About Coupling Engineering Connections

Coupling engineering connections means creating a relation between two components to synchronize their placements, using one engineering connection involving each component.

This page discusses:

See Also
Geometries for Constraints Definition
Constraints Proposed at Geometry Selection

Engineering Connection Types

There are three specific types of coupling: Gear, Cable and Rack.

  • Gear to synchronize two engineering connections containing only one angle (or hinge) constraint each.
  • Cable to synchronize two engineering connections containing only one offset constraint each.
  • Rack to synchronize an engineering connection containing only one offset constraint and an engineering connection containing only one angle (or hinge) constraint.

Compound Constraint

The Compound constraint synchronizes two engineering connections with a simple relation.

The relation is defined by a ratio between:

  • The two angle or hinge values in a Gear.
  • The two offset values in a Cable.
  • The offset value and the angle or hinge value in a Rack.

Important:
  • Changing the constraint values in the Compound dialog box does not affect constraint values in the two engineering connections.
  • The position of the two components is used as the starting position.
  • The direction (offset constraint) or orientation (angle or hinge constraint) in the compound engineering connection depends on the way you are designing the constraints in the two engineering connections. If the relation is not correct, you can modify the relation by changing the sign of one constraint value in the Compound dialog box.

Coupling Constraint

The Coupling constraint synchronizes two engineering connections with a complex relation.

The relation is defined by a ratio between:

  • The two angle or hinge values in a Gear.
  • The two offset values in a Cable.
  • The offset value and the angle or hinge value in a Rack.

Furthermore, one constraint value must be unset in Coupling in order to relatively position the two components (In the Engineering Connection Definition dialog box of the Coupling, right-click one the two engineering connection value and select Unset).

Important:
  • Changing the constraint values in the Coupling dialog box does not affect constraint values in the two engineering connections.
  • Offset boxes in the Coupling dialog box are modifiable when at least one constraint value is unset.

    These boxes are used to define the starting position for the two components.

  • The direction (offset constraint) or orientation (angle or hinge constraint) in the compound engineering connection depends on the way you are designing the constraints in the two engineering connections. If the relation is not correct, you can modify the relation by changing the sign of one constraint value in the Coupling dialog box.