Concept design
What is a design concept?
Clarifying functional requirements
Generating design concepts
Analyzing alternative designs
Developing “product” alternatives
Evaluating product alternatives
Concept Design Review
Information flow & storage
Intellectual property protection
Info flow during formulation and
concept design phases
Customer Needs Formulation
Formulation
Customer requirements
Importance weights
House of Quality
Eng. characteristics
ConceptDesign
Design Eng. Design Spec’s
Concept
“Best”
?
Alternative
Concepts
What is an alternative concept design?
For slowing and stopping a spinning shaft?
Alternative Physical principle Abstract Embodiment
1 fluid friction fan blade on shaft
2 magnetic field re-generative brake
3 surface friction disk and caliper brake
For fastening sheets of paper?
Alternative Physical principle Abstract Embodiment
1 spring force paperclip
2 bent clamp staple
3 bendable clamp cotter pin
4 adhesion glue
Physical principle
Def. - the means by which some effect is caused
Conservation of energy Archimedes’ principle Ohm’s law
Conservation of mass Bernoulli’s law Ampere’s law
Conservation of momentum Boyle’s law Coulomb’s laws of electricity
Diffusion law Gauss’ law
Newton’s laws of motion Doppler effect Hall effect
Newton’s law of gravitation Joule-Thompson effect Photoelectric effect
Pascal’s principle Photovoltaic effect
Coriolis effect Siphon effect Piezoelectric effect
Coulomb friction Thermal expansion effect
Euler’s buckling law
Hooke’s law Newton’s law of viscosity
Poisson effect/ratio Newton’s law of cooling
Heat conduction
Heat convection
Heat radiation
“Working principle” of a disc brake
(Pahl & Beitz, European community)
motion
(rotation) material
(solid)
working
geometry
surface physical principle
(planar area) (friction force caused by
caliper clamping force)
Note: no sizes, only vague shape
Design concept
Purposefully vague
Definition:
abstract embodiment of:
physical principle,
material, and
geometry.
Surfaces, motion
Inputs & outputs to decision making
Customer Needs
Formulation
Formulation
Customer requirements
Importance weights
House of Quality
ConceptDesign
Concept Design Eng. characteristics
Eng. Design Spec’s
?
Abstract embodiment
Physical principles
Material
Geometry
How do we proceed?
Need lots of feasible design concepts (i.e. alternatives)
Need to select the “best” one or two concepts
Is there a process that we can follow?
Can we use the overall design process to
guide us through the concept design phase?
Engineering Design process during
Design
Specification Concept design phase
Concept Design
Activity Analysis
Clarify Decomposition Diagrams
Functions Function Structures
Generate Archives, People
Alternatives Internet, Creative methods
Iteration
1st order calculations
Analyze Proof of concept tests
Bench test, Pilot plant
no Will not violate laws of nature
Feasible Likely to satisfy “must” customer requirements
yes ? Likely to satisfy company requirements
Evaluate Pugh’s Method
Weighted Rating Method
Best
Concept(s)
Customer activities
e en
e tw
b
n
io ct
c t
t e r a odu
e in p r Use set up
i n an d
a m r operate
Ex tome
cus maintain
repair
Retire take down
disassemble
recycle
dispose
Clarifying functional requirements
- Activity analysis method
S et up 1 . ope n pa cka ge
2 . exam ine s ha ver, cord, t rave l ca s e, a nd cleaning
brus h,
3 . rea d ins t ruc t ion booklet
4 . fill out w arrant y c a rd
5 . plug in s ha ve r t o cha rge bat t e rie s
6 . put s haver, c a s e , cord, brus h in bat hroom
c abinet draw er
Da ily us e 7 . rem ove charge d s haver from dra w er
8 . t rim hair
9 . s have face or legs
Us e 1 0 . rem ove c ut t er blade c over
1 1 . brus h cut t er bla de
1 2 . replace cover
1 3 . repeat s t ep 5 .
