JP2023113177A - Design support device, design device, design support method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a design support device that enables efficient design without an individual difference even for a product with many special specifications or a product with a complicated special specification.SOLUTION: A design support device 1 includes: an input unit 11 that acquires specification designation information indicating a product specification designated by a designer; a specification information storage unit 13 that stores specification information indicating a specification of a product designed in the past; a component structure information storage unit 14 that stores component structure information indicating component structure of the product designed in the past; a drawing information storage unit 15 that stores drawing information indicating a drawing of the product designed in the past; a retrieval unit 16 that retrieves a product corresponding to at least a part of the specification designated by the designer indicated by the specification designation information; an information acquisition unit 17 that reads specification information, component structure information, and drawing information of the retrieved product; and a difference extraction unit 18 that extracts a difference by comparing the read specification information, component structure information, and drawing information between the retrieved products, and generates difference information in which the extracted difference is linked to a set of the compared products.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present disclosure relates to a design support device, a design device, a design support method, and a program.

In product design, if there is a special specification requested by the customer in addition to the standard specification of the product, select a product with similar specifications from among the products designed in the past as the original product, and use the design data to We design products with special specifications required by Hereinafter, standard specifications defined in advance will be referred to as standard specifications, and special specifications not defined in the standard specifications will be referred to as special specifications. When designing a product with special specifications, it is necessary to select a source product with a small range of design changes so as not to increase the man-hours of the design work. However, newcomers are inexperienced and cannot consider product specifications, component configurations, and drawings in a way that a seasoned designer can. Therefore, there is a demand for a technology that can efficiently design products with special specifications without individual differences.

Patent Document 1 discloses input means for inputting specification information necessary for design, data creation means for creating data required for design drawings and design lists based on the specification information input by the input means, and data creation A design support device is disclosed that includes drawing/list creation means for creating design drawings and design lists based on data created by the means. This design support device creates data necessary for creating design drawings, design lists accompanying the design drawings, etc. according to predetermined design rules based on input specification information. It prevents design errors caused by individual differences such as experience.

Patent Literature 2 discloses a technique for converting specification information into design parameters, determining whether it is a standard specification or a special specification, and performing special processing if it is a special specification for automatic drawing.

JP-A-2000-305963 JP-A-2000-20557

With the technology described in Patent Literature 1, it is difficult to meet design rules for products with many special specifications, and it is possible that data necessary for design drawings and design lists cannot be generated. In addition, the technique described in Patent Document 2 has a problem that if the special specifications become complicated, it becomes impossible to create an automatic operation diagram.

The present disclosure is made to solve the above problems, and it is possible to design efficiently without individual differences even for products with many special specifications or products with complicated special specifications. It is intended for

In order to achieve the above object, the design support apparatus according to the present disclosure includes an input unit, a specification information storage unit, a parts configuration information storage unit, a drawing information storage unit, a search unit, an information acquisition unit, and a difference extraction unit. and a part. The input unit acquires specification designation information indicating product specifications designated by the designer. The specification information storage unit stores specification information indicating specifications of products designed in the past. The parts structure information storage unit stores parts structure information indicating the parts structure of products designed in the past. The drawing information storage unit stores drawing information indicating drawings of products designed in the past. The search unit searches for a product that meets at least part of the specifications designated by the designer indicated by the specification designation information. The information acquisition unit reads the specification information, parts configuration information, and drawing information of the product searched by the search unit from the specification information storage unit, parts configuration information storage unit, and drawing information storage unit, respectively. The difference extraction unit compares the specification information, the component configuration information, and the drawing information read by the information acquisition unit between the products searched by the search unit, extracts differences, and stores the extracted differences in a set of compared products. Generate linked difference information.

According to the present disclosure, even for products with many special specifications or products with complicated special specifications, differences in specifications, component configurations, and drawings between products that meet at least part of the specifications specified by the designer , by generating difference information linked to a set of compared products, the designer can refer to the difference information to select the original product with a small scope of design change, so that it is efficient without individual differences. design becomes possible.

1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a design support apparatus according to Embodiment 1; FIG. A diagram showing an example of a specification input screen according to the first embodiment A diagram showing an example of a search result screen according to the first embodiment A diagram showing an example of a specification configuration display screen according to the first embodiment A diagram showing an example of a specification difference display screen according to the first embodiment A diagram showing an example of a component configuration difference display screen according to the first embodiment. A diagram showing an example of a drawing difference display screen according to the first embodiment 4 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of design support processing according to the first embodiment; FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a design apparatus according to Embodiment 2; A diagram showing an example of a difference display screen according to the second embodiment Flowchart showing an example of the operation of design processing according to the second embodiment FIG. 1 shows an example of a hardware configuration of a design support device according to a first embodiment and a design device according to a second embodiment;

A design support device, a design device, a design support method, and a program according to the present embodiment will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. Identical or corresponding parts in the drawings are denoted by the same reference numerals.

