Width Mate

[Anonymous]

I recently moved from Solidworks to Inventor, and the transition has been a smooth one in all ways but one: Inventor does not have a width mate feature to aid with assembly. A width mate allows the user to center a part, feature or component equidistant between two edges or planes on a different part, feature or component, without the need to sketch and mate additional center planes. It is not the same as the current Symmetry feature, because Symmetry does not allow the user to select different faces on the same part, e.g. centering a clearance hole between the top and bottom edges of a slot in another part. I've linked to a YouTube video with a demonstration of the width feature below.

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

Of course there are other methods of centering assembly components that yield the same result, but those methods require opening individual parts and sketching new workplanes, or measuring then adding or subtracting diameters of slots or holes for an offset mate, etc. Adding a width mate feature would streamline workflows by eliminating these extra steps. This feature has been requested repeatedly for a decade now, as shown by the archived Inventor Forum post from 2011 and the Inventor Ideas post from 2013 linked below.

https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/inventor-forum/width-mate/td-p/2937346

https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/inventor-ideas/introduction-of-width-mates/idi-p/4352019

I sincerely hope this post can reach the developers so that this incredibly useful feature can be added as soon as possible. I also posted this request in the Inventor Forum for exposure.

[Anonymous]

Hi,

Started a new role with a company using Inventor.  Used to use Solidworks for a couple of years previously.

One thing I got used to was the 'width mate'.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFiPxAMmxKc  sums it up best.  Basically it's very easy to symetrically position a componeent within an assembly between two faces, without needing to add any extra planes etc.  (the video is far more better at explaining it!).

I cannot find anything like it in inventor.  Would be appreciative to see this incorporated into a service pack update.  Would help immensely in work flow and productivity.

[Curtis_Waguespack]

Hi  Joe_Banger ,

Have you looked at the new Symmetry constraint (Autodesk Inventor 2014)?

See thisYoutube link:

http://youtu.be/hoQxHn-Znz8

I hope this helps.
Best of luck to you in all of your Inventor pursuits,
Curtis
http://inventortrenches.blogspot.com

[Anonymous]

Thank you Curtis_Waguespack I have updated to 2014 this morning and am keen to try it out.

[Rory_M]

Just a heads up for anyone who isn't familiar with the width contraint in Solidworks.

It isn't the same as the Symmetry constraint in Inventor. The symmetry constraint is useful, but they definitely aren't the same.

Suprisingly, there aren't actually too many things I miss about Solidworks, but this is one of them.

Rather than requiring 3 inputs (2 faces and a plane of symmetry) it requires 4 inputs, 2 faces on one part and 2 faces on another.

A simple exaple would be locating an undersized padeye centrally within a clevis. Pick the 2 outer faces of the padeye, and the two inner faces of the clevis and it's done. You don't need to know the sizes or clearance, or worry about using planes down the centre.

In my opinion it would be a worthwhile addition to Inventor, and make assembling much much easier.

[Dan_Margulius]

Hi,

We need WIDTH symmetry and not what we have today.

Dan

[CAD-One]

Symmetry is NOT perfect alternative to width mate.

If the plane is not in the center of the feature, then symmetry fails.

Where as width works without help of planes.

[Anonymous]

When you can`t add workplane between two paralell faces on a part in the assembly, the Symmetry Constraint is useless. I`m left with measuring the gap, subtract the width of the part, dividing that by to and using that to create an offset constraint - Smooth! Missing SW for sure.

This has been suggested for years now - time for action?

[CAD-One]

Best thing to do would be to add your vote to the following idea

Link to said Idea post for anyone else reading this thread.

http://forums.autodesk.com/t5/inventor-ideas/introduction-of-width-mates/idi-p/4352019

May be some autodesk developer might see and implement it.

Cheers.

[Anonymous]

I'm not saying inventor should 'clone' Solidworks (the **** thing is so unstable to start with) but it is time someone from AutoDesk actually took a REALLY good look at Solidworks, there's are some excellent functions and features, mates being a BIG improvement on Inventors offerings. I genuinely can't believe AutoDesk don't keep a close eye on the competition but if they do look at Solidworks they aren't looking closely at all. Surely to utilise the best features of another package makes sense, maybe put your own take on things and improve it but it's silly to not bother at all with an excellent idea just so you don't look like you might be copying.

