JP2001034657A - Mechanism component design support system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make performable a optimal designing and the reuse of knowledge in a short time irrelevantly to the skillfulness of a designer by unitedly managing the properties of mechanism components with assembly structure information. SOLUTION: A data management part 41 is a mechanism which manages the input and output of the information of a model base 42. In this model base 42, edited information on component design is managed with an assembly structure. In a design knowledge base 46, the design knowledge of mechanism components is stored and on the basis of the knowledge, a design plan is searched for. Then a design knowledge management part 45 manages the input and output of this design knowledge base 46 in a unified way. Information outputted from the design knowledge base 46 is transferred to a 3D modeler part 26 of a component editing system 20 through a design knowledge management part 45. Thus, a mechanism component design system uses the assembly structure to manage all information of the mechanism components of a camera produced by the injection molding in a unified way.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a mechanical component design support system and a recording medium storing a mechanical component design support program.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in the product development business, rapid development has been required to meet the rapidly changing consumer needs.
The system is drawing attention. CAD systems are roughly divided into a CAD system for problems that is constructed to solve a certain problem, and a general-purpose CAD system.

[0003] In an industry that repeats the routine design, the problem C
Although there are cases where the AD system has been effective to a certain extent, in the case of consumer products, especially in the mechanical design department, the product life cycle is short and technological innovation is fast, so C
AD system cannot support. Further, since the design knowledge provided in the CAD system is concealed and implemented in the system, it is very difficult to maintain and manage the update and new registration of the knowledge.

Here, the flow of the mechanism design will be described using a camera as an example. Usually, the use (basic concept) of a product is determined at a planning meeting or the like. After that, the design of the design (exterior), mechanism, software, etc. starts. Regarding the mechanism, the required specifications are determined for each unit. Searching for a design solution that satisfies the required specifications is the design.

FIG. 22 shows the steps of designing a mechanism unit. First, a mechanism plan is created. That is, a mechanism plan for controlling the operation of the component is constructed using a skeleton model (the shape of some components may be determined first). The actual operation of the mechanism plan is confirmed on the punch picture, and a mechanism that satisfies the requirements is selected as a design plan at this stage (UG
S: Possible with Imagination Engineer etc.).

[0006] An actual assembly is made up of a plurality of parts. When a combination of a set of parts is taken out and the shape of each part and the limited movement of each part are examined, this combination is used. Is called a mechanism. When examining only movement, it is not necessary to consider the material, thickness, etc. of the components constituting the mechanism, so that it is possible to treat the combination of points and lines that result in exactly the same limited movement. In this way, a mechanism that is represented by dots and lines is called a skeleton (Ohm Co., Ltd. Shigeo Inada,
Hitoshi Morita, “University Process Mechanism”.

[0007] When the mechanism plan is determined by the skeleton model,
Next, the two-dimensional shape of the part is designed. At this time, there are cases where the shape is determined by the shape determined to express the function and the interaction with other parts and units. When the outer shape is determined in advance, a function as a mechanism for driving the shape is given to the shape using a skeleton model. Two-dimensional shapes are usually drafters or drafting C
The shape is defined by AD, and the operation is verified by paperwork or copying the shape. At this time, an interference check with other parts in two dimensions is performed to refine the two-dimensional shape (usual drafting CAD is possible).

[0008] Once the two-dimensional shape is determined, the three-dimensional shape of the part is designed. This is performed by adding information on the height (thickness) as a three-dimensional shape to the two-dimensional shape (creation of a projection diagram by drafting CAD). Then, a three-dimensional interference check with other parts is performed to refine the three-dimensional shape. Thus, the design of the mechanical parts is basically 2.5
Is done in a dimension. Designers do most of this work
It is performed on drafters or two-dimensional drafting CAD.

From the parts designed in this way, a three-dimensional solid model is created as needed. As a method for creating a solid model, manual operation on three-dimensional CAD or automatic generation (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-335279) can be considered.

