Teaching device and teaching method

Abstract

The present invention collectively selects a plurality of line segments that are arranged on one straight line and that are subjected to simultaneous bending process, as a preprocess for bending process simulation.　When designating a line segment to be subjected to bending process for dividing the region with respect to a planar region that represents a sheet metal, this teaching device selects both extreme ends of a plurality of line segments that exist on the same straight line, thereby collectively selecting the plurality of line segments.

Description

Teaching device and teaching method

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a teaching device and a teaching method for specifying a line segment for bending a metal sheet.

[0002] There is a technology for simulating bending by specifying bend lines (line segments) for a two-dimensional polygon representing a sheet metal. The bend lines and the order in which the bending operations are performed are determined by an operator. For example, a technology is known that, based on a development view of a sheet metal part, detects multiple possible bending sequences for manufacturing the sheet metal part and potential bending dies to be used in each bending step of each proposed bending sequence, and displays the multiple possible bending sequences to optimally determine the bending sequence and bending dies for the sheet metal part in accordance with the specific circumstances of the bending factory. For example, see Patent Document 1.

[0003] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-79314

[0004] In the prior art, to determine the bend lines and the order in which bending operations are performed, an operator loads a CAD file representing the shape of the sheet metal created by a CAD device, and displays a teaching screen for the loaded CAD file on a display device such as a liquid crystal display. FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a teaching screen showing the shape of the sheet metal before bending. As shown in FIG. 6, the shape of the sheet metal before bending is a polygon composed of multiple vertices J1 to J8 and multiple line segments with the vertices as both ends. Then, an operator selects two vertices on the teaching screen using an input device such as a mouse or touch panel, thereby determining the line segments (bend lines) to be bent so as to divide the polygon of the sheet metal into two regions. That is, in the prior art, as shown in FIG. 7, if an operator first selects vertices J3 and J6 and then selects the line segment between vertices J2 and J7, the line segment connecting vertices J3 and J6 is designated as the line segment to be bent first, and the line segment connecting vertices J2 and J7 is designated as the line segment to be bent second. In Figure 7, the order of the line segments to be bent is indicated by the numbers "1" and "2." The 3D simulation then confirms the process of deformation of the sheet metal by bending in the specified order, and checks whether the tool or the sheet metal interferes with each other during processing. When the sheet metal has a shape as shown in Figure 8 and two line segments are specified, conventional bending simulations require sequential bending of each of the two bend lines. However, conventional bending simulations have not provided a means for simultaneously bending two or more line segments on a single straight line, as shown in Figure 8.

[0005] Therefore, as a pre-processing step for the bending simulation, it is desirable to collectively select a plurality of line segments that are arranged on a single straight line and are to be bent simultaneously.

[0006] In one aspect of the teaching device disclosed herein, when specifying lines for bending a planar area representing sheet metal to divide the area, the device collectively selects multiple line segments by selecting both ends of the most extreme ends of multiple line segments that exist on the same straight line.

[0007] One aspect of the teaching method of the present disclosure is a teaching method executed by a computer, in which, when specifying line segments for performing bending processing to divide a planar area representing sheet metal, the multiple line segments that exist on the same straight line are selected collectively by selecting both ends of the most extreme ends of the multiple line segments.

[0008] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of functional blocks of a teaching device according to an embodiment; FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a teaching screen; FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of vertex selection; FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of vertex selection; FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating teaching processing of a teaching device; FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a teaching screen showing the shape of a sheet metal before bending; FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of designating a line segment to be bent; FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of designating a line segment to be bent.

[0009] A teaching device according to an embodiment will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the functional block configuration of a teaching device according to an embodiment. The teaching device 10 receives vertices selected by an operator on a teaching screen of CAD data showing the shape of a sheet metal and determines one or more line segments based on the selected vertices in order to perform a bending simulation. As shown in FIG. 1 , the teaching device 10 is a computer, tablet terminal, or the like, and includes a CPU 11, a memory unit 12, a display unit 13, an input unit 14, and a bus 15. The CPU 11 also includes a vertex acquisition unit 110 and a bend line determination unit 111.

[0010] The storage unit 12 is a read-only memory (ROM), a solid-state drive (SSD), a hard disk drive (HDD), or the like, and stores CAD data 121. The CAD data 121 stores in advance a CAD file that is created by a CAD device (not shown) or the like and indicates the shape of the sheet metal to be subjected to bending simulation processing. Note that the storage unit 12 may also store a line segment list that stores selected line segments to be bent, as will be described later.

