Moving part after initial alignment

[Shaun_Sol]

I'm not sure I can describe this very well but here goes.

I have a cylinder that has threads perpendicular to the cylinder all along the part. I have to rotate the part 180° on V blocks to measure the holes on the bottom. I reset my alignment but the machine does not see that I have rotated the part. I understand I could translate the cad model 180 and that would fix my problem but the features from the first alignment would get in the way of picking new features. I guess I'm just looking for a way to tell the machine I rotated the part. Screen shot is what I see when I rotate my alignment. I'm running CAD++ 2013 MR1

Untitled.jpg

[Rich P]

I was always taught and practiced that if you move a part you need to re-measure alignment features in at least DCC mode
That being said I think that you are looking for equate alignment
That is not a function I have used ---hopefully some else has and can offer some advice
I believe that 1 aspect of this is to re-measure some features and use those to connect the orientation from before to after the movement to sustain measuring relationship

[Shaun_Sol]

I do have it realign, well I would if it didn't think it was already under the part. Equate alignment, I will look into that, it sounds right. Thank you

[BIGWIG7]

theres several ways of going about doing this.

create your program
write a operator comment, move part (leave this until the very end, make sure you inspect as much as possible with your part in its first setup)
create a new alignment.
if you are rotating your part along a single axis, make sure the face stays relatively close to where it is initially (meaning make sure if you are rotating the shaft about y axis and that the y origin is staying close to 0. create a new alignment in dcc, but just make sure you give yourself a bigger prehit retract value.

you'll have to keep in mind you are rotating the part xx degrees so everything you select from the model will be turned xx degrees.


or write 2 programs.

or try to reorient your initial setup so that all the features are accessible.

[Shaun_Sol]

Equate is very close to what I'm looking for because features on my first alignment are called to my second alignment (rotation degrees between threads) I think I have it but I will update how it goes and how I went about it tomorrow.

[Schlag]

Do a cad assembly . The assembly will be with 1 part orientated "up" and 1 "down". Align on the "1st" part, inspect, and then flip the part over, ( add comments in program ) then do the 2nd manual align on the "2nd" part in the assembly and finish the program. I do this all the time.

[BIGWIG7]

Do a cad assembly . The assembly will be with 1 part orientated "up" and 1 "down". Align on the "1st" part, inspect, and then flip the part over, ( add comments in program ) then do the 2nd manual align on the "2nd" part in the assembly and finish the program. I do this all the time.

couldnt you skip the 2nd manual alignment all together and just make a new dcc alignment with some bigger clearance moves to allow for slight movement?

[Schlag]

I always go with 2 manual alignments. ( partially habit ? ). Its rare that the "2nd" 1/2 of my programs are in the same location, most would use 2 different setups / fixtures. After its ran thru 1 once, I unmark the manual aligns so its not like I do them every part. I guess I cant really think of any reason you couldn't do it ? Did I say habit ?

[ADAM WALLACE]

Maybe you can run the alignment after the flip. Stop the program before it measures those features and then use paste/pattern to rotate those said features how ever many degrees needed.

[bfire85]

If I have to move a part mid-program, and some of them I do need to do a flip over, I always do two separate manual and dcc alignments.

Usually I follow this pattern:

Startup Alignment
(Manual Features)
Manual1 Alignment
(DCC Features)
DCC1 Alignment
(Programming features....)

Comment box describing how to flip part around

Startup Alignment
(Manual Features)
Manual2 Alignment
(DCC Features)
DCC2 Alignment
(Programming features....)

Program/End

And like Schlag said above, I unmark my manual alignments, because my fixturing is always in the same location.

[WolfMan]

I do the same thing. I just place a comment to flip the pat , then Mode/Manual, then DCC, done

If I have to move a part mid-program, and some of them I do need to do a flip over, I always do two separate manual and dcc alignments.

Usually I follow this pattern:

Startup Alignment
(Manual Features)
Manual1 Alignment
(DCC Features)
DCC1 Alignment
(Programming features....)

Comment box describing how to flip part around

Startup Alignment
(Manual Features)
Manual2 Alignment
(DCC Features)
DCC2 Alignment
(Programming features....)

Program/End

And like Schlag said above, I unmark my manual alignments, because my fixturing is always in the same location.

[Shaun_Sol]

Still haven't gotten it figured out. The problem is I need one alignment to be able to relate back to dimensions on the other. It is a big heavy part (54" 1500 lbs) So less moves is better. Just my 2 cents on second alignments I almost always use read points and a yes/no comment to skip it if. That way the option is always open and isn't accidentally marked/unmarked

[WolfMan]

Since you are rotating to the flange, you have to use the same features for alignment. Meaning, you need to:

Change to Mode/Manual
Measure the same features from your original Align.
Create New Align using the features
Change to DCC

[BIGWIG7]

Since you are rotating to the flange, you have to use the same features for alignment. Meaning, you need to:

Change to Mode/Manual
Measure the same features from your original Align.
Create New Align using the features
Change to DCC

Why do you have to go to manual mode?

[bfire85]

If you are completely moving a complex part then a manual alignment is needed to find the new location.