In a conventional design, after a designer selects a mechanism plan, several parameters are operated to select a design plan. At this time, a skilled designer can derive an optimal solution from experience and intuition, but a young designer needs a very large number of steps to optimize a design plan. In addition, for both mature designers and young designers, the selected design plan is not always optimal. As described above, there is a great difference in the design speed and quality depending on the ability of the designer.

Further, design defects such as interference of parts, assemblability, rejection by an injection molding die, and undercutting have occurred. Since there is no system for systematically organizing design knowledge, it is impossible to reuse knowledge and man-hours are required for countermeasures as recurring defects. Furthermore, the lack of organized knowledge has affected the education of young designers.

In the contents of design work, the following are known as individual tools. Skeleton design UGS: Imagination Engineer (TM) 2D shape design General purpose 2D CAD system 3D shape design General purpose 2D CAD system General purpose 3D CAD system However, these systems are built as design support for individual work. , Consistent support is not available. In addition, operations that are not directly related to the design, such as data conversion between systems, occur, which is inefficient when viewed from the viewpoint of shortening the design period. In addition, input the knowledge of the designer
It is difficult to edit, and the knowledge possessed by the system is concealed, so that it is difficult to use new knowledge or browse details of past knowledge.

[0013] Further, as a support system for improving the efficiency of arrangement / assembly between components, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H10-254939:
Although there is support for creating part shapes in connection with other parts, etc., there is no support for generating mechanism plans in completely new design. In addition, since the actual three-dimensional part model is created by the designer himself, a large number of man-hours are required.

Although the design documents created as a result of the design include not only the shape of the part but also information such as the processing method, the material, and the tolerance, the current two-dimensional CAD system is simply a character string. Since the three-dimensional CAD system handles only the shape, it is not possible to add such information to data and reuse it.

Further, when a mechanical component is formed using a mold, a situation may occur in which the mechanical component cannot be removed from the mold simply by providing a two-dimensional structure with a thickness. To prevent this, a draft should be provided to the mold, but it is extremely troublesome to perform a new design for defining the draft in the mold.

[0016]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to perform an optimum design in a short time regardless of the skill level of a designer. It is an object of the present invention to provide a mechanical component design support system that can perform the reuse of knowledge.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a recording medium storing a mechanical component design support program for realizing the above mechanical component design support system by a computer.

[0018]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above problems and achieve the object, the present invention is configured as follows.

A mechanical component design support system according to the present invention is a mechanism object library for storing knowledge for defining a plurality of mechanical components usable for a skeleton model based on assembly structure information, and a required object. And a verification unit that verifies the function of the skeleton model, and generates a two-dimensional shape of the mechanical component selected from the mechanism object library according to the required specifications of the mechanism plan, and And a model base for redefining and storing attributes for defining the mechanical components output from the two-dimensional shape editor by the assembly structure. It is characterized in that it is managed uniformly by assembly structure information.

(Operation) According to the mechanical component design support system of the present invention, information on mechanical components is centrally managed in an assembly structure,
From the generation of a mechanism plan using a skeleton model when selecting a mechanism plan, and simulation of mechanism operation, a mechanism operation simulation in a state where a part (or all) of a two-dimensional shape is determined, automatic generation of a three-dimensional shape, and three-dimensional shape Can support the consistent design of mechanical parts up to the simulation of the mechanical operation in. Therefore, the optimum design can be performed in a short time regardless of the skill level of the designer, and the knowledge can be reused.

[0021]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. (First Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing a configuration of a mechanical component design support system (part detail design editor) according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The solid line in the figure shows the flow of messages and data, and the broken line shows the flow of data. Note that each function in the present embodiment can also be realized by a computer that reads a program recorded on a recording medium such as a magnetic disk and the operation of which is controlled by the program.

The system of this embodiment is roughly divided into
Graphic user interface (GUI) 10,
The component editing system 20 and the data unit 40 are divided into three components. Hereinafter, each functional block of the present system will be described.

The GUI 10 is a part that provides an environment that is easy for a designer who is a user to operate, and includes command buttons 11 for editing parts, a mouse 12, and a two-dimensional bounded surface of parts (bounded surface). ), And an object viewer 14 for displaying planes and lines as an object tree.

