Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
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CONSTRUCTION MEANS AND P~ETHOD ~ITH DEPICTION OF STRUCTURE
Technical Field.
This invention relates to novel visual representation
of both structural and related features of construction
projects in their planned and actual con~truction, and ls
applicable to buildings, bridges, dams, industrial plantsr
means of transport, and the like.
Backgro~nd ~rt.
Complex construction projects comprise too many
components and involve too many structural and other
interrelationships to be kept in mind without visual aids;
such aids include drawings of the intended results,
graphical and tabular schedules of the order in which
components have to become available and be put into place
relative to one another, and budgets, for example. Howeverr
it is difficult to assemble the pertinent information in an
intelligible mannerr especially for such diverse audience
types as architects, artisansr contractorsr engineersr
financiers r and others. Also, in international construction
projectsr diversity of language is often a barrier to common
understanding of what has to be done.
Techniques for scheduling and control of complex
construction projects are well known under such terminology
as CPM (critical path method) and PERT (program evaluation
and review technique), which make use of visual aids, such
as critical path diagramsr Gantt charts, and other graphs~
Many textbooks are devoted to the subjectr such as J. J.
Moder and C. R. Phillipsr "Project Management with CPM and
PERT," published 1964, by Reinhold Publishing Company, New
York, and Chapman ~ Hall Ltdr London, also R. ~. Archibald
30 and R. L. Villoriar l'Network-Based Manayement Systems
(PERT/CPM)," published 1967, by John Wiley & Sons Inc~r New
Yorkr ~ondon, and Sydney. With the advent and development
of computers, the manipulation of large ~uantities of data
required by these methods has become practicabler and many
35 firms have adopted, developed, and refined their techni~ues.
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I~, as use of the mentioned graphs suggests, a picture
is worth a thousand words, 1000 construction drawings (not
an unusual number for a big project3 have much the worth of
a million words--worth organizing for best communication.
Ordinarily, whenever a project requires a larye set o~
drawings, it (and they) are divided into manageable subsets,
often with the aid of hierarchical levels of detail in the
various drawings, but such subdivided drawings often require
additional notations to render their interrelationships
fully intelligible to individual viewers. Project control
would be greatly enhanced by more readily available and
understandable pictorial and related visual representations.
Disclosure of Inventio~.
The inventive apparatus is adapted to depict structures
of construction projects, the inventive method utilizes such
depictions to help achieve the time schedule or the budgeted
costs, preferably both.
A primary object of the present invention is to provide
novel visual representation of structural and related data
in and for construction projects, especially complex ones.
Another object of the invention is to make intelligible
by visual display the scheduled status of chosen structural
features at any given stage in a construction project.
A further object of the invention is to focus attention
upon actual status, versus scheduled status, of structural
features in visual depiction of projects under construction.
Yet another object of this invention is to depict
structural features of a constxuction project, whether
scheduled only or actually being constructed, in such manner
as to convey urgency information about completion deadlines
and other pertinent matters non-verbally.
A still further object of the invention is to provide,
for use in themanagement ofconstructionprojects, a data
base comprising indicia of sequentialized work activities,
indicia of discrete increments o~ structure collocated with
the work activities,and depiction data for such increments.
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In general, the objects of this invention are
accomplished, by way of a systematic procedure o~ structural
graphics representation for construction projects, wherein
selected structural features are characterized according to
urgencies o~ time, cost, etc. related to their constructlon.
Such method of characterization emphasizes urgencies, as by
depicting structural features due to be started or due to be
completed by any specific time in the construction schedule
more boldly than structural features not due at that time.
At any given time during actual constructiont structural
features due ~or overdue) for completion can be emphasized
in similar manner, with litle or no resort to verbal
representation. Such depiction method is inherently help~ul
in reducing time, effort, and cost of pxoject management.
