Modeling Electrical Cables & Connectors

[gerald.e.tucker]

Does anyone have any good pointers, suggestions, or resourcesfor modeling electrical connectors and wiring within a machine control box?


I don't have Pro/CABLE.


Thanks!

 

[design-engine]

solution:
purchase pro cable it will save you head aches because Pro/CABLE will calculate the wire lengths... pin call outs etc.W/O procable you have to use ISDX to pick across assemblies then sweep a solid down that trajectory. Difficult to get the length (at least its not automaticly generated and placed onto your drwaing)

Call your local PTC Get Pro/CABLEand RSD is relatively inexpensive too.

 

[csusie]

You dont need Pro/CABLE or ISDX.

It will be more complicated however. You really have to
look at how much cabling you are going to be doing to
see if the cost of Pro/CABLE is worth it.

You can track lengths using analysis features and
relations.

If you need a peg board harness drawing that my be
difficult if you dont use pro/cable.

So you really need to look at how much cabling you are
doing and what deliverables you need.

 

[c_thompson_68]

Gerald,

I have done this for other customers. First the cable should be a separate part, and it will have a family table containing the generic (formed) and a flat version. To do this I used an evaluate feature to calculate the length of the cable, then create a flat length (suppressed in the generic) using the relation (equation) to drive the length of the flat cable. My method is probably the same or similar to Corey's in the previous post.

This worked very nicely in the drawings, and I did it without ISDX. Molex (www.molex.com) has electrical connectors that can be downloaded. However, to make this method work the connectors required additional datum pts. I have done this for several customers and they have been happy with the results. The connectors needed to be lined-up in the proper location in the upper level assembly.

If you plan to do a lot of this work, buy the Pro/Cable module as it can be time consuming. However, none of my customers had the Pro/Cable and wanted to have the ablility to easily modify the cable length in the drawings. I would be happy to provide this service as a consultant if needed, and my rates are reasonable, but not cheap.

Regards,

Chris Thompson
www.appianwaytech.com
SolidWorks Office Premium 2007 & 2009
Pro-E Wildfire 2.0 & 3.0








Edited by: c_thompson_68