Tangent Constraint and Spline Curves

[shift1313]

This may seem like a silly question but can you apply a tangent constraint between a spline and a mirror of that spline? This is something I do in SolidWorks but it doesnt seem to work in IV. What I have to do is add a horizontal reference line perpendicular to my centerline and I can apply a tangent constraint between that and my spline. Here is a screen shot of what im talking about. the green sketch lines in the middle are actually another 2d sketch and not contained in this sketch.

[shift1313]

i thought i would throw a screen shot up from SW. I have some reference lines, a single spline mirrored, then applied a tangent constraint to the splines. Just curious if this is possible in IV. I also noticed that i could apply a tangent constraint (In IV) to my reference line but it only updated the original and not the mirror. For instance if i just drag one of the control points, both update in SW but not in IV. In my first post the mirror line is a center line reference and not just a reference line if that makes a difference.

 

thanks

[JD Mather]

The method I would use in Inventor is to create sketch points for the nodes of the curve on one side and then mirror those points to the other side (except of course, the apex point which doesn't need mirrored). Then create one continuous spline through all points rather than trying to mirror spline. Add tangent or you could add horizontal constraint to handle at apex node.

 

That is the method I would use in Inventor, but I did try it your way and that worked for me on my trial, but I think I do seem to recall a problem in the past where I couldn't get it to work. Can you attach your file?

[shift1313]

I can make a file to attach at home, but I didnt save anything because I was just playing around with different sketch methods. Thanks for the reply ill give your method a shot tonight. I've just been exploring methods in IV to work with 3d surfaces to see what is the best procedure for me to use. I wish there was a way in a 3d sketch to mirror a spline about a plane. I havent figured one out so i sketch my splines in 2d and project them onto a surface to achieve what i want. What I do in SW is mirror my spline and this allows me to pull my control points around and simultaneously adjust the mirror curve at the same time. It seems as though once mirrored in IV, there is no association to the original curve. is this true?

 

Is there any method to mirroring 3d curves that maybe im missing?

 

 

thanks