsuccessful as well.

I don't know if the problem has to do with how I made the curved rail or in which constraints I am applying.

I have attached the assembly on which I am trying to guide the ball joint through the surface of the rail ("Ball Joint Slide on Rail") as well as the two part files in the assembly. Any help or advice will be greatly appreciated.

[JDMather]

Have you installed all Service Packs and Updates for your version of Inventor?

First thing I notice is that your Sketch1 is not constrained in you Ball Joint part.

I recommend that you go through these

http://home.pct.edu/~jmather/SkillsUSA%20University.pdf
http://inventortrenches.blogspot.com/p/inventor-tutorials.html

I would have used a simple Sweep to create the Rail part (a beginner should probably not be using Bend Part - it is very rarely needed).

Drag slowly.  If you go to fast - Inventor cannot keep up with the calculations.

[dhillyar]

I downloaded AutoDesk Inventor 2014 Service Pack 1 when I installed Inventor on my computer because it would not run without this service pack. If there are others that I should have, I don't know of them. I'm fairly new to Inventor.

I did try to make the rail without using the "Bend Part" feature as well by doing a sweep but it still gave me the same problems as listed in my original post.

[JDMather]

There are additional Service Packs and Updates for 2014.

I posted an assembly that works - above.  (in the zipped folder)

[dhillyar]

That's pretty close. I was hoping to find a solution for the ball joint to slide along the path of the rail while the rail passes through the hole on the ball joint.

Also, where can I locate additional Service Packs and updates?

Thank you very much.

[JDMather]

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@dhillyar wrote:

Also, where can I locate additional Service Packs and updates?

Thank you very much.

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I just did a quick Google search and easily found them?

[blair]

The bottom of this web page under the Help & Support column will have the "Service Packs & Updates" link.

[JDMather]

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@dhillyar wrote:

That's pretty close. ....

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Post your new assembly - what you posted before was missing a part and was not even assembled.