Design support device, design support method, and design support program

Abstract

To support consideration of an efficient design plan by enabling the prevention or suppression of unintended performance deterioration caused by recognition leakage of requirement specifications.SOLUTION: A design support device 10 for supporting a design for a product includes a storage part for storing design information, an input part 100 for receiving the design information, a shape information extraction part 101 for extracting shape information showing the shape and arrangement of each component constituting the product and attribute information showing attributes from the design information, an inter-component relationship calculation part 102 for calculating inter-component information showing inter-component relationships to other components in an own component being a designated component among components constituting the product on the basis of the extracted shape information, and a requirement specification estimation part 103 for estimating requirement specifications required to the own component on the basis of the calculated inter-component information and the attribute information.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a technology for assisting in the consideration of product design proposals.

Background Art

[0002] In recent years, in the manufacturing industry, efforts have been demanded to reduce the environmental impact associated with products and their manufacturing. In addition to the above, it is necessary to consider design proposals that satisfy multiple requirement specifications such as product performance, cost, and reliability based on customer requirements. These requirement specifications include, in addition to customer requirements, those determined by the influence between components constituting the product. For example, for components close to heat sources such as heaters and circuit boards provided in components of a certain product, heat resistance is required as a requirement specification so as to withstand temperature information due to heat generation. In the future, it is expected that the types and number of requirement specifications to be satisfied will increase due to stricter compliance with environmental regulations and legal regulations.

[0003] In order to realize a design proposal that satisfies such requirement specifications, it is originally necessary to grasp the requirement specifications corresponding to all components constituting the product and consider design proposals that satisfy each of them. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses assisting in determining the design specifications of a steel pipe for a hollow member that satisfies the required life according to the component design. Specifically, first, based on the design load and design shape of the hollow member of the steel pipe, the stress state during use of the hollow member is predicted. Next, based on the steel component, heat treatment conditions, inner surface shape, and design shape of the steel pipe for the hollow member, the predicted fatigue life of the hollow member is obtained, and the predicted fatigue life of the hollow member is compared with the required fatigue life. As a result, if the predicted fatigue life is equal to or greater than the required fatigue life, it is determined as the design specification. Furthermore, Patent Document 1 discloses that if the predicted fatigue life is less than the required fatigue life, any one or two or more of the steel component, heat treatment conditions, inner surface shape, and design shape are changed to prompt a redo from the prediction stage.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

PROBLEMS TO BE SOLVED BY THE INVENTION

[0005] In Patent Document 1, in order to satisfy the usage conditions and the required fatigue life of the hollow member of the steel pipe, the material and shape of the steel pipe are optimized. The usage conditions and the required fatigue life are based on a predefined state, and do not estimate those similar to the types and items of the required specifications. Furthermore, in order to optimize the material and shape specialized for the steel pipe, it aims to determine the design specifications for various design parameters such as the inner surface shape and the designed shape. Therefore, it is difficult to estimate the required specifications in consideration of the relationships between the components constituting the product. Here, the relationships between the components mean, for example, the adjacent relationships between components and the component attributes such as the component names. In Patent Document 1, the required specifications for its own component cannot be specified based on this information.

[0006] From the above, an object of the present invention is to realize the estimation of the required specifications for products and components.

MEANS FOR SOLVING THE PROBLEM

[0007] In order to solve the above problems, in the present invention, the relationship between components and the attribute information indicating the relationship between components are specified based on the design information, and the required specifications of the components constituting the product are estimated from these. Note that as the design information, the 3D-CAD shape in the product to be designed can be used.

[0008] A more specific configuration is in a design support device that supports the design of a product, including a storage unit that stores design information, an input unit that receives the design information, a shape information extraction unit that extracts shape information indicating the shape and arrangement of each component constituting the product from the design information and attribute information indicating attributes, and based on the extracted shape information, a component relationship calculation unit that calculates component relationship information indicating the relationship between other components and a self-component, which is a specified component among the components constituting the product, and a required specification estimation unit that estimates the required specifications for the self-component based on the calculated component relationship information and the attribute information.

