JP6884071B2 - Design support device and design support method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a design support device and a design support method.

Conventionally, three-dimensional CAD (Computer-Aided Design) has been widely used as a design tool in a product design process performed by a designer. In the three-dimensional CAD, the shape data of the product can be three-dimensionally created on the computer, and the shape data can be freely defined according to the intention of the designer. In the product design process, the designer needs to define shape data that satisfies various shape rules by trial and error. This shape rule is composed of, for example, manufacturing requirements by a processing machine and production technology, and design requirements such as strength, temperature, and safety.

When an inexperienced designer designs, the shape rule is not checked, and it takes extra time to rework and correct the unfinished design data that does not conform to the shape rule. Therefore, regarding a technique for preventing omission of checking of shape rules, a technique has been proposed in which shape rules are stored in a database in advance and the shape data of the product input this time is collated with the database to be checked.
For example, Patent Document 1 describes a component design support system that discriminately displays a target location on a display device when a feature shape created by a user does not conform to manufacturing restrictions.

Further, in Patent Document 2, the design rule that defines the shape and arrangement of the feature and the work information to be performed next are stored and registered in association with each other, collated with the design rule, and registered in association with the design rule. A CAD shape creation support method for presenting detailed work information to be performed next as work guidance is described.
Further, in Patent Document 3, as the design change contents of each change target according to the design intention indicating the design purpose, the design change contents of the examination items to be examined according to the design intention and the design of the derivative items derived from the examination items are provided. A design work support device that detects changes is described.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2007-102282 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2010-277460 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2016-212542

A mechanism is provided that automatically checks for deficiencies in the CAD data this time by collating the CAD data newly created this time with the contents of the database prepared in advance by using conventional techniques such as Patent Documents 1 to 3. There is. In order to improve the accuracy of this check, the contents of the database need to be updated appropriately. That is, it is required to reduce the trouble of updating the contents of the database.

However, the conventional technology emphasizes the database usage stage of how to check the newly created CAD data or how to correct any deficiencies found in the check. However, there is no mention of ingenuity at the stage of preparing the database as a preliminary step. Therefore, for example, the trouble of updating the database such as manually inputting the constraint rules becomes a psychological barrier, and the old contents of the database are used as they are, so that the check accuracy is lowered.

Therefore, the main object of the present invention is to reduce the time and effort required to update the data contents of the database for checking the contents of the CAD data.

In order to solve the above problems, the design support device of the present invention has the following features.
The present invention accepts input of shape data before design change and shape data after design change, detects a portion changed by both input shape data as difference shape data, and detects the difference shape data. The shape difference detector that detects the dimensional data for specifying the design change contents of
A design change registration unit that registers the design change difference data in which the detected difference shape data and the dimension data are associated with each other in the design change database.
A similar partial shape search unit that accepts input of check shape data and searches for partial shape data of the check shape data similar to the design change difference data registered in the design change database.
Have a, and design changes display unit for displaying a proposed location of the similar partial shape retrieval unit design change part shape data of the check shape data searched,
The shape difference detecting unit regards a portion that is different by superimposing the input shape data before the design change and the shape data after the design change as a portion changed by both shape data, and the difference. It is characterized in that it is used as shape data.
Other means will be described later.

According to the present invention, it is possible to reduce the time and effort required to update the data content of the database for checking the content of CAD data.

It is a block diagram of the design support apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows an example of the CAD data before design change which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows an example of the CAD data after design change which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the difference shape before the design change of the inter-hole distance which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the difference shape after the design change of the inter-hole distance which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the difference CAD data of the inter-hole distance before design change which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the difference CAD data after design change of the inter-hole distance which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the difference shape before the design change of the wall surface thickness which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the difference shape after the design change of the wall surface thickness which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the difference CAD data of the wall surface thickness before design change which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the difference CAD data after design change of the wall surface thickness which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the design change knowledge data about the design change of the inter-hole distance which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the design change knowledge data about the design change of the wall surface thickness which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a perspective view which shows the design target CAD data which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. This is an example of a display screen for changing the design of the inter-hole distance according to the embodiment of the present invention. This is an example of a display screen for changing the design of the wall surface thickness according to the embodiment of the present invention. It is a top view which shows an example which the shape difference detection part which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention detected the distance between holes of a two-hole shape as a dimension. It is a top view which shows an example which the shape difference detection part which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention detected the distance between a hole | housing end of a two-hole shape as a dimension. It is a top view which shows an example in which the weight (weight) was set for each dimension which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a first example of design target CAD data to be compared with the pre-design change difference CAD data of FIG. 19 relating to one embodiment of the present invention. It is a top view which shows the 2nd example of the design target CAD data to be compared with the design change pre-design difference CAD data of FIG. 19 concerning one Embodiment of this invention.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a design support device.
The design support device is configured as a computer having a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a memory, a storage means (storage unit) such as a hard disk, and a network interface.
In this computer, the CPU operates a control unit (control means) composed of each processing unit by executing a program (also called an application or an abbreviation for application) read in the memory.

