Information processing device, information processing method, and information processing program

Abstract

The present invention provides an information processing device that can accurately calculate and estimate the size of irregularly shaped scraps discharged from a mold during processing such as press molding, in a simulation stage. [Solution] The system includes an acquisition unit for acquiring shape information of a member, a center of gravity calculation unit for calculating the center of gravity of the member, a first setting unit for setting a first virtual sphere with a radius that encloses the member centered on the center of gravity and setting the part of the member where the distance between the first virtual sphere and the member is the minimum length as the first endpoint, a second setting unit for setting a second virtual sphere with a radius that encloses the member centered on the first endpoint and setting the part of the member where the distance between the second virtual sphere and the member is the minimum length as the second endpoint, and a length calculation unit for calculating the distance between the first endpoint and the second endpoint as the maximum length of the member.

Description

Technical Field

[0005]

[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and an information processing program, and more particularly to an apparatus, a method, and a program for processing information for accurately predicting the size of fragments discharged from a mold during press working.

Background Art

[0002] For example, in press working, a metal plate of a workpiece is clamped by upper and lower molds. At this time, a molded member and a scrap of the metal plate are generated. The scrap generated during press molding comes off the mold and slides down a shooter or the like and is collected. Therefore, the dimensions and shape of the intermediate path are designed so that the scrap discharged during molding does not get stuck in the passage path of the shooter or the like in the middle.

[0003] Therefore, when constructing a press working apparatus, it is necessary to accurately estimate the size of the scrap discharged from the mold and then design the passage path of the shooter or the like. In particular, once a mold is attached to a press working apparatus and the passage path of the shooter or the like is configured, it is extremely difficult and unrealistic to change the shape of the passage path on site. From this, it has been considered to predict the size of the scrap that may be discharged at the stage of pre-design simulation and design the passage path of the scrap.

[0004] Currently, for the scrap for which discharge is assumed, the size is calculated based on CAD information (see Patent Documents 1, 2, etc.). However, the shape information by CAD is limited exclusively to molded products and molds, and it has not been easy to accurately grasp the scrap from the CAD information. Therefore, in view of the simplicity and accuracy in obtaining the size of the scrap, room for improvement has been revealed.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0005]

Patent Document 1

[0006] The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and provides an information processing device, an information processing method, and an information processing program that can accurately calculate and estimate the size of irregularly shaped scraps discharged from a mold during processing such as press molding, in a simulation stage. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] In other words, the information processing device of the embodiment is characterized by comprising: an acquisition unit for acquiring shape information of a member; a centroid calculation unit for calculating the centroid of the member; a first setting unit for setting a first virtual sphere having a radius that encloses the member with the centroid as its center, and setting the part of the member where the distance between the first virtual sphere and the member is the minimum length as the first endpoint; a second setting unit for setting a second virtual sphere having a radius that encloses the member with the first endpoint as its center, and setting the part of the member where the distance between the second virtual sphere and the member is the minimum length as the second endpoint; and a length calculation unit for calculating the distance connecting the first endpoint and the second endpoint as the maximum length of the member.

[0008] Furthermore, in the information processing device, the component may be a waste piece generated when a workpiece is molded using a mold.

[0009] Furthermore, in the information processing device, the acquisition unit may include a mold information acquisition unit that acquires three-dimensional shape information relating to a mold for molding a workpiece, and a shape acquisition unit that generates and acquires the shape of the ejected piece discharged from the mold during molding by the mold when simulating the mold molding the workpiece.

