JP5901152B2 - Team design support system, team design support method and program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a team design support system in which a plurality of designers perform design work in a team format via design data loaded from a database server to each designer's CAD terminal, and a team design support method using the team design support system And a program for causing a computer to execute the team design support method .

  Conventionally, when designing an object composed of a relatively large number of parts, such as a digital single-lens reflex camera or a multi-function device, for example, the object is divided into a plurality of design units, and then each part is simultaneously processed in parallel. A team-type team design support system has been introduced. In such a team design support system using a team format, a plurality of designers can simultaneously design each part in each client CAD terminal for data processing. It becomes possible to shorten.

  However, in team design, there are always parts that interfere with other person's parts in charge of design, such as adjacent connection parts. For example, in the design of the motor drive unit, while looking at the shape of the design part of others, such as the position of the mounting hole for fixing to the housing, the space with the adjacent unit considering the heat dissipation and assembly of the motor, You need to design your own parts. Therefore, it is desired to keep the design data of the parts being designed by other people as up-to-date as possible. For example, immediately after the designer A in FIG. 2 corrects / saves the design data of the ID number “20” of the CAD terminal 200-1, the ID number “20” loaded in the CAD terminal 200-2 is immediately stored. This is a problem because the design data is old data that does not reflect the correction contents.

  For this reason, for example, in the following Patent Document 1, when a team-type design is performed in a CAD system, a designer who designs and modifies a part for each part and a designer who refers to the part The method of registering is taken. As a result, there is known a method of displaying the correction in real time when the reference part is corrected.

  In addition, regarding a method for updating a reference component owned by another person when designing a team format in a CAD system, in Patent Document 2 below, a DB (database) is used periodically or triggered by an input of an update-only command. A method of distributing data from is proposed.

JP-A-5-242174 JP 2002-366589 A

  The design data handled by the CAD terminal has a very large data capacity. For this reason, when the design data loaded in the CAD terminal as the client is updated to the latest design data stored in the database, the design work of the designer is interrupted due to the restriction that the operation on the CAD terminal cannot be performed. End up. Since the update time has a correlation with the number of update component data, it is desirable that the number of update target data is minimized as much as possible and that the work is not interrupted at a timing not intended by the designer.

  In addition, in designing work using a CAD terminal in a team format, each designer's client's CAD terminal is loaded with a number of adjacent parts in addition to its own parts in charge and displayed on the display. doing. The design work is performed by focusing on a specific part from the displayed component group, and the designer proceeds with the design while changing the focused part.

  However, in the method of updating in real time shown in Patent Document 1 cited in the background art, when any designer corrects a part he / she is responsible for, all designers who refer to that part The client terminal is notified that the part has been corrected and the details of the correction. For this reason, it is assumed that the designer is notified of a reference part that is not focused during the design work, and the notification in that case is not useful and hinders the design work. There is a problem. Further, although not focused, if the load data on the client terminal is updated with respect to the reference component notified of the update, the design work of the designer is further interrupted.

  In addition, regarding the data update execution method, in the case of a method of executing an update-dedicated command or a periodic update method as shown in Patent Document 2 cited in the background art, the loaded reference data is not the latest. There is a problem that there may not be.

  On the other hand, the designer creates a plurality of alternative design data for the same part under design and conducts comparative examination. Therefore, there are multiple design data under consideration for the same part, and at one point, one of the valid design data (hereinafter referred to as “effective design data”) and the rest are invalid It is data. The designer changes effective design data from among the plurality of design data under consideration in daily design work. Therefore, it is necessary to convey to the other person the latest information indicating which design data is the effective design data among the plurality of alternative design data.

  Conventionally, when valid design data is changed, the designer who refers to the part data is verbally communicated to that effect, and the reference designer replaces invalid design data with valid design data. I was working. However, this method is troublesome and there is a risk that reversal of design work occurs as a result of continuing to refer to invalid design data that has been rejected due to poor information transmission.

  With respect to this problem, in the methods of Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 cited in the background art, when the effective design data is changed to other design data that has been studied, the fact is not notified, and the problem is solved. Not. This is because information on whether the design data being referred to is valid design data or not and which is valid design data to be replaced when invalid is not currently managed.

The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and when designing using a CAD terminal in a team format, a mechanism for keeping reference design data up-to-date without placing a burden on the designer. It is a first object to provide
In addition, when designing using a CAD terminal in a team format, the present invention is intended for a designer when effective design data is changed to other data among a plurality of alternative design data for a specific part. A second object of the present invention is to prevent a design reversal caused by referring to invalid design data.

