Mechanical Drawings Gone Wild

Transcription

1 11/28/2005-1:00 pm - 2:30 pm Room:Mockingbird 1/2 [Lab] (Swan) Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort Orlando, Florida Mechanical Drawings Gone Wild Colleen Klein - MasterGraphics and Jim Swain (Assistant); Christiaan Bowen (Assistant) MA13-1L Learn the basics of AutoCAD Mechanical's 2D structure in this hands-on lab. Discover how to organize your design in its natural environment by using parts and assemblies. You'll work with catalogs to organize and reuse information. Learn how to lock and unlock drawing information for complete design control. You will move assembly parts and instantly update the hidden lines and components that are behind them. You will learn to control detail, component, and annotation views all from a single instance of a part. About the Speaker: Colleen writes implementation guides and training materials for AutoCAD Mechanical software for Autodesk. She spent more than 8 years at MasterGraphics delivering consulting services, support, training, and seminars across the country. She has been training users of 2D and 3D CAD software for more than 13 years. Colleen is a sought-after instructor for AutoCAD, AutoCAD Mechanical, Autodesk Inventor, and drafting practices. Her formal education includes mechanical design, industrial technology, and management. colleen.klein@masterg.com

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3 Join our Safari to see how AutoCAD Mechanical have gone Wild with Structure... 3 Our Strategic Plan... 3 Class Guidelines... 4 Know your Surroundings; Understand General Concepts of Structure... 4 Where to start... 4 Exercise Where am I?... 4 I need a map!... 5 Exercise Understand General Concepts of Structure... 7 Exercise Create Components... 9 The AMSNEW and AMSCREATE command... 9 The New dialog box, Component/View tab... 9 Exercise Bonus Exercise for those who are ahead Create a Library Catalog of Components Access AMSCATALOG Exercise Bonus Exercise for those who are ahead Assemble the Components Inserting Structure Catalog Components Exercise Bonus Exercise for those who are ahead Control the Look of the Views Accessing AMSHIDE command Exercise Bonus Exercise for those who are ahead Reuse Features The AMSNEW and AMSCREATE command Exercise Bonus Exercise for those who are ahead Accessing the Annotation commands Exercise Congratulations!

4 Join our Safari to see how AutoCAD Mechanical have gone Wild with Structure The primary goal that we share in this hand s on lab is for you to discover how to apply AutoCAD Mechanical s structure to drawings to make your life easier and happier. Structure is a set of tools to control and manage 2D drawings. Instead of working with your drawings as just lines, arc, and circles, you will work with the drawing as components and features similar to the real life objects that they represent. Our Strategic Plan You will make and assemble a vehicle for you safari using AutoCAD Mechanical Structure. You will see an overview of what structure is and than create structure for yourself, going one step at a time to get it right. You ll be ready to dive in for more of organizing your drawings with structure back at home once you ve finished the class. You will learn about structure by following the topics listed here: Know your surroundings: You will open AutoCAD Mechanical and become acquainted with the environment before you start using structure. Understand general concepts of structure: You will open a drawing that has structure and move some parts around to see how structure works. Create components: You will make a component or two. Components are another name for parts but have a special meaning in AutoCAD Mechanical. Create a library catalog of components: You will make some more components and add the components to a library catalog. Assemble the components: You will put the components together into and assembly using a specially created library catalog. Control the look of the views: You will set put parts in the foreground and background to control the visibility of the parts. Reuse features: You will create features into parts of structure for reuse in a design. Prepare the drawing for the shop: You will make the drawing ready for the shop by placing a border, notes, balloons, and a parts list on the drawings. 3

5 Class Guidelines Every class runs better if we establish a couple of rules of guidelines before we jump in. So use these couple of guidelines to help you. Have fun: learn new stuff but if the drawing gives you trouble, know that you are better than it is. Play together: Look at your neighbor s computer and check if you are both in the same place. It s amazing what you can learn from each other. If someone is peeking at your computer they are probably just lost so don t take it too personally. Ask for help: We have two knowledgeable helpers that are here just to help you. Ask for help unless of course you are working ahead. The helpers are for those students who are on task or behind task. Know your Surroundings; Understand General Concepts of Structure To understand structure you ll open AutoCAD Mechanical 2006, set the interface, then open a drawing that has structure and move some parts around. Where to start Mechanical Structure is a way of working with 2D mechanical drawings and is a part of AutoCAD Mechanical. First lets open up AutoCAD Mechanical and take a look at what that is. Exercise 1 In this exercise, you will open AutoCAD Mechanical Look for the AutoCAD Mechanical icon on the Desktop and double-click on it. Backup plan: If for some reason the icon does not exist do the following. Go to Start>All Programs>Autodesk>Autodesk Mechanical Desktop 2006>AutoCAD Mechanical Yeah! This was an easy exercise. Where am I? When you first open a drawing in AutoCAD Mechanical, you will notice a number of things that are different than a normal AutoCAD drawing. First of all, you are in AutoCAD Mechanical, not the AutoCAD that you may have grown accustomed to. You might want to panic and try to use your old AutoCAD tools but we are not going to do that. It s OK. We are in this together. WARNING The first step in survival is to know the lay of the land. Stay with the class and do not try to change everything back to the AutoCAD way or you will get lost along the way. You want to work with the software and not against it. 4

