Design method and program

The present invention relates to a design method and a program, and more particularly to a design method for designing a design object such as a part or a device and a program for causing a computer to execute such a design method. The present invention also relates to a design device that implements such a design method and a computer-readable storage medium that stores such a program.

When designing parts, devices, etc., it may take too much time to design from a blank slate, which may not be efficient. In such a case, a new part or device may be designed with reference to parts or devices designed for the same purpose in the past.

Conventionally, there is a method of displaying the difference in shape between a part designed in the past and a part currently being designed and notifying the designer. The designer analyzes the difference in the displayed shapes and determines the final design contents by reflecting the shapes that are considered to contribute to some improvement effect such as the processing cost reduction effect in the design contents.

For example, Patent Document 1 proposes a design support method for determining the suitability of a combination of a certain part with a specific shape. Further, for example, Patent Document 2 proposes a design support method for associating processing units with each other.<patcit num="1"><text>Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 11-167587</text></patcit><patcit num="2"><text>Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2001-14373</text></patcit>

<p> However, in the conventional design method, it is desirable for the designer to accurately determine which of the displayed shape differences contributes to some improvement effect, but he is a skilled designer. However, it is very difficult to make such an accurate judgment. For this reason, the designer may actually adopt a shape that does not contribute to any improvement effect at all, and as a result, unnecessary design man-hours increase and processing costs increase. There was a problem. Such a problem occurred remarkably especially when the designer was not an expert.</p><p> Therefore, the present invention makes it possible to easily identify a design object that contributes to some improvement effect when designing a new design object with reference to design objects such as parts and devices designed in the past. The purpose is to provide design methods and programs.</p>

<p> The above problem is a computer-based design method, in which the process of inputting input information regarding the design object and<u style="single">Said</u>Based on the input information, an attribute search process for searching for a design object having similar attribute information from the attribute information of the design object designed in the past and the history of improvement contents, and<u style="single">Said</u>From the history, the improvement part acquisition process that acquires the improvement content of the design object having similar attribute information searched, and the attribute information of the design object that has similar attributes and the improvement content has the improvement effect.<u style="single">Said</u>Between the attribute information of the design object before the improvement of the design object, and the attribute information of the design object and the input information of which the improvement content has an improvement effect.<u style="single">include</u>The attribute calculation process that performs operations between the attribute information and<u style="single">The calculation of the attribute calculation process is the design of the version number one before the history regardless of the attribute information of the design object for which the improvement content is first acquired in the history by the improvement location acquisition process and the presence or absence of the improvement content. The first difference attribute information, which is the difference from the attribute information of the object, the attribute information included in the input information, and the attribute information of the design object for which the improvement content is first acquired in the history by the improvement location acquisition process. The common attribute information common to the second difference attribute information, which is the difference from the above, is obtained.</u>The improvement point acquisition process is<u style="single">Said</u>Attribute calculation process<u style="single">When the common attribute information is requested, the common attribute information is included in the input information.</u>In addition to reflecting in, the history of improved input information is stored,<u style="single">Said</u>It can be achieved by a design method characterized by including an output process that displays improved input information.</p><p> The above problem is a program that causes a computer to design an object to be designed.<u style="single">Said</u>The procedure for having the computer input the input information about the design object,<u style="single">Said</u>On the computer<u style="single">Said</u>Based on the input information, an attribute search procedure for searching for a design object having similar attribute information from the attribute information of the previously designed design object stored in the storage device and the history of improvement contents, and<u style="single">Said</u>On the computer<u style="single">Said</u>From the history, the improvement part acquisition procedure to acquire the improvement contents of the design object having the searched similar attribute information, and the improvement part acquisition procedure.<u style="single">Said</u>With the attribute information of the design object that has similar attributes to the computer and the improvement content has the improvement effect<u style="single">Said</u>Between the attribute information of the design object before the improvement of the design object, and the attribute information of the design object and the input information of which the improvement content has an improvement effect.<u style="single">include</u>The attribute calculation procedure that causes the calculation to be performed between the attribute information and<u style="single">The calculation of the attribute calculation procedure is the design of the version number one before the history regardless of the attribute information of the design object for which the improvement content was first acquired in the history by the improvement location acquisition procedure and the presence or absence of the improvement content. The first difference attribute information, which is the difference from the attribute information of the object, the attribute information included in the input information, and the attribute information of the design object for which the improvement content is first acquired in the history by the improvement location acquisition procedure. The common attribute information common to the second difference attribute information, which is the difference from the above, is obtained.</u>The procedure for acquiring improvement points is<u style="single">Said</u>Attribute calculation procedure<u style="single">When the common attribute information is requested, the computer includes the common attribute information in the input information.</u>The history of improved input information is reflected in<u style="single">Said</u>Store in storage<u style="single">Said</u>On the computer<u style="single">Said</u>This can be achieved by a program characterized by including an output procedure for displaying improved input information.</p>

