The Blank and Unblank options enable you to add or remove mold items to the current mold model display.
• Use these options at any time while in Mold mode.
• You can blank and unblank the following:
– Parting Surface
– Volume
– Component
• Use the following methods:
– Blank-Unblank Dialog Box
– Right-click after item selection.
Figure 1 – Blank-Unblank Dialog Boxes
Blanking and Unblanking Mold Items
You can blank and unblank mold items at any time during your work in Mold mode. Blank and unblank functionality is similar to hide and unhide functionality. However, unlike the hide-unhide functionality, you do not have to save the blank-unblank status. It is retained for you automatically.
Additionally, when a mold item is comprised of multiple features, such as a manually created parting surface, you can blank or unblank the entire parting surface in one operation, rather than having to hide or unhide individual features.
The following items can be blanked and unblanked:
• Parting Surface the mold model.
• Volume
— Enables you to blank/unblank any parting surface in
— Enables you to blank/unblank any mold volume, such as sliders, cores, and cavities.
• Component
— Enables you to blank/unblank the reference model, workpiece, or any other mold component.
You can see the status of any mold item in the model tree at any time by adding the Status column to the model tree column display.
You can blank and unblank mold items using the following methods:
• Click Mold Display , in the View tab, to access the Blank-Unblank dialog box. You can also press CTRL+B to access the dialog box. The
Filter Tree in the dialog box enables you to see only the mold item types you want to blank or unblank. You can filter by parting surfaces, volumes, or components. If you click Parting Surface , for example, you will see only the parting surfaces available for selection in the dialog box. When a Component filter option is activated, a series of check boxes becomes available, enabling you to further filter the components displayed in the Blank-Unblank dialog box. The following component items can further be filtered:
– Workpiece
– Ref Model – Mold Component
– Mold Base Comp – Gen Assembly
– Molding
The Blank-Unblank dialog box contains a Blank and Unblank tab. Items listed in the Blank tab are those that are visible in the graphics window but available for blanking. If you select an item and click Blank, the item is moved to the Unblank tab of the dialog box. Similarly, the Unblank tab displays all items that are blanked in the graphics window.
• Select items from the model tree, then right-click and select Blank or Unblank. If the mold item is comprised of numerous features, which can occur for a mold volume or manually created parting surfaces, you must select the first feature to blank or unblank the item. The Blank and Unblank menu selection is only available for the first feature of the mold item.
• Select items from the graphics window, then right-click and select Blank or Unblank.
Blanking and Unblanking Requirements Consider the following blanking and unblanking criteria for items in a mold model:
• When splitting the workpiece or mold volume, the parting surface or mold volume used to do the splitting must be unblanked.
• In order to split the workpiece, it must be unblanked. If the workpiece is blanked, the All Wrkpcs split option is grayed out in the menu manager