[0009] The present invention also includes a design support method by a design support device, a program for operating the design support device, and a storage medium storing this program. Furthermore, a design support system including the design support device and a design support method using the same are also included in the present invention.

[0010] Note that the product in the present invention means a design object and includes components, modules, units, assemblies, devices, equipment, systems, etc. Also, a component is a constituent element constituting a product and includes modules, units, assemblies, etc.

Effects of the Invention

[0011] According to the present invention, it becomes possible to easily estimate the required specifications for the components constituting a product. As a result, it is possible to prevent or suppress an unintended performance degradation caused by an oversight in recognizing the required specifications, and it is possible to support the consideration of an efficient design plan.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0012]

Figure 1

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Figure 8A

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Figure 9

Figure 10

Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0013] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, it is realized to prevent or suppress the setback caused by design changes in the design of a product. Here, in the design, it is unrealistic to manually grasp the required specifications associated with all the parts constituting the product, and if the required specifications are inadvertently overlooked, it is impossible to notice the performance degradation before and after the design change and the check will be missed. As a result, on the later process side of the design, it may be found that the heat - resistant temperature is insufficient or the strength is insufficient, which may lead to setbacks.

[0014] Therefore, in the present embodiment, the required specifications for the components constituting the product are estimated and presented. More specifically, in the design support apparatus 10 of the present embodiment, in the components constituting the product, the required specifications for each component are estimated from the relationship between the component itself and other components, and rework caused by defects occurring on the subsequent process side due to omission of the required specifications is prevented. As a result, the creation of the design plan can be supported efficiently. Hereinafter, each example which is a specific example of the present embodiment will be described.

Example

[0015] In Example 1, a coffee maker will be described as an example of the product.

[0016] (Device Configuration) FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of the design support apparatus 10 according to Example 1. The design support apparatus 10 estimates the required specifications for the components constituting the coffee maker which is the product, and presents this to the user. For this purpose, the design support apparatus 10 includes an input unit 100, a shape information extraction unit 101, a component relationship calculation unit 102, a required specification estimation unit 103, and an output unit 104. First, the input unit 100 receives the 3D-CAD shape of the entire coffee maker or the components constituting the coffee maker. Here, the input unit 100, the 3D-CAD shape is an example of the design information. Furthermore, although it is desirable for the design support apparatus 10 to have a storage unit that stores the design information represented by the 3D-CAD shape, the storage unit may be realized by a device separate from the design support apparatus 10.

[0017] In addition, the shape information extraction unit 101 extracts shape information and attribute information for each component constituting the coffee maker from the received 3D-CAD shape. Here, the shape information is information regarding the shape and arrangement of the coffee maker to be designed and each component constituting the same, and includes information regarding the shape such as geometric constraint conditions, dimensional values, and center of gravity position. Further, the attribute information is information indicating attributes regarding the component, and is information in which attribute information regarding the component (information also referred to as 3DA information) such as component name and material type is associated with the 3D-CAD shape. Further, the inter-component relationship calculation unit 102 calculates inter-component information indicating the relationship between components such as the proximity relationship and the arrangement relationship between components in the specified component among the components of the coffee maker based on the extracted shape information. Note that the inter-component relationship calculation unit 102 may calculate inter-component information regarding each component constituting the coffee maker.

[0018] In addition, the required specification estimation unit 103 estimates the required specifications for the specified component based on the calculated inter-component information and attribute information. The output unit 104 outputs at least the required specifications obtained by the required specification estimation unit 103. Further, in the required specification estimation unit 103, it is desirable to estimate candidates or required specifications for the required specifications for the own component by referring to the attribute information of the own component and other components in a proximity relationship with this, and considering the relationship between the attribute information and the proximity relationship. Hereinafter, candidates or required specifications for the required specifications will be simply referred to as required specifications. Further, the output unit 104 may be configured to output a combination result including the corresponding component and the required specifications, or the 3D-CAD shape. Note that the output unit 104 can be realized as a communication unit that communicates the required specifications or a display unit that displays the same.

