Automatic generation of tolerance schemes
AssigneeDassault Systemes SolidWorks Corporation
InventorsClay Tornquist, Todd Jarvinen, Christopher Garcia
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Automatic generation of a tolerance scheme includes accessing data defining a three-dimensional model that defines a part for manufacture, identifying a tolerance feature in the three-dimensional model, determining at least one unconstrained degree of control for the tolerance feature, automatically creating a tolerance scheme for the tolerance feature, and rendering the tolerance scheme and the three-dimensional model in a window such that the tolerance scheme annotates the tolerance feature. The tolerance scheme is based on an engineering standard for communicating a tolerance and constrains the unconstrained degree of control.
Claims20
A computer-implemented method for automatic generation of a tolerance scheme, the method comprising:
- accessing data defining a three-dimensional model that defines a part for manufacture;
- identifying a tolerance feature in the three-dimensional model;
- determining at least one unconstrained degree of control for the tolerance feature;
- automatically creating a tolerance scheme for the tolerance feature;
- rendering the tolerance scheme and the three-dimensional model in a window such that the tolerance scheme annotates the tolerance feature;
- and
- wherein:
- the tolerance scheme is based on an engineering standard for communicating a tolerance;
- and
- the tolerance scheme constrains the unconstrained degree of control.
A computer-readable data storage medium comprising instructions for causing a computer system to:
- create a constraint for an initially unconstrained degree of control of a tolerance feature;
- represent the constraint as a tolerance scheme displayed in a window and annotating the tolerance feature;
- and wherein:
- a type of the tolerance feature determines a tolerance type to include in the tolerance scheme;
- the type of the tolerance feature determines a degree of control required by the constraint, the a degree of control being the initially unconstrained degree of control;
- and
- an attribute supplies a value for the degree of control.
A computer-aided design system comprising:
- a processor operatively coupled to a data storage system, the data storage system storing a three-dimensional model;
- and
- a data storage memory operatively coupled to the processor and comprising instructions to configure the processor to:
- construct a data structure listing a plurality of degrees of control required to constrain a tolerance feature, wherein the plurality of degrees of control required are determined by a type of the tolerance feature;
- marking one of the plurality of degrees of control listed in the data structure as controlled when a pre-existing constraint is applicable to the one of the plurality of degrees of control;
- calculating a tolerance for a second one of the plurality of degrees of control, wherein calculating applies an attribute specified for the second one of the plurality of degrees of control;
- and
- displaying a tolerance scheme that represents the tolerance, wherein the tolerance scheme annotates the tolerance feature in one of a two-dimensional or a three-dimensional view of a model comprised of the tolerance feature.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.