Tab and Slot Feature – Same Parts in One Assembly

The Tab and Slot feature is very handy when it comes to working with models that require parts to be assembled and interlocked. This feature can be used on single bodies, multibody, and parts in the context of an assembly. Not only can you use the Tab and Slot feature for Sheet Metal parts, but they can be used on any part!

Some may say that using this feature can be easy when working with individual parts, but what happens when you have a part with an existing tab feature in assembly, and you need to add a second iteration of the same part? What you will experience is your second part will already have the tab feature, but the part you want to be connected to will not have the slot feature.

There is a trick to be able to get all the parts to have their respective tab and slot features included. Below is an example of this solution, on how to get two of the same parts in an assembly have their respective tab and slot features.

1. Add your components to your assembly as normal. Mate the parts to where you would like the tab and slot feature to be placed

2. Right-click on the part you would like to add the Tab feature to, and choose Edit Part, or go to the Assembly Tab and choose Edit Component.

3. Go to Insert>Sheet Metal>Tab and Slot, or under the Sheet Metal Tab, choose Tab and Slot.

4. Choose the parameters for your Tab and Slot group.

5. Confirm you are finished editing your component by selecting Edit Component in the Assembly Tab or selecting the Edit Component icon in the top right-hand corner of the graphics screen.  You will now have two parts, one with tabs, and one with slots.

6. You will then add your second iteration of the component that you wish to into the assembly. In this example, it will be the blue part. The second iteration of the same component is indicated by the numbers beside the part name, circled in red below.

7. Mate the second component to the location you would like the second set of slots. As you can see, the tabs are shown on the green piece, but no slots are created.

8.  You will now go and suppress the Tab feature from the first iteration of the component (blue part), and it will update on both blue parts. The slots on the green component will still be present. This is key for this trick so that both parts will update together since they are the same part. 

9. On the second iteration of the blue part (the new one added), you will complete the same steps from Steps 2-5, and create the tab/slot feature for the second blue piece. At this point, you will see the tabs return to the first iteration of the part as well.

10. You now have an assembly with two of the same parts with tabs and one part that has two sections of slots!

To further demonstrate these steps, a video is included showing these same steps.

For more information on the Tab and Slot Feature, please visit one of our other excellent articles citing this topic. Once you have attempted these steps, or have a more complex part that needs further investigation, please reach out to us on the Client Success Team, here at TriMech for additional support. We are looking forward to assisting you with your SOLIDWORKS needs!