6 I need a map! You have a map of the AutoCAD Mechanical Interface below. The areas are numbered and explained in brief. 1. Pulldown menu: You will use the pulldown menus are created just for AutoCAD Mechanical. 2. Toolbars: You use the AutoCAD Mechanical toolbars instead of the AutoCAD toolbars that you may be accustomed to. You do not want to open the AutoCAD toolbars during this class unless specifically directed. 3. Launch buttons: You use the two top buttons on the vertical toolbars launch the AM:Draw toolbar and the AM:Modify toolbar. 4. Mechanical Browser: You keep track of all of the structure that is created in the drawing with the browser. 5. Status Bar: You use three additional buttons on the Status Bar to help us control the structure. 6. Command line: You watch the command line for prompts as you are using the tools. 5

7 Exercise 2 In this exercise, you will set up the AutoCAD Mechanical 2006 interface. 1. Set the toolbars to the defaults by doing the following: On the pulldown menu click View>Toolbars>Mechanical Left. 2. If the Browser is not open, open it by clicking View>Display>Mechanical Browser. 3. Launch the AM:Draw toolbar. Dock the toolbar horizontally below the AM:Main toolbar. 4. Launch the AM:Modify toolbar. Dock the toolbar horizontally below the AM:Main toolbar. 5. On the Status Bar click to set to ON the three mechanical settings as shown. 6. Open the Select File dialog box by doing one of the following: Click on the Open icon or click File>Open. 7. In the Select File dialog box, browse to the folder location. The default location is C:\datasets\MA13-1L. 8. Drag the MA13-1L folder to the Places List as shown. 9. In the Places List, click on the shortcut folder MA13-1L. 10. Open MA13-1L\parts and sub assemblies\3-safari-vehicle.dwg. 11. End of exercise. If at any point during the class you loose your toolbars or browser, you can reset AutoCAD Mechanical by repeating the methods you just used. 6

8 Understand General Concepts of Structure When you open a drawing with structure, you will see the structure listed in the browser. Tools that you find in the browser can be used to control and edit the structure in the drawing. You can move and control the components in the drawing by selecting on the when the status bar is set to Top down or bottom up. Top-DN. In the following exercise, you will open the finished drawing that has structure assembled. You will select on the objects to see how they respond. Then you will use the browser to interact with the drawing. Exercise 3 1. Open drawing 3-safari-vehicle.dwg if it is not open. (It should still be open from the previous exercise) 2. Expand the icons in the Browser to view the FRONT, SIDE and REAR views. 3. Click each view (FRONT, SIDE and REAR). Notice the views highlight in the drawing area. 4. Right click the Front view, click Zoom to. 5. Right click the Rear view, click Zoom to. 6. Change from Top-Down to Bottom-Up by doing the following: click on the TOP-DN button on the status bar so it reads BTM- UP. 7. Use the Move command to Move the spare tire. The hidden area updates 8. Click Undo. The tire returns to the previous position. 9. Click on the large circle of the spare tire. 10. Click two more times. The selection set cycles from the lowest level to the highest level. 11. Repeat clicking until the tooltip for WHEEL:5 (Front) displays. 12. Right click and click Find in Browser. 13. WHEEL:5 (Front) highlights in the Browser. Wheel:5 is highlighted in the Browser. 7

9 14. In the Browser, right click and click Property Overrides. 15. In the Property Overrides dialog box click Overrides Properties and click Color. 16. Click OK to close. In the drawing area, the Wheel is displayed red. 17. Double-click on the mouse roller while in the drawing to do a zoom extents 18. Change from Bottom-Up to Top-Down by doing the following: click on the BTM-UP button on the status bar to it reads TOP-DN. 19. At the top of the Browser, double click 3-SAFARI-VEHICLE. 20. At the top of the Browser, right click 3-SAFARI-VEHICLE and click BOM Database 21. In the BOM dialog box click + to expand the parts list. 22. Click OK to close. 23. End of exercise. 8

