Development Of CAD Software For Sandhopper Based On Product Variant Design

In the conditions of increasingly competitive market, enterprises must quickly provide high quality, low cost and good services to occupy a more competitive position in the competition. Product variant design can fully take enterprises'original design methods and experience to meet customers'requirements rapidly. Therefore, according to the product variant design, development of professional CAD software for mechanical products is of great importance in improving enterprises'rapid design capabilities and enhancing market competitiveness.First, to meet the research demands of Wuxi Xinan Foundry Machinery Co., Ltd, and aiming at the particularities of complicate products such as multi-tier architectures, complicated variant relationships among constitutes components, the dimensions and structures variant design methods of a single module in sandhopper products were researched in-depth based on secondary development of SolidWorks by using of OLE technology. Together with model space transforming technique and assembly based on features method, the components between modules are automatic assembled. So the overall variant design of sandhopper products is completed and a rapid design system of sandhopper products oriented is proposed.Secondly, Aiming at the problem of auto-generated drawings, which do not meet corporate standards. The sandhopper engineering views are automatically generated by using views generated and simplified technology. Besides, through identification and selection the features of components automatically, dimension features and its location coordinates of the specified view are obtained. At last, automatic dimensioning is completed by calculation method of dimensions' coordinates based on the layers, realizing seamless integrated between 3D design and 2D drawings.Finally, Based on real situation of enterprise, professional CAD system software for sandhopper series products is developed. And through using of it by enterprise, designers can realize design process of parameterization designing, automatic assembly and drawing's put out through controlling of the key structures and dimensions. It not only reduces time of project, but also intense market competition.