JP2004362558A - Mechanism design support method, mechanism design support system, and mechanism design support program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a design support method and design support system for supporting a designer to design a product by using a computer. <P>SOLUTION: Design specifications required for designing the product, components, design items, relation between the design specifications and the components, and relation between the design items and the design specifications or the components are defined and registered into a database. The designer is prompted by the computer to determine the contents of the design specifications for a specific type of device of the product. On the basis of the relation between the design specifications and the components, components to be used for the specific type of device are retrieved from the database and presented to the designer. The designer is then prompted by the computer to determine necessary components. With the design items and the design specification or the components, necessary design items are retrieved by the computer. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention provides a mechanism design support method and mechanism design method for presenting to a worker who performs a mechanism design work of a specific model of a certain product a work to be performed by the worker, and for navigating the worker by various methods. The present invention relates to a support system and a mechanism design support program.

  Conventionally, when designing a new product, mechanical design was performed by performing trial and error while determining the physical shape, dimensions of each part, necessary parts, positional relationship between parts, etc. . In the past, it was necessary for a single designer to repeatedly design products of the same category many times to be able to design in a short period of time while maintaining a certain level of quality. In addition, by repeatedly designing products of the same category in this way, it becomes possible to gradually get used to the design of the product and acquire design know-how, but such know-how usually depends on the design of the product. And it was difficult to share such know-how with other designers.

However, as the demands of product buyers diversify and multi-product low-volume production becomes more common, it becomes necessary to launch a large number of models in the same category one after another in a short period of time. Accordingly, there is an increasing demand to significantly reduce the time required for designing each model. For this reason, it has become an important issue for designers with little experience at the design site of many products to design each model with a quality above a certain level and in a short period of time.
An object of the present invention is to solve such a problem.

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a mechanism design support method, a mechanism design support system, and a mechanism design support program for supporting a designer who designs a mechanism of a product using a computer.

  Therefore, the design specifications, components, and design items required for the design of the product, the relationship between the design specifications and the components, and the relationship between the design items and the design specifications or the components are stored on a computer. There is a construction step for defining and registering in the database. Specifically, when developing or designing a product, first of all, what kind of design items, what kind of design specifications, and what kind of parts are necessary from engineers etc. who are familiar with the product design We will conduct a hearing survey on the information and other information and register the results in the database.

  Then, for a specific model of the product, a computer provides the designer with the design specification, and provides a design specification determination step for prompting the determination of the content of the design specification by adding, changing, or deleting as necessary. Based on the relationship between the design specifications and the components registered in the construction process, the components used in the specific model are extracted from the database and presented to the designer, and added, changed, and deleted as necessary. A component part determination step for prompting a designer to determine a component part on a computer, and the computer specifies the identification based on a relationship between the design item and the design specification or the component part registered in the construction step. Extract design items necessary for the model, extract design items used for the specific model from the database, present them to the operator, and add / change / A design item determination step of prompting a worker on the computer to determine the design item by performing the above-described process, and presenting the specific work contents of the design item determined in the design item determination step to the designer by the computer, A design item execution step is provided for navigating a person to perform the work content.

  Further, in the construction step, each of the design items is set with respect to a temporal predecessor-relationship, and the design items extracted in the design item extraction step are set based on the precedent-rear relations respectively set. A design flow diagram can be created on a computer. The setting of the precedent-rear relationship is, for example, a design item that must be completed in order to start a work of a certain design item, or a design item that can be started when the work of a certain design item is completed. It can be done by associating.

  Further, when there is a document related to each design item in the construction step, the document and data relating the design item to the document are stored, and in the design step execution step, an operator performs a specific work of the design item. Sometimes, when there is a document associated with the design item, the content can be extracted based on the association data and presented to the operator.

  In the design item execution step, the design item once completed may be returned to an unfinished state while leaving the obtained data, so that the execution of the design item may be performed again.

  As described above, according to the present invention, design specifications, components, design items, relationships between the design specifications and the components, and the design items and the design specifications or the configurations required for product design By defining the relationship with the parts and registering them in the database, the designer is prompted to determine the contents of the design specification for the specific model of the product, and the component parts used in the specific model are extracted from the database and designed. Prompting the designer to determine component parts by adding, changing, and deleting as necessary, extracting design items necessary for the specific model and presenting them to the designer, and The specific work content of the design item extracted in the item extraction step is presented to the designer, and the designer can be navigated to perform the work content. As a result, even if a designer who has little experience in designing the product who does not know in detail what procedure should be performed by performing the work according to the contents of this navigation, The design can be performed at a standard level, and the time required for the design can be shortened.

  Hereinafter, a design navigation system realized as one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The design navigation system according to the present embodiment basically includes a computer and a computer program executed on the computer. Also, a system can be configured by combining a computer and a computer program executed on the computer.

  The design navigation system according to the present embodiment is roughly divided into two modes, a “construction mode” and an “execution mode”. The “building mode” refers to the physical shape of a product such as a mobile phone and each part, the parts expected to be used, the positional relationship between parts, the strength required for each part, and the like. In this mode, the design specifications required for performing the mechanical design, the mechanical components expected to be used, and the design items expected to require the design work are registered in a database in association with each other on a computer. . In other words, this mode is a mode in which information necessary for navigating the design work of the mechanism designer is prepared before the design work.

  On the other hand, the “execution mode” is based on the information prepared in the construction mode, and includes design items and design specifications required for mechanical design of a specific product of a certain product (for example, a specific product of a mobile phone). This is a mode for extracting a mechanical part and navigating a worker who actually performs a design work on, for example, a CAD system.

  In the present embodiment, the execution mode is divided into two stages of “concept design” and “detailed design” in consideration of the contents of the design work. In the “concept design”, design items necessary to design the mechanism of the model are extracted, and a design flow indicating the order in which those design items are executed is generated. In the “detailed design”, a design item to be subjected to a mechanical design at that time is presented to a detailed designer in accordance with the design flow shown in the concept design, and a design work required in the design item is prompted. However, the method of dividing into “concept design” and “detailed design” is merely an example, and the present invention is not limited to such a method. Is also included in the technical scope of the present invention.

  When the design navigation system of the present embodiment is started, first, a login screen (not shown) appears. Here, when the user name and password of the authorized user are input and the “OK” button is clicked, a dialog box shown in FIG. 1 is displayed. In this dialog box, selection buttons including the above-mentioned "construction mode", "concept design", and "detailed design" are displayed, and any of these buttons can be clicked and selected. Hereinafter, the design navigation system of the present embodiment will be described in the order of “construction mode”, “concept design”, and “detailed design”.

