JP2001306626A - Cad - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To save the user's trouble of operation. SOLUTION: A guide plane is displayed on a display screen to enable a user to grasp the sense of distance on a 3D display. An image showing the flowing direction of fluid in a pipe is moved and displayed on the display screen. On the display screen, axes which can be branched, moved, and rotated are displayed and parts are fitted in contact with each other along the axes.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a CAD (computer design support device) suitable for plant design and architectural design.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art (First Prior Art) Conventionally, in CAD for performing layout design of a plant or the like, a start position and an end position of a pipe member are designated on a display screen by using a mouse, for example. Specify the length. At this time, the distance on the ideographic screen determined from the two designated positions is converted to the actual length of the piping member. If an accurate length is required, a numerical value input screen is called up, and when the user inputs a numerical value, the length of the pipe member graphic on the display screen is changed to correspond to the input numerical value.

When a main body such as a heat exchanger and members attached to the main body are assembled on a display screen to design one product, the product is displayed in 3D as shown in FIG. The attachment position of the member 1201 is designated by a mouse in such a 3D display.

[0004]

When specifying the position and length of a member on a CAD display screen with a mouse, the length on the front screen is much smaller than the actual length. An error is likely to occur between the designated value and the value actually used as the design value. For this reason, the user has to repeat the mouse position designation by trial and error,
The operation labor of the user has been complicated.

[0005] Further, although the fluid actually flows through the piping members arranged on the display screen, the direction in which the fluid flows cannot be known on the display screen. For this reason, the labor required for checking the flowing direction of the fluid has also been great.

[0006] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a CAD capable of reducing the user's design labor in view of the above points.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a CAD system for designing a layout of members in a 3D display working area on a display screen. A first instruction unit for instructing display of guide planes arranged at intervals, a second instruction unit for instructing a display position of the guide plane, and a display instruction of the first instruction unit. Display control means for displaying the guide plane at the display position instructed by the second instructing means in the work area.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the CAD according to the first aspect, an orientation of the guide plane on a 3D display can be variably set.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the CAD according to the first aspect, when arranging a pipe member in the work area, the guide plane is automatically displayed at a starting end position of the pipe member, The display position of the guide plane moves from a start point position to an end position of the pipe member in accordance with the designation of the end position of the member.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the CAD according to the first aspect, a plurality of shapes of the guide plane are prepared, and a shape used for display can be selected.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the CAD according to the first aspect, a line indicating a direction of an axis corresponding to an XYZ axis in a three-dimensional space is made different from the color of the guide plane in the guide plane. It is characterized by displaying.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a CAD for designing the arrangement of members in a 3D display working area on a display screen, wherein input means for inputting arrangement data of piping members and input arrangement data of piping members are provided. Display means for displaying a pipe member based on the flow direction, flow direction indicating means for indicating a flow direction of a fluid flowing through the pipe member, and a pipe member on which an image representing a flow in the indicated flow direction is displayed. And display control means for moving and displaying.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in CAD for designing the arrangement of members in a 3D display work area on a display screen, a display means for displaying a line indicating a part mounting direction in the work area, Indicating means for indicating a display position;
Detecting means for moving the part in the three-dimensional space along the designated direction and detecting a position where the part or device to which the part is attached is in contact with the part; and a display means corresponding to the detected position on the display screen. Display control means for displaying a graphic of the part at a position.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the CAD according to the seventh aspect, a plurality of lines can be set so that the lines are branched, and the part is attached in any direction of the plurality of lines. Characterized by further comprising a line selecting means for instructing whether or not the line is selected.

According to a ninth aspect, the plurality of lines are movable on a display screen, and a line designating means for designating a line to be moved, and a means for designating a moving direction and a moving amount of the designated line. Wherein the display control means moves a line on the display screen designated by the line designation means based on the designated moving direction and movement amount.

A tenth aspect of the present invention is the CAD according to the ninth aspect.
Wherein the moving direction of the line is one of a linear direction and a rotating direction.

