JP4619851B2 - Design support apparatus and design support method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a design support apparatus and a design support method for checking whether or not there is interference between parts constituting a product.

  In product design, the shape and layout of a product are defined and designed as graphic data in a three-dimensional coordinate system using a computer-aided design device (hereinafter referred to as a CAD (Computer Aided Design) device or CAD system).

  In product design with a large number of parts, for example, digital multi-function peripherals or automobiles, the parts that make up the product are grouped into functional units, for example, units, and multiple designers can assign units assigned to each in parallel. Design. Each designer negotiates in advance with the designer of the related unit regarding the connection between the unit he is in charge of and the related unit.

  Each designer designs according to the agreement, but can check whether or not the connection portion is designed according to the agreement using the three-dimensional graphic data designed by the CAD device. For example, it is possible to determine whether or not there is a problem such as interference by performing calculations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication and division on the graphic data of two parts that are subject to interference check.

  Therefore, the prototype can be checked by using the three-dimensional graphic data designed by the CAD device to check for defects caused by interference between the parts that have been manifested in the assembly stage of the prototype manufactured based on the design drawing. Therefore, the quality of product design can be improved.

  As a conventional technique for checking interference between parts in a CAD system, the presence or absence of interference between shapes is determined using a minimax box represented by the minimum and maximum coordinate values in each axis direction of the coordinate system. There is a method for checking interference between shapes.

  In this method for checking interference between shapes, first, in an initial setting step, optimum first and second minimax coordinate systems are individually set for each of the first and second shapes, and the first mini-max coordinate system is set. A first primary minimax box corresponding to the first shape in the max coordinate system and a second primary minimax box corresponding to the second shape in the second minimax coordinate system are respectively obtained.

  Next, in the first step, a secondary minimax box corresponding to the first primary minimax box in the second minimax coordinate system is obtained, and the secondary minimax obtained in the second minimax coordinate system is obtained. The presence or absence of interference between the box and the previously obtained second primary mini-max box is determined.

  Further, when it is determined that there is interference, in a second step, an interference minimax box corresponding to the interference region in the first minimax coordinate system is obtained for the interference region in the second minimax coordinate system, In one minimax coordinate system, the presence or absence of interference between the obtained interference minimax box and the first primary minimax box obtained in advance is determined.

  As described above, the rough check for checking the possibility of the interference between the first shape and the second shape is performed by the initial step to the second step. By improving the accuracy of the rough check before the strict interference check is performed, the number of executions of the strict interference check is reduced to improve the processing efficiency (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent No. 3413733

  The above-described prior art is an interference check function that improves the accuracy of rough check performed before strict interference check, thereby reducing the number of times of performing strict interference check and improving processing efficiency. When designing a product using a CAD system, when an arrangement change of parts occurs, this interference check function is used to check for interference between multiple parts at an early stage, that is, product development. It is an effective way to find problems at an early stage.

  However, this rough check is a brute force check between parts. If the number of parts that make up a product increases, the number of interference check executions also increases, and a lot of time is spent calculating the interference check. I need it. Furthermore, although it is necessary to confirm the check result by the interference check, the number of check results to be confirmed increases, and thus there is a problem that confirmation of the check result is substantially difficult.

  In addition, when you want to know if there is interference between the parts included in the unit for which another designer is responsible and the parts included in the unit for which you are responsible, check the interference between the parts in the other unit and check your own There is a problem that it takes a lot of time to check the interference between the components in the unit and to find the target interference.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a design support apparatus and a design support method capable of limiting a target part to be checked for interference between parts to a specific part.

The present invention is a storage means for storing shape information representing the shape of a plurality of parts constituting the product and arrangement information for arranging the parts;
Identification information adding means for adding identification information indicating to which unit the plurality of parts are sorted based on a predetermined condition to the arrangement information;
Selecting means for selecting a unit from among the units in which the plurality of parts are sorted by the identification information added by the identification information adding means;
For all combinations of two units among the units selected by the selection means, the parts sorted into one unit and the parts sorted into other units are stored in the arrangement information stored in the storage means. Interference check means for checking whether or not interference occurs when arranged based on shape information and arrangement information stored in the storage means;
Output means for outputting the check result by the interference check means ;
Selection instruction means for selecting and instructing a unit for which interference check is to be performed,
When the product assembly is a parent, the arrangement information includes a parent-child relationship with a unit as a child, and when a unit is a parent, a parent-child relationship with another unit or part as a child,
The selection means is
When none of the units is instructed to be selected by the selection instructing means, a child unit immediately below the product assembly is selected. Is a design support apparatus characterized by selecting .