[Build Mode]
In the construction mode, as described above, information necessary for navigating the designer's design work mainly in concept design and detailed design is prepared on a computer in advance of the design work and registered in a database. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the overall procedure of the operation in the construction mode. Hereinafter, a case will be described in which information necessary for a system for supporting an operator who designs a mechanism of a mobile phone is constructed using this construction mode.

  Even if the product category is a mobile phone, the design will naturally be different if the model is different. However, if the product is in the same category as a mobile phone, there are very many common parts even if the model is different. Thus, in the construction mode, basic information on the mechanical design of a product belonging to the category of the mobile phone is registered.

  When the “build mode” button is clicked in the dialog box of FIG. 1, the system enters the build mode, and the screen shown in FIG. 3 appears. In the dialog box of FIG. 3, three options of “design information registration”, “component registration”, and “design item registration” are displayed, and a work to be performed from now on is selected and clicked. . Here, “design information registration” corresponds to the operation of “design specification registration” (S203) in the flowchart of FIG. 2, and “component registration” corresponds to the operation of “component registration” (S202) in FIG. "Design item registration" corresponds to the operation of "registering design items constituting a design flow" (S204) in FIG.

  First, “design information registration” will be described. When the button of “design information registration” is clicked in the dialog box of FIG. 3, the screen of FIG. 4 appears. This is a dialog box for registering design information, in other words, design specifications. In FIG. 4, the design information name such as "design specification 1" is already registered in the column "design information name", but such a design information name is not registered when the system is operated. To register a design information name, right-click on this part and click the "Add" button (not shown) from among the options that appear, and enter an appropriate name in the input field for the design information name that appears. By pressing the return key, the name just input is added to the end of the column of "design information name".

  The “design information value” on the right side can be registered in association with the design information name thus added. If the design information value in this case is such that the designer selects an appropriate value from a plurality of design information value choices when designing the mechanism, enter and register a plurality of choice values. I do. In the example of FIG. 4, two values “value 3α” and “value 3β” are registered as options for the design information name “evaluation measure 3”. In the lower part of the column “Please enter a comment on design information”, some information on this “evaluation measure 3” can be described as a comment. Also, the comment described in the column "Please enter a comment on design information" is useful information that can be easily referred to by an operator when performing detailed design. In the same manner, the required design specifications are registered in the design information name column, and at the same time, an appropriate design information value is registered for each design specification as needed. The registered information is stored in a database (DB) of the system according to a predetermined format.

  Next, “component registration” will be described. When the "component registration" button is clicked in the dialog box shown in FIG. 3, the screen shown in FIG. 5 appears (S202). This is a dialog box for registering a mechanical component expected to be used for a product. In the case of FIG. 5 as well, nothing is initially registered in the “part name” column. To register a part name, right-click on this part, click the "Add" button (not shown) from among the several options that appear, and enter the appropriate name when the part name input field appears. And press the return key. As a result, the name just input is added to the end of the “part name” column. Thus, the registration of the component name can be performed by a simple operation.

  Further, the information on the input component is registered in the column on the right side of the “component name” column. Here, a case will be described in which information regarding a component “component 1” is registered. In this example, since it is desired to prepare two types of the “component 1”, that is, the component type A and the component type B, a column “A” on the right side shows a state in which a field “component type name” is created. It is also possible to use a lower part type. In addition, fields such as "part number" in column B, "material" in column C, "cost" in column D, and "internal design" in column E are created. These fields can be arbitrarily defined by a person working in the construction mode. Then, the operator inputs necessary values and characters to these prepared fields.

  For components, it is necessary to define the relationship with the design specifications (S205). The columns after the I column form a matrix for defining this relationship. The design specifications registered in the “design information name” column and the “design information values” registered in accordance with the design specifications are displayed after the J column. When right-clicking on the desired cell and selecting "Set as extraction condition" to be displayed, an "O" mark is displayed in that cell. In the example of FIG. 5, the part “type A” of “part 1” is associated with the design specification of the value 1a of the design specification 1, and the part “type B” of “part 1” is The design specification of the value 1b of the specification 1 is associated.

  In this way, the relationship between the design specification and the parts related to the design specification can be easily defined, and the information defined here is used in the subsequent execution modes (concept design and detailed design). For example, if the operator selects “value 1a” in “design specification 1” in the detailed design, “type A” of “component 1” is extracted as a part that matches the value. If the operator selects “value 1b” in “design specification 1”, “type B” of “component 1” is extracted as a part that matches the value. As described above, since a part corresponding to the design specification can be automatically extracted by the computer based on the defined relationship, even if the person who performs the design work has little experience, a necessary and appropriate part is selected. It becomes possible.

  Next, “design item registration” will be described. When the "design item registration" button is clicked in the dialog box of FIG. 3, the screen of FIG. 6 appears (S204). This is a dialog for registering design items themselves (left side in the figure) and inputting / editing properties related to a specific design item (here, “design item 1-1-2”) and registering (right side in the figure). It is a box.

  The example in FIG. 6 is a dialog box at the stage when design items have already been registered to some extent, and at the stage when the construction mode is first started, the hierarchy is lower than “body” in the tree display on the left side of the diagram. Although the registration up to “part 1” and the like has been completed, the subordinate layers “part 1-1” and “design item 1-1-1” are not registered at first. In this case, the operator can register “parts” and “design items” one by one in a predetermined procedure.

  In the tree display screen on the left side of FIG. 6, in addition to the design items, “parts” for which the design items need to be designed, “parts” related to the design items, and the like can be registered. However, this is only for the purpose of presenting to the operator in an easy-to-understand manner what kind of parts and parts the design item is related to, and the parts such as “parts 1” registered here Has no direct relationship with the association with design items and design specifications performed in other work of the present embodiment.

  When a new item is registered on the tree display screen on the left side of FIG. 6, the item is displayed at a predetermined position in the tree. The depth of the tree hierarchy can be freely determined by an operator in consideration of ease of construction work and the like. However, in the system of the present embodiment, a rule that the lowest hierarchy is set as a design item is defined. In order to register that the registered item is a design item, a worker separately designates that. As an example, when design item 1-1-2 is newly registered at the lowest level of the tree and is designated as a design item, "design item 1-1-2" is selected. When you click the button "Determine to be simulated" on the right side of the tree in the state (in Fig. 6, the item that has already been set as a design item has been selected and it has been switched to the display "Remove from simulation target") The item is registered as a design item, and the operator inputs information about the design item in each column of the dialog box for inputting and editing properties shown on the right side of FIG.

