Assembly Constraints?

[Anonymous]

I am trying to constrain a gas spring which is treated as a subassembly (2)
parts to a door and a frame. I have the door constrained through the
hinges, which allows me to open the doors thru an angle constraint. I would
like the gas spring to extend and rotate with the door opening, however I
lose the constraints connecting the two ends. Is it not possible to have a
subassembly that will slide in a higher assembly?

pat

[Anonymous]

Nope. If you want the gas spring to follow you will have to model as two
parts in the same assy as the door and frame.

It might be possible to use a global variable to drive the length of the gas
spring as a function of the angular relationship of the door and frame. I
doubt it would work reliably, if at all, but if you've got time to
fiddle....

Jeff Howard
jeff4136@mindspring.com

Patrick Johnson wrote in message
news:73D759D82308E709D67C92E0935780B0@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...
> I am trying to constrain a gas spring which is treated as a subassembly
(2)
> parts to a door and a frame. I have the door constrained through the
> hinges, which allows me to open the doors thru an angle constraint. I
would
> like the gas spring to extend and rotate with the door opening, however I
> lose the constraints connecting the two ends. Is it not possible to have
a
> subassembly that will slide in a higher assembly?
>
> pat
>

[Anonymous]

Actually, I had time to fiddle with it. I made a very simple model of bar
elements, 2 for the door and frame and 2 for the gas spring (as a sub) and
was suprised to see that it works well. A global variable drives both the
opening angle and the constrained length of the gas spring. This is may be
over-simplified, the "gas spring" is perpendicular to the hinge axis and it
doesn't go over center.

Good luck with it.
Jeff

Jeff Howard wrote in message
news:D3DDF49297753456A6FFF464D9A108A5@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...
> Nope. If you want the gas spring to follow you will have to model as two
> parts in the same assy as the door and frame.
>
> It might be possible to use a global variable to drive the length of the
gas
> spring as a function of the angular relationship of the door and frame. I
> doubt it would work reliably, if at all, but if you've got time to
> fiddle....
>
> Jeff Howard
> jeff4136@mindspring.com
>
> Patrick Johnson wrote in message
> news:73D759D82308E709D67C92E0935780B0@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...
> > I am trying to constrain a gas spring which is treated as a subassembly
> (2)
> > parts to a door and a frame. I have the door constrained through the
> > hinges, which allows me to open the doors thru an angle constraint. I
> would
> > like the gas spring to extend and rotate with the door opening, however
I
> > lose the constraints connecting the two ends. Is it not possible to
have
> a
> > subassembly that will slide in a higher assembly?
> >
> > pat
> >
>

[Anonymous]

Thanks Jeff, I was afraid of that, it would be something nice to add to the
wish list.

pat

"Jeff Howard" wrote in message
news:ECE5138B2AF48205775BB4142F51B9DE@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...
> Actually, I had time to fiddle with it. I made a very simple model of bar
> elements, 2 for the door and frame and 2 for the gas spring (as a sub) and
> was suprised to see that it works well. A global variable drives both the
> opening angle and the constrained length of the gas spring. This is may
be
> over-simplified, the "gas spring" is perpendicular to the hinge axis and
it
> doesn't go over center.
>
> Good luck with it.
> Jeff
>
> Jeff Howard wrote in message
> news:D3DDF49297753456A6FFF464D9A108A5@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...
> > Nope. If you want the gas spring to follow you will have to model as
two
> > parts in the same assy as the door and frame.
> >
> > It might be possible to use a global variable to drive the length of the
> gas
> > spring as a function of the angular relationship of the door and frame.
I
> > doubt it would work reliably, if at all, but if you've got time to
> > fiddle....
> >
> > Jeff Howard
> > jeff4136@mindspring.com
> >
> > Patrick Johnson wrote in message
> > news:73D759D82308E709D67C92E0935780B0@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...
> > > I am trying to constrain a gas spring which is treated as a
subassembly
> > (2)
> > > parts to a door and a frame. I have the door constrained through the
> > > hinges, which allows me to open the doors thru an angle constraint. I
> > would
> > > like the gas spring to extend and rotate with the door opening,
however
> I
> > > lose the constraints connecting the two ends. Is it not possible to
> have
> > a
> > > subassembly that will slide in a higher assembly?
> > >
> > > pat
> > >
> >
>

[Anonymous]

Just out of curiosity, does anyone know how Inventor would handle this?

Jeff

Patrick Johnson wrote in message
news:85BFEBF1A958D2BC14BB312805BED484@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...
> Thanks Jeff, I was afraid of that, it would be something nice to add to
the
> wish list.
>
> pat
>
> "Jeff Howard" wrote in message
> news:ECE5138B2AF48205775BB4142F51B9DE@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...
> > Actually, I had time to fiddle with it. I made a very simple model of
bar
> > elements, 2 for the door and frame and 2 for the gas spring (as a sub)
and
> > was suprised to see that it works well. A global variable drives both
the
> > opening angle and the constrained length of the gas spring. This is may
> be
> > over-simplified, the "gas spring" is perpendicular to the hinge axis and
> it
> > doesn't go over center.
> >
> > Good luck with it.
> > Jeff
> >
> > Jeff Howard wrote in message
> > news:D3DDF49297753456A6FFF464D9A108A5@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...
> > > Nope. If you want the gas spring to follow you will have to model as
> two
> > > parts in the same assy as the door and frame.
> > >
> > > It might be possible to use a global variable to drive the length of
the
> > gas
> > > spring as a function of the angular relationship of the door and
frame.
> I
> > > doubt it would work reliably, if at all, but if you've got time to
> > > fiddle....
> > >
> > > Jeff Howard
> > > jeff4136@mindspring.com
> > >
> > > Patrick Johnson wrote in message
> > > news:73D759D82308E709D67C92E0935780B0@in.WebX.maYIadrTaRb...
> > > > I am trying to constrain a gas spring which is treated as a
> subassembly
> > > (2)
> > > > parts to a door and a frame. I have the door constrained through
the
> > > > hinges, which allows me to open the doors thru an angle constraint.
I
> > > would
> > > > like the gas spring to extend and rotate with the door opening,
> however
> > I
> > > > lose the constraints connecting the two ends. Is it not possible to
> > have
> > > a
> > > > subassembly that will slide in a higher assembly?
> > > >
> > > > pat
> > > >
> > >
> >
>

[Anonymous]

From what I've seen - very easily.

Get a demo if you can.

Whit