[0019] (Processing Flow) Next, the processing flow according to the first embodiment will be described. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of the design support apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment.

[0020] First, the shape information extraction unit 101 reads the 3D-CAD shape received by the input unit 100 (step S200). This 3D-CAD shape includes shape information and attribute information. Here, the shape information is information regarding the shape of the coffee maker and each component constituting the same, and geometric constraint conditions, dimensional values, the center of gravity position, etc. can be used. Further, the attribute information is information regarding the attributes of the coffee maker and each component constituting the same, and the part name, material type, its function, features, etc. can be used. Note that so-called 3DA (3D Annotated) can be used for the attribute information. Also, the shape information extraction unit 101 may read the 3D-CAD shape of a part (own part) specified by the user, or for this purpose, the input unit 100 may receive the 3D-CAD shape of the own part.

[0021] Next, the shape information extraction unit 101 extracts shape information from the read 3D-CAD shape (step S201). At this time, it may be extracted using an existing function on the 3D-CAD software or via a dedicated processing program for extracting feature amounts of geometric shapes.

[0022] Next, the shape information extraction unit 101 extracts attribute information from the read 3D-CAD shape (step S202). Generally, the 3D-CAD shape is equipped with a function for registering the part name, material type, etc. Therefore, the attribute information can be extracted using a macro or an existing function on the 3D-CAD software. Note that when there is no attribute information in the read 3D-CAD shape, the user may be prompted to register the part name, attribute information, etc. For this purpose, the shape information extraction unit 101 determines whether there is no attribute information in the read 3D-CAD shape, and if there is none, outputs information prompting the registration of the attribute information via the output unit 104.

[0023] After step S203 and onwards, it is the processing of the component relationship calculation unit 102. In the component relationship calculation unit 102, each step is executed using the shape information extracted by the shape information extraction unit 101. Specifically, in the component relationship calculation unit 102, component information such as the proximity relationship, adjacency relationship, and arrangement relationship between components is calculated from the shape information (step S203). Here, "between components" refers to between the own component and other components, or between each component that makes up the coffee maker. Also, at this time, for the components, the adjacency relationship between components can be grasped from constraint conditions such as fastening conditions and matching conditions, and the proximity relationship can be grasped by comparing the center of gravity positions.

[0024] Furthermore, in addition to this adjacency relationship and proximity relationship, the feature amounts of the geometric shape in the shape information of the own component can be used. In this case, it is also possible to grasp the arrangement relationship regarding the component layout, such as whether a certain specific component is a design shape on the outer surface of the product, and the relationship between components may be obtained by various arithmetic processes. That is, in the component relationship calculation unit 102, component information including the arrangement relationship indicating whether the own component is a design shape on the outer surface of the product is calculated.

[0025] Next, in the component relationship calculation unit 102, based on the calculated component information, it is determined whether there are other components in a relationship (proximity relationship or adjacency relationship) that satisfies a predetermined condition with the own component (step S204). As a result, if there are other components that satisfy the predetermined condition (YES), the process proceeds to step S205. On the other hand, if there are no other components that satisfy the predetermined condition (NO), the process transitions to step S210. Here, the own component may be specified at the time of this step, or may be specified in advance. Also, in the component relationship calculation unit 102, a process for prompting the designation of other components as the own component is performed (step S210). For example, the component relationship calculation unit 102 outputs information for prompting the designation as the own component via the output unit 104.

[0026] Then, in the component relationship calculation unit 102, it is determined whether the self-component specified according to step S210 is included in the 3D-CAD shape read in step S200 (step S211). As a result, if it is included (YES), the process proceeds to step S201. If it is not included (NO), the process proceeds to step S200. In this case, the input unit 100 receives the 3D-CAD shape including the specified self-component, and the shape information extraction unit 101 reads this.