(Embodiment 1)
A configuration of the design support device 1 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The design support device 1 includes an input unit 11 for receiving input of information from a designer, a standard specification information storage unit 12 for storing standard specification information indicating standard specifications of products, and a specification of products designed in the past. A specification information storage unit 13 for storing specification information, a parts structure information storage unit 14 for storing parts structure information indicating the parts structure of products designed in the past, and drawing information indicating drawings of products designed in the past. It comprises a drawing information storage unit 15 for storing data and a search unit 16 for searching for products corresponding to at least part of the specifications specified by the designer.

Further, the design support device 1 reads the specification information, parts configuration information, and drawing information of the product searched by the search unit 16 from the specification information storage unit 13, the parts configuration information storage unit 14, and the drawing information storage unit 15, respectively. 17, a difference extraction unit 18 for comparing specification information, component configuration information and drawing information between products and extracting differences, and an output unit 19 for outputting information to be presented to the designer.

The standard specification information storage unit 12 stores standard specification information indicating standard specifications of products. The selection specification information includes standard specification item names and item values.

The specification information storage unit 13 stores specification information indicating specifications of products designed in the past. The specification information includes information indicating standard product specifications and special specifications individually designated by customers.

The parts structure information storage unit 14 stores parts structure information indicating the parts structure of products designed in the past. The parts configuration information is created by, for example, CAD (Computer Aided Design) and includes information indicating product parts and their parent-child relationships.

The drawing information storage unit 15 stores drawing information indicating drawings of products designed in the past. The drawing information is created by CAD, for example, and includes information indicating the outer shape of the product and parts.

The search unit 16 reads the standard specification information from the standard specification information storage unit 12, uses the standard specification information and a GUI (Graphical User Interface) to generate a specification designation screen on which product specifications can be specified, and outputs the output to As for the method of outputting the specification designation screen, for example, it may be displayed on the screen, or it may be transmitted to a terminal used by the designer. The designer designates product specifications via the input unit 11 on a specification designation screen displayed on the output unit 19 or a terminal used by the designer. The input unit 11 acquires specification designation information indicating product specifications designated by the designer. When transmitting the specification designation screen to the terminal used by the designer, the input unit 11 receives the specification designation information from the terminal used by the designer.

Here, the specification designation screen will be described with reference to FIG. The specification designation screen 30 shown in FIG. 2 has a specification input screen 31 and an additional specification input screen 32 . The specification input screen 31 includes specification items 311 indicating product specifications, selection items 312 from which standard specifications can be selected for each specification item, and special specifications not defined in the standard specifications. and an input item 313 . The additional specification input screen 32 has an additional specification item 321 for inputting the item name of the special specification not included in the specification item 311 and an additional input item 322 for inputting the special specification not included in the specification item 311 . A special specification not included in the specification item 311 is hereinafter referred to as an additional specification.

If there is a specification value to be adopted in the pull-down menu of the selection item 312 of the specification item 311 for the specification of the product to be designed, the designer selects it. If there is no specification value to be adopted in the selection item 312 , select special specification from the pull-down menu and enter the specification value to be adopted in the input item 313 . As for additional specifications, the specification value to be adopted is entered in the additional input item 322 , and the item name corresponding to the additional specification is entered in the additional specification item 321 . It should be noted that the method of designating product specifications is not limited to the example of the specification designating screen 30 shown in FIG. For example, a designer may directly input specifications regardless of standard specifications or special specifications. In the case of direct input, the design support device 1 does not have to include the standard specification information storage unit 12 .

Returning to FIG. 1, the input unit 11 sends to the search unit 16 specification designation information indicating product specifications designated by the designer. Upon receiving the specification designation information from the input unit 11, the search unit 16 searches the specification information storage unit 13 for products that meet at least part of the specifications indicated by the specification designation information. Whether or not it corresponds to at least part of the specifications indicated by the specification designation information is determined, for example, by whether or not the matching rate of the specifications is equal to or greater than a threshold. Alternatively, if there is a range in the specification values of the product specified by the designer indicated by the specification specification information, whether or not the specified specification specification values are within the specified range. judge. Hereinafter, a product corresponding to at least a part of the specifications indicated by the specification specifying information will be referred to as an applicable product. The search unit 16 sends an instruction to the information acquisition unit 17 to acquire the specification information, parts configuration information, and drawing information of the found product.

The information acquisition unit 17 acquires the specification information, parts configuration information, and drawing information of the product from the specification information storage unit 13, the parts configuration information storage unit 14, and the drawing information storage unit 15, respectively, according to the instructions received from the search unit 16. , to the search unit 16 . The search unit 16 uses the received specification information, component configuration information, and drawing information of the relevant product and the GUI to generate a search result screen on which a product whose difference is to be extracted can be specified, and causes the output unit 19 to output the screen. As for the method of outputting the search result screen, for example, it may be displayed on the screen, or it may be transmitted to a terminal used by the designer.

