Inventor Assembly With Joints Tutorial

Through this tutorial, you will gain basic skills to help you understand how and when to use Joints as an assembly constraining mechanism. Joints have great benefits when compared to traditional 3D constraints; however, they may not always be the most efficient solution to your assembly needs. You will develop your own assembly style using a blend of traditional constraints and joints as you develop experience with the software.

Step 1: Where to Begin

To begin this tutorial download and extract the attached .ZIP file. Open Autodesk Inventor and begin a New Standard.iam file.

Step 2: Place and Ground a Part

1. On the ribbon, click Place component.

2. Browse to the folder you downloaded in the previous step. Select FixturePlate.ipt, and then click Open to place in the assembly.

3. When the preview appears on the screen, right-click and select Place Grounded at Origin. One instance is placed and grounded.

4. Right-click and select OK to finish.

Step 3: Rotate a Part Before Placing

1. Click Place component.

2. Click Base_1.ipt, and then click Open to place in the assembly.

3. Drag the part to the side as shown in the video, and then right-click and select Rotate X 90.

4. Left-click in the graphics area to place one copy, right-click and select OK to finish.

Step 4: Position and Connect the Base

1. On the ribbon, click Joint.

2. Rotate the view as shown in the video and select the slot arc center to define the first origin.

3. Move your mouse slightly until the entire shaft highlights and then click to define the second origin. Make sure you do not click the midpoint. A Rigid joint type is selected.

4. Click the first alignment selection in the toolbar and then select the outside top edge of the base as shown in the video. Notice the direction of the alignment arrow.

5. Click the outer top edge of the fixture plate as shown in the video to define the second alignment selection.

6. Click the OK check-mark to finish. The Base is positioned on the FixturePlate with a Rigid joint connection.

TIP: Your component alignment may be different than the one shown in the video. If so, the key point is to pick edges with forward-facing alignment arrows.

Step 5: Place and Connect the Shaft

1. Click Place component.

2. Click Ball_1.ipt, and then click Open to place in the assembly.

3. Drag the part to the side in the graphics area as shown in the video, right-click before placing and select Rotate X 90.

4. Left-click in the graphics area to place one copy, right-click and select OK to finish.

5. On the ribbon, click Joint.5. On the ribbon, click Joint.

6. Click the midpoint of the shaft to define the first origin.

7. Click the midpoint of the tube on the base to define the second origin. Notice the type changed to Cylindrical.

8. Click finish.

Step 6: Place and Connect the Link

1. Click Place component.

2. Click Connector_1.ipt, and then click Open to place in the assembly.

3. Drag the part to the side in the graphics area as shown in the video, right-click before placing and select Rotate X 90.

4. Left-click in the graphics area to place one copy, right-click and select OK to finish.

5. On the ribbon, click Joint.

6. Click the midpoint of the connector pin to define the first origin.

7. Click the midpoint of the hole in the ball shaft to define the second origin. Notice the type changed to Cylindrical.

8. Click the drop-down and change the type to Rotational to remove the side to side movement.

9. Click finish.

Step 7: Place the Lever

Be sure to watch the step video before proceeding. This component is rotated three times before placing.

1. Click Place component.

2. Click Lever_1.ipt, and then click Open to place in the assembly.

3. Drag the part to the side in the graphics area as shown in the video, right-click before placing and select Rotate Z 90 twice, and then Rotate X 90 once.

4. Left-click in the graphics area to place one copy, right-click and select OK to finish.

Step 8: Use a Between Two Faces Joint

1. On the ribbon, click Joint.

2. Start the Joint command. Right-click and select Between Two Faces. Select the inside planar faces as shown in the video, and then click a point on the new plane that aligns with the hole centers to finish the first Connect selection.

3. Select the midpoint of the rivet at the back of the connector, change the joint type to Rotational, and then click finish.

4. Using the Traditional Constraining tool, select the axis of rivet attached to the Lever.

5. Now select the axis of the back hole of the Base to connect the lever and complete the traditional Mate Constraint.

6. On the ribbon, click the View tab and then click Degrees of Freedom in the visibility panel. Observe that the assembly has rotational and translational freedom. Click Degrees of Freedom again to toggle the display off.

7. Click the Home view and then drag the lever to observe the allowable movement.

Step 9: Add and Position the Socket

1. Rotate your view of the assembly to be looking at the back and then click Place component.

2. Click Socket_1.ipt, and then click Open to place in the assembly.

3. Drag the part to the side as shown in the video, right-click and select Rotate X 90.

4. Left-click in the graphics area to place one copy, right-click and select OK to finish.

5. On the ribbon, click Joint.

6. Click the spherical point inside the socket define the first origin.

7. Click the ball center point on the shaft to define the second origin. Notice the type changed to Ball.

8. Click the first alignment selection in the toolbar.

9. Click the lower linear edge of the socket as shown in the video.

10. Drag the cursor as shown in the video and then click in the graphics screen to set the new position.

Step 10: Lock a Component

1. Click the Back face on the view cube.

2. Start the Free Rotate command and drag the socket to a vertical position as shown in the video and then click update.

3. Click the Home view and then expand the Relationships folder or the Socket component on the browser.

The socket position is fixed, but unlike grounding, the socket can move when connected components change position.

Step 11: Redefine a Joint

1. Right-click the Rigid joint on the browser and select Edit in the context menu.

2. Click the drop-down in toolbar and select Slider.

3. Click the Limits tab.

4. In the Linear panel, click Start and enter a value of 0. Click Current and enter -0.7. Click End and enter a value of -1.4.

5. Click OK to finish defining the connection.

6. Right-click the Slider joint on the browser and select Lock. Drag the base to observe the behavior.

7. Right-click the Slider joint on the browser and click Lock to clear the check mark. Drag the base to observe the behavior.

Step 12: Summary and Challenge

Congratulations! You have completed the second assembly tutorial. In this tutorial you learned how to :

* Insert a grounded component

* Rotate components before placing

* Position components and define motion

* Redefine a joint

* Lock a joint

* Set joint limits

You learned how to apply the following joint types:

* Rigid

* Cylindrical

* Rotational

* Ball

* Slider

CHALLENGE: Try inserting and connecting the Grip to the Handle.