[0027] Hereinafter, in steps S205 and subsequent steps, the process of the required specification estimation unit 103 is executed based on the results of the shape information extraction unit 101 and the component relationship calculation unit 102. First, in the required specification estimation unit 103, for the self-component, based on the component information, a process of generating a set group of the self-component and other components in a proximity relationship or an adjacency relationship with this (step S205) is performed. Here, as the adjacency relationship, in addition to the fact that there is no component between the self-component and the other component, such as direct connection, it can be used that the number of components between the components is equal to or less than a predetermined number. For this purpose, the adjacency relationship can be determined by whether it is equal to or less than a predetermined adjacency threshold value. Also, as the proximity relationship, it can be used that the distance between the components is equal to or less than a proximity threshold value. Note that the proximity threshold value is a value larger than the adjacency threshold value. Furthermore, it is desirable that these proximity threshold value and adjacency threshold value are preset in a storage unit or the like.

[0028] Next, the required specification estimation unit 103 refers to the attribute information of the self-component and other components constituting the generated set group, and estimates the required specification for the self-component. Then, the required specification estimation unit 103 combines and outputs the estimated required specifications (step S206). Here, an example of more specific processing contents of steps S205 and S206 will be described.

[0029] First, in step S205, the requirement specification estimation unit 103 searches for other components that are in a proximity relationship or an adjacency relationship with an arbitrary own component from the 3D-CAD shape based on the component relationship information obtained by the component relationship calculation unit 102. Then, the requirement specification estimation unit 103 generates a set in which the searched other component and the own component are associated. At this time, it is desirable to associate the own component and the other component one-to-one in the set, but they may also be associated one-to-N or M-to-N. The threshold values (proximity threshold value and adjacency threshold value) that define this proximity relationship or adjacency relationship may be defined, for example, from the representative dimension of the product. Note that the component relationship calculation unit 102 can change this threshold value according to the designation from the user via the input unit 100. That is, the threshold value for determining the strength (degree) of the relationship between components can be made variable.

[0030] Also, for example, for the own component A, the set with the other component B in the adjacency relationship is generated as own component A - other component B. A plurality of sets with the other component C in the proximity relationship may be generated as own component A - other component C. Here, generally, a plurality of sets with the own component are often generated, so they are referred to as a set group below, but the set may also be singular.

[0031] In step S206, the requirement specification estimation unit 103 refers to the attribute information associated with the component, such as the component name and material type, which are the attribute information of the self-component and other components, based on the attribute information obtained by the shape information extraction unit 101. In response to this, the requirement specification estimation unit 103 estimates the requirement specifications required for the self-component based on the attribute information. Then, the requirement specification estimation unit 103 combines the 3D-CAD shape of the self-component and the estimated requirement specifications and outputs them via the output unit 104. Here, for the requirement specifications, the natural language processing technology may be utilized to estimate the requirement specifications with a high frequency of occurrence from past performance or from those with application performance in the same set. Further, the requirement specifications may be estimated by referring to the database in which the requirement specifications are stored and in relation to the attribute information. For example, in the above-mentioned self-component A - other component B, assume that the component name, which is the attribute information of the other component B, is "heater". In this case, as the requirement specifications required for the self-component A, which is close to the "heater", i.e., the heat source, heat resistance is estimated as the requirement specification. The information that the "heater" is a heat source may be registered in the dictionary as a term and recognized by utilizing the dictionary.

[0032] In the above processing flow, the proximity relationship and adjacency relationship are used as the inter-component information, but the similarity information indicating the similarity between the self-component and other components may also be used. More specifically, the inter-component relationship calculation unit 102 calculates the similarity information indicating the similarity between the self-component and other components and identifies the other components within a preset similarity threshold. Further, with this processing flow, it becomes possible to change the design (shape, attributes, etc.) of the self-component. For example, in response to a change instruction from the user to the input unit 100, the requirement specification estimation unit 103 or a design unit (not shown) changes the design of the self-component and updates the 3D-CAD shape 154. When the self-component is thus changed and the changed self-component becomes the other component, each step of this processing flow is executed using the changed 3D-CAD shape 154. With the above, the description of the processing flow of Example 1 is completed, and subsequently, the GUI of Example 1 and the information used in Example 1 will be described.