The designer designates a product whose difference is to be extracted via the input unit 11 on the search result screen displayed on the output unit 19 or the terminal used by the designer. Hereinafter, the product from which the difference specified by the designer is to be extracted will be referred to as the specified product. If the designer does not find any product for which the difference is to be extracted in the list of applicable products displayed on the search result screen, the designer opens the specification specification screen again and specifies the specification of the product. At this time, the search results may be saved. In this case, if the designer does not enter the specified product on the search result screen and newly specifies product specifications on the specification specification screen, the search unit 16 temporarily stores the previous search result and displays it on the search result screen. The previous search result and the current search result are displayed together. By repeating this, a list of search results is displayed on the search result screen. Whether or not to save the search results may be selected by the designer on the search result screen.

Here, the search result screen will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4. FIG. The search result screen 40 shown in FIG. 3 has a corresponding product list screen 41 and designated product input items 42 . The applicable product list screen 41 includes "model" indicating the model of the applicable product, "product" identifying the applicable product, "order number" identifying the order of the applicable product, and "case name" indicating the case name of the order of the applicable product. ”, and has an item of “specification” indicating the specifications of the corresponding product. The item of "specification" includes items such as "height", "depth", "width", "protection specification", and "bottom plate material". All applicable products are displayed in a selectable manner on the applicable product list screen 41, and the value of each item is displayed.

A specification configuration display screen displayed when the designer selects, for example, the product Pa1 from the corresponding product list screen 41 will be described with reference to FIG. The specification configuration display screen 50 shown in FIG. 4 has a product specification display screen 51 that displays standard specifications and special specifications of the selected product Pa1 and an additional specification display screen 52 that displays additional specifications. The specification configuration display screen 50 also has a parts configuration display screen 53 that displays the parts configuration of the selected product Pa1 and a model tree display screen 54 that displays a model tree of the parts configuration. Either one of the parts configuration display screen 53 and the model tree display screen 54 may be used.

When the designer selects a component of the component configuration displayed on the component configuration display screen 53, a drawing of the component is displayed (not shown). The designer refers to the specifications, parts configuration, drawings, etc. of the product Pa1 displayed on the specification configuration display screen 50, and determines whether the product Pa1 is to be the designated product.

Returning to FIG. 3, when the product Pa1 is to be the designated product, the designer inputs the product Pa1 in the designated product input item 42. FIG. The designated product may be entered by entering the product name in the designated product input item 42, or by selecting and inputting from the corresponding product list screen 41 while the designated product input item 42 is activated. The designer inputs a combination of specified products from which differences are to be extracted in the specified product input item 42 . Multiple sets of designated products may be combined. The search result screen is not limited to the examples shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, and the specification of the product, the parts configuration, the drawing display method, the screen, the items, and the like may be in other formats.

Returning to FIG. 1, when the designer designates a designated product via the input unit 11 on the search result screen, the input unit 11 acquires product designation information indicating the designated product. The input section 11 sends the product designation information to the search section 16 . The search unit 16 sends to the information acquisition unit 17 an instruction to send the component configuration information, specification information, and drawing information of the designated product indicated by the product designation information received from the input unit 11 to the difference extraction unit 18 . The information acquisition unit 17 sends the component configuration information, specification information, and drawing information of the designated product to the difference extraction unit 18 according to the instruction received from the search unit 16 .

The difference extraction unit 18 compares the component configuration information, the specification information, and the drawing information of the designated products received from the information acquisition unit 17 for each combination of designated products, and extracts differences for each combination of designated products. The difference extracting unit 18 generates difference information that associates the difference between the specification information, the component configuration information, and the drawing information for each combination of designated products. The difference extraction unit 18 generates a difference display screen displaying the difference information, and causes the output unit 19 to output it. The difference display screen may be output, for example, by displaying it on the screen, transmitting it to a terminal used by the designer, or printing it out.

Here, the difference display screen will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 to 7. FIG. FIG. 5 shows an example of a specification difference display screen 61 that displays differences in product specifications. The specification difference display screen 61 indicates the difference between the specification of the product Pa1, which is the designated product, the specification of the product Pb1, and the specification of the product Pa1 and the product Pb1. As for the difference in specifications, the specification items and specification values of the specifications that are different between the product Pa1 and the product Pb1 are displayed for the product Pa1 and the product Pb1, respectively.

FIG. 6 shows an example of a parts structure difference display screen 62 that displays differences in the parts structure of the product. The parts configuration difference display screen 62 shows the difference between the parts configuration of the product Pa1, which is the designated product, the parts configuration of the product Pb1, and the parts configuration of the product Pa1 and the product Pb1. As for the difference in parts configuration, the hierarchy of parts, part names, and drawing numbers that are different between product Pa1 and product Pb1 are displayed for product Pa1 and product Pb1, respectively. The parts configuration difference display screen 62 includes a model tree that displays differences in the parts configuration. In the model trees of the product Pa1 and the product Pb1, parts that are different between the product Pa1 and the product Pb1 are highlighted in different colors.

