JP2000242686A - Cad device and device and method for data exchange between different kind of cads - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily correct the drawing contents of CAD data in different format even when the CAD data are transferred by converting drawing procedure information so that it can be read by other CAD devices and outputting it as transfer information. SOLUTION: When a transfer indication part 9 outputs a transfer indication together with transfer information, a drawing information conversion part 10 reads the drawing information of the corresponding CAD data out of a storage part 8 and converts it to the format of a transfer-destination CAD device and a drawing procedure information conversion part 11 reads the drawing procedure information of the CAD data out and converts it into the description of text format matching the format of the transfer destination. Then a transfer part 12 merges the converted drawing information and drawing procedure information into one piece of transmit information and transfers it to the transfer-destination CAD device. The transfer-destination CAD device receives the transferred transmit information by a reception part 13, relates and stores the drawing information and drawing procedure information by a CAD data restoration part 14, and makes it possible to freely correct them at a drawing part 7.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a case in which CAD data formats are created between different types of CAD having different formats.
The present invention relates to a CAD device, a CAD data conversion device, and a data conversion method that can freely transfer and easily modify drawing data.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 6-149907
No. 6,009,045.

[0003] In this system, a plurality of CAD systems having different data storage formats are connected, a common file accessible by each CAD system is provided, and a data storage format is set between each CAD system file and the common file. A program for converting and transferring data is provided, and by performing indirect data exchange through a common file between each system, it is possible to secure the security of the data storage format and make the data exchange efficient,
In particular, the configuration is made possible with a smaller number of conversion programs than in the case of direct data exchange.

A system having such a configuration is used when designing a product, when referring to the design drawings of other related parts while creating a part design drawing, or when a design department and a department for creating a product die are used. Used for information exchange.

[0005]

However, in this system, only the drawing information which is the geometric information of the CAD data is transferred, and the drawing procedure information indicating the drawing procedure of each drawn part is different from the CAD system. Converted and not transferred due to incompatibility between.

[0006] Therefore, even if the receiving side can simply print out the received data without any modification, if a part of the drawing data is to be corrected, the circle or the square to be drawn is drawn. Since the drawing additional information such as the assembly hierarchy relationship of each drawing part and the drawing procedure information indicating the drawing procedure formed separately from the CAD data have not been sent, delete all the parts including the part to be changed. Must be redrawn. In particular, the wider the parts and the finer the parts,
The change takes time, and in some cases, it may be faster to rewrite from the beginning.

[0007] The present invention is to solve such a problem.

[0008]

Means for Solving the Problems CAD according to the present invention
The apparatus includes: a drawing unit that forms drawing procedure information indicating at least a geometric drawing procedure and executes drawing; a storage unit that stores the drawing procedure information drawn by the drawing unit; And a transfer unit that outputs the drawing procedure information converted by the drawing procedure conversion unit to the outside of the apparatus as transfer information.

A drawing unit for forming drawing procedure information indicating at least a geometric drawing procedure and executing drawing, a storage unit for storing the drawing procedure information drawn by the drawing unit, and another CAD apparatus. And a drawing procedure conversion unit configured to convert the drawing procedure information created in step (1) so that the drawing procedure information can be read. The drawing unit can perform drawing based on the drawing procedure information converted by the drawing procedure conversion unit.

In addition, a drawing unit for forming at least geometric drawing information and drawing procedure information indicating the drawing procedure and executing drawing, and storing the drawing information and the drawing procedure information drawn by the drawing unit. A storage unit for storing the drawing information in another CA
A drawing information conversion unit that converts the drawing procedure information into drawing information in a format of another CAD device; a drawing procedure conversion unit that converts the drawing procedure information into drawing information in a format of another CAD apparatus; And a transfer unit for outputting the drawing procedure information converted by the drawing procedure conversion unit to the outside as transfer information.

A drawing unit for forming at least geometric drawing information and drawing procedure information indicating the drawing procedure and executing drawing, and storing the drawing information and drawing procedure information drawn by the drawing unit. A storage unit, a receiving unit that captures drawing information and drawing procedure information output by the other device, and a drawing information conversion unit that converts the drawing information received by the receiving unit from the format of another CAD device to its own format Wherein the drawing unit can perform drawing based on the drawing information converted by the drawing information conversion unit and the drawing procedure information.

