JPH0716837A - Product planning method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To rapidly select a material by preliminarily evaluating and ranking the material of the parts constituting an industrial product from such a viewpoint that the effect on global environment is low or recycling is easy to constitute the product of a well evaluated material. CONSTITUTION:For example, energy consumption properties are evaluated on the basis of the total production energy used in the production of a plastic material or part from petroleum, the operation energy strongly exerted on the characteristics and functions of a material at the time of the use of a product, regeneration energy necessary for re-molding and recoverable energy becoming heat energy at the time of incineration. Cleaning properties are evaluated based on whether a harmful substance is generated at the time of a regeneration process and incineration and easy recycling properties are evaluated based on whether the life of a material is long, whether hard recycling prescription is executed abroad and appearance and moldability. Next, cost is evaluated. Various materials are evaluated to be classified into synthetic evaluation, positive use A, usability B, requirement of improvement C and non-use D.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to home appliances that process resources such as oil and ore into industrial products, electronic products such as word processors, personal computers and workstations, and transportation equipment products such as automobiles, trains and elevators. , It is useful for designing methods for producing civil engineering products such as generators, heavy electric products for power transmission and transformation, furniture products such as mattresses and chairs, structures such as houses and buildings, and sound insulation and noise barriers for roads.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventional industrial products have taken into consideration mechanical properties such as strength and rigidity of materials, appearance properties, secular change, life, and moldability / productivity as a standard for selecting materials. In addition, Volvo in Sweden
(Environmental Priority Strategies for product desi
We have developed and used a method called environmental priority design method called gn). According to this design method, the amount of CO ₂ and NOx generated has an impact on the environment for each part, from the raw materials being finished into raw materials and products, as well as in the stages in which the products are used and discarded. Evaluate.

Also, Enviro at Phillips in the Netherlands
There is an example in which the risk factors such as toxicity and carcinogenicity, recyclability, etc. are considered as items to be checked when a designer selects a material by creating an nmental Design Manual.

[0004]

However, even if plastic is taken as an example, many kinds are applied to industrial products, and it is troublesome for the designer to check the material after or when selecting it. It took a lot of trouble and time. In addition, if the scale for judging energy consumption of materials, safety, recyclability, etc. varies depending on individual designers, the evaluation involves a problem of lack of generality.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to make it possible to quickly select a material based on a general evaluation.

[0005]

Therefore, the means of the present invention for achieving the above-mentioned object is to use the same scale in advance for each material, to save energy consumption, cleanliness,
Comprehensive evaluation in terms of easy recyclability and cost,
To do the ranking.

[0006]

[Function] The designer can design a product suitable for recycling, which is judged from an objective point of view, without taking time and effort, by selecting a material suitable for the application from the materials highly evaluated. To do so.

[0007]

EXAMPLES Examples of the designing method of the present invention will be described below.

FIG. 1 shows in a square frame the points to be noted when designing a product that has a low impact on the global environment and is easy to recycle, that is, to recycle, and shows the material flow in recycling by arrows. is there. The individual points to be noted in designing lead to the viewpoint of material evaluation shown in Table 1. In addition, the materials ranked in this example are collectively referred to as “ecomaterial”.

[0009]

[Table 1]

The manufacturing will be described from the upper left of the figure. Ecomaterial A is a point to keep in mind when designing and manufacturing products.
By aggressively adopting rank materials and adopting high rank materials, we will reduce and integrate material types and properly design materials with good material characteristics to reduce the amount used and ultimately the amount to be discarded.

[0011]

[Table 2]

[0012]

[Table 3]

[0013]

[Table 4]

Next, as a consideration for use by market users, the energy consumption during use is reduced, and at the same time the time until disposal and the product life are extended to reduce the amount of product discarded per unit time. .

Next, considering recovery and disassembly, it is necessary to first adopt a structure that can be easily disassembled. For this purpose, the parts are required to have an easily disassembled structure and physical properties capable of adopting a shape.

Also, the material cannot be recycled forever,
Eventually, we will move to monomerization, oilification, gasification or energy recovery. Therefore, it is important not to emit a gas that poses a safety problem when incinerated.

Based on these points to be considered, the evaluation items of materials and the evaluation scale are summarized in Table 1.
This table is roughly divided into 5 items.

(1) (2) A comprehensive evaluation summarizing the following.

(2) This is a column of energy consumption. Taking plastics as an example, the production energy is a summary of the energy used from the raw material petroleum to the production of raw materials and parts, and the smaller the production energy, the better.

