Piercing?

[sbmathias]

I am trying to model a part which has a tab pierced (?) out of it and bent up. I'm not sure that pierced is the correct term. It is similar in process to the old sheet metal can- and bottle-openers, where the tab that catches under the can lip or bottle cap edge is cut from the body of the item and bent out.

At any rate, I have tried a number of things to cut the tab out of the flat part, all of which have given me SW errors. I've tried some of the sheet metal piercing tools, which also give me material thickness errors (I'm using 3/16" material).

It seems like I should be able to use the sheet metal features to come up with a blank, then use a line sketch to cut through the blank without removing any material. From there, use the flex tool to bend the tab into position. However, can't get the line sketch to work (SW error saying that my sketch doesn't intersect the part), and so haven't been able to proceed.

Any ideas, or do I need to post a photo? (I wasn't sure how to embed a photo in this text.)

 

[MadMango]

You will have to cut some material, even if it is .001 wide. Flex isn't the proper tool to use for this. You should be able to select your surface where the tab is being made from, create your "U" shaped sketch to define the tab, cut-extrude this shape. Then use sketch bends to form the tab up.

You should also be able to just just extrude a rectangular hole for the tab, and insert a Flange. It depends on how you are making your sheet metal part, meaning inserting a Base Flange first, or if you are Inserting Bends last.

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[ctopher]

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[smcadman]

SW 2005: Design Library > Palette forming tools > lances. Highlight the shape you want, then Righ-click and choose open. "Save as copy" and modify that shape to what you need. What most-likey happened was the fillet on that shape had a radius thinner than the sheetmetal thickness. Increase that fillet.
Note that it is simply a .sldprt file, and also notice the color scheme required for lances. When done modifying, go back to Design Library and hit the "refresh" button for your new lance to show up.

Flores

 

[aamoroso]

You do have to cut the material to accomplish the tab. If you have a flat sheet metal part and cut a "U" shape through the material, sketch a line across the opening of the "U" and then insert bend, or you can use a jog to offset it if that is what you desire. This gives you max control of the profile of your shape, if it changes simply change your sketch. You do need the bend radius to be sufficient for the thickness of the material.

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[CorBlimeyLimey]

I'll throw my hat in with smcadman on this one. Using a "Lance and Form" Palette Forming Tool would be the most efficient & realistic method of creating the bent tab ... especially if you will be doing it often.

However, the downside to using any of the Forming Tools is that they do not get flattened in the Flat Layout.


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[aamoroso]

Efficient and easy, yes Cor you are right, provided it is going to be a common tool. If it is a single or rare use tool then creating the forming tool would be less efficient.

Fill what's empty. Empty what's full. And scratch where it itches.