JP2002183224A - System for evaluating product design - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To shorten the period of design development of a design object product by connecting the design development with the CAD data of the design object product and quickly and objectively performing the design object product in which LCA evaluation is improved. SOLUTION: This system is provided with a data acquiring part 21 for acquiring the three-dimensional CAD data of the design object product, a weight calculating part 22 for calculating the weight of every material of each component part of the design object product on the basis of the three-dimensional CAD data acquired by the data acquiring part 21, an LCA evaluating part 27 for evaluating the life cycle assessment of the design object product on the basis of the weight of every material calculated by the weight calculating part 22, and a controlling part 25 for outputting the evaluation results of the life cycle assessment by the LCA evaluating part 27 and accelerating the redesign of the design object product on the basis of the evaluation results.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a product design evaluation system which evaluates a life cycle assessment (LCA) of a product to be designed from CAD data of the product to be designed, and supports a product design reflecting these evaluation results. It is about.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At present, vending machines such as beverage vending machines, which have spread to 2.6 million units, are in a situation where the relationship with the environment cannot be ignored due to the enormous spread rate and large power consumption. For this reason, vending machines are required to be friendly to the global environment and have social value.

On the other hand, in recent years, social design and development of industrial products in harmony with the global environment have been strongly demanded. In designing and developing such an industrial product, it is necessary to quantitatively grasp the environmental load of the industrial product. In order to realize this quantitative understanding, Life Cycle Assessment (LCA: Life
Cycle Assessment) is attracting attention.

[0004] LCA is a method for objectively assessing the impact of products and services on the environment over the entire life cycle from the extraction of resources to the manufacture, use, recycling, disposal and distribution of products. . LCA is specified in the ISO 14040 standard of the International Organization for Standardization, and has become the Japanese Industrial Standard (JIS Q 14040) as it is. This LCA is attracting attention as a tool for evaluating and improving the environmental load of the entire life cycle of products and the like.

[0005]

When evaluating the design of a product such as a vending machine, the evaluation is based on an actual vending machine that has been prototyped once. It takes time and effort, and even when the product is evaluated from the viewpoint of LCA and the improvement is made, there is a problem that it takes a lot of time and effort for trial and error or similarly.

[0006] The standardization of this LCA evaluation is being actively pursued.
There is a tendency to be required to satisfy the A evaluation value, and it is strongly desired that a product satisfying the LCA evaluation can be designed in a short period of time.

[0007] In particular, there is a problem that the improvement of the LCA is often performed by trial and error, so that an objective judgment cannot be made promptly, and that much time and labor are required for development design.

[0008] Further, since the LCA evaluation is affected by the assembling and disassembling properties of a product design object, it has been demanded that the LCA including the assembling and disassembling properties can be evaluated quickly.

Further, when evaluating the environmental load of the entire life cycle of a vending machine or the like, the environmental load in the use stage occupies a large weight with respect to the environmental load of the entire life cycle. Therefore, the life of the vending machine has a great influence on the environmental load of the entire life cycle. In this case, by replacing a component that greatly affects the life of the vending machine, that is, a component having a short life, with a component having a long life, the overall life of the vending machine can be lengthened. However, there has been a problem that a great deal of time and effort is required to change the design to extend the service life because of the experience and intuition.

[0010] The present invention has been made in view of the above,
Aims to provide a product design evaluation system that can easily and easily develop and design a design target product by linking with the CAD data of the design target product and quickly and objectively perform the design target product with improved LCA evaluation. And

[0011]