FIG. 7 shows an example of a drawing difference display screen 63 that displays differences in product drawings. The drawing difference display screen 63 displays the drawing of the product Pa1 and the drawing of the product Pb1, which are designated products. In the drawings of the product Pa1 and the product Pb1, different parts between the product Pa1 and the product Pb1 are highlighted in different colors. The difference display screen is not limited to the examples of the specification difference display screen 61, the parts configuration difference display screen 62, and the drawing difference display screen 63 shown in FIGS. If so, other formats may be used.

The designer refers to the difference display screen displayed on the output unit 19 or the terminal used by the designer, and determines the diverted source product with a small range of design change. It should be noted that the diverted source product may be designated on the difference display screen. In this case, when the designer designates the source product on the difference display screen, an application (for example, CAD) for designing the product is activated, and the specification information, component configuration information and drawing information of the source product are read. Alternatively, the specification information, component configuration information, and drawing information of the original product are transmitted to a device equipped with the application to be designed. The designer designs the product by editing the specification information, component configuration information, and drawing information of the original product using an application for designing the product.

Next, the flow of design support processing executed by the design support apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIG. The design support processing shown in FIG. 8 starts when the design support apparatus 1 is powered on. The search unit 16 reads the standard specification information from the standard specification information storage unit 12, generates a specification designation screen on which product specifications can be specified, and causes the output unit 19 to output the screen (step S11). When the designer designates product specifications via the input unit 11 on the specification designation screen displayed on the output unit 19 or the terminal used by the designer, the input unit 11 acquires the specification designation information.

In the example of the specification designation screen 30 shown in FIG. 2, the designer selects the specification of the product to be designed, if there is a standard specification to be adopted from the pull-down menu of the selection item 312 of the specification item 311 . If there is no standard specification to be adopted in the selection item 312, select the special specification from the pull-down menu and enter the special specification to be adopted in the input item 313. As for additional specifications, a special specification to be adopted is entered in the additional input item 322 , and an item name corresponding to the special specification is entered in the additional specification item 321 .

Returning to FIG. 8, when the input unit 11 does not acquire specification designation information (step S12; NO), the process proceeds to step S20. When the input unit 11 acquires the specification designation information (step S12; YES), the input unit 11 sends the specification designation information to the search unit 16. FIG. Receiving the specification designation information from the input unit 11, the search unit 16 searches the specification information storage unit 13 for applicable products corresponding to at least part of the specifications indicated by the specification designation information (step S13). The search unit 16 sends an instruction to the information acquisition unit 17 to acquire the component configuration information, specification information, and drawing information of the found product.

The information acquisition unit 17 acquires the specification information, parts configuration information, and drawing information of the product from the specification information storage unit 13, the parts configuration information storage unit 14, and the drawing information storage unit 15, respectively, according to the instructions received from the search unit 16. (Step S14), it is sent to the search unit 16. The search unit 16 uses the received specification information, component configuration information, and drawing information of the relevant product and the GUI to generate a search result screen on which the product whose difference is to be extracted can be specified, and causes the output unit 19 to output the screen (step S15). ).

When the designer designates a product whose difference is to be extracted from the list of applicable products displayed on the output unit 19 or the search result screen displayed on the terminal used by the designer through the input unit 11, the input unit 11 selects the product Get specified information.

In the example of the search result screen 40 shown in FIG. 3, the designer selects the product Pa1 from the pertinent product list screen 41 and causes the specification configuration display screen 50 shown in FIG. 4 to be displayed. The designer refers to the specifications, parts configuration, drawings, etc. of the product Pa1 displayed on the specification configuration display screen 50, and determines whether the product Pa1 is to be the designated product. When the product Pa1 is to be the designated product, the designer inputs the product Pa1 in the designated product input item 42 . The designer inputs a combination of specified products from which differences are to be extracted in the specified product input item 42 .

Returning to FIG. 8, when the input unit 11 does not acquire the product designation information (step S16; NO), the process returns to step S12 to repeat steps S12 to S16. At this time, in the case of a configuration in which the previous search results can be saved, if the designer does not enter the specified product on the search result screen (step S16; NO) and newly specifies the product specifications on the specification specification screen (step S12; YES), the search unit 16 temporarily stores the previous search result, and displays the previous search result and the current search result together on the search result screen output in step S15.

When the input unit 11 acquires the product designation information (step S16; YES), the input unit 11 sends the product designation information to the search unit 16. The search unit 16 sends to the information acquisition unit 17 an instruction to send the component configuration information, specification information, and drawing information of the designated product indicated by the product designation information received from the input unit 11 to the difference extraction unit 18 . The information acquisition unit 17 sends the component configuration information, specification information, and drawing information of the designated product to the difference extraction unit 18 according to the instruction received from the search unit 16 .

