Bonobo,
I have a "living hinge" that I made a while back. If you want to have a look at it, go to this link:
Living_Hinge.SLDPRT (8115200 bytes) =>
The link will expire in 3 days. It isn't a perfect solution, but it's what I use for modeling purposes.
HTH, Muggs
I took a look at your example, and indeed that is what we have to do by hand to mock up a hinge, though I rarely do so many interim positions between open & closed.
Given the purely mechanical nature of bending a hinge between 2 planes about a fixed axis, for a given number of degrees, and the fact that sheet metal does similar things, I am amazed SolidWorks has not put in such a tool for visualization.
I don't know if it should be in an assembly drawing, or not, but it should be available. Complex folding parts need to be checked both open and closed and sometimes in between for fits and clearance, etc.
Bo
Have something to add? Share your thoughts — no account required.
Ask the community — no account required