Smart Mates - Linear Coupler? 1

[Cockroach]

I have a Mandrel with a left hand screw at the top end, and a right hand screw at the bottom end. As the Mandrel is spun to the right, the screws advance a set of Cones. Imagine your two fists coming together as the Mandrel is rotated to the right, and separating with left hand rotation. In the attached file, the Mandrel is in grey and is free to spin left or right about it's longitudinal axis through the bore. The left hand Cone is shown in brown and advances right or left; the right hand Cone is in yellow and similar, advances right or left. So the Cones are mated to the Mandrel using "screw" mechanics.

I have a Dog, shown in green, that is constrained in the vertical and horizontal plane. Quite simply, it moves up or down as the Cones (your fists) come together or separate. How do I link that Dog in motion with the Cones that are keyed to the Mandrel? Clearly the inclined surfaces of the Cones push on the mating surface in the ID of the Dog.

I thought maybe the Linear Coupler in the Advanced Mate section, but I'm having difficulty with the setup. Are there examples on the web from which I could educate myself on this?

So how can I drive vertical motion of a Dog by the position of two Cones coming together or separating?

Kenneth J Hueston, PEng
Principal
Sturni-Hueston Engineering Inc
Edmonton, Alberta Canada

 

[williedawg]

maybe I'm missing something, but can't the lower angled surface of the Dog be mated to one Cone's tapered surface ?
Because the left and right Cones already move correctly, there is no need to use both conical surfaces. quote:"So the Cones are mated to the Mandrel using "screw" mechanics."

This is what actually takes place with a real assembly, right?

 

[Cockroach]

Good point WilleDawg, I tried making the mating Cones "coincidental", but SolidWorks simply moved the left hand piece into alignment. There was a gap between the pieces, which wasn't right.

I'm starting to think that maybe there is more to the problem.

Kenneth J Hueston, PEng
Principal
Sturni-Hueston Engineering Inc
Edmonton, Alberta Canada

 

[Cockroach]

I answered my own question, stumbling upon a solution.

Simply pick a point defined by the internal cone of the Dog, I used the extreme left hand point at the chamfer, and make it coincidental with the exterior cone surface of the driving nut.

The assembly doesn't lock up to be fully defined, which was my previous problem, and I can rotate the Mandrel to drive the Cones, hence lift or drop the Dog.

Didn't seem that obvious to me yesterday!

Kenneth J Hueston, PEng
Principal
Sturni-Hueston Engineering Inc
Edmonton, Alberta Canada