Enclosing box

This command creates the enclosing box (dimensions) of the part.

Creation stages / Use:

Click the icon or select Tools > Enclosing box... from the drop-down menu.

Select the type of dimensions:

- Minimum:

TopSolid manages the directions of the 3 axes, to find the smallest possible dimensions.

- Aligned:

Select the alignment frame. The dimensions will be as small as possible based on the directions of this frame.

- Manual:
Select the frame of the box.
Enter the size X of the box.
Enter the size Y of the box.
Enter the size Z of the box.

The box will be defined based on the following criteria. The size being set, it can be smaller than the part.

- Not managed:

Mode by default. The dimensions are not managed.

The result of the enclosing box is usable. The frame is located in the entities tree in the Frames folder, X, Y, Z sizes of the box are located in the Parameters folder of the entities tree.
In Minimum type and Aligned, the values are grayed out, they cannot be changed manually.

Using Minimum and Aligned types may cause losses in performance. Each modification of the part requires a new calculation.
ParaSolid cannot guarantee that the box will be minimal. It is adjusted as near as possible. By specifying a reference frame, the result of the minimum box can be more precise, without being strictly minimum.

Available options:

Margins:

This option allows to add margins to the enclosing box in each direction.

Parameters are then created in the entities tree corresponding to the box dimensions with margins. They can be retrieved in a BOM via the Tools > Stock command.

Example: a block of 10mm in X with a margin of 0.2mm in X- and 0.2mm in X+ will have a parameter Box X marged size of 10.4mm.

Round:

This option allows to round the dimensions of the enclosing box.

Enter the rounding step.
Select the resolution type (nearest value, inferior value ou superior value).

Example: a block of 10mm in X with a margin of 0.2mm in X- and 0.2mm in X+ as well as a rounding of 0.5mm step with a resolution on superior value will have a parameter Box X marged size of 10.5mm.