In summary detail, one is enabled to attain those
objects by a sequence of steps including identifying, in
advance, discrete increments of structure from start to
finish of a given project, depicting the structural
increments as in construction drawings, identifying discrete
work activities essential to constructing the respective
structural increments, assigning durations to the given
activities, sequentializing the work activities among
themselves, calculating start and finish times for the
respective activities so sequentialized, preparing a time
(and data) schedule from start to finish of the project, and
storing the foregoing for retrieval. Thus, the invention
utilizes, in data base management for construction projects~
a time schedule as a key by which to relate indicia of
sequentialized work activities and discrete increments o~
resulting structure, as well as other similarly related
data. This enables data associated with either the work
activities or the structural increments to be related to the
othex by way of the time schedule--whether expressed in
days, weeks, or other units of time--and enables structural
increments to be depicted with gradation in emphasis, keyed
to urgencies of time or to other data itemæ, such aæ cost~
" :
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Brief Description of Drawings~
Fig. 1 is a block diagram of steps taken in practicing
the present invention;
Fig. 2 is a block diagram of ~urther steps taken in
practicing this invention;
Fig. 3 is a largely schematic diagram of apparatus
useful in practicing the inventlon; and
Fig. 3A is a schematic diagram of a network of
workstations, each comprising apparatus such as is shown in
the preceding view.
Fig. 4 is a project-scheduling network diagram of
activities for a portion of a building construction project;
and
Fig. 5 is a construction project schedule corresponding
to the scheduled activities diagram of the preceding view.
Fig. 6 is a substantially conventional construction
drawing of the same scheduled portion of a building
construction project;
Fig. 7 is a similar drawing of the same building
portion, but shaded relative to the scheduled start of the
construction, according to the present invention; and
Fig 8 is a similar drawing of the same building
portion, but shaded according to the pxoject status well
into the schedule, with part of the scheduled construction
overdue for completion.
Fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of interrelationships
between and among data elements useful according to this
invention; and
Fig 10 is a schematic diagram showing steps ln
assembling a composite depiction of resulting structure,
with emphasis shading.
Additional objects of the present invention, together
with methods and means for attaining the ~arious objects,
will be apparent from these accompanying diagrams and the
following description, all presented by way of example
rather than limitation.
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~odes ~or Carrying Out ~he I~e~tion.
Fig. 1 relates the procedural steps of this invention
in more detail. The usual preliminary task is to formulate
the design of a given construction project, as in terms of
specific design criteria. The intended construction is
subdivided into successive stages, corresponding structural
drawings are prepared, and are subdivided into discrete
increments o~ structure. Likewise, kinds of work activity
essential to the construction are identified and are broken
down into discrete work activities. Optionally, as the
broken lines suggest, related data may be associated with
work activities (e.g., budgeted labor costs, crew sizes, and
availability) or with structural increments (e.g., budgeted
materials costs, quantities, and availability). Discrete
structural increments and work activities are collocated;
that is, cross-referred to each other, in a one-to-one
relationship.
Too, as noted in Fig. 1, durations are assigned to
respective work activities, which are se~uentialized among
~0 themselves in their logical order (i.e., which of them must
precede which, and both early and late start and finish
times are calculated for those activities. The resulting
time data and the collocated discrete work activities and
structural increments, together with other related data, are
then used to generate a time (and data) schedule for the
entire construction project from start to finish, and the
schedule and related information are stored for subse~uent
retrieval, as in electronic memory means.
It will be understood that, in generality, the foregoing
steps can be carried out by hand, with pencil and paper, but
that large construction projects are so complex that it is
convenlent to have the assistance of inanimate apparatus,
such as a digital computer, capable of speeding up the
necessary logical and mathematical calculations and,
optionally, the actual drafting process, so as to complete
them within a reasonable time. Storage in electronic ~emory
means follows naturally upon such machine-assisted steps.
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Fig~ 2, in similar manner to Fig. 1, shows subsequent
steps that, although also conceivably performable by hand,
actually are reasonably feasible only with similar machine
assistance. Indeed, Fig. 2 begins by showing the storing
of information from Fig. ~ twice: once in a read-only
memory, which represents the scheduled construction, and
additionally in a read-write memory that can be updated from
time to time in accordance with actual construction during
the project. One or more intermediate types of memory ~not
shown), that may be overwritten only after due precautions
are met may be interposed to represent target schedules
bearing authorized changes from the original schedule, as
will be readily apparent. However, in the interest of
clarity no such embodiment is described further here or
illustrated in the drawings, nor are means shown for storing
various operating programs, or for enabling essential
calculation to be performed, as is conventional.