According to the present invention, the storage means stores shape information representing the shape of a plurality of parts constituting the product and arrangement information for arranging the parts, and the identification information adding means preconditions the plurality of parts are predetermined. Identification information indicating which unit has been sorted based on the information is added to the arrangement information, and a unit is selected from among the units in which the plurality of parts are sorted by the identification information added by the identification information adding unit by the selection unit. The parts sorted into one unit and the parts sorted into the other unit for all combinations of the two units selected by the selection unit by the interference checking unit are stored in the memory. Whether or not interference occurs when arranged based on the arrangement information stored in the means is stored in the form stored in the storage means It is checked on the basis of the information and the arrangement information, the output means, and output the check result by the interference checking means. The selection instruction means instructs to select a unit for which interference check is to be performed. The arrangement information includes a parent-child relationship having a unit as a child when the product assembly is a parent, and a parent-child relationship having another unit or part as a child when the unit is a parent. When no selection unit is instructed by the selection instructing unit, the subordinate unit of the product assembly is selected. When one unit is instructed by the selection instructing unit, the unit instructed to be selected is selected. The child unit directly under is selected.

As described above, the unit that performs the interference check is selected from the units that constitute the product. Therefore, for the selected unit, the components included in the different units can be the target components for the interference check. Also, when the unit to be checked for interference is not instructed to select, it is possible to check only the interference between components contained in different units directly under the product assembly. When checked, only the interference of the parts included in the selected unit can be checked.

  Further, the present invention is characterized in that the selection means invalidates selection of an included unit when there is an inclusion relationship between the selected units.

  According to the present invention, when there is an inclusion relationship between the selected units, the selection of the included units is invalidated, and the units other than the included units are selected, so that the parts included in the included units are duplicated. Can be avoided.

Further, the present invention provides a rectangular parallelepiped including the shape of a part sorted into one unit and a part sorted into another unit for all combinations of two units among the units selected by the selection means. Before determining based on the shape information and the arrangement information stored in the storage means whether or not the rectangular parallelepiped containing the shape interferes when arranged based on the arrangement information stored in the storage means Including processing means,
The interference check means checks whether or not the parts included in the rectangular parallelepiped determined to be interfered by the preprocessing means interfere with each other.

  According to the present invention, the preprocessing means checks the interference between the rectangular parallelepipeds including the shape of the component, and extracts the components included in the interfering rectangular parallelepiped as the target components, so the number of target components to be subjected to the interference check Can be further reduced.

Further, the present invention is a design support method executed by a design support apparatus including storage means for storing shape information representing the shape of a plurality of parts constituting a product and arrangement information for arranging the parts,
An identification information adding step of adding identification information indicating which unit the plurality of components are sorted into based on a predetermined condition to the arrangement information;
A selection step of selecting a unit from among the units in which the plurality of parts are sorted by the identification information added in the identification information addition step;
For all combinations of two units among the units selected in the selection process, the parts sorted into one unit and the parts sorted into other units are stored in the arrangement information stored in the storage means. An interference check step for checking whether or not interference occurs when arranged based on the shape information and arrangement information stored in the storage means ;
An output process for outputting the check result in the interference check process ;
Including a selection instruction process for selecting and instructing a unit for which interference check is to be performed,
The placement information includes a parent-child relationship in which the unit is a child when the product assembly is a parent, and a parent-child relationship in which another unit or part is a child when the unit is a parent.
In the selection process, when no unit is selected in the selection instruction process, a child unit immediately below the product assembly is selected. When one unit is selected in the selection instruction process, immediately below the unit instructed to be selected. This is a design support method characterized by selecting a child unit .

According to the present invention, when a design support apparatus comprising a plurality of component shape information representing a shape and a memory means for storing the arrangement information for arranging the parts constituting the product performs a design support, identification information adding In the process, identification information indicating to which unit the plurality of parts are sorted based on a predetermined condition is added to the arrangement information, and in the selection process, the plurality of parts are identified by the identification information added in the identification information adding process. A unit is selected from the units in which the parts are sorted, and in the interference check process, all the combinations of the two units selected in the selection process are combined with the parts sorted into one unit and others. Whether or not the parts sorted into the units interfere with each other when placed based on the placement information stored in the storage step is determined in the storage step. Check on the basis of the 憶 shape information and the arrangement information in the output step, and outputs the check result of the interference check process. In the selection instruction process, a unit to be subjected to interference check is selected and instructed. The arrangement information includes a parent-child relationship having a unit as a child when the product assembly is a parent, and a parent-child relationship having another unit or part as a child when the unit is a parent. In the selection process, when no unit is selected in the selection instruction process, a child unit immediately below the product assembly is selected. When one unit is selected in the selection instruction process, immediately below the unit instructed to be selected. Select a child unit.

