Creating Blocks within Sketches for Synthesizing Linkages, Cams and Gears

 

Check out this video demonstrating how to use the block feature within SolidWorks to create sketches that behave like linkages, cams, or gears.  Blocks take a group of entities and lock them together.  These are able to be moved, rotated, copied, and scaled very easily.  Using blocks to simulate linkages is a very quick and easy way to check to see if a linkage system will work without having to design an entire assembly.  I hope this tutorial will help you when designing mechanisms such as linkages or gears.

Ian Jutras