Rack and Pinion Mate
Makes a round part turn as a straight part slides, like a pinion on a rack.
When to Use It
- A pinion driving a rack
- A steering rack
- Any slider moved by a turning wheel
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 Mechanical tab at the top of the window.
- Click the pinion's round face, circular edge or axis on one component. It shows as Pinion.
- Click a straight edge of the rack on a different component. It shows as Rack edge. The edge must run across the pinion's axis.
- Click Rack and Pinion.
- Type Rack travel for one turn. It starts at one turn of the pinion's pitch circle (2 times pi times the radius) when the pinion is round, otherwise 100 mm.
- Tick Reverse to flip the direction.
- Click the green check.
Options
- Rack travel for one turn: above 0 and at most 1,000,000 mm.
- Reverse: the rack moves the other way.
- Use for positioning only and Make first selection transparent work as on the Standard tab.
Tips and What to Expect
- It holds no position. Mate the pinion to its shaft and the rack to its track.
- If the edge runs along the pinion axis the window says "The rack edge must run across the pinion's axis, not along it." (that pair is a Screw).
- The tree shows the travel, for example RackPinion1 (6.283 in a turn).
- Flip Mate Alignment is not available for this mate.
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.