Part III: Working with Assemblies
Working with Advanced and Mechanical
Mate Types
Advanced and Mechanical mate types greatly expand the number of ways that you can put parts
together into assemblies. Advanced mate types include Symmetric, Width, Path Mate, Linear
Coupler, Limit, and others. Mechanical mate types include Cam, Hinge, Gear, Rack and Pinion,
Screw, Universal Joint, Belts /Chains. You can access Advanced and Mechanical mates by
expanding the corresponding panels on the Mate PropertyManager shown in Figure 13.1.I have not spent any time explaining the standard mates. If you understand sketch relations, the
mate relations fall into place easily. One exception to this is the Lock mate. Lock is different than
Fix. Fix pins a part to the background. The Lock mate locks two parts to one another, so that they
always maintain the same relationship to one another, regardless of how they move with respect to
other parts. This section goes into some detail on all the advanced and mechanical mates, with a
brief example of each.
Symmetric mate
The Symmetric mate works a lot like the Symmetry relation in sketches, except that a plane is used
as the plane of symmetry instead of a construction line. Figure 13.10 shows a Symmetric mate
being applied to the gripper jaws. The Symmetric mate is listed in the Advanced Mates pane of the
Mate PropertyManager.FIGURE 13.10
Applying a Symmetric mate