JP2004362455A - Cad device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To streamline design by enabling a designer to select parts efficiently even when a part database stores a huge number of parts in a CAD device. <P>SOLUTION: The CAD device comprises a part master database storing a part data group. Design identifier receiving means receive the specification of a design identifier from a designer. Part condition receiving means receive part conditions as conditions of parts to be used from the designer. Part data extracting means search the part master database for part data matching the received part conditions, and extract at least part of the part data selected through the search as used part data. A user database assigns used part identifiers as new identifiers to the extracted used part data, and stores them in association with the design identifier. Part data input receiving means receive the specifications of such used part identifiers from the designer as inputs of the corresponding part data. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a CAD device that supports design by a computer, and more particularly, to a CAD device that has a different parts database for each design drawing.
[0002]
[Prior art]
CAD devices are used in many designs such as mechanical design and electric circuit design. In terms of design efficiency, CAD systems store specifications such as the shape, size, and characteristics of standard parts and parts from manufacturers in a database, and can refer to them as needed and place them on the drawing as they are. Plays a role. That is, the designer designates the component data by inputting or retrieving the component data stored in the database and selecting the component data, whereby the drawing data of the component is displayed on the screen, and can be arranged as it is. Further, in the electric circuit, since the characteristics of the component data are stored in the database, the operation after arrangement and wiring can be virtually simulated on a computer.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
As described above, it is very useful to use a database on components, but the number of components that can be used may reach tens of thousands depending on the design target. As described above, when the number of parts becomes enormous, it is impossible for the designer to remember the identifiers of all parts, and it is possible to select by searching, but it is necessary to use one part. It is not efficient to narrow down parts by searching every time.
The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and aims to improve the design efficiency by allowing a designer to efficiently select parts even when a huge number of parts are stored in a parts database.
[0004]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above problem, the present invention has the following configuration.
The invention according to claim 1 is a CAD apparatus provided with a component master database that stores a group of component data, wherein a design identifier is received from a designer by a design identifier receiving unit and used by the designer by a component condition receiving unit. A part condition, which is a part condition, is received. Then, the component data extracting means searches the component master data database for component data matching the received component condition, and extracts at least a part of the component data selected by the search as used component data, Is attached to the extracted used component data, which is a new identifier, and is stored in association with the design identifier. Further, the component data input receiving means receives the specification of the used component identifier from the designer as input of the corresponding component data. The specification of the used component identifier includes not only the case of directly specifying the used component identifier but also the indirect specification of specifying the component name associated with the used component identifier.
By performing such an operation, a database of component data is generated as a used component database for each design drawing, and the designer specifies component data by specifying a used component identifier in a newly generated used component database. Can be performed.
[0005]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the CAD apparatus, the CAD apparatus further includes a component condition storage unit that stores the component condition in advance, and the component condition receiving unit includes a component condition storage unit that stores a design condition among component conditions stored in the component condition storage unit. The part selected by the user is accepted as the part condition.
By storing the component conditions in advance in this way, the designer can generate the used component database simply by selecting the component conditions. Note that the component condition receiving means here does not exclude the one in which the designer inputs the component conditions directly, and the component condition storage means stores the component conditions previously input by the designer. Can be
[0006]
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the CAD apparatus according to the second aspect, the component condition changing means further receives the instruction of the designer and changes the content of the component condition stored in the component condition storing means.
With such a configuration, when storing the component conditions, the component conditions can be changed as needed, and the specification of the component conditions can be performed more flexibly.
[0007]
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the CAD apparatus, the used component data display means displays the used component data extracted by the component data extraction means or the used component data stored in the used component database, and receives a used component selection. The means accepts selection of some parts from the designer from the used part data displayed by the used part data display means from the designer. Then, the used component database stores the used component data received by the used component data receiving unit as new used component data.
By such an operation, the designer further narrows down the component data narrowed down by the component conditions, and a used component database with a smaller number of components is generated.
