Interchange Blues - reference pairs

[akelly]

Using CP 4.  End goal is to be able to swap out un-related PN in the next-higher-level assembly via family tables.

Intermediate Assembly #1 has a tabulated drawing.  It uses instances of part #1 and part #2.  They are mutually-exclusive (i.e. it uses either part #1 or part #2, but never both at the same time).  Key point is that they have similar form-fit-function, thus are mechanically interchangeable for the purposes of this discussion.

Part #1 and Part #2 are separate files.  Made by different people.  And each of them have instances.  The key point is that they DO NOT follow the same modeling philosophy.  But in the context of my next higher assembly, they are "equivalent".

I made an interchange assembly containing Part #1 and Part #2 so I could automagically switch them out.  Defining reference pairs between Part #1 and Part #2  is the *FAIL*.  Assembly #1 references a datum plane of Part #1.  The person that modeled Part #2 doesn't have a plane in that position.  There is a 3D surface that's matching.  But Part #2's surface corresponds with the *RED* side of Part #1's datum plane.  In Assembly #1, if I replace Part #1 with Part #2 via its Interchange Assembly, Part #2 is up-side-down.

How-da-f- can I explain to the Interchange assembly that I want Part #2's surface to be paired with the "red" side of Part #1's datum plane?

Poor-man's solution is to make a new plane in Part #2, through the surface, but oriented so that its yellow side is the same direction as Part #1.  That's stupid. I ought to be able to solve this problem without having to add a junk plane.

[HamsterNL · Accepted solution]

Although Creo has "Coincident" constraint, it is still either a "Mate" of a "Align" constraint. The normal-direction of your datum planes still matter...and thus the only solution is to create an additional datum plane and flip the direction so it matches with the other part.

[Chris3]

Its the same thing but you could also put the surface in Part1, change the references in the assembly with the Ref manager and then use the interchange on the surfaces. This may end up being more work though.

[akelly]

Thanks.

I still needed to define reference tags between planes, since the next higher assembly uses a plane as an assembly reference.  So I created a dummy plane with the right orientation.

But I really wanted to toggle "mate" on one means "align" on the other from the Ref Pairing Table.  That would be a nice enhancement.  The ideal solution is one that doesn't require an extra feature.

[akelly]

That's what I ended up doing.

But I really wanted to toggle "mate" on one means "align" on the other from the Ref Pairing Table.  That would be a nice enhancement.  The ideal solution is one that doesn't require an extra feature.