Patent Application
20100125790
The present disclosure relates to a method, system and computer program recorded on a computer-readable recording medium for facilitating assembly of a product using, for example, interactive, dynamic and intuitive presentations for each sequence of the product assembly.
When an individual tasked with assembling a product is provided with a set of instructions, the instructions can include both a graphical representation of the product to be assembled and textual commands for assembling the product. The graphical and textual instructions may be provided in separate documents that each statically describe the steps to be performed to assemble the product. Alternatively, if the instructions are provided in a computer-readable format, the graphical and textual instructions may be provided in separate display windows respectively displaying the graphical and textual instructions statically. Both of these scenarios involve the assembler toggling back and forth between the textual commands and the graphical representation of the product, which can be cumbersome for the assembler and lead to interpretative variations or skipping one or more sequential steps in the assembly of the product as the assembler is toggling back and forth between the separate textual and graphical instructions. In addition, the separate presentation of graphical and textual instructions can amount to an inefficient duplication of the information presented.
A graphical representation of a product to be assembled has been combined with textual commands in the same presentation medium. For example, graphical and textual instructions can be combined in a static presentation provided on paper or in a display window of a computer program. While the combination of graphical and textual instructions may obviate the need to toggle between different documents or display windows, the separate presentation of graphical and textual instructions and the combined presentation of graphical and textual presentations are static and not intuitive for the assembler, can lead to an inefficient amount of duplication, and can lead to one or more sequential steps in the assembly of the product being skipped.
Video presentations have also been used to illustrate the assembly of a product. However, video presentations involve the assembler viewing a predetermined portion of the video and committing the instructions to memory, and then pausing or stopping the video presentation before returning to assemble the product by memory. In addition, video presentations pose storage and bandwidth considerations, and any modifications to the product or the instructions for its assembly involve editing of the video presentation or production of a new video presentation.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,750,884 to Steigerwald et al. discloses an apparatus for presenting a series of pre-configured instruction screen displays to a user according to a predetermined sequence. One pre-configured instruction screen display is presented at a time, until the apparatus receives a user-initiated instruction to display the next pre-configured instruction screen. Each pre-configured instruction screen display includes text information describing the work to be done during the instruction, and graphical information graphically illustrating the work to be done during the instruction. The graphical information includes a pictorial representation of a machine to be worked on and other indicia such as movement indicia indicating a direction of movement of a part or tool, and highlight indicia highlighting a pertinent part or tool in the instruction. Each pre-configured instruction screen display is statically displayed as a collective document on the display, such that an individual instruction screen display including both the text and graphical information is generated for each instruction. Changes to the text or graphical information between two pre-configured instruction screen displays involves generation of a different pre-configured instruction screen display consisting of a different combination of text and graphical information.
An exemplary embodiment disclosed herein provides a method for assembly of a product. The method includes displaying an image of a product to be assembled on a presentation apparatus. The method includes superposing a first instruction for assembly of the product on the image of the product displayed on the presentation apparatus. In addition, the method includes superposing a second instruction for assembly of the product on the image of the product displayed on the presentation apparatus, upon receipt of an input to the presentation apparatus that the first instruction was completed.
Another exemplary embodiment provides a computer-readable recording medium having a computer program recorded thereon for causing a processor of a presentation apparatus communicatively coupled to the computer-readable recording medium to perform operations of displaying an image of a product to be assembled on a presentation apparatus, superposing a first instruction for assembly of the product on the image of the product displayed on the presentation apparatus, and superposing a second instruction for assembly of the product on the image of the product displayed on the presentation apparatus, upon receipt of an input to the presentation apparatus that the first instruction was completed.
An exemplary presentation apparatus disclosed herein includes a display, and a processor configured to instruct the display to display an image of a product to be assembled, and display a plurality of instructions for assembly of the product. The exemplary presentation apparatus also includes an input device configured to receive an input indicating completion of an instruction displayed on the display. The processor of the exemplary presentation apparatus is configured to instruct the display to display the image of the product. The processor is also configured to superpose a first instruction for assembly of the product and instruct the display to display the superposed first instruction on the displayed image of the product. In addition, the processor of the exemplary presentation apparatus is configured to superpose a second instruction for assembly of the product and instruct the display to display the superposed second instruction on the displayed image of the product, upon the input device receiving an input indicating that the first instruction was completed.
Other objects and advantages of the present disclosure will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments, in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals have been used to designate like elements, and in which:
As shown in
For example, a presentation apparatus can be a computer, such as a laptop, desktop, workstation, server computer or gaming computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile telephone, a smartphone, a digital versatile disc (DVD) player, a high-definition DVD player (e.g., a Blu-ray player), etc., or any combination of these devices. An exemplary presentation apparatus will be described hereinbelow.