[0008]
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the component data includes a component identifier for specifying each component, and the used component data includes a component identifier.
By storing the component identifier in this manner, necessary data can be obtained by referring to the component master base without storing all information in the used component database.
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the CAD device, the component data includes component specification information relating to component specifications, and the used component data includes component specification information.
By including information on the component specifications of each component data in the user component data group, it is not necessary to refer to the component master database in the actual design.
[0009]
According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the CAD device, the component data includes a manufacturer identifier indicating a manufacturer of the component and component specification information on use of the component, and the component master database stores the manufacturer identifier. Component data relating to components having different identical component specification information is stored, the component condition includes designation of a manufacturer, and the used component data includes a manufacturer identifier. Then, the manufacturer condition change receiving means receives a change in the specification of the manufacturer in the component condition from the designer, and the used component database updating means based on the change in the specification of the manufacturer received by the manufacturing condition change receiving means, The manufacturer identifier in the used part data whose manufacturer is changed in the used part database is replaced with a manufacturer identifier related to the changed manufacturer.
With this operation, if you want to change the manufacturer for parts with the same specifications, simply specify the manufacturer to be changed, and the used parts data in the used parts database will be the same as the used parts data in the used parts data, but only the manufacturer will be different. Will be replaced.
[0010]
According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the CAD device, the design data component updating unit converts the component data used in the design corresponding to the used component data replaced by the used component database updating unit into the component data. replace.
By such an operation, the design data is automatically replaced with a part having the same specification from a different manufacturer.
According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the CAD apparatus according to the seventh or eighth aspect, the manufacturer condition change accepting unit accepts designation of used component data, and the user database updating unit accepts the manufacturer condition change acceptance. The manufacturer identifier is replaced only for the used part data designated and received by the means.
By such an operation, only a part of the part data is replaced with the part data of the same specification different from the manufacturer.
[0011]
According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a program for causing a computer to realize a function as the CAD device according to any one of the first to ninth aspects.
Such a program makes it possible to realize the above-described CAD apparatus with a general-purpose computer.
[0012]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically showing a hardware configuration of a CAD apparatus A according to the present invention. The CAD apparatus A is composed of a general computer, and specifically, a CPU 11 for performing arithmetic processing, a RAM 12 serving as a work area of the CPU, a ROM 13 for recording basic data, and an operation timing of the CPU. It comprises a clock 14, a hard disk 15 for storing data and programs, a monitor 16 as a display device, a printer 17 as an output device, a keyboard 18 and a mouse 19 as input devices. The CAD apparatus A is realized by incorporating a program for causing such a general computer to perform the following operation.
[0013]
FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram schematically showing the functions of the CAD apparatus A. As shown in the figure, the CAD apparatus A includes a component master database 101, a component condition storage unit 102, a design identifier receiving unit 103, a component condition receiving unit 104, a component condition display unit 105, a component condition changing unit 106, and a component data extracting unit 107. Used component data display unit 108, used component selection receiving unit 109, used component database 110, manufacturer condition change receiving unit 111, used component database updating unit 112, design data component updating unit 113, CAD operation unit 200, design data storage It has a part 210.
[0014]
The component master database 101 is a database that stores component data relating to existing components that may be used in the field of design. FIG. 3A schematically shows the record contents of the parts master database. As shown in the figure, the component master database stores a component identifier as a primary key, a manufacturer identifier indicating a component manufacturer, and component specification information, which is information on component specifications such as component shape data and standards, and the like. ing.
The component condition storage unit 102 stores component conditions. The component conditions include, for example, a component manufacturer, standard conditions such as a rated voltage of an electric component, and a shape of the component. FIG. 3B schematically shows the record contents of the component condition storage unit 102. As shown in the figure, the component condition storage unit 102 stores a design identifier indicating a design in which the component condition is used and a component condition in association with the condition identifier as a primary key.
The design identifier receiving unit 103 receives designation of a design identifier for identifying a design from a designer. The design identifier is given for each design corresponding to the order. Here, the order code is used as it is as the design identifier, and the designer specifies the design identifier by selecting the order code.