As described above, since the unit is selected from the units constituting the product, components included in different units can be set as the target component of the interference check for the selected unit. Also, when the unit to be checked for interference is not instructed to select, it is possible to check only the interference between components contained in different units directly under the product assembly. When checked, only the interference of the parts included in the selected unit can be checked.

  Further, according to the present invention, for the selected unit, components included in different units can be targeted for interference check, so that the target components for performing interference check between components are limited to specific components. be able to.

In designing products composed of large-scale assemblies designed for each functional unit by multiple designers, pay attention to defects caused by interference between units, and detect only interference with other units related to the unit. It becomes possible. Furthermore, since one or more units can be selected, it is possible to detect only a defect caused by interference between desired units. Therefore, in designing a product composed of a large-scale assembly designed by a plurality of designers, a design period can be shortened in order to quickly find and take measures against problems with other assemblies.
Also, when the unit to be checked for interference is not instructed to select, it is possible to check only the interference between components contained in different units directly under the product assembly. When checked, only the interference of the parts included in the selected unit can be checked. Therefore, it is possible to limit the target parts to be checked for interference between parts to specific parts.

  Further, according to the present invention, it is possible to avoid the parts included in the included unit from being checked twice, so that it is possible to avoid an increase in the number of times of performing the interference check between the parts.

  In addition, according to the present invention, the number of target parts for performing interference check can be further reduced, so that the target parts for performing interference check between parts can be further limited.

Further, according to the present invention, for the selected unit, components included in different units can be targeted for interference check, so that the target components for performing interference check between components are limited to specific components. be able to. Also, when the unit to be checked for interference is not instructed to select, it is possible to check only the interference between components contained in different units directly under the product assembly. When checked, only the interference of the parts included in the selected unit can be checked. Therefore, it is possible to limit the target parts to be checked for interference between parts to specific parts.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a functional configuration of a design support apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The design support apparatus 1 includes a component shape information design unit 11, a product assembly setting unit 12, a selected component determination unit 13, an interference check processing unit 14, a display unit and data input unit 15, a component shape information storage unit 16, and an assembly information storage unit. 17 and an information transfer path 18.

  The component shape information design unit 11 stores shape information representing the shape of the component in the component shape information storage unit 16. The shape information includes information such as vertex coordinates and surface information for expressing the shape of the part. The product assembly setting unit 12 sets assembly information that is arrangement information including position information indicating the position where the part is arranged and direction information indicating the direction in which the part is arranged, and stores the assembly information in the assembly information storage unit 17. The assembly information includes, for example, a parent-child relationship between units in which parts are grouped, that is, an inclusive relation, positional information such as a relative position between parts, local coordinates for each part when placing parts, and placement coordinates. It is.

  The selected component determination unit 13 first selects a unit for checking only the interference of components between units using the parent-child relationship between units included in the assembly information stored in the product assembly setting unit 12. The selected component determination unit 13 further performs preprocessing for interference check. In the preprocessing, a target part to be subjected to interference check is extracted from the parts included in the selected unit. Specifically, for example, a rectangular parallelepiped that includes the shape of one part or a rectangular parallelepiped that includes the shape of a collection of a plurality of parts is checked. A component or a group of components is omitted and is also referred to as a component).

  When the interference check between the parts is performed based on the shape information and the assembly information, the three-dimensional shape is calculated. Therefore, the calculation is performed many times, and if the number of target parts is large, it takes an enormous amount of time. This pre-processing is a process performed to narrow down the target parts to be subjected to interference check to parts that may cause interference and reduce the processing time of the interference check.

  In this way, in the preprocessing, a rectangular parallelepiped that includes the shape of the part is assumed, and interference between the rectangular parallelepipeds is checked. Therefore, it is determined whether or not the target part of the interference check is to be performed using the parent-child relationship of the assembly information. can do.

  The interference check processing unit 14 performs an interference check on the target component extracted by the selected component determination unit 13. The display unit and data input unit 15 include a data input unit for inputting information such as a selection instruction for instructing a unit to be selected, and a display unit for displaying information to the user.

  The part shape information storage unit 16 and the assembly information storage unit 17 store shape information and assembly information, respectively. The shape information is part shape data included in the part design data, and the part shape data includes vertex coordinates and surface information. The part shape data includes other information such as a part name. The assembly information is product assembly data included in the product design data, and includes position information and direction information. The product design data includes other information such as the product name. The information transfer path 18 is a transfer path for transferring information between the functions.