In order to achieve the above object, a product design evaluation system according to claim 1 comprises: data acquisition means for acquiring CAD data of a product to be designed; and CAD data acquired by the data acquisition means. Weight calculating means for calculating the weight of each component of each component of the product to be designed based on the weight of each material calculated by the weight calculating means, and evaluating the life cycle assessment of the product to be designed based on the weight calculated by the weight calculating means. LCA evaluating means, and evaluation output means for outputting an evaluation result of life cycle assessment by the LCA evaluating means, and prompting redesign of the product to be designed based on the evaluation result output by the evaluation output means. It is characterized by.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the data acquisition means acquires CAD data of the product to be designed, and the weight calculation means acquires the CAD data of the product to be designed based on the CAD data acquired by the data acquisition means. The weight of each component of each component is calculated, LCA evaluation means evaluates the life cycle assessment of the product to be designed based on the weight of each material calculated by the weight calculation means, the evaluation output means, Said L
The evaluation result of the life cycle assessment by the CA evaluation means is output, and redesign of the product to be designed is encouraged based on the evaluation result output by the evaluation output means.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the above product design evaluation system, the weight calculating means calculates a volume of each component of the product to be designed based on the CAD data. Is multiplied by the density of the material of each component to calculate the weight of each material of the product to be designed.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the weight calculating means calculates the volume of each component of the product to be designed based on the CAD data and multiplies the volume by the density of the material of each component. Calculate the weight of each material of the product to be designed by CA
The LCA evaluation of the product to be designed is performed using only the D data.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the above product design evaluation system, when the component is a cable, the weight calculating means multiplies a cross-sectional area of the cable by a length of the cable. And calculating the volume of the component.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, when the component is a cable, the weight calculating means calculates the volume of the component by multiplying the cross-sectional area of the cable by the length of the cable. The volume of the component is calculated flexibly.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the above-mentioned invention, the product design evaluation system is based on the arrangement information of each component indicated by the CAD data and the weight of each component obtained by the weight calculating means. The apparatus further comprises a center-of-gravity calculating means for calculating a center-of-gravity position of the product to be designed.

According to the fourth aspect of the invention, the center-of-gravity calculating means calculates the center of gravity of the product to be designed based on the arrangement information of each component indicated by the CAD data and the weight of each component obtained by the weight calculating means. The position is determined, and the fall-over property of the product to be designed can be evaluated.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the product design evaluation system according to the above invention, wherein a material database in which evaluation standards of the life cycle assessment for each material are compiled into a database in weight units, and an evaluation result by the LCA evaluation means. And an instruction output means for outputting at least an instruction to change the material or shape of a component having a large effect on the life cycle assessment based on the evaluation criteria held in the material database.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the instruction output means is stored in the material database in which the evaluation result of the LCA evaluation means and the evaluation criterion of the life cycle assessment for each material are made into a database by weight. Based on the evaluation criterion, at least an instruction is issued to output a change in the material or shape of a component that has a large effect on the life cycle assessment.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the product design evaluation system according to the above invention further comprises an assembly / disassembly evaluation means for evaluating the assemblability and disassembly of each component of the product to be designed. -It is characterized by prompting a design change of a component having a low evaluation result of the decomposability evaluation means.

According to the invention of claim 6, the assembling / disassembling evaluation means evaluates the assemblability and disassembly of each component of the product to be designed, and promotes a design change of a component having a low evaluation result. Like that.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a product design evaluation system according to the first aspect of the present invention, wherein the structural analysis evaluation means performs a structural analysis of each component of the product to be designed and evaluates the structural analysis result. A heat transfer analysis of each component part of the target product is performed, and a heat transfer analysis evaluation unit for evaluating the heat transfer analysis result, and a structural analysis result by the structural analysis evaluation unit and a heat transfer analysis result by the heat transfer analysis evaluation unit And a life estimating means for estimating the life of each component. The life estimating means prompts a design change of a component having a short life.

According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, the structural analysis means performs a structural analysis of each component of the product to be designed, evaluates the result of the structural analysis, and the heat transfer analysis evaluating means performs the structural analysis of the product to be designed. A heat transfer analysis of each component is performed, the heat transfer analysis result is evaluated, and the life prediction means is configured based on the structural analysis result by the structural analysis evaluation means and the heat transfer analysis result by the heat transfer analysis evaluation means. The life of each component is predicted, and the life prediction means promotes a design change of a component having a short life.

Further, in the product design evaluation system according to claim 8, in the above invention, for each component, a component database made into a database according to the length of the reference life and the component having the short life are replaced. A search unit for searching for a component from the component database is further provided, and the evaluation output unit or the instruction output unit outputs the search result including the search result by the search unit.

