Sheet Metal Slot And Tab

[swanscivic]

Hello,

Have you guys seen the new Solidworks slot and tab feature! Autodesk you must bring this feature to Inventor it would be a life saver! We have been loyal to Autodesk for years, but this one feature has us seriously considering a few seats of Solidworks.

Check it out, and help push this to the top!

https://youtu.be/eBbIE3i7jJw

Thanks,
Isaac

[sebastianmaklary]

I completely agree with the necessity of this feature to be within the frame generator toolbox but also between sheet metal parts and frames. I have a frame of 60 tubes that needs to fit together pretty precisely and also have brackets that are positioned with the use of taps and slots. Although we build fixtures for welding, having taps and slots makes it so much faster to both identify the tubes and also place them correctly within the fixture. 

Currently, we are working with a company that uses solidworks to postprocess our drawings to add these taps but it would be much better if we could do it ourselves.

[martinjfarrow]

i looking at solidworks just for this as i dont think autodesk are going to add this any time soon. i so expected it to be in the 2020 release especially when they added the cap command. the cap end command should also be able to tab and slot the end cap.

[Anonymous]

This feature working in an assembly would be very well received.

[Anonymous]

Oh how many time this would save !

[andrew.tom.reynolds]

Definitely needs to be added to frame generator for assembly positioning. My client has a laser tube cutter that can cut these matching tabs and slots and they are currently adding these items in Solidworks after exporting the frames from Inventor.

Please also have the ability to "author" custom tab shapes so that it's not just limited to simple rectangular tabs!!

[spangler_jack]

has anyone created an ifeature to mimic the tab and slot command in an assembly? 

[Anonymous]

Yes we did some time ago actually.

We made two tools, not that hard to create. One for the female part and a tool for the male part.

It not only creates the square cutout/extrude but also adds holes to the inside corners.

(see attached pictures)

WGK - HEMI Retail solutionsMaleFemale

[dusan.naus.trz]

Sheet Metal Tab and Slot Feature. Please see the picture and video link. If you like Idea, then vote.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bzb60FhX5gY

https://blogs.solidworks.com/tech/2017/12/solidworks-2018-tab-and-slot-feature.html

[dusan.naus.trz]

I found the same theme, it was created already. Previously. Please combine.

https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/inventor-ideas/sheet-metal-slot-and-tab/idc-p/8448403

[dusan.naus.trz]

@dan_szymanski

Hi, I was going through Ideas. I have the same topic later. Please combine my ideas. Thank you. This topic would have more votes if it had a picture at the beginning.

https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/inventor-ideas/sheet-metal-tab-and-slot-feature/idi-p/9083141

[wmurphy8342]

Any update on whether this feature is going to be included in the 2021 release. Manually creating slot and tabbing is the bane of my existence. In a growing world of employees that are not fabricators slot and tabbing is a must. 

[dan_szymanski]

Hello @wmurphy8342,

For legal reasons related to revenue recognition, we are unable to share release plans publicly. If you are curious what we are working on, I would encourage you to join our internal Inventor feedback community via this link. Regarding your "bane of my existence" comment above.... Like others suggested, I am curious if you ever looked into leveraging iFeatures for your tab/slot needs? I feel managing a set of ifeatures might ease some repetitive monotony?  Finest regards, -Dan

[KELLYFMJ]

I did not wait on autodesk to remedy for me. Instead I use the user
parameters and set up a template for parts, link the assy and parts
within to the "master part" and modify those parameters as needed.
I make all of our products in a parametric format so our work order
system can be manipulated to modify the actual cnc programs for
different measurments.
This can be very tedious at times but once correctly applied , works
perfectly.

iFeatures can also be used in conjunction with the user parameters,
however I do not do so.

For example:
"master part" I always make the first part of the assy.
Length = (height), value 92
width= (depth), value 36
material thickness = (thk), value .75
backloc, ctop height, header face height, ETC...ETC...



So when applying dimensions to sketches, constraints etc..
I create a formula to suit my needs. IE- the parameter (slotsp) =
(height-2.5)/7, thus evenly spacing slots per the formula.
The cnc/work order system see this as, (repeat slot at) (lpx-2.5)/7
automatically.

I ended up with lots of user parameters so I started saving them as
different part templates to create the first part of assy.
Now even if autodesk came up with a tool for such things , I doubt I
would use it, since if may not transfer to our cnc/work order system
correctly.

I know build one master model,IDW,set of cnc programs, and within
seconds can spit out the programs and drawings of infinite measurments
for the same unit.

I can even in the IDW have the parameters adjust for mass/weight/cf of
storage, any # of things if their formulas are correct.


Start with searching for "user parameters in assembly files"



Anything I can help with, just let me know.

Kelly

[dusan.naus.trz]

next context

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UPnfslh8SU

[Burnewiin_TA]

Absolutely should be able to use tab-slot function in non sheet metal parts.  We design and build a lot of “plate” steel (10ga sheet, 3/16, and 1/4”) architectural work where we ran and slot adjoining edges mostly as a self-jigging feature for assembling/welding on site.  Super tedious to do manually in Inventor, but saves tons of time on site and ensures accurate alignment and layout.

[karthur1]

Wish I could vote again.  We needed this feature about 5 releases ago.

[seejeepgo]

https://apps.autodesk.com/FUSION/en/Detail/Index?id=4921314530099219183&appLang=en&os=Win64

[kitchenqueen]

This would be an awesome feature, I have some Ifeatures that kind of work but depending on how I change my model it falls apart☹️

[thomas.kingX9ZFD]

Better yet, go one better than SW and include a Tab and Slot with T-Nut Construction option.  (For metal parts this option would allow fast prototyping and assembly, without the need for welding)

This could automatically generate nut slots with user input box. 

Probably the wrong forum, but I would like to see the same options in Fusion 360 

[t.brosens]

@swanscivic What is the status of this topic at the moment?

Tap & slot is still time-consuming and I notice that it isn't processed in 2021 either.