The difference extraction unit 18 compares the component configuration information, the specification information, and the drawing information of the designated products received from the information acquisition unit 17 for each combination of designated products, and extracts differences for each combination of designated products (step S17). The difference extracting unit 18 generates difference information that associates the difference between the specification information, the component configuration information, and the drawing information for each combination of designated products (step S18). The difference extraction unit 18 generates a difference display screen displaying the difference information, and causes the output unit 19 to output it (step 19).

In the example of the specification difference display screen 61 shown in FIG. 5, as for the specification difference, the specification items and specification values of the specifications that are different between the product Pa1 and the product Pb1 are displayed for the product Pa1 and the product Pb1, respectively. In the example of the parts configuration difference display screen 62 shown in FIG. 6, the differences in the parts configuration are displayed for the product Pa1 and the product Pb1 with the different parts hierarchy, part name and drawing number for the product Pa1 and the product Pb1. there is Also, in the model trees of the product Pa1 and the product Pb1, parts that are different between the product Pa1 and the product Pb1 are highlighted in different colors. In the example of the drawing difference display screen 63 shown in FIG. 7, different parts between the product Pa1 and the product Pb1 are highlighted in different colors in the drawings of the product Pa1 and the product Pb1.

The designer refers to the difference display screens as shown in FIGS. 5 to 7 displayed on the output unit 19 or the terminal used by the designer, and determines the diverted original product with a small range of design change.

Returning to FIG. 8, if the design support device 1 is not powered off (step S20; NO), the process returns to step S11 to repeat steps S11 to S20. When the power is turned off (step S20; YES), the process ends.

Note that if the difference display screen is configured so that the original product can be specified, the design support device 1 performs a step of determining whether or not the original product has been specified via the input unit 11 after step S18. Execute. When the original product is designated via the input unit 11, the design support device 1 activates an application (for example, CAD) for designing the product, and reads the specification information, component configuration information and drawing information of the original product. Alternatively, the specification information, component configuration information, and drawing information of the original product are transmitted to a device equipped with the application to be designed. The designer designs the product by editing the specification information, component configuration information, and drawing information of the original product using an application for designing the product.

According to the design support device 1 according to the first embodiment, even if the product has many special specifications or the product has complicated special specifications, the specifications of the products corresponding to at least a part of the specifications specified by the designer can be verified. By displaying the difference information in which the differences in the parts configuration and drawings are linked to the set of compared products, the designer can select the diverted source product with a small scope of design change, so that the efficiency can be improved without individual differences. design becomes possible. In addition, since it is possible to extract changes in the parts configuration and drawings due to special specifications, it is possible to deal with the standardization of special specifications.

(Embodiment 2)
In the second embodiment, difference information that associates differences in component configuration information and drawing information for each combination of products generated in the first embodiment is stored in advance and can be displayed on a CAD screen.

A configuration of the design device 2 according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The design device 2 displays an operation screen, and has a CAD unit 21 that generates CAD data including part configuration information and drawing information of a product designed by an operation performed by a designer on the operation screen, and CAD data that stores the CAD data. A storage unit 22 is provided. The design apparatus 2 also includes a difference information storage unit 23 that stores difference information in which differences in part configuration information and drawing information are linked for each combination of products whose CAD data is stored in the CAD data storage unit 22; A CAD operation instructing unit 24 for causing the unit 21 to display a difference display screen is provided. The CAD unit 21 receives input of information from the designer and outputs information to be presented to the designer.

The designer designs the product on the operation screen displayed on the CAD section 21 . When the designer wants to display the parts configuration information and drawing information of a specific product, the designer designates the product to be displayed on the operation screen. Hereinafter, a product that displays component configuration information and drawing information specified by a designer will be referred to as a display product. When a display product is specified on the operation screen, the CAD section 21 reads out the CAD data of the display product from the CAD data storage section 22, and displays the component configuration information and drawing information of the display product.

When the display product is to be reused, the designer inputs an instruction to read the display product to be reused on the operation screen. When an instruction to read a display product to be used is input to the operation screen, the CAD unit 21 displays the CAD data of the display product to be used in an editable manner on the operation screen. The designer edits the CAD data of the display product to be used on the operation screen to generate new CAD data.

On the other hand, when the designer wants to display differences in component configuration information and drawing information between specific products, the designer designates a combination of products whose differences are to be displayed on the operation screen. Hereinafter, a product that displays the difference specified by the designer will be referred to as a difference display product. The CAD section 21 sends to the CAD operation instructing section 24 different display product information for identifying different display products. The CAD operation instructing unit 24 reads from the difference information storage unit 23 the difference information of the different display product indicated by the different display product information received from the CAD unit 21 .

Based on the read difference information, the CAD operation instruction unit 24 generates instruction data for displaying a difference display screen that displays the difference between the difference display products, and sends the instruction data to the CAD unit 21 . Upon receiving the instruction data from the CAD operation instruction section 24, the CAD section 21 reads the CAD data of the difference display product from the CAD data storage section 22 and displays a difference display screen for displaying the difference of the difference display product. The difference display screen may be expressed in other forms as long as the differences in the parts configuration and drawings of the difference display product can be understood.