[0033] (GUI and Information) Figures 3 and 4 are diagrams showing the GUI screens of the CAD model simulating the coffee maker according to Example 1. First, in the GUI screen 300 shown in FIG. 3, an overall image of the CAD model of the coffee maker is displayed. In the GUI screen 400 shown in FIG. 4, a cross-sectional view of the CAD model of the coffee maker is displayed. Here, as shown in FIG. 3, the coffee maker that is the design object of Example 1 includes each component such as a base body 301, a pod 302, a handle 303, a tank 304, and a tank cover 305. Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the coffee maker has a heater 401 and a pod cover 402 in addition to the above-described components. The above GUI screens of FIGS. 3 and 4 are displayed on a display unit which is an example of the output unit 104. Further, in the present embodiment, an example of estimating the required specifications for the base body 301 for the coffee maker in the figure will be described hereinafter. That is, the base body 301 is regarded as its own component.

[0034] Next, the information used in Example 1 will be described. First, FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the shape information 155 extracted by the shape information extraction unit 101 according to Example 1. The shape information 155 is information regarding the shapes of the coffee maker and each component constituting the same. And in the present embodiment, the shape information 155 has, for example, items such as a product name 500, a component name 501, a constraint condition 502, a dimension value 503, and a center of gravity position 504.

[0035] First, the product name 500 is the name of the product that is the design object constituted by the components. In the present embodiment, as described above, the coffee maker is recorded as the product name 500. Further, the component name 501 is the component name of the component constituting the product. In the present embodiment, as described with reference to FIG. 3, the base body, the pod, etc. are recorded.

[0036] In addition, the constraint condition 502 is a condition indicating the fastening state with other components in the corresponding component and the alignment of the position of the corresponding component. For example, in the record 505 which is the corresponding component, as the constraint condition 502 of the base body, conditions such as plane alignment, concentricity and alignment with respect to the pod component, and alignment with respect to the heater component are recorded. Plane alignment means a condition where the lower end surface of the component aligns with the horizontal plane. Furthermore, in the record 506, as the constraint condition 502 of the heater, a condition of alignment is recorded with respect to the base body which is another component.

[0037] In addition, the dimensional value 503 is the outer dimension of the corresponding component. Furthermore, the center of gravity position 504 is the center of gravity position of the absolute coordinates during the assembly of the corresponding component. Here, by using the center of gravity position 504, the positional relationship between each component can be grasped. For example, from the positional relationship between the center of gravity positions of both the base body and the heater, it can be seen that the distance between the base body and the heater is close. From the above, the alignment of the constraint conditions is defined between the base body and the heater, and it can be seen from the shape information that the distance between the components is close.

[0038] In addition, FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the attribute information 156 extracted by the shape information extraction unit 101 according to the first embodiment. The attribute information 156 indicates the attributes of the components constituting the product to be designed. Therefore, the attribute information 156 has items such as the product name 600, the component name 601, and the material 602, for example. The product name 600 and the component name 601 are the same items as the shape information 155 shown in FIG. 5. Also, the material 602 indicates the material of the corresponding component. For example, in the record 603, it is recorded that the material 602 of the base body is ABS of a resin material. Also, in the record 604, 3003 of an aluminum alloy is recorded as the material 602 of the heater.

[0039] FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the component relationship information 157 calculated by the component relationship calculation unit 102 according to the first embodiment. The component relationship information 157 indicates the relationship between components and is calculated based on the constraint conditions and the centroid position of the shape information 155 shown in FIG. 5. Therefore, for example, the component relationship information 157 has items such as the product name 700, the component name 701, the adjacent relationship 702, and the proximity relationship 703. The product name 700 and the component name 701 are the same items as the shape information 155 shown in FIG. 5. The adjacent relationship 702 indicates a component that is in contact (directly connected) or interferes with another component with a distance of zero between the corresponding component (self-component) and the other component. To calculate this adjacent relationship 702, that is, to identify the components having the adjacent relationship 702, the constraint conditions 502 of the shape information 155 included in the 3D-CAD shape can be used for each component. That is, the other components recorded in the constraint conditions 502 for each component can be identified as the components of the adjacent relationship 702. Further, the adjacent relationship 702 may be obtained by performing an interference determination for each component using the shape information 155. More specifically, using the dimension value 503 and the centroid position 504, it is possible to determine whether the components interfere with each other.

