Distance Mate
Keeps two entities a set distance apart.
What you get: the two picks held the distance you type apart, one mate in the Mates folder named with its value, such as Distance1 (0.25 in).
When to Use It
- Leave a 1/4 in gap between two plates
- Set a bracket 2 in from an edge
- Place a part exactly where you want it from a reference plane
What It Does With Each Pair
The Distance button is lit for these pairs of picks:
- Two flat faces
- Two round faces
- Straight edge with flat face
- Two corners
- Flat face with corner
- Two circular edges
- Round face with flat face
- Two straight edges
- Round face with straight edge
- Round face with corner
- Straight edge with corner
- Circular edge with flat face
Two flat faces are kept parallel and that far apart. A face and a corner or edge keeps the corner or edge that far from the face. Two axes are kept parallel with that distance between the center lines. Two corners are that far apart.
Step by Step
- Open an assembly (assemblies need the Pro plan) with at least two components in it. See Assemblies: Start and Insert Parts.
- Click Mate on the Assembly tab (or right-click a component and choose Assembly tools, Mate...). The Mate window opens on the Standard tab.
- Click the first entity on one component in the view. It appears in Mate Selections. You can also click the Front Plane, Top Plane, Right Plane or Origin row of a component or of the assembly in the Model tree.
- Click the second entity on a different component. After the second pick the parts move to show the result, and a small Quick Mate pop-up by the pointer lists the mates that fit. Leave it, or press Esc to close it; your two picks stay.
- Click Distance in the Standard Mates list of the Mate window. Click the other buttons in the list to compare; only the mates that fit your two picks are lit. (A click on a button in the Quick Mate pop-up adds that mate straight away, as it stands, with no further steps.)
- A Distance box appears (its label carries your unit, such as Distance (in)), showing the distance the parts have now. Type the one you want, for example 1/4 or 1 1/2 in, and press Tab. The parts move to the new distance.
- Click the green check (or press Enter) to add the mate. The message includes the value, for example "Distance1 (0.25 in) added." and the window stays open for the next pair.
Options
- Distance box: the value, in the model's units. Fractions such as 1 1/2 are accepted.
- Mate alignment: Aligned points the two faces' normals (or the two axes) the same way. Anti-Aligned points them opposite ways. The choice shows only when both picks have a direction (a face, an edge or an axis), not when one is a corner. For two flat faces that touch face to face, Anti-Aligned is the usual one. The window picks the one closest to where the parts are now. You can also press Tab during a SmartMate drag, or right-click the mate in the tree and choose Flip Mate Alignment later.
- Flip dimension: puts the part on the other side of the reference. Without it the part stays on the side it is on now.
- Use for positioning only: moves the parts as the mate would, but no mate is kept. The message reads "Positioned. No mate was added."
- Make first selection transparent: the component you picked first turns see-through so you can reach what is behind it.
- Multiple mate mode: the first pick is the Common reference, every further pick is a Component reference on its own component, and one mate is made for each. Create multi-mate folder groups them (MultiMate1, MultiMate2 and so on).
- Link dimensions (with Multiple mate mode and the multi-mate folder): the mates in the folder share one value; changing it in Edit Feature changes them all.
Tips and What to Expect
- Distance keeps the part on the side it is on now. Tick Flip dimension to put it on the other side.
- To let a part move within a range, use Distance Limit.
- The mate shows its value in the tree, in your display units: Distance1 (0.25 in), or Distance1 (1/4 in) when lengths show as fractions.
Common Mistakes and Messages
- The mate you want is grey. The two picks do not fit it. Remove one pick (click it again, or press Delete in Mate Selections) and pick a different entity.
- "Those entities have no mate in common." Every mate button is grey because no mate fits the two picks, for example two corners for Parallel. Remove one pick (click it again, or press Delete in Mate Selections) and pick a different face or edge.
- "Pick the second entity on a different component." Both picks were on the same component. A mate always joins two components, or a component and the assembly's own planes or origin.
- "Collapse the exploded view to add mates." Mates cannot be added while the assembly is exploded. Collapse it from its row in the Exploded Views folder. See Exploded Views.
- "This mate over defines the assembly. Force it to solve? Yes breaks the conflicting mate. No keeps it unsolved." The new mate fights the ones already there. Click No to keep it unsolved and look at it, then delete or change one of the two. See Mates: Fixing Mate Problems.
- Nothing moves. A fixed component does not move. Right-click it and choose Assembly tools, Float, or fix the other component's side on purpose.
- The part ended up on the wrong side of the face. Tick Flip dimension.