The design support device has a design change database 18 that stores information useful for designing CAD data.
The design support device, for example, registers the CAD data designed by a veteran designer in 2016 in the design change database 18 (the stage of creating the design change database 18). Then, the design support device compares the contents of the CAD data designed by the new designer as of 2017 with the registered contents of the design change database 18, and as a result of the comparison, the veteran of the parts where the shapes of the CAD data are similar. The contents of the designer's design changes are presented to the new designer (the stage of using the design change database 18).

As a result, the new designer can indirectly know the design change contents of the veteran designer through the design change database 18 without directly facing the veteran designer and receiving guidance, and his / her own CAD data. Can be appropriately redesigned.
The expressions indicating the users of the design support device, such as veteran designers and new designers, are for the purpose of making the specification easier to understand, and the users of the design support device are limited to some users. It's not something to do.

The design support device has each processing unit called a CAD data designation unit 13 before and after the design change, a shape difference detection unit 16, and a design change registration unit 19 for the stage of creating the design change database 18. Storage that stores CAD data 11 before design change, CAD data 12 after design change, difference CAD data 14 before design change, difference CAD data 15 after design change, and design change knowledge data 17 as data handled by each processing unit. Has a part.

The CAD data designation unit 13 before and after the design change receives from a veteran designer the designation of the combination data of the CAD data 11 before the design change (FIG. 2 and the like) and the CAD data 12 after the design change (FIG. 3 and the like).
The shape difference detection unit 16 compares the CAD data 11 before the design change with the CAD data 12 after the design change, and detects the difference portion as the shape data. Then, the shape difference detection unit 16 sets the difference portion in the CAD data 11 before the design change as the difference CAD data 14 before the design change (FIG. 6 and the like), and sets the difference portion in the CAD data 12 after the design change as the difference CAD after the design change. It is registered as data 15 (such as FIG. 7) in the storage unit.

The design change registration unit 19 registers the combination data of the pre-design change difference CAD data 14 and the post-design change difference CAD data 15 which are the comparison results of the shape difference detection unit 16 in the design change database 18 as design change parts. Further, the design change registration unit 19 accepts the design change knowledge data 17 such as the reason for the design change regarding the design change part as an additional input from the veteran designer, and associates the design change knowledge data 17 with the combination data of the design change part. It may be registered in the design change database 18 (Fig. 12, etc.).

The design support device has each processing unit of a design target CAD data designation unit 21, a similar partial shape search unit 23, and a design change content display unit 24 for the usage stage of the design change database 18. As the data handled by each of the processing units, it has a storage unit that stores the design target CAD data 20 and the similar partial shape data 22.
The design target CAD data designation unit 21 receives the designation of the design target CAD data 20 this time from a new designer. That is, the design change content is checked for the design target CAD data 20 based on the registration content of the design change database 18.
The similar partial shape search unit 23 compares the shape data of the design target CAD data 20 with the shape data of the pre-design change difference CAD data 14 registered in the design change database 18, so that the similar portions of both data are similar. The shape is detected as similar partial shape data 22. It should be noted that the similar shape data (CAD data) in the present specification is not only when there is little difference between the two CAD data (when they are similar), but also when there is a difference between the two CAD data. Includes cases where it does not match (when it matches).

The design change content display unit 24 designs the design change difference CAD data 15 corresponding to the design change pre-difference CAD data 14 similar to the similar partial shape data 22 in the design target CAD data 20 to the design target CAD data 20. The screen is displayed on the input / output device 10 as a change proposal location (advice). In addition to the design change difference CAD data 15, the design change knowledge data 17 registered in the design change database 18 in association with the design change difference CAD data 15 may also be displayed on the display screen. Good.

As a result, the new designer can create the design target CAD data 20 by himself / herself based on the design change contents from the pre-design change difference CAD data 14 to the post-design change difference CAD data 15 made by the veteran designer in the past. The similar partial shape data 22 in can be appropriately modified.
In FIG. 1, each component (reference numerals 11 to 19) at the stage of creating the design change database 18 and each component (reference numerals 20 to 24) at the stage of using the design change database 18 are the same one design support device. It was explained as.
On the other hand, a first design support device (device for registering the design change database 18) having each component in the creation stage and a second design support device (device for using the design change database 18) having each component in the use stage. And may be used by different users (experienced designers, new designers) as separate devices.