Here, the difference display screen will be described with reference to FIG. 10 . The difference display screen 64 shown in FIG. 10 indicates the difference in the parts configuration and the difference in the drawing between the product Pa1 and the product Pb1, which are the difference display products. As for the difference in parts configuration, the hierarchy of parts, part names, and drawing numbers that are different between product Pa1 and product Pb1 are displayed for product Pa1 and product Pb1, respectively. The difference display screen 64 includes a model tree that displays differences in parts configuration and a CAD drawing that displays differences in drawings. In the model trees of the product Pa1 and the product Pb1, parts that are different between the product Pa1 and the product Pb1 are highlighted in different colors. In the CAD drawings of the product Pa1 and the product Pb1, different parts between the product Pa1 and the product Pb1 are highlighted in different colors. When the designer uses any one of the different display products, he or she inputs an instruction to read the different display product to be used on the operation screen.

Returning to FIG. 9, when an instruction to read a different display product to be diverted to the operation screen is input, the CAD unit 21 displays the CAD data of the different display product to be diverted on the operation screen in an editable manner. The designer edits the CAD data of the different display product to be diverted on the operation screen to generate new CAD data.

Next, the flow of design processing executed by the design device 2 according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. The design processing shown in FIG. 11 starts when CAD is activated in the design device 2 . The CAD unit 21 determines whether or not a display product has been specified on the operation screen (step S21). If a display product has been specified on the operation screen (step S21; YES), the CAD unit 21 is read out from the CAD data storage unit 22 (step S22), and the component configuration information and drawing information of the display product are displayed (step S23).

The CAD unit 21 determines whether or not a read instruction to read a display product to be used for the operation screen has been input (step S24). If the display product reading instruction is not input (step S24; NO), the process proceeds to step S35. When the instruction to read the display product is input (step S24; YES), the CAD unit 21 displays the CAD data of the display product to be used in an editable manner on the operation screen (step S25), and the process proceeds to step S33. do.

On the other hand, if no display product is designated on the operation screen (step S21; NO), the CAD unit 21 determines whether or not a different display product is designated on the operation screen (step S26). If the display product is not specified (step S26; NO), the process proceeds to step S35. If a different display product is designated on the operation screen (step S26; YES), the CAD section 21 sends to the CAD operation instructing section 24 the different display product information for identifying the different display product. The CAD operation instructing unit 24 reads the difference information of the different display product indicated by the different display product information received from the CAD unit 21 from the difference information storage unit 23 (step S27).

Based on the read difference information, the CAD operation instruction unit 24 generates instruction data for displaying a difference display screen that displays the difference between the difference display products (step S28), and sends the instruction data to the CAD unit 21. FIG. When receiving the instruction data from the CAD operation instruction unit 24, the CAD unit 21 reads the CAD data of the difference display product from the CAD data storage unit 22 (step S29), and displays a difference display screen for displaying the difference of the difference display product. (Step S30).

In the example of the difference display screen 64 shown in FIG. 10, as for the difference in parts configuration, the hierarchy of parts, part names, and drawing numbers that are different between product Pa1 and product Pb1 are displayed for product Pa1 and product Pb1, respectively. Also, in the model trees of the product Pa1 and the product Pb1, parts that are different between the product Pa1 and the product Pb1 are highlighted in different colors. Further, in the CAD drawings of the product Pa1 and the product Pb1, different parts between the product Pa1 and the product Pb1 are highlighted in different colors. Examples of the difference display screen are not limited to this. For example, after displaying the parts configuration and drawings of the difference display product, the parts other than the difference of the parts configuration and drawings of the difference display product are hidden, and only the differences are displayed. Alternatively, you can switch between a screen that displays the parts configuration and drawings of the difference indication product and a screen that hides the parts other than the difference in the parts configuration and drawings of the difference indication product and displays only the differences. It may be possible.

Returning to FIG. 11, the CAD unit 21 determines whether or not a read instruction to read one of the different display products to be used for the operation screen has been input (step S31). If the instruction to read the different display product is not input (step S31; NO), the process proceeds to step S35. When an instruction to read the different display product is input (step S31; YES), the CAD section 21 displays the CAD data of the different display product to be used in an editable manner on the operation screen (step S32).

The CAD unit 21 determines whether or not new CAD data has been generated (step S33). If new CAD data is not generated (step S33; NO), the process proceeds to step S35. When new CAD data is generated (step S33; YES), the CAD section 21 stores the new CAD data in the CAD data storage section 22 (step S34).

If the CAD has not ended (step S35; NO), the process returns to step S21 to repeat steps S21 to S35. When the CAD is finished (step S35; YES), the process is finished.

According to the design device 2 according to the second embodiment, even for products with many special specifications or products with complicated special specifications, it is possible to compare the differences in the specifications, parts configurations, and drawings of the products on the CAD screen. By displaying the difference information linked to the set of products that have been designed, the designer can select the diverted source product with a small range of design change, so that it is possible to design efficiently without individual differences.