  The design items listed on the tree display screen on the left side of FIG. 6 include not only design items necessary for designing a specific model of a certain product, but also design items of all products in the category to which the model belongs. It is desirable to do. This makes it possible to use this system to navigate the designer for all products belonging to the category. As an example, there are about 300 design items required for the design of a certain model belonging to the category of a product called a mobile phone. The design items are not limited to this model, but are required for the design of all models of mobile phones that use this system. Total design items can be in the thousands. In that case, the design items required for designing a specific model of a certain product are only a part of all the design items of the product listed here, but all the design items are listed in the tree on the left side of FIG. Is done.

  At the top of the dialog box on the right side of FIG. 6, "design item name" indicating that the property input / edit dialog box is of "design item 1-1-2" is displayed. Below that, there are provided columns of “design item function”, “parent information”, “necessary conditions”, and “related know-how”.

  In the “design item function”, a description of what function the design item has is input. Here, it is desirable to input a description so that a person who performs detailed design later can understand the outline of the design item at a glance.

  “Parent information” is a column that defines a design item (this is referred to as “parent item”) that must be completed in order to execute the work of the design item. This item must be input to create a design flow diagram representing the procedure of processing of each design item (S207). The definition of the parent item can be made by dragging and dropping “design item 1-1-1” to be the parent item from the tree display on the left side as shown in FIG. 7 into this column. "Design Item 1-1-1" is displayed in the "Parent Information" column as shown in the figure, and it is defined that the parent item of "Design Item 1-1-2" is "Design Item 1-1-1". Is done.

  Note that a plurality of design items may need to be completed in order to start the design of a certain design item. Therefore, the number of design items to be the parent item is not limited to one. In that case, a plurality of design items are displayed in the “parent information” column.

  When all the parent information is set for each design item, it is possible to automatically check whether there is a logical inconsistency in the set contents by clicking the "simulation execution" button in FIG. This is because a previously prepared simulator program is executed. In the present embodiment, the design item that must be completed in order for the design item to be executed, that is, the parent information, is registered. However, when the design item is completed, a new execution is performed. It is also possible to register a design item (this is referred to as a “child item”) that can be used.

  The following "necessary condition" column is a column for associating this design item with the above-mentioned design specifications or parts, and must be always entered (S206) (if there is no input, in the design item determination step) Set to design items that are not extracted). The conditions for extracting the design items required for the design of a specific model from all the design items are defined by the information set in the “necessary conditions” column of the dialog box on the right side of FIG. .

  Clicking the "Add" button to the right of the "Required" column will bring up the dialog box shown in FIG. Here, all design specifications and parts already registered via the dialog boxes of FIGS. 4 and 5 are displayed. In the dialog box shown in FIG. 8, a predetermined part is selected from the "component list" on the left side, and a check mark is displayed in the check box when the first check box is clicked. As a result, the design item is associated with the specific part. Similarly, when a predetermined design information name (that is, design specification) is selected from the “design information list” on the right side of FIG. 8 and the first check box is clicked, a check mark is displayed in the check box. As a result, this design item is associated with the specific design specification.

  In the above description, the design item is associated with "design specification" or "part" for the following reason. Generally speaking, since design specifications are associated with components, design items may be associated with only one of the design specifications and components. However, from the viewpoint of design specifications, the reason why a design item is required may be direct or indirect. The “direct” case is a case where “the design item for satisfying the design specification X is α”. For example, if there is a design specification of "actively increase the strength", the performance of the product such as "select a material that uses metal instead of resin" or "provide a reinforcing rib" is affected as design items. Design items are required. As another example, when there is a design specification such as “providing a grain on a design surface”, a design item “designating grain processing” is required. These are not design items required by the presence of components.

  On the other hand, the “indirect” case means that the design specification and the design item are not directly related, but “when a certain component B is used, a certain design item is necessary for another component A. "Will be." For example, when the component A is a rear case of a mobile phone and the component B is a vibration motor, the design item of “forming a rib (for fixing the vibration motor) in the rear case” uses a component called a vibration motor. This is a design item required for the rear case, and the vibration motor is a component necessary to satisfy the design specification of "allowing incoming calls to be recognized by means other than voice." As described above, since the design specifications are associated with the parts, it is possible to directly link the design items to the design specifications. The design item of "Enable incoming call recognition by means other than voice" is associated as a necessary condition with the design item of "Yes", and the relationship between the two becomes indirect, and the worker who sets the necessary condition Intuitive understanding becomes difficult.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, the extraction condition (required condition) of the design item is not limited to either the design specification or the component part, but can be defined for both in order to facilitate intuitive understanding. And Furthermore, logical operations such as “AND” and “OR” can be set for the listed extraction conditions, which makes it possible to define more intuitive design item extraction conditions. The logical operation setting of “AND” or “OR” of the extraction condition is also possible in the component.

  In the example of FIG. 6, "design specification 1" and "value 1a" are input in the "necessary condition" column. It should be noted that “Item Spec” being displayed in the “Type” field means that the design specification is associated as a necessary condition. That is, the design specification “design specification 1” and “value 1a” are associated with “design item 1-1-2” via the dialog box illustrated in FIG. The design specifications or components associated in this manner are used as information when extracting design items from the design specifications or components in the execution mode. When a component is associated as a necessary condition, "Part Type" is displayed in the "Type" field.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a method of registering related know-how (S208). Various know-how related to the design work is stored in the database in advance as a large number of documents. These documents are created by conducting interviews with skilled designers or the like, or are accumulated while performing design work using this system. Here, an operation of relating necessary ones of these stored documents to respective design items is performed.

  First, in FIG. 6, when the “Add” button in the “Related know-how” field is clicked, a dialog box for listing files in a folder storing documents that can be registered as related know-how is displayed as shown in FIG. Is done. These files are documents stored as general files such as Excel and Word (both are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation). The contents of these documents include patent information related to the design item, information on product defects, points to be noted in design work, and so-called know-how.