[0017]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a CAD system configuration. In addition, since a commercially available CAD can be used,
The explanation is brief. The present embodiment is characterized by a design assistance function realized by software. This design assist function will be described later in detail.

In FIG. 1, a CPU 10, a system memory 20, a display 30, an input device 40, a hard disk 50, and other peripheral devices are connected to a bus. The CPU 10 executes the CAD software loaded into the system memory 20 to provide a CAD design function to the user.

The system memory 20 loads the CAD software from the hard disk 50 and also stores input / output data for the CPU 10 and a part of the operating system. The display 30 displays devices and equipment to be designed. Information to be displayed is drawn by the CPU 10 in a dedicated display area of the system memory, and the drawing data (bitmap image) is transferred to the display 30 by the CPU 10 and displayed.

The input device 40 has a keyboard and a mouse. The hard disk 50 stores an operating system (software) for controlling the entire system and information on designed devices and equipment. CA on hard disk
Various data used by the D software, such as part shape data and display graphic data, which will be described later, are also stored in the form of files.

(First Embodiment) The guide plane display function according to the present invention will be described below. In the present embodiment, FIG.
And a guide plane having a mesh as shown in FIG. 9 is displayed as necessary to assist the operation of designating the positions of devices and members.

Before explaining the auxiliary function, CAD
Will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 5, reference numeral 501 denotes a work area in which facilities and equipment are arranged. Reference numeral 502 denotes a toolbar (including an operation selection menu). When an item on the toolbar is designated by a mouse, a dialog (information input sub-window) 503 for information input and a pull-down menu for information selection are displayed. Dialog 50 displayed in FIG.
3 is displayed when an item on the toolbar is designated. An area 504 displays design information on members and devices displayed on the work area. An area 505 indicates that the type of the design target is a piping member, equipment, or the like, or displays the number of the equipment or the like to be arranged.

FIG. 2 shows a processing procedure for displaying a guide plane on such a design screen. The processing procedure of FIG. 2 is incorporated in CAD software, and interrupts the CPU 10 every time a mouse operation (input event) occurs.
Is executed by

In this embodiment, a guide plane is automatically displayed. The conditions for automatic display are any of the following. a) Piping member NO. Is set in the area 505 or the pipe member is clicked, and the extension button (not shown) is operated with the mouse. B) In the work area of the display screen, the start point position of the pipe member is designated with the mouse, and the click button is operated. Then, when the user designs the piping member, the user performs the following operation. That is, a pipe member item on the toolbar 502 is designated by a mouse to display a dialog 503 (steps S10 to S50, see FIG. 5). Next, the user sets the start position (coordinates) of the piping member in the dialog 503. The set position information is temporarily stored in the system memory 20.

When newly inputting a pipe member, the user sets a name, a fluid name, and a line number (not shown). When an input event occurs in accordance with this setting (operation of the OK button), it is determined in step S10 in FIG. 2 that the operation of the OK button meets the above condition b).
0, the CPU 10 determines that there is an instruction to display a guide plane, and advances the procedure to step S11. In step S11, the CPU 10 displays a guide plane according to the preset setting information (see FIG. 6). The setting information includes shape information indicating whether the guide plane is a quadrilateral mesh or a radial shape as shown in FIG. 9, an X axis, a Y axis,
These are the color information of the Z axis and the guide plane, the mesh interval, and the origin position information of the guide plane. It is not necessary to prepare all of these items, and the manufacturer may prepare any required items as setting information.

In this embodiment, the guide plane is initially displayed along the XY plane. In this case, the X-axis and the Y-axis are displayed.
The axis reference lines are displayed in yellow and pink, respectively, in the color of the guide plane.

When the starting point position of the piping member or the like is set, the starting position of the piping member or the starting point position of the piping member is set as the position indicated by the origin position information of the X axis, the Y axis and the X axis. If not, the center position of the work area 501 is initialized.