According to the eighth aspect of the present invention, the searching means searches the component database for a component that replaces a component having a short life, and the evaluation output means or the instruction output means executes the search. The search result by means is output.

[0027]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of a product design evaluation system according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of a product design evaluation system according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. In FIG. 1, a product design evaluation system 1 includes a CAD system 10 and a product design evaluation device 2.
0 is a system that cooperates. The CAD system 10 and the product design evaluation device 20 may be communicatively connected via a communication line, or data may be exchanged via a storage medium or the like.

The CAD system 10 is a computer-aided design system, and creates three-dimensional CAD data 11 of a product to be designed such as a vending machine. This 3D CA
The D data 11 also includes attribute data such as component component data 12 of the component.

The product design evaluation device 20 includes a data acquisition unit 21 for acquiring three-dimensional CAD data 11 from the CAD system 10, a weight calculation unit 22 for calculating the weight of each component using the component component data 12, and the like. When the weight calculator 22 calculates the weight, a cable weight calculator 23 that calculates the weight of the cables, a center of gravity evaluation unit 24 that calculates the center of gravity of the product based on the weight calculation result of the weight calculator 22, and an LCA evaluation Storage section 26 for storing a predetermined program such as the above program and various data, LCA for performing LCA evaluation
An evaluation unit 27, an output processing unit 28 that performs output processing on an output unit 29 realized by a printer, a CRT display, and the like, an input unit 30 realized by a keyboard, a mouse, and the like, and a component database that stores information on various components in a database. 31 and a control unit 25 for controlling each unit described above.

Here, referring to a flow chart shown in FIG. 2, a procedure of a product design evaluation process by the product design evaluation system will be described. In FIG. 2, first, CAD
The system 10 creates the three-dimensional CAD data 11 of the product to be designed (step S101). After that, the data acquisition unit 21 outputs the three-dimensional CAD from the CAD system 10 side.
The data 11 is obtained (Step S102). Control unit 2
5 divides the three-dimensional CAD data 11 acquired by the data acquisition unit 21 for each component (step S103), and stores the divided data in the storage unit 26. It is preferable that the number of components is an appropriate number that eliminates duplication, is not too large, and is not too small. For example, the number of parts of a vending machine is about 3000, but can be roughly reduced to about 500.

Thereafter, the weight calculator 22 calculates the volume of each component based on the CAD data of each component (step S104). Since the CAD data of each component includes the shape data of each component, the volume of each component can be calculated using this shape data. Thereafter, the weight calculator 22 obtains data indicating the material from the CAD data of each component, obtains the specific gravity (density) of the material from the component database 31, and obtains the volume of each component described above. Is multiplied by the density of the component to calculate the weight of each component (step S105). If the data indicating the material of each component is not included in the CAD data but data indicating the model number of the component is included, the material and density corresponding to the model number of each component are stored in the component database 31. What is necessary is just to make the data correspond.

Thereafter, the LCA evaluator 37 calculates the LCA stored in the storage 26 based on the weight of each material of each component.
The LCA evaluation is performed using the A evaluation program (step S106). Further, it is determined whether or not the evaluation value of the LCA evaluation satisfies a predetermined condition (step S10).
7). When the predetermined condition is satisfied (step S10
(7, YES), this process ends. On the other hand, when the predetermined condition is not satisfied (step S107, NO), the process proceeds to step S108.

Here, the LCA evaluation method used is as follows.
The environmental load evaluation method described in Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-085399 is used. This environmental load evaluation method defines, for example, a common environmental load standard value that can be tolerated by human beings, and based on this environmental load standard value, quantitatively indicates the environmental load value of the product to be designed. I have to. This environmental load value can be calculated based on the weight value of the material used. Therefore, when this LCA evaluation method is used, the above-described predetermined condition in step S107 is, for example, a condition of whether or not a predetermined environmental load value has been exceeded. In addition, not only this LCA evaluation method but another LCA evaluation method may be used.