  When the operator selects an appropriate document from FIG. 9 and clicks an “open” button, the selected document is registered in the “related know-how” column as shown in FIG. If it is determined that the registered document is unnecessary, it can be easily deleted. Note that what is actually registered in this part is the path to the document displayed here, and when an operator clicks on one of the documents at the time of detailed design described below, it is linked to that document The application starts automatically, and the document file is read and displayed by the application.

  When the input of the property edit screen on the right side of FIG. 6 is completed for the design item 1-1-2, by clicking the “close” button on the upper right, the content input here becomes “design item 1-1-2”. Saved as a property of

  As described above, design items and items other than design items can be changed mutually. For example, when “design item 1-1-1” displayed on the left side of FIG. 6 is selected with a mouse, a button “not to be simulated” (not shown) appears on the right side of the tree. The item is registered as a design item. To register as a design item is, in other words, to be an individual element of the design flow diagram. On the other hand, when an item already registered as a design item is selected with the mouse, a “Remove from simulation target” button appears on the right side of the tree. Clicking this button removes the item from the design items. By appropriately performing such operations, addition, change, and deletion of each item, and registration and cancellation of the design item are performed.

  As described above, in FIG. 6, all items in the same lowest hierarchy as “design item 1-1-1” are registered as design items, and the square mark ( "Connection mark") is graphically shown to be registered as a design item. On the other hand, all items in the hierarchy above this are not registered as design items, and the square mark ("right arrow mark") displayed in front of these items is indicated graphically. Is shown in

  The item with the “connection mark” is a design item, and therefore is also a simulation target. In this case, the "Remove from simulation target" button is in a clickable state. When this button is clicked, this item is no longer a simulation target (design item), and the mark displayed before that item is It changes to "Right Arrow Mark". However, even in this case, the information about the property entered in the dialog box on the right side of FIG. 6 is stored without being deleted, and can be used later. Conversely, when an item with the “right arrow mark” is selected, a “simulate” button (not shown) becomes clickable. When this button is clicked, this item is simulated, that is, a design item. And the mark displayed before the item changes to a “connection mark”.

  When the “simulate design item extraction” button in the dialog box on the left side of FIG. 6 is clicked, the simulation target, that is, the design item is extracted from all the items, and the “parent” is set for each design item. A design flow diagram as shown in FIG. 11 is created with reference to "information" (S209). This design flow diagram is experimental and not a final design flow diagram. The worker who works in the construction mode checks whether there is any inconsistency in the design flow diagram, and if a logical inconsistency is found, corrects the parent information of the corresponding design item (S207).

  After associating the design specification with the part (S205) and associating the design item with the design specification or part (S206), the system internally checks whether there is any inconsistency in these associations (S210). . If an inconsistency is found, the worker in the construction mode returns to the relevant association information and performs an operation to resolve the inconsistency.

  In the above example, the design specification is associated with the component (S205) in such a manner that the corresponding cell in the matrix of FIG. 5 is marked with a “○”, and the necessary information is entered in the “necessary condition” column of FIG. A design specification or a component is associated with a design item by a method of setting (S206). FIG. 35 shows an "association tool" for associating design specifications with components (S205) and associating design specifications or components with design items (S206) in a manner different from the above example. I have.

  The tool shown in FIG. 35 is designed so that the association between the design specification and the component (S205) and the association between the design specification or the component and the design item (S206) can be more easily understood visually and easily. It was done. In this tool, various objects indicated by respective symbols are prepared in the object column. Attributes such as “design specifications”, “parts” (corresponding to component parts), and “design items” are set in advance for each object. The operator places necessary objects in the editing area, inputs a name, and connects the objects with a line to create a diagram of the relationship between design specifications, components, and design items. it can.

  To place an object, drag and drop the object in the object column to any position in the edit area, or place the pointer on any position in the edit area and right-click to display the object list By selecting a necessary object from among, any object can be arranged at an arbitrary position. In addition, the type of the object once placed can be changed.

  When you add an object that defines the attributes of "design specifications", "components", and "design items", the data of "design specifications", "components", and "design items" are registered in the system. Then, the relationship between the design specification and the component, the relationship between the design specification or the component and the design item is registered in the system from the connection of the objects.

  In the object column of FIG. 35, objects (“function”, “mechanism”, “value”, “memo”, and “OR”) other than the design specification, the component, and the design item are also prepared. These are not directly related to the association between the design specification and the component (S205) and the association between the design specification or the component and the design item (S206). When you define, you can work while expressing the logical connection of things. In addition, by using these objects, when the relation diagram is later viewed, the meaning of the diagram can be easily understood.

  FIG. 36 is a diagram showing the relationship between design specifications, components, and design items created by using the association tool in FIG. 35 in the case of constructing a mechanism design support system for an openable (foldable) mobile phone. Part is shown. In the example of FIG. 36, a specification called “open / close detection function” is arranged at the leftmost “design specification”. “Contact type”, “non-contact type”, and other methods that can be considered as methods for realizing the specification of the “open / close detection function” are arranged in the “function development” section.

  Looking at the “contact type” here, the component “CASE-UPPER-F” requires a design item “Creating a pin for the open / close detection switch of CASE-UPPER-F”, and the component “ CASE-LOWER-F "requires two design items:" Creating a hole for the CASE-LOWER-F open / closed detection switch "and" Creating a positioning shape for the CASE-LOWER-F open / closed detection switch " Is expressed.

  FIG. 37 shows a part of another example of the relationship diagram created using the association tool. This is because a certain function is required because the component A is required, a design item B is required to realize the function, and a component B is required to execute the design item B. It is shown that. When such a complicated relationship is created by using the association tool, a relationship diagram is easily visually comprehensible and easily understood.

  The "construction mode" has been described in detail above. The operations performed in the construction mode are briefly summarized as follows. In other words, if a business establishment develops and designs a mobile phone as a product, for example, and intends to use this system in the future to support the design work of individual models, an engineer who is familiar with mobile phone design must first From the questionnaire survey, what kind of design items, what kind of design specifications, and what kind of parts are necessary, the results of the interview are shown through the screens of FIGS. , Registration of parts and design items, and association of design specifications with parts, design items and parts or design specifications, and registration of parent information and registration of know-how data for design items.

  As described above, since necessary information such as product design specifications, components, and design processes are sufficiently registered in the construction mode, the same category is used in the “concept design” and the “detailed design” in the following execution modes. It is possible to navigate a designer who actually designs a specific model of a product belonging to.