In the first embodiment described above, the design support apparatus 1 includes the standard specification information storage unit 12, the specification information storage unit 13, the parts structure information storage unit 14, and the drawing information storage unit 15. The specification information storage unit 13, the component configuration information storage unit 14, and the drawing information storage unit 15 may be provided in an external system or device. Further, the information acquisition section 17 may acquire the component configuration information and the drawing information from the CAD data storage section 22 of the design device 2 .

In the first embodiment described above, the difference extraction unit 18 of the design support device 1 compares the component configuration information, the specification information, and the drawing information of the designated products for each combination of designated products, and extracts differences for each combination of designated products. However, it is not limited to this. For example, the difference extracting unit 18 may extract differences between all combinations of applicable products.

Hardware configurations of the design support device 1 and the design device 2 will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 12, the design support device 1 and the design device 2 are provided with a temporary storage unit 101, a storage unit 102, a calculation unit 103, an input unit 104, a transmission/reception unit 105, and a display unit . Temporary storage unit 101, storage unit 102, input unit 104, transmission/reception unit 105, and display unit 106 are all connected to calculation unit 103 via BUS.

The calculation unit 103 is, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit). Calculation unit 103 operates search unit 16, information acquisition unit 17 and difference extraction unit 18 of design support device 1, CAD unit 21 and CAD operation instruction unit 24 of design device 2 according to the control program stored in storage unit 102. and process.

The temporary storage unit 101 is, for example, a RAM (Random-Access Memory). Temporary storage unit 101 loads a control program stored in storage unit 102 and is used as a work area for calculation unit 103 .

The storage unit 102 is a non-volatile memory such as a flash memory, hard disk, DVD-RAM (Digital Versatile Disc-Random Access Memory), DVD-RW (Digital Versatile Disc-ReWritable). The storage unit 102 stores in advance a program for causing the calculation unit 103 to perform the processing of the design support apparatus 1 and the design apparatus 2, and also transfers data stored by the program to the calculation unit 103 according to instructions from the calculation unit 103. and stores the data supplied from the calculation unit 103 . The standard specification information storage unit 12, the specification information storage unit 13, the parts configuration information storage unit 14, and the drawing information storage unit 15 of the design support device 1, and the CAD data storage unit 22 and the difference information storage unit 23 of the design device 2 are: It is configured in the storage unit 102 .

The input unit 104 is an input device such as a keyboard, pointing device, voice input device, etc., and an interface device that connects the input device to the BUS. Information input by the designer is supplied to the calculation unit 103 via the input unit 104 . The input unit 104 functions as the input unit 11 of the design support device 1 and the CAD unit 21 of the design device 2 .

The transmitting/receiving unit 105 is a network terminating device or wireless communication device that connects to a network, and a serial interface or LAN (Local Area Network) interface that connects to them. In a configuration in which design support apparatus 1 transmits and receives information to and from a terminal used by a designer, transmission/reception section 105 functions as input section 11 and output section 19 of design support apparatus 1 .

The display unit 106 is a display device such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) or an organic EL (electroluminescence) display. The display unit 106 functions as the output unit 19 of the design support device 1 and the CAD unit 21 of the design device 2 .

Input unit 11, standard specification information storage unit 12, specification information storage unit 13, parts structure information storage unit 14, drawing information storage unit 15, search unit 16, information acquisition unit 17, difference extraction of design support device 1 shown in FIG. The processing between the unit 18 and the output unit 19 and the CAD unit 21, the CAD data storage unit 22, the difference information storage unit 23, and the CAD operation instruction unit 24 of the design apparatus 2 shown in FIG. It is executed by processing using the calculation unit 103, the storage unit 102, the input unit 104, the transmission/reception unit 105, the display unit 106, etc. as resources.

In addition, the hardware configuration and flowchart described above are examples, and can be arbitrarily changed and modified.

Calculation unit 103, temporary storage unit 101, storage unit 102, input unit 104, transmitting/receiving unit 105, display unit 106, and other main parts for processing of design support apparatus 1 and design apparatus 2 are not based on a dedicated system. , can be implemented using a conventional computer system. For example, a computer program for executing the above operations may be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium such as a flexible disc, CD-ROM (Compact Disc-Read Only Memory), DVD-ROM (Digital Versatile Disc-Read Only Memory). The design support device 1 and the design device 2 that execute the above processes may be configured by storing and distributing the program in a computer and installing the computer program in the computer. Alternatively, the computer program may be stored in a storage device of a server device on a communication network such as the Internet, and the design support device 1 and the design device 2 may be configured by downloading to a normal computer system. .

When the functions of the design support apparatus 1 and the design apparatus 2 are realized by sharing the functions of an OS (Operating System) and an application program, or by cooperation between the OS and an application program, only the application program portion is stored in a recording medium, It may be stored in a storage device.