The operating energy is calculated when the characteristics and functions of materials are strongly influenced when the product is used. For example, the heat insulating material of the refrigerator directly affects the power consumption during the operation of the refrigerator. Then, the detailed calculation example about a refrigerator is shown. When the refrigerator has a power consumption of 60 wh (216 kJ) and is used for 10 years, the energy consumption E1 during that period is E1 = 216 × 10 ³ × 24 × 365 × 10≈19 (G
J). On the other hand, if the amount of foamed polyurethane used for heat insulation is 5 kg per refrigerator, the production energy of urethane is 232 (GJ / m ³ ), so the energy required to produce the heat insulation material is approximately 0.9 GJ. . From this, it can be said that the heat insulating material should emphasize the heat insulating performance even if the manufacturing energy is slightly large.

The regeneration energy is the energy required to re-form the material used for the part by re-melting it, and the smaller the energy is, the better.

The recoverable energy is used to evaluate the value of the heat energy when the plastic or the like is finally incinerated. The larger the recoverable energy, the better.

(3) Cleanliness evaluates whether or not harmful substances are generated during the material recycling process or incineration.

(4) Easy recycling means that the material has a long life,
Difficulty recycling regulations are imposed overseas, good appearance, good moldability, physical properties suitable for material integration, moldable structure for dismantling, problem in recycling It is evaluated whether there is no crack, easy volume reduction and crushing, and less decrease in strength of the recycled material compared to the initial material.

Finally, as (5), cost may be included in the evaluation items.

Various materials were evaluated for these items (2) to (5), and the overall evaluations A, B, C and D were ranked. The positions of these A, B, C and D ranks are as follows.

A: Actively used. The same applies to A '. B: Usable C: Usable, but need improvement to rank A and B materials D: Do not use as much as possible Among the materials for resins and elastomers according to the above method, the case or structure with large parts Tables 2 to 4 show the materials that are frequently used for the parts, evaluated and evaluated as a selection guideline.

The production energy and the recoverable energy raised here are the research report “Energy saving effect due to the introduction of new materials” by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry's comprehensive research commissioned research in 1980 compiled by the Institute of Chemical Economics. About analysis ”.

An example of a washing machine in which the material of a specific product is designed according to this product design method will be shown. In the case of a fully automatic washing machine, the water tank and the washing / dewatering tank are not frequently visible parts, so polypropylene (PP), which has a good overall evaluation even though it is slightly inferior in appearance, was used. Since the panel surface material on which the operating switches are arranged has a relatively small part size, it is ranked B, with an emphasis on appearance, but A
Adopting BS resin, the lid of the washing tub and the cover of the upper part of the main body have the opportunity to be exposed to people, and A'in consideration of appearance and moldability.
Polystyrene (PS) which is a material was adopted.

[0030]

[Effects of the Invention] The material selection guideline was prepared by conducting a comprehensive evaluation of ease of recyclability in terms of energy consumption, cleanliness, easy recyclability, and cost for materials applied to products and parts. Product design saves the labor and time required for the designer to select a material for a plastic with a large number of seeds, or saves the labor and time required for checking by the designer. Since there is no change in the scale for determining low energy consumption, easily recyclable products based on an objective evaluation can be promptly sent to the world.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flow chart summarizing points to be noted for product recycling according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Front page continued (72) Inventor Masayuki Muranaka, 292 Yoshida-cho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa, Ltd. Inside the Visual Media Research Laboratory, Hitachi, Ltd. (72) Inventor Yoshitaro Ishii 1-1-1, Higashitaga-cho, Hitachi-shi, Ibaraki Incorporated company Hitachi Ltd. Living Equipment Division (72) Inventor Ryoichi Fujimoto 800 Tomita, Ohira-cho, Shimotsuga-gun, Tochigi Prefecture Living Equipment Division Hitachi Ltd. (72) Akira Ueura 292 Yoshida-cho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture Address Company, Hitachi Ltd. AV Equipment Division (72) Inventor Masao Goto Address: 292 Yoshida-cho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture Production Company, Hitachi Ltd.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. The materials of parts constituting an industrial product are evaluated and ranked in advance from the viewpoint of whether they have a low impact on the global environment or are easy to recycle, and the products are composed of materials with good evaluation. A product design method characterized by the above. 2. From the viewpoint of energy consumption, cleanliness, easy recyclability, and cost in claim 1, a comprehensive evaluation is performed by a four-step comprehensive evaluation of positive use, usable, need improvement but not use as much as possible. A product design method in which the product is made of good materials. 3. In claim 1, a comprehensive evaluation is carried out in four steps: active use, usable, possible improvement, and not using as much as possible in terms of energy consumption, cleanliness, easy recyclability, and cost. A product design method in which a product is configured by evaluation and materials.