As shown in Flg. 2, the read-write memoxy is updated
during the project with whatever departures from the
schedule actually occur in the process of construction. The
operator may retrieve upon request from either memory a
structural depiction, as of any selec~ed time within the
schedule, charactarized by time urgency or other data so
stored. Also, the two memories can be compared in any such
regards, to disclose any discrepancies between the two, as
where actual construction is ahead of schedule (or under
budget~ or--usually more important--is behind schedule (or
over budget), for example. Furthermore, either of the
memories can be compared with one or more intermediate
memories to identify any differences between original or
current plans and interim target schedules--and to depict
such differences in terms of the corresponding structure. A
record of successive target schedules or of successively
amended records of the status of actual construction amounts
to a history of the project, somewhat like an audit trail of
~inancial transactions, with the added advantage of being
reproducible here in pictorial, rather than numerical, form.
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~ s indicated further in Fig. 2, according to this
invention the structural increments of interest (or related
to other items of interest) are depicted so as to emphasize
their status,such as urgency of timeliness or cost, as well
as annotated (if desired) with related signs, numericaldata
or verbal comments. Such emphasis is accomplished by ~7hat
is called "shading" and more particularly as quasi-mnemonic
'~boldness" of shading to signify comparable (but unlike)
characteristics in monochromatic cr polychromatic depiction.
Because of black's o~tical dullness it is especially
suitable for both monochromatic and polychromatic depiction
of str~ctural features already completed or otherwise not
requiring emphasis. As shown subsequentlyt boldness of
monochrome shading is conveniently represented by line
thickness and continuity; thus, continuous or solld lines
are bolder than broken ones, and thick lines are bolder than
normally thin ones. In polychrome, shading is represented
by hue and/or brightness of color. Structure overdue for
completion takes the boldest representation, such as a
double-thick line in monochrome, or the boldsst color te.g.,
red) in polychrome. Those structures with later due dates
drop off incrementally to less bold colors, as in spectral
order (e.g., orange, yellow green, forest green, sky blue,
navy blue, violet--or dark brown); for which suitable
monochrome analogs are long-dash, short-dash, and dash-dot
double-thick lines, ~ollowed by long-dash, short-dash, and
dash-dot normal or single-thickness lines, respectively.
For convenience, these shading boldness relationships
are summarized in the table below, although it should be
recognized that others may be substituted with like effect,
as by subdividing the spectrum more finely (or less so), or
by adopting some other convention for shadings o~ boldness,
or even other ways of showing gradations of visual emphasis.
3~ The contents of the table are not merely exemplary, how ver,
but xepresent an example of a preferred structural depiction
arrangement or scheme.
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TA~LE 1: PRIQRITII~S AND SEaDINGS
PRIORITIESPOLYCHROME MONOCH~OME
GreatestRed Continuous double-thick
Next greatestOrange Lon~-dash double-thick
5 Not so greatYellow Green Short--dash double-thick
IntermediateForest Green Dash-dot double-thick
LessSky Blue Long-dash single thickness
Even lessNavy Blue Short-dash single thickness
LeastDark Brown Dash-dot single thickness
Such graduated boldness of shading o~ the structural
increments themselves conveys (at a glance) language-
independent information that otherwise could be conveyed--if
at all--only by relatively less effective methods. Of
course, more or fewer gradations could be usedr as could
other shading methods in color or in monochrome. Users
differ in pxeference for monochrome or polychrome emphasis
of lines, but where area shading is desired the usual choice
is color.
A useful supplementary representational aid when the
depiction is transitory, as on a suitable video screenr is
an intensitydifference sufficienttoberelatively readily
distinguishable from existing shadings. Whether continuous
or intermittent, such differences are useful to emphasize
areas, lines, or points of particular interest. For
example, features to be removed may be illustrated as above,
but intermittently at reduced ~or no) intensity,all or part
of the time.
A blinking or flashing of the video display, such as
between normal intensities, is useful for noting the
3~ presence of slack or float time in an activity for
constructing a given structural increment. Such blinking
or flashing is also analogously useful to show temporary
features (e.g., forms) that first are placed and then are
removed during the course of the project.
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The showing of such temporary features preferably will
alternate between the respective shadtngs characterizing
their priorities of placement and removal, with the latter
preferably diminished in intensity. Another use of
blinking or ~lashing of the display, such as between normal
and higher intensities, is to draw attention to structural
features characterized by some data element [e.g~,
availability of work crews or materials, budgeted or actual
costs or variances between them, or progress payments) not
usually found in drawings. Verbal or graphical addenda may
be included to similar effect, optionally with the aid of
arrows, flags, or other pointers.