C'mon AutoDesk, check where the competition is coming from and beat them at it.

[Anonymous]

I would like for it to be reopened! In my opinion Inventor users don't know what they are missing if they have never worked in SW. This is one of those feature they would all be thanking you for and have no idea what they wanted. Having been in SW, this is a no brainer! Very frustrating that Inventor doesn't listen. As a user, I can't shout this one loud enough!! It's NOT the same as symmetry. And if there is no plane, you have to dig into the part and create one! Lots and lots of EXTRA clicks!!! And yes, if they were modeled correctly, some parts would have mid-planes, but not all parts are symmetrical; you want it in the center of a feature! SW allows you to just select planes you want it in the center of!! Other parts or of the same part! Again, no-brainer if you are looking for improvements of the software!!

[Anonymous]

This is a feature that Inventor needs. It's a hassle to make reference planes and you can't make them off of two faces of a part in an assembly, which is exactly when you'd need them to use the symmetry mate. Anyone who's used SW extensively knows how nice this feature is, and how symmetry is NOT the same thing.

[CAD-One]

For “Width” being such a old request and Autodesk not doing anything about this; I bet SolidWorks might have a patent on this. ^wink ^wink

[Anonymous]

I'm fast learning AutoDesk aren't very forward at listening and take forever to introduce anything suggested, see the spellcheck scenario for a prime example.

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[jmorganDHE2K]

 I agree, this is a very useful feature. 

[Anonymous]

The following mates types would save time calculating & reinitiating commands.

- An option to select multiple items for a single type of mate selected instead of reinitiating the mate command each time.

- A width mate would be very helpful to place an item centrally between two faces/planes

[Anonymous]

"Thanks for sharing your Idea. We use this forum to guide product development and help users in the best way we can based on voting. We occasionally merge Ideas or archive old ones to keep the forum working properly - it ensures there is room for people to review new Ideas and that the most relevant and meaningful ones can gain votes. We’re archiving this Idea because it's been on the board for well over a year and hasn't received many votes from the community. If you want to raise it again and try to gain more support, you're welcome to do so. We’ve found that pictures and mock-ups can help get concepts across and win more votes from other users. If you have questions or see a connection between this Idea and others, let us know. - Inventor product team"

It's this kind of approach that means you're more than 10 years behind Solidworks in terms of functionality. As a recent convert  (new role in a co. that uses Autodesk products)  I'm shocked at the lack of usability in Inventor in comparisson to SW.  As said above, this is one of many simple improvements that could and should (patent status allowing) be incorporated.  The vote system simply isn't working. People don't "hang out" here, they come for help, advice and to air frustrations. If a post doesn't directly apply to them they're not even going to look at it let alone vote for it.  Adopt improvements that improve the software on their own merits. It's not a popularity contest and how are people that have no concept of a feature they've not used yet supposed to evaluate it?

[Christian3.14]

I found people that were looking for a width mate in a post from 2011. It's 2020... how has this simple and extremely useful feature not been added?

[jhollandKM5RX]

Hey Guys, I totally agree with this..

Symmetry is not the same as the almost-but-not-quite-comparable Width mate from SW.

A solution for the need for Inventor to create planes to impose constraints would be to have The proposed width/ centering function in Inventor;

•  Create construction work planes based on 3-4 selection faces (cylinder+ two faces/ 2 faces+2 faces) that are either visible or not via an option within the feature itself.
• Create a midplane between the previously selected faces.

This way it can work within Inventor's interface without much tweaking for the developers. Similar to when you create a sketch on any face, Inventor creates a sketch plane that can be edited, shown, or hidden to help eliminate the clutter of workplanes and the cumbersome task of creating them individually. I believe this would help large scale updates to a top-down design as well by keeping the referenced work planes grouped together for internal reference. Autodesk.. PLEASE consider adding this feature! We would highly appreciate it! 

[didier.spinnewyn]

Hello,
You can use the joint command and the slide type then right click and select between 2 faces.