The team design support system of the present invention includes a plurality of CAD terminals and a database server connected to each CAD terminal in the plurality of CAD terminals, and a plurality of designers from the database server to each of the designers. A team design support system for performing design work in a team format via design data loaded on a CAD terminal, wherein the database server uses a design data group under consideration for a specific part and current effective design data as an ID. have a replacement data table for managing the respective CAD terminal, from the design data of the load, the design data relating to the component to be operation target in accordance with the CAD command as a trigger to execute the CAD command Among the design data acquired by the operation target component acquisition means for acquiring the operation target component acquisition means, Reference design data extraction means for extracting reference design data, and validity determination means for determining whether or not the reference design data extracted by the reference design data extraction means is valid design data based on the alternative data table And a configuration editing unit that replaces the reference design data that is determined not to be valid design data by the valid determination unit with an alternative valid reference design data, and the valid reference design data is not up- to- date And updating means for updating the effective reference design data loaded in each CAD terminal.
The present invention also includes a team design support method using the above-described team design support system, and a program for causing a computer to execute the team design support method.

  According to the present invention, when designing using a CAD terminal in a team format, reference design data can be kept up-to-date without placing a burden on the designer. In addition, when designing using a CAD terminal in a team format, if the effective design data is changed to other data among a plurality of alternative design data for a specific part, the designer unintentionally makes an invalid design. It is possible to prevent a design reversal caused by referring to data.

It is a mimetic diagram showing an example of the system configuration of the team design support system concerning an embodiment. It is a schematic diagram which shows an example of the relationship between the design database in a DB server, and a some CAD terminal among the team design support systems shown in FIG. It is a schematic diagram which shows an example of the data structure of the alternative data table shown in FIG. It is a block diagram which shows an example of an internal structure of the CAD terminal shown in FIG. FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram illustrating a display example in which design data loaded on a CAD terminal by a designer A is displayed on a display output device by a CAD tool according to the embodiment. It is a schematic diagram which shows an example of the bounding box of the design data in embodiment. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram in which bounding boxes of design data of the part design example shown in the shape display section of FIG. It is a schematic diagram which shows an example of the state of the design data currently loaded on the design database currently hold | maintained at DB server shown in FIG. 1, an alternative data table, and a CAD terminal. It is a flowchart which shows embodiment and shows an example of the process sequence of the alternative data table creation process performed when a designer produces the design data for examination. FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing a data state in which the designer A changes the shape of the design data with the ID number “30” to □ after the processing of the flowchart shown in FIG. 9 and stores it. It is a flowchart of the process sequence which shows embodiment and a designer changes effective design data. It is a schematic diagram which shows the data state loaded on the design database after the process of the flowchart shown in FIG. 11, an alternative data table, and a CAD terminal. It is a flowchart of the process sequence of the update process of reference design data which shows embodiment.

  Hereinafter, embodiments (embodiments) for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a system configuration of the team design support system according to the embodiment. The team design support system shown in FIG. 1 enables a DB server (database server) 100 and a plurality of CAD terminals 200-1 to 200-3 to communicate via a communication line such as a LAN (Local Area Network) or the Internet. It is connected. In the example illustrated in FIG. 1, the CAD terminal 200 includes three CAD terminals 200-1 to 200-3. In the team design support system shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of designers perform design work in a team format via design data relating to parts loaded from the DB server 100 to each CAD terminal 200 of each designer. Each designer designs each component stored in the DB server 100 by operating each CAD terminal 200. In addition, a design database 110 and an alternative data table 120 are stored in the DB server 100.

  FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the relationship between the design database 110 in the DB server 100 and a plurality (two) of CAD terminals 200-1 and 200-2 in the team design support system shown in FIG. .

  The CAD terminals 200-1 and 200-2 load CAD design data from the design database 110 in the DB server 100. Then, the design data loaded in response to the user instruction is changed, the changed design data is uploaded to the design database 110 based on the save command executed based on the user instruction, and the design data in the design database 110 is updated. In the design database 110, design data representing the latest shape of a part is stored in association with the ID number (identifier) of the part and a person (owner) who has editing authority. Here, the owner shown as the owner information of the design data in the design database 110 is user information of the CAD tool uniquely assigned to each designer, and is a pair for the designer who uses the CAD tool. 1 corresponds.