A plane segment is defined as a plane having an infinite area.
A surface with a finite area within a closed area given a closed contour shape.

The object tree is a database in which the upper and lower subordinate relationships of the assembly objects are managed in a tree structure. The canvas is a system for defining a two-dimensional contour shape, and has a limited function as compared with a drafting CAD for creating a drawing.

The component editing system 20 is a central mechanism of the component detailed design editor, and includes an overall control unit 21 and an environment setting unit 2.
2, screen control unit 23, pick unit 24, creation / deletion / surface generation unit 25, 3D modeler unit 26, inlay calculation unit 27,
It includes a redrawing unit 28, a drawing unit 31, a tree registration unit 32, and the like.

The command button 11 of the GUI 10 and the callback of the mouse 12 are all sent to the general control unit 21. The general control unit 21 changes the state based on the finite state machine defined in the control table, and Processing is in progress.

The environment setting unit 22 is for setting the environment in which the design is to be performed. In addition, the setting management of the snap grid of the mouse 12 on the canvas 13 is also performed.

The screen controller 23 manages the magnification of the canvas on the display and the position of the canvas. Since the place to draw the surface is not the actual paper but the display,
If you do not move the canvas, you can not draw on the entire paper. It is a position for that.

The pick section 24 is a functional block for picking up objects on the canvas 13. The picked-up object (plane or line segment) data is stored as pick data. Then, this data is passed to necessary function blocks.

The creation / deletion / segment generation unit 25 is a functional block for generating and deleting line segments, arcs, and surface segments. The generated object is registered in a model base 42 described later in the form of an assembly structure.

Here, a part is composed of a plurality of functional elements, and an assembly is composed of parts or lower-level assemblies. These assemblies, parts, and functional elements are collectively called an assembly object. The assembly object has attributes such as dimensions, shapes, materials, and the like representing its characteristics. The arrangement relation of the functional elements constituting the component is expressed by designating the length dimension and the angle dimension. Similarly, the arrangement relationship between the components making up the assembly is
It is expressed by specifying the connection relationship between the functional elements that make up the component. The assembly structure expresses the relationship between the upper and lower levels of these assembly objects and the arrangement relationship between the assembly objects.

The drawing section 31 is a mechanism for displaying an object on the canvas 13. The redrawing unit 28 is a mechanism that functions when it is necessary to redraw the entire canvas 13 when the management value in the environment setting unit 22 is changed or when the screen control unit 23 changes the magnification. The object in the model base 42 is drawn with the new settings.

The tree registration unit 32 is a mechanism for adding / deleting objects created / deleted by the creation / deletion / plane generation unit 25 from the object view 14. 3D
The modeler unit 26 is a mechanism for automatically generating a three-dimensional solid model using the surface defined by the designer using the canvas 13 and its height attribute. Ainuki line operation unit 27
Is a mechanism for calculating an intrusion line between faces defined by the designer using the canvas 13 by calculation.

The data 40 includes a data management unit 41,
There are a model base 42, a mechanism object management unit 43, a mechanism object library 44, a design knowledge management unit 45, and a design knowledge base 46. Here, the library is a collection of programs for performing general-purpose formalized processing, and the mechanism object library is a collection of knowledge on general-purpose mechanisms.

The data management unit 41 is a mechanism for managing input and output of information of the model base 42. The model base 42 manages the design information of the edited parts in an assembly structure. The actual data structure managed here is basically class (data class), symbol \ na
It consists of me, label, boundaryBox (boundary box on canvas), display (display / non-display), and other class-specific parameters. Face1 data is polylin
It consists of components e1, polyline3, arc4, and arc5. Also, each surface component has its own parameters and attributes such as coordinates. Attribute information necessary for design can be provided.

As an example, face1 in the lever of FIG.
Table 1 below shows the data of the components of (filled part).
Shown in

[0038]

[Table 1]

A skeleton model constituting the mechanism is registered in the mechanism object library 44. The model registered in the mechanism object library 44 is parametric, and its parameters / posture (orientation)
By changing, any size and posture can be defined. The mechanism object management unit 43 manages the input and output of the mechanism object library 44.

