General Procedure for Electrical Cables

The following describes a general procedure for developing a sub-assembly of electrical cables, wires, connectors, and clips.

Preparations

Click Tools, Add-Ins, and make sure SolidWorks Routing is selected.

Before you begin the electrical route sub-assembly, have the following available:

• Part documents that you need for the cable assembly. Store these part documents in the Routing Library.

• Electrical components (such as connectors, terminal blocks, and ring terminals). See Electrical Connectors for information on how to designate a part as an electrical component.

• Routing hardware (such as clips, cable clamps, and brackets). (Optional) If you want to enable automatic routing through routing hardware, see Cable Clips for information on how to create these parts.

• A Cable/Wire Library. (Optional) This file defines the attributes of the cables and wires, such as specification number, size, color, description, and so on. You need a cable/wire library if you want to assign electrical attributes to the route.

• A Component Library. (Optional) This file cross-references the components in a from-to list to the SolidWorks part documents for those components. You need a component library if you want to import component data using a from-to list.

• A From-To list. (Optional) This file defines component and connection data for a route. You can generate a from-to list manually, or use a third-party schematic program that generates the electrical connection data.

• A main assembly with the components to be connected (instruments, motors, power supplies, and so on). Add any other components that are needed to specify the path of the cable, such as obstacles that must be avoided. Position the fixed components using mates, dimensions, or relations to a layout sketch, and save the assembly. (You can also create a cable route sub-assembly in an empty main assembly.)

See Placement of Electrical Connectors.

Procedure

The general procedure for creating an electrical route sub-assembly:

1. Start a route sub-assembly by doing one of the following:

• Insert an electrical connector into the main assembly.

• Import electrical data with a from-to list.

A route sub-assembly is created.

2. Insert additional connectors and routing hardware as needed into the route sub-assembly, and mate them to the components you want to connect.

3. In a 3Dsketch, define the paths between connectors.

4. (Optional) Specify the wire properties and connection requirements of the route.

5. Close the 3D sketch.
   
   A cable part is created. The 3D sketch that defines the path of the cable is related parametrically to the components in the route sub-assembly. If you move a component, the cable updates automatically.

For more detailed procedures, see the following:

• Manually Creating an Electrical Route Assembly.

• Importing a From-To List to Create an Electrical Route Assembly.