Newbie Inventor questions about folds and bends mostly.

[Elforbo1987]

So i am in an inventor class and my teacher assigned the three drawings i attached below.

 

1.) How would i go about drawing this? There is no assigned thickness. I'm not sure what the height of the bottom pyramid shape is. I tried 1.4 at 45 degrees and that didn't work.

 

2.) My main problem here is that the folds or bends do not look the same. In the picture the fold or bend line is a single strait line for the long vertical piece going back 32 degrees, not a wide bend shape with 2 lines which is what i get.

 

And the flat horizontal piece on the left has a straight 90 degree bend on the inside with what appears to be a rounded edge on the other side. Can you bend something to have that flat 90 degree corner in Inventor? Or would you have to cut to get that?

 

3.) Finally the fan cover. I did this drawing and everything came out great except the little flanges for screws are not flush with the back of the fan cover. It should all be flush on one level but mine stick out some raising it. How can you make the screw pieces flush?

 

Thanks for your help. Sorry it's a lot all in one post.

[kpyoung333]

The thickness is .06 for the clip and .062 for the pyramid based on the drawing dimensions. Attached are the files I drew up, had to move the End Of Folded marker in the model tree up to make the file small enough to upload (saves +300mb dragging the end of part up btw). Make sure that you give yourself enough relief on the fan screw tabs to make the tab back flush.

Elforbo1.ipt

Elforbo2.ipt

[Elforbo1987]

Make sure that you give yourself enough relief on the fan screw tabs to make the tab back flush.

 

Thanks a lot! This really helps me understand a little better how sheet metal works and how to read the drawings. What do you mean enough relief? How do i give myself more relief? Should i use a flange or bend here? I created the rest of it using flange.

 

TIA

[Elforbo1987]

The more i look at the pyramid sketch the more I'm confused as to how you got the dimensions for it. Did you start with a flat pattern?

[kpyoung333]

Yeah, started with flat piece, drew general shape with constraints driven so that when you change one side (ex: 9/32 relief circle, 1/16 offset from bend line, pyramid angle, box length & width, box height, pyramid height) the other sides update as well. That way the shape can be made, measured, then adjusted. For instance, if the height is supposed to be 1.5 that is what I initially put but made it too tall, reduced dimension to 1.43 and it fits to the desired measurement. Same with the 35.25 angle, started at 45° then went to 35°, then 35.5 then 35.25, probably not the most technical way but fast and effective. For the 1.91 triangles started at the desired 1.5 length but the angle adds a bunch so measured, adjusted, repeated until at 1.5, that is what the bottom plane is for, just to measure from easily. A lot of sheet metal is making the shape and then tightening the gaps and distances. Attached is the fan tab drawn two different ways to get the same result. Combining these two drawing methods will allow you to make complicated parts. A lot of times I will draw a part with tons of extrusion cuts, flanges, added material extrusions, etc to get the shape, then start all over with a better attack and simplified commands.

Elforbo3.ipt

Elforbo4.ipt

[Elforbo1987]

I actually drew this at school before attempting to redraw at home. And the school drawing has flush parts. I wish i remember how i did that lol.

 

I'll have to play with the pyramid more and see what all you did.

 

Thanks a lot man. A lot of help. Unfortunately my teacher likes to assign Youtube videos for us to learn and doesn't do much teaching himself.

[Elforbo1987]

This is too much. Maybe this field isn't for me.

[kpyoung333]

Keep your head up, make sure you read all the sticky posts in the forum and watch youtube videos, they will help you with the small stuff. As for the big stuff, write down a list of questions and take to your teacher. You will want to set your computer on fire for many years, learned AutoCAD in 1998 and still get frustrated, crash my computer, and curse at it shaking my fist. If your brain doesn't hurt and a fury is not building you're not trying hard enough. Good luck!

[JD Mather]

.... Did you start with a flat pattern?

 

You should (almost) never start from the flat pattern.

Model sheet metal parts in finished form and let the software generate the flat pattern for you.

Is your instructor giving you any instruction?

Forget you ever saw the Fold command - this is not the proper way to model sheet metal parts.

[kpyoung333]

JD I agree with you, using Fold is much more difficult than Flange, would this be the best way you model that pyramid based on the parameters given?

Elforbo2a.ipt

[JD Mather]

The attached is a bit less work.

Watch that the bend at the 45° is not standard (not same as part thickness).

Pyramid.ipt