Dimension a Chain or Loop

[CADFlyer]

i am trying to call out a dimension of a folded piece of seat belt (see pic) weaving through a round bar (not shown).

As shown in the picture, i am trying to call out the length of a certain segmant of various curves together (as the hand drawn spline). I had hoped that i could create a chain or loop & then dimension the overall length of that loop, but no success.

The only solution i can think of at this point would be "faking it" with splines, arrows, & text on the drawing sheet, but i HATE to do that

Has anyone ever tried anything similar to this? and if so....HOW did you do it?!?

 

[JMirisola]

While you can dimension an arc's length, I haven't been able to see a way to dimension a series of arcs, or a spline, in the same manner. Perhaps you can just dimension each arc?

Jeff Mirisola, CSWP
Certified DriveWorks AE

http://designsmarter.typepad.com/jeffs_blog

Dell M90, Core2 Duo
4GB RAM
Nvidia 3500M

 

[macduff]

Use the tape measure tool to get the total arc length. Then use a note to call the measurements.

I'll be back with a markup

Colin Fitzpatrick (aka Macduff)
Mechanical Designer
Solidworks 2007 SP 5.0
Dell 490 XP Pro SP 2
Xeon CPU 3.00 GHz 3.00 GB of RAM
nVida Quadro FX 3450 512 MB
I'm just a little verklempt. Talk amongst yourselves. I'll give you a topic. Pink Floyd, was neither Pink nor Floyd. Discuss!--“Coffee Talk” Mike Myers SNL

 

[macduff]

See attached

Colin Fitzpatrick (aka Macduff)
Mechanical Designer
Solidworks 2007 SP 5.0
Dell 490 XP Pro SP 2
Xeon CPU 3.00 GHz 3.00 GB of RAM
nVida Quadro FX 3450 512 MB
I'm just a little verklempt. Talk amongst yourselves. I'll give you a topic. Pink Floyd, was neither Pink nor Floyd. Discuss!--“Coffee Talk” Mike Myers SNL

 

[MadMango]

I agree with total arc length, but use it to make a flat configuration of the routed webbing for the webbing drawing. For the assembly of the webbing and buckle, just dimension the distance from one end of the webbing to the buckle.

"Art without engineering is dreaming; Engineering without art is calculating."

Have you read faq731-376 to make the best use of Eng-Tips Forums?

 

[CADFlyer]

Thanks macduff!

I was thinking essentially the same thing over the weekend, great minds think alike, right?

it would still be nice to measure it with an actual dimension...maybe in 2009 or '10....someday!

 

[macduff]

CADFlyer,
Not a problem. This technique kinda follows the AMSE Y14.5 standard. I was trying to do something like this the other day as far as dimensioning multiple arc lengths, and yes it would be cool to have a function to dimension this.

Have a good day,

Colin Fitzpatrick (aka Macduff)
Mechanical Designer
Solidworks 2007 SP 5.0
Dell 490 XP Pro SP 2
Xeon CPU 3.00 GHz 3.00 GB of RAM
nVida Quadro FX 3450 512 MB
I'm just a little verklempt. Talk amongst yourselves. I'll give you a topic. Pink Floyd, was neither Pink nor Floyd. Discuss!--“Coffee Talk” Mike Myers SNL