It is also possible to superimpose a computer program on a carrier wave and provide it via a communication network. For example, the computer program may be posted on a bulletin board system (BBS, Bulletin Board System) on the communication network, and the computer program may be provided via the communication network. Then, the computer program may be activated and executed in the same manner as other application programs under the control of the OS to execute the above processing.

1 design support device, 2 design device, 11 input unit, 12 standard specification information storage unit, 13 specification information storage unit, 14 parts configuration information storage unit, 15 drawing information storage unit, 16 search unit, 17 information acquisition unit, 18 differences extraction unit, 19 output unit, 21 CAD unit, 22 CAD data storage unit, 23 difference information storage unit, 24 CAD operation instruction unit, 30 specification designation screen, 31 specification input screen, 32 additional specification input screen, 40 search result screen, 41 Applicable product list screen 42 Designated product input items 50 Specification configuration display screen 51 Product specification display screen 52 Additional specification display screen 53 Parts configuration display screen 54 Model tree display screen 61 Specification difference display screen 62 Parts Configuration difference display screen 63 Drawing difference display screen 64 Difference display screen 101 Temporary storage unit 102 Storage unit 103 Calculation unit 104 Input unit 105 Transmission/reception unit 106 Display unit 311 Specification item 312 Selection item 313 Input item, 321 additional specification item, 322 additional input item.

Claims (8)

an input unit for acquiring specification designation information indicating product specifications designated by a designer;
a specification information storage unit that stores specification information indicating specifications of products designed in the past;
a parts structure information storage unit that stores parts structure information indicating the parts structure of a product designed in the past;
a drawing information storage unit that stores drawing information indicating drawings of products designed in the past;
a search unit for searching for a product corresponding to at least part of the specifications designated by the designer indicated by the specification designation information;
an information acquisition unit that reads the specification information, the parts configuration information, and the drawing information of the product searched by the search unit from the specification information storage unit, the parts configuration information storage unit, and the drawing information storage unit, respectively;
Differences are extracted by comparing the specification information, the component configuration information, and the drawing information read by the information acquisition unit between the products searched by the search unit, and the extracted differences are added to the set of compared products. a difference extraction unit that generates linked difference information;
A design support device comprising: The input unit acquires product designation information indicating a designated product, which is a product from which the difference designated by the designer is to be extracted from the products searched by the search unit,
The information acquisition unit reads the specification information, the parts configuration information, and the drawing information of the designated product from the specification information storage unit, the parts configuration information storage unit, and the drawing information storage unit, respectively;
The difference extracting unit compares the specification information, the component configuration information, and the drawing information between the designated products, extracts the difference, and associates the extracted difference with the compared product group as the difference information. to generate
The design support device according to claim 1. The search unit displays the products searched by the search unit, generates a search result screen on which the specified product can be specified, and repeats the search for the product corresponding to at least part of the specifications specified by the designer. when the search results are temporarily stored, and a list of the search results is displayed on the search result screen;
3. The design support device according to claim 2. The product specifications specified by the designer include predefined standard specifications and special specifications not specified in the standard specifications,
The search unit searches for products that meet at least part of the plurality of standard specifications and special specifications specified by the designer indicated by the specification specifying information.
The design support device according to any one of claims 1 to 3. a difference information storage unit for storing difference information generated by the design support apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4;
a CAD unit that generates CAD data including the part configuration information and the drawing information of the product designed by the operation performed by the designer on the operation screen;
a CAD data storage unit that stores the CAD data;
a CAD operation instruction unit that causes the CAD unit to display the difference information indicating the difference between the products designated by the designer;
A design device with The CAD operation instruction unit hides a screen displaying the parts configuration and drawings of the product designated by the designer and the parts other than the differences in the product parts configuration and drawings designated by the designer, Displaying on the CAD unit so as to be switchable with a screen where only differences are displayed,
The design device according to claim 5. The design support device
Acquire the specification specification information indicating the specification of the product specified by the designer,
searching for products that meet at least part of the specifications specified by the designer indicated by the specification specifying information;
The specification information, the parts configuration information, and the drawing information of the retrieved product are read and retrieved from the specification information indicating the specifications of the product designed in the past, the parts configuration information indicating the parts configuration, and the drawing information indicating the drawing, respectively. comparing the specification information, the component configuration information, and the drawing information between the products, extracting differences, and generating difference information by linking the extracted differences to the set of compared products;
Design support method. the computer,
an input unit for acquiring specification specification information indicating product specifications specified by a designer;
a search unit that searches for products that meet at least part of the specifications designated by the designer indicated by the specification designation information;
The specification information, the parts configuration information, and the drawing information of the product searched by the searching unit are obtained from the specification information indicating the specifications of the product designed in the past, the parts configuration information indicating the parts configuration, and the drawing information indicating the drawing, respectively. an information acquisition unit to be read, and
Differences are extracted by comparing the specification information, the component configuration information, and the drawing information read by the information acquisition unit between the products searched by the search unit, and the extracted differences are added to the set of compared products. a difference extraction unit that generates linked difference information;
A program that acts as

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