A drawing procedure conversion step of converting drawing procedure information indicating at least a geometric drawing procedure from its own format to another format or from another format to its own format; An output step of outputting the drawing procedure information converted in the step outside the apparatus; and an input step of inputting the drawing procedure information from outside the apparatus and passing the information to the drawing procedure conversion step for information conversion. It is characterized by a data exchange method between CAD.

A rendering procedure conversion unit for converting at least rendering procedure information indicating a geometric rendering procedure from its own format to another format or from another format to its own format; An output unit that outputs the drawing procedure information converted by the unit to the outside of the apparatus, and an input unit that inputs the drawing procedure information from outside the apparatus and passes the information to the drawing procedure conversion unit for information conversion. Features.

Further, the drawing procedure information is created in a text file format, and the drawing procedure conversion unit analyzes the drawing procedure information created in the text file format, and converts the drawing procedure information from the description adapted to its own format. The present invention is characterized in that the description is converted to a description adapted to the other format or from a description adapted to another format to a description adapted to its own format.

[0015]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a CAD system according to the present invention.

Reference numerals 1 to 4 denote CAD devices having different CAD data formats, and reference numeral 5 denotes an LA connected to each company.
N. Each of the CAD devices 1, 2, 3,
4 are connected so that data can be transmitted and received between the CAD apparatuses.

The system according to the present invention is, for example, a CA
The D device 1 is placed in the design department, the CAD device 2 is placed in the design department, the CAD device 3 is placed in the mold production department, and the CAD device 4 is placed in the manufacturing department. Each department uses dedicated CAD software. It is assumed that the system uses CAD software having different CAD data formats for each CAD device.

The configuration of the CAD apparatus will be described with reference to FIG.

Reference numeral 6 denotes an operation unit for operating a mouse or a keyboard to give a user an instruction such as drawing, and 7 denotes an instruction to CAD software installed in the CAD apparatus in accordance with the operation contents of the operation unit 6 to perform drawing. Drawing unit that executes
Is a storage unit for storing CAD data drawn by the drawing unit 7.

The CAD data stored in the storage unit 8 is composed of at least geometric drawing information and additional drawing information such as an assembly hierarchy relationship of each drawing part such as a circle or a rectangle drawn by the drawing information. Be composed. In addition to the CAD data, the storage unit 8 also stores drawing procedure information indicating a drawing procedure for drawing the drawing information so that even if the CAD data is erased for some reason, the drawing state can be restored. I have. The drawing procedure information is formed of a description in a text file format that can be decoded in its own format, that is, a description in a text file format suitable for its own format.

Reference numeral 9 denotes a CA stored in the storage unit 8 by the operation unit 6.
When a transfer operation is performed by designating transfer information indicating which CAD data of the D data is to be transferred to which CAD apparatus, a transfer instruction unit 10 that outputs a transfer instruction including the transfer information is transmitted from the transfer instruction unit 9 The drawing information conversion unit 11 reads the drawing information of the corresponding CAD data from the storage unit 8 in accordance with the transfer instruction of the corresponding CAD data and converts the drawing information into the format of the transfer destination CAD apparatus. A drawing procedure conversion unit that reads data drawing procedure information from the storage unit 8 and converts the data into a description in a text format suitable for the format of the transfer destination CAD apparatus. The CAD data is combined with the converted CAD data and transferred to the transfer destination CAD device in accordance with the transfer information of the transfer instruction unit 9. A transfer unit to be that the output unit.

The transfer section 12 operates to transfer CAD data to a transfer destination in accordance with a communication protocol determined between CAD apparatuses.

Reference numeral 13 denotes a receiving unit serving as an input unit for receiving CAD data transferred from another CAD device. The receiving unit 13 receives the CAD data according to a communication protocol determined between the CAD devices. The operation of storing the received CAD data in the storage unit 8 is performed.

A CAD data restoring unit 14 stores the drawing information received by the receiving unit 13 and the drawing procedure information in the storage unit 8 in association with each other.

The transfer instruction unit 9, the drawing information conversion unit 10,
The drawing procedure converting unit 11, the transfer unit 12, the receiving unit 13, and the drawing procedure restoring unit 14 constitute a CAD data converting unit 15.

The operation of the above configuration will be described with reference to FIG.

