Profile Center Mate
Lines up the centers of the outer outlines of two flat faces and makes the faces touch. It centers a round or rectangular part on another one in a single mate.
When to Use It
- Center a round flange on a round plate
- Center a rectangular plate on another one
- Stack parts and keep them centered on each other
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...), then click the Advanced tab at the top of the window.
- Click a flat face on one component, then a flat face on a different component.
- Click Profile Center. It is lit when both picks are flat faces on two components.
- If you want a gap between the faces, type it in Offset.
- For round faces, tick Lock rotation if you do not want the part to spin.
- Click the green check to add the mate.
Options
- Offset: the distance between the two faces. It starts at 0 (touching).
- Lock rotation: shows when a face has a round outline. Without it a round part can still spin. A rectangular part is turned to match the other rectangle's sides.
- Mate alignment shows when the mate uses a direction (Profile Center and Distance limit). Aligned or Anti-Aligned.
- Use for positioning only and Make first selection transparent work as on the Standard tab.
Tips and What to Expect
- The center is the center of the outer outline of each face, so holes and cutouts do not pull it off.
- Round outlines have no turn to match, so they can spin until you tick Lock rotation.
- Mate alignment is set from the way the two faces point now. Change it if the part lands on the wrong side.
Common Problems
- Every button is grey. The picks do not fit any mate on this tab. The status line says what is missing, for example "Pick more entities." Remove a pick (click it again or press Delete in Mate Selections) and try again.
- "Collapse the exploded view to add mates." Mates cannot be added while the assembly is exploded.
- The Over defined prompt appears. The new mate conflicts with the ones already there. See Mates: Fixing Mate Problems.