In this LCA evaluation process, LCA including reuse and recycling is performed in addition to the normal analysis stage.
Evaluation may be performed. As a result, LCA evaluation with higher utilization can be obtained. Note that LC
The A evaluation may include an LCC (life cycle cost) evaluation. This is because one method of LCA evaluation is cost evaluation.

Thereafter, in step S108, an instruction to change the material of the component, or the shape and size of the component, which is a large element exceeding a predetermined environmental load value, is output. Thereafter, the designer re-designs the three-dimensional C with the contents instructed to be changed by the CAD system 10.
AD data is designed (step S109), and
The process proceeds to step 102, and the above-described processing is repeated.

Here, a specific weight calculation process by the product design evaluation device 20 will be described. FIG.
6 is data relating to the weight obtained for each material of each component part stored in FIG. This data has items of “each component”, “volume”, “material”, “density”, and “weight”. For example, the “outer door body”, which is a component part, is based on three-dimensional CAD data and is “2.681.07” cm ³
Is determined, and the fact that the material is iron is three-dimensional C
It is acquired from the component data 12 of the AD data. The component part database 31 holds the density of “iron”,
The weight calculator 22 calculates the density of this “iron” as “7.8”.
7 ”from the component database 31 and“ volume ”
Is multiplied by “density” to calculate “21.1” kg, which is the “weight” of the outer door body. Thus, the LCA evaluation is performed by determining the weight of each component for each material and calculating the weight for each material of all products. That is, the LCA evaluation value is calculated from the weight value of each material. For example, when the environmental load evaluation method described in Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-085399 is used, the environmental load value is calculated from the weight value for each material. “NETS” is obtained, and the degree of environmental load is evaluated based on the total value of the “NETS”.

When a component is made of a plurality of materials such as a harness, a weight is required for each material forming the component. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a harness. In FIG. 4, the harness is a coupler 3
2. It has a cable 33, a clip 34, and a protective material 35, and the material of each part is different.
It is composed of multiple materials. As described above, for a component composed of a plurality of materials, the weight ratio of each material constituting the component is registered in the component database 31 and the weight ratio is multiplied by the volume of the component. In this way, the weight of each material is obtained. Alternatively, the volume ratio of each material is registered in the component database 31 and the volume of each component is obtained by multiplying the volume of the component by the volume ratio, and the volume is multiplied by the density of each material. Good.

When calculating the volume of a component such as the cable 33, the cable weight calculation unit 23 obtains the length from the three-dimensional CAD data and multiplies the length by the cross-sectional area of the cable 33. The volume of 33 is calculated. Then, the cable weight calculator 23 calculates the cable 3
The weight of each part (material) is calculated on the basis of the weight ratio of the parts constituting 3. These weight ratios and volume ratios are based on three-dimensional CAD
The component is identified by the component number or the like acquired from the data, and acquired from the component database 31.

Here, a specific LCA evaluation result will be described. FIG. 5 is an LCA evaluation (impact evaluation) when a vending machine is used as a product to be designed, and the effect of the vending machine on a category of the global environment is evaluated. According to the LCA evaluation result shown in FIG. 5, this vending machine is evaluated as having a large environmental load in the category of natural resource depletion.

FIG. 6 is a diagram comparing the environmental load value of the conventional vending machine before the product to be designed with the environmental load value of the vending machine of the current product to be designed.
FIG. 6A is based on the LCA evaluation result shown in FIG.
The graph shows changes in the environmental load value when copper (Cu) having a large environmental load is changed to aluminum (Al). According to this result, the environmental load value of natural resource depletion is 43.4.
[NETS] is improved to 4.32 [NETS]. This is because in a vending machine as shown in FIG.
Because the ratio of environmental load value to natural resource depletion is large,
By reducing the environmental load value against natural resource depletion, the overall environmental load value is effectively reduced. Note that copper (Cu), which has a large environmental load, is converted to aluminum (A).
In the case of changing to l), the environmental load values for the categories of “global warming”, “fossil fuel depletion”, and “acid rain” slightly increased, but this material change significantly increased the overall environmental load value. To be reduced. It should be noted that this material change does not always reduce any products, and the reason that such a material change improves the LCA evaluation is due to the components of the vending machine.