[0015]
The component condition receiving unit 104 receives a component condition which is a condition of a component used for design from a designer. The component condition input unit 104 has functions as input reception unit 104a that receives direct input from a designer, and accepts conditions received from the input reception unit, and also accepts design conditions changed by the component condition change unit 106. And a reception deciding unit 104b. The input of the input receiving unit 104a is performed by specifying a component code indicating the type of component to be used and inputting a condition code required for each component code. Specifically, an input of a component code given for each component is received from a component code input screen 401 as shown in FIG. Then, a component condition input screen 402 as shown in FIG. 4B prepared for each input component code is displayed, and the designer can change the condition code predetermined for each item to a numerical value or a code. Enter with. The component code matches the component identifier, and the component specification information is stored in association with the condition code. The designer performs such operations as many times as the number of component types using the operation.
The reception determination unit 104b determines the condition input from the input reception unit 104a according to a designer's instruction. The determined component condition is stored in the component condition storage unit 102 in association with the condition identifier and the design identifier. The reception deciding unit 104b further retrieves past component conditions and general-purpose component conditions from the component condition storage unit 102, and inputs new design conditions changed by the component condition changing unit 106 according to a designer's instruction. Accepted and confirmed.
[0016]
The component condition display unit 105 displays the component conditions stored in the component condition storage unit 102 on the monitor 16 according to an instruction from the designer. The display of the component conditions is performed by displaying a group of condition identifiers, displaying a group of component codes to which component conditions associated with a specific condition identifier are attached, and displaying specific conditions for each component code in accordance with a designer's instruction. It can be performed appropriately.
The component condition changing unit 106 changes the component condition displayed by the component condition display unit 105 according to an instruction from the designer.
The component data extracting unit 107 searches the component master database 101 for component data that matches the component conditions according to the component conditions determined by the component condition receiving unit 104, and searches for component identifiers in the component data selected by the search. A manufacturer identifier and component specification information are extracted as used component data.
The used component data display unit 108 displays the extracted used component data or the used component data stored in the used component database 110 on the monitor 16. FIG. 5 shows an example of a used component display screen 500 displayed on the monitor 16 by the used component data display unit 108. Displayed as used component data are a used component code 501, a serial number 502 assigned in the same used component code, a manufacturer identifier 503, a component identifier 504, and specification information 505.
[0017]
The used component selection receiving unit 109 receives necessary used component data from the displayed used component data. Specifically, the designer selects unnecessary data from the displayed used component data, thereby selecting the remaining used component data as necessary. Of course, if there is no unnecessary part data, the designer does nothing and all displayed part data is selected.
The used component database 110 stores the used component data, the used component identifier, and the design identifier selected by the used component selection receiving unit 109 in association with each other. FIG. 3C shows specific record contents of the used component database 110. The used part database stores a condition identifier and each used part data with a used part identifier, a part identifier, a manufacturer identifier, and part specification information associated with each part with the design identifier as a primary key. You. Here, the used component identifier includes a component code and a serial number assigned to the same component code.
[0018]
The CAD operation unit 200 performs the original operation of the CAD device, such as arranging existing component data as design data, writing an outline of a housing or the like, and writing dimension lines in accordance with an instruction of a designer. This is a part that controls the operation, and performs almost the same operation as a general CAD apparatus. The CAD operation unit 200 includes a component data input receiving unit 200a. The component data input receiving unit 200a receives existing component data from the designer for placement on the design data. The component data input receiving unit 200a receives the used component data stored in the used component database, and specifically receives the input of the used component identifier or the input of the used component identifier selected after the search. The CAD operation unit 200 receives the input used component identifier as component data, extracts the shape information from the specification information of the component data with reference to the used component database 110, arranges the shape information on the drawing, and performs simulation after wiring. Or go.