1 4 . s tore s have r in draw er
1 5 . repeat s t eps 7 -1 4 unt il blade s ne ed re placing
Replac e bla de 1 6 . rem ove c ut t er blade c over
1 7 . ins t all new cut t er bla de
1 8 . replace cut t er c over
Da ily us e 1 9 . repeat s t eps 7 -1 3 unt il ba tt eries nee d repla cing
Replace 2 0 . ins t all new rec hargeable bat t erie s
bat t eries
Da ily us e 2 1 . repeat s t eps 1 7 . -1 9 . unt il s have bec omes
unre paira ble
Ret ire Dis pos e of 2 2 . t hrow out s haver and auxilia rie s
s haver
Clarifying functional requirements
Function decomposition diagram method
o ns
c t i ? make
f u n ed
h at form coffee
W pe r
are
store brew convert warm
water, filter, coffee electricity coffee pot
grounds to heat
boil water control electricity
drip water on conduct electricity
coffee
Remove? Combine? Reorganize?
Some functions that products/parts perform
Why prepare function decomposition diagrams?
To breakdown big functions into smaller basic
subfunctions to improve our ability to “match”
existing concepts to basic functions
Fully understand customer requirements (use &
retire)
Disconnect function from form
Identify system boundaries
Increase the potential for new combinations
Function structure diagrams
show all inputs and outputs
State 1 State 2
Energy Energy
Material Function Material
Signal Signal
Example
Example
Engineering How do we do generate
Design
Specification alternative concept designs?
Concept Design
Activity Analysis
Clarify Decomposition Diagrams
Functions Function Structures
Generate Archives, People
Alternatives Internet, Creative methods
Iteration
1st order calculations
Analyze Proof of concept tests
Bench test, Pilot plant
no Will not violate laws of nature
Feasible Likely to satisfy “must” customer requirements
yes ? Likely to satisfy company requirements
Evaluate Pugh’s Method
Weighted Rating Method
Best
Concept(s)
Generating alternative concepts
e.g. fasten papers a) flexible clamp, paperclip
“match”
b) bent clamp, staple
c) adhesion, glue
(Sub)Functional requirements Concept
SF1 {C11, C12}
SF2 {C21, C22, C23}
Generating = finding or creating “matches”
Finding or creating matches
Archives
libraries (university, public, corporate)
literature (handbooks, monographs, trade mag.s, journals,
encyclop.)
People
coworkers, faculty, vendors, consultants
Internet
US Patent office, vendors, professional societies, etc
Existing products – similar or competitive products
dissection, reverse engineering
Creative methods
Brainstorming
Method 635
Synectics (analogies, fantasy, empathy, inversion)
Checklists (Osborn: substitute, combine, adapt, magnify, put to
other use, eliminate, rearrange, and reverse).
“Developing” generated concepts
E.g. mini bike
Morphological matrices
Developing combinations of concepts into alternative product concept designs
Alternative Concept design
1 {C11, C22 , C31…Cm2}
2 {C12, C23, C33 …Cm3}
Systematic Combinations
Engineering How do we do we
Design
Specification “analyze” concepts?
Concept Design
Activity Analysis
Clarify Decomposition Diagrams
Functions Function Structures
Generate Archives, People
Alternatives Internet, Creative methods
Iteration
1st order calculations
Analyze Proof of concept tests
Bench test, Pilot plant
no Will not violate laws of nature
Feasible Likely to satisfy “must” customer requirements
yes ? Likely to satisfy company requirements
Evaluate Pugh’s Method
Weighted Rating Method
Best
Concept(s)
Analyzing = “predicting” and “screening”)
(Roughly) predict / estimate each alternative’s performance
1rst order calcs. (back of the envelope)
Proof of concepts (physical principle “tests”)
Bench top/pilot plant (subassembly/system tests)
Next step?
Screen alternatives for feasibility
likely function ([Link] violate laws of nature)?
likely satisfy customer requirements?
likely satisfy company requirements?
Engineering
Design
Evaluating
Specification
Concept Design
Activity Analysis
Clarify Decomposition Diagrams
Functions Function Structures
Generate Archives, People
Alternatives Internet, Creative methods
Iteration
1st order calculations
Analyze Proof of concept tests
Bench test, Pilot plant
no Will not violate laws of nature
Feasible Likely to satisfy “must” customer requirements
yes ? Likely to satisfy company requirements
Evaluate Pugh’s Method
Weighted Rating Method
Best
Concept(s)
What does it mean to “evaluate” feasible
concept designs?
feasible concept designs
9
7 10
9
“evaluate”
best alternative concept design
However: e-“valu”-ate = values? whose?
