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pimm15-Moonstone
15-Moonstone
July 28, 2014
Question

Tough (but should be easy) question in Pro Mold

  • July 28, 2014
  • 2 replies
  • 3911 views

I almost have a die complete in Pro Mold.

I only have one problem, and that is that I can’t seem to move the imported solid objects which is important.

In our industry we have to mismatch the top die impressions independent of the bottom die impressions.

If I do a copy and move of the solid component for the top die it attempts to keep both of the solids. I can’t remove the original solid by hiding it. I can’t delete the original solid without unhinging the die model.

I just need to offset the top impressions and get rid of their original location in the top die.

Would you have an idea of how I could accomplish this?

It appears that you are stuck with the original position that you import the reference model. If there isn't a work around for this problem which should be simple I'm afraid ProMold is going to be worthless to us. There must be some way around this.


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2 replies

J
James621-Visitor
1-Visitor
July 28, 2014

Hi Paul,

I've always thought that Pro/Mold is used just to lay out core and cavity as a foundation for the rest of the mold. That means the rest of the assembly just inherits what's necesarry, and that way can be the mold assembly used sort of like a skeleton model.

Simply put, if you need to make some extra impressions, then make a whole new part that copies the core or cavity and simply borrows the shape from mold assembly,

Leave the mold assembly as surface volumes, and make your own solid parts of of those, which you can freely edit then. You don't have to use the mold package to create solids from volumes.

Also, to move one of your imported objects, copy it's surfaces to another part, and then move those surfaces wherever you want with copy and paste special.

What version of Creo or Pro/E are you using?

P
pimm15-MoonstoneAuthor
15-Moonstone
July 29, 2014

Thank you for your thoughts on Pro Mold Jakub. I can see this package in the way you describe it.

I just received some assistance with what I'd like to do and the individual who helped me described a method similar to what you suggest. Perhaps I can follow this path but it is quite difficult based on the method I have become accustomed to with ZW CAD. There are some reasons this methodology is difficult to embrace:

1) All I need to do is move a couple impressions in the top die. Based on what I've already experienced there should be a 30 second solution to this problem (just use the move command and move both impressions to where they need to go).

2) I don't like tracking and keeping extra files. If I inadvertantly lose the extra file (which I've already done in Pro Mold) it likely would mean redoing a lot of work and possibly introducing a costly mistake to the shop floor.

3) The parametrics to make a change are a lot looser. You would have to control the model from different part files.

4) To have an independent top and bottom die you can't be sure you won't have unintended collisions between die halves.

If it wasn't for the issue of dirtying data with translating IGES or STEP it would seem to make sense to drop the far more expensive ProMold license and just do all the die work in ZW CAD. The ProMold tool appears to just add time, complexity and a greater likelyhood of making mistakes.

Perhaps I've missed the better features of ProMold, but for crying out loud, I just need to move a couple impressions. I am hoping that the developers might listen and find a better way of interfacing the inserted parts.

I really do appreciate hearing feedback from someone who does use the ProMold software. You've already gone through the struggle of determining what works the best in your situation. I don't know what the options even are. I'm still really hoping that by doing somewhat of a paradym shift on my end I can find a very viable way of using the ProMold software.

I have tried making the reference part as a surface model as you have suggested. My die halves are quilts without impressions. This idea should help me subtract out parts in the position needed. When I select the die and the refererence quilt to remove the impression I do not get the merge option. I'm so close to a solution; I'm not sure why this doesn't work because other merges that I've done with quilts and the die do work. Any ideas?

Thanks a lot for your suggestions.

Yes; and my version of Creo is 2.0 release M90

J
James621-Visitor
1-Visitor
July 29, 2014

Ok, so you are on Creo Parametric 2.0. That's great.

Just to let you know, I don't have the Mold Design extension, it is just waay too expensive for what it offers. I've only had borrowed licence for about one month about two years ago, and then I studied it alot, but after a while figured out it adds almost no value to my workflow.

I make alot of unusual (atypical) mold, and this Mold Design or TDO extension fits mostly for molds for thermoplastic parts, and well, I am not the lucky guy who only makes simple molds for thermoplastic parts, so TDO is kind of useless here.

The only nice function that TDO has is the shrinkage, which happens to show in feature tree, and also that it can be an anisotropic shrinkage that you can simply roll-back, that alone is really nice. The rest of the features are just replacement for tools that are already there in Creo Parametric.

Now, for anisotropic shrinkage I just use Rhinoceros, and the rest of the work I happen to do in Creo.

One thing I'd recommend is to use it while you have it. Does it split the core and cavity faster than it can be done in ZW CAD?

You know you can convert features into an imported feature using Collapse Geometry? That might be a way how to get rid of your "skeleton" models in case you don't tend to keep them, but there is one thing you should always remember, and which will save you tons of time once you will be making some really complex molds. That is parametric modeling is alot like programming. You really should split your code into several files, and do smaller chunks here and there. The recommendation is always to be as descriptive as you can be. It makes designing and design changes easier when you can just replace some parts with others.

One skeleton with 500+ features/datums is just bad idea. You can always introduce layers to these to give them sense, but that's just too much editing kind of work.

I use Collapse Geometry to break links between parts or skeletons pretty often, and also to get rid of circular references. If you have Flexible Modeling Extension you should have no problem editing dead data. With AAX and FMX it's not that hard to recreate the parametric links between parts where they are necesarry anyway.

About merge, if you have the quilt you want to subract from your solid model there with your solid model on part level then you can just use solidify to cut from it. Or you can turn the solid geometry into a quilt using remove feature with the options "Leave open" and "Keep the removed surfaces".

Try to check these options in Remove feature dashboard. They might not be there if you don't have FMX. In case they are there then, well, that should do the job.

I
Inoram14-Alexandrite
14-Alexandrite
July 29, 2014

When you say mismatch the top, do you mean, just pull it away some?

P
pimm15-MoonstoneAuthor
15-Moonstone
July 29, 2014

Hi Matt,

With the term mismatch; in this case it refers to the reference part impressions being moved in the X direction in the top die only. This position leaves a small stagger between top and bottom impressions.

D
dschenken1-Visitor
1-Visitor
July 29, 2014

I would think that mismatch is a bad thing, at least when I get a plastic model kit with mismatch, the smaller parts are often useless - it appears to have a valuable use, but I'm not getting what that use is. Any description for why it is good to add it?

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