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

ConceptDesign
Design
Concept
Best
?
Alternative
Concepts

Customer requirements
Importance weights
House of Quality
Eng. characteristics
Eng. Design Specs

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
1
spring force
2
bent clamp
3
bendable clamp
4
adhesion

Abstract Embodiment
paperclip
staple
cotter pin
glue

Physical principle
Def. - the means by which some effect is caused
Conservation of energy
Conservation of mass
Conservation of momentum
Newtons laws of motion
Newtons law of gravitation
Coriolis effect
Coulomb friction
Eulers buckling law
Hookes law
Poisson effect/ratio

Archimedes principle
Bernoullis law
Boyles law
Diffusion law
Doppler effect
Joule-Thompson effect
Pascals principle
Siphon effect
Thermal expansion effect
Newtons law of viscosity
Newtons law of cooling
Heat conduction
Heat convection
Heat radiation

Ohms law
Amperes law
Coulombs laws of electricity
Gauss law
Hall effect
Photoelectric effect
Photovoltaic effect
Piezoelectric effect

Working principle of a disc brake

(Pahl & Beitz, European
community)

motion
(rotation)
working
geometry
surface
(planar area)

material
(solid)
physical principle
(friction force caused by
caliper clamping force)

Note: no sizes, only vague shape

Design concept
Purposefully
Definition:
vague
abstract embodiment of:
physical principle,
material, and
geometry.
Surfaces, motion

Inputs & outputs to decision

making
Customer Needs
Formulation
Formulation

ConceptDesign
Design
Concept

Abstract embodiment
Physical principles
Material
Geometry

Customer requirements
Importance weights
House of Quality
Eng. characteristics
Eng. Design Specs

How do we
proceed?

Need lots of feasible design concepts (i.e. alternat

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
Specification

Clarify
Functions
Generate
Alternatives
Iteration

Analyze
no

Feasible
yes ?
Evaluate

Best
Concept(s)

Design process
during
Concept Design Concept design
phase
Activity
Analysis
Decomposition Diagrams
Function Structures

Archives, People
Internet, Creative methods
1st order calculations
Proof of concept tests
Bench test, Pilot plant
Will not violate laws of nature
Likely to satisfy must customer requirements
Likely to satisfy company requirements
Pughs Method
Weighted Rating Method

Customer activities
en
e
e tw

b
n
io ct
t
c
ra odu
e
t
i n pr
Use
e
d
n
i
n
a
m
r
a
Ex tome
cus

Retire

set up
operate
maintain
repair
take down
disassemble
recycle
dispose

Clarifying functional requirements

- Activity analysis method
Setup

1. open package
2. examine shaver, cord, travel case, and cleaning
brush,
3. read instruction booklet
4. fill out warranty card
5. plug in shaver to charge batteries
6. put shaver, case, cord, brush in bathroom
cabinet drawer
Daily use
7. remove charged shaver from drawer
8. trim hair
9. shave face or legs
Use
10. remove cutter blade cover
11. brush cutter blade
12. replace cover
13. repeat step 5.
14. store shaver in drawer
15. repeat steps 7-14 until blades need replacing
Replace blade 16. remove cutter blade cover
17. install new cutter blade
18. replace cutter cover
Daily use
19. repeat steps 7-13 until batteries need replacing
Replace
20. install new rechargeable batteries
batteries
Daily use
21. repeat steps 17.-19. until shave becomes
unrepairable
Retire Dispose of
22. throw out shaver and auxiliaries
shaver

Clarifying functional requirements

Function decomposition diagram
method
ns

io ?
t
c
n ed
u
f
at form
h
W pe r
are
store
water, filter,
grounds

make
coffee

brew
coffee

convert
electricity
to heat

warm
coffee pot

boil water

control electricity

drip water on
coffee

conduct electricity

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
Material

Signal

Energy
Function

Material

Signal

Example

Example

Engineering
Design
Specification

Clarify
Functions

Activity Analysis
Decomposition Diagrams
Function Structures

Generate
Alternatives

Archives, People
Internet, Creative methods

Iteration

Analyze
no

How do we do generate
alternative concept
Concept Design
designs?

