Smiling Ghost Clip

A clip that can be used for papers books, envelopes, etc. It also works as a decorative item.
Measures at 3 cm x 6.5 cm x 0.2 cm, and no assembly is required.
 

Objective:

With a partner, the goal is to recreate a pre-existing ghost clip using Solidworks. By the end, the Solidworks files should be identical. 

Design Process:

• We first measured the ghost, which took some time. There were many small, precise measurements that seemed to land in between two points on the ruler and had to be estimated, occasionally to the nearest hundredth. The paper sketch of the ghost was made in 2x scale so that any precise measurements could be marked down with more ease.

• The most important part of the process of building the model in Solidworks was making a center rectangle constraint box, as the construction lines within it and the box itself were the basis for all measurements and smart dimensions.
• The initial sketch and the final design were very similar visually with the only difference being a minor change made to a measurement which was updated on the sketch. This measurement was the distance between the eyes, which was changed purely aesthetically. This specific measurement with the eyes was changed after overlaying our sketch of the ghost with the printed ghost model. We could see that the eyes were a bit too far apart, so we placed them slightly closer to each other. Initially, the eyes were each 0.8 cm away from the edge of the ghost, and we made them 0.85 cm away instead, which matched the original ghost far better.

• We initially planned to make the mouth by using sketch fillets, but we each ended up having different relations after doing so. We deleted the mouth and decided to take a different approach in creating it.
• We made a vertical line on the left side of the ghost which represented the side of the mouth and an arc on the bottom left which went from the bottom of the line to the center line and represented the bottom of the mouth. The line and the arc were mirrored along the middle of the ghost to get an identical line and arc on the other side of the ghost, which already resembled a smile.
• We used the Offset Entities tool based on the two vertical lines and arc to make the mouth open so that it could be used as a clip. We had to set the Offset Entities to reverse as the Offset was on the wrong side and we enabled Cap Ends to give the mouth arcs at the caps to close it. This was far simpler than using fillets and we had the same relations on our ghosts afterwards.

Solidworks Construction Instructions:

Note that V.C.C.L. stands for Vertical Center Construction Line

1. Draw the constraint box using the center rectangle tool. Have the center lie on the origin. Make sure the entire rectangle is construction geometry
2. Draw a construction line down from the top, x cm away, as labeled on the diagram, stretching from side to side.
3. Draw a construction line x cm above the bottom, as labeled on the diagram, stretching from side to side
4. On the left side of the constraint box, draw a circle (radius labeled on diagram) who’s origin lies x and y away from the top left corner of the constraint box, as labeled on the diagram.
5. Mirror the circle to the right of the vertical center construction line.
6. Draw three triangles on the left side of the constraint box, they should all be equal to each other. The first triangle should be drawn from the point of intersection between the left side of the constraint box and the top construction line, and the last triangle should end at the intersection of the top construction line and the vertical center construction line. The dimensions of the triangle are labeled on the diagram. Set the left side of the second triangle equal to the left side of the third triangle (this is in order to fully define the triangles)
7. Draw three triangles. The first triangle should be drawn from the point of intersection between the left side of the constraint box and the top construction line, and the last triangle should end at the intersection of the top construction line and the vertical center construction line. The point of the peak should lie on the top constraint box line, and the bottom points should lie on the top construction line
8. Using smart dimensions, set the distance between the left side of the constraint box and the peak to be x cm, the distance between the first and second peak be y cm, the distance between the bottom points of the first triangle be y cm, and the distance between the bottom points of the second triangle be y cm
9. Reflect the three triangles to the right of the vertical center construction line
10. Draw a semicircle on the left side of the constraint box, and should be drawn from the point of intersection between the left side of the constraint box and the bottom construction line. The dimensions are listed on the diagram, and should have a diameter of x.
11. Draw a construction line from the right side of the previous semicircle down to the bottom of the constraint box. Then, reflect that semicircle to the right of the just drawn line.
12. Repeat the previous step on the new semicircle.
13. Set all the semicircles to be equal to each other.
14. Draw a line on each side of the sketch, coming from the points of intersection of the bottoms of the triangles and the edges of the constraint box down to the points of the intersection of the semicircles and and the edges of the constraint box. Set them to be equal and parallel to each other.
15. Draw a line that is parallel to the constraint box edge. It should be y down from the top of the constraint box. The line should be x from the edge of the constraint box. The line should be y tall, and should be drawn in a downward direction. Dimensions are listed on the diagram.
16.  Draw a line down y, extending from the bottom of the line (15). Then from the new line draw another line x to the right, it should intersect with the V.C.C.L. The dimensions are in the diagram.
17.  Mirror this line over the V.C.C.L.
18. Using the offset entity tool, set ‘Add dimensions’ on, set ‘Reverse’ to yes, and set ‘Cap ends’ to yes, and make sure it is set to ‘Arcs’. Set the offset distance to x cm, as labeled on the diagram, and click on the checkmark.