Hereinafter, the configuration of the design support device will be clarified by explaining a specific example of the stage of creating the design change database 18 with reference to FIGS. 2 to 13.
The CAD data designation unit 13 before and after the design change receives the inputs of the CAD data 11 before the design change in FIG. 2 and the CAD data 12 after the design change in FIG. 3 and stores them in the storage unit.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an example of CAD data 11 before the design change.
FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an example of CAD data 12 after the design change.
As a design change of the hole-to-hole distance, a veteran designer increases the hole-to-hole distance of the two-hole shape 11-2, which is a part of the housing shape 11-1 of FIG. 2, to increase the hole-to-hole distance of the housing shape 12- of FIG. It has been changed to a 2-hole shape 12-2, which is a part of 1.
As a design change of the wall thickness, the veteran designer increases the wall thickness of the cylindrical hole shape 11-3, which is a part of the housing shape 11-1 of FIG. 2, to increase the wall thickness of the housing shape 12 of FIG. It has been changed to a cylindrical hole shape 12-3, which is a part of -1.
Due to these two types of design changes, the strength of the CAD data 12 (housing shape 12-1) after the design change is improved from the strength of the CAD data 11 (housing shape 11-1) before the design change.

For example, when the CAD data is saved, the CAD data designation unit 13 before and after the design change sets the previously saved data as the CAD data 11 before the design change and the current saved data as the CAD data 12 after the design change. As a result, the veteran designer can specify (input) the CAD data 11 before the design change and the CAD data 12 after the design change without any special operation.
Alternatively, the CAD data designation unit 13 before and after the design change may use the CAD data at the time of the first design review as the CAD data 11 before the design change and the CAD data at the time of the second design review as the CAD data 12 after the design change. That is, the CAD data designation unit 13 before and after the design change may accept the input of the combination data before and after the change for the CAD data changed before and after the design review. Alternatively, the CAD data designation unit 13 before and after the design change may accept input of CAD data before and after the design timing at any design timing other than the design review.

The shape difference detection unit 16 detects the difference shape between the CAD data 11 before the design change (FIG. 4) and the CAD data 12 after the design change (FIG. 5).
FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the difference shape 11-2 before the design change of the inter-hole distance.
FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the difference shape 12-2 after the design change of the inter-hole distance.
According to the following (Procedure 1) to (Procedure 3), the shape difference detection unit 16 uses the combination data of the CAD data 11 before the design change and the CAD data 12 after the design change, and the difference CAD data 14 before the design change and the CAD data 12 after the design change. The combination data with the difference CAD data 15 is created.

(Procedure 1) The shape difference detection unit 16 superimposes the CAD data 11 before the design change and the CAD data 12 after the design change, and sets the inconsistent shape elements (faces, lines, points) as the difference shape. For example, the first hole shape 14-1A in FIG. 4 and the first hole shape 15-1A in FIG. 5 are significantly different in position from the corner of the housing (plate), so that they do not match in the superposition process. It is detected as a difference shape. On the other hand, since the positions of the second hole shape 14-1B in FIG. 4 and the second hole shape 15-1B in FIG. 5 are almost the same from the corners of the housing, they match in the superposition process and have different shapes. It does not become.

As another form of (Procedure 1), the shape difference detecting unit 16 detects the difference shape from the CAD data 11 before the design change to the CAD data 12 after the design change by referring to the editing history of the CAD data. May be good. For example, in the order of operations performed by a veteran designer on the CAD editor, "Click to select the first hole shape 14-1A"-> "Drag to the position of the first hole shape 15-1A"-> "First hole shape" It is assumed that there is an editing history of CAD data "drop at position 15-1A". In this case, since the position of the first hole shape 14-1A has been moved to the position of the first hole shape 15-1A, the shape difference detection unit 16 detects those edited shapes as the difference shape.