[Concept design]
Next, a concept design which is one of the execution modes will be described. FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing an outline of a work procedure in the concept design. When the "concept design" button is clicked on the screen of FIG. 1, a dialog box shown in FIG. 13 is displayed. In this dialog box, existing orders are listed, and the procedure is to select an order (model) in charge of the concept design from the list. In the example of FIG. 13, only one order named “Development-02” is displayed. On the other hand, if you do not have an order yet, you can create your own.

  When "development-02" is clicked in the dialog box of FIG. 13, a dialog box of "concept design information input screen" shown in FIG. 14 appears. This is a screen for performing an operation of determining a design specification (S1205). Usually, the design specification is determined while listening to the opinion of the customer who has requested the design and considering what kind of function or performance is required for the product to be developed.

  The dialog box shown in FIG. 14 includes various design specifications (“design specifications 1”, “design specifications 2”, and “design specifications 3” listed in the “design information item” column in the middle) required for the design of the mobile phone. ,...) Are added, changed, or deleted as necessary, and the content, that is, the design value is input in such a manner as to fill in a blank of “design value”.

  However, in order to simplify input work for each design specification and to provide design tips for inexperienced designers, if a similar model has been developed in the past, Values can be diverted. When diverting a part of the design value of the model designed in the past, click the down arrow on the right side of the input box "Diverted model name" in the dialog box of FIG. 14 and select the registered model. can do. FIG. 15 shows a state where the design value of “model-01” is displayed in the column of “reference value” by selecting the model “model-01” here.

  In FIG. 15, “value 1a” and the like are input in the columns of “reference value” and “design value”, but a specific numerical value or the like is actually input. For example, if the "design specification" is the dimension of the window for a liquid crystal display panel, the dimension is entered in a predetermined length unit, and the "design specification" must be dropped and passed in a drop test. If it is "height", a height value of, for example, 5 meters is input. The design designer decides each design specification of “Development-02” to be newly developed this time while referring to the design value of each design specification of “Model-01”. For example, when designing the same design specifications for many parts even if the model is different, such as when designing a mobile phone, many of the design specifications created in the past can be used. The working time can be reduced as compared with the case of creating a file.

  As described above in the construction mode, the relationship between each design specification and the component is defined and registered in the database.When the design specification is determined, the component based on the design specification is stored in the database in advance. It can be automatically extracted from the list of registered components (S1206). FIG. 16 shows a state in which all the design specifications have been input in the dialog box shown in FIG. At this stage, if the button "Register component" shown at the lower left of the dialog box in FIG. 16 is clicked, the component parts screen shown in FIG. 17 is displayed on the display.

  FIG. 17 describes information on one component in one line. As information to identify each part, here, the fields "unit name", "subunit name", "part name", "part type", "part number", "cost", "material", and "weight" are set. Provided. However, not all of these fields contain information. In the dialog box shown in FIG. 17, all of the parts shown here have the unit name "body". The concept designer adds, deletes, and modifies the parts displayed here according to the model designed this time, decides the parts necessary for the model to be designed this time, and places it in the dialog box of FIG. Register at

  In addition, a function of displaying all the components registered in the construction mode is provided so that addition, change, deletion, and the like of the components can be easily performed. When a button "all parts list" is clicked in the dialog box shown in FIG. 17, all parts registered in this system are displayed as shown in FIG. Although not clearly shown in FIG. 18, among the displayed parts, for the component selected in the model “Development-02” to be designed this time, the entire line is displayed in a different color from the other parts. Is done. Therefore, when the “all parts list” in FIG. 18 is displayed, it is possible to see at a glance what is selected in the component parts table in FIG. 17 and what is not. To newly add an unselected one, click on that line and click on the “Register” button in FIG. 18 to add that part to the component parts table in FIG.

  Conversely, if there is a part that the concept designer determines to be unnecessary for the model among the parts automatically selected by the system based on the information set in the construction mode, the parts list in FIG. , Select the row of unnecessary parts, and click the "Delete" button. As a result, the part is deleted from the component parts table of FIG. 17, and then, when the entire parts list of FIG. 18 is displayed, the row of the deleted part changes to a non-selected color.

  When the design specifications and the component parts are determined as described above, a design item necessary for designing this model can be extracted based on the information set in the construction mode (S1208). When the button “Generate Flow” in FIG. 17 is clicked, the system internally extracts design items for this model, and prepares the above and “parent information” set for each design item in advance. The flow is supplied to an algorithm for generating a flow chart, and a design flow chart is generated (S1209).

  FIG. 19 is an example of a design flow diagram generated in this manner. In this design flow diagram, square marks marked “Design item 1-1-1” and the like below each represent one design item. The horizontal axis (rightward) indicates the elapse of the work time. Therefore, when comparing two given design items (for example, “design item 1-1-1” and “design item 2-1-1”), the one on the right side (design item 2-1-1) has a shorter time. Run slowly. In addition, those having the same position on the horizontal axis indicate that they can be executed in parallel. For example, in FIG. 19, any of the three design items 1-1-1, 3-1-1, and 6-1-1 can be executed first. It is also possible to share the work with other workers.

  The following can be seen from FIG. First, when the design item 1-1-1 is completed, the design item 1-1-2 and the design item 2-1-1 are ready to be executed, and when the design item 3-1-1 is completed, the design is completed. The items 4-1-1, 4-2-1, and 5-1-1 are ready to be executed. In order to execute the design item 2-2-1, the design item 2-1-1 only needs to be completed. However, in order to execute the design item 2-2-2, the design item 2-1 has been completed. 1 and the design item 4-1-1 must be completed. In addition, in order to execute the design item 6-1-2, the design items 4-2-1, 5-1-1, and 6-1-1 must be completed. In this way, by graphically representing the relationship between design items, the worker can visually grasp the progress of the entire design work and what design items can be started at the present time. Can be.

  The design designer checks the generated design flow diagram to see if there is any problem in the design item itself (S1210). If there is a problem, correct it (S1211). It is checked whether there is any problem in the design flow (S1212). If there is a problem, the design flow diagram is manually corrected (S1213).

  As described above, when the design flow diagram of FIG. 19 is generated, only the information (parent information) of the parent design item is defined for each extracted design item, and an appropriate design flow diagram is created. Is one of the features of this system.

