Inventor Tube and Pipe Add-In For Hand Rails?

[Anonymous]

We currently do a lot of tube hand rails for our customers, and I was wondering if anyone used the Tube and Pipe add in for Inventor, and whether it is offered with the Manufacturing Collection?

kelly.young has edited your subject line for clarity: Tube and pipe add on

[jhackney1972 · Accepted solution]

Tube and Pipe is a standard add-in for Inventor Professional which is a part of the Product and Manufacturing Collection.  I will remind you that during installation I believe you have the option to either install Inventor or Inventor Professional, it defaults to Professional. 

I would suggest that you consider using Frame Generator for your work on hand railings.  I believe it will be a better and more productive workflow.  The pipe or tube you desire will probably be available in the Content Center already and if not it is an easy task to author your own to a custom Content Center library.

[Anonymous]

This is great...



One last question to make sure this is what I need....



Does the Tube and Pipe add-in allow you to add the bending data to the drawings? And if so, is it data production can use on a bending machine to make successful product?



Or is this early basics

[ToddHarris7556]

I've used Inventor Pro / Routed systems (which includes Tube/Pipe and Wiring/Harness functionality) for many years doing process plant design. 

I would agree with @jhackney1972 on this one - I'd suggest for handrails, you're better off using Frame Generator, NOT Tube/Pipe. Tube & Pipe is optimized for internal flow routing. It wants to create flow routes from point A to B. This is not what handrails are all about. Tube & Pipe shines when you have process equipment connected from this flange to that flange, and you have to route through pipe racks and around equipment. 

Handrails are connected to structure. I use Frame generator for both the structural and the handrail, ad they're connected.  If you're talking about sending PIPE spool data out for CNC bending/forming, I've actually not done that. Most of the process plant work I've done is welded pipe, or small instrumentation tubing on skid packages. 

FG is more than capable of both bending elements, and generating your C/L drawings, though I'll confess that sending out bending info for CNC bending is not something I do a ton of.

[Mark.Lancaster]

@Anonymous

To answer your question..  T&P doesn't provide that information.  As others pointed out, use Inventor Frame Gen, but that too doesn't give you that info.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for your input, I will also look a the frame generator.

[ToddHarris7556 · Accepted solution]

The overly-simplified quick highlights:

Frame Generator:

• places frame components based on either a skeleton sketch, or model geometry. 
• individual parts are created on-the-fly from the Content Center. Grab whatever profiles you need, and insert them based on the sketch lines. It's very fast.
• If you want to modify members, just select and 'change member'
• you can apply basic mitering and coping to fit profiles. Note: this is not to be confused with advanced steel detailing. With some (significant) investment in iFeatures and workflows, it is possible to do respectable steel detailing, but this is NOT out-of-the box.
• FG parts have cut lengths as parameters which can be rolled up in BOMs to give overall stock lengths for purchasing.

  Pipe & Tube

• is driven by pipe spec. Process plants typically have a pipe spec for each service class. Ex: 300# stainless butt-welded pipe. The piping spec designates the grade/material/size of pipe, the type and spec of fittings, valves, bolt/nut/gasket sets, etc. Think of the pipe spec as very similar to the sheet metal settings in the SM environment, only with a lot more settings. 
• Typical workflows would be to place process equipment, and designate tie-points (flanges/couplings). These end points are then used to P&T to dynamically route a line from point to point, based on a pipe spec. If it's a threaded spec, then it will automatically insert couplings every 21', etc. Trying to change a piece in the middle of a run to something that isn't in the pipe spec will throw all sorts of errors. 
• I've used it for formed tubing runs, but not a lot. It's powerful for at least visualization / interference checking, but I don't know about manufacturing off the bent tubing sections. 

Two very different tools, good at different things.

[Pavel_Holecek · Accepted solution]

Hello @Anonymous,

here is a small example how to create a Frame generator model:

1. Frame generator is based on a sketch or 3D model geometry (edges, points)

2. insert Frames on selected edges - there are three frames +  one merged frame 

3. Added Frame Generator Notch feature 

4. generate drawing - the length is calculated from center line

Regards