(Procedure 2) The shape difference detection unit 16 pays attention to the difference shape specified in (Procedure 1) above, and focuses on the non-difference shape located in the vicinity of the difference shape, and the positional relationship between the difference shape and the non-difference shape. Detect dimensions and to identify.
For example, when the shape difference detecting unit 16 pays attention to the first hole shape 14-1A of FIG. 4 included in the two-hole shape 11-2, the shape difference detecting unit 16 is a non-difference shape located in the vicinity in the X direction shown in FIG. The two-hole shape 14-1B) and the dimension 14-1X are detected.
Similarly, focusing on the first hole shape 15-1A of FIG. 5 included in the two-hole shape 12-2, the shape difference detection unit 16 has a non-difference shape located in the vicinity in the X direction shown in FIG. (Second hole shape 15-1B) and dimensions 15-1X are detected.
On the other hand, the dimensions between the hole shape in the Y direction and the sides of the plate (plane-cylindrical surface distance dimension) 14-1Y and 15-1Y are equivalent to each other (because they are not related to design changes). , It does not have to be detected.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the difference CAD data 14-1 before the design change of the inter-hole distance.
FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing the difference CAD data 15-1 after the design change of the inter-hole distance.
(Procedure 3) The shape difference detection unit 16 captures the difference shape detected in (Procedure 1), the nearby non-difference shape detected in (Procedure 2), and the dimensional data detected in (Procedure 2). By associating with each other, combination data of the difference CAD data 14 before the design change and the difference CAD data 15 after the design change is created.
As the difference CAD data 14 before the design change, the two-hole shape 14-1 in FIG. 6 has the difference shape (first hole shape 14-1A) of (procedure 1) and the non-difference shape (second hole) of (procedure 2). It is composed of a shape 14-1B) and a dimension 14-1X.
As the difference CAD data 15 after the design change, the two-hole shape 15-1 in FIG. 7 has the difference shape (first hole shape 15-1A) of (procedure 1) and the non-difference shape (second hole) of (procedure 2). It is composed of a shape 15-1B) and a dimension 15-1X.

As described above, the processing contents of the shape difference detecting unit 16 regarding the design change of the inter-hole distance have been described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 7. Hereinafter, the processing contents of the shape difference detecting unit 16 regarding the design change of the wall surface thickness will be described with reference to FIGS. 8 to 11.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing the difference shape 11-3 before the design change of the wall surface thickness.
FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing the difference shape 12-3 after the design change of the wall surface thickness.
(Procedure 1) The shape difference detection unit 16 superimposes the CAD data 11 before the design change and the CAD data 12 after the design change, and makes the difference shape that does not match the cylindrical hole shape 14 in the cylindrical hole shape 11-3 of FIG. -2A and the cylindrical hole shape 15-2A in the cylindrical hole shape 12-3 of FIG. 9 are detected.

(Procedure 2) The shape difference detecting unit 16 detects the dimension by paying attention to the difference shape specified in the above (procedure 1). This time, the dimensions between the cylindrical hole shape 14-2A and the surrounding plate side (14-2X in the X direction, 14-2Y in the Y direction) are between the cylindrical hole shape 15-2A and the surrounding plate side. Since it was the same as the dimension of (15-2X in the X direction, 15-2Y in the Y direction), it is excluded from the detection target.
On the other hand, focusing on the dimensions of the cylindrical hole shape 14-2A itself (cylindrical surface radius difference dimension), the wall thickness dimension 14-2T of the cylindrical hole shape 14-2A and the wall thickness dimension 15-2T of the cylindrical hole shape 15-2A. The shape difference detection unit 16 detects these wall thickness dimensions 14-2T and 15-2T.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing the difference CAD data 14-2 before the design change of the wall surface thickness.
FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing the difference CAD data 15-2 after the design change of the wall surface thickness.
(Procedure 3) The shape difference detection unit 16 associates the difference shape detected in (Procedure 1) with the dimensional data detected in (Procedure 2) to correlate the difference CAD data 14 before the design change with the difference CAD data 14 after the design change. The combination data with the difference CAD data 15 is created.
As the difference CAD data 14 before the design change, the cylindrical hole shape 14-2 in FIG. 10 is the difference shape (cylindrical hole shape 14-2A) in (Procedure 1) and the wall thickness dimension 14-2T in (Procedure 2). It is composed.
As the difference CAD data 15 after the design change, the cylindrical hole shape 15-2 in FIG. 11 is the difference shape (cylindrical hole shape 15-2A) in (Procedure 1) and the wall thickness dimension 15-2T in (Procedure 2). It is composed.

The shape difference detection unit 16 has dimensions such that the design change portion of the inter-hole distance (FIGS. 6 and 7) and the design change portion of the wall surface thickness (FIGS. 10 and 11) are not adjacent to each other. It is desirable to detect it as an unrelated and independent one. As a result, even if the design change of the hole distance and the design change of the wall wall thickness are not performed at the same time, the proposal (advice) of the design change regarding one of the design changes is displayed on the screen to the new designer. it can.

FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram showing design change knowledge data 17-1 regarding a design change of the inter-hole distance.
The design change registration unit 19 further records the reason for the design change and the like with respect to the shape data (difference CAD data 14 before the design change and the difference CAD data 15 after the design change) of the design change part in the design process to be registered in the design change database 18. The design change knowledge data 17 that has been created may be associated and registered.