When the user wants to change the direction of the guide plane from the XY plane to the XZ plane as shown in FIG. 7, he operates the Z key of the keyboard. When the user wants to change the XY plane to the YZ plane, he presses the Z key again. Manipulate. When the key input event occurs, the procedure of FIG.
In step S20, the direction of the guide plane is detected, and the display of the guide plane is changed (step S21). This display change processing is realized by changing the display information in the display information storage area on the system memory 20.

As described above, when the user designates the start point of the pipe member on the display screen with the mouse and moves the mouse, a click button generation event occurs, and the processing procedure of FIG. 2 is executed. In step S30, the moving direction and the moving amount of the mouse (precisely, the origin) are detected by the CPU 10, and the CPU 10 displays the guide plane at the position on the display screen (end position of the piping member) corresponding to the new moving position of the mouse. It is moved (step S31). Thereafter, in the other processes of step S50, a pipe member graphic is displayed between the start point position and the new movement position as in the conventional case (see FIG. 8). Each time the mouse moves, the above-described processing is repeatedly executed. However, since the processing speed of the CPU 10 is extremely high, the display of the guide plane moves in response to the movement of the mouse to human eyes. Looks like.

When the user operates a specific key (X key, Z key, etc.), the key operation is performed in step S in FIG.
At 40, the detection is performed by the CPU 10, and at step S41, the shape of the guide plane is changed as shown in FIG. The guide plane shown in FIG. 9 displays a radial line at a specific angle for entering the pipe at an angle. It is the same that the direction of the guide plane is changed by operating the X key or the Z key. As described above, in the present embodiment, when the mesh-shaped guide plane is switched to the radial guide play, it is possible to provide an indication of a position at which a curved pipe member such as an elbow or a bender is arranged.

When the user performs other operations in the same manner as in the related art, the CPU 10 executes a process specified by the operation in the other processes in the processing procedure of FIG. Further, when the user designates a specific item (not shown) on the tool menu bar, a guide plane environment setting screen appears, and the user can set the above-described setting information relating to the guide plane. This process is also executed in the other processes of step S50 in FIG.

(Second Embodiment) Next, the display of the direction of the flow of the fluid of the piping member arranged on the display screen will be described.

As in the prior art, when the user designs a piping member on the display screen, the information displayed in the area 505 of FIG. 5 in the system memory, that is, the name of the piping member, the fluid name, and the line No. (Member number), table (type of straight pipe or curved pipe (elbow or bender) and start point position and end position of piping member (location information of the present invention) as one record (also referred to as data set) Further, drawing data for drawing a figure of a pipe member is stored in the table or separately in the table.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, when this table (referred to as a piping member table) is created, the processing program of FIG. As shown in FIG. 11, a predetermined section is painted in a different color along the piping member system, and the direction of the fluid flow is expressed by moving the section to be painted.

The processing for this will be described below. Note that the piping member table has the same piping member name for piping members of the same system. The CPU 10 takes out the record from the uppermost column on the piping member table, and takes out the piping member name, the values of the starting point and the ending position, and the type of the member in the record.

Next, the position information of the figure corresponding to the pipe member name is taken out from the table, and the display information storage corresponding to the area on the upper display screen determined by the figure information, for example, the portion denoted by reference numeral 1001 in FIG. Fill the data area in the area with a different color. More specifically, reference numeral 1001 in the display information storage area on the system memory 20
The display data (color data) corresponding to is changed to a different color. Thus, the portion denoted by reference numeral 1001 is displayed in a different color. Next, the CPU 10 searches the record having the same piping member name, that is, the next piping member connected to the current piping member, from the piping member table, with the end position of the currently extracted piping member being the start position. . If the search is not obtained, the search is terminated and the head position of the pipe member having another name is detected. On the other hand, the search
When a record of a pipe member to be connected is found, a start point position, an end point position, a type of a member, etc., and position information for drawing (hereinafter, these are referred to as drawing information) included in the record are extracted. The area indicated by is filled with a different color.