[0011] The display unit 13 is a display device such as a liquid crystal display, and displays a teaching screen that displays a CAD file of the sheet metal and teaches the line segments to be bent.

[0012] The input unit 14 is, for example, a mouse, a keyboard, or a touch panel disposed on the display unit 13, and receives input from an operator.

[0013] The CPU 11 is a processor that performs overall control of the teaching device 10. The CPU 11 reads the system program stored in the storage unit 12 and the application programs stored in various software via the bus 15, and controls the entire teaching device 10 in accordance with the system program and the application program. As a result, the CPU 11 is configured to realize the functions of a vertex acquisition unit 110 and a bend line determination unit 111, as shown in FIG. 1 .

[0014] For example, when the vertex acquisition unit 110 receives a teaching instruction for a line segment to be bent, including a designation of the sheet metal, based on an input operation by an operator via the input unit 14, the vertex acquisition unit 110 reads a CAD file indicating the shape of the specified sheet metal from the CAD data 121. The vertex acquisition unit 110 displays the read CAD file as a teaching screen on the display unit 13. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the teaching screen. In FIG. 2, the shape of the sheet metal is the same as that shown in FIG. 8. Specifically, for example, based on an input operation by an operator via the input unit 14, the vertex acquisition unit 110 acquires vertices J3 and J6, which are the two ends of a line segment to be bent, dividing a planar area representing the sheet metal on the teaching screen. The vertex acquisition unit 110 outputs the acquired vertex J3 and vertex J6 to the bend line determination unit 111, which will be described later.

[0015] For example, as shown in FIG. 3 , the bend line determination unit 111 determines a line segment having the acquired vertex J3 as its start point and the acquired vertex J6 as its end point. However, as shown in FIG. 3 , among the line segments connecting the vertices J3 and J6, the line segment connecting the vertices J3′ and J6′ is not within the sheet metal region. However, the line segment connecting the vertices J3 and J3′ and the line segment connecting the vertices J6′ and J6 are collinear, and the region connecting the vertices J3, J4, J4′, and J3′ and the region connecting the vertices J6′, J5′, J5, and J6 are common to the sheet metal region. Therefore, the bend line determination unit 111 collectively selects the line segments J3, J3′ and J6′, J6′, J6 to be bent simultaneously. The bend line determination unit 111 may add the collectively selected line segments J3, J3′ and J6′, J6′, J6 to a line segment list (not shown) stored in the memory unit 12. By doing so, the teaching device 10 can select the vertices of a line segment only once, instead of selecting them multiple times, and can simultaneously select multiple line segments to be bent.

[0016] 4, for example, when the vertex acquisition unit 110 selects the vertex J3′ and the vertex J6, the bend line determination unit 111 determines that the vertex J3′ is unselectable because the area including the vertex J3′ is made up of only points and not line segments. In this case, the bend line determination unit 111 may display an error indicating that the vertex J3′ is unselectable on the display unit 13.

[0017] <Teaching Process of Teaching Device 10> Next, the flow of the teaching process of the teaching device 10 will be described with reference to Fig. 5. Fig. 5 is a flowchart illustrating the teaching process of the teaching device 10. The flow shown here is executed every time a teaching instruction is received from the operator.

[0018] In step S11, when the vertex acquisition unit 110 receives a teaching instruction for a line segment to be bent, including the designation of the sheet metal, from the operator, it reads a CAD file indicating the shape of the designated sheet metal from the CAD data 121 and displays the read CAD file as a teaching screen on the display unit 13. Based on an input operation by the operator via the input unit 14, the vertex acquisition unit 110 acquires, for a planar area representing the sheet metal on the teaching screen, two vertices that are the two ends of the line segment to be bent, dividing the area.

[0019] In step S12, the bend line determination unit 111 determines whether the positions of the two vertices acquired in step S11 are different. If the positions of the two vertices are different, the process proceeds to step S13. On the other hand, if the positions of the two vertices are the same, the process proceeds to step S17.

[0020] In step S13, the bend line determination unit 111 determines whether one or more line segments connecting the two vertices are collinear and whether the areas including each of the two vertices are common to the sheet metal area. If one or more line segments connecting the two vertices are collinear and the areas including each of the two vertices are common to the sheet metal area, the process proceeds to step S14. On the other hand, if one or more line segments connecting the two vertices are not collinear or the areas including each of the two vertices are not common to the sheet metal area, the process proceeds to step S17.