[0010] Furthermore, in the information processing device, the centroid calculation unit may divide the member into a predetermined number of regions, calculate the centroid point in each region, and then aggregate the centroid points of the predetermined number of regions to calculate the overall centroid point of the member. [Effects of the Invention]

[0011] The information processing device of the present invention includes an acquisition unit for acquiring shape information of a member, a centroid calculation unit for calculating the centroid of the member, a first setting unit for setting a first virtual sphere with a radius that encloses the member centered on the centroid and setting the part of the member where the distance between the first virtual sphere and the member is the minimum length as the first endpoint, a second setting unit for setting a second virtual sphere with a radius that encloses the member centered on the first endpoint and setting the part of the member where the distance between the second virtual sphere and the member is the minimum length as the second endpoint, and a length calculation unit for calculating the distance between the first endpoint and the second endpoint as the maximum length of the member. Therefore, the size of irregularly shaped scraps can be accurately calculated and estimated during the simulation stage. Similarly, the information processing method and information processing program can also accurately calculate and estimate the size of irregularly shaped scraps during the simulation stage. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0012] [Figure 1] This is a schematic diagram showing an information processing device according to an embodiment. [Figure 2] This is a block diagram showing the configuration and functional parts of an information processing device. [Figure 3] This is a schematic diagram explaining the calculation of the center of gravity. [Figure 4] This is a schematic diagram of the setup of the first virtual sphere. [Figure 5] This is a schematic diagram of the setting up of the second virtual sphere. [Figure 6] This is a schematic diagram illustrating the calculation of the maximum length. [Figure 7] This is the first flowchart of the processing within the information processing device. [Figure 8] This is the second flowchart of the processing within the information processing device. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0013] The information processing device 1 of the embodiment will be explained using the schematic configuration diagram in Figure 1. The information processing device 1 is a device mainly used to calculate (estimate) the size (maximum length) of a component that has specific shape information based on CAD (Computer-Aided Design), etc. Specifically, it is a device that receives necessary information such as design information regarding the shape of a die used for press forming and the metal sheet (sheet metal) supplied to the die, and is used to calculate (estimate) the maximum length (size) of the component discharged from the die when a molded product is obtained by press working, i.e., the discharged piece. By calculating the maximum length of the discharged piece in advance through simulation, it can be used to design the dimensions of the passage path of the discharged piece when designing a press working machine.

[0014] The main component of the information processing device 1 is the processing unit 10. The processing unit 10 is a variety of electronic computer (computing resource), such as a personal computer (PC), mainframe, workstation, cloud computing system, or even a tablet terminal. The processing unit 10 shown in the figure is a personal computer, and is connected to a display 16 for displaying calculation results, as well as a keyboard 17 and mouse 18 for input. In the figure, the display image 16h of the display 16 is also displayed.

[0015] The display image 16h in Figure 1 schematically illustrates the press working process, which is the main application of the information processing device 1 of this embodiment. A metal sheet 30 (sheet metal) is supplied between the upper first die 21 and the lower second die 22 and fixed in a predetermined position. Then, the metal sheet 30 is formed and punched out by the pressing of the first die 21 and the second die 22. As a result of this press forming, an irregularly shaped component, i.e., a discharge piece 35, is produced. The component (discharge piece 35) referred to here is not particularly limited as long as it is a component produced during processing. Furthermore, since the object to be formed is not limited to metal sheets, various components such as wood and resin materials are included.

[0016] The process until a series of members (discharge piece 35) are produced is not a trial using an actual mold or actual machine, but is entirely a simulation based on CAD information. Therefore, the size of the discharge piece 35 (maximum length of the discharge piece) is calculated through the information processing device 1.

[0017] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration and functional units of the processing unit 10. The processing unit 10 includes a CPU 11 (arithmetic element) for executing various operations, a ROM 12 for storing processing programs, a RAM 13 for storing data, etc., a storage unit 14 for storing various data and operation results, etc., and further an I / O (input / output interface) 15, etc. The I / O 15 is an interface for communication (transmission and reception), a buffer, etc. Connected to the I / O 15 are a display 16, a keyboard 17, a mouse 18, etc., and further an Internet line (not shown), etc.

