Yay, it’s Friday! You know what that means…Beer! Oh, and of course another component of our stapler is about to be modeled. I hope you enjoy the modeling tutorials as much as I do. It gives me a chance to play with my favorite design tool SolidWorks (like I need an excuse). Last week, we modeled up the Anvil for the stapler and today we will stay in the general area of the stapler with the Anvil Rivet. The Anvil Rivet is used to attach the Anvil to the Base and retain the Anvil Spring (Next Week). This week is fun because we also get to build the rivet with two configurations, the free state and and as it is assembled. So lets get started…

Basic Revolved Part

The main part to the rivet is a real basic profile revolved 360°. Start out by creating the basic sketch shown below.

With the profile created, start placing dimensions. In the profile, we have a construction line that will be the axis of revolution for the base. This construction line also allows us to specify a diameter for the cylindrical parts even though only one half of the shape is shown. When you place a dimension in a sketch by clicking the construction line and a parallel solid line, you can specify it as a radius or diameter by choosing the side of the construction line to place it. If you place the dimension between the solid line and construction line it will specify the radius…

…but if you place the dimension on the outside of the construction line the dimension becomes a diameter

Using this method, fully define the sketch as shown below.

When the sketch is fully defined, use the Revolve tool in the Features toolbar or by selecting Insert -> Boss/Base -> Revolve.

Add Fillets to Base

Using the Fillet tool apply a .010″ radius to the top and bottom edge of the rivet.

Making the Buck-Tail

The buck-tail is the part of the rivet that will be formed (upset) when installed. We need to create this as a separate feature since we will have two configurations of this area for the free state and installed versions of the rivet. Start off by selecting the bottom surface of the rivet and selecting Sketch from the Context menu.

Create a Circle with the centerpoint coincident to the sketch origin and apply a dimension to make the circle diameter .120″.

After exiting the sketch, select the sketch to grab the arrow. Instant3D must be enabled in the Features toolbar in the CommandManager for this step to work.

Drag the arrow up to create the extrusion. With the cursor over the On-screen Ruler, make the extrusion .100″.

Create a New Configuration

Now it is time to create a new configuration for the rivet in it’s assembled state. In the FeatureManager, right-click the feature for the rivet buck-tail we just created and select Configure Feature from the menu.

In the Modify Configurations window, we can create our new configuration. Select the field labeled <creates a new configuration.>…

…and type the name of the new configuration: As Assembled.

Hit Enter and the new configuration will be created. The rivet buck-tail feature we selected needs to be suppressed for the new configuration. Click the checkbox next to the As Assembled configuration only and click OK.

Change Configurations

To see the configurations for the part, click the ConfigurationManager button at the top of the FeatureManager.

In the ConfigurationManager you will see both of the available configurations for the rivet.

Double-click the new As Assembled configuration in the ConfigurationManager to activate it.

Create the Upset Buck-Tail

In this configuration of the rivet, there is no buck-tail since we suppressed it earlier. When the rivet is install the buck-tail is ‘upset’ or deformed to hold it in place. We need to create an approximate representation of that deformed state. Start by selecting the Right plane and creating a sketch.

Create the sketch shown below using the same methods that you used for the Base Revolve.

Revolve the fully defined sketch 360° to create the upset buck-tail. (Who the heck comes up with this terminology?)

Short and Sweet…

Well that does it for this Friday’s Design Tutorial. It was a simple part but hopefully you learned a cople of new techniques in the process. If not i am sure you learned some new terminology…I did (thanks Wikipedia). As always you can download the model here:Anvil Rivet, Stapler (586) but if you haven’t noticed yet I added a Download page that is shown in the main menu for the site up above. Until next time… Have fun with SolidWorks!

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