The design knowledge base 46 stores design knowledge of mechanical parts, and searches for design plans based on this knowledge. The design knowledge management unit 45 manages the input and output of the design knowledge base 46.

The design knowledge base 46 stores general technical information on the machining method. Design knowledge base 46
Stores information such as mechanical strength, dimensional accuracy (tolerance), design limit values, optical characteristics, temperature and humidity characteristics, ease of molding and processing, availability, cost, and suppliers, etc. for the materials of individual mechanical parts I do. The design knowledge base 46 stores information such as gate position and draft guideline, whether or not to set a mold direction, prediction of parting line, sink mark, undercut, burr prediction, number of mold durable shots, etc. regarding injection molding technology. I do. Further, information on the ease of assembling and repairing of the unit that realizes the mechanism is stored. The design knowledge base 46 stores all of this information as design knowledge. It is desirable that the information in the design knowledge base 46 be added or revised at any time in accordance with a new design case or product defect information. Design Knowledge Management Department 4
Reference numeral 5 unifies the input and output of the design knowledge base 46. The information output from the design knowledge base 46 is transferred to the 3D modeler unit 26 of the component editing system 20 via the design knowledge management unit 45. Various information on the design is provided to the designer as needed on the spot. The designer can quickly search for the optimal design solution based on such design knowledge without relying on experience or intuition.

Hereinafter, an example in which the system of this embodiment is applied to the design of a shutter unit for a single fly of a digital camera will be described. The operation flow at this time is shown in FIG.
13 to FIG. 11 shows the entire operation flow, FIG. 12 shows the details (A) from the skeleton selection / placement of FIG. 11 to the operation confirmation, and FIG. 13 shows the processing from the two-dimensional external shape editing to the plane segment of FIG. (B) is shown in more detail until the height attribute is given.

The specification of the shutter unit is that the shutter spring is driven by using a plunger, and the light from the lens is blocked by the spring. In addition, there is a size limit of the entire shutter unit depending on the size of the entire camera, the size of the lens unit, and the like.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show an example of the shutter unit and a skeleton model schematically showing the shutter unit. The shutter unit includes a plunger 51, a lever 52, and a splash 53.
And has functional elements as shown in Table 2 below.

[Table 2]

Table 3 below shows the connection relationship between the components.
Shown in

[Table 3]

In FIGS. 3 and 4, reference numeral 54 denotes a lens frame;
5 is an iron core; 56 is a shutter frame;
Numeral 8 indicates the position of the lever pin on the fly side, and numeral 59 indicates the center of rotation of the lever.

A functional element is a plane in which a function at the design stage is expressed as a unit of design work, and a component is defined by a set of functional elements. The types of functional elements include a flat surface, a cylindrical surface, a conical surface, a spherical surface, a slope, and a machine functional surface. A slope is a surface generated by the process between the surfaces, and a side surface parallel to the reference line of the solid that has been swept in parallel.
When a cylinder is defined from above, in two dimensions, the cylinder is defined using a circle. This circle is formed as a cylinder by parallel sweeping, and the side surface (cylindrical surface) created by this parallel sweep is the slope. The machine function surface is a function surface as a machine component such as a gear surface and a cam surface.

Next, the assembly structure of the shutter unit is shown in FIG.
Shown in When considered as a mechanism, a mechanism skeleton model shown in FIG. 5 is generated. At this point, since the parts are represented by a skeleton model and the mechanism is understood to understand the mechanism, the long holes etc. are simply represented, and only the parts necessary to operate as a mechanism such as fulcrum, force point, and action point It is shown.

Changing the parameters of the skeleton model,
Operate to optimize the design solution as a mechanism. The change of the parameter includes the change of the arrangement coordinates, and the optimization including the layout can be performed by changing the arrangement coordinates and the dimensions. As for the dimensions, distances Da, Db, Dc, and Dd are calculated after the arrangement coordinates of each component, and a stroke ratio is calculated from the values.