The design change knowledge data 17-1 is explanatory data of the design change from the pre-design change difference CAD data 14-1 in FIG. 6 to the post-design change difference CAD data 15-1 in FIG. 7. In this explanatory data, for example, a design change type, a design change reason, and a design status are recorded.
In the "design change type", types such as insufficient strength, performance improvement, cost reduction, and compliance with production engineering requirements are recorded.
"Reason for design change" includes "increased wall thickness to improve rigidity" and "reduced size to reduce cost". In addition, analysis results of strength simulation and design materials such as a cost calculation table may be recorded.
In the "design status", the status of the design change such as in-process design, completed design review, and shipped is registered. It is desirable that this design status is automatically updated in cooperation with the product component configuration management system such as BOM (Bill Of Material) and PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) and the design progress management system.

FIG. 13 is an explanatory diagram showing design change knowledge data 17-2 regarding a design change of the wall surface thickness.
The design change knowledge data 17-2 is explanatory data of the design change from the pre-design change difference CAD data 14-2 in FIG. 10 to the post-design change difference CAD data 15-2 in FIG. Similar to FIG. 12, the design change type, the reason for the design change, and the design status are recorded in this explanatory data.

As described above, a specific example of the stage of creating the design change database 18 has been described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 13. As a result, the contents of the design changes of the veteran designer are reflected in the design change database 18.
Hereinafter, specific examples of the usage stages of the design change database 18 will be described with reference to FIGS. 14 to 16. From here, a case where a new designer uses a design support device will be described.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view showing CAD data 20-1 to be designed.
The design target CAD data designation unit 21 receives an input of the design target CAD data 20 from a new designer. The design target CAD data designation unit 21 may accept input of CAD data active on the CAD system designated by a new designer, for example. Alternatively, the design target CAD data designation unit 21 may accept the input of the CAD data before the design review.

The similar partial shape search unit 23 searches for a partial shape similar to the pre-design change difference CAD data 14 registered in the design change database 18 with respect to the input design target CAD data 20, and the design hit in the search. The partial shape in the target CAD data 20 is referred to as the similar partial shape data 22.
For example, the similar partial shape search unit 23 has a two-hole shape 22-1 similar to the pre-design change CAD data 14-1 of the inter-hole distance in FIG. 6 and a pre-design change difference CAD data of the wall surface thickness in FIG. A cylindrical hole shape 22-2 similar to 14-2 is detected, respectively.

As a method for evaluating the similarity of CAD data by the similar partial shape search unit 23, for example, the technique disclosed in the following prior literature can be used.
-Technology disclosed in "Hongshen Wang, Lin Zhang and Yonggui Zhang," Partial Matching of 3D CAD Models with Attribute Graph ", Applied Mechanics and Materials, Vol.528 (2014), pp.302-309".
・ In "Makoto Onodera, 4 others," Development of similar partial shape recognition technology for boundary representation 3D-CAD model ", Proceedings of the 25th Design Engineering and Systems Division Lecture Meeting of the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers (2015)" Disclosure technology.

In the method in which the similar partial shape search unit 23 evaluates the similarity, whether or not the partial shape CAD data designated as the search key is included in the CAD data to be searched is quantified by an index called similarity. .. Further, this similarity is a weighted average of the similarity in the constitutive geometry unit in the constitutive geometry (face or line) of the CAD data. The similarity in the constituent geometric shape units is calculated based on geometric information such as area, line length, surface type (plane, cylindrical surface, free curved surface, etc.), curvature, and the like. This method is a method of determining whether or not the partial shape CAD data is included in the CAD data to be searched.

FIG. 15 is an example of a display screen for changing the design of the inter-hole distance.
The design change content display unit 24 refers to the pre-design change difference CAD data 14 searched by the similar partial shape search unit 23 as being similar to the similar partial shape data 22, after the design change corresponding to the pre-design change difference CAD data 14. The difference CAD data 15 and the design change knowledge data 17 are read from the design change database 18.
Then, the design change content display unit 24 displays the design change content read from the design change database 18 in association with each other, such as by dividing and displaying one screen.

In FIG. 15, in the left side area of the screen, the design change content display unit 24 is similar to the design change CAD data 20-1 of FIG. 14 and the difference CAD data 14-1 of the inter-hole distance in FIG. 6 before the design change. The portion of the similar partial shape data 22-1H is highlighted. The highlighting is, for example, a hatching display, a thick line display of a boundary line, a color change display from another place, or the like. This highlighting helps new designers discover where to adopt past design changes from veteran designers in this design.

In the upper right area of the screen of FIG. 15, the design change content display unit 24 displays the difference CAD data 15-1 after the design change of the inter-hole distance of FIG. 7 as a design change proposal for the similar partial shape data 22-1H. This proposed design change helps new designers understand how veteran designers will reflect past design changes in this design.

In the lower right area of the screen of FIG. 15, the design change content display unit 24 displays the design change knowledge data 17-1 regarding the design change of the inter-hole distance of FIG. 12 as explanatory data of the design change proposal. This explanatory data helps new designers decide whether or not to adopt the design changes made by veteran designers in the past in this design.

