Problem with Mix of Rigid and Non Rigid Joints

[ripberger]

I have a speaker mount with joints that screws to a bracket with slotted holes. The bracket has a slide joint relative to the speaker mount. The slide joint animates properly. I want the screws to maintain their placement relative to the speaker mount.

The components are organized as:

Design:

>Joints
>>Bracket Joint

>Bracket
>Mount and Screws

>>Mount

>>>>Joints
>>>>>>Pivot1
>>>>>>Pivot2

>>>>Bodies
>>Hardware
>>>>Screw1

>>>>Locknut1
>>>>Wingnut1
>>>>......

I made a rigid group out of "Hardware".

If I make a rigid group out of Mount and Screws, then the mount joints are frozen.

If I leave the Mount and Screws ungrouped, then the mount joints work, but the screws don't stay with the speaker mount plate.

I could try to make a rigid joint between the mount and one of the screws in "Hardware", but there are any common points on the two components to tie the joint between.

I tried to export the design to attach - I'm getting an .iges file that I can't attach because its not supported. Perhaps because I inserted some STEP files from MacMasters  - should I have used a different format?

How should I connect the screws to the mount?  

[jhackney1972]

If you want to export your file and attach it use this method.  If you do not know how to attach your Fusion 360 follow these easy steps. Open the model in Fusion 360, select the File menu, then Export and save to your hard drive. Then use the Attachments section of a forum post to attach it.

[ripberger]

Yes. I tried to attach the exported file, but the forum says it doesn't support the .iges file type.

[davebYYPCU · Accepted solution]

We need the Fusion file, F3z or F3d format.

Don't make it harder than it is,

Everything that does not move is grouped and grounded - locked - frozen.

Everything attached to the moving part is also grouped to move as one group.

now you make a single joint between the non moving to the moving.

Might help....

[ripberger]

So two problems here - lets try to the export problem first....

It's not giving me the option to export an f3z file for some reason.

I think it might be because the screws I used were downloaded from MacMaster as STEM files. The screws are in an assembly that is linked into the assembly I'm trying to export.

Can anyone tell me if this is why I can't create an f3z export and what MacMaster download type I should use?

[ripberger]

As far as grouping together the parts that are all non-moving, I understand your answer but, here's the deal....

I use this speaker mount in 4 places. I'd like to use it as a linked assembly. It's an assembly with 4 independent joints in it. To do what you're suggesting, I'll need to take the five pieces apart, link them as 5 separate parts, group them with the parts they move with, and then rebuild the four joints of the mount - on every instance I'm using the mount. Yes that will work but it is a pain. IMHO, it seems like there there should be some way to specify that "Joints can still articulate" even when the assembly with joints is in a rigid group with other parts. Hoping there is some way to do this...

[ripberger]

FWIW - I was able to export the mount component below. It doesn't exhibit the problem I'm asking about.

[davebYYPCU]

I have checked out the file supplied, nothing grounded.  Icons I have never seen before.  Lots and lots of Construction geometry, for reasons I believe are just duplication of geometry in the part/s.

Sketches not fully defined and remaining at the origin when bodies are moved.

Can't see a reason the full assembly would not be exported, but send me a downloadable public link by Private Message if you wish.

As your first question about hardware is not included in the file, will wait for that, and will study this file a bit more to understand it.

[davebYYPCU]

May have some detail missing, step up my timeline, 

Happy to answer questions.

[TrippyLighting]

---

@ripberger wrote:

FWIW - I was able to export the mount component below. It doesn't exhibit the problem I'm asking about.

---

That might be true, but it exhibits problems that should be addressed before you get to join components.

Before continuing my recommendation would be to go through one of the tutorial courses in the Learn & Support

section and start re-designing this from scratch.

You'll still have questions, but will be much better equipped to ask these questions.

As has been pointed out already your sketches are not fully defined (constrained and dimensioned) and generally there are too many features in the timeline that are unneeded to create this simple assembly. 

[ripberger]

OK - thanks everyone, and especially DavebYYPCU for giving me such a great lesson in sketch drawing. I see I have some underlying problems with my base components. So I will regroup and clean them up, and then see if I'm still having a problem at the higher levels. May take a day or so - but will come back and let you know. 

[ripberger]

Ok - so I've recreated the export problem. I had downloaded a MacMaster Screw. I saved a copy so I would have it for future reference in a directory. I then deleted it out of my design and brought it in as a linked component.

I could export an .f3z with the just the 'redesigned' plate component of the speaker mount and the screw. However, if I created a rigid joint between the screw and the plate, then it would only let me export the file as an .iges. I backed up the time line one step before the joint and I could again export f3z. I broke the link, stepped forward to include the joint and I could also export .f3z. I don't know if I can say in general, you can't export fdz with joints between a component and a linked component, but this would suggest that is the case. 

So that solves, the export issue to my satisfaction. Back to trying to fixing up components to see if I can recreate the other issue I started with.

[ripberger]

So after cleaning up sketches on the mount and bracket, and after using rigid joints properly in the assemblies, it all seems to work OK now (original problem gone). Thanks everyone for your help. I attached the updated design.

P.S. Re-"The export problem".

There is still the problem with linked components preventing exporting as d3f. My workaround is to leave the links in the assembly, and if I need to put something in this forum, I can make a Save Copy As and break the links in the copy to generate an export. There are some issues with some of the joints changing positioning and somehow the grounded component lost orientation with the origin (after a joint was rotated) -  but I was able to put it back.