  The identification information adding unit is, for example, the product assembly setting unit 12, the selection unit and the preprocessing unit are, for example, the selected component determination unit 13, and the interference check unit is, for example, the interference check processing unit 14.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration of the design support apparatus 1 shown in FIG. The design support apparatus 1 is configured by an information processing apparatus, for example, and includes a data input device 21, an input interface 22, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 23, a storage device 24, a RAM (Random
Access Memory) 25, output interface 26, output device 27, and data bus 28.

  The data input device 21 is configured by, for example, a keyboard, a pointing device, a mouse, or a touch panel, and the user inputs information such as assembly information including position information indicating the position of the component and direction information indicating the direction of the component. Input device. The data input device 21 inputs information such as the input assembly information to the CPU 23 via the input interface 22. The input interface 22 is a connection device for connecting the data input device 21 to the data bus 28.

  The CPU 23 executes a program stored in the storage device 24 so as to realize the functions of the component shape information design unit 11, the product assembly setting unit 12, the selected component determination unit 13, and the interference check processing unit 14. It is. The storage device 24 includes, for example, a ROM (Read Only Memory), a magnetic disk device, an optical disk device, a magneto-optical disk device, and the like, and stores a program executed by the CPU 23 and data used by the CPU 23. The component shape information design unit 11, the product assembly setting unit 12, the selected component determination unit 13, and the interference check processing unit 14 are functions implemented in a program stored in the storage device 24.

  The RAM 25 is a resident memory composed of a semiconductor memory or the like, and includes a part shape information memory area for storing shape information and an assembly information memory area for storing assembly information. The component shape information memory area corresponds to the shape information storage unit 16 and stores component shape data read out from the storage device 24 by the CPU 23, that is, shape information. The assembly information memory area corresponds to the assembly information storage unit 17 and stores assembly information set by the CPU 23 based on information input by the data input device 21.

  The output interface 26 is a connection device for connecting the output device 27 to the data bus 28. The output device 27 is an output device configured by a liquid crystal display, a touch panel, a printing device, or the like, and displays information sent from the CPU 23 via the output interface 26, for example, information such as a result of interference check. The data bus 28 is a data bus for transmitting and receiving information between the hardware. The storage means is, for example, the RAM 25, and the output means is, for example, the output device 27.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of a design support method according to another embodiment of the present invention. This flowchart is processed by the component shape information design unit 11, the product assembly setting unit 12, the selected component determination unit 13, and the interference check processing unit 14 of the design support apparatus 1 shown in FIG. When the design support apparatus 1 performs an interference check between components, the process proceeds to step S1.

  In step S <b> 1, the part shape information design unit 11 acquires shape information representing the shape of a part constituting the product that is the target of the interference check from the storage device 24 and stores it in the part shape information storage unit 16. The shape information includes vertex coordinates and surface information for expressing the shape of the part. Further, the product assembly setting unit 12 includes a parent-child relationship between units in which parts are grouped, that is, an inclusion relation, position information such as a relative position between parts, local coordinates for each part when the parts are arranged, and arrangement. Assembly information, which is arrangement information including coordinates, is set and stored in the assembly information storage unit 17. The component shape information storage unit 16 and the assembly information storage unit 17 correspond to the component shape information memory area and the assembly information memory area of the RAM 25, respectively.

  In step S2, the selected component determination unit 13 first selects at least one unit or component. Next, using the assembly information set by the product assembly setting unit 12, pre-processing is performed on parts belonging to different units among the selected units or parts, and target parts for interference check are extracted. When there are three or more selected units, pre-processing is performed for all combinations of two units among the selected units. The process in step S2 is referred to as a selected part determination process.

  As described above, the unit that performs the interference check is selected from the units that constitute the product. Therefore, for the selected unit, the components included in the different units can be the target components for the interference check. Therefore, it is possible to limit the target parts to be checked for interference between parts to specific parts. Furthermore, since one or more units can be selected, it is possible to detect only a defect caused by interference between desired units.

  In step S <b> 3, the interference check processing unit 14 performs an interference check between different units on the component extracted by the selected component determination unit 13 as the target component of the interference check. When there are three or more selected units, interference check is performed on all combinations of two units among the selected units.