In this manner, the starting point position and the ending point position of the member (area) to be painted with different colors, which are members having the same pipe member name, are set, and the piping members of the display screen information are set to different colors. (Steps S100 to S150).

The area once painted is:
After a certain period of time, a different color is restored (step S
120 to S130).

The above processing (steps S100 to S15)
When step 0) is repeated, the continuous members of the same piping member system are filled with different color images in a time series on the display screen, so that a user viewing this display looks as if the fluid is flowing.

The direction in which the user places the members is the default flow direction of the fluid. When the user operates a flow direction switching button (not shown) with a mouse,
The operation is detected in step S140, and step S1
The loop process from 00 to S150 is repeated, but the user seems to flow from the opposite direction.

When the user operates the end button (not shown) with the mouse, the operation is detected in step S150, and the interruption of this processing procedure is turned off (cancellation of the interruption) (step S150). As a result, the execution of the fixed period interrupt in the processing procedure of FIG. 3 is not performed. Incidentally, in this processing procedure, the interrupt is turned on at the time when the display screen of the piping member design is displayed and when it is confirmed that the record is described in the piping member table, and thereafter, the processing procedure of FIG. An interrupt is executed at a constant interval.

(Third Embodiment) Next, a design support function suitable for assembling and designing parts (members) will be described. CAD
Then, the plant or equipment to be designed is displayed in 3D on the display screen.
(3D) is displayed. Therefore, in the present embodiment, FIG.
The auxiliary line 1205 indicating the direction in which the member is to be mounted is displayed on the display screen as shown in Fig. 4 to inform the user of the mounting position of the member on the main body before the member is mounted. This auxiliary line is hereinafter referred to as a skewer.

FIG. 13A shows the concept of the skewers. The skewer is composed of a skewer shaft connecting the center and the skewer tip.

As shown in FIG. 13B, another skewer can be provided at a predetermined angle from an arbitrary position on the skewer shaft. In the present embodiment, a skewer that is installed in a branch is referred to as a child skewer, and a skewer that is a source of branching is referred to as a parent skewer.

The operation of arranging (attaching) parts to the device body on the display screen using such a skewer and CAD
Will be described in detail.

FIG. 12 shows a CAD display screen for skew display. In FIG. 12, reference numeral 1201 denotes a part to be attached, which is selected from the part selection area 1204. Reference numeral 1202 denotes a device body for attaching parts,
Reference numeral 03 denotes an area for displaying a property indicating the content of the part to be attached. Reference numeral 1204 denotes a parts selection area for selecting parts to be attached. Reference numeral 1205 denotes a skewer set in advance.

On such a display screen, the user first sets the position of the skewer as shown in FIG. 14, and displays the skewer.
Next, when a desired part in the parts selection area 1204 is double-clicked with a mouse, the part specified by the double-click is placed at a position in contact with the device main body (or member) in a skew direction.

The CAD CP for executing the above processing
FIG. 4 shows the processing procedure of U10.

When the user designates an item (not shown) on the toolbar shown in FIG. 12 with a mouse, CPU 10 sets a dialog (sub window for information input) for setting a skewer.
Is displayed (step S201). The operator inputs numerical values to this dialog from the keyboard. However, the initial value is preset in the dialog,
The set value can be changed by inputting numerical values from the keyboard and operating with the mouse. Dialogs are used for parent and child skewers. In the present embodiment, the center position of the skewer, the direction of the main shaft, the direction of the auxiliary shaft, the length of the skewer, and the presence / absence of a part to be matched are input. In the case of a child skewer, the center position of the skewer is the position of the child skewer on the parent skewer, and is represented by a distance from the center position of the parent skewer. The main axis is a vector that indicates the direction of the skewers (parent skewers or child skewers).
A direction (vector) from the origin in the three-dimensional space to an arbitrary position is determined.