<p> According to the present invention, when designing a new design object with reference to design objects such as parts and devices designed in the past, it is possible to easily identify the design object that contributes to some improvement effect. It is possible to realize the design method and program.</p>

The present invention is similar to a new design object among previously designed design objects when designing a new design object with reference to design objects such as parts and devices designed in the past. The design object having the attribute information is displayed together with the improvement contents obtained from each attribute information to inform the designer.

Therefore, the designer can easily obtain the attribute information that contributes to some improvement effect such as the processing cost reduction effect from the displayed improvement contents among the design objects having the attribute information similar to the new design object. It becomes identifiable. In addition, since the designer can determine the final design content by reflecting the attribute information that contributes to the improvement effect on the design content based on the display content, the designer's skill level is not greatly affected. It becomes possible to design a new design object having a desired improvement effect.

Hereinafter, examples of the design method, design apparatus, program, and computer-readable storage medium of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a first embodiment of the present invention. The design device 1 shown in FIG. 1 includes an input device 11, a storage device 12, an attribute search device 13, an attribute calculation device 14, an improvement location acquisition device 15, and an output device 16. The design device 1 can be configured by a general-purpose computer system. In this case, the input device 11 is composed of the keyboard and mouse of the computer system, the storage device 12 is composed of the internal storage device or the external storage device of the computer system, and the attribute search device 13, the attribute calculation device 14, and the improvement location acquisition device 15 Is composed of a processor such as a CPU of a computer system, and the output device 16 is composed of a display device of the computer system.

The CPU of the computer system realizes the design method by executing a program such as a design support program stored in the storage device 12. The program may be downloaded to the storage device 12 from outside the computer system, or may be read from a computer-readable storage medium and stored in the storage device 12. Further, the storage device 12 may be composed of a computer-readable storage medium itself in which the program is stored.

The design object is, for example, a part or an apparatus, but in this embodiment, it will be described as a part for convenience. Further, the attribute information of the part is assumed to be shape information.

The designer inputs information about a new part, a part to be improved, or a part to be analyzed (hereinafter referred to as input part information) from the input device 11. The input component information includes the component name and shape information. The storage device 12 stores shape information of parts designed in the past and a history of improvement contents. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the history stored in the storage device 12. The history shown in FIG. 2 includes the part name, the version number, the shape information, and the improvement contents. Some parts with the same part name b have different version numbers. For example, the part with the part name b having the version number 01 has the shape information of B1 and there is no particular improvement. On the other hand, the part with the part name b with the version number 02 has the shape information of B2, and the improvement content is the reduction of the assembly cost of 10 yen / piece.

The attribute search device 13 searches for a component having similar shape information from the history stored in the storage device 12 based on the shape information included in the input component information. The improvement location acquisition device 15 acquires the improvement content of the part having the searched similar shape information from the history stored in the storage device 12. The attribute calculation device 14 obtains a difference shape, a sum shape, a common shape, and the like between parts having similar shapes by calculation, and sorts the parts in descending order of the improvement effect of the improvement contents. Based on the calculation result of the attribute calculation device 14, the improvement location acquisition device 15 acquires the shape information contributing to the improvement of the part and reflects it in the input part information, and stores the history of the improved input part information. Store in device 12. The improvement location acquisition device 15 displays the shape information contributing to the improvement of the part by the output device 16, and the designer selects the desired shape information by the input device 11 to reflect the shape information in the input part information. You may try to do it. Further, the improvement location acquisition device 15 may automatically reflect the shape information of the improvement content having the greatest improvement effect obtained by the calculation of the attribute calculation device 14 in the input component information. The output device 16 displays input component information that reflects the shape information that contributes to the improvement of the component.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of this embodiment. The process shown in FIG. 3 is executed by, for example, the CPU of the above computer system. Here, for convenience of explanation, it is assumed that the shape information of the improvement content having the largest improvement effect is automatically reflected in the input component information.