Thus, in the first embodiment,
Since the LCA evaluation is performed by determining the weight of each material of the product to be designed based on the three-dimensional CAD data, the LCA evaluation can be quickly, objectively and easily performed before the product to be designed is created. , The development period of a product satisfying the LCA evaluation can be shortened. Further, by performing such a design and development, a product having a high LCA evaluation can be designed and developed.

In the first embodiment, the center of gravity evaluating section 24 is provided to evaluate the position of the center of gravity of the product to be designed. The product design evaluation device 20 can calculate the weight of each component by the weight calculation unit 22 based on the three-dimensional CAD data, and can obtain the position of each component. Therefore, the center-of-gravity evaluator 24 can combine the weight and position of each component to determine the center-of-gravity position of the entire design target product. The position of the center of gravity serves as a parameter for evaluating a fall of a vending machine, for example, and can evaluate the degree of difficulty of a fall of a product to be designed such as a vending machine.
As a result, in order to prevent the product
Furthermore, it is possible to evaluate whether or not a component is necessary, and when it is necessary to add the component, the added component is added to the component of the product to be designed. Therefore, lowering the center of gravity will eventually contribute to reducing the LCA evaluation.

(Embodiment 2) Next, Embodiment 2 of the present invention will be described. In the second embodiment, an assembling / disassembling evaluation unit for evaluating the assembling / disassembling property of the product to be designed is further provided in the first embodiment, and the LCA evaluation of the product to be designed is performed including the evaluation result. Like that.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a product design evaluation system according to the second embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 7, the product design evaluation system 2 is different from the product design evaluation system 1 shown in
A decomposability evaluation unit 41 is provided, and the LCA evaluation unit 27
A evaluation is performed. Other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment, and the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals.

Here, with reference to a flowchart shown in FIG. 8, a description will be given of a product design evaluation processing procedure by the product design evaluation system 2. 8, first, similarly to steps S101 to S105 in the first embodiment, the three-dimensional CAD data 11 of the created design target product is acquired, divided for each component, and the weight calculation unit 22 The volume of each component is calculated based on the CAD data of the component, and the weight is calculated (steps S201 to S205).

Further, the assembling / disassembling evaluation section 41 evaluates the assembling / decomposability based on the acquired three-dimensional CAD data (step S206). Thereafter, LCA evaluation is performed based on the weight of each component and the result of the evaluation of assembly / disassembly (steps S201 to S207).

Thereafter, it is determined whether or not the evaluation value of the LCA evaluation satisfies a predetermined condition (step S20).
8). When the predetermined condition is satisfied (step S20)
(8, YES), this process ends. On the other hand, when the predetermined condition is not satisfied (step S208, NO), the process proceeds to step S209.

In step S209, a design change instruction for a component having a low evaluation value of the assembly / disassemblability evaluation evaluated by the assembly / disassemblability evaluation unit 41 is output (step S209), and the designer issues the design change instruction. Originally, the design target product is redesigned, the redesigned three-dimensional CAD data is created (step S210), and the process proceeds to step S202.
The above processing is repeated.

The evaluation of assembling and disassembly by the assembling and disassembling evaluation section 41 can be performed by using existing evaluation software. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing reference contents when the existing evaluation software performs an assembling / disassembling evaluation. In the reference contents shown in FIG. 9, a deduction method is adopted. In FIG.
The classification for evaluating the assembling / disassembly is classified into “movement”, “use of tools”, and “other”. That is,
If the "movement" is large during the disassembly, it is evaluated that the assembling / decomposability is poor, and a deduction amount corresponding to the assembling / degradability is assigned. Also, performing “use of a tool” during assembling / disassembling is evaluated as poor assembling / disassembling, and a deduction amount corresponding to the poor assembling / disassembling is assigned. For example, with respect to “move”, those that move the part upward have a high deduction amount (evaluation “A”), and those that move the part downward have a slightly low deduction amount (evaluation “B”). ).