FIG. 16 is an example of a display screen for changing the design of the wall surface thickness. Similar to the display screen example of FIG. 15, the design change content display unit 24 displays the design change content of the wall wall thickness read from the design change database 18 in association with each other, such as by dividing and displaying one screen.
In the left side area of the screen, the design change content display unit 24 highlights the portion of the similar partial shape data 22-2H similar to the pre-design change difference CAD data 14-2 of the wall surface thickness of FIG.
In the upper right area of the screen, the design change content display unit 24 displays the difference CAD data 15-2 after the design change of the wall surface thickness of FIG. 11 as a design change proposal for the similar partial shape data 22-2H.
In the lower right area of the screen, the design change content display unit 24 displays the design change knowledge data 17-2 regarding the design change of the wall surface thickness of FIG. 13 as explanatory data of the design change proposal.

As described above, a specific example of the usage stage of the design change database 18 has been described with reference to FIGS. 14 to 16.
The design support device of the present embodiment described above is related to assistive technology for creating three-dimensional shape data, and guides appropriate shape data creation work based on the past design process, especially when creating three-dimensional shape data. The main feature is to do.
Here, the design is changed to the CAD data 12 after the design change because the veteran designer notices that the CAD data 11 before the design change has some problems or improvements. That is, the result of solving the problem included in the difference CAD data 14 before the design change is the difference CAD data 15 after the design change.

Therefore, the shape difference detection unit 16 detects the difference in shape between the CAD data 11 before the design change and the CAD data 12 after the design change, and the difference CAD data 14 before the design change and the difference CAD data after the design change, which are the detection results. It is stored in the design change database 18 in association with 15.
As a result, at the stage of creating the design change database 18, the design change database 18 is automatically updated without the veteran designer manually inputting a specific constraint rule such as "the distance between holes should be 3 cm or more". Will be done. Further, the veteran designer may register the design change knowledge data 17 as additional information in the design change database 18, and in that case, the reason for the design change can be notified to the new designer.

After that, the similar partial shape search unit 23 suggests the similar partial shape data 22 which is a partial shape similar to the pre-design change difference CAD data 14 from the design target CAD data 20 as a design change candidate location. Further, the design change content display unit 24 suggests the post-design change difference CAD data 15 as a problem-solving plan for the detected similar partial shape data 22.
As a result, at the stage of using the design change database 18, a new designer only needs to input the data of the entire housing called the design target CAD data 20 once, and does not have to specify a part from the data of the entire housing. , Similar partial shape data 22 is automatically searched. Therefore, even for a new designer, the time and effort required for the operation of using the design support device can be reduced.

Hereinafter, FIGS. 17 to 21 show a mechanism for improving the design change database 18 in terms of registered contents and usage methods.
FIG. 17 is a plan view showing an example in which the shape difference detecting unit 16 detects the distance between holes in a two-hole shape as a dimension.
FIG. 18 is a plan view showing an example in which the shape difference detecting unit 16 detects a two-hole shaped hole-housing end distance as a dimension.
For example, it is assumed that the shape difference detection unit 16 detects the second hole shape 91B as a difference shape in (Procedure 1). Next, the shape difference detecting unit 16 detects the dimension related to the second hole shape 91B in (Procedure 2). Here, even if the same difference shape (second hole shape 91B) is focused on, when determining the distance from the non-difference shape around it, it is necessary to determine which non-difference shape to detect as a dimension. ..

As a first candidate, a hole distance 92A (FIG. 17) between the second hole shape 91B in the housing 91X and the first hole shape 91A can be mentioned. As a second candidate, a distance 92B (FIG. 18) between the second hole shape 91B in the housing 91X and the end of the housing can be mentioned. Since both of these two candidates have dimensions for specifying the position of the second hole shape 91B in the X-axis direction, either candidate may be adopted.
Here, it is desirable that the shape difference detection unit 16 adopts the candidate having the shortest distance among the plurality of candidates. For example, since the inter-hole distance 92A is shorter than the distance 92B from the housing end, the shape difference detecting unit 16 adopts the inter-hole distance 92A. This makes it easier to select the dimensions that caused the design change.

FIG. 19 is a plan view showing an example in which weights are set for each dimension as an example of the pre-design change difference CAD data 14 registered in the design change database 18.
For example, it is assumed that the shape difference detection unit 16 detects the first hole shape 14-9A as the difference shape in (Procedure 1). Next, in (Procedure 2), the shape difference detecting unit 16 determines that the second hole shape 14-9B located around the difference shape and the inter-hole distance 14-9X to the second hole shape 14-9B. It is assumed that the hole-housing end distance 14-9Y in the Y direction is detected from the first hole shape 14-9A.

