Fig. 3. The added axle

1. From the Assembly menu choose Add component..

2. Choose the file Axle.cvp [8kb].

   The axle was originally drawn standing up. When a component is added to a design it is oriented in relation to the current active plane. In this case the active plane is the base plane and so it has been inserted standing on end. The assembly tools allow it to be re-aligned to line up the axis of the axle with the axis of the rear axle hole in the body

3. Choose the Select Faces tool from the tool bar.

4. Select the curved surface of the axle by clicking once with the left mouse button. (selec the curved surface and not one of the two ends)

5. Hold down the Shift key and select the curved surface of the hole for the rear axle. (to correct a mistake just click outside both of the components and start again)

6. Having selected both curved surfaces selected From the Assembly menu choose Centre Axes.

7. The axle and the hole in the body are now constrained to lie on the same line but the axle can slide in and out of the body. Constraining one component to position itself in relation to another component is an important aspect of creating assemblies in Pro/DESKTOP.

   (Notice that it is the axle that has aligned with the hole, not the hole with the axle. This is because the software aligns the chosen axis of the most recently added component (the axle) with the chosen axis of the older component (the body).)

8. Examine the model from different views by using the keys on the keyboard. Return your view to the trimetric by choosing Trimetric from the View menu before moving on to the next exercise.