The results of the evaluation of the assembling and disassembling properties are output as the evaluation results shown in FIG. In this evaluation result, the components listed in the order of components with the lowest evaluation results are listed, so the components listed in the top row are assembled /
It is evaluated as having the worst degradability. In the evaluation results shown in FIG. 10, “rack mounting metal” is evaluated as a component having the worst assembly / disassembly property.

Since the evaluation value of the assembling / disassembling evaluation is directly related to the LCA evaluation, by increasing the assembling / disassembling property of the component having a low evaluation value of the assembling / disassembling evaluation, the LCA evaluation is consequently increased. The evaluation value will also increase.

In the second embodiment, the LCA evaluation including the assembly / disassembly evaluation of each component of the product to be designed is performed based on the three-dimensional CAD data, and the evaluation result of the assembly / disassembly evaluation is obtained. Originally, we promoted redesign by increasing the evaluation value of the assembly and disassembly evaluation of components with low evaluation values of the assembly and disassembly evaluation, and as a result, we improved the LCA evaluation. Before making, LCA evaluation can be performed quickly, objectively and easily.
The development period of a product satisfying the evaluation can be shortened. Further, by performing such design and development, it is possible to design and develop a product having a high evaluation of assembly and disassembly and a high LCA evaluation.

(Third Embodiment) Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the third embodiment, in addition to the configuration of the above-described second embodiment, a structural analysis evaluation unit 51 for performing a structural analysis of a design target product and a heat transfer analysis evaluation unit 52 for performing a heat transfer analysis of the design target product are further provided. LCA evaluation of the product to be designed is performed including these evaluation results.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a product design evaluation system according to the third embodiment of the present invention.
In FIG. 11, the product design evaluation system 3 further includes a structural analysis evaluation unit 51 and a heat transfer analysis evaluation unit 52 in the product design evaluation system 2 described in the second embodiment.
The CA evaluation unit 27 performs the LCA evaluation in consideration of the evaluation results by the structural analysis evaluation unit 51 and the heat transfer analysis evaluation unit 52. Other configurations are the same as those of the second embodiment, and the same components are denoted by the same reference numerals.

Here, the procedure of the product design evaluation processing by the product design evaluation system 3 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. 8, first, similarly to steps S201 to S205 of the second embodiment, the three-dimensional CAD data 11 of the created design target product is acquired, divided for each component, and the weight calculation unit 22 The volume of each component is calculated based on the CAD data of the component, and the weight is calculated (steps S301 to S305).

Further, the structural analysis evaluation section 51 performs a structural analysis of each component (step S306). In this structural analysis, stress concentration and the like are evaluated using existing structural analysis software using a finite element method or the like. Further, the heat transfer analysis evaluation unit 52 performs a heat transfer analysis of each component (step S307). This heat transfer analysis analyzes whether or not a heat transfer effect occurs when the product to be designed is in operation, and performs the analysis using existing heat transfer analysis software.

Thereafter, the control unit 25 predicts the life of each component based on the structural analysis evaluation result and the heat transfer analysis evaluation result, and stores the prediction result in the storage unit 26 (step S308). Thereafter, LCA evaluation is performed based on the weight and life prediction results of each component (step S30).
9).

Thereafter, it is determined whether or not the evaluation value of the LCA evaluation satisfies a predetermined condition (step S31).
0). When the predetermined condition is satisfied (step S31)
(0, YES), this process ends. On the other hand, when the predetermined condition is not satisfied (step S310, NO), the process proceeds to step S311.

In step S311, the component having the shortest life is determined based on the life prediction result. Thereafter, a list of alternative components having a longer life than the components having the shortest life is listed (step S312). This alternative component is stored in the component database 31 for each component.

After that, the designer redesigns the product to be designed incorporating the listed alternative components,
Create redesigned 3D CAD data (step S3
13) The process proceeds to step S302, and the above-described processing is repeated.

Since the value of the predicted life is directly related to the LCA evaluation, a component having a short life is replaced with a component having a long life, and consequently the LCA is evaluated.
The evaluation value of the evaluation increases. In the first embodiment, the life of the existing component is not calculated based on the actually measured life data, but the life is predicted by structural analysis and heat transfer analysis. The life can be flexibly predicted for various products to be designed.