The design data storage unit 210 stores one or more design drawings generated by the CAD operation unit 200 and supplementary information of the design drawings in association with the design identifier. FIG. 3D schematically shows the record contents of the design data storage unit 210.
[0019]
The manufacturer condition change receiving unit 111 receives designation of a used component associated with a specific design identifier in the used component database 110 and a change of the manufacturer identifier in accordance with an instruction of a designer. Specifically, the designer reverses the background of the used component data displayed by the used component data display unit 108 as shown on a used component display screen 500a in FIG. By selecting the used component data whose user is to be changed and inputting the changed manufacturer identifier from a screen (not shown), the specification of the used component and the change of the manufacturer identifier are accepted.
[0020]
The used component database changing unit 112 specifies a manufacturer identifier in the used component data specified in the used component database 110 based on the specification of the used component data received by the manufacturing condition change receiving unit 111 and the specification of the manufacturer to be changed. Replace with the changed manufacturer identifier. For example, as shown in the used part display screen 500a of FIG. 6A, when the four used part data are selected from the top and “MI” is input as the changed manufacturing identifier, the used part display of FIG. As shown on the screen 500b, the manufacturer identifiers of the top four used component data are changed to "MI" (Y portion in the figure), and the contents are stored in the used component database. In the component use data, the model number of the component is also stored in association with the manufacturer identifier. If the manufacturer identifier is changed, the model number of the corresponding component is also replaced with reference to the component master database and stored. Is done.
The design data component update unit 113 transmits the design data associated with the design identifier associated with the component data whose manufacturer identifier has been changed by the manufacturer condition change reception unit 111 to the manufacturer whose component data has been changed. Replace with such component data.
[0021]
Next, the operation of the CAD apparatus A having the above configuration will be described. First, the operation of generating the used component database will be described. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an operation of generating a used component database in the CAD apparatus A. First, a designer who intends to perform design specifies a design identifier. Designation of a design identifier is performed by selecting an order code registered in advance. Thereby, the design identifier receiving unit 103 receives the selected order code as a design identifier (s101). Next, the designer inputs component conditions. The input of the component conditions may be directly specified by the designer, or may be changed by selecting a similar component condition from the component conditions stored in the component condition storage unit 102. If the designer accepts which input method is input (s102) and it is specified that the component conditions are directly input, the input receiving unit 104a sets the component code input screen 401 as shown in FIG. The part code is displayed and the input of the part code is received. Subsequently, the part condition input screen 402 as shown in FIG. 4B is displayed to receive the input of the specific part condition (s103). The accepted component condition is temporarily stored in the component condition storage unit 102, and is displayed on the component condition display unit 105 according to an instruction from the designer (s105).
[0022]
If it is specified in s102 that the component conditions stored in the component condition storage unit 102 are to be used, the condition identifiers, which are identifiers of a plurality of component conditions, are displayed. select. This selection is accepted by the component condition selection unit 106 (s104), and the selected component condition is displayed on the monitor by the component condition display unit 105 (s105).
When changing the displayed component conditions, the designer changes the component conditions by designating a change item on the screen and inputting the details of the change. The component condition changing unit 106 changes the component condition in response to this operation (s106, s107). When the change of the component condition is completed, or when the displayed component condition is used as it is, the designer instructs to fix the component condition. Thereby, the acceptance deciding unit 104b decides the component condition (s108), and the decided component condition is attached to the condition identifier and stored in the component condition storage unit 102 (s109).
[0023]
When the component conditions are determined, the component data extraction unit 107 extracts the used component data from the component master database 101 based on the determined component conditions (s110), and the used component data extracted by the used component data display unit 108 is used. It is displayed on the monitor (s111). When the designer partially deletes the displayed used component data, the designer selects the used component data to be deleted and issues a deletion instruction. In response to this, the component selection receiving unit 109 deletes the used component data instructed to be deleted, and receives the remaining used component data (s112, s113). The used component data after the deletion or when the deletion process is not performed, the used component data extracted is stored in the used component database 110 in association with the design identifier (s114).
