WORKING WITH ASSEMBLIES:

NOTE: if you are not familiar with the layout of SolidWorks, then click here to familiarize yourself with the layout

This tutorial expands on the parts tutorial. Instead of working with parts, we will be working with assemblies. We will also consider moving individual parts in assemblies.

This tutorial will use the toggle press assembly. You can find this in the togglepress.zip file.

• Start SolidWorks and goto file->open

• Find "press.SLDASM" in the toggle press folder and click open:

Viewing the Assembly:

• You can zoom and rotate around the assembly just like you did with a single part using the standard views , rotation tool , or move and zoom tools. For clarification review working with parts:

Moving the Assembly:

• Since this is a model of a press, lets make it press!

• Select the move component button on the assembly toolbar. The cursor will change to and you can now move individual parts. Click on green part of the model and drag it up or down. You should see the assembly move. You could also click on the handle and move it up or down to simulate the press in action.

• Another option is to use the rotate component button on the assembly toolbar. This button is normally reserved for parts that are mated concentrically because it is often hard to control. It will work though. It is up to you to decide which tool is the best to use in each circumstance. Move component is usually the safe choice though.

Closed	Open

Extracting Dimensions From the Assembly:

• If we want to determine where the green press is in relation to the base we can use the measure tool.
• Go to the main file menu and use Tools>Measure. The cursor will change to a ruler and a dialog box will appear with the title 'Measure.' Click the base (gray) and then click the green part. The measure tool will then display the distance betwen the two parts (100.00 mm)

• If you move the top base by 50mm and measure again you will get the new distance (150 mm):

 

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