In the third embodiment, the life of each component of the product to be designed is predicted based on the three-dimensional CAD data.
LCA evaluation including this predicted life is performed.
Based on this expected life, we promote redesign by replacing with a long-life replacement component, and as a result, increase the LCA evaluation. Therefore, before creating a product to be designed, it is quick, objective, and LCA evaluation can be performed easily,
The development period of a product satisfying the LCA evaluation can be shortened. Further, by performing such a design and development, a product having a long life and a high LCA evaluation can be designed and developed.

[0064]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the data acquisition means acquires CAD data of the product to be designed, and the weight calculation means acquires the CAD data acquired by the data acquisition means. Based on the weight of each material of each component of the product to be designed, the LCA evaluation means evaluates the life cycle assessment of the product to be designed based on the weight of each material calculated by the weight calculation means. The evaluation output means outputs the evaluation result of the life cycle assessment by the LCA evaluation means, and promotes the redesign of the product to be designed based on the evaluation result output by the evaluation output means. C at the design stage of the product to be designed
The LCA evaluation can be performed quickly and objectively on the basis of the AD data, so that a product having a high LCA evaluation can be designed in a short design and development period.

According to the second aspect, the weight calculating means calculates the volume of each component of the product to be designed based on the CAD data and multiplies the volume by the density of the material of each component. The weight of each material of the product to be designed is calculated, and CAD
Since the LCA evaluation of the product to be designed is performed based only on the data, it is possible to easily perform the LCA evaluation of the product to be designed.

According to the third aspect, when the component is a cable, the weight calculating means calculates the volume of the component by multiplying the cross-sectional area of the cable by the length of the cable. Since the volume of the component is calculated flexibly, the volume of the component can be reliably calculated regardless of the shape of the component, and as a result, the weight of each component can be calculated reliably. To play.

According to the fourth aspect, the center of gravity calculating means calculates the position of the center of gravity of the product to be designed based on the arrangement information of each component indicated by the CAD data and the weight of each component obtained by the weight calculating means. To evaluate the fallability of the product to be designed. If the product to be designed is likely to fall over, it is possible to carry out LCA evaluation including addition of additional components to prevent the product from overturning. It has the effect of being able to.

According to the present invention, the instruction output means stores the evaluation result of the LCA evaluation means and the evaluation standard of the life cycle assessment for each material in a material database which is made into a database by weight unit. At least a change in the material or shape of the component that has a large effect on the life cycle assessment based on the standards is output as an instruction, so it is easy to obtain concrete measures to enhance the LCA evaluation of the product to be designed. Thus, it is possible to quickly redesign a product to be designed with improved LCA evaluation.

According to the present invention, the assembling / disassembling evaluation means evaluates the assemblability and disassembly of each component of the product to be designed, and promotes a design change of a component having a low evaluation result. From the viewpoint of assembly and disassembly.
This has the effect of designing and redesigning a product with a higher CA evaluation.

According to the seventh aspect, the structural analysis means performs a structural analysis of each component of the product to be designed and evaluates the structural analysis result. A heat transfer analysis of the component parts is performed, the heat transfer analysis result is evaluated, and a life predicting unit is configured to perform the heat transfer analysis based on the structural analysis result by the structural analysis evaluation unit and the heat transfer analysis result by the heat transfer analysis evaluation unit. Since the life expectancy of the component parts is predicted and the life prediction means promotes a design change of the component part having a short life, the LCA evaluation is performed from the viewpoint of the life without using the measurement result of the life of the actual product. The effect is that the design and redesign of the enhanced product can be performed.