First, the transfer operation will be described. Step S1
Then, the transfer instruction is output from the transfer instruction section 9 together with the transfer information. In step S2, according to the transfer information output in step S1, first, the drawing information conversion unit applies the corresponding CAD.
The drawing information of the data is read from the storage unit 8 and the CA of the transfer destination is read.
Convert to D device format. Next, in step S3, the rendering procedure information of the corresponding CAD data is read from the storage unit and converted into a description in a text file format suitable for the format of the transfer destination CAD apparatus. In step S4, the transfer unit 1 transfers the drawing information converted in step S2 and the drawing procedure information in the text file format converted in step S3.
2 are taken in and combined as one transmission information. In step S5, the transmission information formed in step S4 is transferred to the transfer destination CAD device using a predetermined communication protocol.

Next, the receiving operation will be described. Step S10
Then, the received transmission information is received by the receiving unit 13.
Next, in step S11, the CAD data restoring unit 14 associates the drawing information, which is the CAD data of the received transmission information, with the drawing procedure information in the text file format. In step S12, the CAD data restoring unit 14 executes step S1.
The CAD data (drawing data) associated with step 1 and the drawing procedure information are stored in the storage unit 8.

In step S11, additional drawing information in its own format may be created from the drawing procedure information, restored as CAD data together with the drawing information, and associated with the drawing procedure information.

With the above operation, the transfer operation is completed. After that, the user can select only the transferred CAD data or C
The AD data and the drawing procedure information are read from the storage unit 8,
The CAD created with its own CAD device, operated by the operation unit 6
Like the data, the drawing unit 7 can freely modify the data.

The reason for converting the drawing procedure information in the above-mentioned transmission information and using it together with the drawing information in the drawing unit is as follows.

The additional drawing information constituting the normal CAD data is composed of drawing information and additional drawing information such as an assembly hierarchy relationship of each drawing part such as a circle or a rectangle drawn by the drawing information. Since the additional drawing information is described in a format unique to the CAD apparatus, conversion to another format involves conversion of a data structure in addition to decoding of the description contents, which is very difficult. On the other hand, the description content of the drawing procedure information is specific to the CAD apparatus, but the data structure is a common data code of a text file format, and if the description content alone is converted, it can be easily converted.

In the above-mentioned CAD apparatus, the CAD data conversion means 15 converts the drawing information and the drawing procedure information into the format of the transfer destination CAD apparatus before the transfer. CA of the receiving side
The D device may convert the format of the transfer-side CAD device into its own format. Fig. 4
Will be described. Note that the components having the same figure numbers have the same functions, and thus description thereof will be omitted.

Reference numeral 16 reads the drawing information and drawing procedure information of the corresponding CAD data from the storage unit 8 in accordance with the transfer instruction and transfer information of the transfer instruction unit 9, and reads the destination CA
A transfer unit that transfers the data to the D device. When transferring the transmission information, the transfer unit 16 attaches a header and attaches information to the header to identify the format of the transmission information, and transfers the information.

A receiving section 17 receives the transferred CAD data, a format determining section 18 provided in the receiving section 17 for reading header information of the transfer information received by the receiving section 17 and determining a format. Is according to the format determined by the format determination unit 18
The drawing information conversion unit 20 extracts drawing information from the transmission information and converts the drawing information into the format of its own CAD device.
A drawing procedure information conversion unit 21 for converting the description into a description suitable for the format of the D device.
A combining unit that associates the drawing information of the AD data with the drawing procedure information converted by the drawing procedure conversion unit 20 and stores the information in the storage unit 8.

The transfer instruction unit 9, the drawing information conversion unit 19,
The drawing procedure conversion unit 20, the transfer unit 16, the reception unit 17, the format determination unit 18, and the combination unit 20 constitute a CAD data conversion unit 22.

The operation of such a configuration of the CAD apparatus shown in FIG. 4 will be described with reference to FIG.

First, the transfer operation will be described. Step S1
At 00, the transfer instruction section 9 outputs a transfer instruction and transfer information. In step S101, the transfer unit 16 reads the drawing information and the drawing procedure information from the storage unit 8 according to the transfer instruction output in step S100. In step S102, the transfer unit 16 combines the drawing information and the drawing procedure information read in step S101 as one piece of transmission information. In step S103, the transmission information formed in step S102 is transferred to the transfer destination CAD device using a predetermined communication protocol. At this time, the format information of the drawing information is attached to the header of the transmission information to be transferred and sent.

Next, the receiving operation will be described. Step S11
In the case of “0”, the transmitted transmission information is received by the receiving unit 17. Next, in step S111, the format determination unit 18
Reads the format information attached to the header of the transmission information and determines the format. Step S11
In step 2, the drawing information of the transmission information received by the receiving unit 17 is converted into its own format based on the format information determined by the format determining unit 18. Step S113
Then, the drawing procedure information of the transmission information received by the receiving unit 17 is converted into a description of its own format based on the format information determined by the format determining unit 18. In step S114, the combining unit 20 associates the drawing information of the CAD data converted in step S112 with the drawing procedure information converted in step S113, and stores the information in the storage unit 8.