Fig. 3 shows computer apparatus 30 comprising
components to enable this invention to be practiced with a
high degree of machine assistance. Despite the largely
schematic diagram here, persons ordinarily skilled in the
art of digital computers will readily understand what is
meant, so as to become enabled to practice this invention
with relative ease. Shown centrally is video display means,
which conveniently includes a video screen, for relatively
transient displays and print-out means (printer or plotter~
for non-transient or "permanent" displays of both structural
graphics and related alphanumerics. Connected to the video
means is electronic memory means, including both read-only
and read-write memories, as previously described. Connected
thereto are a central processing unit (CPU) and input/output
control means, as is conventional.
The input/output means conveniently includes not only
the customary keyboard but also an electronic drafting
surface or "bit pad" to transmit into the memory drawings
made thereon as with the indicated stylus. Alternatively, a
light pen may be used similarly in conjunction with the
screen. Not shown is conventional scanning means that may
be used with pen-and-ink con~truction drawings to convert
them into readily stored digital signals.
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The foregoing apparatus may be of general-purpose type
or may be dedicated especially to practicing this invention.
And, though the mentioned video means (screen and recorder)
are two-dimensional, it can simulate three-dimensions, as by
well known isometxic and perspective representation methods
suitable for presenting structural features ofconstructlon
projects such as are dealt with here. ~lternatively, the
display may actually be three-dlmensional te.g., holographic)
subject tocost, space, andtechnicalconsiderations. Also,
1C displays that "zoom" from small to large detail are helpful.
A display that rotates the depicted structure about an
axis (vertical or otherwise) is well within the skill of
the art and is capable of showing the display as it would
appear upon contrariwise movement of an observer's viewpoint.
Fig. 3A shows schematically a number of computer
workstations 30 connected together into communications
network 35, which itself is useful according to this
invention. One or more workstations 30 can readil~ be made
available to maior functional groups involved in any
construction project (e.g., proposal~ design, scheduling,
procurement, construction, and startup); or trades (e.g.,
concrete, carpentry, electrical, plastering, and plumbing);
and at levels of managemen~ from foremen through
intermediate supervisory personnel to the proiect manager;
and optionally even to higher line manayers and possibly to
pertinent staff personnel (e.g. financial, legal, or
writers). This supplementary diagram fragmentarily suggests
representative availability of such apparatus in actual
construction operations, specifically to the architect,
designers, scheduler, contractor's managers, subcontractors,
and customer. Of course, authority to revise the design or
the schedule and update work performed and structure built
should be limited to authorized persons. Great car~ should
be taken for security of the data base in any event.
It will be understood, of course, that such networking
is well within the current state of the art and yet may take
advantage of future improvements. This invention lies more
inwhat is done than in specific meansforaccomplishing it.
' , '
: .
The computer means itself is also well known in the art.
Standard mainframes, such as are made by IBM or by Digital
Equipment or other manufacturers, are fine for this purpose,
bu' minicomputers or even microcomputers can be substituted.
As an example, in Fig. 3A, several individual work stations
30 preferably have ~elf-containad computer units or "nodes"
with their own memory banks and so interconnect~d that what
is stored in the memory of each is available to every other
unit, and that unavailability of any unit does not
interrupt the network but only renders the unit and its
memory unavailable until again on line. ~lso desirable are
high resolution of display so as to show tlle structural
increments in considerable detail, and rapid response
because of the quantity of detail to ba processed.
Fig. 4 shows a project scheduling network diagram
resulting from sequentialization of work activities for
constructing a minor portion of a building as shown in
subsequent diagrams. About a dozen activities (designated
by arrows) suffice to go from early to late stages, such as
excavation, forming, placing, and stripping of foundationr
stairs, and landing. The respective activities ara
designated by An above the arrow, where n is a numerical
indicator of a given work activity; and by (d) below the
arrow, where d is the number of days from start to finish of
such activity. Thus, the first activity arrow is marked
A1/(5); the 1 indicating that it is the first a~tivity, and
the 5 indicating that it is to require five days.
Thus, Fig. 4 shows the critical path as a horizontal
line from left to right, made up of arrows to which are
juxtaposed activity indicia A1, A3, A4,`A5, A~, A7, A9, A10,
A12, and A13; whereas activities A2, A8, and A11 all
require less time to complete than do one or more parallel
activities and so have slack time available to them, as
appears more definitely in the next view.
It will be understood that activities may be ~and oftan
are) identified in more complex manner (e.g., with indicia of
trade type or carrying other information), but these simple
indicia will suffice here.
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Tabulated below are the work activities and indicia.
