4

Lesson 4: Assembly Basics

Upon successful completion of this lesson, you will be able to create and modify the part
named Tutor2 and create the Tutor assembly.

Tutor1 Tutor2

Tutor assembly

This lesson plan corresponds to SolidWorks 2001 Getting Started pages 4-1 through 4-8.

SolidWorks Student Workbook 37

 4
Assembly Basics

In this chapter, you build a simple assembly. This chapter discusses the following:
q Adding parts to an assembly

q Moving and rotating components in an assembly

q Specifying the assembly mating relations that make the parts fit together

SolidWorks 2001 Getting Started 4-1

Mastering the Basics

Assembly Overview

An assembly is a combination of two or more parts, also called components, within one
SolidWorks document. You position and orient components using mates. Mates form
relations between faces and edges of components.
In this chapter, you create a new base part and mate it to the part you created in the
40-Minute Running Start chapter, to create an assembly.
For more information about assemblies, see the SolidWorks 2001 Online User’s Guide.

Creating the Base Feature

You can use the same methods you learned in Chapter 3 to create the base for a new part.
1 Open a new part from the Tutorial tab.
2 Click Sketch , and sketch a rectangle beginning at the origin.
3 Click Dimension , and dimension the rectangle to 120mm x
120mm.
4 Click Extruded Boss/Base , and extrude the rectangle, with an
End Condition of Blind, to a Depth of 90mm.

5 Click Fillet , and fillet the four edges shown with a radius of
10mm.

6 Click Shell . Select the front face of the model as the face to
remove, and set the Thickness to 4mm.
7 Save the part as Tutor2. (The .sldprt extension is added to the file
name.)

4-2
 Chapter 4 Assembly Basics

Creating a Lip on the Part

In this section, you use the Convert Entities and Offset Entities tools to create sketch
geometry. Then a cut creates a lip to mate with the part from the previous chapter.

TIP: Use the Selection Filter to make selecting the faces in this section
easier. See "Selection Filter" in "More about Basic Functionality" for
more information.

1 Click Zoom to Area , or click View, Modify, Zoom to

Area, and zoom in on a corner of the part, as shown. Click
Zoom to Area again to turn off the tool.
2 Select the thin wall on the front face of the part, and click
Sketch to open a sketch.
The edges of the part face are highlighted.
3 Click Convert Entities on the Sketch Tools toolbar, or
click Tools, Sketch Tools, Convert Entities.
The outer edges of the selected face are projected (copied)
onto the sketch plane as lines and arcs.
4 Click the front face again.
5 Click Offset Entities on the Sketch Tools toolbar, or
click Tools, Sketch Tools, Offset Entities.
6 Set the Offset Distance to 2mm.
The preview shows the offset extending outward.
7 Select the Reverse check box to change the offset
direction.
8 Click OK .
A set of lines is added in the sketch, offset from the outside
edge of the selected face by 2mm. This relation is
maintained if the original edges change.
9 Click Extruded Cut , or click Insert, Cut, Extrude.
10 Under Direction 1, set the Depth to 30mm, and click
OK .
The material between the two lines is cut, creating the lip.

SolidWorks 2001 Getting Started 4-3

Mastering the Basics

Changing the Color of a Part

You can change the color and appearance of a part or its features.
1 Click the Tutor2 icon at the top of the FeatureManager design tree.
2 Click Shaded .
3 Click Edit Color on the Standard toolbar.
The Edit Color dialog box appears.
4 Click the desired color on the palette, then click OK.
5 Save the part.

Creating the Assembly

Now create an assembly using the two parts.

1 If Tutor1.sldprt is not open, click Open on the Standard toolbar and open it.
2 Open a new assembly from the Tutorial tab.
3 Click Window, Tile Horizontally to display all three windows. Close any extra
windows.
4 Drag the Tutor1 icon from the top of the FeatureManager design tree for Tutor1.sldprt,
and drop it in the FeatureManager design tree of the assembly window (Assem1).
Notice that as you move the pointer into the FeatureManager design tree, the pointer
changes to .
Adding a part to an assembly this way results in the part automatically inferencing the
assembly origin. When a part inferences the assembly origin:
• the part’s origin is coincident with the assembly origin.
• the planes of the part and the assembly are aligned.