  The operation of notifying the system when the concept design is completed is performed by "task issue" shown in FIG. This is the same as the dialog box shown in FIG. 13. Here, a mouse arrow is placed on the line "Development-02", and a right-click button displays a "Task issue" button. Click this button. I do. Then, this task is transferred from the conceptual design to the detailed design, and as shown in FIG. 21, the task disappears from the “order selection screen” of the conceptual design, and the task is shifted to the detailed design described below.

[Detailed design]
Next, detailed design, which is one of the execution modes, will be described. In this detailed design, for example, when a worker actually executes each design item on a CAD terminal different from this system, the work performed by the worker is navigated.

  FIG. 22 is a flowchart showing an outline of the entire detailed design. As a procedure for performing a detailed design, enter a user name and a password on a login screen (not shown), click an “OK” button, and continue until the dialog box shown in FIG. 1 is displayed. , "Conceptual design". When the “Detailed design” button is clicked in the dialog box of FIG. 1, the dialog box of FIG. 23 is displayed. This dialog box is for "order selection" and corresponds to the dialog box shown in FIG. 13 in the case of conceptual design.

  The reason that the task “development-02” exists in the dialog box of FIG. 23 is that the task for detailed design is issued by issuing the task for detailed design in the dialog box of FIG. Based on the transition.

  When the part of “Development-02” is clicked in the dialog box of FIG. 23, each design item of the detailed design that must be designed for “Development-02” is displayed as a list as shown in FIG. 24 (S2205). . Each design item listed here corresponds to each design item shown in the design flowchart of FIG. The operator who performs the detailed design can easily know the design items that he / she must perform the design work by looking at the list in FIG.

  The list of FIG. 24 includes fields of “part name”, “part name”, “design item name”, “state”, “designer”, and “date and time”. Here, the "part name" field indicates which part the design item is for. The “part name” field indicates which part the part belongs to. The “status” field is provided to notify whether or not the design work can be started. In the “designer” field, the name of the person in charge of the design or the person in charge of the design is displayed (here, it is “unknown”). The “date and time” field displays the date and time when the design item is “designable” or the date and time when the design is completed.

  Whether or not work on a certain design item can be started depends on whether or not work on a required design item has been completed before that design item, as described above with reference to FIG. In FIG. 24, three design items 1-1-1, 3-1-1, and 6-1-1, which are "design possible", are the first design items located at the leftmost position in the design flow diagram of FIG. It corresponds to three design items that can start work. The operator may start from any of these three design items, and the computer acquires the design item selected and clicked by the operator, and the operation is performed.

  Although it is difficult to understand from FIG. 24, in the system of the present embodiment, the display method and the color are changed according to the content of the “status field” to make it easy to visually distinguish. In other words, design items whose "Status" field is "designable" are normally displayed in blue, design items whose "design is not possible" are grayed out lightly, and design items whose work has been completed are normally displayed in black. Design items that have been started by access from another computer are normally displayed in red.

  In the dialog box shown in FIG. 24, by clicking a button "design flow display" below, a design flow diagram substantially the same as that shown in FIG. 19 can be displayed (S2206). This allows the operator to easily refer to the design flow diagram as needed. In this case, the three design items that are “designable” at the present time in the displayed design flow diagram are displayed in a blinking color different from the other design items. Thus, the operator can see at a glance the current situation in the entire work process.

  In FIG. 24, when any one of the three design items from which the design work can be started is clicked, the status of the work of the clicked design item is started on the system of the present embodiment (S2207). . If the uppermost “design item 1-1-1” is selected here, a detailed design screen of this design item shown in FIG. 25 appears.

  In the left area of FIG. 25, the entire design process is displayed as a tree, and the “design item 1-1-1” being started is highlighted, and other design items are listed in the list of FIG. Like the status field, the display is distinguished from the display by color. Various information related to the design item 1-1-1 is displayed in an area on the right side of FIG. For example, in the column of "Development model name", "Development-02" which is the name of this development project is displayed. The name of the operator who has made the concept design is displayed in the column of “design designer” (blank in the example of FIG. 25), and the column of “functions” realized by this design item is displayed in the column of “item function”. The description is displayed.

  Although it is possible to add new information at this stage on the screen of FIG. 25, FIG. 25 basically shows the operator who executes the detailed design the contents that must be performed as the work of this design item. This is for presenting information for guidance (navigation). The operator performs the actual design work while facing the CAD system terminal and the like while following the navigation by the present system.

  In the "check items" column of the dialog box in FIG. 25, management items that the operator must always perform in this design item are listed. Each time the operator completes the operation of the management items listed here on the CAD, he / she puts a check mark in the check box on the left side of the management item (S2208, S2209). Then, unless all the management items are checked in the program, this design item cannot be completed (S2210). With this ingenuity, even inexperienced workers who do not know what items to consider in the design items can reliably perform the necessary work, such as omission of work Can be prevented. The setting of the management item can be performed in the construction mode in the system of the present embodiment.

  Further, an image of a portion related to the design item is displayed in a “Viewer” area on the right side of FIG. This image data is obtained by extracting a corresponding portion from the CAD design data and displaying the extracted portion. Thereby, the worker can visually grasp which part of the development model corresponds to the work currently being executed.

  In addition, an operator performs a design operation on a CAD system according to an instruction of the design navigation system, but both are generally independent. However, the efficiency is reduced if the CAD system program and the design navigation system program are switched each time, or if both systems need to be moved from one to the other when they are in remote places. Therefore, if the design screen on the CAD system can be referred to on the design navigation system as in the system of the present embodiment, the work efficiency is improved.

  The information listed in the “knowledge list” column in the middle of FIG. 25 is the information of “related know-how” registered in the above-described construction mode (see FIG. 10). In the "Knowledge list" column, documents with file names in a general format such as Excel and Word are described, and these files are used for design work such as know-how and related patents related to this design item The useful information described above is described, and the operator can refer to the information as needed (S2212).

  FIG. 26 shows, as an example, an image that appears when a document “design concept” included in the “knowledge list” of FIG. 25 is clicked. This “design philosophy” is stored as an Excel file. When this document is clicked, Excel is automatically started, and a file named “design philosophy” is automatically read into Excel. Is displayed as follows. In this way, designers can instantly refer to the information registered in the knowledge list while performing work, so even workers with little experience in design work or know-how can use the know-how described in these documents. It is possible to perform the design work efficiently and at a certain level or more while referring to the information.