TABLE 2: EXAMPL~ OF ~ORK ACTIVITIES
INDICIA DESCRIPTIONS
A1 Excavate for foundation slab
A2 Place reinforcing for foundation slab
A3 Place forms for foundation slab
A4 Place foundation slab concrete
A5 Place reinforcing for walls
A6 Place forms for walls
A7 Place wall concrete
A8 Strip forms already placed, backfill
A9 Place forms for stairs and landing
A10 Place reinforcing for stairs
A11 Place reinforcing for landing
A12 Place stairs and landing concrete
A13 Strip remaining forms
Fig. 5 shows a resulting construction schedule, with a
time scale tin days) at the top, and at the left a list of
the various activities by indicia (An, where n is the number
assigned to the given activity) plus duration (in days).
Activity early start and late finish dates (days),
respectively, are indicated in Fig. 5 by the left and right
ends of the horizontal bars extending to the right of the
respective activity indicia. Inside the bars are both
forward and backward slant ~or slash) characters, whose
leftmost ends indicate the respective early and late start
times and whose right ends indicate the respective early and
late finish times, as stated in the Legend included in the
upper right corner of the drawing. A bar completely cross-
hatched by the oppositely slanted character~ indicatas theduration of an activity without slack, whereas a bar that is
not completely cross-hatched indicates presence of slack.
Thus, activity A2 has one day of float or slack, activity A8
has seventeen such days, and A11 has three of them.
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Fig. 6 shows in sectional elevation the corresponding
portion of the scheduled construction project, comprising a
plurality of structural increments uncharacterized as to the
actual or scheduled order in which they were (or were to
have been) completed, together with forms, reinforcing bars,
etc. to be used in the construction. Included are a
foundation, walls, stairs, and a landing--all rather
fragmentarily shown--but adequate for an illustrative
example. In more complex drawings, features to be shown
might be grouped by type of work activity, location on a
drawing, or by subcontractor, for example.
As will be apparent, ordering or ranking of pictorial
structural increments may be by starting times or completion
times; or both can be shown alternately, or on two separate
display devices simultaneously. For convenience, examples
here utilize completion--rather than starting--times, as a
matter of choice. Shown in normal continuous lines (middle
left and upper right) are adjacent structural ~eatures not
part of the present schedule.
Fig. 7 depicts the same structural portion (of Fig. ~)
shaded in monochrome according to the scheduled activitiy
completion times (of Fig. 5~. Scheduled first as most
urgent is the excavation for the foundation, shown
accordingly in continuous double-thick lines (which in
polychrome would be red~ but of merely single thickness).
Scheduled next are reinforcing bars--horizontal for the
foundation and vertical for the walls--which appear in long-
dash thick lines (orange if in color). Next, in short-dash
double-thick lines (cf. yellow green3 is the concrete
foundation itself. Scheduled next are wall forms, shown in
thick dot-dash lines (cf. forest green); forms, because thev
are to be removed subsequently, should appear additionally
intermittently in diminished intensity, preferably coded to
their removal deadline, if in an electronic video display
(not feasible in this hard copy).
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FigO 7 shows structural increments resulting from the next
few activities in long-dash single-thickn~ss lines (cf. sky
blue): the foundation walls (formed and placed, stripped
and backfilled). Because of the slack in the stripping
activity, it may well appear alternately as an item of least
urgency (dot-dash, cf. dark brown). Forms for both the
stairs and the landing, and the reinforcement ~or the
stairs, scheduled next, are shown in normal thickness (thin)
short-dash lines (cf. navy blue). The concrete stairs and
landing, as well as final stripping, all being of like (low)
priority, are dot-dashed (cf. dark brown) single-thickness
or non-bold lines.
Fig. 8 shows in similar fashion the same structural
portion, in its actual stage of construction on a given day
(T29, the start of the second half), but shaded to emphasize
construction lagging the schedule. ~eference to Fig. 5
indicates that the first six of the activities were to have
been completed by T28. A1-A5 are done, so their resultant
structural increments are shown in continuous black single-
width lines (similar if in color~, confirming that theproject is on schedule to that extent.
However, Fig. 8 shows by its use of solid double-thick
lines (cf. red) that A6 (placing forms for the walls) is
behind schedule and, thus, very likely to delay suhsequent
activities, especially those having no scheduled slack (A7,
placing wall concrate; A9, forms for stairs and landin~; and
A10, stairs and landing concrete). Such visual emphasis
encourages prompt remedial measures, such as shortening the
duration of one or more of the activities, as by enlarging
work crews or paying them for overtime--doubtless at
increased cost, which can be similarly highlighted in a
separate depiction as an aid to decision~making.