According to the present invention, the search means searches a component part database for a component which replaces a component having a short life, from the component part database, and the evaluation output means or the instruction output means outputs the search means. Output including search results by the
It is easy to obtain concrete measures to increase the evaluation,
This has the effect that redesign of a product to be designed with improved CA evaluation can be performed quickly.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of a product design evaluation system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a product design evaluation processing procedure by the product design evaluation system shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a part of a result of weight calculation by a weight calculation unit shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a harness to be calculated by a cable weight calculator illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of an evaluation result by an LCA evaluation unit illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a result when redesign is performed by the product design evaluation system illustrated in FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of a product design evaluation system according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a product design evaluation processing procedure by the product design evaluation system shown in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing evaluation criteria by an assembling / disassembling evaluation section shown in FIG. 7;

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of an evaluation result by an assembling / disassembling evaluation section illustrated in FIG. 7;

FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of a product design evaluation system according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

12 is a flowchart showing a product design evaluation processing procedure by the product design evaluation system shown in FIG. 11;

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Product Design Evaluation System 10 CAD System 11 3D CAD Data 12 Component Material Data 20, 40, 50 Product Design Evaluation Device 21 Data Acquisition Unit 22 Weight Calculation Unit 23 Cable Weight Calculation Unit 24 Center of Gravity Evaluation Unit 25 Control Unit 26 Storage Unit 27 LCA evaluation unit 28 output processing unit 29 output unit 30 input unit 31 component parts database 41 assembly / disassembly evaluation unit 51 structural analysis evaluation unit 52 heat transfer analysis evaluation unit

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Tatsuya Kobayashi 1-1, Tanabe-Nitta, Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture Inside Fuji Electric Co., Ltd. No. 1 Fuji Electric Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Koji Akatsuka 1-1, Tanabe-Nitta, Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa F-term within Fuji Electric Co., Ltd. 5B046 AA07 BA08 JA08

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A data obtaining means for obtaining CAD data of a product to be designed, and a weight calculation for calculating a weight of each material of each component of the product to be designed based on the CAD data obtained by the data obtaining means. Means, LCA evaluation means for evaluating a life cycle assessment of the product to be designed based on the weight of each material calculated by the weight calculation means, and an evaluation output for outputting an evaluation result of the life cycle assessment by the LCA evaluation means A product design evaluation system comprising: means for promoting redesign of the product to be designed based on the evaluation result output by the evaluation output means. 2. The weight calculation means calculates the volume of each component of the product to be designed based on the CAD data, and multiplies the volume by the density of the material of each component to obtain the product of the design. The product design evaluation system according to claim 1, wherein the weight of each material is calculated. 3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said weight calculating means calculates a volume of said component by multiplying a cross-sectional area of said cable by a length of said cable when said component is a cable. 3. The product design evaluation system according to 1 or 2. 4. A center-of-gravity calculating means for calculating a center-of-gravity position of the product to be designed based on the arrangement information of each component indicated by the CAD data and the weight of each component obtained by the weight calculating means. Claim 1 characterized by the above-mentioned.
3. The product design evaluation system according to any one of 3. 5. A material database in which evaluation criteria of the life cycle assessment for each material are compiled into a database in weight units, and the life cycle is evaluated based on an evaluation result by the LCA evaluation means and an evaluation standard held in the material database. The product design evaluation according to any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising: an instruction output unit configured to output at least an instruction for a change in the material or shape of a component having a large influence on the cycle assessment. system. 6. An assembly / disassembly evaluation means for evaluating the assemblability and disassembly of each component of the product to be designed, wherein a design change of a component having a low evaluation result by the assembling / disassembly evaluation means is provided. The product design evaluation system according to claim 1, wherein the product design evaluation system prompts the user. 7. A structural analysis evaluating means for performing a structural analysis of each component of the product to be designed and evaluating a result of the structural analysis, and performing a heat transfer analysis of each component of the product to be designed, Heat transfer analysis evaluation means for evaluating the analysis result; and life prediction means for predicting the life of each component based on the structural analysis result by the structural analysis evaluation means and the heat transfer analysis result by the heat transfer analysis evaluation means. The product design evaluation system according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising: promoting a design change of a component having a short life by the life prediction means. 8. A component part database which is made into a database according to the length of the reference life for each component part, and a search means for searching the component part database for a component part replacing the component part having the short life. 8. The product design evaluation system according to claim 7, wherein the evaluation output unit or the instruction output unit outputs the search result including the search result by the search unit.