SolidWorks 2010 Bible

Part II: Building Intelligence into Your Parts

FIGURE 8.15

Using the Transform Curve and Tangent to Curve options

Instead of an offset of the curve going through the centroids of each patterned feature instance, in

the Transform Curve, the entire curve is moved rather than offset. On this particular part, this

causes a messy pattern. The Tangent to Curve option gives every patterned instance the same

orientation relative to the curve as the original.

The Face Normal option is used for a 3D pattern, as shown in Figure 8.16. Although this functionality

seems a little obscure, it is useful if you need a 3D curve-driven pattern on a complex surface. If

you are curious about this example, it is on the CD-ROM with the filename Reference 3d

Curve Driven.sldprt.

Using a Direction 2 for a Curve Driven Pattern creates a result similar to that in Figure 8.17. This is

another situation that, although rare, is good to know about.

The rest of the Curve Driven Pattern works like the other pattern features that have already been

demonstrated.

Sketch Driven Pattern

Sketch Drive Patterns use a set of sketch points to drive the locations of features. The Hole Wizard
drives the locations of multiple holes using sketch points in a similar way. However, the Sketch
Driven Pattern does not create a 3D pattern in the same way that the Hole Wizard does. Figure
8.18 shows a pattern of several features that has been patterned using a Sketch Driven Pattern. A
reference point is not necessary for the first feature.