[0040] The proximity relationship 703 indicates a component that is not in contact or interfering as much as the adjacent relationship but is close to the corresponding component. That is, it indicates a component whose distance from the corresponding self-component is less than or equal to a threshold value. This distance threshold is defined from the representative dimension of the product or the like, but may also be defined by the user. To calculate this proximity relationship 703, that is, to identify the other components in the proximity relationship with the corresponding self-component, a straight line can be generated in the normal direction from the surface of the component surface constituting the self-component, and it can be determined by whether there is another component that interferes with the straight line.

[0041] For example, in the record 704, three components, namely, the heater, the pod, and the tank, are recorded as components in the adjacent relationship with the base body. It is also recorded that there is no component in the proximity relationship with the base body. In the record 705, the base body is recorded as a component in the adjacent relationship with the heater, and the pod is recorded as a component in the proximity relationship.

[0042] Figures 8A and 8B are diagrams showing examples of GUI screens of the estimated requirement specifications according to Example 1. Figure 8A is a GUI screen 800 showing a cross-sectional view of a CAD model of a coffee maker that is the target of the requirement specifications. Figure 8B is a requirement specification registration menu screen 810 displayed when the requirement specifications are estimated.

[0043] The user first selects the base body 801 of the coffee maker as a self-part via the GUI screen 800 and presses the requirement specification estimation execution button 802. As a result, the requirement specification estimation unit 103 executes the estimation of the requirement specifications. That is, steps S205 and S206 are executed. Next, the requirement specification estimation unit 103 causes the requirement specification registration menu screen 810 to be displayed via the output unit 104. On the requirement specification registration menu screen 810, the base body 801 designated as the self-part is displayed in the self-part information 811. Further, in the other-part information 812, the heater 803, which is the adjacent relationship with the self-part shown in the corresponding record 704 of FIG. 7, is displayed. Note that in the other-part information 812, it is possible to select candidates for parts that are in an adjacent relationship as other parts. For example, the pod 804 and the tank 805 are also in a proximity relationship, and it is also possible to change other parts and reflect the display.

[0044] Then, the estimation result of the requirement specifications is displayed in the requirement specifications 813 for the self-part. Here, based on the relationship between parts and attribute information between the self-part and other parts, heat resistance and rigidity are displayed as requirement specifications for the base body 801 of the self-part. Heat resistance is required because the heater is in an adjacent relationship, and the base body must be able to withstand the temperature rise generated by the heater. Also, since the base body has many adjacent parts and is likely to be a structure that supports parts other than the self-part as shown by the restraint conditions and the center of gravity position in FIG. 5, it can be seen that rigidity is also necessary. Also, for this estimation, the requirement specifications may be presented using the term dictionary 158 described later, and the details will be described later.

[0045] As described above, the user can consider the design proposal after checking the required specifications of the base body, which is the self-component presented, and can prevent omission of the required specifications. Next, the term dictionary 158 used for estimating the required specifications will be described. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of the term dictionary 158 according to the first embodiment. The term dictionary 158 has items of keywords 900 and required specifications 901 related to components and products. As a result, the required specifications 901 are associated with the keywords 900. For example, as shown in FIG. 9, in record 902, "heater" is associated with "heat resistance", and in record 903, "base" is associated with "rigidity". Note that as the keyword 900, the component name or product name itself may be used, or its attribute information may be used.

