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How do 3DQuickPress PRL’s work inside SolidWorks

PRL's are the cornerstone capability available in the 3DQuickPress environment. The PRL technology is used to automate and leverage SolidWorks and 3DQuickPress data in order to speed up the creation and editing of assemblies, parts, and drawing files according to a designer's and or a companies' standard best practices.

The PRL's will update to the new size X,Y and Z following the die set structure when inserted into the design with a completed Detail Drawing, ability to the add Properties, BOM, Standard Components, Standard Fasteners, Dowels and Jack Screw information 1 time to the PRL's.

Welcome to Create PRL's (Production Ready Library's) using 3DQuickPress inside of SolidWorks.

Setup and Required information

When naming of the PRL's the user will need to consider Microsoft 256 character limit imposed on path/file names.
The user should name the PRL's to a standard set by the company so multiple user with understand the abbreviated names using a cheat sheet could solve the learning curve of abbreviated names, but I would suggest keeping them as short as possible.

3DQPress PRL Rules

Defining a PRL to be a part or assembly; will this PRL have Standard Components or other parts files added (Yes, No) if Yes = Assembly – If No = Part.
When and where to insert a die set structure; they should always be inserted into a part file. Exceptions to this rule, 1^st – If you are building a Die Set Template, 2^nd– Never insert a die set structure into a standard component.
Using a top level sketch to control the size, location and the amount of standard components inserted. This can be done by the following, 1^st by inserting a part file to contain all of the sketches, 2^nd is to just add the sketches to the assembly top level.
Adding the sketch will require deriving each sketch into the part file using SolidWorks to locate information, which will help eliminate SolidWorks loss of reference when opening the part file.
Prl's are not limited to a single plates or assembly's, they can be built as robust as needed for the user to same time Designing Tooling by following the rules above.

3DQuickPress Controls for PRL behavior

Properties

UC/MC/LC – You can control where Punch PRLs will be inserted into assemblies by using this property if using a Horizontal assembly.

This property is only valid in Punch Design, and the possible values are:

LC – Lower Container (assembly)

MC – Middle Container (assembly)

UC – Upper Container (assembly)

F-SH - (Yes | No) – This property is for extra small PRL's with a retaining heel.

Update Flag - (Yes | No) – This enables or disables the PRL parameters to be updated is a 3DQuickPress specific parameter is changed and the die is told to update.

INS (Yes | No) – inserts in the lower die block.

XSL (Yes | No) – This property is usually set to a PRL that will form or coin material, when the PRL is inserted this property will automatically export the selected current snap shot of surface faces of the strip layout to part bodies in the PRL. This functionality minimizes unnecessary assembly associativity to reduce rebuild times in SolidWorks.

3DQuickPress COT SET – With TEXT as the type and set the value P1 to the strip layout P1 Strip Layout, P2 for P2 Strip Layout. This is only an example of what you will get if you check.

Dimension's Names

Any dimension can be rename to follow information leveraged by 3DQuickPress, a list of those names are as follows.

Unfolded Model

SHTTHK

Strip Layout

Progression

StockWidth

Cut Opening Sketch Name

PH HoleSketch – C6 of the DSS

SBP HoleSketch – C5 of the DSS

SP HoleSketch – C4 of the DSS

DP HoleSketch – C3 of the DSS

DS HoleSketch – C2 of the DSS

LDS HoleSketch – C1 of the DSS

Adding <A(0.xx )> to sketch names supports updating land and taper angle when starting a new Punch Design or Modify DSS.

Adding <T(0.xx )> to sketch names will not update taper angle when starting a new Punch Design or Modify DSS.

Update Dimension Inserted Size

OverallX

OverallY

ShankDia

LifterLevel

StripperStroke

Lower Parallel

Die Set Dimensions

OverallX-X

OverallY-Y

Param.def file

Adding param.def file will allow the user to Custom set 6 Dimensions as needed, the custom dimensions.

Plane Names

PRL's can also use the offset value to update thickness of part files.