In generating a candidate for a design solution by changing these layouts and dimensions, verification of interference between components and verification of the layout are performed, and the mechanism is operated to ensure that a stroke necessary for splashing is secured. Check.

Normally, when performing an operation simulation, it is necessary to input a constraint condition, and the operation must be analyzed. However, since the target is a mechanism unit in the support environment, the operation is obvious from the structure of the unit. By describing the structure and the operation method in the object library, there is no need for analysis. The design plan and verification are repeated to narrow down the design plan.

Next, a two-dimensional shape is given to the skeleton model. The shape is given by adding a contour element to the assembly structure of the part. The definition of the two-dimensional shape is mainly based on injection molding using a mold. Therefore, the definition of the two-dimensional shape is defined in a view in the direction in which the mold is removed after considering the mold division.

FIGS. 6 and 7 show examples of the definition of the two-dimensional shape of the shutter lever of the shutter unit. FIG. 6 shows a fixed side shape, and FIG. 7 shows a movable side shape. By operating the mechanism while defining the two-dimensional shape in this way, more detailed verification such as interference check is performed than at the stage of the skeleton model. Further, the contour element is edited as necessary, and the verification is performed again. Here, generation and verification of the shape are repeated to further narrow down the design plan.

Next, with the two-dimensional shape closed, a height attribute is given to each surface. Then, each plane is translated in accordance with the height attribute. FIG. 8 shows the result of such parallel movement.

The parallel-transferred surface is solidified by parallel sweeping. At this time, the respective planes are swept in parallel with the reference plane, and after all the planes are solidified, the solids are combined into one component solid. FIG. 9 shows the result of the solidification of the part.

Similarly, the fly is solidified.
For the plunger, use of a library model for purchased parts is also conceivable. FIG. 10 shows an example of a solid model of the shutter unit.

The mechanism operation using such a solid model is performed to verify the final design plan. Here, when a defect such as interference occurs, it is necessary to regenerate a design plan such as a change in the height of the surface, a change in the two-dimensional shape, or a change in the mechanism plan itself.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, by using the assembly structure in the mechanical component design support system, it is possible to centrally manage all information on mechanical components by injection molding of a camera. In addition, the editing of the assembly structure can be performed by a designer without any uncomfortable operation when designing the mechanical parts. By using this assembly structure, it becomes possible to centrally manage the data of the target parts from design to production, reduce data exchange and associated labor (man-hours), and prevent data loss caused by data conversion. be able to.

Further, by confirming the operation of the mechanism, the quality of the design can be improved, and a defect such as interference can be confirmed at a stage before the trial production. Therefore, the design quality at the time of transferring data to the subsequent process can be improved. It is possible. In addition, since the solid is automatically generated, the designer is very familiar with 2
The three-dimensional solid can be generated by the three-dimensional design work, and the man-hour for creating the three-dimensional solid is unnecessary. Therefore, the design period can be shortened.

(Second Embodiment) In this embodiment, an example of designing a case component for supporting the shutter unit created in the first embodiment will be described. In order to support the shutter unit, a hole for fixing the plunger (for positioning and screw tightening), an axis serving as the center of rotation of the lever, and an axis serving as the center of rotation of the splash are required. Since it is supported on the case via the above components, the description is omitted here.

Since the plunger is fixed to the side surface of the case by screwing, two-dimensional projection of the side surface is required to define the hole. That is, a case is created in the same manner as in the first embodiment, and then the side of the case is projected two-dimensionally to define a hole for fixing the plunger, and a hole is defined with respect to the projection plane. That's how it works.

FIG. 14 shows a case component before defining a hole for mounting a plunger. FIG. 15 shows a state in which a surface for creating a hole (hatched portion in FIG. 14) is projected on the two-dimensional canvas for this part.

In forming this hole, one is a screw fastening hole, and the other is a hole in which a protrusion of a positioning plunger fits. The size of this hole and the distance between the holes is automatically determined by the plunger used. To obtain these dimensions, the design knowledge base returns the dimensions from the plunger model number.