  The designer A and the designer B acquire, from the design database 110, parts to be designed and parts to be referenced by the CAD terminal 200-1 and the CAD terminal 200-2 used by the designer A and the designer B, respectively.

  Regarding the design data of ID number “20”, since designer A is the owner, modification and storage are permitted, but since designer B is not the owner, only reference is permitted, modification and storage. Is not allowed. The design data loaded in this way is the design data that is owned by the designer himself and has the editing authority and is in charge of the design. And design data for reference.

  Assume that the design data having ID numbers “10” and “20” shown in FIG. 2 (during data loading) are currently acquired by the CAD terminal 200-1 and the CAD terminal 200-2, respectively.

  Here, when the designer A modifies the part data of the ID number “20” from Δ to ▲ on the CAD terminal 200-1 and executes the save command, the correction contents are reflected in the design database 110, and FIG. The design data state shown in FIG. At this time, the design data with the ID number “20” loaded on the CAD terminal 200-2 is old data Δ that does not reflect the correction contents.

  When the designer B intentionally executes an update command on the CAD terminal 200-2, the latest state from the design database 110 is updated with respect to the old design data Δ having the ID number “20” loaded on the CAD terminal 200-2. Updated to design data ▲. That is, the design data state shown in FIG. 2 (during reloading) is obtained. The loaded design data is stored in a storage device (a main storage device such as a RAM or an auxiliary storage device such as a hard disk) on the CAD terminal 200-1 and the CAD terminal 200-2.

  FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing an example of the data structure of the alternative data table 120 shown in FIG. The alternative data table 120 includes a list of a plurality of design data groups (substitute data groups) under consideration with respect to a specific part, and current effective design data (effective members) in the plurality of design data groups under consideration. It is a table managed with an ID number which is an identifier.

  Here, the alternative data group is a plurality of design data under consideration for the same part, the members are individual design data belonging to the same alternative data group, and the effective members are considered. This is effective design data among a plurality of design data. One of the design data belonging to the alternative data group becomes an effective member. On the alternative data table, the design data is managed by the ID number of the design database 110. For example, the ID number “400” is the design data of the design database 110 for which the design data under consideration for a certain design part is the design data of the ID numbers “10”, “20”, “30”. 30 "represents that the design data is valid design data.

  With the information managed by the alternative data table 120, when the effective design data is changed to other design data under consideration, the fact can be transmitted to the other designers who are referring to the design data. For this reason, it is possible to avoid the risk that the design work will be reversed as a result of continuing to refer to invalid design data that has been rejected. The reference design data update processing method will be described later.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an example of the internal configuration of the CAD terminal 200 shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 4, the CAD terminal 200 includes a bus 210, an input interface 220, a keyboard and mouse 230, an output interface 240, a CRT and LCD 250, a CPU 260, and a memory 270.

  An input interface 220, an output interface 240, a CPU (central processing unit) 260, and a memory (RAM / ROM) 270 are connected to the bus 210. In addition, an input device such as a keyboard and a mouse 230 is connected to the bus 210 via an input interface 220, and a display output device such as a CRT and an LCD 250 is connected via an output interface 240.

  The input interface 220 inputs input information from an input device such as a keyboard and mouse 230 into the CAD terminal 200. The input device such as a keyboard and a mouse 230 is for inputting input information into the CAD terminal 200 in accordance with, for example, a user operation.

  The output interface 240 outputs (displays) output information to a display output device such as a CRT and an LCD 250. A display output device such as a CRT or LCD 250 outputs (displays) output information.

  The CPU 260 comprehensively controls the CAD terminal 200 by executing a program or the like stored in the memory 270.

In the memory 270, each of the operation target component acquisition unit 271, the reference design data extraction unit 272, the validity determination unit 273, the configuration editing unit 274, the latest determination unit 275, the alternative data table editing unit 276, and the CAD tool 277 is provided. Programs and so on are stored. Each of these programs functions by being executed by the CPU 260.
The functions of the operation target component acquisition unit 271, the reference design data extraction unit 272, the validity determination unit 273, the configuration editing unit 274, the latest determination unit 275, and the alternative data table editing unit 276 will be described below.

