Lines

[B. Jacobs]

I need to conect two circles with a line. What I need is a line that is at the radius of the circles, not the center. I measured the radius of the circles and then went to create a line and did a best fit. The line is generated from the center of the radius'. Is there a way of making the line come off the end of the circles?

Thanks ahead of time

3.5MR2

[Matthew D. Hoedeman]

The only thing I can think of is to offset the line by the radius, and you can use a variable assigned to the actual radius measurement value.

[rebeldude]

Yes! Like Matt said. I've done that before. It works great

[B. Jacobs]

OK here goes,

How would I assign a variable to the radius?
Would this update automaticly when it take the radius measurement?
I am running into alot of these types of parts that have this alignment.
I have never had the chance to go to far into depth with this thing. I am still learning. Baby Steps.
Sorry if I sound like I do not know what I am doing, but I am still learning this thing. I have only been using it for about 5 months now.
Thanks to you guys on here I have learned alot in that time.

[Matthew D. Hoedeman]

ASSIGN/V1=CIR1.R
ASSIGN/V2=CIR2.R

Then, construct the offset line, leaving the offsets at zero (I can not get it to accept the variable) then once it is created, enter in the variable for each offset.

[craiger_ny]

This will do what you want without having to create variables. Note the offsets

CIR1       =FEAT/CIRCLE,RECT,OUT,LEAST_SQR
            THEO/0,0,0,0,0,1,1
            ACTL/0,0,0,0,0,1,1
            MEAS/CIRCLE,4,WORKPLANE
            HIT/BASIC,NORMAL,0.5,0,0,1,0,0,0.5,0,0,USE THEO = YES
            MOVE/CIRCULAR
            HIT/BASIC,NORMAL,0,0.5,0,0,1,0,0,0.5,0,USE THEO = YES
            MOVE/CIRCULAR
            HIT/BASIC,NORMAL,-0.5,0,0,-1,0,0,-0.5,0,0,USE THEO = YES
            MOVE/CIRCULAR
            HIT/BASIC,NORMAL,0,-0.5,0,0,-1,0,0,-0.5,0,USE THEO = YES
            ENDMEAS/
CIR2       =FEAT/CIRCLE,RECT,OUT,LEAST_SQR
            THEO/6,0,0,0,0,1,1
            ACTL/6,0,0,0,0,1,1
            MEAS/CIRCLE,4,WORKPLANE
            HIT/BASIC,NORMAL,6.5,0,0,1,0,0,6.5,0,0,USE THEO = YES
            MOVE/CIRCULAR
            HIT/BASIC,NORMAL,6,0.5,0,0,1,0,6,0.5,0,USE THEO = YES
            MOVE/CIRCULAR
            HIT/BASIC,NORMAL,5.5,0,0,-1,0,0,5.5,0,0,USE THEO = YES
            MOVE/CIRCULAR
            HIT/BASIC,NORMAL,6,-0.5,0,0,-1,0,6,-0.5,0,USE THEO = YES
            ENDMEAS/
LIN1       =FEAT/LINE,RECT,UNBND
            THEO/0,0.5,0,1,0,0
            ACTL/0,0.5,0,1,0,0
            CONSTR/LINE,OFFSET
            SURFACE NORMAL = 0,0,1,MULTI POINT
            ID = CIR1,CIR2,,
            OFFSET = CIR1.R,CIR2.R

If you need to offset it to the other side of the circles try:

LIN1       =FEAT/LINE,RECT,UNBND
            THEO/0,0.5,0,1,0,0
            ACTL/0,0.5,0,1,0,0
            CONSTR/LINE,OFFSET
            SURFACE NORMAL = 0,0,1,MULTI POINT
            ID = CIR1,CIR2,,
            OFFSET = -1*CIR1.R,-1*CIR2.R

Craig

[B. Jacobs]

Thanks for the help Matt, and Craiger. It worked great.
Now I know how to do it. I am going to try it on some of the other parts I have.