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US 5,548,707 AGranted
Method and system for design and drafting
AssigneeAdra Systems, Inc.
InventorsRene LoNegro, Stuart Wells
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A dimension indicator is automatically created to define the size of a geometric object or the spatial relationship between two geometric objects for a user of a computer-aided design and drafting system by the data processing steps of displaying one or more geometric objects; determining the geometry of one or more of the displayed objects; choosing one of a plurality of possible dimension indicators for the object(s) based on the determination in the previous step; displaying an image of the chosen dimension indicator until a placement location is selected for the chosen dimension indicator; and then displaying the dimension indicator in the vicinity of the placement location.
Claims32
A method, in a computer-aided design and drafting system for automatically choosing and then displaying a dimension indicator type for indicating the size of a geometric object for a user of the system, comprising:
- (a) providing to the user a menu having options selectable by the user;
- (b) upon the user selecting a particular one of the options, entering into a mode in which dimension indicator types are automatically chosen for the user;
- (c) displaying at least one geometric object;
- (d) allowing the user to select the displayed object;
- (e) identifying one of a plurality of possible geometries as the geometry of the selected object;
- (f) choosing one of a plurality of possible dimension indicator types for the object based on the identification in step (e);
- (g) displaying an image of the chosen dimension indicator type until the user selects a placement location for the chosen dimension indicator type;
- and
- (h) displaying, in the vicinity of the placement location, the chosen dimension indicator type and a numerical value associated with the chosen dimension indicator type and with the selected object,
- wherein at least steps (e), (f), (g), and (h) are performed automatically by the computer-aided design and drafting system.
7 more elements
A method, in a computer-aided design and drafting system for automatically choosing and then displaying a dimension indicator type for indicating a spatial relationship between two geometric objects for a user of the system, comprising:
- (a) providing to the user a menu having options selectable by the user;
- (b) upon the user selecting a particular one of the options, entering into a mode in which dimension indicator types are automatically chosen for the user;
- (c) displaying at least two geometric objects;
- (d) allowing the user to select a first one of the displayed objects;
- (e) identifying one of a plurality of possible geometries as the geometry of the first object;
- (f) determining the geometry of a second one of the displayed objects;
- (g) choosing one of a plurality of possible dimension indicator types for the first and second objects based on the identification in step (e) and the determination in step (f);
- (h) displaying an image of the chosen dimension indicator type until the user selects a placement location for the chosen dimension indicator type;
- and
- (i) displaying, in the vicinity of the placement location, the chosen dimension indicator type and a numerical value associated with the chosen dimension indicator type and with at least one of the first and second objects,
- wherein at least steps (e), (f), (g), (h), and (i) are performed automatically by the computer-aided design and drafting system.
8 more elements
A computer-aided design and drafting system, comprising:
- a computer having at least a memory and a processor;
- a display device coupled to the computer;
- a cursor controlling device, manipulated by a user and coupled to the computer, for generating signals indicative of desired movement on the display device;
- and
- programming means for operating the computer, comprising:
- (a) means for providing to the user on the display device a menu having options selectable by the user with the cursor controlling device;
- (b) means for entering into, upon the user selecting a particular one of the options, a mode in which dimension indicator types are automatically chosen for the user by the computer;
- (c) means for displaying at least one geometric object on the display device;
- (d) means for displaying a cursor on the display device, in response to the signals generated by the cursor controlling device, at the displayed object to indicate a selection of the displayed object;
- (e) means for identifying the geometry of a selected object from a plurality of possible geometries;
- (f) means for choosing, based on the identification made by the geometry identifying means, a dimension indicator type for the selected object from a plurality of possible dimension indicator types stored in the memory;
- (g) means for displaying an image of the chosen dimension indicator type on the display device, in response to the signals generated by the cursor controlling device, until a placement location is selected for the chosen dimension indicator type on the display device via the cursor controlling device;
- and
- (h) means for displaying, on the display device in the vicinity of the placement location, the chosen dimension indicator type and a numerical value associated with the chosen dimension indicator type and with the selected object,
- wherein the functions of at least the means (e), (f), (g), and (h) are performed automatically by the computer-aided design and drafting system.
12 more elements
A computer-aided design and drafting system, comprising:
- a computer having at least a memory and a processor;
- a display device coupled to the computer;
- a cursor controlling device, manipulated by the user and coupled to the computer, for generating signals indicative of desired movement on the display device;
- and
- programming means for operating the computer, comprising:
- (a) means for providing to the user on the display device a menu having options selectable by the user with the cursor controlling device;
- (b) means for entering into, upon the user selecting a particular one of the options, a mode in which dimension indicator types are automatically chosen for the user by the computer;
- (c) means for displaying at least two geometric objects on the display device;
- (d) means for displaying a cursor on the display device, in response to the signals generated by the cursor controlling device, at a first one of the displayed objects and then at a second one of the displayed objects to indicate a selection of the first displayed object and a selection of the second displayed object;
- (e) means for identifying the geometry of a selected first object and a selected second object from a plurality of possible geometries;
- (f) means for choosing, based on the identifications made by the geometry identifying means, a dimension indicator type for the first and second objects from a plurality of possible dimension indicator types stored in the memory;
- (g) means for displaying an image of the chosen dimension indicator type on the display device, in response to the signals generated by the cursor controlling device, until a placement location is selected for the chosen dimension indicator type on the display device via the cursor controlling device;
- and
- (h) means for displaying, on the display device in the vicinity of the placement location, the chosen dimension indicator type and a numerical value associated with the chosen dimension indicator type and with at least one of the first and second objects,
- wherein the functions of at least the means (e), (f), (g), and (h) are performed automatically by the computer-aided design and drafting system.
12 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.