  Also, if the designer has a record of actual design work or has noticed something during the actual design work, a new The design item can be registered as know-how (S2213). Further, in order to grasp the relationship between the current design item and other design items graphically, a design flow diagram can be appropriately displayed (S2214).

  FIG. 27 is similar to FIG. 25, but FIG. 27 shows a list of “check items” while operating CAD software running on a terminal different from the terminal on which this system is running. The design work is performed for each of the managed items, and the operation of clicking the check box of the corresponding managed item every time one item is completed is repeated, so that all the managed items are checked.

  In FIG. 27, the column of “check item” is clicked by the operator to add a check mark, but depending on the design item, the operator must enter some numerical value or wording from a keyboard or the like. There is also. In such a case, the check box may be clicked only after the numerical value is input.

  Further, when setting management items in the construction mode, it is possible to limit the input numerical values, for example, “only 3”, “3 or more”, “3 or less”, and “3 ± 1”. These represent a state where only 3 can be input, a state where only 3 or more numerical values can be input, a state where only 3 or less numerical values can be input, and a state where only numerical values from 2 to 4 can be input. If a value that is outside the limit is entered for a control item with such restrictions, the control item cannot be checked, and as a result, you will not be able to proceed. is there. However, depending on the development situation of a new product, it may be necessary to input a numerical value outside the limit determined in the construction mode. To cope with such a case, create a document in Word or Excel etc. that describes the reason why you had to enter a numerical value outside the limit and register it in a specific column (not shown) on the detailed design screen The condition may be such that a check mark can be added to the management item.

  When all the management items shown in “check items” in FIG. 27 are checked, the “design completed” button at the bottom of FIG. 27 can be clicked. In this way, the system navigates the worker and informs the worker of what design work is required at each stage through a computer. But you almost never forget to design the necessary items.

  Here, when the “design completed” button is clicked (S2211), the dialog box shown in FIG. 27 is closed, and the dialog box shown in FIG. 28 is displayed. This dialog box is similar to the dialog box of FIG. 24, but the contents are partially changed. That is, in the dialog box of FIG. 28, the “state” field of the design item 1-1-1 has been changed to “design completed”, and accordingly, the “state” field of the design item 1-1-2 has been changed to “designable”. And it is in the normal display state.

  Next, the "return" function (S2215) will be described. This function allows the user to return to the desired design item by a simple operation when he / she wants to redo the previous design item at the stage when the work in the detailed design has progressed to some extent. FIG. 29 is a diagram for explaining this “return” function. FIG. 29 is a dialog box of the design process list. As can be seen from the “status” field, some of the design items displayed here are already completed (“design completed” Some of them can be designed at the moment (they are "designable").

  At this point, it is assumed that the design work is being performed on the design item 2-2-2 in which the “state” field is “designable”. FIG. 30 is a dialog box showing a state where the design work of the design item 2-2-2 is being performed. Here, it is assumed that the design item 1-1-1 needs to be redone for some reason, and the design work of the design item 1-1-1 is redone using the rework function. In this case, the user clicks “design item 1-1-1” in the tree display on the left side of FIG. 30 to select it, and clicks the “NG” button. Then, a confirmation screen shown in FIG. 31 is displayed. Here, the "Yes" button is clicked to display a new design process list screen shown in FIG. As can be seen, one new design item 1-1-1 is added, and two identical design items 1-1-1 are displayed in total. Looking at the "status" field of the added design item 1-1-1, it can be seen that "design is possible".

  FIG. 33 shows how the design flow diagram changed before and after using the rework function. In the design flow diagram of FIG. 33A before the rework, the design item 2-2-2 is displayed as a design item that can be executed at the present time. On the other hand, in FIG. 33B after the rework, the design item 2-2-2 is displayed in a color indicating that the design item has already been completed. It is displayed as a design item that can be executed at present. Along with this, it is necessary to redo the work for the design items 1-1-2, 2-1-1 and 2-2-1. For example, when the returned design item 1-1-1 is completed, In the design flow diagram of FIG. 33B, design items 1-1-2 and 2-1-1 that can be subsequently designed are displayed as executable states. The design work is redone by the rework function, and when the design work is completed, the design flow diagram is updated (S2217).

  The designer proceeds with the design work while repeating the work described above. Finally, all the design items are completed, and when the “status” field of all the design items becomes “design completed” as shown in FIG. 34A, the button “end declaration” can be clicked. (S2218, S2219). Here, when this button is clicked and the “OK” button is clicked on the confirmation screen shown in FIG. 34B, the order “development-02” disappears from the order selection screen as shown in FIG. 34C. . Thus, the detailed design ends. As another embodiment, when all the “status” fields on the screen of FIG. 34A become “design completed”, the fact is sent to the concept designer by e-mail, and the concept designer It is also conceivable that the detailed design is completed only after the details of the detailed design are viewed and approved.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the invention described in each claim of the claims, and these are also included in the technical scope of the present invention. It is.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a screen on which selection buttons including “construction mode”, “concept design”, and “detailed design” are displayed. 5 is a flowchart showing an overall procedure of a work in a construction mode. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a screen for selecting any one of three of “design information registration”, “component registration”, and “design item registration” in a construction mode. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a dialog box for registering design specifications, which appears when a “design information registration” button is clicked in the dialog box of FIG. 3. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a dialog box for registering a mechanical component expected to be used for a product, which appears when a “component registration” button is clicked in the dialog box of FIG. 3. A dialog box for registering a design item itself (left side in FIG. 3) and a dialog box for inputting / editing properties relating to a specific design item and appearing when a “design item registration” button is clicked in the dialog box of FIG. FIG. It is a figure showing how to define a parent item. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a screen on which all of the design specifications and components already registered are displayed. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a method of registering related know-how. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a method of registering related know-how together with FIG. 9. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a created design flow. It is the flowchart which showed the outline of the work procedure in concept design. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a dialog box that appears when a “concept design” button is clicked on the screen of FIG. 1. It is a figure showing the dialog box of "concept design information input screen." FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a state in which a design value of an already registered model is displayed in a “reference value” column when the model is selected as a diverted model. FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a state where all design specifications have been input in the dialog box shown in FIG. 15. FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a screen of a component parts table that appears when a “component registration” button in the dialog box of FIG. 16 is clicked. FIG. 18 is a view showing a screen on which all parts registered in the system are displayed when the “all parts list” button is clicked in the dialog box of FIG. 17. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a generated design flow. It is a figure for explaining the "task issue" operation | movement which notifies a system that concept design was complete | finished. It is a figure for explaining operation which a task is handed over from a concept design to a detailed design. 6 is a flowchart showing an outline of the entire detailed design. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a screen displayed when a “detailed design” button is clicked in the dialog box of FIG. 1. It is the figure which displayed each design item of the detailed design which should be designed about "development-02" in a list. It is the figure which showed the detailed design screen of this design item which appears when "design item 1-1-1" is selected. FIG. 26 is a diagram illustrating an image that appears when a document “design concept” included in the “knowledge list” of FIG. 25 is clicked. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a state where check marks are entered in all items. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a matrix screen for defining a relationship between design specifications and components. It is a figure for explaining a return function. It is the figure which showed the dialog box displayed when performing the design work of the design item 2-2-2. It is the figure which showed the confirmation screen whether to execute the rework function. FIG. 32 is a diagram showing a new design process list screen displayed when a “Yes” button is clicked on the confirmation screen shown in FIG. 31. It is a figure showing a situation of change of a design flow before and after using a return function. It is a figure for explaining operation performed when all the design items are completed. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an associating tool for associating a design specification with a component and associating a design specification or a component with a design item. FIG. 36 is a diagram illustrating an example of a relationship diagram between design specifications, components, and design items created using the association tool in FIG. 35. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a part of another example of the relationship diagram created using the association tool.