Using the dimensions obtained here, when the center position of one hole is determined, the position where the other hole can be arranged is indicated to the designer by the system. Further, the tolerance of the dimension required for molding is also automatically obtained from the dimension of the plunger stored in the knowledge base and the tolerance.

On the surface projected on the canvas,
A two-dimensional shape with the attribute "hole" (a circle in this case)
Create FIG. 16 shows a state in which the two-dimensional shape of the hole is defined. Also, when considered as a mold for injection molding,
The definition from the side (the definition of the hole in this case) is the definition of the slide as it is. Thus, when a part is formed by injection molding, it can be molded by a mold configuration such as a fixed side, a movable side, and a slide.

Here, the most basic two-plate mold includes a fixed mold (material injection side) attached to a fixed board of an injection molding machine, and a movable mold attached to a movable board of the molding machine. There is a mold, and after the material is injected, the movable mold is moved to open the mold and take out the molded product inside. For this reason, the structure of the molded product has only a vertical shape, and a horizontal hole or the like cannot be molded. In order to form a horizontal hole or the like, it is necessary to open the mold in the lateral direction when opening the mold, and the mold that opens in the lateral direction is called a slide mold. The resulting mold is composed of a fixed side, a movable side, and a slide.

FIG. 17 shows the last defined hole reflected in the original solid model. As shown in FIG. 17, a hole for fixing the plunger is formed.

Next, a rotation axis for supporting the lever is defined. The lever needs to convert the force from the plunger into a rotational movement and transmit it to the spring. For this reason, it is required that the shaft does not deform such as bending when receiving a force from the plunger. Here, the deformation of the shaft is prevented by providing a rib for reinforcing the shaft.

The thickness of the rib is determined by various factors such as its material and the amount of force from the plunger. At this point, a rib having a desired thickness is arranged two-dimensionally. FIG. 18 shows the state before the rib arrangement, and FIG. 19 shows the state after the rib arrangement.

As shown in FIG. 18, the simply arranged ribs have cut into the shaft (in this case, the base of the shaft). This is because the shape is not determined only by arranging the rib having the required thickness.

Next, the detailed shape of the rib is defined. In this case, the shape of the rib is defined by an inset line with the side surface of the shaft. In this case, the inset line is an arc. In the general-purpose three-dimensional CAD system, the intuition is performed using a three-dimensional shape calculation engine called a solid modeler. As a method, it is possible to calculate the inflection line using a commercially available solid modeler, but here, as an inversion operation in a method not depending on the solid modeler, an operation based on polyhedral approximation is considered.

In this method, the calculation is facilitated by replacing all surfaces with minute planes. That is,
In this case, the cylindrical surface, which is the side surface of the shaft, is treated as a set of very thin rectangular planes. Since a plane can be mathematically defined by coordinates of four points or an expression representing four sides, it is also possible to easily calculate the intersection line (intercontinuous line) between the planes. In this case, a set of intersections between the upper surface of the rib and a plurality of rectangular planes (replacement of the cylindrical surface) is the intrusion line to be obtained. FIG. 20 shows the result of finding the sagittal line and reflecting the result.

FIG. 21 shows a solid state including the ribs defined in FIG. However, the joint between the rib and the shaft is filleted as reinforcement for strength.

As described above, also in this embodiment, by using the assembly structure in the mechanical component design support system, the case components supporting the shutter unit can be designed in a short period of time, and the same as in the first embodiment. The effect of is obtained.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be implemented with various modifications without departing from the scope of the invention. For example, the method described in the embodiment may be a program that can be executed by a computer, such as a recording medium such as a magnetic disk (floppy (registered trademark) disk, hard disk, etc.), an optical disk (CD-ROM, DVD, etc.), and a semiconductor memory. It is also possible to apply to various devices by writing to a medium or to transmit to various devices by transmitting through a communication medium. A computer that implements the present invention may read a program recorded on a recording medium, and may execute the above-described processing by controlling the operation of the program.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but can be implemented with various modifications.