10 Create Components When you create a component, it is automatically added to the database so that it can be used in a parts list. The component will display in the browser and is a storage area for multiple views of a single part. The views of the component are collections of lines, arcs, and circles that represent the view. The AMSNEW and AMSCREATE command To make a component you use the AMSNEW or the AMSCREATE command. The AMSNEW command uses the New dialog box. The AMSCREATE command starts the command at the command line. You can access the AMSNEW command with one of the following methods: Click the New Structure button as shown to the right. Click on the Component/View tab. Click the pulldown menu Design>Structure. Click on the Component/View tab. The New dialog box, Component/View tab In the New dialog box, you will make a new component and view using the Component View tab. You will fill in the following information Parent: This is set to the Drawing name unless the component is nested. Component: Set the name of the component here. Base Point: Select where the view is inserted from, much like a block. Object: Select the objects that are used for the view. View: Select the view the selected components represent. To add a new view to a component you can right click on the component in the browser or use the New dialog box. In the new dialog box, uncheck the New Component and leave New View checked. 9

11 In the following exercise, you will open a drawing that has a simple AutoCAD drawing that has multiple views of a part. You will create a component and turn the views into component views. Exercise 4 1. Close any open files. 2. Open drawing 4-mirror.dwg. 3. Click New Structure as shown in image. 4. In the New box, on the Component/View tab, enter the following Component: MIRROR View: Back 5. Click the Pick Point button as indicated in the image above at #5. In the Drawing area click on the center of the circle. The New dialog box is displayed. 6. In the New dialog box, click the Select Objects button as indicated above at #6. Select the entire BACK VIEW. Don t select the text. Press ENTER to return to the New dialog box. 7. Click the Expand (>>) button to preview the component. (find it in the lower right corner.) 8. Click OK. 9. The component is displayed in the Browser. 10. End of exercise. 10

12 Bonus Exercise for those who are ahead 1. Continue in drawing 4-Wheel.dwg 2. In the Browser, right click on the MIRROR icon. Click New>Component View. 3. At the command line enter LEFT and press ENTER. 4. Select the objects in the left view and press ENTER. 5. In the drawing area, click the left intersection of the centerline. 6. In the Browser, the Left View is displayed under the Mirror icon. 7. In the Browser, click on Back. The back view highlights. 8. In the Browser, click on Left. The left view highlights. 9. In the Drawing area, click on a line in the back view. Click on the back view again. The selection set cycles between the entire part to individual line. 10. End of Exercise. Create a Library Catalog of Components As your create each of your components you can keep them in a separate drawing file. These files can then be collected and stored together into special library catalog for structure. Access AMSCATALOG You access the Structure Catalog with the Structure Catalog button shown to the right or click Insert>Structure Catalog. In the following exercise, you will add a directory to the catalog and then create a new component for the catalog. 11

13 Exercise 5 1. Close all open files. 2. Open drawing 5-Mirror Assembly.dwg. 3. Click Insert>Structure Catalog 4. In the Structure Catalog, click the Library tab. 5. In the left pane, right-click and click Add Directory. 6. Browse to and highlight C:\datasets\MA13-1L\parts and sub assemblies. 7. Click OK. 8. On the Library tab, click the + in front of parts and sub assemblies to view the included drawings. 9. In the left panel highlight any drawing. 10. In the right pane view the drawing and any structure that is in the drawing. 11. Click on another drawing to see if structure exists. 12. End of Exercise Bonus Exercise for those who are ahead 1. Continue in the same drawing. In the left pane, right-click and click Add Directory. 2. Browse to and highlight C:\datasets\MA13-1L 3. Click OK. 4. On the Library tab, click the + in front of MA13-1L to view the included folders and drawings. 5. In the left panel highlight any drawing to view the contents in the right pane. 6. Right-click on the folder MA13-1L and click Release Directory. 7. End of exercise. 12

