When working with plastic parts, the faces of the part have to be tapered in order to get the real plastic part out of the form. Prior to tapering the model, the engineer reviews the faces that need to be tapered together with the same draft definition. Taper groups support this process. The engineer groups the faces that need to be tapered with the same draft definition using the taper group functionality.
Taper group is a collection of silhouette faces that are automatically filtered and are from the same part. The taper group consists of the same draft definition. This includes draft plane (point and direction) and draft angle. In addition, the taper group is visible and accessible from the structure browser.
When a taper group is created, the associated part is automatically defined as the owner and assigned a default name. Optionally, a color can be assigned to the taper group to visually support the grouping process. When the grouping is finished, the engineer can taper the model very easy using the Apply command, which automatically applies the taper definition to the specified faces.
To create a taper group,
To create a taper group, you must be in the Mold Design module. From the main menu, complete the following steps.
1. Click Mold Feature and then, in the Taper Group group, click Create. The Create Taper Group dialog box opens.
2. Specifies draft Direction by using the Direction 3D sub dialog.
3. Specify the face or faces to be tapered using one of the following ways:
◦ Click a face to specify just one face.
◦ Use the Select tool to specify several faces.
4. At this point, the Owner (that is, the part) and the Name are automatically defined. If desired, you can change the Name of the taper group. However, you cannot change the Owner of the group.
5. Specify the draft Angle.
6. Optionally, set a Color, which is used to highlight the taper group.
7. Specify the Highlight, if desired. Select either Current or All:
◦ Current highlights only the faces of the taper group that are being created with this command.
◦ All is used to see all existing taper groups in that part.
8. Click OK.
To modify a taper group,
1. Click Modify in Taper Group (in the Finishing menu).
2. Specify a taper group by entering or selecting it from the structure browser. The taper group Name and values are displayed in the user interface where you can modify them at the same time.
3. Select one of the following options and enter the corresponding values:
◦ Add or Remove faces from a taper group.
◦ Change the draft parameter by entering a draft Angle or Point.
◦ Change the Color.
4. Click OK.
It is not possible to change the Direction or the Owner of the taper group.
If you want to modify the draft direction, you must create a new taper group.
To rename a taper group,
1. Click Rename in Taper Group (in the Finishing menu).
2. Specify a taper group Name or select it from the structure browser.
3. Enter the new name.
4. Click OK.
To delete a taper group,
1. Click Delete in Taper Group (in the Finishing menu).
2. Select the taper group to be deleted.
3. Click OK.
To highlight a taper group,
The Highlight command is used to check for existing taper groups. When different colors are assigned to different taper groups, highlighting helps distinguish between them.
1. Click Highlight in Taper Group (in menu Finishing).
2. Select either the Owner or a single Group:
◦ Owner highlights all taper groups of this part.
◦ Group highlights the selected taper group.
To apply a taper group,
Only after the taper group is completely defined and accepted by all who are working on the part, should you use the Apply command. There are two methods for applying taper groups: Automatic and Interactive.
The Automatic method loops over all taper groups and applies the taper to the group faces with the specified draft definition. With the Interactive method, the taper command becomes interactive. The values specified with the taper group are used to define default values for taper command. The user may change these default values for applying the taper. To apply a taper group, complete the following steps:
1. Select Apply (in Finishing).
2. Optionally, check Keep Color to retain the color of the tapered faces.
3. Optionally, check KeepFeature to save the taper information as a taper feature.
4. Select one of the following options to taper the group:
◦ Automatic:
▪ Select all using the Part option.
▪ List the groups using Groups option.
◦ Interactive:
▪ Select one-by-one using the Single Grp interactive option and specify the groups.
If the apply taper fails, the taper group is not deleted. In this case, the user can perform the taper operation Interactive or manually using the standard taper command.
Do not use the Apply command until the taper definition and faces are completely defined.
Create. The Create Taper Group dialog box opens.