how to find the centre of a rectangle?

[mechjames]

Hi Guys,
is there an easy way to position a rectangle from its centre? I have been doing this in the sketcher by setting up dimensions and reference lines, just wondering if there is a quicker way?

cheers,
James

 

[jerry1423]

Not really an easy way; what I do is add a couple reference lines based on the center of the sides and ends of the rectangle

 

[mechjames]

Hi Jerry,
yes, this is what I do, just checking I wasn't missing a better method...

cheers,
James

 

[bruwel]

Use mid-point for constraints?

 

[mechjames]

yes, you can insert points as mid points and use them as your constraints but that is no quicker...

cheers,
james

 

[DaSalo]

There are many ways but they all require a couple of steps. In addition to what has been mentioned already you can draw lines from corner to corner and then add a point at the intersection. One nice thing about this method is that you can also add an equal length constraint to the construction lines to constrain a parallelogram into a rectangle. If you already have a perfect rectangle and you just want to locate it just place a single point and then constrain the point to both a long side and short side with midpoint constraints.

Some other software that I have used has a function to create a rectangle from a center point that is just an automated version of the crossed lines approach that I mentioned above. You could probably create a little journal to automate that in NX if you do it all the time.

 

[Jaydenn]

I would simply dimension it to the edge of the rectangle, and rather than using a number for the value, I would use "length / 2" as the value. OR "width / 2".

Jay

NX 6.0.5.3

 

[mechjames]

Jaydenn - that is my preferred method ..

thanks for the tips guys! - a couple of steps it will stay. I always try to keep things as simple as possible just to remove chances of errors creeping in.

cheers,
james

 

[Walterke]

I draw a line from the mid point of 2 of the sides or the rectangle to a point, and constrain them horizontal and vertical, that automatically puts the point in the center.

NX 7.5
Teamcenter 8

 

[edgray]

I like the way you think Jaydenn. Use those expressions!