[0024]
Next, an operation of performing a design process using the used component data will be described. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing this operation. When arranging existing parts in a design, a designer first instructs display of used parts. Then, the used component data display unit 108 displays a list of used components on the monitor (s201). The designer selects a part to be used from the displayed used parts. Thus, the component data input receiving unit 200a of the CAD operation unit 200 receives the used component identifier of the selected used component (s202), and extracts the used component data associated with the received used component identifier from the used component database 110. Then, the shape data in the used component data is displayed at a predetermined position on the design screen (s203). The designer arranges the displayed shape data at an arbitrary position on the design screen, and when the state is determined, the CAD operation unit 200 accepts the arrangement of the shape data (s204) and arranges it as a part of the design data. (S205). The above operation is performed every time each component is arranged on the design data.
[0025]
Lastly, an operation in the case where the designer changes the designation of the manufacturer among the component conditions in the used component data will be described. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing this operation. A designer who intends to change the manufacturer's specification first specifies a design identifier and instructs display of used component data associated with the design identifier. In response, the used component data is displayed on the used component data display unit 108 (s301). Next, the designer selects a used part whose manufacturer is to be changed, and inputs a manufacturer identifier to be changed. Then, the manufacturer condition change receiving unit 111 receives the selection of the part whose manufacturer is to be changed (s302), and further receives the manufacturer identifier of the changed manufacturer (s302). Then, the used component database updating unit 112 changes the selected used component data by overwriting the accepted manufacturer identifier (s304). Further, the design data component updating unit 113 changes the designated use component data in the design data associated with the designated design identifier in the design data storage unit 210 (s305).
[0026]
In the above-described embodiment, the used component database stores the component specification information as the used component data. However, only the component identifier is stored in the used component data, and based on the component identifier as needed. The component specification information may be referred to from the component master database.
[0027]
【The invention's effect】
From the above description, the present invention has the following effects.
According to the first aspect of the present invention, a database of component data is generated as a used component database for each design drawing, and the designer specifies component data by specifying a used component identifier in a newly generated used component database. Therefore, the designer only has to select a part to be used for the design from the narrowed down parts, and efficient designing can be performed even if there is a huge amount of part information in the parts master database.
According to the second aspect of the present invention, by storing the component conditions in advance, the designer can generate the used component database simply by selecting the component conditions, and the designer can input the component conditions one by one. This saves time and effort for design.
[0028]
According to the third aspect of the present invention, when the component conditions are stored, the component conditions are changed as necessary, and the component conditions can be specified more flexibly. The efficiency of design can be improved by diverting.
According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, since the designer further narrows down the component data narrowed down by the component conditions and generates a used component database with a smaller number of components, an extra part is designated by specifying the component conditions. When the used parts remain, the number of parts can be further reduced, which also contributes to efficient design. According to the invention described in claim 5, by storing the component identifier, necessary data can be obtained by referring to the component master base without storing all information in the used component database. The storage amount of the used component database can be reduced.
According to the invention described in claim 6, by including information on the component specification of each component data in the user component data group, it is not necessary to refer to the component master database in the actual design, so that the processing time can be shortened. it can.
[0029]
According to the invention described in claim 7, when it is desired to change the manufacturer for parts having the same specification, only the manufacturer to be changed is specified, and only the manufacturer is different from the used component data in the used component database while the specification information remains unchanged. Since the used component data is replaced with the used component data, it is not necessary to specify component conditions from the beginning to create a used component database, and the processing efficiency is also improved.
According to the invention described in claim 8, the design data is also automatically replaced with a part having the same specification of a different manufacturer, so that when the design data has already been obtained, it is not necessary to perform the change work from the beginning, Again, the design can be made more efficient.
According to the ninth aspect of the present invention, only a part of the part data is replaced with the part data of the same specification having a different manufacturer, so that the manufacturer can be changed more flexibly.
