How do I make a joint for this roller?

[acondax]

Hi there!

I'm a longtime Inventor user migrating over to Fusion360 for hobbyist 3D printing in my spare time. I'm trying to design a piece that slides across two copper rails using plastic rollers. Trying to understand the benefit of joints over Inventor's assembly constraints, how would I be able to create joint that allows the rollers to contact the rails and roll across them?

I've attached two images. The first shows a closeup of the black roller on the copper pipe. The copper pipe appears as a blue circle here because I've designed some plastic blue endcap. But you'll notice that the roller and pipe are not concentric. The second image is a wider example of the part being designed for context.

Any tips or explanations would be appreciated. Just so I can start wrapping my head around it.

[jhackney1972 · Accepted solution]

Joints are a challenge where you need a tangent contact.  In the one below, I placed the two components in the relative position, wheel on roller, and did an As-Built Joint.  The application create a slider joint for me.  Now to get the wheel to actually rotate as it moves, that will be a Motion Link between two joints, one is the slider joint just created but the other is a revolve joint I have not quite figured out yet.

Note: Next time you post a question, please attach your model so those that want to help do not have to create a model just to try an answer your question.  Using your model will be a lot more relevant to you than mine.  Mine is attached, for what good it does you.  Simply drag the wheel to get the motion or animate the Slider joint.

[acondax]

Thank you very much for the explanation and attaching the file. If I have any more questions in the future, I'll be sure to post a copy of my model. Thank you very much.

[davebYYPCU]

There is a plate with axles, (Rigid Group)

Revolve the wheels on the axles.

Slider is between the plate and the grounded rail cylinder. 

Might help...

[chrisplyler]

The Pin-Slot joint type basically combines the functions of a slider and a revolve into a single joint. To create the rolling effect, you make a Motion Link (since the Pin-Slot joint is really two joints in one, you chose the "with same joint" option) that relates a given distance of slide with an appropriate angle of revolve. Once that is set up correctly, a wheel will roll along.