The operation target component acquisition unit 271 detects (extracts) and acquires design data to be operated (processed) in response to a CAD command executed by the designer from the loaded design data.
This will be described with reference to a part design example shown in FIG.
FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a display example in which the design data loaded on the CAD terminal 200 by the designer A is displayed on the display output device by the CAD tool 277 according to the embodiment.

  In FIG. 5, a shape display unit 42 displays the shape of design data loaded on the CAD terminal 200, and a configuration display unit 43 displays a list of design data loaded on the CAD terminal 200 as owner information. And display together. Since each design data is loaded on the CAD terminal 200 in association with the owner information managed in the design database 110, the ownership associated with the design data loaded on the CAD terminal 200 is owned. Person information is displayed.

  Design data 32 and design data 37 indicated by hatching in FIG. 5 are responsible design data. The design data 31, design data 33, design data 34, design data 35, design data 36, design data 38, design data 39, and design data 40 are assumed to be reference design data.

  It is assumed that a dimension measurement command is executed in order to obtain a dimension 41 between the design data 31 and the design data 32 on the CAD terminal 200. In this case, design data related to the dimension 41 to be commanded is design data 31 and design data 32. Then, when the dimension 41 that is a dimension measurement target is instructed by the user, the operation target component acquisition unit 271 detects (extracts) and acquires design data of a component that contacts the dimension measurement target.

Another example is shown.
In the execution of the interference check command, it is necessary to specify a component data group (component group B) to be checked for interference with respect to specific component data (component A). In this case, the operation target component acquisition unit In step S271, the component A and the component group B are acquired. This will be described with reference to a part design example shown in FIG.

  Assume that an interference check command is executed on the design data 32 in order to check whether the design data 32 interferes with other parts. In the execution of the interference check command, if all the design data loaded is checked against the design data 32, the shape data is too detailed and the simulation calculation time becomes excessive. For this reason, generally, as pre-processing, all the loaded shape data are replaced with a simple bounding box, and interference between the bounding boxes is determined.

  That is, first, using a bounding box in which the shape of the design data 32 is simplified, interference is determined with respect to the bounding box of all design data, and design data having a bounding box that interferes with the bounding box of the design data 32 is obtained. To detect. Next, an interference check is performed on the detected design data itself using the design data 32 itself. Here, the bounding box indicates a boundary line including the entire part shape.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a bounding box for design data in the embodiment.
For example, in FIG. 6, a broken line 331 is a bounding box of the design data 33.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram in which the bounding boxes of the design data of the part design example shown in the shape display unit 42 of FIG.
The operation target component acquisition unit 271 related to the interference check command detects (extracts) and acquires design data having a bounding box that overlaps the bounding box of the design data 32.

  In this case, the design data group in which the design data 32 and the bounding box overlap is the design data 31, the design data 33, and the design data 37. The operation target component acquisition unit 271 detects (extracts) and acquires the design data 31, the design data 33, and the design data 37 from all the loaded design data.

  The reference design data extraction unit 272 determines whether or not the owner of the part is self for each of the design data acquired by the operation target part acquisition unit 271, and extracts design data that the part does not own.

  In the present embodiment, the reference design data extraction unit 272 is designed so that the owner indicated by the owner information of the design data acquired by the operation target component acquisition unit 271 does not match the user information using the CAD tool 277. Extract data.

  In the example of the dimension measurement command described using the part design example shown in FIG. 5 above, the reference design data extraction unit 272 is based on the design data 31 and the design data 32 acquired by the operation target part acquisition unit 271. The design data 31 whose owner is another is extracted and acquired.

  The operation target component acquisition unit 271 and the reference design data extraction unit 272 need to perform update processing before executing the corresponding CAD command from among all the design data groups loaded in the designer's CAD terminal 200. A minimum number of design data can be extracted. In the example when the dimension measurement command described with reference to the part design example shown in FIG. 5 is executed, the number of design data loaded on the CAD terminal 200 needs to be updated before the dimension measurement command is executed out of ten. Design data 31 can be extracted.

  The validity determination unit 273 determines whether the target design data is valid design data. In the present embodiment, the member field of the alternative data table 120 is searched, and when the ID number of the target design data loaded in the CAD terminal 200 does not exist, and the effective member field of the corresponding row when it exists exists It is determined that the design data identification ID is valid. When the ID number of the target design data does not exist in the member column of the alternative data table 120, it is determined that there is no alternative design data under consideration for the corresponding design part that is detected as valid design data. This is because it can.

  The configuration editing unit 274 edits the configuration information of the loaded design data.

