Hi I have a number of electrical harness issues and was wondering if anyone can help me?

1,  Defining Connector connection points

Does anyone have the issue with the connection of connectors to each other?  Basically if one of the connectors is on an agle when you try to connect to another connector they dont align correctly.

2,  Connector mounting clip

I have the same issue as above but with the connector mounting clip.  Does anyone one have this issue?

3,  Creating physical wires.

Is it possible to create a physical wire that can be shown in the harness product file?  If so how do you create, route and store the wire?

4,  Earth terminals

How to create?  I have just created as a connector.  Also the bundle position point i have created at the centre of eyyelet as this is to our standard.  However how do you get the harness to pass through the back of the eyelet and to be normal to a plane when the bundle position point is at the centre of the ring?

5,  Catalogues

Is there any way of giving read write access to parts through the catalogue?

Also is there any easy way of re linking parts to the catalogue if they are moved to a different folder/ area?

6,  Shells/ Back shells

Does anyone use them?  If so what are they used for?

Any help with these would be really appreciated.

Thanks

I would recommend using two shapes first is a cylinder that is centered on the x axis that is planer to YZ plane with with a cut plan parallel to XY plane in the positive direction that cuts the cylinder into a "D" shape.  We will call this power copy the Male connection shape.  The second is a cylinder larger than the first with a pocket the same shape as the first.  We will call this power copy the Female connection shape.

For Connector Connection Point relationship the Female is copied into the receptacle and the Male is placed Plug. 

Then during Electrical Connection Typing the

1. Place a Contact constraint, for example a face.
    - For the Male use the face common to YZ plane.
    - For the Female use the face at the bottom of the Pocket.
2. Place a Coincidence constraint, for example an axis. 
    - For both Male and Female use the cylinder center axis
3. Place an Orientation constraint, for example a surface, a line or an axis.
    - For both Male and Female use the Flat face of the "D" shape.

This method will insure that when connecting electrical devices regardless of location and orientation the two part will join properly.

I will be attending the CATIA Operators Exchange (COE) 2008 Fall Industry Workshop - Aerospace & Defense in support of the Electrical Engineering Track.  If you will be attending I propose that part of the Electrical Round Table cover this topic and show creation and instancing methods.  What do you thing of this proposal?

Thanks for the info.

Dont suppose you have an example i could following for creating and using the backshell?

Thanks again for the help.

Let us talk about computer connectors for this example as I do not know in what industry you work.  An DB25 connector and back shells make for a good example. 

The connector is a rectangular type using single insert connector device type for both male and female connectors.  The single insert connector device type allows one cavity connection point, one connector connection point, one back shell connection point, bundle connection points, terminations and or cavities.  The Connector connection point connection type is modeled so when the two connectors are press together the insert face touch.  For the back shell connection point it needs to be modeled based on how the back shell assembly is modeled, but in general for this part.  The flange is used to mount the back shell on to the connector.  I would place the back shell connection point at the center of the rear face of this flange.  I would place the bundle connection point at the center of the rear face of this insert. We will not for this example talk about the cavity connection point, cavities or terminations.

The back shell in this example is a split clam shell type and is a physical component used to guide the ends of bundle segments, and to protect the crimping area.  A back shell allows: One or more cavities; One or more back shell connection point; One bundle connection point. We will not for this example talk about the cavities.  Depending on if you model each side of this assembly as separate parts or model the assembly as as a single CATPart.  I would place the bundle connection point at the center of the rear face of the clamp stack.  I would place the back shell connection point at the center of the rear face of the flange groove.

An Internal Splice is a connector used between wires belonging to the same bundle segment. An internal splice is a CATProduct document with no associated geometry. It is only available in the context of Electrical Assembly Design workbench but not in Electrical Part Design workbench. Currently in V5 there are two types of devices for splices, External Splice and Internal Splice.  The External Splice is a connector used to secure bundle segments from different geometrical bundles and has a geometric shape.

I have used V5R18SP5HF25 and confirmed that this works.