In FIG. 3, in step S10, the attribute search device 3 inputs input component information input from the input device 1, for example, including shape information indicating the shape B11 shown in FIG. 4A (hereinafter, simply referred to as shape information B11). Enter in. In step S11, the attribute search device 13 obtains similar shape information including the shape information B12 shown in FIG. 4B from the history stored in the storage device 12 based on the shape information B11 included in the input component information. Search for the parts you have. In step S12, the improvement location acquisition device 15 acquires the improvement content of the part having the searched similar shape information from the history stored in the storage device 12. In step S13, for example, the shape information B13 shown in FIG. 4 (c) of the part for which the improvement content was first acquired by the improvement location acquisition device 15 (that is, the oldest part in the history for which the improvement content was acquired). To get.

In step S14, the attribute calculation device 14 acquires the shape information B13 and the shape information B1 shown in FIG. 4D, for example, of the part of the previous version in the history regardless of the presence or absence of the improvement content. The parts having the shape information B13 and B1 have the part name b and the version number 02,01 in FIG. Further, in step S14, the attribute calculation device 14 acquires the shape information B15 shown in FIG. 4 (e), which is the difference shape between the shape information B13 and the shape information B1. Step S15 acquires the shape information B16 shown in FIG. 4 (f), which is the difference shape between the shape information B11 and the shape information B13. In step S16, the attribute calculation device 14 acquires the shape information B17 shown in FIG. 4 (g), which is a common shape of the shape information B15 and the shape information B16. In step S17, the attribute arithmetic unit 14 determines whether or not the shape information B17 exists, and if the determination result is YES, the process proceeds to step S18, and if the determination result is NO, the process proceeds to step S19. ..

In step S18, the improvement location acquisition device 15 outputs and displays the shape information B18 shown in FIG. 4 (h) and the improvement contents, which reflects the shape information B17 in the shape information B11, and is improved. The history of input component information is stored in the storage device 12. In step S19, the improvement location acquisition device 15 determines whether or not all the parts having shape information similar to the shape information B11 and having the improvement contents have been referred to, and if the determination result is YES, the process is step S21. If the determination result is NO, the process proceeds to step S20. In step S20, the improvement location acquisition device 15 acquires the improvement content of the next part having shape information similar to the shape information B11, and the process returns to step S13.

In step S21, the attribute search device 13 searches for another part having shape information similar to the shape information B11 from the history stored in the storage device 12 based on the shape information B11 included in the input part information. In step S22, the attribute search device 13 determines whether or not there are other parts having similar shape information. If the determination result is YES, the process proceeds to step S23, and if the determination result is NO, the process proceeds to step S23. Is finished. In step S23, the process returns to step S12, assuming that the shape information of the new part having similar shape information is the shape information B12 by the shape search device 13.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a history that can be used when the attribute arithmetic unit 14 sorts parts in descending order of improvement effect of improvement contents. In FIG. 5, the improvement content column shown in FIG. 2 is divided into an improvement item and an improvement effect column. If the storage device 12 stores the history of such a data structure, the attribute arithmetic unit 14 can easily sort the parts in descending order of the improvement effect of the improvement content by referring to the column of the improvement effect of the history. Is possible.

In some cases, the improvement content can be obtained by changing the shape a plurality of times. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a case where the history stored in the storage device 12 is improved after being changed in shape a plurality of times. In the example shown in FIG. 6, although the improvement content cannot be obtained only by changing the part name b from the shape information B14 having the version number 04 to the shape information B21 having the version number 05, the shape information B14 having the version number 04 is not obtained. Indicates a case where the improvement content can be obtained by changing from the shape information B21 having the version number 05 to the shape information B22 having the version number 06.