  In step S <b> 4, the display unit 15 displays a determination result determined to cause interference by the interference check processing unit 14. The determination result is displayed as a list, for example, by associating parts determined to interfere with each other, assigning unit names including those parts.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a detailed processing procedure of the selected component determination process shown in FIG. The selected component determination process is the process procedure of step S2 shown in FIG. After step S1 shown in FIG. 3, the process proceeds to step T1.

  In step T1, it is determined whether or not the user has instructed the data input unit 15 to select a unit or a component (hereinafter, abbreviated as a unit or component) for which an interference check is to be performed. When there is no selection instruction, the process proceeds to step T2, and when there is a selection instruction, the process proceeds to step T4. In step T2, based on the assembly information stored in the assembly information storage unit 17, a unit immediately below the TOP assembly is selected in a tree structure indicating an inclusion relationship between units described later.

  As described above, when there is no unit selection instruction, that is, when no unit is selected, the first unit and the second unit constituting the product, that is, the unit immediately below the TOP assembly is the target unit for the interference check. Only the interference between parts contained in different units directly under the TOP assembly can be checked. Therefore, it is possible to limit the target parts to be checked for interference between parts to specific parts.

  In step T3, pre-processing is performed on the parts included in the selected unit, the target parts for interference check are extracted, and the process ends. When there are three or more selected units, pre-processing is performed for all combinations of two units among the selected units. In the preprocessing, for example, interference between rectangular parallelepipeds including the shape of a part is checked, and a part included in the interfering rectangular parallelepiped is extracted as a target part.

  In step T4, it is determined whether or not there is one unit instructed to be selected. When the number of units instructed to be selected is one, the process proceeds to step T5. When the number of units instructed to be selected is not one, the process proceeds to step T6. In step T5, based on the assembly information stored in the assembly information storage unit 17, the unit immediately below the unit instructed to be selected is selected, and the process proceeds to step T3.

  As described above, when there is one unit instructed to be selected, a unit included in the unit instructed to select is selected, so that only interference of components included in the selected unit can be checked. Therefore, it is possible to limit the target parts to be checked for interference between parts to specific parts.

  In step T6, based on the assembly information stored in the assembly information storage unit 17, it is determined whether or not there is an inclusion relationship among the units instructed to be selected. When there is no inclusion relationship, the process proceeds to step T7, and when there is an inclusion relationship, the process proceeds to step T8. In step T7, the unit instructed to select is selected, and the process proceeds to step T3. In step T8, a unit excluding the included unit is selected from the units instructed to be selected, and the process proceeds to step T3.

  As described above, when there is an inclusion relationship between the units instructed to be selected, the selection of the included unit is invalidated and the unit excluding the included unit is selected, so that the parts included in the included unit overlap. Can be avoided. Therefore, it is possible to avoid an increase in the number of times of performing interference check between components.

  Furthermore, since the unit that performs the interference check is selected from the units that constitute the product, it is possible to set the components included in the different units for the selected unit as the target components for the interference check. Therefore, it is possible to limit the target parts to be checked for interference between parts to specific parts. Furthermore, since one or more units can be selected, it is possible to detect only a defect caused by interference between desired units.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of units and parts constituting a product to which the interference check by the design support apparatus 1 illustrated in FIG. 1 is applied. The component tray 50 is an example of a product to which the interference check by the design support apparatus 1 is applied.

  FIG. 5A shows the component tray 50 in a state where the drawer unit 51 is housed in the main unit 52. FIG. 5B shows the drawer unit 51 in a state where the handle unit 511 is attached to the drawer inner unit 512. FIG. 5C shows the main body unit 52 in a state where the main body subunit A521 is fitted into the main body subunit B522.

  In FIG. 5D, the handle unit 511 includes a handle subunit A 5111, a handle subunit B 5112, and a handle subunit C 5113, and the drawer inner unit 512 includes a drawer inner subunit A 5121 and a drawer inner subunit B 5122. It is shown that. FIG. 5E shows that the main unit 52 includes a main unit subunit A521 and a main unit subunit B522.

  Regarding the inclusion relationship, that is, the parent-child relationship of the component tray 50, there are a drawer unit 51 and a main unit 52 as child units of the component tray 50 that is the parent unit, that is, the TOP assembly. There are a handle unit 511 and an in-drawer unit 512 as child units of the drawer unit 51 which is a parent unit, and a body subunit A521 and a body subunit B522 as child units of the body unit 52 which is a parent unit. There are a handle subunit A5111, a handle subunit B5112, and a handle subunit C5113 as child units of the handle unit 511 which is the parent unit, and a drawer inner subunit A5121 and a drawer as the child units of the drawer inner unit 512 which is the parent unit. There is an inner subunit B5122.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a tree structure of the component tray 50 shown in FIG. This tree structure shows the inclusion relationship, that is, the parent-child relationship between the units and the components constituting the component tray 50.