The shape difference detection unit 16 measures the weights of the hole distance 14-9X and the hole-housing end distance 14-9Y as the dimensions of the pre-design change CAD data 14-9 registered in the design change database 18. It may be changed and registered for each. The calculation method of this weight is as follows, for example.
-The larger the amount of change before and after the design change, the larger the weight.
-Increase the weight of the dimension that changed before and after the design change, and decrease the weight even if the dimension did not change.
That is, when the veteran designer greatly widens the hole distance 14-9X, the shape difference detection unit 16 increases the weight of the hole distance 14-9X (thick line arrow), and the thin hole-housing related to the design change. Reduce the weight of the body-end distance 14-9Y (thin arrow).

FIG. 20 is a plan view showing a first example of the design target CAD data 20 in which the similar partial shape search unit 23 compares with the pre-design change difference CAD data 14-9 of FIG.
FIG. 21 is a plan view showing a second example of the design target CAD data 20 in which the similar partial shape search unit 23 compares with the pre-design change difference CAD data 14-9 of FIG.
In the design target CAD data 20-8 of the first example, the hole distance 20-8X between the first hole shape 20-8A and the second hole shape 20-8B is dissimilar to the hole distance 14-9X. On the other hand, the hole-housing end distance 20-8Y in the Y direction from the first hole shape 20-8A is similar to the hole-housing end distance 14-9Y.
In the CAD data 20-9 to be designed in the second example, the hole distance 20-9X between the first hole shape 20-9A and the second hole shape 20-9B is similar to the hole distance 14-9X. On the other hand, the hole-housing end distance 20-9Y in the Y direction from the first hole shape 20-9A is dissimilar to the hole-housing end distance 14-9Y.

In this case, the similar partial shape search unit 23 detects the similar partial shape data 22 with reference to the weights of the dimensions set in FIG. That is, paying attention to the inter-hole distance 14-9X having a large weight, the design target CAD data 20-9 of the second example similar to the inter-hole distance 14-9X is detected as the similar partial shape data 22. On the other hand, the design target CAD data 20-8 of the first example, which is dissimilar at the inter-hole distance 14-9X having a large weight, is excluded from the detection target.
When comparing the degree of similarity between the pre-design change CAD data 14 including a plurality of individually weighted dimensions and the design target CAD data 20, the similar partial shape search unit 23 first resembles each dimension. Calculate the degree. Then, the similar partial shape search unit 23 determines that the total similarity is "similar" when the total similarity obtained by weighting and adding the weight for each dimension to the similarity exceeds the threshold for determining similarity.
As a result, the similar partial shape search unit 23 can focus on the dimensional value for which the design has been changed, and the usefulness is improved.

In addition, in FIGS. 19 to 21, an example in which the dimension in the X direction (distance between holes) is made larger than the dimension in the Y direction (distance between the hole and the end of the housing) is shown, but other than this example, it is detected. Separate weights may be set for each dimension.
For example, the shape difference detection unit 16 registers the pre-design change difference CAD data 14 in which the weight of the dimension of the inter-hole distance is set larger than the dimension of the hole diameter in the two-hole shape in the design change database 18. Then, the similar partial shape search unit 23 searches for a partial portion in the design target CAD data 20 in which the hole diameter is different from the registered design change pre-difference CAD data 14 but the hole distance is similar. Can be done. That is, paying attention to the essence of the constraint rule of the inter-hole distance with an increased weight, it is possible to detect many similar partial shape data 22 in that portion.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and includes various modifications. For example, the above-described embodiment has been described in detail in order to explain the present invention in an easy-to-understand manner, and is not necessarily limited to those having all the described configurations.
Further, it is possible to replace a part of the configuration of one embodiment with the configuration of another embodiment, and it is also possible to add the configuration of another embodiment to the configuration of one embodiment.
Further, it is possible to add / delete / replace a part of the configuration of each embodiment with another configuration. Further, each of the above configurations, functions, processing units, processing means and the like may be realized by hardware by designing a part or all of them by, for example, an integrated circuit.
Further, each of the above configurations, functions, and the like may be realized by software by the processor interpreting and executing a program that realizes each function.

Information such as programs, tables, and files that realize each function can be stored in memory, hard disks, recording devices such as SSDs (Solid State Drives), IC (Integrated Circuit) cards, SD cards, DVDs (Digital Versatile Discs), etc. Can be placed on the recording medium of.
In addition, the control lines and information lines indicate those that are considered necessary for explanation, and do not necessarily indicate all the control lines and information lines in the product. In practice, it can be considered that almost all configurations are interconnected.
Further, the communication means for connecting each device is not limited to the wireless LAN, and may be changed to a wired LAN or other communication means.

