Centering one part to another

[Anonymous]

(New Inventor guy here.) In the attached assembly, I'm trying to align the two flange parts to be centered on the base plate part. The two flanges are symmetric to a midplane on the base plate, which works great, but I don't see how to center them along the other axis. I try to create a mate constraint between midplanes of the flange and the base plate and Inventor 2019.1 hangs forever. Also, is it possible to have the mirror pattern automatically create a symmetric relationship about the mirror plane? Thank you.

[blair · Accepted solution]

From the picture, you could mate using the mid plane of the lugs to the mid plane of the base. Either using the Mate if the mid planes are opposite each other (tan color to purple color) or the Flush if the colors match. You could Mirror the lug with the reuse selected component (yellow +) in the Mirror Components.

[Anonymous]

Thank you Blair. It had to be something simple. I was using the Mate Constraint on the mid planes but selecting the same color faces. This causes Inventor to hang and eventually to die. Selecting the constraint and face colors as you suggest worked perfectly. Are the forums monitored for bug reports or is a there a separate reporting mechanism?

Your mirroring suggestion is what I used and wondered if there was a way to simultaneously create the symmetry constraint. I'm guessing not.

[Anonymous]

Here someone submitted an idea regarding mirror and constraints. Unfortunately, does not appear to be currently possible. Hopefully someday soon the idea will be implemented.

https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/inventor-ideas/treat-quot-mirror-quot-in-an-assembly-like-a-pattern-m...