[0046] Here, since the keyword "base" in record 903 includes a part of the "base body" which is a component, when the base body is specified as a self-component or other component, "rigidity" is estimated as the required specification. More specifically, as shown in FIG. 8B, as the required specifications for the "base body" in an adjacent relationship with the "heater", that is, the heat source, heat resistance and rigidity are estimated as the required specifications.

[0047] Also, the information that the "heater" is a heat source may be registered in the term dictionary 158 and utilized to estimate the required specifications.

[0048] As described above, by estimating the required specifications for the components constituting the product, it is possible to prevent the unintended performance degradation during design changes on the post-process side caused by omission of recognition of the required specifications, and to support the consideration of an efficient design proposal.

Example

[0049] Next, as Example 2, a realization example of the above-described design support apparatus 10 will be described. Hereinafter, a design support system 1 in which the functions of the design support apparatus 10 are implemented in a server will be described as an example. In this case, it can be realized by a so-called cloud system or on-premises, but the design support apparatus 10 may be implemented in a terminal device other than the server.

[0050] FIG. 10 is a system configuration diagram of a design support system 1 which is a realization example according to Example 2. The design support system 1 includes a design support apparatus 10, a database 20, and a terminal device 30, which are connected to each other via a network 40. The design support apparatus 10 and the terminal device 30 can be realized by computers that execute processing according to programs. However, it may be realized by dedicated hardware or the like instead of the program.

[0051] First, the design support apparatus 10 includes a communication device 11, a processing device 12, a main memory device 13, and an auxiliary storage device 14. These are connected to each other via an internal communication path such as a bus. Hereinafter, each component will be described.

[0052] First, the communication device 11 has a function of connecting various components of the design support apparatus 10 to other devices via the network 40. Note that the network 40 only needs to have a communication function, and its type such as the Internet is not limited. And the communication device 11 can realize the functions of the input unit 100 and the output unit 104 in FIG. 1.

[0053] Also, the processing device 12 is realized by a processor such as a CPU. That is, according to the program stored or expanded in the main memory device 13, the above-described analysis processing is executed.

[0054] Also, the main memory device 13 is realized by a storage medium such as a memory. And the main memory device 13 stores the program stored in the auxiliary storage device 14 and expands the program for processing in the processing device 12. In this way, it is desirable that each program is usually stored in another storage device or storage medium such as the auxiliary storage device 14.

[0055] In addition, the auxiliary storage device 14 stores various kinds of information and programs. The various kinds of information include 3D-CAD shapes 154, shape information 155, attribute information 156, inter-component information 157, and a term dictionary 158. Further, the various kinds of information may be stored in a database 20 other than the design support device 10. In FIG. 10, the 3D-CAD shape 154 is stored in the database 20, but other information may be stored in the database 20. Also, the database 20 may be omitted.

[0056] Furthermore, the program stored in the auxiliary storage device 14 is a design support program 15. This is a program for executing each process described in the first embodiment. Therefore, the design support program 15 has a shape information extraction module 151, an inter-component relationship calculation module 152, and a required specification estimation module 153. As a result, the processing device 12 executes each process of the shape information extraction unit 101, the inter-component relationship calculation unit 102, and the required specification estimation unit 103 according to the design support program 15. Note that each of these modules may be realized by an independent program.

[0057] Also, the auxiliary storage device 14 can be realized by a hard disk drive (HDD), a solid state drive (SSD), various optical disks, or the like.

[0058] Next, the terminal device 30 is used by the user and has the functions of the input unit 100 and the output unit 104. The input unit 100 can be realized by an input device such as a keyboard or a pointing device, and receives the user's operations. Also, the output unit 104 can be realized by a display device that displays the estimated required specifications, that is, the processing results of the processing device 12 such as the above-described various GUI screens.

[0059] With the above, the description of each embodiment is completed, but the present invention is not limited thereto. For example, the design target can also be applied to information systems other than products such as coffee makers. Further, the design target can be a design target of other hierarchies other than the two hierarchies such as parts and products. For example, the present invention can also be applied to a design target such as parts - sub - assembled products - units - products. In this case, the shape information 155, the attribute information 156, the inter - part information 157, and the term dictionary 158 will include items for each hierarchy.

