Example: Conflicting Mates

At times a mate cannot be satisfied because the components are constrained in such a way that they cannot move into the mate. The components can be fixed or mated to other components.

Example

The bottom faces of these two blocks are mated to the same plane:

If you add a coincident mate between the side of one block and the side of the other block:

The blocks move into the mate:

If you add a coincident mate between the bottom of one block and the top of the other block, you get an error. The first block cannot be simultaneously mated to the plane and to the top of the second block because the bottom of the second block is mated to the plane.

How MateXpert Helps

In this example, when you click Diagnose in MateXpert, the program lists three conflicting mates. These mates are the two Coincident mates to the plane and the bottom face to top face Coincident mate.

When you click the problem mate, MateXpert tells you that the mated faces are not coincident, and tells you how far apart they are.

How You Can Fix the Problem

Delete, suppress, or edit one of the conflicting mates.

You can use mate callouts and View Mate Errors to help identify and resolve mating problems.