The direction of the auxiliary shaft indicates the direction of the skewer when the skewer is provided on the main shaft. If the child skewer is provided with a grandchild skewer, it indicates the direction of the child skewer. The length indicates the length of the main shaft. The presence / absence of the alignment target indicates whether or not parts are attached along the direction of the main shaft. There is no default value.

Here, when the user operates the OK button on the dialog, the master is first displayed on the display screen based on the set values. When the user looks at the displayed skewer and wants to add a child skewer, he positions the mouse cursor on a desired position of the parent skewer on the display screen and clicks with the click button of the mouse (see FIG. 15A). , CPU10
Determines that a skewer has been added (step S210), and the user who displays the skewer information input dialog described above uses this dialog to set the position of the center of the skewer, the direction of the main shaft, the direction length of the auxiliary shaft, Specify the presence or absence of the target part. Based on the input information, additional display of the CPU 10 is performed (see FIG. 15B), and the input information is stored in the system memory 20 (step S211).

In this embodiment, the position and orientation of the skewer are set by inputting numerical values. However, the position and orientation can also be adjusted by moving the skewer on the display screen with a mouse.

As shown in FIG. 16A, the user positions the mouse cursor at the center position of the child skewer and moves the mouse to the right while pressing the click button. Accordingly, the child skewers on the display screen move linearly to the right in accordance with the movement of the mouse, keeping the direction unchanged.

When the mouse cursor is moved to the tip of the child skewer and the click button is depressed and moved, the center of the skewer is set to the center of rotation in the three-dimensional space along the moving direction, and the auxiliary axis is set in advance. The skewers rotate on a plane determined from the direction determined by (see FIG. 16B). The moving state of the skewer in the three-dimensional space is also displayed in 3D on the display screen.

The CPU 10 identifies the rotational movement by specifying the tip of the skewer with the mouse, and identifies the parallel movement of the skewer by specifying the center of the skewer (step S24).
0).

In accordance with the identified type of movement, the CPU 10
Calculates the moving direction and the moving amount in the three-dimensional space according to the movement of the mouse, and moves the display position of the skewer on the display screen in accordance with the calculation result (steps S241 → S2).
42).

When the user determines the mounting direction of the parts as described above, the user selects a desired part in the parts selection area of FIG. 12 by operating the mouse. When this operation is detected in step S220, the CPU 10 extracts from the system memory 20 the direction information on the skewer designated to be matched in the above-described dialog. Next, the part selected along the direction of the skewer in the three-dimensional space is moved toward the center of the skewer to detect the position in contact with the device or member. The detected position is automatically determined as the attachment position of the part, and the graphic of the selected part is displayed at the corresponding position on the display screen (step S221 → S222). 1) The reference axis (X,
(Y, Z axes) are displayed in a color different from the color of the guide plane. However, when a black and white screen is used, the reference axis may be drawn thick and the mesh of the guide plane may be drawn thin. 2) In the first embodiment, a mode in which a guide plane is displayed and a mode in which a guide plane is not displayed are provided. Alternatively, a process such as moving display may be performed. 3) In the first embodiment, an example in which the piping member is designed has been described. However, when the length of a specific structure is specified by a mouse, for example, when the length of a steel frame is specified, the guide plane is automatically displayed. May be. Further, it is a matter of course that the display position may be moved by operating the mouse independently of the guide plane independently of the designation of the length of the design object. 4) In the second embodiment, the description order and the direction of the fluid are described in the piping member information described in the piping member table. However, information indicating the flow direction of the fluid may be described in the piping member table. In this case, there is no need to distinguish between the start point and the end point. It may be determined whether the two end point information is the start point or the end point based on the information indicating the direction of the fluid flow. 5) The image for showing the flow of the fluid in the second embodiment is:
In addition to the solid image, it is possible to move and display using a graphic such as a → (arrow) symbol.

Various modifications can be made to the above embodiment. However, as long as the modification is based on the technical idea described in the claims, the modification falls within the technical scope of the present invention.