Claims (9)

A mechanism design support method for assisting a worker who designs a product mechanism using a computer,
Define on a computer the design specifications, components, design items required for the mechanical design of the product, the relationship between the design specifications and the components, and the relationship between the design items and the design specifications or the components. The construction process of registering in the database
For a specific model of the product, presenting the design specifications to an operator, performing addition / change / deletion as necessary to prompt the operator to determine the contents of the design specification on a computer, a design specification determination step,
Based on the relationship between the design specifications and the component parts registered in the construction process, the component parts used in the specific model are extracted from the database and presented to the operator, and added / changed / A component part determining step of prompting an operator on the computer to determine the component part by performing deletion,
On the basis of the relationship between the design item and the design specification or the component parts registered in the construction process, the computer extracts the design item used for the specific model from the database and presents it to the operator. A design item determination step of prompting an operator on a computer to determine the design item by adding, changing, or deleting according to
A specific work content of the design item determined in the design item determination step, by a computer, presenting to the worker, a design item performing step of navigating the worker and prompting execution of the work content;
A mechanism design support method comprising:   In the construction step, for each design item, another design item (parent item) that must be completed in order to execute the design item, or another design item that can be executed when the design item is completed (parent item) Child items), and for the design items determined in the design item determination step, create a design flow diagram on a computer based on the information of the set parent items or child items, respectively, and provide the operator with The mechanism design support method according to claim 1, wherein the method is presented, and the addition / change / deletion is performed as necessary to prompt a worker on a computer to determine a design flow diagram.   In the construction step, when there is a document related to each design item, the document and data relating the design item to the document are stored, and in the design step execution step, when an operator performs a specific work of the design item. 3. The mechanism design support method according to claim 1, wherein when there is a document associated with the design item, the content is extracted based on the association data and presented to an operator. A mechanism design support system for supporting an operator who designs a mechanism of a product,
Define and register in the database the design specifications, components, design items, relationships between the design specifications and the components, and relationships between the design items and the design specifications or the components required for the product design Construction means to
For a specific model of the product, a design specification deciding unit that presents the design specification to an operator, performs addition / change / deletion as necessary to prompt the operator to determine the content of the design specification,
Based on the relationship between the design specifications and the components registered in the construction process, the components are extracted from the database and presented to the operator, and the components are determined by adding, changing, and deleting as necessary. Component determination means for prompting the operator to
Based on the relationship between the design items registered in the construction process and the design specifications or the component parts, design items used in the specific model are extracted from the database in the previous period, presented to the operator, and added as necessary. Design item determination means for prompting an operator on a computer to determine design items by making changes / deletions;
Design item performing means for presenting a specific work content of the design item determined in the design item determination step to the worker, and prompting the worker to perform the work content;
A mechanism design support system comprising:   The constructing means may execute, for each design item, another design item (parent item) which must be completed to execute the design item, or another design item (executable when the design item is completed). Child item), and for a design item determined by the design item determination means, creates a design flow diagram on a computer based on the information of the set parent item or child item, respectively. 5. The mechanism design support system according to claim 4, wherein the system is presented to an operator and added, changed, or deleted as necessary to prompt the operator to determine a design flow on a computer.   The construction means has a function of storing, when there is a document related to each design item, the document and data relating the design item to the document. 6. A function according to claim 4, wherein when a work is performed, if there is a document associated with the design item, the contents are extracted based on the association data and presented to the operator. Mechanism design support system. To assist workers who use computers to design the structure of a product,
The design specifications, component parts, design items required for the mechanical design of the product, the relationship between the design specifications and the component parts, and the relationship between the design items and the design specifications or the component parts are operated by the operator. Construction function to define based on and register in the database,
For a specific model of the product, a design specification determination function that prompts an operator to determine the contents of the design specification,
Based on the relationship between the design specifications and the components registered by the construction, the components used in the specific model are extracted from the database and presented to the operator, and added, changed, and deleted as necessary. A component determination function that prompts the operator to determine the component,
Based on the relationship between the design items and the design specifications or the component parts registered by the construction function, design items necessary for the specific model are extracted from the database and presented to the operator, and if necessary, A design item decision function that prompts the operator to decide design items by adding, changing, and deleting; and
A design item execution function for presenting specific work contents of the design item determined by the design item determination function to the worker, and navigating the worker to perform the work contents;
A mechanism design support program characterized by realizing:   In the construction function, for each design item, another design item (parent item) that must be completed in order to execute the design item, or another design item that can be executed when the design item is completed (parent item) Child items), a design flow diagram is created for each of the design items determined by the design item determination function based on the set parent item or child item information, and presented to the operator. The mechanism design support program according to claim 7, comprising:   The construction function has a function of storing a document relating to each design item when there is a document, and data for associating the design item with the document. 9. The mechanism according to claim 7, further comprising a function of extracting a content based on the association data and presenting the extracted content to a worker when there is a document associated with the design item when performing the design. Design support program.

Images