A second embodiment of the present invention will be described. Since the block diagram of the second embodiment is the same as that of FIG. 1, the illustration and description thereof will be omitted.

The design object is, for example, a part or a device, but in this embodiment, it will be described as a device composed of a plurality of parts for convenience. Further, the attribute information of the device shall be assembly information (or assembly information).

7 to 9 are perspective views showing an outline of the device having the device name M having the version numbers 01 to 03. The device 50 shown in FIGS. 7 to 9 includes a substrate 51, a component 52 mounted on the substrate 51, a connector 53, a cable 54, and a socket 55. In the device 50 of version 01 shown in FIG. 7, it is difficult to attach the cable 54 because the distance between the component 52 and the connector 53 is short. In the device 50 of the version 02 shown in FIG. 8, the position of the connector 53 is shifted to a position slightly distant from the component 52, so that the cable 54 can be easily attached as compared with the device 50 of the version 01. In the device 50 of version 03 shown in FIG. 9, since the reinforcing plate 57 is added behind the socket 55, even if a twisting force is applied to the socket 55 when the plug 56 is attached to and detached from the socket 55, the figure is shown. Compared with the device 50 of the plate numbers 01 and 02 shown in 7 and FIG. 8, the socket 55 is less likely to be peeled off from the substrate 51.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the history stored in the storage device 12. The history shown in FIG. 10 includes the device name, version number, assembly information, and improvement contents. Even if the device 50 has the same device name M, the version numbers may be different. For example, in the device 50 having the device name M having the version number 02, the assembly information is the assembly position change, and the improvement content is the workability improvement. On the other hand, in the device 50 having the device name M with the version number 03, the assembly information is the addition of parts, and the improvement content is the strength improvement.

In the case of this embodiment as well, the operation is the same as in the case of the flowchart shown in FIG. 3, and the only difference is that the attribute information used is not the shape information but the assembly information.

Needless to say, the attribute information of the design object is not limited to the shape information and the assembly information. Further, the improvement content is not limited to the improvement content of each of the above embodiments, and the improvement content may be expressed numerically or non-numerically. For example, when the shape of the part is changed by chamfering or the like, the content of the improvement may be to make it difficult to cut the hand at the edge of the part to improve the safety at the time of assembly. Further, when the part is changed by applying a surface treatment such as painting, the content of the improvement may be that the part is less likely to be soiled and the yield of visual inspection is improved. Further, when the material of the heat radiation fins provided in the device is changed, the improvement content may be to improve the heat radiation characteristics of the device. As described above, the attribute information may be at least one information selected from the group consisting of shape information, assembly information, surface treatment information, material information, and the like.

Further, the manufacturing system for manufacturing parts can automatically manufacture parts based on the input part information reflecting the attribute information contributing to the improvement of the parts output from the output device 16. ..