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 Chapter 4 Assembly Basics

5 Drag the Tutor2 icon from Tutor2.sldprt, and drop it in the graphics area of the
assembly window, beside the Tutor1 part.
Notice that as you move the pointer into the graphics area, the pointer changes to .

6 Save the assembly as Tutor. (The .sldasm extension is added to the file name.) If you
see a message about saving referenced documents, click Yes.
7 Drag a corner of the assembly window to enlarge it, or click Maximize in the
upper-right corner to make the window full size. You no longer need to have the
Tutor1.sldprt and Tutor2.sldprt windows in view.
8 Click Zoom to Fit .

SolidWorks 2001 Getting Started 4-5

Mastering the Basics

Mating the Components

In this section, you define assembly mating relations between the components, making
them align and fit together.
1 Click Isometric on the Standard Views toolbar.
2 Click Mate on the Assembly toolbar, or click Insert, Mate.
3 Click the top edge of Tutor1, then click the Select these edges
outside edge of the lip on the top of Tutor2.
The edges appear in the Selections list.
4 Under Selections, do the following:
• Click Coincident as the mate type.
• Click Closest as the Mate Alignment.
5 Click Preview to preview the mate.
Tutor1 Tutor2
The selected edges of the two components are
made coincident.
6 Click OK .
The position of the Tutor2 component in the assembly is not fully defined, as shown by
the (-) prefix in the FeatureManager design tree. Tutor2 still has some degrees of freedom
to move in directions that are not yet constrained by mating relations.
1 Click Move Component .
2 Click the Tutor2 component and hold
down the left mouse button.
Notice the pointer shape .
3 Drag the component from side to side to
observe the available degrees of
freedom, then release the left mouse
button.
4 Click Move Component again to exit move mode.

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 Chapter 4 Assembly Basics

Adding More Mates

1 Select the rightmost face of one component, Select these faces
then hold down Ctrl, and select the
corresponding face on the other component.
2 Click Mate .
3 Select Coincident and Closest.
4 Click Preview to preview the mate.
5 Click OK .
6 Repeat Steps 1 through 5, selecting the top
faces of both components, to add another
Coincident mate.

Select these faces

7 Save the assembly.

SolidWorks 2001 Getting Started 4-7

Lesson 4: Assembly Basics

Active Learning Exercises

Follow the instructions in SolidWorks 2001 Getting Started pages 4-1 through 4-8. In this
lesson you will first create Tutor2. Then create you will create an assembly.

Tutor1 Tutor assembly Tutor2

5 Minute Assessment

1 What features did you use to create Tutor2? ________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________
2 What two sketch tools did you use to create the Cut-Extrude feature? ______________
_____________________________________________________________________
3 What does the Convert Entities sketch tool do?_______________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
4 What does the Offset Entities sketch tool do? ________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
5 In an assembly, parts are referred to as ______________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
6 True or False. A fixed component is free to move. _____________________________
7 True or False. Mates are relationships that align and fit components together in an
assembly. _____________________________________________________________
8 How many components does an assembly contain?_____________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
9 What mates are required for the Tutor assembly?_____________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

38 SolidWorks Student Workbook

 Lesson 4: Assembly Basics

Exercises and Projects

Task 1
The switchplate created in Chapter 1 requires two fasteners to
complete the assembly.

Question:

How do you determine the size of the holes in the switchplate?

Answer:

_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________

Given:

The diameter of the fastener is 3.5mm.

The switchplate is 10mm deep.

Procedure:
1 Open the switchplate.
2 Modify the diameter of the two holes to 4mm.
3 Save the changes.

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Lesson 4: Assembly Basics

Exercises and Projects

Task 2
Design and model a fastener that is appropriate for the
switchplate. Your fastener may (or may not) look like the
one shown at the right.

Design Criteria:

The fastener must be longer than the thickness of the

switchplate.

The switchplate is 10mm thick.

The fastener must be 3.5mm in diameter.

The head of the fastener must be larger than the hole in the
switchplate.

Good Modeling Practice

Fasteners are always modeled in a simplified form. That is,

although a real machine screw has threads on it, these are not
included in the model.

