Automatic trimming of geometric objects in CAD/CAM systems

A computer readable medium encoded with a program that, when executed on a computer aided design (CAD) system, performs a method of trimming a design that is formed on the CAD system by an interaction of a first model primitive and a second model primitive, the CAD system including a sketcher that creates the first and second model primitives based upon design actions taken by a user, a display and a display system that displays the first and second model primitives on the display, the method comprising the steps of:

• assigning a first attribute to the first model primitive and a second attribute to the second model primitive;
• determining, in response to the creation of the second model primitive, a trimmed interaction of the first and second model primitives based upon the first and second attributes;
• and
• displaying a trimmed geometry representing the trimmed interaction of the first and second model primitives on the display.

A computer readable medium encoded with a program that, when executed on a computer aided design (CAD) system, performs a method of trimming a design that is formed on the CAD system by an interaction of a first model primitive and a second model primitive, the CAD system including a sketcher that creates the first and second model primitives based upon design actions taken by a user, a display and a displays system that displays the first and second model primitives on the display, the method comprising the steps of:

• creating, in response to the creation of the second model primitive, a trimmed geometry representing a trimmed interaction of the first and second model primitives;
• displaying the trimmed geometry on the display system;
• and
• retaining the first and second model primitives after the trimmed geometry is created.

A computer readable medium encoded with a program that, when executed on a computer aided design (CAD) system performs a method of trimming design that is formed on the CAD system by an interaction of model primitives, the CAD system including a sketcher that creates the model primitives based upon design actions taken by a user, a display and a display system that displays the model primitives on the display, the method comprising the steps of:

• inferring, according to a predetermined protocol, a selected one of a plurality of possible trimmed representations of an interaction of a first model primitive and a second model primitive;
• creating a trimmed geometry corresponding to the selected one of the plurality of trimmed representations;
• and
• displaying the trimmed geometry on the display.