  A product assembly representing the entire product data, that is, a TOP assembly 60, corresponds to the component tray 50, and the TOP assembly 60 includes units A61 and D62, and corresponds to the drawer unit 51 and the main unit 52, respectively. That is, the TOP assembly 60 which is a parent unit is composed of a unit A61 and a unit D62 which are child units. Similarly, the unit A61 includes a unit B611 and a unit C612, and corresponds to the handle unit 511 and the drawer inner unit 512, respectively. The unit B611 is composed of a part A6111, a part B6112, and a part C6113, and corresponds to the handle subunit A5111, the handle subunit B5112, and the handle subunit C5113, respectively. The unit C612 includes a part D6121 and a part E6122, and corresponds to the drawer subunit A5121 and the drawer subunit B5122, respectively. The unit D62 includes a part F621 and a part G622, and corresponds to the main body subunit A521 and the main body subunit B522, respectively.

  The parts shown in the tree structure, for example, the parts A 6111 to G 622 each have shape information of the parts. The units shown in the tree structure, for example, the units A61 to D62, function by gathering some parts, and the part names of the parts included in the units, the shape information of the parts, and the arrangement of the parts. If the assembly information is information and the unit belongs to another unit, the unit name to which the unit belongs is included.

  A case where the selected component determination process shown in FIG. 4 is performed on the tree-structured product shown in FIG. 6 will be described. As a first case, when a unit is not instructed to be selected by the data input unit 15, the selected component determination unit 13 selects a unit immediately below the TOP assembly 60, that is, the unit A 61 and the unit D 62 as an interference check target unit. The target parts to be subjected to the interference check are the parts constituting each unit included in the units A61 and B62, that is, the parts A6111 to C6113 constituting the unit B611, the parts D6121 and E6122 constituting the unit C612, and the unit. It is extracted from the part F621 and the part G622 that constitute D62. The interference check is for checking interference between two components, and the target component of the interference check is represented as a pair of components for which the interference check is performed.

  The paired parts that perform the pre-processing on the part A 6111 are the parts of the unit that does not include the part A 6111 among the target units, that is, the part F 621 and the part G 622 included in the unit D 62, and the pair of the part A 6111 and the part F 621 The pair of the component A 6111 and the component G 622 is obtained as a pair of components to be preprocessed. Therefore, among the target units, the unit including the part A 6111, that is, the other parts included in the unit A61, specifically, the part B 6112, the part C 61113, the part D 6121, and the part E 6122 perform preprocessing on the part A 6111. It is not a pair of parts. Similarly, for other parts included in the unit A61, a pair of parts to be preprocessed is selected, and a pair of parts to be preprocessed is obtained.

  Next, pre-processing for interference check is performed on all pairs of parts to be pre-processed. In the preprocessing, a rough check such as a box check using geometric information is performed and extracted as a target part. For example, interference between rectangular parallelepipeds including the shape of the component is checked, and components included in the interfering rectangular parallelepiped may be interfered with each other, and thus extracted as a pair of target components for interference check.

In the preprocessing according to the prior art, it is necessary to perform preprocessing for the number of combinations of the parts included in the unit A61 and the parts included in the unit D62. Specifically, from the seven parts including the five parts A6111 to C6113, the part D6121, and the part E6122 included in the unit A61, and the two parts F621 and G622 included in the unit D62. The number of combinations for selecting two parts, that is, ₇ C ₂ = 7 * 6/2 = 21 times of preprocessing needs to be performed. In the embodiment described above, the number of combinations between parts included in the different _{units, 7 C 2 - 5 C 2} - 2 C 2 = 7 * 6 / 2-5 * 4 / 2-2 * 1/2 = 21-10-1 = 10 pretreatments are sufficient.

  In this way, the interference between the rectangular parallelepipeds including the shape of the parts is checked by the preprocessing, and the parts included in the interfering rectangular parallelepiped are extracted as the target parts. Therefore, the number of target parts to be subjected to the interference check is further reduced. can do. Therefore, it is possible to further limit the target parts for performing the interference check between the parts.

  As a second case, when one unit is instructed to be selected by the data input unit 15, for example, when the unit A61 is instructed to be selected, the selected component determination unit 13 is a unit immediately below the unit A61, that is, the unit B611 and the unit C612 is selected as an interference check target unit. The target parts to be subjected to the interference check are extracted from the parts A 6111 to C 6113 constituting the unit B 611 and the parts D 6121 and E 6122 constituting the unit C 612.