The image of the product to be assembled can be an illustration of the product or a part of the product at any stage in the assembly of the product. For example, the image can be a photograph or drawing indicating the product at an initial stage of assembly, at the completion of assembly, or at any point therebetween. The image displayed on the display of the presentation apparatus can be a photographic image taken of the product, an ink or computer-generated drawing of the product, or any other illustrative representation of the entire product or a part of the product to be assembled. For ease of illustration, the image of the product or the image of part of the product may generically be described hereinafter as “the image of the product.” However, it is to be understood that the phrase “the image of the product” can encompass only part of the product to be assembled.
The image of the product to be assembled can remain the same throughout each instruction in the assembly of the product. In the case where the display and/or processor of the presentation apparatus is configured to refresh the frame rate of pixels displayed on the display or refresh the entirety of the visual illustration displayed on the screen of the display at predetermined intervals, the image will remain the same upon each frame or screen refresh. Accordingly, the image of the product displayed on the presentation apparatus can be constituted by the same representation of the product (or part of the product) for each instruction display.
For example,
In the example of
Such textual information boxes 200a-200f can be superposed on the image 200 of the product throughout each instruction in the assembly of the product, or can be removed from the image displayed on the presentation apparatus at any predetermined point in the assembly process, such as after the completion of the first instruction, for example. The textual information boxes 200a-200f can be superposed individually or in groups in any predetermined order on the image 200. The textual information boxes 200a-200f can also be displayed in areas of the screen of the display outside the displayed image of the product. For example, one or more of the textual information boxes 200a-200f can be displayed in areas of the display bordering the representation of the image 200 of the product on the display of the presentation apparatus. In the examples of
Step S104 in
In the examples of
The exemplary embodiments disclosed herein also provide for the assembler providing an audio input via an audio input device (e.g., microphone and sound card) to the presentation apparatus. In this case, the presentation apparatus can include voice recognition hardware and software to recognize a predetermined word or phrase that constitutes a predetermined or programmed input to begin the assembly of the product or indicate completion of an instruction in the assembly of the product. For example, a presentation apparatus having voice recognition functionality can be programmed to intelligently recognize the word “start” spoken by the assembler to initiate presentation of the first instruction in the assembly of the product and intelligently recognize the word “next” spoken by the assembler as an indication by the assembler that the current instruction has been completed so that the next instruction will be displayed.
In either case of a manual or audio input by the assembler, the trigger 202 can be displayed on the display concurrently with the image 200 of the product. Such display of the trigger 202 provides interactivity with the assembler, because the assembler is invited to submit a predetermined input to begin the assembly process or indicate completion of a particular instruction. The same trigger 202 can be displayed throughout each instruction such as in the examples of
Step S106 in
For example, with reference to
The textual depiction 206 includes a textual command or description identifying the process to be completed during the completion of the first instruction 204. For example, the textual depiction 206 can provide a description of the part of the product to be assembled and/or a command for completing assembly of the part of the product illustrated in the first instruction 204.
The graphical depiction 208 includes a visual representation of the part of the product to be assembled. For example, the graphical depiction 208 in the example of
The graphical depiction 208 and any subsequent graphical depiction as described hereinafter can be presented as an animated depiction that illustrates how a part of the product (e.g., the wire to be connected to connection point A100 in
The exemplary embodiments disclosed herein also provide that at least one instruction can be an audible instruction output from the presentation apparatus audibly explaining the respective instruction in the assembly of the product. For example, in the example of
Step S108 in
Step S110 in
The determination of whether the assembler input has been received is performed by the processor of the presentation apparatus in conjunction with hardware components of the presentation apparatus and/or software components recorded on a recording medium of the presentation apparatus that are configured to receive the assembler's input. For example, if the presentation apparatus is a computer, the processor of the computer can recognize that the spacebar has been pressed, in accordance with the example of
If the input has not been received by the assembler, the first instruction 204 continues to be superimposed on the image 200 of the product to be assembled. In addition, the trigger 202 can continue to be presented until the assembler's input has been received, or the trigger 202 can disappear and reappear according to the predetermined display intervals as described above.
Step S112 in
Similar to the first instruction 204 illustrated in
The graphical depiction 218 includes a visual representation of the part of the product to be assembled. The graphical depiction 218 can be animatedly superimposed on the image 200 of the product to illustrate the connection of wires 42 and 43 to connection point A99. For example, in
Similar to the first instruction 204, the textual and graphical depictions 216, 218 of the second instruction 214 are correlated to graphically illustrate the part of the product to be assembled and provide textual instructions on assembling the part of the product.
Step S114 in
Step 116 in
Step S118 in
Similar to the first and second instructions 204, 214, the third instruction 224 illustrated in
Step S120 in
As shown in
Moreover, the instruction presentation process of the exemplary embodiments obviates the generation of different pre-configured instruction screen displays for each instruction, as disclosed in the Steigerwald patent, in which each pre-configured instruction screen display involves the generation of different screen displays each consisting of a different combination of text and graphical information for each instruction.
