Design by Analogy:Achieving More Patentable Ideas from One Creative Design

作     者：Li-Zhen Jia Chun-Long Wu Xue-Hong Zhu Run-Hua Tan 

作者机构：Civil Aviation University of China Hebei University of Technology National Engineering Research Center for Technological Innovation Method and Tool 

出 版 物：《Chinese Journal of Mechanical Engineering》 (中国机械工程学报（英文版）)

年 卷 期：2018年第31卷第2期

页      面：25-34页

核心收录：

学科分类：12[管理学] 1201[管理学-管理科学与工程(可授管理学、工学学位)] 

基　　金：support of the National Natural Science Foundation(Grant No.51675159) Human Resource and Social Security Project of Hebei Province(No.JRS-2016-3097) 

主　　题：Design by analogy Patentable idea generation IPC analysis Idea transfer heuristics Bladeless fan 

摘      要：A patent is a kind of technical document to protect intellectual property for individuals or enterprises. Patentable idea generation is a crucial step for patent application and analogy is confirmed to be an effective technique to inspire creative ideas. Analogy?based design usually starts from representation of an analogy source and is followed by the retrieval of appropriate analogs, mapping of design knowledge and adaptation of target solution. To diffuse one core idea into other new contexts and achieve more patentable ideas, this paper mainly centered on the first two stages of analogy?based design and proposed a patentable ideation framework. The analogical information of the source system, including source design problems and solution, was mined comprehensively through International Patent Classification analysis and represented in the form of function, behavior and structure. Three heuristics were suggested for searching the set of candidate target systems with a similar design problem, where the source design could be transferred. To systematize the process of source representation, analogs retrieval, idea transfer, and solution generation, an ideation model was put forward. Finally, the bladeless fan was selected as a source design to illustrate the application of this work. The design output shows that the representation and heuristics are beneficial, and this systematic ideation method can help the engineer or designer enhance creativity and discover more patentable opportunities.