Slider Mate direction of travel

ben_hedges

Hi all I effectively have a square tube and mandrel that fits in side it I want to make the mandrel be able to slide up and down the tube.  I am using a slider mate as this is what was used in the tutorial video.  No matter what faces I select it insists on making the movement through the wall of the tube not up and down.  Is there away of either setting the direction of movement or what am I doing wrong.

many thanks in advance

Coop

noa

Hi Coop,

The Slider mate allows translation along the z axis of the mate connector (i.e. the little blue line). Onshape tries to place mate connectors where it thinks makes sense. However, you will sometimes need mate connectors in very specific positions and orientations to get the motion you desire.

Luckily, you can place a mate connector wherever you want in the part studio of the part, and then use it in an assembly. 

Here I clicked the mate connector feature and stuck it on a sketch point.



Now, I can check "Move" and rotate it about its axis so that the blue line points in my direction of travel (along the slot).



I made a pin and did the same thing and brought them into an assembly.



Notice now how there are two custom mate connectors, with both their blue z axes pointing along the slot. Now when I add a Slider mate between them, I will get linear travel between them.

ben_hedges

wow thank you for such a detailed response greatly appreciated

many thanks

Coop

malay_kumar

BTW you can create these (custom) mate connector in assembly also before creating mate and select in mate. 

johan_van_der_werf

Hello,
I have a bended slot of an expansion link where a part should move through. Can anyone give me a tip to solve this. I used the tangent mate before and it worked. However I cannot do it again.


Thanx,
Johan

MBartlett21

@johan_van_der_werf
Try using revolute mate

johan_van_der_werf

mbartlett21 said:

@johan_van_der_werf
Try using revolute mate

That would be ok if I could find the center of the bend of the slot. I cannot find this center and click on it. Is there a solution for?
Johan