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USAGE OF FAMILY TABLES

Family tables are used to capture “like” models – or models that typically only change
in size or minimal feature definition from one part to another. A perfect example of a
family table is a family of socket head cap screws. Each individual instance of the
screw is only different from a dimensional or material specification.

You can create multi-dimensional family tables (or what is referred to as nested
family tables) that can capture a larger family of parts/assemblies. Until you are
comfortable working with family tables, I would stick with single level family tables.
An example of a nested family table would be to create an entire family of screws.

At the top level, you would distinguish between head types (SHCS, FHD, HHD, etc.).
Then, at the second level, you could break each of these into dimensional and
material types.

PREPARING THE MODEL


To demonstrate this functionality, we will open up the model called Mounting_Rail,
which looks like the following.

The goal for this lesson is to be able to make different sizes for this mounting rail, and
yet maintain a proper slot spacing and number of holes.

Dimension Symbol Names

As you learned in the last lesson (Parameters & Relations), you should rename any
dimension symbols that are going to be used in Relations. The same is true for
dimensions that will be used in family tables.
In this example, we have already renamed the dimension symbols of the primary
features used in both the relations (that we will see in a minute) and the family table
that we will create.

The following are some of the key symbol names:


• Length – The overall length of the rail, which is currently at 10”.
• Size – The height of the rail (both sides are equal in size), which is currently 1”.
• Radius – The radius of the inner fillet, which is currently 0.125”.
• Lead_Offset– The spacing from the left edge of the rail to the first slot.
• Spacing – The spacing between slots on the first slot pattern
• Slotnum – The total number of slots in the first slot pattern
• Slot_Length – The length of the lead slot
• Slot_W idth – The width of the lead slot.

Relations

W henever possible, you should use relations before creating family tables. This is
especially true if there is a ratio between two or more dimensions that should always
exist, regardless of overall size of the model.

This is the case in this model. The spacing of the slots is always 1”, regardless of the
length of the rail. Therefore, we need to change the total number of holes when the
length changes.

To do this, we could have added the Slotnum dimension to a family table and
controlled it there, but then we would have a lot of calculations to do each time we
wanted a new size for our rail. Instead, we will do this with relations.

The relations for this model can be found using Tools,Relations, as shown in the
next figure.
The relation that controls the overall number of holes is the following:

Slotnum =(floor(Length/Spacing)+1)

W hat this does is first calculate the overall length divided by the spacing. For our
current example, the Length=10 and the Spacing=1, therefore this equation results in
10/1 = 10. Then, it adds one additional hole, making a total of 11 holes.

W hen the length of our rail is an exact increment of 1, such as 10, 11, 12, etc., then
we always end up with one slot outside of the model. That is okay, because if our rail
has a decimal attachment, such as 12.75”, then it will make a difference.

Floor(Length/Spacing) always rounds the final number down to the nearest integer,
therefore, if we have a length of 12.75”, then Floor(12.75) = 12. If we only had 12
slots, then we would have a large portion at the end of our rail that did not have a slot
th
in it (or even a partial slot). Adding the 13 slot takes care of this.

The last portion of this relation sets the dimensions of the second set of slots equal to
the first so that the overall impression is that both are identical.

CREATING THE FAMILY TABLE


To create the family table, go to Tools,Fam ily Table from the Menu Bar. W hen we
do this, it will bring up the following interface.
Currently, there are no instances created for this model. Across the top of this
window is a toolbar. The first available icon is used to add instances (adding rows to
the table). It looks like the following.

W e will click on this icon five times in a row to create five different instances. W hen
we do this, we will see the following.

Before we add any dimensions, features, parameters, etc. to our family table, we will
change the names of our rails. W e are going to create rails in 2” increments starting
at 2 and ending at 10. Therefore, we will click in each cell starting with
MOUNTING_RAIL_INST and rename them as follows:
W e are now ready to start defining the items that vary from instance to instance. W e
will therefore click on the following icon to add columns to our table.

This brings up the following window.

Down at the bottom, you would start by selecting the type of entity you are going to
add to the family table. In this case, the default is Dim ension, which is what we will
use. W e will now pick out on the first extrude feature and then pick on the 10.000
length dimension. W hen we do this, it becomes added to our table, as shown in the
next figure.
W e will also pick on the 1.000 size dimension, and the 0.125 radius dimension. The
following shows this window once all three dimensions are added.

W e can see our modified symbol names listed next to the original symbol name. This
makes it easier for us to identify which dimension is which. If we accidentally added
a dimension that we didn’ t want, we would highlight it and click on the button with the
red “X”.
Next, we will add a parameter to our table. Therefore, click on the Param eteroption
at the bottom, and you will get the following window.

W e will scroll down until we find the parameter called Title. Click on this parameter,
and then click on the InsertSelected button at the bottom of this window. The
TITLE parameter now shows up in our window, as shown in the next figure.

Click on the Close button to close out of the parameters window. W e are done
defining our family table. You can see in the above figure that we can add features,
groups, pattern tables, etc. to our family table, and we can also temporarily filter out
what we are looking at by using the upper right corner of this box. Click on OK to
return to edit the table.
The table now has a column for each of the items that we added, in the order in
which they were added, as shown below.

W e will edit each cell with the values that we want. The following figure shows our
completed table.

Once you have your table filled out, it is time to verify the instances. This is very
important before you check them into Pro/INTRALINK. To verify the instances, click
on the following icon.

This brings up the following window.


This window will list all instances, and show which ones have not been verified.
Currently all five instances are “Unverified”. Click on the Verify button, and each one
will be opened and regenerated behind the scenes. If all goes well, you will be left
with a status of “Success” for each instance, as shown in the next figure.

If any fail, it will list that. You will then need to go back and fix the instance. The
most common problem with a failed instance is a decimal point error while typing.
Once all instances are successfully verified, click on the Close button.

Back in the family table, we can preview our instances by highlighting the instance
and clicking on the following icon.

The following figures show the preview for the 8” and 2” versions of our part.
8”

2”

You can spin, pan, zoom, change display type, etc. while in the preview window.
W hen you are done, click on the Close button at the bottom. Once you are happy
with your family table, click on OK to complete the family table, and then save your
model.

LESSON SUMMARY
The interface for family tables is now more streamlined.

EXERCISES
None

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