Patent ID: 11893320
Assignee: DASSAULT SYSTEMES SOLIDWORKS CORPORATION
Field: Computer technology (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC G  B | IPC B  G

Claim 7:
8. A computer based method for an application in a computer aided drafting (CAD) environment for flattening a three dimensional (3D) backshell component to a two dimensional (2D) representation while maintaining a connected wiring component represented in 3D, comprising the steps of:
identifying a 3D backshell component comprising a connector, a shell housing, and a connected first route segment comprising a curved route within the shell housing and at least a first sketch segment disposed within the backshell component and/or passing through a backshell component entry point;
storing all sketch segments for the connected first route segment;
identifying a first entry point at a first end point of the connected first route segment;
computing a first tangent at the first entry point;
computing a first junction point (J1) at a connected first route segment second end point using the first tangent and a required segment length;
calculating a flattened route for all route segments unconnected to the backshell component;
identifying a second junction point (J2) in flattened route;
computing a second tangent at the second junction point;
calculating a translation and rotation transformation aligning the first junction point to the second junction point, and aligning the first tangent and the second tangent,
calculating a transformation matrix based on the translation and rotation transformation; and
displaying the flattened unconnected route segment aligned with the 3D backshell component;
applying a transformation to the stored sketch segment points to calculate transformed sketch segment points; and
calculating a first normal vector (N1) at the connector by taking a cross product between a connection point direction and a second direction between the first connection point and a second connection point, wherein a second normal vector (N2) is in a Z-direction normal to a connector surface plane, wherein the connector surface plane is referenced as the XY-plane,
wherein the flattened unconnected route segment does not intersect the 3D backshell component.