[0018] Furthermore, the block diagram of FIG. 2 shows the functional units within the CPU 11. When each functional unit of the CPU 11 is realized by software, the CPU 11 is realized by executing the instructions of a program which is software for realizing each function. Specifically, it includes an acquisition unit 110, a mold information acquisition unit 111, a shape acquisition unit 112, a centroid calculation unit 120, a first setting unit 130, a second setting unit 140, a length calculation unit 150, etc.

[0019] The acquisition unit 110 acquires the shape information of a member having shape information. It is premised that the member has information such as CAD in advance. In the case where there is no information necessary for specifying the shape such as CAD, the shape of the member may be specified by photographing with a plurality of cameras, and the shape of the member may be digitized into numerical data.

[0020] In this embodiment, the acquisition unit 110 is further equipped with a mold information acquisition unit 111 and a shape acquisition unit 112. The mold information acquisition unit 111 acquires three-dimensional shape information (CAD shape information) relating to the molds 21 and 22 that form the workpiece (metal plate 30). At this stage, the three-dimensional shapes (mold surface shapes) of multiple molds used for press molding are acquired by the processing unit 10 of the information processing device 1. Hereafter, the workpiece will be described as a discharge piece 35.

[0021] Then, during the simulation of the molds 21 and 22 forming the workpiece (metal sheet 30), the shape acquisition unit 112 generates and acquires the shape of the discharge piece 35 discharged from the molds 21 and 22 during the forming process. Within the processing unit 10, the press working simulation is executed to identify the shape of the press-formed product (finished product, intermediate processed product, semi-finished product) (not shown) and the shape of the discharge piece 35 (scrap) generated from the remaining metal sheet 30 of the press-formed product from the shape information of the molds 21 and 22, and shape information of the discharge piece 35 is generated. The shape information of the discharge piece 35 is then acquired by the shape acquisition unit 112.

[0022] Even though the discharge piece 35 has shape information in CAD, the specific maximum length of the discharge piece 35 is not determined at this stage. Therefore, the following process is performed to calculate the specific maximum length of the discharge piece 35.

[0023] The center of gravity calculation unit 120 calculates the center of gravity of the discharge piece 35 (member). The center of gravity is used as a reference point for easy calculation when calculating the maximum length of the discharge piece 35. Various methods are employed for calculating the center of gravity of a member such as the discharge piece 35. In this embodiment, as an example, the discharge piece 35 (member) is divided into a predetermined number of regions, and the center of gravity of each region is calculated. The number of regions to be divided is the number that arises when a single unit of discharge piece 35 (member) is divided into regions of a simplified shape (three-dimensional shape) such as a triangle or a quadrilateral. Then, the center of gravity of each of the predetermined number of regions is aggregated to calculate the overall center of gravity of the discharge piece 35 (member).

[0024] This process is represented by the schematic diagram in Figure 3. The discharged piece 35 shown in the diagram is divided into divisional regions A1 to A5, which are approximated by relatively simple shapes such as triangles and quadrilaterals based on the shape information in CAD. For convenience, five divisional regions are shown in the diagram. In reality, more divisional regions are set, taking into account the complexity of the shape of the discharged piece 35 and the need for improved precision. Then, in each of the divisional regions A1 to A5, individual centroid points G1 to G5 are calculated. Here, individual centroid points refer to the centroid points of each divisional region. In the example shown, five individual centroid points G1 to G5 are calculated. Then, the multiple individual centroid points G1 to G5 are aggregated, and the overall centroid point Gw of the discharged piece 35 (member) is calculated as the point where they harmonize. Even if the discharged piece 35 is a three-dimensionally deformed solid shape, as described above, the discharged piece 35 is decomposed into multiple regions as a simplified shape (three-dimensional shape), and an individual centroid point is calculated for each region. Since the discharged piece 35 is an offcut generated from a plate material such as a metal plate 30, it is considered possible to divide it into regions even if it is deformed in three dimensions.