  The latest determination unit 275 determines whether or not the design data in the design database 110 corresponding to the target loaded design data is the latest using version information associated with the design data. Here, the version information is an integer value that is 1 when design data is created and is incremented every time the design data is updated.

  The alternative data table editing unit 276 is a function for editing information on the alternative data table 120 in accordance with an input from the designer.

  In FIG. 4, the validity determination unit 273 and the alternative data table editing unit 276 are configured on the CAD terminal 200. However, for example, the validity determination unit 273 and the alternative data table editing unit 276 may be placed on the DB server 100. The other may be placed on the DB server 100 on the CAD terminal 200.

  The CAD tool 277 is for creating design data.

  Regarding the operation of the team design support system configured as described above, each of the flowchart for creating the alternative data table 120 when creating the design data for examination, the flowchart for changing the effective design data, and the flowchart for updating the reference design data are as follows: explain.

  In this case, the designer B of the CAD terminal 200-2 is referring to the design data of the ID number “20” for which the designer A of the CAD terminal 200-1 is in charge of design. Description will be made assuming that the part number “10” is designed.

FIG. 8 shows a design database 110, an alternative data table 120 held in the DB server 100 shown in FIG. 1, design data loaded on the CAD terminal 200-1, and loaded on the CAD terminal 200-2. It is a schematic diagram which shows an example of the state of design data.
The CAD terminal 200-1 is loaded with design data having an ID number “20”, and the CAD terminal 200-2 is loaded with design data having ID numbers “10” and “20”.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a processing procedure of an alternative data table creation process executed by the designer when creating the design data for examination, according to the embodiment.
When a designer creates design data for examination, most of the existing design data is copied (duplicated), and editing is performed on the copied design data. Therefore, in the present embodiment, an existing copy command (copy command) is executed, and after the copy process is completed, the creation process of the alternative data table 120 is started.

  First, the designer A executes a copy command (copy command) on the design data with the existing ID number “20” in the CAD terminal 200-1. Then, in step S11, the CPU 260 (or alternative data table editing unit 276) executes a command according to the user instruction, and the CAD tool 277 creates design data with the ID number “30”. If the designer A intends to perform the copy process, the process ends here. If the purpose is to create the design data for examination, the process proceeds to the alternative data table creation process. It is preferable to confirm to the designer by a dialog which process to proceed. Hereinafter, description will be made assuming the latter case.

  Subsequently, in step S12, the CPU 260 (or the alternative data table editing unit 276), with respect to the DB server 100, the alternative data to which the design data having the ID number “20” that is the copy source in the alternative data table 120 belongs. A request for determining whether or not a group exists is made. On the other hand, in step S121, the DB server 100 returns the search result of the alternative data group to which the copy source belongs in the alternative data table 120 to the CAD terminal 200. This can be determined by referring to the member column in the alternative data table 120 and determining whether or not the design data of the ID number “20” that is the copy source is stored.

  Subsequently, in step S13, the CPU 260 (or the alternative data table editing unit 276) determines whether there is an alternative data group to which the design data with the ID number “20” belongs. As a result of the determination, if there is an alternative data group to which the design data with the ID number “20” belongs, the process proceeds to step S14.

  In step S14, the alternative data table editing unit 276 requests the DB server 100 to add design data (copy data) with the ID number “30” to the member of the alternative data group. On the other hand, in step S141, the DB server 100 adds the design data with the ID number “30” to the alternative data table 120 as a member of the alternative data group. As a result, the design data with ID number “30” created by copying belongs to the same data group under consideration as the design data with ID number “20” of the copy source.

On the other hand, if the result of determination in step S13 is that there is no alternative data group to which the design data with ID number “20” belongs, processing proceeds to step S15.
In step S15, the alternative data table editing unit 276 creates a new alternative data group for the DB server 100, and copies the design data of the copy source ID number “20” to the valid member column and the member column. A request is made to set the design data of the original ID number “20” and the design data of the copied ID number “30”. On the other hand, the DB server 100 newly creates an alternative data group for the alternative data table 120, design data of the copy source ID number “20” in the valid member column, and copy source ID in the member column. The design data with the number “20” and the design data with the copied ID number “30” are set. As a result, the design data with the ID number “20” and the design data with the ID number “30” as the copy source are currently under consideration, and the design data with the ID number “20” is effective design data. It will be. This is the latter case in the present embodiment.
FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing a data state in which the designer A changes the shape of the design data with the ID number “30” to □ and saves it after the processing of the flowchart shown in FIG. 9.