14 Assemble the Components You successfully created components and placed them into the Structure Catalog. Then next step is to take them from the catalog and assemble them in the assembly drawing. Inserting Structure Catalog Components You use the Structure Catalog to insert components. You can locate the drawings to insert components from by browsing for files on the Files tab or by selecting from the library on the Library tab. To insert structure from the current drawing, you can use the Current tab or insert structure from the Browser if it exists locally. In the following exercise, you will assemble the mirror assembly using the browser. Exercise 6 1. Open drawing 6-mirror assembly.dwg. This drawing is empty except for the structure that you are going to populate. 2. In the Browser, expand the Mirror assembly icon. 3. Double click on the Left view to activate the view. The Left view highlights with a blue band and the folder appears open. 4. If the Structure Catalog is not open, open it with Insert>Structure Catalog. 5. In the Structure catalog, on the Library tab click parts and sub assemblies>mirror-mounting bracket.dwg. 6. In the right pane, expand to view the component views. 7. Right-click the Left view and click Insert Reference. 8. Click in the drawing area to place the view. Press ENTER to accept the default rotation. 9. In the left pane click mirror.dwg 10. In the right pane, expand to view the component views. 11. Right-click the Left view and click Insert Reference>As New Component. 12. Click in the drawing area to place the view on the mounting bracket as shown in the image to the right. Press ENTER to accept the default rotation. The Browser is populated with the new components as part of the left view. 13. At the top level of the Browser, double click the text 6-MIRROR-ASSEMBLY. 14. In the Browser, click the components. The components are highlighted in drawing area. 15. Expand the components and click the views. The views are highlighted in the drawing area. 13

15 16. End of exercise. Bonus Exercise for those who are ahead 1. Continue in the same drawing. 2. In the Browser double click on the Back view to activate the view. The Back view highlights with a blue band and the folder appears open. 3. Click mirror-mounting bracket.dwg. 4. In the right pane, expand to view the component views. 5. Right-click the Back view and click Insert Reference>MIRROR MOUNTING BRACKER:1. 6. Click in the drawing area to place the view. You can use Object Snaps and Object Tracking to locate the view in line with the left view. 7. Press ENTER to accept the default rotation. 8. Place in the drawing area. 9. In the left pane click mirror.dwg 10. In the right pane, expand to view the component views. 11. Right-click the BACK view and click Insert Reference> MIRROR: Insert at 13. At the top level of the Browser, double click the text 6-MIRROR-ASSEMBLY. 14. Right click 6-MIRROR-ASSEMBLY, click BOM Database 15. In the BOM dialog box, click the + to expand the BOM. View BOM, then click OK to close. 16. In the Browser, click the components. The components are highlighted in drawing area. 17. Expand the components and click the views. The views are highlighted in the drawing area. 18. End of exercise. 14

16 Control the Look of the Views You can place component views into the foreground and background of a drawing by using the associative hide command. Accessing AMSHIDE command You can access the Associative Hide command from the Associative Hide button on the toolbars or from the pulldown menu Modify>Associative Hide>Create Associative Hide Situation. In the following exercise you will create hide situations that will update as the component views are moved in the drawing. Exercise 7 1. Close all drawings. 2. Open drawing 7-mirror assembly.dwg 3. In the Browser double click on the MIRROR ASSEMBLY:1 Back view to activate the view. The Back view highlights with a blue band and the folder appears open. 4. On the Status Bar, insure that the Top-DN setting is depressed. 5. Click the Associative Hide button (show in previous image), or click Modify>Associative Hide>Create Associative Hide Situation. 6. In the drawing area, click MIRROR:1 (Back) and press ENTER. The Create Hide Situation dialog box is displayed. 15

17 The Tree in the Create Hide Situation dialog box should look like the image above. The Store hide situation on: should read MIRROR ASSEMBLY:1(Back). 7. In the Name box, change the name to Mirror Hide. 8. Click the Hide Style button to set Hidden lines are set to be invisible. 9. Click OK. 10. At the top level of the Browser, double click the text 7-MIRROR-ASSEMBLY. 11. Save and close the drawing Bonus Exercise for those who are ahead 1. Start a new drawing using am_ansi.dwt. 2. Draw two circles and a rectangle. 3. Click the Associative Hide button or click Modify>Associative Hide>Create Associative Hide Situation. 4. Select the rectangle and press ENTER. The Create Hide Situation dialog box is displayed. In the Tree view the rectangle is displayed in level1 as a Free Object. Level2 is empty. 5. In the dialog box, click Level2. 6. On the Basic tab, click Select Objects as shown in the image below. 7. In the drawing area, select both circles and press ENTER. 8. Click OK to close the dialog box. 9. The Hide situation is displayed in the browser. 10. Move the rectangle in front of the circles. 11. Notice the hide situation updates. 12. Move the rectangle again. 13. End of exercise. 16