[0021] In step S14, the bend line determination unit 111 determines whether one or more line segments connecting the two vertices intersect with already selected line segments. If one or more line segments connecting the two vertices intersect with already selected line segments, the process proceeds to step S17. On the other hand, if one or more line segments connecting the two vertices do not intersect with already selected line segments, the process proceeds to step S15.

[0022] In step S15, the bend line determination unit 111 adds the selected line segment or segments to a line segment list (not shown).

[0023] In step S16, the bend line determination unit 111 displays on the display unit 13 whether or not to add a line segment, and determines whether or not an instruction to add a line segment has been received from the operator via the input unit 14. If an instruction to add a line segment has been received from the operator, the processing returns to step S11. On the other hand, if an instruction to end the processing has been received from the operator, the teaching device 10 ends the teaching processing. Then, the teaching device 10 outputs the line segment list to an external device that executes a bending simulation.

[0024] In step S17, the bend line determination unit 111 displays an error indicating that selection is not possible on the display unit 13. The teaching device 10 ends the teaching process.

[0025] As described above, the teaching device 10 according to one embodiment can collectively select a plurality of line segments that are arranged on one straight line and are to be bent simultaneously as pre-processing for a bending simulation.

[0026] In the embodiment, the teaching device 10 is a device separate from an external device (not shown) that executes the bending simulation, but is not limited to this. For example, the teaching device 10 may be included in the external device (not shown) that executes the bending simulation.

[0027] In one embodiment, each function included in the teaching device 10 can be realized by hardware, software, or a combination of these. Here, "realized by software" means that the function is realized by a computer reading and executing a program.

[0028] The program can be stored and supplied to a computer using various types of non-transitory computer-readable media. Non-transitory computer-readable media include various types of tangible storage media. Examples of non-transitory computer-readable media include magnetic recording media (e.g., flexible disks, magnetic tapes, hard disk drives), magneto-optical recording media (e.g., magneto-optical disks), CD-ROMs (Read Only Memory), CD-Rs, CD-R / Ws, and semiconductor memories (e.g., mask ROMs, PROMs (Programmable ROMs), EPROMs (Erasable PROMs), flash ROMs, and RAMs). The program may be provided to the computer by various types of transient computer-readable media. Examples of transient computer-readable media include electrical signals, optical signals, and electromagnetic waves. The transient computer-readable media can provide the program to the computer via a wired communication path such as an electrical wire or optical fiber, or via a wireless communication path.

[0029] The step of writing a program to be recorded on a recording medium includes not only processes that are performed in chronological order, but also processes that are not necessarily performed in chronological order but are executed in parallel or individually. The step of writing the program may also be performed by cloud computing.

[0030] Although the present disclosure has been described in detail, the present disclosure is not limited to the individual embodiments described above. Various additions, substitutions, modifications, partial deletions, etc. are possible in these embodiments without departing from the gist of the present disclosure or the spirit of the present disclosure derived from the content of the claims and their equivalents. These embodiments can also be implemented in combination. For example, in the above-described embodiments, the order of each operation and the order of each process are shown as examples and are not limited to these. The same applies when numerical values ​​or mathematical expressions are used in the description of the above-described embodiments.

[0031] The following supplementary notes are further disclosed with respect to the above-described embodiments and modified examples. (Supplementary Note 1) When designating line segments for performing bending processing to divide a planar region representing a metal sheet, the teaching device (10) collectively selects multiple line segments by selecting both endmost ends of multiple line segments from multiple line segments that exist on the same straight line. (Supplementary Note 2) The teaching method is a teaching method executed by a computer, and when designating line segments for performing bending processing to divide a planar region representing a metal sheet, the teaching device collectively selects multiple line segments by selecting both endmost ends of multiple line segments from multiple line segments that exist on the same straight line.

[0032] REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 10 Teaching device 11 CPU 110 Vertex acquisition unit 111 Bend line determination unit 12 Storage unit 121 CAD data 13 Display unit 14 Input unit

Claims

1. A teaching device that, when specifying lines for bending a planar area representing sheet metal that divides the area, selects multiple line segments collectively by selecting both ends of the most extreme ends of multiple line segments that exist on the same straight line.

2. A teaching method executed by a computer, which, when specifying lines for bending a planar area representing sheet metal that divides the area, selects multiple line segments collectively by selecting both ends of the most extreme ends of multiple line segments that exist on the same straight line.