  As described above, the process of creating the alternative data table 120 for managing a plurality of alternative design data for a specific component can be performed without burdening the designer by automatically processing after the existing copy command process. it can.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of a processing procedure when the designer changes the effective design data according to the embodiment.
Here, for the design data of ID number “20” and the design data of ID number “30” that are being studied by designer A, the design data of ID number “20” that has been valid design data until then is invalid. As an alternative, description will be made assuming that the design data with the ID number “30” is changed to effective design data. It is assumed that the design data with the ID number “20” and the design data with the ID number “30” are the design data under consideration, and are managed with the ID number “400” in the alternative data table 120 (see FIG. 10). ).

  First, the designer A executes an effective design data change command in a state where the design data having the ID number “20” is selected in the CAD terminal 200-1. Then, in step S21, for example, the CPU 260 searches the alternative data table 120 for the alternative data group to which the design data with the selected ID number “20” belongs, and stores the group ID, valid member, and member information in the DB server. Query 100. On the other hand, in step S211, the DB server 100 searches the alternative data table 120 for an alternative data group that includes the design data of the selected ID number “20” as a member, and returns the result.

  Subsequently, in step S22, for example, the CPU 260 displays an input dialog for allowing the user to select valid design data on a display output device such as the CRT and the LCD 250. Here, the candidate of the effective design data is known from the acquired member information. Since designer A wants to change the effective design data to the design data with ID number “30”, the design data with ID number “30” is selected / designated as effective design data on this input dialog, and the OK button is pressed. Press.

  Subsequently, in step S23, the alternative data table editing unit 276 sends, to the DB server 100, the design data having the ID number “30” designated in S22 and the alternative data group having the ID number “400” in the alternative data table 120. Is stored in the effective design data column. In step S <b> 231, the DB server 100 performs a process of rewriting valid members on the alternative data table 120.

With the above processing, the information in the alternative data group with the ID number “400” in the alternative data table 120 is the design data currently under consideration for the design data with the ID number “20” and the design data with the ID number “30”. The design data with ID number “30” was rewritten to mean effective design data.
FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram showing a data state loaded on the design database 110, the alternative data table 120, the CAD terminal 200-1, and the CAD terminal 200-2 after the processing of the flowchart shown in FIG.

  FIG. 13 is a flowchart of a processing procedure for updating the design data for reference according to the embodiment.

  In the design using the CAD terminal 200 in the team design, the designer B always keeps in mind that it does not interfere with the part in charge of the designer A who is the other person when designing the part in charge. Editing. The general CAD terminal 200 has an interference check function that analyzes and presents an interference point between components. In many cases, a designer uses this interference check function to check interference between design data.

  Assume that the designer B executes an interference check command for the purpose of confirming that the design data of the ID number “10” that he / she is in charge of does not interfere with nearby components. FIG. 12 shows a state in which designer B is currently loading charge design data with ID number “10” and reference design data with ID number “20” owned by designer A on CAD terminal 200-2. Is assumed. However, after the designer B loads the design data on the CAD terminal 200-2, the designer A changes the effective design data from the design data with the ID number “20” to the design data with the ID number “30”. Suppose that

  When the designer B executes the CAD command for interference check, the processing shown in FIG. 13 is performed before the execution of the CAD command itself, triggered by the execution of the CAD command.

  In the process of FIG. 13, first, in step S31, the operation target component acquisition unit 271 selects a part to be an operation target (processing target) from the loaded design data according to a CAD command instructed by the user. Such design data is extracted and acquired.

  In step S31 when the interference check command is executed, the operation target component acquisition unit 271 determines interference with respect to the bounding boxes of all the design data using the bounding box in which the shape of the design data with the ID number “10” is simplified. I do. Then, design data having a bounding box that interferes with the bounding box of the design data with the ID number “10” is extracted. In the present embodiment, the design data extracted here becomes the design data to be processed by the interference check command, and the design data itself extracted here using the design data of the ID number “10” in step S39. A process of performing an interference check is performed on the. It is assumed that the design data with the ID number “20” is extracted by the process of step S31. In the present embodiment, since the interference check command is taken as an example, the processing of the operation target component acquisition unit 271 in step S31 is the processing content. However, for each CAD command executed by a user instruction, the processing target The design data extraction method becomes different.