18 Reuse Features You will save features into folders for reuse in a design. Structure can store groups of lines, arc and circles that are not added to the database for the parts list. These structure pieces are called FOLDERS and are similar to blocks. A folder can be used to represent features of a part, patterns, or even symbols. The AMSNEW and AMSCREATE command To make a folder you use the AMSNEW or the AMSCREATE command. These are the same commands that you used to create components. The AMSNEW command uses the New dialog box. The AMSCREATE command starts the command at the command line. You can access the AMSNEW command with one of the following methods: Click the New Structure button as shown to the right. Click on the Folder tab. Click the pulldown menu Design>Structure. Click on the Folder tab. Exercise 8 1. Open drawing 8-wheel.dwg. 2. In the Browser, double click the Right view. 3. On the Status Bar, insure that the Top-DN setting is depressed. 4. Click the New Structure button, and click the Folder tab. On the left side of the dialog box the component should read WHEEL:1 and the View should read Front. 5. For the Base point, select the center of the small circle. 6. For the Object, select the small circle 7. In the Folder name display, enter Hole. 8. Click OK. In the Browser, the Right view should still be the active (highlighted) view. The Folder named Hole is now listed in the Brower under the Front View. 9. Click Array. 17

19 10. Select the Hole in the drawing area to be arrayed. 11. Complete the Array command around the wheel creating a pattern of eight holes. 12. In the Browser, notice that eight Hole folders exist. 13. In the drawing area click one of the holes. 14. Grips are displayed. 15. Click one of the grips on the quadrant of the circle to make it hot (red). 16. At the command line enter 25 and press ENTER. The hole size changes and all the other holes update. 17. Use grips to make additional changes to the hole size. 18. Double click on the End of exercise. Bonus Exercise for those who are ahead 1. Continue in the same drawing. 2. At the top level of the Browser, double click the text 8- Wheel. 3. In the Browser, right click on Hole:2 and click Visible. 4. Right click Hole:3 and click Zoom to. 5. Under WHEEL:1, Right click the Front view and click Zoom to. 6. Right click Hole:4, click Property Overrides. 7. In the Property Overrides dialog box click Overrides Properties and click Color. 8. Click OK to close. 9. Right click Hole:5, click Delete. 10. Right click Hole:6, click Rename. 11. In the Rename Definition dialog box, enter Bolt Hole and click OK. 12. All of the folder names change. 13. End of exercise. 18

20 Prepare the drawing for the shop You will make the drawing ready for the shop by placing a border, balloons, and a parts list on the drawings. The mechanical annotation tools all work with mechanical structure Accessing the Annotation commands In the following exercise you will turn the drawing into a print that can be sent to the shop. Exercise 9 1. Open drawing 9-safari vehicle.dwg. 2. On the Status Bar set Top-DN. 3. Click the Title Block icon (as shown in the image to the right.) 4. In the Drawing Borders with Title Block dialog box, set as shown. 5. Click OK to close the dialog box. 6. Press ENTER. The Border and Title block are placed. 7. Click OK in the Change Title Block Entry dialog box. 8. Press ENTER. 9. Click the BOM Database icon as shown on the right. 10. Press ENTER. The BOM dialog box is displayed. 19

21 11. Click the + symbol at the top of the list. The list is expanded. 12. In the dialog box, click the Insert Parts List button as shown. 13. In the Parts List dialog box, click OK. 14. Click in the drawing area to place the Parts list above the title block. (If you left the BOM dialog box, click the BOM button to return.) 15. In the BOM dialog box click the Balloon button at the top. 16. Right mouse click and click Auto. 17. In the drawing area, select the Side view of the vehicle. 18. Press ENTER. 19. Click to place balloons above the vehicle. The BOM dialog box is displayed. 20. Click OK to close the BOM dialog box. 21. Save and close the drawing 22. End of exercise. 20

22 Congratulations! You have been a great success in accomplishing your goal. You have achieved the following: Know your surroundings: You opened AutoCAD Mechanical and became acquainted with the environment before you started using structure. Understood general concepts of Structure: You opened a drawing that has structure and moved some parts around. Created components: You created a couple of components from AutoCAD drawings. Created a Library catalog of components: You made some more components that were then added to the library catalog for use in the assembly. Assembled the components: You put the components together into an assembly drawing by using the structure library catalog. Controlled the look of the views: You placed parts in the foreground and background to make them look great and hide the visibility of certain areas of the components. Used feature symbols: You placed predefined features onto your parts. Prepared the drawing for the shop: You made the drawing ready for the shop by placing a border, notes, balloons, and a parts list on the drawings. Thank you for taking this Mechanical class. This class is not meant to cover all aspects of structure but is intended only to provide an instruction to the topic. For more training see the AOTC materials or contact Colleen Klein at MasterGraphics. Colleen Klein MasterGraphics Colleen.klein@masterg.com 21