3 Replies Latest reply on Jul 8, 2014 3:39 PM by Jamil Snead

    Belt/Chain for linear entities

    Evan Remington
    Evan Remington Jul 8, 2014 2:57 PM

      Is there a way to make a feature similar to a belt/chain where one of the entities is linear? I want to model a pully moving a lever.

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        • Re: Belt/Chain for linear entities
          Jamil Snead
          Jamil Snead Jul 8, 2014 3:09 PM (in response to Evan Remington)

          Are you talking about something like this? Are you wondering how to model the "chain" or just how to mate the motion of the pulley to the motion of the lever?

           

          pulley.png

            • Re: Belt/Chain for linear entities
              Evan Remington
              Evan Remington Jul 8, 2014 3:38 PM (in response to Jamil Snead)

              Hi,

               

              Yes, that's almost exactly it, except for two minor differences:

               

              1. The lever will be rotating about an axis parallel to the screen rather than normal to it (which I'm having trouble figuring out how to sketch as well).
              2. The pulley itself will be driven by another lever, rather than by some force applied directly to the belt/chain. The belt will be fixed to some point on the pulley.

               

              I'm more interested in mating the two components than modeling the link itself.

               

              Thanks

                • Re: Belt/Chain for linear entities
                  Jamil Snead
                  Jamil Snead Jul 8, 2014 3:39 PM (in response to Evan Remington)

                  For simply mating the motions of the levers and pulleys you might be able to use gear mates. It might not be perfect but maybe it is close enough for your purposes.

                   

                  If you are looking for a way to model the belt so that it updates dynamically as you move a lever, that will be very difficult. I think maybe the best you can do is draw it in context of the assembly with the ends tied to the levers. Then after you move the levers a rebuild would update the belt.