Assemblies sometimes require a temporary placement of a component or a set location with an awkward constraint to other components. For the majority of the time datum points, planes or coordinate systems are required for placing such components. In Pro/ENGINEER 2001, the functionality to spin and pan the component as it is being assembled, along with the Fix Component Position constraint, lets you overcome this challenge quite easily.

This is the step-by-step process.

1. Create an assembly.

2. Assemble the first component.

[See PTC's Help Section: Assembling Components - To Place a Component]

3. Retrieve the second component for placement.

4. Set main constraints such as axis or plane alignment.

5. Press CTRL+ALT+middle mouse button to spin or CTRL+ALT+right mouse button to pan the component being assembled. Note that the component will only move in the unconstrained directions.

[See PTC's Help Section: Assembling Components - To Move a Component to a New Rotation; About Freeform Mouse-Driven Component Manipulation]

6. Click on the Fix Component to Current Position icon (Fig. 1). to make the component fully constrained (Fig. 2)

Figure 1. Icon to click on when fixing a component's position

Figure 2. Fix constraint on a simple assembly (click to enlarge).

7. Click OK to finish component placement.

Keith Ebling is a design engineer/consultant working through M.J. Consultants, Inc. at Baldwin Hardware Corporation in Reading, Pennsylvania, USA. He can be reached by email at ebling@Baldwinhq.com.