Item's to include when building your PRL's

Add Properties for Part/Drawing Files.

Add Manufacturing Color to Part Files and Standard Parts.

Add Cut Sketches for Wire Block openings as needed.

Thanks and I hope you enjoy "What make PRL's Tick", please check back for other articles in this series "How to Build PRL's" using the PRL technology to automate and leverage SolidWorks using 3DQuickPress.

Ronnie C. Flaugh

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Blog

How do 3DQuickPress PRL’s work inside SolidWorks

The PRL's will update to the new size X,Y and Z following the die set structure when inserted into the design with a completed Detail Drawing, ability to the add Properties, BOM, Standard Components, Standard Fasteners, Dowels and Jack Screw information 1 time to the PRL's.

Welcome to Create PRL's (Production Ready Library's) using 3DQuickPress inside of SolidWorks.

Setup and Required information

When naming of the PRL's the user will need to consider Microsoft 256 character limit imposed on path/file names.

The user should name the PRL's to a standard set by the company so multiple user with understand the abbreviated names using a cheat sheet could solve the learning curve of abbreviated names, but I would suggest keeping them as short as possible.

3DQPress PRL Rules

Defining a PRL to be a part or assembly; will this PRL have Standard Components or other parts files added (Yes, No) if Yes = Assembly – If No = Part.

When and where to insert a die set structure; they should always be inserted into a part file. Exceptions to this rule, 1^st – If you are building a Die Set Template, 2^nd– Never insert a die set structure into a standard component.

Using a top level sketch to control the size, location and the amount of standard components inserted. This can be done by the following, 1^st by inserting a part file to contain all of the sketches, 2^nd is to just add the sketches to the assembly top level.

Adding the sketch will require deriving each sketch into the part file using SolidWorks to locate information, which will help eliminate SolidWorks loss of reference when opening the part file.

Prl's are not limited to a single plates or assembly's, they can be built as robust as needed for the user to same time Designing Tooling by following the rules above.

3DQuickPress Controls for PRL behavior

Support & Resin Removal

Surface Finishing

Coloring

Resin Recycling

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How do 3DQuickPress PRL’s work inside SolidWorks

The PRL's will update to the new size X,Y and Z following the die set structure when inserted into the design with a completed Detail Drawing, ability to the add Properties, BOM, Standard Components, Standard Fasteners, Dowels and Jack Screw information 1 time to the PRL's.

Welcome to Create PRL's (Production Ready Library's) using 3DQuickPress inside of SolidWorks.

Setup and Required information

When naming of the PRL's the user will need to consider Microsoft 256 character limit imposed on path/file names.

The user should name the PRL's to a standard set by the company so multiple user with understand the abbreviated names using a cheat sheet could solve the learning curve of abbreviated names, but I would suggest keeping them as short as possible.

3DQPress PRL Rules

Defining a PRL to be a part or assembly; will this PRL have Standard Components or other parts files added (Yes, No) if Yes = Assembly – If No = Part.

When and where to insert a die set structure; they should always be inserted into a part file. Exceptions to this rule, 1st – If you are building a Die Set Template, 2nd – Never insert a die set structure into a standard component.

Using a top level sketch to control the size, location and the amount of standard components inserted. This can be done by the following, 1st by inserting a part file to contain all of the sketches, 2nd is to just add the sketches to the assembly top level.

Adding the sketch will require deriving each sketch into the part file using SolidWorks to locate information, which will help eliminate SolidWorks loss of reference when opening the part file.

Prl's are not limited to a single plates or assembly's, they can be built as robust as needed for the user to same time Designing Tooling by following the rules above.

3DQuickPress Controls for PRL behavior

Blog

When and where to insert a die set structure; they should always be inserted into a part file. Exceptions to this rule, 1^st – If you are building a Die Set Template, 2^nd– Never insert a die set structure into a standard component.

Using a top level sketch to control the size, location and the amount of standard components inserted. This can be done by the following, 1^st by inserting a part file to contain all of the sketches, 2^nd is to just add the sketches to the assembly top level.