10 Input / output device 11 CAD data before design change (shape data before design change)
12 CAD data after design change (shape data after design change)
13 CAD data specification part before and after design change 14 Difference CAD data before design change (design change difference data)
15 Difference CAD data after design change (design change difference data)
16 Shape difference detection unit 17 Design change knowledge data 18 Design change database 19 Design change registration unit 20 Design target CAD data (shape data for checking)
21 Design target CAD data specification unit 22 Similar part shape data 23 Similar part shape search unit 24 Design change content display unit

Claims (5)

It accepts the input of the shape data before the design change and the shape data after the design change, detects the changed part as the difference shape data in both input shape data, and the design change content of the detected difference shape data. A shape difference detector that detects dimensional data to identify
A design change registration unit that registers the design change difference data in which the detected difference shape data and the dimension data are associated with each other in the design change database.
A similar partial shape search unit that accepts input of check shape data and searches for partial shape data of the check shape data similar to the design change difference data registered in the design change database.
Have a, and design changes display unit for displaying a proposed location of the similar partial shape retrieval unit design change part shape data of the check shape data searched,
The shape difference detecting unit regards a portion that is different by superimposing the input shape data before the design change and the shape data after the design change as a portion changed by both shape data, and the difference. A design support device characterized by using shape data. It accepts the input of the shape data before the design change and the shape data after the design change, detects the changed part as the difference shape data in both input shape data, and the design change content of the detected difference shape data. A shape difference detector that detects dimensional data to identify
A design change registration unit that registers the design change difference data in which the detected difference shape data and the dimension data are associated with each other in the design change database.
A similar partial shape search unit that accepts input of check shape data and searches for partial shape data of the check shape data similar to the design change difference data registered in the design change database.
Have a, and design changes display unit for displaying a proposed location of the similar partial shape retrieval unit design change part shape data of the check shape data searched,
The design change registration unit registers the design change difference data in which the detected difference shape data and the dimensional data are associated with the input design change knowledge data in the design change database.
The design change content display unit is characterized in that it also displays the design change knowledge data of the design change difference data searched by the similar partial shape search unit for the proposed part of the design change to be displayed. apparatus. It accepts the input of the shape data before the design change and the shape data after the design change, detects the changed part as the difference shape data in both input shape data, and the design change content of the detected difference shape data. A shape difference detector that detects dimensional data to identify
A design change registration unit that registers the design change difference data in which the detected difference shape data and the dimension data are associated with each other in the design change database.
A similar partial shape search unit that accepts input of check shape data and searches for partial shape data of the check shape data similar to the design change difference data registered in the design change database.
Have a, and design changes display unit for displaying a proposed location of the similar partial shape retrieval unit design change part shape data of the check shape data searched,
When the design change difference data is registered in the design change database, the design change registration unit sets and registers individual weights for each of the detected dimensional data.
The similar partial shape search unit determines the similarity between the input check shape data and the design change difference data registered in the design change database according to the weights registered in the design change database. A design support device characterized by this. It accepts the input of the shape data before the design change and the shape data after the design change, detects the changed part as the difference shape data in both input shape data, and the design change content of the detected difference shape data. A shape difference detector that detects dimensional data to identify
A design change registration unit that registers the design change difference data in which the detected difference shape data and the dimension data are associated with each other in the design change database.
A similar partial shape search unit that accepts input of check shape data and searches for partial shape data of the check shape data similar to the design change difference data registered in the design change database.
Have a, and design changes display unit for displaying a proposed location of the similar partial shape retrieval unit design change part shape data of the check shape data searched,
When a plurality of the dimensional data for specifying the position of the difference shape data are detected, the shape difference detecting unit adopts the shortest of the dimensional data as the dimensional data to be registered in the design change registration unit. A design support device characterized by this. The design support device has a shape difference detection unit, a design change registration unit, a similar partial shape search unit, and a design change content display unit.
The shape difference detection unit receives input of shape data before design change and shape data after design change, detects a portion changed by both input shape data as difference shape data, and detects the difference. Detects dimensional data to identify design changes for shape data,
The design change registration unit registers the design change difference data in which the detected difference shape data and the dimension data are associated with each other in the design change database.
The similar partial shape search unit receives the input of the check shape data, searches the partial shape data of the check shape data similar to the design change difference data registered in the design change database, and searches for the partial shape data.
The design change content display unit displays the partial shape data of the check shape data searched by the similar partial shape search unit as a design change proposal location .
The shape difference detecting unit regards a portion that is different by superimposing the input shape data before the design change and the shape data after the design change as a portion changed by both shape data, and the difference. A design support method characterized by using shape data.

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