In the above-described embodiment, online CA
Although the configuration in which the D data is transferred and the format is automatically converted has been described, the present invention is not limited to this.
The drawing information and the converted drawing procedure information may be stored in a storage medium such as a magneto-optical disk and transferred.

In the above-described embodiment, the drawing information and the drawing procedure information are transferred. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and only the drawing procedure information may be transferred.

Further, in the above embodiment, the drawing information of the CAD data and the separately stored drawing procedure information are converted and transferred. However, the present invention is not limited to this. If the data structure or the like is known in detail, the drawing additional information may be directly converted and transferred as drawing procedure information.

[0043]

According to the present invention, even if CAD data is transferred from a CAD device of a different format, the drawing contents of the CAD data can be easily corrected.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a CAD system of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a control block diagram of a CAD apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a view showing an operation flowchart of the CAD apparatus of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a control block diagram of a CAD apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an operation flowchart of the CAD apparatus of FIG. 4;

[Explanation of symbols]

 1, 2, 3, 4 CAD device 9 Transfer instruction unit 10, 19 Drawing information conversion unit 11, 20 Drawing procedure conversion unit 12, 16 Transfer unit 13, 17 Receiving unit 14 CAD data restoration unit

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A drawing unit for forming drawing procedure information indicating at least a geometric drawing procedure and executing drawing, a storage unit for storing the drawing procedure information drawn by the drawing unit, and the drawing procedure information And a transfer unit that converts the drawing procedure information converted by the drawing procedure conversion unit into transfer information outside the device as transfer information. apparatus. 2. A drawing section for forming drawing procedure information indicating at least a geometric drawing procedure and executing drawing, a storage section for storing the drawing procedure information drawn by the drawing section, and another CAD apparatus. And a drawing procedure conversion unit that converts the drawing procedure information created in step 2 into a readable form, wherein the drawing unit
A CAD apparatus capable of performing drawing based on drawing procedure information converted by the drawing procedure conversion unit. 3. A drawing unit that forms at least geometric drawing information and drawing procedure information indicating the drawing procedure and executes the drawing, and stores the drawing information and the drawing procedure information drawn by the drawing unit. A storage unit, a drawing information conversion unit that converts the drawing information into drawing information in a format of another CAD device, a drawing procedure conversion unit that converts the drawing procedure information into drawing information in a format of another CAD device, A CAD apparatus comprising: a transfer unit that outputs drawing information converted by a drawing information conversion unit and drawing procedure information converted by the drawing procedure conversion unit to outside as transfer information. 4. A drawing unit that forms at least geometric drawing information and drawing procedure information indicating the drawing procedure and executes drawing, and stores the drawing information and the drawing procedure information drawn by the drawing unit. A storage unit, a receiving unit that captures drawing information and drawing procedure information output by the other device, and a drawing information conversion unit that converts the drawing information received by the receiving unit from the format of another CAD device to its own format Wherein the drawing unit is capable of executing drawing based on the drawing information converted by the drawing information conversion unit and the drawing procedure information. 5. A drawing procedure conversion step of converting drawing procedure information indicating at least a geometric drawing procedure from its own format to another format or from another format to its own format, and said drawing procedure conversion. An output step of outputting the drawing procedure information converted in the step outside the apparatus, and an input step of inputting the drawing procedure information from outside the apparatus and passing the information to the drawing procedure conversion step for information conversion. Characteristic heterogeneous C
Data exchange method between AD. 6. A drawing procedure conversion unit that converts drawing procedure information indicating at least a geometric drawing procedure from its own format to another format or from another format to its own format, and the drawing procedure conversion unit. An output unit that outputs the drawing procedure information converted by the unit to the outside of the apparatus, and an input unit that inputs the drawing procedure information from outside the apparatus and passes the information to the drawing procedure conversion unit for information conversion. Characteristic data exchange device between different types of CAD. 7. The drawing procedure information is created in a text file format, and the drawing procedure conversion unit analyzes the drawing procedure information created in a text file format,
7. The CAD data according to claim 6, wherein the description is converted from a description adapted to its own format to a description adapted to another format, or from a description adapted to another format to a description adapted to its own format. Conversion device.