In Autodesk Inventor Cable and Harness, electrical parts such as connectors are standard Autodesk Inventor parts or iParts with one or more pins and extended properties. You can add the pins individually or as a group.
You can use generic connectors from the Content Center or author and publish your own. You can also place any non library connector in the assembly using the Place Component command.
What is the workflow for creating connector parts?
When you create connector parts you edit an existing Autodesk Inventor part, switch to the Harness panel, and then add pin definitions and required properties. When the part is placed in an assembly, you add a unique identifier, or reference designator (RefDes), for the occurrence of that part. This completes the connector part definition in the context of the assembly.
If appropriate, additional properties specific to the electrical domain can also be added to the part and each pin. You can also set a place holder or generic value RefDes for the part before it is placed in a harness assembly.
What geometry is valid for selecting pins?
Valid geometry for pin selections includes both associative and non associative points. Non associative points are arbitrary points on any face. Associative points include the following:
- Existing work points
- Center points on any circular component such as a face, a hole, and cylindrical cuts of arc edges
- Existing sketch points
- Model vertices
How do associative and non associative pins differ?
One difference is that pins associated to existing model geometry update when the associated model geometry is changed. Non associative pins do not update.
Other differences are in the actions you can perform while editing the pins. Because associative pins are created as regular work points, you can use the context menu to ground the work point. You can also right-click, select Redefine Feature, and then select a new pin location using standard work point options.
Non associative pins are created as grounded work points. You can move them to a new location using the 3D Move/Rotate command or right-click, and then use Redefine Feature.
How are pins named?
For individual pins the default pin name is a sequential number starting with 1. If the existing pin names are not sequential, the default pin name increments from the lowest, unused value. For example, if the existing pins are 1, 4, 6, 9, and 11, the next pin name defaults to 2. The pin name also defaults to 1 for alphanumeric names such as A1, A2, B1, B2.
For pin groups, you provide a prefix letter and start number, and then select the naming scheme that you need.
Each pin name within a part must be unique. When the browser name changes for an individual pin, the pin name updates. The reverse is also true.
Show Me how to add pins to connectors