Explanation of Signs

[0060] 1 Design support system 10 Design support device 11 Communication device 12 Processing device 13 Main memory device 14 Auxiliary storage device 100 Input section 101 Shape information extraction section 102 Inter - part relationship calculation section 103 Required specification estimation section 104 Output section 20 Database 30 Terminal device 40 Network

Claims

1. In a design support apparatus for supporting the design of a product, a storage unit that stores design information; an input unit that receives the design information; a shape information extraction unit that extracts shape information indicating the shape and arrangement of each component constituting the product and attribute information indicating attributes from the design information; a component relationship calculation unit that calculates component relationship information indicating the relationship between components of a self-component, which is a specified component among the components constituting the product, and other components based on the extracted shape information; A design support apparatus having a required specification estimation unit that estimates the required specifications for the self-component based on the calculated component relationship information and the attribute information.

2. In the design support apparatus according to Claim 1, the component relationship calculation unit calculates the proximity relationship and the adjacency relationship with the other components as the component relationship information.

3. In the design support apparatus according to Claim 2, the proximity relationship and the adjacency relationship are determined according to a preset threshold value, and the component relationship calculation unit changes the threshold value.

4. In the design support apparatus according to Claim 1, the component relationship calculation unit calculates the component relationship information including the arrangement relationship indicating whether the self-component is a design shape that is the outer surface of the product using the feature amount of the geometric shape of the self-component.

5. In the design support apparatus according to Claim 1, the component relationship calculation unit calculates similarity information indicating the similarity with the other components as the component relationship information.

6. In a design support method by a design support apparatus for supporting the design of a product, store design information in a storage unit; receive the design information by an input unit; extract shape information indicating the shape and arrangement of each component constituting the product and attribute information indicating attributes from the design information by a shape information extraction unit; calculate component relationship information indicating the relationship between components of a self-component, which is a specified component among the components constituting the product, and other components based on the extracted shape information by a component relationship calculation unit; A design support method for estimating the required specifications for the self-component based on the calculated component relationship information and the attribute information by a required specification estimation unit.

7. In the design support method according to Claim 6, the component relationship calculation unit calculates the proximity relationship and the adjacency relationship with the other components as the component relationship information.

8. In the design support method according to claim 7, the proximity relationship and the adjacency relationship are determined according to a preset threshold value, a design support method for changing the threshold value by the component relationship calculation unit.

9. In the design support method according to claim 6, a design support method for calculating the component information including the arrangement relationship indicating whether the self-component is a design shape that is the outer surface of the product by using the feature amount of the geometric shape of the self-component by the component relationship calculation unit.

10. In the design support method according to claim 6, a design support method for calculating similarity information indicating similarity with other components as the component information by the component relationship calculation unit.

11. A design support device, which is a computer, for supporting the design of a product, a storage unit for storing design information, an input unit for receiving the design information, a shape information extraction unit for extracting shape information indicating the shape and arrangement of each component constituting the product and attribute information indicating attributes from the design information, a component relationship calculation unit for calculating component information indicating the relationship between components of a self-component, which is a specified component among the components constituting the product, and other components based on the extracted shape information, a design support program for functioning as a required specification estimation unit for estimating the required specifications for the self-component based on the calculated component information and the attribute information.

12. In the design support program according to claim 11, the component relationship calculation unit is a design support program for calculating the proximity relationship and the adjacency relationship with other components as the component information.

13. In the design support program according to claim 12, the proximity relationship and the adjacency relationship are determined according to a preset threshold value, the component relationship calculation unit is a design support program for changing the threshold value.

14. In the design support program according to claim 11, the component relationship calculation unit is a design support program for calculating the component information including the arrangement relationship indicating whether the self-component is a design shape that is the outer surface of the product by using the feature amount of the geometric shape of the self-component.

15. In the design support program according to claim 11, the component relationship calculation unit is a design support program for calculating similarity information indicating similarity with other components as the component information.

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