The exemplary first through third instructions 204, 214, 224 were described above as having an animated depiction for their respective graphical depictions 208, 218, 228. The exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to such an animated depiction. For example, the graphical depiction of any instruction can include color highlighting depictions in which the part of the product to be assembled is highlighted by a predetermined color to attract the attention of the assembler. In addition, the graphical depiction of any instruction can include graduated intensity representations of the part of the product illustrated in the respective instruction to give the appearance that the part of the product is originating from the image 200 of the product that is displayed on the presentation apparatus. The graphical depictions of each instruction can be represented by any other or combination of suitable presentation techniques that attract the attention of the assembler.
In the examples of
The additional removal processes of the exemplary embodiments are illustrated in
Accordingly, the instruction presentation process can include removing an instruction superposed on the image 200 of the product upon receipt of the input to the presentation apparatus to advance to an instruction immediately subsequent to the superposed instruction. The removal of each instruction is initiated upon the assembler providing the input to the presentation apparatus to indicate that the superposed instruction was completed.
The removal of an instruction that is presently superimposed on the image 200 of the product to be assembled can intuitively assist the assembler to interactively comprehend the current instruction and not be distracted with information not pertinent to the current instruction. Such concentrated instruction presentations can therefore capture and maintain the attention of the assembler on only the current instruction.
The present disclosure is, however, not limited to such a configuration in which the presently superimposed instruction is removed upon receipt of the assembler input that the presently superimposed instruction has been completed. Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure provide that one or more sequential instructions can be displayed concurrently to illustrate a cumulative depiction of the product to be assembled according to the most recent instruction superposed on the image 200 of the product.
For instance,
Upon receiving the assembler's input to indicate completion of the first instruction 404, a second instruction 414 is then superposed on the image 400 of the product to illustrate the cumulative depiction of the product to be assembled according to the first and second instructions 404, 414.
Accordingly, exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure provide that the cumulative depiction of each instruction subsequent to the first instruction in the assembly of the product illustrates completion of each previous instruction in the assembly of the product. In the examples of
An exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure provides that the graphical depiction of a part of the product to be assembled is selectable to link to an order page enabling the assembler to submit an order for a predetermined quantity of the part of the product depicted in the graphical depiction.
As denoted below the image 500 in
The graphical depiction of the part of the product to be assembled is also selectable to link to a specifications page identifying technical specifications of the part of the product depicted in the graphical depiction. For example, as illustrated in
Another exemplary embodiment provides that the completion of each instruction is automatically saved in a memory communicatively coupled to the presentation apparatus upon receipt of the assembler instruction that the respective instruction was displayed. For example, the presentation apparatus can automatically save the completion of each instruction in an internal memory or removable memory inserted into a memory slot of the presentation apparatus, or the presentation apparatus can automatically save the completion of each instruction in a memory device that is remotely accessible to the presentation apparatus. The processor of the presentation apparatus can also generate a displayable index of each instruction completed on the presentation apparatus based on the instructions saved in the memory. The index, upon being displayed, enables the assembler to resume assembly of the product at an instruction immediately subsequent to the most recently completed instruction or at an already completed instruction by selecting the instruction immediately subsequent to the most recently completed instruction or the already completed instruction on the displayed index.
The exemplary presentation apparatus 700 can include a processing unit 710, an audio input device 720, an input unit 730, a display 740, an audio output device 750, a transmission/reception device 760, and a memory slot 770.
The processing unit 710 includes a ROM (read-only memory) 711), a RAM (random access memory) 712, a CPU (central processing unit), and a communication unit 714. The CPU 712 controls the aggregate functions of each component of the presentation apparatus 700 as well as the interrelationship and interaction between the other constituent elements of the presentation apparatus 700. The CPU 712 includes a processor for controlling the operations of the presentation apparatus 700. The ROM 711 stores programs, such as an operating system (OS) and application programs, and logic instructions which are implemented by the CPU 712. As described above, the completion of each instruction is automatically saved in a memory communicatively coupled to the presentation apparatus upon receipt of the assembler instruction that the respective instruction was displayed. Accordingly, the CPU 712 can cause each instruction completed by the assembler to be automatically stored in the ROM 711. The RAM 713 is used as a working memory by the CPU 712 when executing the programs and logic instructions stored in the ROM 711.
The audio input device 720 can receive audio inputs from the assembler of the product or other operator of the presentation apparatus. The audio inputs can be inputs to indicate that assembly of the product is to begin or that an instruction was completed. The audio input device 720 can include a microphone integrated with a sound card of the presentation apparatus 700, or an external microphone connected to the sound card of the presentation apparatus 700.