  The paired parts that perform the pre-processing on the part A 6111 are the parts of the unit that does not include the part A 6111 among the target units, that is, the part D 6121 and the part E 6122 included in the unit C 612, and the pair of the part A 6111 and the part D 6121 A pair of the part A 6111 and the part E 6122 is obtained as a pair of parts to be preprocessed. Accordingly, among the target units, the unit including the part A 6111, that is, the other parts included in the unit B 611, specifically, the part B 6112 and the part C 61113 are not paired parts for performing pre-processing on the part A 6111. Similarly, for other components included in the unit B611, a pair of components to be preprocessed is selected, and a pair of components to be preprocessed is obtained.

  As a third case, when a plurality of units are instructed to be selected by the data input unit 15, the unit instructed to be selected is set as a target unit for interference check. When there is an inclusion relationship, that is, a parent-child relationship among a plurality of units instructed to be selected, selection of the included unit, that is, a child unit is invalid.

  In this way, interference checks are not performed between parts that make up the same unit, but interference checks are performed only between parts that are included in different units, so the number of parts subject to interference checks can be reduced, and interference checks can be performed in a short time. It can be carried out.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a display example of an interference check result performed by the interference check processing unit 14 illustrated in FIG. 1. This display example is an example of the above-described first case, that is, a case where there is no unit selection instruction, unit A61 and unit D62 are selected, and component E6122 and component G622 interfere with each other.

  The component parts of the unit A61 are a part A6111 to a part E6122, and these parts belong to the same parent unit, that is, the unit A61. Therefore, no interference check is performed between these parts. The target component of the interference check is extracted from the component F621 and the component G622 that are components of the unit D62.

  In this example, since the part E6122 and the part G622 interfere with each other, a list indicating that the part E6122 of the unit A61 and the part G622 of the unit D62 interfere with each other is displayed. Specifically, “1” is shown as an interference identifier 71 for identifying interference between components in the leftmost column of the list, and “unit A” as an interference check target unit name 72 is displayed at the upper center of the list. In the upper right side of the list, “unit D” as the target unit name 73 of the interference check partner, and “part E” as the interference part name 74 included in the unit A indicated by the target unit name 72 in the lower center of the list. On the lower right side of the list, “part G” is shown as the interference part name 75 of the counterpart of the interference check included in the unit D indicated by the target unit name 73.

  When the design support apparatus 1 according to the present invention is used, the shape of a plurality of parts defined by the shape information in one space constructed on the computer that is the design support apparatus 1, that is, the information processing apparatus, is based on the position information. When determining whether or not each component is interfering, the result of interference check between components that do not need to be checked is not displayed, and only the necessary interference between units is presented to the user. Therefore, confirmation and correction can be handled early.

  That is, since the parts that have not been checked for interference and the parts that have not been interfered with are not displayed but only the interference part is displayed, the user can easily grasp the interference part. Therefore, it is possible to confirm the presence / absence of interference and to correct the parts having the interference early.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining the provision of a program to the design support apparatus 1 shown in FIG. The design support apparatus 1 further includes a medium driving device 32 that loads a program and / or data recorded in the recording medium 35 into the storage device 24. The recording medium 35 is, for example, a hard disk, a memory card, a flexible disk, a CD-ROM (Compact Disk Read).
Only memory), an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, and the like, and records programs and / or data. The design support apparatus 1 loads the program and / or data 31a recorded on the recording medium 35 to the storage device 24 via the medium driving device 32, and performs necessary processing using the loaded program and / or data 31. Do.

  The design support apparatus 1 further includes a network connection device 34 that loads a program and / or data stored in the information processing device 36 connected to the network into the storage device 24. The network connection device 34 can communicate with other devices connected to the network, and can transmit and receive programs and / or data. The design support device 1 loads the program and / or data 31b stored in the information processing device 36 to the storage device 24 via the network connection device 34, and performs necessary processing using the loaded program and / or data 31. I do.

  Programs in which functions such as the component shape information design unit 11, the product assembly setting unit 12, the selected component determination unit 13, and the interference check processing unit 14 are mounted may be stored in the storage device 24 in advance or recorded. The information may be loaded from the medium 35 or the information processing device 36 to the storage device 24, or may be loaded from both the recording medium 35 and the information processing device 36 to the storage device 24.

  A program for loading a program recorded in the recording medium 35 or a program stored in the information processing device 36 is stored in the storage device 24 in advance. A program recorded in the recording medium 35 or a program for loading data stored in the information processing device 36 may be stored in the storage device 24 in advance, or loaded from the recording medium 35 or the information processing device 36. It may be included in the program.

