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Dialog: Cam Coordinate-Data

Contents

Cam-Coordinates Data dialog-box

See Add Cam-Data FB

Edit a Cam-Data FB to open Cam-Coordinates dialog-box, then:

•	Select a 2D-Cam

•	Calculate cam-coordinates in different formats.and save to different file-types

Action 1A

Add 2D-Cam

... optional ...

Action 1B

Edit Cam Display and Properties dialog-box

Action 2A

Add Cam-Data FB

Action 2B

Edit Cam-Data FB select a 2D-Cam

Action 3A

Output-Connectors from Cam-Data FB are:

➢	Contact-Force*

➢	Contact-Shear-Stress*

➢	Radius-of-Curvature

➢	Pressure-Angle

➢	Entrainment Velocity

Action 3B

Edit Cam-Data FB and Calculate Cam-Coordinates as:

➢

Points

➢

Bi-Arcs

➢

DXF, STEP

➢	Transfer directly to SOLIDWORKS

*Force analysis only: Configure Power Source

Cam Coordinates: File types and Formats

Save Cam Surface as :	Bi-Arcs	Equal Machine Angle Increments
STEP :	N/A	Surface of Tracks
TEXT :	Internal, External	Internal, External, Pitch-Curve
DXF :	Internal, External	Internal, External

Direct export to SOLIDWORKS as :	Internal, External	Internal, External, Pitch-Curve
Table of 2D-Cam file-types and formats

Cam-Coordinates dialog-box

Cam Coordinates dialog-box - MD14.

Clear Data in the table

Save as File types

•

STEP

•

DXF

•

ASC

•

TXT

Copy Data in table to Clipboard

Calculate Coordiantes for

•	Internal Cam 1

•	External Cam 2

•	Pitch-Curve

Toggle :

Equal Increments: Calculate Cam-Coordinates with equal increments of Master Machine Angle with the 'Number-of-Points' as entered in '# Points' [10].

Chord Error: Calculate Cam with Biarcs, with a maximum Chord Error equal to the value in Box [10]

Calculate Cam Coordinates as:

XY-Points as Equal Machine Angle Increments

Bi-Arcs with a Chord Error

Send Cam-Coordinates to SOLIDWORKS®.

To a new or an existing open SOLIDWORKS® Part document.

Save the active SOLIDWORKS® document before you click button

Bi-Arcs are constructed in SOLIDWORKS as sketch entities.

Points are constructed in SOLIDWORKS as Curves, which you can convert to a Spline sketch-element. See Note 4

Note: You can also save the Cam as a STEP file.

Traffic-Light Red - Click to calculate coordinates.

Traffic Light Green - Cam Coordinates are ready. You can save them to disk or export to SOLIDWORKS®

When you click this icon, MechDesigner calculates the Cam-Coordinates again with:

•	[4]: Cam 1 or Cam 2 or the Pitch Circle Coordinates

•	[5] Equal increments of the Master Machine Angle[Points only] or Chord Error [Biarcs only]

•	[6] Points or Biarcs

[Does not do anything [MD14+]]: Closed Cam: When you calculate the Cam-Coordinates, the first and last cam point become different.

[Does do anything [MD14+]] Open Cam: The first and last coordinate become the same. The cam will be closed.

Click to display a Cam 'plot' of actual cam-points that are calculated.

Enter Maximum Chord Error

Use with 'Chord Error' option. [Minimum ~0.1µm. Experiment!]

Enter Number-of-Points

Use with 'Equal Increments' option. [Maximum ~100,000. Experiment!]

MD14+ 'Save Options' button [See 'Save Options' box, below]

Delimiter for a Cam Save as TXT file: Comma [,]; Tab [ ]; Colon [:]; Space [ ]; Semi-Colon [;]; Dash [-].

STEP File Options:

Spline with End Corrections?

Spline to Interpolate 'actual' Kinematic Points?

The Calculated Cam Coordinates, using the button settings detailed above.

'Save Options' box.

Notes:

Note 1: When you use Part Coordinate for a rotating 2D-Cam (a standard 2D-Cam), make sure the Origin of the Part is the Centre of the Cam.

Note 3: The maximum error between the 'true' cam and the actual cam data is less with Chord Error with Arcs than with Chord Error with Line.

Note 4: The data will be on the XY Plane, with Z columns as '0'. SOLIDWORKS fits a Spline to it immediately.

If you need to put the data on a different plane in SolidWorks, then you will need to change the data slightly in Excel. Add a column of zeros in the X, Y or Z column. Possibly multiply a column -1. Then import the data as a Curve entity into SOLIDWORKS.

The Cam as Arc Data has six columns:

1	2	3	4	5	6
Arc Radius	Arc Start Point X Coordinate	Arc End Point X Coordinate	Arc Start Point Y Coordinate	Arc End Point Y Coordinate	Arc Angle Range (degs)

Tutorial and Reference Help Files for MechDesigner and MotionDesigner 13.2 + © Machine, Mechanism, Motion and Cam Design Software by PSMotion Ltd