Parametric Multi-Compartment Housing Layout With Boolean Volumes
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional CAD practices face challenges in efficiently designing and modifying multi-compartment housing components due to disconnected model data, overlapping spatial features, and rigid constraints, making it difficult to adapt designs across different products and stages.
Innovation Solution
A method for creating a parametrized multi-compartment housing model using Boolean operations in a CAD environment, where bounding volumes are defined for each compartment, bridging volumes are calculated to ensure smooth transitions, and a topological volume is determined to create a housing assembly that adapts to parameter changes, ensuring consistency with housed and external components.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If conventional CAD practices are used with disconnected model data, then design effort is distributed across different tools, but design iteration efficiency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges concept design model and detailed design model into a unified parametric housing model that can be created and iterated upon using the same tool (SolidWorks). This integration eliminates the disconnect between different design stages and tools, allowing seamless design iterations while maintaining manageable process complexity through standardized parametric procedures.
2Adaptability or versatility
If feature parametrization is attempted across multiple design stages, then design adaptability improves, but model reliability deteriorates due to overlapping spatial features
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the housing model into distinct parametric features (compartment boundaries, shell thickness, connection features, openings) that can be independently controlled through parameters. This segmentation allows each feature to be parametrized reliably without interference from overlapping spatial features, while maintaining high design adaptability through the unified parametric control system.
3Reliability
If component level designs are parameterized robustly, then local feature reliability improves, but reusability across different products deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal parametric housing model that can be reused across different products and design applications. By defining all housing features (compartment layouts, shell thicknesses, connection features, openings) through standardized parameters within a single SolidWorks model, the design can be reliably adapted to various housed components and product requirements, achieving both robustness and reusability.
Data Source
AI summary
A method configures a housing for an assembly via a simulation of the assembly and housing in a computer assisted drafting environment. The assembly includes compartments for components and at least one opening between two neighboring compartments. Based on received parameters, aspects of the assembly and the housing are defined, bounding volumes are created for each housing compartment, and bridgings between compartments are defined. A base shell volume of the housing is calculated using Boolean operations on the bounding volumes, and a topological volume is calculated from the base shell volume. A housing assembly model is determined based on the topological volume.