According to the tenth aspect of the present invention, if a general-purpose computer is provided, the CAD apparatus according to the present invention can be realized.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a CAD device according to an embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram schematically showing functions of the CAD apparatus according to the embodiment.
3A is a diagram schematically showing record contents of a component master database, FIG. 3B is a diagram schematically showing record contents of a component condition storage unit, and FIG. 3C is a used component database; FIG. 7 is a diagram schematically illustrating the record contents of FIG. 5, and FIG. 7D is a diagram schematically illustrating the record contents of the design data storage unit.
FIG. 4A is a diagram illustrating an example of a component code input screen, and FIG. 4B is a diagram illustrating an example of a component condition input screen.
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a used component display screen.
FIG. 6A is a diagram illustrating a state in which used component data for changing a manufacturer is selected on a used component display screen, and FIG. 6B is a diagram illustrating a state in which a manufacturer identifier is changed on the used component display screen. FIG.
FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of generating a used component database.
FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an operation of performing a design process using used component data.
FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an operation when changing a manufacturer's designation in the used component data.
[Explanation of symbols]
101 Parts Master Database
102 Parts condition storage unit
103 Design identifier reception unit
104 Parts condition reception unit
105 Parts condition display
106 Parts condition changing unit
107 Part data extraction unit
108 Used part data display section
109 Used parts selection reception unit
110 Used parts database
111 Manufacturer condition change reception section
112 Used Parts Database Update Unit
113 Design Data Parts Update Unit

Claims (10)

A parts master database that stores parts data groups,
A design identifier receiving means for receiving a design identifier designation from a designer;
A part condition receiving means for receiving a part condition which is a condition of a part to be used from a designer;
Component data extraction means for searching the component master data database for component data matching the accepted component condition, and extracting at least a part of the component data selected by the search as used component data;
A used part database that stores a used part identifier that is a new identifier to the extracted used part data and stores the used part data in association with the design identifier,
A CAD apparatus having component data input receiving means for receiving designation of the used component identifier from a designer as input of corresponding component data. In the CAD apparatus, further,
A component condition storage unit for storing the component condition in advance;
The component condition receiving unit receives, as component conditions, a component condition selected by a designer among component conditions stored in the component condition storage unit;
The CAD device according to claim 1. In the CAD apparatus, further,
3. The CAD apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a component condition changing unit configured to change the content of the component condition stored in the component condition storing unit upon receiving an instruction from a designer. In the CAD apparatus, further,
Used component data display means for displaying used component data extracted by the component data extraction means or used component data stored in the used component database;
Used part selection receiving means for receiving selection of some parts from a designer from the used part data displayed by the used part data display means,
4. The CAD apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the used component database stores the used component data received by the used component receiving unit as new used component data. The CAD apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the component data includes a component identifier that specifies each component, and the used component data includes a component identifier. The component data includes component specification information on component specifications,
The CAD device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the used component data includes component specification information. In the CAD device,
The component data includes a manufacturer identifier indicating the manufacturer of the component and component specification information regarding the specification of the component,
The component master database stores component data relating to components having the same component specification information with different manufacturer identifiers,
The component conditions include a manufacturer's designation,
The used part data includes a manufacturer identifier,
further,
Manufacturer condition change receiving means for receiving a change in specification of a manufacturer in the part conditions from a designer,
Based on the change of the manufacturer's specification received by the manufacturing condition change receiving means, the manufacturer's identifier in the used part data whose manufacturer's specification has been changed in the used part database is replaced with a manufacturer identifier relating to the changed manufacturer. The CAD apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising a used part database updating unit. In the CAD device,
8. The CAD apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising a design data component updating unit that replaces the component data used in the design with the changed component data corresponding to the used component data replaced by the used component database updating unit. The manufacturer condition change receiving means receives specification of used component data,
9. The CAD apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the used component database updating unit replaces the manufacturer identifier only for the used component data whose designation has been received by the manufacturer condition change receiving unit. A program for causing a computer to realize the function as the CAD device according to any one of claims 1 to 9.

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