Feasible
yes ?
Evaluate

Best
Concept(s)

1st order calculations

Proof of concept tests
Bench test, Pilot plant
Will not violate laws of nature
Likely to satisfy must customer requirements
Likely to satisfy company requirements
Pughs Method
Weighted Rating Method

Generating alternative concepts

e.g. fasten papers

match

(Sub)Functional requirements
SF1
SF2

a) flexible clamp, paperclip

b) bent clamp, staple
c) adhesion, glue
Concept
{C11, C12}
{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
1
2

Concept design
{C11, C22 , C31Cm2}
{C12, C23, C33 Cm3}

Systematic Combinations

Engineering
Design
Specification

Clarify
Functions

Activity Analysis
Decomposition Diagrams
Function Structures

Generate
Alternatives

Archives, People
Internet, Creative methods

Iteration

Analyze
no

How do we do we
analyze
concepts?
Concept Design

Feasible
yes ?
Evaluate

Best
Concept(s)

1st order calculations

Proof of concept tests
Bench test, Pilot plant
Will not violate laws of nature
Likely to satisfy must customer requirements
Likely to satisfy company requirements
Pughs Method
Weighted Rating Method

Analyzing = predicting and

screening)
(Roughly) predict / estimate each alternatives
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 (i.e.not violate laws of

nature)?
likely satisfy customer requirements?
likely satisfy company requirements?

Engineering
Design
Specification

Evaluatin
g

Concept Design

Clarify
Functions

Activity Analysis
Decomposition Diagrams
Function Structures

Generate
Alternatives

Archives, People
Internet, Creative methods

Iteration

Analyze
no

Feasible
yes ?
Evaluate

Best
Concept(s)

1st order calculations

Proof of concept tests
Bench test, Pilot plant
Will not violate laws of nature
Likely to satisfy must customer requirements
Likely to satisfy company requirements
Pughs Method
Weighted Rating Method

What does it mean to evaluate

feasible concept designs?
feasible concept designs
9
9

evaluate

However:

10

best alternative concept

design

e-valu-ate = values? whose?

Pughs 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

Modified Pughs method

Add new
column

Weighted Rating evaluation method

gears
Criteria
high efficiency
high reliability
low maintenance
low cost
light weight

Importance
Weight (%)
30
25
20
15
10
100

Rating
4
4
4
2
2
NA

Rating Value
Unsatisfactory
0
Just tolerable e 1
Adequate
2
Good
3
Very Good
4

Weighted
Rating
1.20
1.00
0.80
0.30
0.20
3.50

Concept Alternatives
v-belts
Rating
2
3
3
4
4
NA

Weighted
Rating
0.60
0.75
0.60
0.60
0.40
2.95

chain
Weighted
Rating
3
0.90
3
0.75
2
0.40
3
0.45
3
0.30
NA best2.80

Rating

method

Engineering
Design
Specification

Clarify
Functions

Activity Analysis
Decomposition Diagrams
Function Structures

Generate
Alternatives

Archives, People
Internet, Creative methods

Iteration

Analyze
no

Concept Design

Feasible
yes ?
Evaluate

Best
Concept(s)

1st order calculations

Proof of concept tests
Bench test, Pilot plant
Will not violate laws of nature
Likely to satisfy must customer requirements
Likely to satisfy company requirements
Pughs Method
Weighted Rating Method

Information flow & storage

photocopies of archival matter,

printouts from the Internet,
vendor catalogs and data sheets,
preliminary test results,
Record?
first-order calculations,
patent abstracts,
Manage?
minutes of meetings,
concept sketches,
Protect?
concept screening sheets
concept evaluation matrices
expert interview notes

what?
where ?
who?
when?
why?

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.
(http://www.amerilawyer.com/trademark/tm_tradedress.htm)

Trade Dress Examples

Mc Donalds 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 companys 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 Pughs, weighted rating methods
Information flow & storage
Intellectual property protection