[0025] One method for aggregating individual centroids is to calculate the centroid between two individual centroids using the principle of a lever (balance scale), based on the distance between them and their respective weights. This process is repeated for every two centroids, and finally all individual centroids are aggregated to calculate the overall centroid Gw.

[0026] Next, the first setting unit 130 sets a first virtual sphere with a radius that encloses the member, centered on the centroid, and sets the part of the member where the distance between the first virtual sphere and the member is the minimum length as the first endpoint. This is shown in the schematic diagram in Figure 4. The centroid Gw of the entire discharge piece 35 is calculated by the above process. The centroid Gw of the entire sphere is set as the center of the sphere, and a first virtual sphere E1 with a radius R1 that encloses the discharge piece 35 is set. The radius R1 of the first virtual sphere E1 is not particularly limited as long as it is long enough to enclose the discharge piece 35. In this embodiment, a radius of 10,000 mm is set for convenience. Note that the size of the first virtual sphere E1 shown is for illustrative purposes only and the dimensions are not accurate.

[0027] Then, the portion of the discharge piece 35 where the distance between the first virtual sphere E1 and the discharge piece 35 is minimized is set as the first endpoint P1. On the discharge piece 35, line segments L1 are set radially from the overall centroid Gw to the first virtual sphere E1 (only one is shown in the illustration). Then, the intersection point K1 between line segment L1 and the discharge piece 35 is calculated, and the length D1 from the intersection point K1 to the first virtual sphere E1 is calculated. This process is performed around the entire circumference of the discharge piece 35, and in particular, the portion of the discharge piece 35 where the length D1 between the discharge piece 35 and the first virtual sphere E1 is minimized is set as the first endpoint P1.

[0028] Next, the second setting unit 140 sets a second virtual sphere with a radius that encloses the member, centered at the first endpoint, and sets the part of the member where the distance between the second virtual sphere and the member is the minimum length as the second endpoint. This is shown in the schematic diagram in Figure 5. The first endpoint P1 on the discharge piece 35 is calculated by the above process. A second virtual sphere E2 is set with the first endpoint P1 on the discharge piece 35 as the center of the sphere and a radius R2 that encloses the discharge piece 35. The radius R2 of the second virtual sphere E2 is not particularly limited as long as it is long enough to enclose the discharge piece 35. In this embodiment, a radius of 10,000 mm is set for convenience. Note that the size of the second virtual sphere E2 shown is for illustrative purposes only and the dimensions do not match.

[0029] Furthermore, the portion of the discharge piece 35 where the distance between the second virtual sphere E2 and the discharge piece 35 is minimized is set as the second endpoint P2. On the discharge piece 35, line segments L2 are set radially from the first endpoint P1 on the discharge piece 35 to the second virtual sphere E2 (only one is shown in the illustration). Then, the intersection point K2 between the line segment L2 and the discharge piece 35 is calculated, and the length D2 from the intersection point K2 to the second virtual sphere E2 on the line segment L2 is calculated. This process is performed around the entire circumference of the discharge piece 35, and in particular, the portion of the discharge piece 35 where the length D2 between the discharge piece 35 and the second virtual sphere E2 is minimized is set as the second endpoint P2. Since the first endpoint P1 on the discharge piece 35 is determined first, the second endpoint P2, which is the furthest point from the first endpoint P1, becomes easier to determine geometrically, using the first endpoint P1 as a reference.

[0030] The length calculation unit 150 calculates the distance between the first endpoint and the second endpoint as the maximum length of the member. As can be understood from the schematic diagram in Figure 6, the two points furthest apart from each other on the discharge piece 35 are determined as the first endpoint P1 and the second endpoint P2. The straight-line distance between the first endpoint P1 and the second endpoint P2 is calculated as the maximum length W1 of the discharge piece 35.