[0060]

As described above, according to the first to fifth aspects of the present invention, the position and length of the member or the like to be arranged can be accurately grasped by the interval between the lines of the guide play. Therefore, the number of times of the arrangement can be reduced, and the design effort of the user can be reduced.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, since the image indicating the flow moves along the flow direction, the user can easily confirm the flow direction. This reduces the user's trial and error work.

According to the seventh to tenth aspects of the present invention, since the member is displayed on the display screen indicating the mounting direction, the user can confirm the position of the mounting destination by the line. Also,
Since the mounting position of the member along the direction is automatically calculated, the mounting position is more accurate than the manual positioning by the user. This reduces the user's trial and error work.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a system configuration according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure for guide plane display control executed by a CPU 10;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure for flow direction display control executed by a CPU 10;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure for skew display control executed by a CPU 10;

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a CAD display screen.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram for explaining display control of a guide plane.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram for explaining display control of a guide plane.

FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram for explaining display control of a guide plane.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory view showing the shape of another guide plane.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a display showing a flow of a fluid.

FIG. 11 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a display showing a flow of a fluid.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram for describing display control contents of a line (skewers) for attaching parts.

FIGS. 13A and 13B are explanatory diagrams for explaining display control contents of lines (skewers) for attaching parts.

FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram for describing display control contents of lines (skewers) for attaching parts.

FIGS. 15A and 15B are explanatory diagrams for explaining display control contents of lines (skewers) for attaching parts.

FIGS. 16A and 16B are explanatory diagrams for explaining display control contents of a line (skew) for attaching parts.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 CPU 20 System memory 30 Display 40 Input device 50 Hard disk

Claims (10)

[Claims] A first instruction unit for instructing display of a guide plane in which a plurality of lines are arranged at regular intervals in a CAD for designing the arrangement of members in a 3D display work area on a display screen; A second instructing means for instructing a display position of the guide plane; and, in response to a display instruction of the first instructing means, the guide plane is moved to the display position instructed by the second instructing means. A CAD comprising display control means for displaying. 2. The CAD according to claim 1, wherein an orientation of the guide plane on a 3D display can be variably set. 3. The CAD according to claim 1, wherein the guide plane is automatically displayed at a starting end position of the piping member when the piping member is arranged in the work area, and the end of the piping member is displayed. A CAD, wherein a display position of the guide plane moves from a start point position to an end position of the pipe member in accordance with designation of a position. 4. The CAD according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of shapes of the guide plane are prepared, and a shape used for display can be selected. 5. The CAD according to claim 1, wherein a line indicating a direction of an axis corresponding to an XYZ axis in a three-dimensional space is displayed in the guide plane in a color different from the color of the guide plane. Characteristic CAD. 6. A CAD system for designing the arrangement of members in a 3D display work area on a display screen, wherein input means for inputting the arrangement data of the piping members and piping members based on the input arrangement data of the piping members. Display means for indicating the direction of flow of the fluid flowing through the pipe member, and an image representing the flow toward the designated flow direction is moved and displayed along the displayed pipe member. A CAD comprising display control means. 7. A CAD system for designing the arrangement of members in a 3D display work area on a display screen, a display means for displaying a line indicating a part mounting direction in the work area, and indicating a display position of the line. Instructing means for moving the part in a three-dimensional space along the instructed direction, and detecting a position where the part or device to be attached contacts the part, and a corresponding to the detected position A display control means for displaying a graphic of the part at a position on a display screen to be displayed. 8. The CAD according to claim 7, wherein a plurality of lines can be set so that the lines are branched.
A CAD further comprising a line selecting means for designating in which line direction of the plurality of lines the part is to be attached. 9. The apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the plurality of lines are movable on a display screen, the apparatus further comprising: line designation means for designating a movement target line; and means for designating a movement direction and a movement amount of the designated line. The display control means moves the line on the display screen designated by the line designation means based on the designated moving direction and moving amount. 10. The CAD according to claim 9, wherein the moving direction of the line is one of a linear direction and a rotating direction.