Pugh’s evaluation method
1. Select criteria,
2. Establish datum column,
3. Rate alternatives (+, -, S) against datum
4. Select best, or better alternatives
group discussion and decision
Add new
Modified Pugh’s method column
Weighted Rating evaluation method
Concept Alternatives
gears v-belts chain
Importance Weighted Weighted Weighted
Criteria Rating Rating Rating
Weight (%) Rating Rating Rating
high efficiency 30 4 1.20 2 0.60 3 0.90
high reliability 25 4 1.00 3 0.75 3 0.75
low maintenance 20 4 0.80 3 0.60 2 0.40
low cost 15 2 0.30 4 0.60 3 0.45
light weight 10 2 0.20 4 0.40 3 0.30
100 NA 3.50 NA 2.95 NA best2.80
Rating Value method
Unsatisfactory 0
Just tolerable e 1
Adequate 2
Good 3
Very Good 4
Engineering
Design
Specification Concept Design
Activity Analysis
Clarify Decomposition Diagrams
Functions Function Structures
Generate Archives, People
Alternatives Internet, Creative methods
Iteration
1st order calculations
Analyze Proof of concept tests
Bench test, Pilot plant
no Will not violate laws of nature
Feasible Likely to satisfy “must” customer requirements
yes ? Likely to satisfy company requirements
Evaluate Pugh’s Method
Weighted Rating Method
Best
Concept(s)
Information flow & storage
· photocopies of archival matter,
· printouts from the Internet,
· vendor catalogs and data sheets,
· preliminary test results,
· first-order calculations, Record? what?
· patent abstracts, where ?
Manage? who?
· minutes of meetings,
· concept sketches, Protect? when?
· concept screening sheets why?
· concept evaluation matrices
· expert interview notes
Design information protection?
Is design “information” property?
Whose property is it?
Can it be protected?
Types of Property
Real property – land, buildings
Personal property
Tangible – trucks, machines, office equip.
Intangible -
contracts
copyrights
trademarks
patents
trade secrets
Contracts
Def.:
Written/oral agreement between two parties.
Examples:
Non-disclosure, confidentiality agreements
Copyrights
Def.:
Exclusive right to the publication,
production, or sale of the rights to a
literary, dramatic, musical, or artistic
work.
Examples:
book, sheet music, software,
dramas, sermons
Trademarks
Def.:
A symbol, design, word, or letter used
by a manufacturer or dealer to
distinguish his products from those of
his competitors.
Examples:
IBM, GE, XEROX, COKE, Pentium
Trade Dress
Trade Dress is a distinctive, nonfunctional feature, which
distinguishes a merchant's or manufacturer's goods or
services from those of another. (appearance)
The trade dress of a product involves the "total image" and
can include the color of the packaging, the configuration of
goods, etc... Even the theme of a restaurant may be
considered trade dress.
Examples include the packaging for Wonder Bread, the tray
configuration for Healthy Choice frozen dinners, and the color
scheme of Subway sub shops.
([Link]
Trade Dress Examples
Mc Donald’s happy meal- printed box
International House of Pancakes – blue roof
Seven-eleven – red/green store sign
Patents
Def.:
A document granting monopoly rights to
produce, use, sell or get profit from an
invention, process, plant(biological) or design.
Examples:
Utility patent - Xerox copying, Canon Laser engine,
household appliances, light bulbs, cameras.
Process patent - polymers such as Lexan, Rayon,
Delrin
Design patent - ornamental aspects of a product
such as shape, configuration, and/or any surface
decoration.
Trade Secret
Def.:
A method used to make a product, that is
kept secret by the company manufacturing
the product.
Examples: Coca-Cola, Coors beer, other
food recipes
Protection Summary
How will you protect
your company’s intellectual property?
• Contract
• Copyright
• Trademark
• Patent
• Trade secret
Summary
Clarify functional requirements
Activity analysis method
Function decomposition diagram method
Function/structure diagram method
Generate alternatives (by finding/creating)
Finding
Archives, People, Internet, Existing Products
Creating
Brainstorming, Method 635, Synectics, Checklists
Analyzing alternative designs
Evaluate – Pugh’s, weighted rating methods
Information flow & storage
Intellectual property protection