The input device 730 includes keys and pointing devices that can be manipulated by the assembler. For example, the input device 730 can include a QWERTY keyboard, a mouse, a trackball or similar selecting and pointing device, a number pad, a multi-input touch screen with a virtual keyboard and buttons represented in a graphical user interface or as a graphics tablet. Any input component of the input device 730 can be configured to receive inputs by the assembler to initiate the start of the assembly of a product or indicate completion of a displayed instruction in the assembly of the product. The assembler can designate a particular key or input button to receive the assembler inputs, or the assembler input key and/or button can be provided by design.
The display 740 is configured to display an image of a product to be assembled, and display a plurality of instructions for assembly of the product. As mentioned above, the input device 730 can include a multi-input touch screen with virtual keyboards and buttons and/or a graphics table. As such, the input device 730 and the display 740 can be an integrated component of the presentation apparatus 700. The display 740 can be integrated into the presentation apparatus 700, or an external component that is communicatively connected to the presentation apparatus 700.
The audio output device 750 can include a speaker for outputting audible instructions. The speaker can be integrated into the presentation apparatus 700 or be externally connected to the presentation apparatus 700. The transmission/reception device 760 enables the assembler to connect to a network 780 such as the Internet, a LAN or VPN to obtain an assembly presentation, access the above-described order page and/or specifications page, and connect to an external memory to save each completed instruction as described above. The transmission/reception device 760 is illustrated as extending from the main body of the presentation apparatus 700. For example, the transmission/reception device 760 can constitute a communication device for communicating wirelessly in the event that the presentation apparatus 700 is configured as a portable device. However, the transmission/reception device 760 can be integrated within the main body of the presentation apparatus 700 as an internal communication device. For example, the transmission/reception device 760 can be a modem and/or a network card to connect to an external network, LAN and/or VPN. Data received and transmitted by the transmission/reception device 760 is processed by the communication unit 714 of the processing unit 710, e.g., under the control of the CPU 712.
The memory slot 770 is configured to receive a removable memory (e.g., CD- or DVD-ROM, smartcard, flash memory) that is inserted therein. The memory slot 270 communicatively couples terminals of the removable memory card to the processing unit 710 to provide the components of the processing unit 710 access to data and programs stored on the memory card, and to store data thereon. For example, if an assembler purchases a product that requires assembly, an assembly presentation file or program according to the exemplary embodiments described herein can be stored on the memory that is sold with the unassembled product. The assembler can then access the file or program on the memory to begin assembly of the product.
The presentation apparatus can have a presentation program, such as Microsoft Power Point®, for example, installed thereon, and the assembler can use such a presentation program to present the assembly instructions according to the above-described exemplary embodiments.
The presentation apparatus therefore can access a computer program recorded on a computer-readable recording medium communicatively connected to the presentation apparatus for implementing the above-described exemplary embodiments.
Accordingly, an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure provides a presentation apparatus 700 that comprises a display 740, a processor 710, and an input device 720, 730. The processor 710 can be configured to instruct the display 740 to display an image of a product to be assembled, and display a plurality of instructions for assembly of the product. The input device 720, 730 can be configured to receive an input indicating completion of an instruction displayed on the display, as well as an instruction to initiate or end assembly of the product.
The processor 710 can be configured to instruct the display 740 to display the image of the product, and superpose a first instruction for assembly of the product and instruct the display 714 to display the superposed first instruction on the displayed image of the product. In addition, the processor 710 can be configured to superpose a second instruction for assembly of the product and instruct the display to display the superposed second instruction on the displayed image of the product, upon the input device 720, 730 receiving an input indicating that the first instruction was completed. The exemplary presentation apparatus 700 can also be configured to perform the constituent functions of any of the above-described exemplary embodiments.
The present disclosure also encompasses a computer-readable recording medium having a computer program recorded thereon for causing a processor of the presentation apparatus communicatively connected to the computer-readable recording medium to perform the constituent functions of any of the above-described exemplary embodiments.
Combinations of the above-described exemplary embodiments, and other embodiments not specifically described herein will be apparent those skilled in the art upon reviewing the above description. The scope of the various exemplary embodiments includes various other applications in which the above structures, methods and programs may be used.
In addition, various aspects of the exemplary embodiments were described with reference to method steps and/or functions performed by structural components. It is to be understood that various aspects of the exemplary embodiments can also be performed by a computer program that is recorded on a computer-readable recording medium and causes a computing device to perform the various aspects of the exemplary embodiments, as appropriate.
It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the present disclosure can be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential character thereof. The presently disclosed embodiments are considered in all respects to be illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the invention is indicated by the appended claims rather than the foregoing description, and all modifications that come within the meaning and range of equivalents thereof are to be embraced therein.
