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Help with animation

Hi, wanting to animate of how to assemble a connector….so wire pushes through a locking mechanism which then closes from being like 60 degrees open, back to 0, then the insulation is cut off to expose the wire, then a protective cap goes over the end to protect the wire. They are all cyclindrical and connect in a straight line, except for the locking mechanism arms which are at right angles to the main assemble but close around a pivot which is located above the central axis of the connector…..I cant show because it for a contract Im working on, and a patent on some of the parts currently is active.

Could possibly knock up a similar concept with some arbitary parts if needed to explain further. Its just ive only seen where you can animate 1 mate….apart from the robot animation principle where they use like a graph concept where parts follow different paths in the graph….but struggling to marry up that principle to my scenario.

Thanks

Stu

Answers

  • martin_kopplowmartin_kopplow Member Posts: 975 PRO
    edited September 29

    That appears possible with a few sliders (with min/max limits), one dummy part that triggers the locking and maybe a gear mate to rotate the locking arms.

    Aufzeichnung 2025-09-28 180516.gif

    Click on image to see it move. Not perfect, but maybe shows a possible approach.

  • stuart_aspinallstuart_aspinall Member Posts: 4 PRO

    Thanks for your time looking at this.…so how do you get the parts moving at different times ? Stu

  • john_lopez363john_lopez363 Member Posts: 133 ✭✭✭
    edited September 28

    @stuart_aspinall ..cross posting here. Here is another example of the 'art-of-the-possible"… this is accomplished using an Animation Timeline…. search for posts by John McClary and/or NeilCooke for more details.

    Connector Animation.gif
  • martin_kopplowmartin_kopplow Member Posts: 975 PRO
    edited September 29

    It is done by having one part (Wire) running into another part, pushing it away and then link that other part's movement to the movement of the third (locker arm) and fourth (cut off insulation). It is a chain that has some 'play' in it to take care of the necessary delays. I used a dummy part (flat face) for this, which is then hidden.

    https://cad.onshape.com/documents/674c9e500cfe1d024bd73850/w/50fcbdad5b6aba40f861d4cc/e/d8470a04ac8cd75381d56922?renderMode=0&uiState=68da8d5825c63d1e4d41bf67

  • stuart_aspinallstuart_aspinall Member Posts: 4 PRO

    Martin…Ive downloaded your assembly, and made a copy so I can look at the mates etc….could you just write a step by step of how you did it…like put in any stationary parts and fix them in place…then add the moving parts, with slider and or rotate constraints…then link the linear movement to make the rotation move slightly.

    What I want is the majority of the connector doesnt move and would be there initially, with the clamp arms open. Then step 1 is push wire all way through. Step 2 is lock the arms down. Step 4 (should have written 3,,,lol) is to remove some of the insulation. Ive attached a pic of the steps.

  • stuart_aspinallstuart_aspinall Member Posts: 4 PRO

    Thinking about it, I might be able to make 3 videos and join together. First video with connector there, with clasp open…and I make a video of the wire pushing through. I can then make another where I zoom in on the locking arrangement to show the clasp shutting…..then 3rd video from front of connector, with insulation coming off wire.

    One question….how can I get the 2 arms to move at same time, if I make one close from 80 degrees to zero…I want the other to close from 68 degrees to 0 at the same time….

    Loving trying out and learning Onshape…after 30yrs of Creo…..

    Stu

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