[0077]

As described above, according to the present invention,
By using the assembly structure that expresses the upper and lower relationships of assembly objects and the arrangement relationship between assembly objects, information on mechanical parts is centrally managed in the assembly structure, and a mechanism plan based on a skeleton model when selecting a mechanism plan. Generation,
Supports consistent mechanical component design, from mechanism operation simulation to mechanism operation simulation with part (or all) of the two-dimensional shape fixed, automatic generation of three-dimensional shape and mechanism operation simulation with three-dimensional shape be able to. Accordingly, the present invention provides a CAD for various mechanical parts.
Very effective for design.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing a configuration of a mechanical component design support system according to a first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a view showing a lever displayed on an object view and a canvas.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a shutter unit.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a shutter unit in a skeleton model.

FIG. 5 is a view showing an assembly structure of a shutter unit.

FIG. 6 illustrates a shutter lever 2 in the shutter unit.
Diagram showing an example of a two-dimensional shape definition

FIG. 7 illustrates a shutter lever 2 of the shutter unit.
Diagram showing an example of a two-dimensional shape definition

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example in which each surface of a shutter lever is translated.

FIG. 9 shows a solid model of a shutter lever.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a solid model of a shutter unit.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an entire operation flow when the first embodiment is applied to the design of a shutter unit;

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing a more detailed operation flow of part A in FIG. 11;

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a more detailed operation flow of a portion B in FIG. 11;

FIG. 14 is a view for explaining the second embodiment of the present invention, showing a case part before defining a hole for attaching a plunger.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a state in which a painted portion in FIG. 14 is projected on a two-dimensional canvas;

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a state in which a two-dimensional shape of a hole is defined.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a state in which a defined hole is reflected in an original solid model.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing a state before rib arrangement.

FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating a state after rib arrangement.

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing a state in which a sagittal line is obtained and the result is reflected.

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing a solidified state including the rib defined in FIG. 20;

FIG. 22 is a diagram showing steps of designing a conventional mechanism unit.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 GUI (Graphical User Interface) 11 Command 12 Mouse 13 Canvas 14 Object view 20 Part editing system 21 Overall control unit 22 Environment setting unit 23 Screen control unit 24 Pick unit 25 Creation / deletion Surface generation unit 26 3D modeler unit 27 Correlation calculation unit 28 Redraw unit 31 Drawing unit 32 Tree registration unit 40 Data 41 Data management unit 42 Model base 43 Mechanism object management unit 44 Mechanism Object library 45 Design knowledge management unit 46 Design knowledge base

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Masanobu Umeda 8-1-2-22 Jiyugaoka, Munakata-shi, Fukuoka Prefecture (72) Inventor Tatsuharu Higuchi 2-43-2 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Inside Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. 72) Inventor Yasuyuki Nishitai 2-43-2 Hatagaya, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Inside Olympus Optical Co., Ltd.

Claims (13)