[0031] As explained in the series of descriptions, the size (maximum length) of the material (discarded piece 35) produced during press molding using a die can be calculated by simulation, starting from the CAD shape information of the material (discarded piece 35) in the state of die punching. When attempting to calculate the size (maximum length) of the material (discarded piece 35) from only CAD shape information, it was difficult to identify the location where the maximum length could realistically be obtained, due to the complexity of the shape of the discarded piece 35 itself. Therefore, by setting two types of virtual spheres, a first virtual sphere and a second virtual sphere with different center positions, it becomes easier to extract the geometrically furthest endpoints on the material (discarded piece 35), and it becomes possible to calculate the distance between the endpoints.

[0032] In this embodiment, even though the discharge piece 35, which is a component, originates from the metal plate 30, it is treated as having a three-dimensional shape. Of course, the discharge piece 35 may be a simple flat plate or a shape that can be considered sufficiently flat. If the discharge piece 35 is a flat plate, the first virtual sphere E1 and the second virtual sphere E2 can be replaced with the first virtual circle and the second virtual circle, respectively. In that case, the calculation becomes a two-dimensional geometric calculation, and the execution of the operation is simplified.

[0033] In addition, the CPU 11 of the processing unit 10 is appropriately equipped with functions necessary for calculation execution, processing, etc. For example, the output unit performs the processing necessary for external output, which displays (16h) the shape of each ejected piece 35 and their maximum length from the I / O 15 to the display 16 in Figure 1. Of course, the I / O 15 may also be configured to output the shape of the ejected piece 35 and their maximum length to the internet line.

[0034] The first flowchart in Figure 7 shows the overall flow of the information processing method for calculating the maximum length of a component in the processing unit 10 (CPU 11), and includes various steps such as the acquisition step (S110), the center of gravity calculation step (S120), the first setting step (S130), the second setting step (S140), the length calculation step (S150), and the output step (S160). Of course, it also includes various steps necessary for the movement of the processing unit 10 itself. The second flowchart in Figure 8 shows the details of the acquisition step (S110) and includes various steps such as the mold information acquisition step (S111) and the shape acquisition step (S112).

[0035] The acquisition function acquires shape information of a member having shape information, specifically the shape information of the discharge piece 35 in the embodiment (S110; acquisition step). The centroid calculation function calculates the centroid point (overall centroid point Gw) of the member (discharge piece 35) (S120; centroid calculation step). The first setting function sets a first virtual sphere E1 with radius R1 that encloses the member (discharge piece 35) with the centroid point as its center, and sets the part of the member where the distance between the first virtual sphere E1 and the member (discharge piece 35) is the minimum length as the first endpoint P1 (S130; first setting step).

[0036] The second setting function sets a second virtual sphere E2 with radius R2 that encloses the member (discharge piece 35) with the first endpoint P1 as its center, and sets the part of the member where the distance between the second virtual sphere E2 and the member (discharge piece 35) is the minimum length as the second endpoint P2 (S140; second setting step). The length calculation function calculates the distance connecting the first endpoint P1 and the second endpoint P2 as the maximum length of the member (discharge piece 35) (S150; length calculation step). Furthermore, the output function outputs the calculation result of the maximum length of the member (discharge piece 35) (S160; output step).

[0037] The second flowchart in Figure 8 shows the details of the acquisition step (S110), and includes various steps such as the mold information acquisition step (S111) and the shape acquisition step (S112). The mold information acquisition function acquires three-dimensional shape information of the molds 21 and 22 that form the workpiece (metal plate 30) (S111; mold information acquisition step). The shape acquisition function generates and acquires the shape of the discharged piece 35 discharged from the molds 21 and 22 during molding by the molds 21 and 22 when simulating the molding of the workpiece (metal plate 30) by the molds 21 and 22 (S112; shape acquisition step).

[0038] The computer program described above may be recorded on a processor-readable recording medium, and the recording medium can be a "non-temporary, tangible medium," such as tape, disk, card, semiconductor memory, or programmable logic circuit.

