ARIZ85 and patent-driven knowledge support

AbstractThe growing complexity of technical solutions, which encompass knowledge from different scientific fields, makes necessary, also for multi-disciplinary working teams, the consultation of information sources. Indeed, tacit knowledge is essential, but often not sufficient to achieve a proficient problem solving process. Besides, the most comprehensive tool of the TRIZ body of knowledge, i.e. ARIZ, requires, more or less explicitly, the retrieval of new knowledge in order to entirely exploit its potential to drive towards valuable solutions.A multitude of contributions from the literature support various common tasks encountered when using TRIZ and requiring additional information; most of them hold the objective of speeding up the generation of inventive solutions thanks to the capabilities of text mining techniques. Nevertheless, no global study has been conducted to fully disclose the effective knowledge requirements of ARIZ. With respect to this deficiency, the present paper illustrates an analysis of the algorithm with the specific objective of identifying the different types of information needs that can be satisfied by patents. The results of the investigation lay bare the most significant gaps of the research in the field. Further on, an initial proposal is advanced to structure the retrieval of relevant information from patent sources currently not supported by existing methodologies and software applications, so as to exploit the vast amount of technical knowledge contained in there. An illustrative experiment sheds light on the relevance of control parameters as input terms for the definition of search queries aimed at retrieving patents sharing the same physical contradiction of the problem to be treated

Inovação auxiliada por computador (CAI): uma análise bibliométrica de artigos publicados entre 2004 e 2013

In recent decades, innovation has come to be seen as a crucial factor for the competitiveness of organizations. From a process little orderly, innovation has come to be systematized, with the establishment of tools, methodologies and theories. A variety of computer programs have been created to support innovation, giving rise to a new category of tools, which is being called Computer Aided Innovation (CAI). This exploratory research seeks to understand more precisely the concept of CAI, as well as identify key publications, authors, institutions and regions in which it has been developed, besides seeking to identify gaps and trends of the topics covered in the area. Given the purpose of the research, it was decided to use bibliometrics, which allows obtaining the information indicated from the analysis of the main databases related to CAI. The research consists of 217 articles, published between 2004-2013. The methodological procedures to develop the research involved the following steps: a) raise the state of the art regarding the Computed Aided Innovation; b) Survey and data collection of scientific papers on CAI; c) categorization and bibliometric analysis and d) classify and analyze the topics covered. The results obtained through the bibliometric analysis revealed that there were 378 different authors, and authors have increased an average of 34.7% from 2004 to 2013. When checking the adhesion of the Lotka´s law to the field of CAI, It was observed that 72.8% of the authors had only one publication, 15% more than proposed by Lotka, than the area of CAI does not adjust to this law. The most productive authors were Runhua Tan (complete count) and Noel Leon (direct counting). The most cited author was Gaetano Cascini. The most productive country in the world is China, with 41% of publications, as well as having the largest number of researchers (42% of total) and the largest number of institutions. However, the country with the greatest relevance is France, because the French articles had 30.4% of the citations. The more productive institution is Hebei Universi ty of Technology, China, with 16% of the articles. The institution most frequently cited is INSA Strasbourg, France. By analyzing the topics covered, it was realized that the "Idea Management" category is more developed and the category "Management Patent" is the one with the least amount of work. It is considered that this research has contributed to give visibility to researchers, institutions and countries that have contributed to the development of CAI, besides recognizing the theoretical core that serves as the foundation of knowledge of the area. The theme CAI is extremely important for the improvement of the innovation process, enabling to innovate more efficiently and effectively.Nas últimas décadas, a inovação passou a ser vista como um fator crucial para a competitividade das organizações. De um processo pouco ordenado, a inovação tem passado a ser sistematizada, com o estabelecimento de ferramentas, metodologias e teorias. Uma variedade de programas computacionais têm sido criadas para apoiar a inovação, dando origem a uma nova categoria de ferramentas, que vem sendo denominada Computer Aided Innovation (CAI), ou Inovação Auxiliada por Computador. Esta pesquisa, de característica exploratória, busca compreender com maior exatidão o conceito de CAI, bem como identificar as principais publicações, autores, instituições e regiões nas quais o assunto tem sido desenvolvido, além de buscar identificar as lacunas e tendências dos temas abordados na área. Dada a finalidade da pesquisa, decidiu-se pelo uso da bibliometria e da análise de conteúdo para alcançar os objetivos estabelecidos. O universo da pesquisa constitui -se de 217 artigos, publicados no período de 2004 a 2013. Os procedimentos metodológicos para desenvolver a pesquisa envolveram os seguintes passos: a) levantar o estado da arte no que se refere a Inovação Auxiliada por Computador; b) levantar e coletar os dados dos artigos científicos em CAI; c) categorizar e fazer análise bibliométrica e d) classificar e analisar os temas abordados. Os resultados obtidos, por meio da análise bibliométrica, revelaram que houve 378 autores diferentes, e que a média de autores aumentou em 30,4% de 2004 a 2013. Ao verificar a aderência da lei de Lotka à área de CAI, observou-se que 72,8% dos autores tiveram apenas uma publicação, sendo 15% a mais do que o proposto por Lotka, ou seja, a área de CAI não se ajusta a esta lei. Os autores mais produtivos foram Runhua Tan (contagem completa) e Noel León (contagem direta). O autor mais citado foi Gaetano Cascini. O país mais produtivo do mundo é a China, com 41% das publicações, além de possuir o maior número de pesquisadores (42% do total) e o maior número de instituições. No entanto, o país com a maior relevância é a França, pois os artigos franceses tiveram 30,4% das citações. A instituição mais produtiva é Hebei University of Technology da China, com 16% dos artigos. A instituição mais citada é INSA Strasbourg, França. Ao analisar os temas abordados, percebeu-se que a categoria “Gestão de Ideias” é mais desenvolvida e a categoria “Gestão de Patentes” é a que possui a menor quantidade de trabalhos. Considera-se que esta pesquisa contribuiu para dar visibilidade aos pesquisadores, instituições e países que tem contribuído para o desenvolvimento do CAI, além de reconhecer o núcleo teórico que serve de alicerce do conhecimento da área. O tema CAI é de suma importância para a melhoria do processo de inovação, possibilitando inovar com mais eficiência e eficácia

TRIZ based patent investigation by evaluating inventiveness

Among TRIZ users the importance given to patent resources is far behind the mere protection of R&D results. Patents represent a starting point for new inven-tions and a huge resource for collecting information on the way contradictions have been solved and in which different field such solutions may be adopted. Moreover the worldwide patent database contains information about the technol-ogy evolution that can be extracted so that the level of maturity of a product or process can be evaluated towards TRIZ laws of technical evolution. The contribution of this paper is to provide a step by step procedure, partially automatic, to perform TRIZ oriented patent search. The procedure, while deter-mining the level of innovation of patents, allows defining a sharp set of patents responding to a structured query. The procedure has been applied to several case studies of different fields (e.g. me-chanical, medical, and electronics) and a significant example referring to X-rays technology is shown in the paper