[Claims] 1. A mechanism object library for storing knowledge for defining a plurality of mechanism parts usable for a skeleton model based on assembly structure information, and a mechanism plan for achieving a required object is defined by the skeleton model. A verification unit for inputting and verifying the function of the skeleton model; and a two-dimensional shape editor for generating and optimizing a two-dimensional shape of the mechanical component selected from the mechanical object library according to the required specification of the mechanism plan. And a model base for redefining and storing the attributes output from the two-dimensional shape editor for defining the mechanical parts by the assembly structure, and integrally managing the attributes of the mechanical parts based on the assembly structure information. A mechanical component design support system characterized by: 2. The mechanical component design support system according to claim 1, wherein the skeleton model is a scheme represented by a set of points and lines. 3. The assembly structure information according to claim 1, wherein the assembly structure information includes parts and assemblies, and defines information relating to assembly objects having attributes of materials, dimensions, and shapes. Mechanical parts design support system. 4. The mechanical component design support system according to claim 1, wherein the two-dimensional shape editor defines a two-dimensional shape of the mechanical component including a direction in which a mold is removed. 5. An apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising an intrusion line calculating means for calculating an intrusion line between the two-dimensional faces output from the two-dimensional shape editor, wherein the attribute includes an attribute relating to the intrusion line. The mechanical component design support system according to claim 1, wherein the system is redefined based on a model base. 6. The mechanical parts design support system according to claim 1, further comprising a design knowledge base storing design knowledge of mechanical parts used for searching for an optimal design plan. 7. A mechanism object library for storing knowledge for defining a plurality of mechanism components usable for a skeleton model based on assembly structure information, and a mechanism plan for achieving a required object is defined by the skeleton model. A verification unit for inputting and verifying the function of the skeleton model; and a two-dimensional shape editor for generating and optimizing a two-dimensional shape of the mechanical component selected from the mechanical object library according to the required specification of the mechanism plan. And a model base for redefining and storing the attributes for defining the mechanical components output from the two-dimensional shape editor by the assembling structure, and the two-dimensional surface output from the two-dimensional shape editor. Based on the assembling structure information, a three-dimensional solid model of the mechanical component And a two-dimensional projection diagram generating unit for generating a two-dimensional projection diagram of the three-dimensional solid model generated above, and integrally manages the attributes of the mechanical parts by assembling structural information. A mechanical component design support system characterized by the following. 8. The mechanical component design support system according to claim 7, further comprising projection view display means for feeding back and displaying said created two-dimensional projection view to said two-dimensional shape editor. 9. The mechanical component design support system according to claim 7, wherein the two-dimensional shape editor defines a two-dimensional shape of the mechanical component including a direction in which the mold is removed. 10. An input means for inputting a scheme as design starting data of a mechanism plan composed of a plurality of mechanical parts, a knowledge base having various information on mechanical part design, and the input with reference to the knowledge base. An editor for optimizing and editing individual mechanical parts so that the specified scheme satisfies the required specifications; a unifying means for unifying the attributes defining the optimized mechanical parts into a predetermined data system; Means for storing mechanical parts whose attributes have been unified in the data system by the converting means in a model-based format, and outputting this to an external device. 11. A computer-readable recording medium for recording a mechanical component design support program for operating a computer to support mechanical component design, assembling a plurality of mechanical components usable for a skeleton model. A mechanism object library for storing knowledge for defining based on structural information, a verification unit for inputting a mechanism plan for achieving a required purpose by the skeleton model, and verifying a function of the skeleton model; A two-dimensional shape editor for generating and optimizing the two-dimensional shape of the mechanical part selected from the library according to the required specifications of the mechanism plan; and a two-dimensional shape editor for outputting the two-dimensional shape editor and defining the mechanical part A model base for redefining and storing attributes according to the above assembly structure. The program is characterized by a unified managed by an assembly structure information attributes of mechanical parts, the recording medium of the mechanical components design support program. 12. A mechanical parts design support system for defining attributes of mechanical parts based on assembly structure information. A skeleton model corresponding to a mechanism plan is input, and whether or not a desired action can be obtained from the mechanism plan is determined. Verification means for verifying based on the action of the model; a mechanism object library for storing various kinds of knowledge defined in the form of the assembly structure information for each of a plurality of mechanical parts applicable to the skeleton model; Based on the design knowledge base having the design knowledge of the mechanical parts, based on the mechanism object library and the design knowledge base, for each of the plurality of mechanical parts applied to the skeleton model verified by the verification means,
Search means for searching for an optimal design plan; a two-dimensional shape editor for optimizing the two-dimensional appearance shape obtained as a result of the search according to the required specifications of the mechanism plan; And a model base for redefining and storing the attribute information given to the mechanical component based on the assembly structure information. 13. A three-dimensional solid model of the mechanical component based on the assembling structure information based on the assembling structure information, wherein the three-dimensional solid model of the mechanical component is calculated based on the assembling structure information. A solid model generating means for generating; a two-dimensional projection drawing generating means for generating a two-dimensional projection of the generated three-dimensional solid model; and a feedback of the generated two-dimensional projection to the two-dimensional shape editor. Further comprising projection view display means for displaying, the two-dimensional shape editor, the two-dimensional shape of the mechanical component,
13. The mechanism component design support system according to claim 12, wherein the system is defined to include a direction in which the mold is removed.