Cable Joint

You can create a Cable Joint to simulate linear translation of two components. This compound joint is helpful for conceptualizing a pulley system that translates to linear movement.

See Also
Types of Mates
Functional Joints
Add Mate
  1. Import your components or assembly in the 3D area.

    Start with at least three components in your assembly: two components to create the cable joint between, and at least one other fixed component used to define the position for two sliding components.

  2. From the Assembly section of the action bar, click Cable Joint .
  3. In the Cable Joint dialog box, under Components, select two or more components to use in the cable joint.
  4. Set the Ratio (R1:R2).

    You may enter any ratio in this format (R1:R2) where R1 is the first component selected and R2 is the second component selected. A 1:1 ratio assumes that the components translate at the same rate. If the setting is 1:2, the second component translates twice as far as the first component.

  5. Optional: Click Reverse drive to swap the direction of the components so that they slide in the same direction.

    The components slide in the opposite direction by default.

    Once you have selected both components, the dialog refreshes to show which mates require defining for each component. Each of the two prerequisite joints are listed in the combo box above its corresponding mates. The ratio, joint, and component names are shown for each component along with the counter to track completed mates. Incomplete mates are displayed in a yellow counter and once you complete the mate requirements for each, the counter is displayed as blue.

    You can also select *Clear/Make new selections to clear the preselected mates and select new references.

  6. Complete the Concentric, Coincident, and Starting Distance requirements for each of the two selected components.

    Each mate type is described in the following table. Incomplete mates are denoted with a grey asterisk and required mates are denoted with an orange asterisk . If the prerequisite mates already exist before running this command, the precreated mates load in the appropriate fields.

    OptionDescription
    Coincident. Select a plane or planar face from both sliding components and from another component, to constrain the sliding components in the first and second direction.

    Click Flip Orientation to reverse the orientation of the components relative to the selected plane or face.

    Starting Distance. Select a plane or planar face from the sliding components and the other assembly component to define the component’s starting position. A distance might be provided automatically based on your selections.

    When a distance is displayed in the box, you can change the value for the starting position of the sliding component.

    Click Flip Orientation to reverse the orientation of the sliding components relative to the selected planes or faces.

    In Offset, set the starting distance for the linear translation of this component.
  7. Click when finished identifying the mating parameters.

    All mates must be defined with the counters displaying to fully constrain the Cable Joint, but only the Starting Distance mates are required to complete the command.