  Subsequently, in step S32, the reference design data extraction unit 272 determines whether or not the owner of the part is self for each of the design data extracted in step S31. Design data). In the present embodiment, based on the design database 110, design data in which the owner indicated in the owner information of the design data acquired in step S31 does not match the user information in use of the CAD tool (that is, the owner Extract other people's design data). Specifically, the design data is an ID number “20” extracted.

  The minimum number that needs to be updated (updated) before executing the corresponding CAD command out of all the design data groups loaded in the designer's CAD terminal by the processing of step S31 and step S32. Design data can be extracted. As a result, the number of design data to be updated is reduced and the update time is shortened compared to the case where all design data loaded on the CAD terminal 200-2 is updated.

  The contents of the update query processing to the design database 110 are two points, a validity check and an update check. First, in step S <b> 33, the validity determination unit 273 requests the design database 110 (DB server 100) to check whether the design data with the ID number “20” is valid design data. Specifically, the member column of the alternative data table 120 is searched, and when the ID number of the target design data does not exist, and when the ID number of the target design data exists in the valid member column of the corresponding alternative data group when it exists, If registered, it can be determined that the design data is valid. In step S331, the DB server 100 performs a validity check on the design data based on the alternative data table 120, and returns the result to the CAD terminal 200 that has requested the result.

  Subsequently, in step S34, for example, the validity determination unit 273 determines whether or not the reference design data extracted in step S32 is valid as a result of the request in step S33. The determination here is made based on the alternative data table 120 in the DB server 100.

If the result of determination in step S34 is that the design data is not valid (invalid), the process proceeds to step S35.
In step S35, the CPU 260, for example, designs data corresponding to the ID number information of the valid design data stored in the valid member column of the corresponding alternative data group in the alternative data table 120 referred to in steps S33 and S331. (Here, the design data with the ID number “30”) is loaded from the design database 110. In addition, the configuration editing unit 274 removes the reference design data determined to be invalid in step S33 and step S331 from the design data configuration information loaded on the CAD terminal 200-1, and loads the loaded ID. The effective reference design data with the number “30” is added to the configuration. In the process of step S35, it may be confirmed whether or not to perform the process by a dialog or the like to the designer before execution.

When the process of step S35 is completed, or when it is determined in step S34 that the design data is valid, the process proceeds to step S36.
In step S36, the latest determination unit 275 uses the version information associated with the design data to determine whether the reference design data with the ID number “20” extracted in step S32 is in the latest state. And make a judgment request. In step S361, the DB server 100 performs the latest check of the reference design data, and returns the result to the requesting CAD terminal 200.

  Subsequently, in step S37, for example, the latest determination unit 275 determines whether or not the reference design data is the latest. Specifically, the version information of the reference design data with the ID number “20” loaded is compared with the version information of the reference design data with the ID number “20” stored in the design database 110, If the value of the former version information is not small, it can be determined that it is the latest.

As a result of the determination in step S37, if the reference design data loaded on the CAD terminal 200-1 is not the latest, the process proceeds to step S38.
In step S38, for example, the CPU 260 reloads and updates (updates) the latest corresponding design data in the design database 110. Here, for example, when the process of step S38 is performed after the process of step S35, when the valid reference design data is reflected in the alternative data table 120, the valid loaded into each CAD terminal 200 is valid. Update (update) reference design data.

  When the process of step S38 is completed, or when the reference design data loaded on the CAD terminal 200-1 is the latest as a result of the determination of step S37, the process of the flowchart of FIG. 13 is terminated. .

  After the above processing is completed, the interference check command processing is started using the design data loaded on the CAD terminal 200-2. Therefore, the reference design data to be executed by the interference check command is in the latest state.

  As described above, in this embodiment, even when referring to the design data of another person in the team design, by minimizing the number of data to be updated, the stress applied to the designer at the time of update is minimized. However, work can be continued in the latest state.

(Other embodiments)
The present invention can also be realized by executing the following processing.
That is, software (program) that realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments is supplied to a system or apparatus via a network or various storage media, and a computer (or CPU, MPU, or the like) of the system or apparatus reads the program. It is a process to be executed.
This program and a computer-readable recording medium storing the program are included in the present invention.

  Note that the above-described embodiments of the present invention are merely examples of implementation in practicing the present invention, and the technical scope of the present invention should not be construed as being limited thereto. It is. That is, the present invention can be implemented in various forms without departing from the technical idea or the main features thereof.