Thus, the design support method according to another embodiment of the present invention can be provided as a program for causing a computer to execute. Furthermore, the present invention can be provided as a computer-readable recording medium on which a program for causing a computer to execute this design support method is recorded.
According to each embodiment described above, in designing a product composed of a large-scale assembly designed for each functional unit by a plurality of designers, pay attention to defects due to interference between the units, and It is possible to detect only interference with other units.

  Therefore, in designing a product composed of a large-scale assembly designed by a plurality of designers, a design period can be shortened in order to quickly find and take measures against problems with other assemblies.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the function of the design assistance apparatus 1 which is one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the hardware of the design support apparatus 1 shown in FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of the design assistance method which is the other form of implementation of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the detailed process sequence of the selected components determination process shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the unit and components which comprise the product to which the interference check by the design support apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1 is applied. It is a figure which shows the tree structure of the components tray 50 shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of the interference check result which the interference check process part 14 shown in FIG. 1 performed. It is a figure for demonstrating provision of the program to the design support apparatus 1 shown in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Design support apparatus 11 Part shape information design part 12 Product assembly setting part 13 Selected part determination part 14 Interference check process part 15 Display part and data input part 16 Part shape information storage part 17 Assembly information storage part 18 Information transfer path 21 Data input Device 22 Input interface 23, 33 CPU
24 storage device 25 RAM
26 Output Interface 27 Output Device 28 Data Bus 32 Medium Drive Device 34 Network Connection Device 35 Recording Medium 36 Information Processing Device 50 Component Tray 51 Drawer Unit 52 Main Unit

Claims (4)

Storage means for storing shape information representing the shape of a plurality of parts constituting the product and arrangement information for arranging the parts;
Identification information adding means for adding identification information indicating to which unit the plurality of parts are sorted based on a predetermined condition to the arrangement information;
Selecting means for selecting a unit from among the units in which the plurality of parts are sorted by the identification information added by the identification information adding means;
For all combinations of two units among the units selected by the selection means, the parts sorted into one unit and the parts sorted into other units are stored in the arrangement information stored in the storage means. Interference check means for checking whether or not interference occurs when arranged based on shape information and arrangement information stored in the storage means;
Output means for outputting the check result by the interference check means ;
Selection instruction means for selecting and instructing a unit for which interference check is to be performed,
The placement information includes a parent-child relationship in which the unit is a child when the product assembly is a parent, and a parent-child relationship in which another unit or part is a child when the unit is a parent.
The selection means is
When no selection is instructed by the selection instruction unit, a child unit immediately below the product assembly is selected. When one unit is selected by the selection instruction unit, a child unit immediately below the selected unit is selected. Design support apparatus characterized by selecting The design support apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the selection unit invalidates selection of an included unit when there is an inclusion relationship between the selected units. A rectangular parallelepiped including the shape of a part sorted into one unit and a rectangular parallelepiped containing the shape of a part sorted into another unit for all combinations of two units among the units selected by the selection means Including pre-processing means for determining whether or not interference occurs when arranged based on the arrangement information stored in the storage means based on the shape information and arrangement information stored in the storage means,
The interference checking unit, the design support apparatus according to claim 1 or 2 parts with each other pre-processing means is included in the rectangular parallelepiped is determined that interference is characterized by checking whether the interference. A design support method executed by a design support apparatus including storage means for storing shape information representing the shapes of a plurality of parts constituting a product and arrangement information for arranging the parts,
An identification information adding step of adding identification information indicating which unit the plurality of components are sorted into based on a predetermined condition to the arrangement information;
A selection step of selecting a unit from among the units in which the plurality of parts are sorted by the identification information added in the identification information addition step;
For all combinations of two units among the units selected in the selection process, the parts sorted into one unit and the parts sorted into other units are stored in the arrangement information stored in the storage means. An interference check step for checking whether or not interference occurs when arranged based on the shape information and arrangement information stored in the storage means ;
An output process for outputting the check result in the interference check process ;
Including a selection instruction process for selecting and instructing a unit for which interference check is to be performed,
The placement information includes a parent-child relationship in which the unit is a child when the product assembly is a parent, and a parent-child relationship in which another unit or part is a child when the unit is a parent.
In the selection process, when no unit is selected in the selection instruction process, a child unit immediately below the product assembly is selected. When one unit is selected in the selection instruction process, immediately below the unit instructed to be selected. A design support method characterized by selecting a child unit .

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