topic Batch exporting flat patterns in Inventor Forum

Batch exporting flat patterns

fridtjofZM5ME — Thu, 16 Apr 2020 08:38:45 GMT

Hi, is there a clever way to batch-export flat patterns from sheet metal parts to DXF? I usually export DXF files for laser cutting through Inventor Nesting, but we don't have that for Inventor 2021 yet it appears, so I have to open each part, go to flat pattern, right-click and "export face as..." on each individual part, which is somewhat labour intensive. I tried to see if this operation could be done through task scheduler, but didn't find any obvious way to do it there.

If there ain't already a way to do this I really think it should be, as I consider exporting flat patterns of multiple files to DXF a fairly common practice with regards to manufactoring...

Re: Batch exporting flat patterns

Anonymous — Thu, 16 Apr 2020 13:42:39 GMT

https://apps.autodesk.com/INVNTOR/en/Detail/Index?id=7498862835390395853&appLang=en&os=Win32_64

https://apps.autodesk.com/INVNTOR/en/Detail/Index?id=8013326923158277356&appLang=en&os=Win32_64

I use the second add in for inventor. The only thing you have to do is manually create a flat pattern for each part while making the assembly. Then, once in the assembly, you click the add in, select the folder, and all the parts with a flat pattern specified will go in there.

Make sure to be careful about what you're naming things because it will take the exact file name of each part.

There are a few add in's for inventor that will do what you're looking for, just gotta browse and find the one you like.