100 DB (database) server, 110 design database, 120 alternative data table, 200-1 to 200-3 CAD terminal

Claims (7)

A plurality of CAD terminals and a database server connected to each CAD terminal in the plurality of CAD terminals, and a plurality of designers receive design data loaded from the database server to each CAD terminal of each designer. A team design support system that performs design work in a team format,
The database server is
It has an alternative data table for managing design data groups under consideration for specific parts and current effective design data by ID,
Each CAD terminal is
From the design data of the load, and the operation target component acquiring means for acquiring design data relating to the component to be operation target in accordance with the CAD command as a trigger to execute the CAD command,
Among the design data acquired by the operation target part acquisition means, reference design data extraction means for extracting reference design data;
Valid determination means for determining whether the reference design data extracted by the reference design data extraction means is valid design data based on the alternative data table;
Configuration editing means for replacing reference design data that is determined not to be valid design data by the validity determination means with substitute effective reference design data;
The effective when the reference design data is not up to date, the team design support system characterized by having the latest means for modernizing the effective reference design data loaded in the respective CAD terminal. The database server further includes a design database for storing the design data in association with the owner and the ID,
The reference design data extraction unit extracts, as design data for reference, design data whose owner is another based on the design database among design data acquired by the operation target component acquisition unit. The team design support system according to claim 1.   The validity determining means is when the reference design data extracted by the reference design data extracting means is not registered as a member of the alternative data table, and when it is registered as a valid member of the alternative data table The team design support system according to claim 1, wherein the reference design data is determined to be the effective design data. Each of the CAD terminals further includes an alternative data table editing unit that performs processing for editing the alternative data table,
The alternative data table editing means includes
When the designer executes a copy command for existing design data, it is determined based on the alternative data table whether there is an alternative data group to which the copy source belongs,
As a result of the determination, if there is an alternative data group to which the copy source belongs, the design data created by copying is added to the member of the corresponding alternative data group,
On the other hand, if there is no alternative data group to which the copy source belongs as a result of the determination, a new alternative data group is created in the alternative data table, the copy source is set as a valid member, and the member is The team design support system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the copy source and design data created by the copy are set.   Triggered by the execution of a CAD command including an interference check, before the execution of the CAD command including the interference check, the valid reference among the loaded design data to be operated by the CAD command including the interference check 5. The team design support system according to claim 1, wherein the latest design data is updated, and thereafter, a CAD command including the interference check is executed. A plurality of CAD terminals and a database server connected to each CAD terminal in the plurality of CAD terminals, and a plurality of designers receive design data loaded from the database server to each CAD terminal of each designer. A team design support method by a team design support system that performs design work in a team format,
The database server has an alternative data table for managing a design data group under consideration for a specific part and current effective design data by ID,
Each CAD terminal is
From the loaded design data, an operation target component acquisition step for acquiring design data related to a component to be operated according to the CAD command triggered by execution of a CAD command;
Among the design data acquired by the operation target component acquisition step, reference design data extraction step for extracting reference design data;
An effective determination step of determining whether the reference design data extracted by the reference design data extraction step is valid design data based on the alternative data table;
A configuration editing step of replacing the reference design data determined not to be effective design data by the effective determination step with the effective reference design data as an alternative,
An updating step for updating the effective reference design data loaded in each CAD terminal when the effective reference design data is not the latest;
A team design support method characterized by A plurality of CAD terminals and a database server connected to each CAD terminal in the plurality of CAD terminals, and a plurality of designers receive design data loaded from the database server to each CAD terminal of each designer. A program for causing a computer to execute a team design support method by a team design support system that performs design work in a team format via
The database server has an alternative data table for managing a design data group under consideration for a specific part and current effective design data by ID,
Each CAD terminal is
From the loaded design data, an operation target component acquisition step for acquiring design data related to a component to be operated according to the CAD command triggered by execution of a CAD command;
Among the design data acquired by the operation target component acquisition step, reference design data extraction step for extracting reference design data;
An effective determination step of determining whether the reference design data extracted by the reference design data extraction step is valid design data based on the alternative data table;
A configuration editing step of replacing the reference design data determined not to be effective design data by the effective determination step with the effective reference design data as an alternative,
An updating step for updating the effective reference design data loaded in each CAD terminal when the effective reference design data is not the latest;
The program characterized by performing.

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