[0039] Computer programs can be implemented using, for example, scripting languages ​​such as ActionScript and JavaScript®, object-oriented programming languages ​​such as Objective-C and Java®, and markup languages ​​such as HTML5. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0040] 1. Information Processing Device 10. Processing Unit (Computer) 11 CPU 12 ROM 13 RAM 14 Storage section 15 Input / Output Interfaces 16 displays 17-key keyboard 18 mice 21. First mold 22. Second mold 30 metal plate 35 Discharge piece 110 Acquisition Department 111 Mold Information Acquisition Unit 112 Shape acquisition section 120 Center of gravity calculation section 130 First Setting Section 140 Second Setting Section 150 Length calculation unit A1, A2, A3, A4, A5 divided area G1, G2, G3, G4, G5 Individual center of gravity Center of gravity of the entire Gw P1 1st end point E1 First Virtual Sphere R1 Radius of the first virtual sphere L1 Line segment from the centroid of the whole to the first virtual sphere K1 Intersection position of line segment and discharged piece D1: Length from intersection point to the first virtual sphere P2 2nd end point E2 Second Virtual Sphere R2 Radius of the second virtual sphere Line segment from the first endpoint of L2 to the second virtual sphere E2 K2 Intersection position of line segment and discharged piece D2: Length from intersection point to the second virtual sphere W1 Straight-line distance (maximum length) between the first and second endpoints.

Claims

1. An acquisition unit that acquires shape information of the component, A center of gravity calculation unit for calculating the center of gravity of the aforementioned member, A first setting unit sets a first virtual sphere with a radius that encloses the member centered on the centroid point, and sets the portion of the member where the distance between the first virtual sphere and the member is the minimum length as the first endpoint. A second setting unit sets a second virtual sphere with a radius that encloses the member centered on the first endpoint, and sets the portion of the member where the distance between the second virtual sphere and the member is the minimum length as the second endpoint. The system includes a length calculation unit that calculates the distance between the first and second endpoints as the maximum length of the member. An information processing device characterized by the following:

2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the member is a discarded piece generated when a workpiece is molded using a mold.

3. The acquisition unit is, A mold information acquisition unit that acquires three-dimensional shape information related to a mold for molding a workpiece, In simulating the molding of a workpiece by the mold, a shape acquisition unit generates and acquires the shape of the ejected piece discharged from the mold during molding by the mold, The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, comprising:

4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the center of gravity calculation unit divides the member into a predetermined number of regions, calculates the center of gravity point in each region, and aggregates the center of gravity points of the predetermined number of regions to calculate the overall center of gravity point of the member.

5. Computers Acquisition step to acquire shape information of the component, A center of gravity calculation step for calculating the center of gravity of the aforementioned member, A first setting step involves setting a first virtual sphere with a radius that encloses the member, centered on the centroid point, and setting the portion of the member where the distance between the first virtual sphere and the member is the minimum length as the first endpoint. A second setting step involves setting a second virtual sphere with a radius that encloses the member centered on the first endpoint, and setting the portion of the member where the distance between the second virtual sphere and the member is the minimum length as the second endpoint, A length calculation step is performed in which the distance connecting the first endpoint and the second endpoint is calculated as the maximum length of the member. An information processing method characterized by the following:

6. On the computer, A function to acquire shape information of the component, A center of gravity calculation function for calculating the center of gravity of the aforementioned member, A first setting function sets a first virtual sphere with a radius that encloses the member centered on the centroid point, and sets the part of the member where the distance between the first virtual sphere and the member is the minimum length as the first endpoint. A second setting function sets a second virtual sphere with a radius that encloses the member centered on the first endpoint, and sets the portion of the member where the distance between the second virtual sphere and the member is the minimum length as the second endpoint. A length calculation function is provided that calculates the distance between the first endpoint and the second endpoint as the maximum length of the member. An information processing program characterized by the following features.

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