Pattern of an irregular cup along an "S" curve 1

[aferro]

Hi to all you Solidworks experts

i' ve got a small question, and at the moment i didn't find a solution for it on guide and forums

I have to pattern a small cup, not parallel to the base on the top, along a tube (or a sketch), the important thing is that the final effect is a "tube made of little cups").. but i want that the orientation of it change as the curve change, like on the example here enclosed after the first curve

Is there's any way (tip, trick or anything else) Solidworks can do this automatically?

Thanks in advance for the help!

 

[Eltron]

You can certainly do a curve-driven pattern, but SW will not reorient the cups to fit exactly and it will not fill in any gaps or take care of any interference or overlap. How's that for a run-on sentence?


Dan

http://www.eltronresearch.com

Dan's Blog

 

[rstupplebeen]

I think you are looking for "Curve Driven Pattern". I hope this helps.

Rob Stupplebeen

 

[aferro]

yes, i've already tried the curve driven pattern, but the effect is not what i need. I've already tried, but as Eltron said the cups didn't reorient.. and i need cups reorient along the curve.. interference or overlap doesn't matter

so i have to suppose that the feature or trick i'm looking for doesn't exist in SW?

 

[rfus]

It does.

Use a curve driven pattern, but you will have to use the face normal feature. This will have to be done in a part, and you will create multiple bodies in this part. For this pattern, you will have to loft a series of lines positioned down the curve that rotate as they move down the curve. you will have to create a lofted surface. Then, use one of the edges of this surface as the curve, and the face of the surface as the face normal. The 'cup' will then twist as it is patterned down the curve.

The thing is, unless you get your curve right and the shape of the cup right, it won't exactly look like the cup is coming out of the next one. I recommend just lofting the rim, and then lofting the circular sections from rim to rim. This will give you the effect you are looking for.

What version are you on. I'll post an example.

rfus

 

[rfus]

i went back to 07 and did a quick example.

this isn't exactly right but you will get the idea.

 

[aferro]

rfus.. thanks! that's a great idea, and i'm checking a good solution starting with your example!

so... thanks a lot for the suggestion and for the example, i sincerely think that this is the only way to follow