The present invention also includes the inventions described below. (Appendix 1) It s a computer-based design method. The process of inputting input information about the design object and Based on the input information, an attribute search process for searching for a design object having similar attribute information from the attribute information of the design object designed in the past and the history of improvement contents, and an attribute search process. From the history, the improvement part acquisition process for acquiring the improvement contents of the design object having the searched similar attribute information, and the improvement part acquisition process. An attribute calculation process that calculates the attribute information of a design object that has similar attributes to obtain a design object whose improvement content has an improvement effect. In the improvement location acquisition process, based on the calculation result of the attribute calculation process, the attribute information contributing to the improvement of the design object is acquired and reflected in the input information, and the history of the improved input information is recorded. Store and A design method comprising including an output step of displaying the improved input information. (Appendix 2) The design method according to Appendix 1, wherein the attribute calculation step sorts design objects according to the content of improvement. (Appendix 3) The design method according to Appendix 1 or 2, wherein the attribute calculation step performs calculations on attribute information of design objects having similar attributes and sorts the design objects in descending order of improvement effect of improvement contents. .. (Appendix 4) The improvement location acquisition step is characterized in that the attribute information of the improvement content having the greatest improvement effect obtained by the calculation of the attribute calculation step is automatically reflected in the input information, any one of Supplementary notes 1 to 3. The design method described in item 1. (Appendix 5) The design method according to any one of Appendix 1 to 4, wherein the attribute information is one information selected from a group consisting of shape information, assembly information, surface treatment information, and material information. (Appendix 6) The design method according to any one of Appendix 1 to 4, wherein the improvement effect of the improvement content appears numerically or non-numerically. (Appendix 7) The design method according to any one of Appendix 1 to 5, wherein the history includes improvement contents obtained through a plurality of shape changes. (Appendix 8) A program that lets a computer design an object to be designed A procedure for causing the computer to input input information regarding the design object, and Attribute search procedure for causing the computer to search for a design object having similar attribute information from the attribute information of the previously designed design object stored in the storage device and the history of improvement contents based on the input information. When, An improvement part acquisition procedure for causing the computer to acquire the improvement contents of the design object having the searched similar attribute information from the history, and An attribute calculation procedure that causes the computer to calculate the attribute information of a design object having similar attributes to obtain a design object whose improvement content has an improvement effect. In the improvement location acquisition procedure, based on the calculation result of the attribute calculation procedure, the computer acquires the attribute information contributing to the improvement of the design object, reflects it in the input information, and improves the input. The history of information is stored in the storage device, A program comprising an output procedure for causing the computer to display the improved input information. (Appendix 9) The attribute calculation procedure is described in Appendix 8, wherein the computer performs a calculation on the attribute information of the design object having similar attributes and sorts the design object in descending order of the improvement effect of the improvement content. program. (Appendix 10) The improvement location acquisition procedure is characterized in that the computer automatically reflects the attribute information of the improvement content having the greatest improvement effect obtained by the calculation of the attribute calculation procedure in the input information. 9 listed programs. (Appendix 11) The program according to any one of Appendix 8 to 10, wherein the attribute information is one information selected from a group consisting of shape information, assembly information, surface treatment information, and material information. (Appendix 12) The program according to any one of Appendix 8 to 11, wherein the improvement effect of the improvement content appears numerically or non-numerically. (Appendix 13) A computer-readable storage medium comprising storing the program according to any one of Appendix 8 to 12. (Appendix 14) An input device for inputting input information about the design object and An attribute search device that searches for a design object having similar attribute information from the attribute information of the design object designed in the past and the history of improvement contents based on the input information. From the history, an improvement location acquisition device that acquires the improvement content of the design object having the searched similar attribute information, and an improvement location acquisition device. An attribute calculation device that performs an operation on the attribute information of a design object having similar attributes and obtains a design object whose improvement content has an improvement effect. The improvement location acquisition device acquires the attribute information that contributes to the improvement of the design object based on the calculation result of the attribute calculation device and reflects it in the input information, and also records the history of the improved input information. Store and A design device comprising an output device that displays the improved input information.

Although the present invention has been described above by way of examples, it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to the above examples, and various modifications and improvements can be made within the scope of the present invention.

<figref num="1">It is a block diagram explaining 1st Embodiment of this invention.</figref><figref num="2">It is a figure which shows an example of the history stored in the storage device.</figref><figref num="3">It is a flowchart explaining the operation of 1st Example.</figref><figref num="4">It is a figure explaining the shape of a part.</figref><figref num="5">It is a figure which shows the history which can be used when sorting parts in descending order of improvement effect of improvement contents.</figref><figref num="6">It is a figure which shows the case where the improvement content is obtained through a plurality of shape changes in the history stored in a storage device.</figref><figref num="7">It is a perspective view which shows the outline of the device of the device name M of the version number 01.</figref><figref num="8">It is a perspective view which shows the outline of the device of the device name M of the version number 02.</figref><figref num="9">It is a perspective view which shows the outline of the device of the device name M of the version number 03.</figref><figref num="10">It is a figure which shows an example of the history stored in the storage device.</figref>

Code description

1 Design equipment 11 Input device 12 Storage device 13 Attribute search device 14 Attribute arithmetic unit 15 Improvement point acquisition device 16 Output device 50 equipment 51 board 52 parts 53 connector 54 cable 55 socket 56 plug 57 Reinforcing plate