40 SolidWorks Student Workbook

 Lesson 4: Assembly Basics

Exercises and Projects

Task 3
Create the switchplate-fastener assembly.

Procedure:
1 Create a new assembly.
The fixed component is the switchplate.
2 Drag the switchplate into the assembly window.
3 Drag the fastener into the assembly window.
4 Use Move Component to position the fastener in front of the first hole.
The switchplate-fastener requires three mates to fully define the assembly.
1 Create a Concentric mate between the
cylindrical face of the fastener and the
cylindrical face of the hole in the
switchplate.

Faces

2 Create a Coincident mate between the back flat

face of the fastener and the flat front face of
the switchplate. Faces

3 Create a Parallel mate between one of

the flat faces on the slot of the
fastener and the flat top face of the
switchplate.
Note: If the necessary faces do not exist
in the fastener or the
switchplate, create the parallel
mate using the appropriate reference Faces
planes in each component.

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Lesson 4: Assembly Basics

4 Add a second instance of the fastener to the assembly.

You can add components to an assembly by dragging and
dropping:
• Hold the Ctrl key, and then drag the component either from
the FeatureManager design tree, or from the graphics area.
• The pointer changes to .
• Drop the component in the graphics area by releasing the
left mouse button and the Ctrl key.
5 Add three mates to fully define the second fastener to the
switchplate-fastener assembly.

6 Save the switchplate-fastener assembly.

42 SolidWorks Student Workbook

 Lesson 4: Assembly Basics

Exercises and Projects:

Task 4
Assemble the cdcase and storagebox that you created in Chapter 2.

Procedure:
1 Create a new assembly.
The fixed component is the storagebox.
2 Drag the storagebox into the assembly window.
Locate the storagebox at the assembly origin using inferencing.
3 Drag the cdcase into the assembly window to the right of the storagebox.
4 Create a Coincident mate between
the bottom face of the cdcase and
the inside bottom face of the
storagebox.

Faces

5 Create a Coincident mate between

the back face of the cdcase and
the inside back face of the
storagebox.
Inside back face

Faces

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Lesson 4: Assembly Basics

6 Create a Distance mate between the

left face of the cdcase and the inside
left face of the storagebox.
Enter 1cm for Distance.
7 Save the assembly.
Enter cdcase-storagebox for the
filename.

Component Patterns

Create a linear pattern of the cdcase

component in the assembly.
The cdcase is the seed component. The Faces
seed component is what gets copied in the
pattern.
1 Click Insert, Component Pattern.
The Pattern Type dialog is displayed.
2 Click Define your own pattern (Local).
Make sure the option Arrange in straight lines
(Linear) is selected.
3 Click Next.
The Local Component Pattern dialog box is
displayed.

4 Select the component to be patterned.

Make sure the Seed Component(s) field is
active, and then select the cdcase component
from the FeatureManager design tree or the
graphics area.

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 Lesson 4: Assembly Basics

5 Define the direction for the pattern.

Click inside the Along Edge/Dim text
box to make it active.
Click the top horizontal front edge of
the storagebox.
6 Observe the direction arrow.
The preview arrow should point to the
right. If it does not, click the Reverse
Direction check box.
7 Enter 2 for Spacing. Enter 25 for
Instances. Click Finish.
The Local Component Pattern Feature
is added to the FeatureManager design
tree.
8 Save the assembly.
Click Save. Use the name cdcase-
storagebox.

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Lesson 4: Assembly Basics

Lesson 3 Vocabulary Worksheet

Name: _______________________________Class: _________ Date:_______________

Fill in the blanks with the words that are defined by the clues. Then find the words in the
puzzle and circle them. The words may be vertical, horizontal, or diagonal. They may be
spelled forward or backward.

1 _____________ Entities copies one or more curves into the active sketch by projecting
them onto the sketch plane.
2 In an assembly, parts are referred to as: ______________________________________
3 Relationships that align and fit components together in an assembly:_______________
4 The symbol (f) in the FeatureManager design tree indicates a component is:_________
5 The symbol (-) indicates a component is:_____________________________________
6 When you make a component pattern, the component you are copying is called the
________________________ component.
7 A SolidWorks document that contains two or more parts:________________________
8 You cannot move or rotate a fixed component unless you __________________ it first.

46 SolidWorks Student Workbook