Mate References

When creating mate references, you can select Create mates only when names match to create mate references only when the mate reference names are the same. The name match applies to primary, secondary, and tertiary reference entities.

To use Create mates only when names match, you must select this option on both components in the mate reference.

When more than one mate reference is available, the Select Mate Reference dialog box displays a list of mate references.

The dialog box can appear when using these workflows:
  • Inserting a component.
  • Dragging a component from the FeatureManager® design tree.
  • Dragging a file from the File Explorer tab in the Task Pane.
  • Dragging a file from the Design Library tab in the Task Pane.

In the Mate Reference PropertyManager, you can select Lock Rotation for Concentric mates.

To create mates only when the names match:
  1. Open a model with a mate reference where the name of the mate reference is different for each component.
  2. Open one of the components from the mate reference.
  3. In the FeatureManager design tree for the component, under the Mate References folder, right-click a mate reference and click Edit Definition.
  4. In the Mate Reference PropertyManager, under Reference Name, select Create mates only when names match.
  5. Copy the Reference Name value to use later.
  6. Open the other component in the mate reference and repeat the steps to enable Create mates only when names match.
  7. For Reference Name, enter the name from the first component.
  8. Close both components.
  9. In a model, click Insert > Reference Geometry > Mate Reference.
  10. Under References, select Create mates only when names match.
  11. Select the two components to mate.
To select a mate reference in the Select Mate Reference dialog box:
  1. Open a model where multiple references are available between two components.

    In this example, you create a mate reference between a knob and a plate. The plate has several positions that you can select.

  2. Drop the knob over the plate.

    Select Mate Reference appears when the knob is over the plate.

  3. In the Select Mate Reference dialog box, select a reference.