"Copy with Mates" Eqivalent

[Anonymous]

Hello,

Used Solidworks at my old job, now starting to use Inventor.

One feature I remember, was 'copy with mates' within an assembly.  See http://tinyurl.com/nr6wub7  for info

I could grab a component (which had mates) and quickly copy it and place it by selecting relevant surfaces, lines, planes  etc and it would be inserted as a second instance, fixed in appropriate place.

My problem in Inventor, is that I insert a repeat of a component, but I have to re define each mate individually.

Any thing that I am doing wrong, or any work arounds to apply multiple instances  of components which are constrained within an assembly.

Thanks

[Anonymous]

Hi Joe,

Inventor 2014 sorts out this issue. When you now copy parts that are assembled to one another the new items keep the constraints to one another.

Definitely an improvement.

[jtylerbc]

The feature you describe was added in Inventor 2014, as the previous poster indicated.  It is very useful.  As I have 2014 at home and 2013 at the office, I can sympathize with the annoyance of not having it if you're used to it working that way.

Unfortunately, in pre-2014 versions I can't think of a good workaround.  If these are parts that could be reasonably grouped into a subassembly, you might be able to deal with it that way.   If not, I don't think there is really anything you can do to avoid having to constrain the copies manually.

[mrattray]

Is it possible you could use a pattern to replicate these additional parts, instead of individually placing and constraining each one?

[AlexFielder]

In Inventor 2011 you could use the Copy Component command from the Component panel- if you reuse the components, it keeps the constraints in place..

[Anonymous]

That is not what he was asking. The correct answer is "NO, the programmers at Autodesk have not yet developed this extremely useful tool, but they should soon."

[Anonymous]

Like someone below said, this is not the same thing. "Copy with Mates" allows someone to copy a single part within an assembly and quickly re-constrain it to similar features (e.g. a fastener being applied to multiple bolt holes). Someone below also mentioned using a pattern, but I'll give my thoughts to that in a reply to that post.

[Anonymous]

Incorrect. See my response to the previous poster's post.

[Anonymous]

Yes and no. For one, patterns make items difficult to find in the model tree. But in my instance, I need my "patterned components" to be at different angles, and the pattern locks them all at the same angle. So the pattern won't work and I need to create the exact same constraints several times.

Rant: Do Inventor employees even look at SW? SW has SEVERAL basic features that are much better.

[a.vandekeere]

Exactly my thoughts. I recently had to make the switch too. I don't know whether they are too stubborn to implement the same good ideas SW has or they just don't care...

[AndyWallace]

With 2016 here, I don't see this feature. If I constrain a fastener parallel to the assembly plane, then do a copy-paste, the pasted fastener does not have any mates preapplied. Andy

[0x3FA5]

Reporting from 2019, the feature is still not here.

[johnsonshiue]

Hi! Yes, it is true that as of Inventor 2020, the workflow is still not available. We are aware of the request but we don't have a good solution yet. I am wondering if you have tried iMate workflows before. It is not equivalent to Copy with Mates but it does help establish constrain relationship faster.

Many thanks!

[0x3FA5]

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Rant: Do Inventor employees even look at SW? SW has SEVERAL basic features that are much better.

---

Funny you mention that.

We have Inventor for a long time now, but recently had a visit from SW guys for product presentation.

Interesting observation is the difference between the Inventor and SW product specialists.

I remember the Inventor course/presentation as well. Simply put,  in general both meetings went went like that:

WE: This feature is very useful in SW, is there an alternative in Inventor?

Inv.Sp.: We don't know about SW, but this is why Inventor is superior to Autocad (starts explaining)..

While with SW guys:

WE: This feature is very useful in Inv, is there an alternative?

SW Sp.: Yes, this feature in Inventor was created to solve this problem, this is how it works (detailed explanation of Inventor's(!) feature), and this is why SW is better (explaining alternatives).

I don't know, maybe it's just the level of the specialist our company deals with, but the difference is oblivious.

And this is quite unfortunate, since Inv has many things to offer, especially being much cheaper than SW.

[0x3FA5]

Hi,

Thank you for your reply.

I would like to try the iMate workflows, please send a link to the example that duplicates the "Copy with Mates" functionality.

Thank you.

[johnsonshiue]

Hi! I am not saying Inventor iMate is the same as "Copy with Mates." iMates need to be pre-defined. For example, you want to insert a bolt to a hole. You can predefine the insert iMate on the bolts and the holes. Then the bolts will be inserted to the holes on placement automatically.

You should be able to find videos at Youtube or documentation at Autodesk Knowledge Network. Please feel free to share an example of what you are trying to do. Forum experts can take a look and show you how to use iMates.

Many thanks!

[0x3FA5]

Assigned iMates for the weld-on nipple and the pipe (concentricity, tangent and plane mating).

After re-opening the assembly approx. half of the parts flip location as shown:

The parts are fully defined. What is the reason for this happening?

Not sure what to do. Except for going each of the mates manually, of course.

[johnsonshiue]

Hi! The behavior could be caused by change in solve order or geometry. Please share the files here or send them to me directly (johnson.shiue@autodesk.com). I would like to take a look and understand it better.

Many thanks!

[0x3FA5]

Hi,

The assemblies I work on are classified and cannot be shared.

It takes a considerable amount of time to create dummy assembly and to recreate the issue.

I was asking for a recommendation to avoid the issue. What is the correct way to apply iMates in this particular situation?

Thank you.

[johnsonshiue]

Hi! It should work as you intended. It looks like a bug or the constraint was flipped due to the change in geometry. If possible, please send me the files directly (johnson.shiue@autodesk.com). We treat our customer data as secure as ours. We never share files in public without any customer consent.

Many thanks!