In Fig. 8 slack~rich form-stripping step A8 is shaded
like A13 (the one-day final form-stripping step~ because of
their identical completion dates, shown in Fig. 5. Activity
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A11 (placing landin~ reinforcing), which also has some
slack, is shaded like the similar step of placing
reinforcing for the stairs because they also have identical
required completion dates. According to this invention, as
already noted, such slack could be shown readily in a video
display--not here--by flashing between the respective
shadings for the activity's scheduled early start and
permissible late finish. Two-stage flashing to indicate
slack preferably differs from that for showiny placing and
removal of a structural feature by being of equal intensity
in both stages of its showing (compared with a diminished
intensity in one of the stages for a removal feature).
Fig. 9 shows schematically main data elements under
headings: SCHEDULE, ACTIVITIES, EMPHASIS, STRUCTURAL
INCREMENTS, and COSTS. The elements are shown in the form
of alphabetical indicia, which in general form are Tn for
schedule times, Ai ~or work activities, Ek for shading
emphasis, Sj for structural increments, $Ci for crew costs,
and $Mj for materials costs. In specific occurrences
numbers are substituted for the appended lower-case letters,
and in the drawing such numbers are more or less sequential.
Mentioning of the data elements freguently by name (rather
than by indicia) in further discussion of this diagram will
be understood as compatible ~rather than in conflict~ wih
the principle that the indicia stand for their respective
elements in this data base and are often meant here when
the context fails to indicate otherwise.
Interrelationships among the indicated data elements in
Fig. 9 are shown by lines (of various degrees of boldness)
joining them. Primary linkage between a given discrete work
activity, on the one hand, and the increment(s) of structure
produced by that activity, on the other hand, are
represented in bold horizontal lines. Each activity (Ai)
has linked to it, as shown by ordinary lines, its duration
(Di),its crew requirement (Ci), materials requirement (Mi~,
andits description (....~i--all expressed generally here.
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Structural increments usually are in a many-to-one
relationship to their source drawings, and in Fig. 9 they
all are linked to only one drawing (G1). Each structural
increment (represented generally by Sj) has similarly linked
to it, its ~epiction data ~DD;) derived from the source
drawing, and usually a verbal description (...)j.
Descriptions of corresponding activities and structural
increments may be meryed into composite descriptionsr if
desired, as may activity and structural increment indicia,
but the data base is more versatile if these distinctions
are maintained. Degrees of detail, as within the depiction
data, for example, enable an operator to display structural
depictions in greater or lesser detail, as desired.
In Fig. 9 the duration of each work activity is linked
by dashed lines at the left to the time schedule (shown
fragmentarily as a succession of time units T1 to
T12...Tn). One such linking line appears for each time unit
required by the activity duration. Early and late times-
where not identical--would unduly complicate this diagram
and, thus, are omitted here ~or clarity). Successive time
units are bracketed into five-unit intervals for convenience
of illustration and as an example of a common range ~a 5-day
week). Other user-defined ranges may be substituted as the
user may prefer for review of the project or schedule, such
as shorter ranges in the near term and longer ones further
away, as well as other degrees of emphasis. Here the listed
activities (A1 through A4) and their durations are ~hose of
the same example treated in Fig. 5 and corresponding text.
The middle heading in Fig. 9 is EMPHASIS, a concept
most often based upon time urgency but sometimes on some
~ther connected data element, such as cost. Here emphasis
indicia (for degrees of time urgency or data variance) E1,
E2, E3,.o.Ek scale downward, linked to both the duration
indicia and the time schedule by broken lines, to indicate
that the linkage is subject to changes as time passes.
Successive time units (e.g., days) may be deemed to define a
fixed reference system, and urgency emphasis a variable one.
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Also commonly in many-to-one relations are types (and
numbers~ of workers and materials, and it is convenient to
cross-reference crew and materials requirements, one-to-one,
to their respective work activities, and through them to
their structural increments. Crews and materials are linked
directly to their costs--shown generally as $Ci and $Mj at
the lower right, below their individual values--and (at the
upper right) to their totals, $C and $M.
In such a data base representation ~as Fig. 9) any
given time intersects, somewhat indirectly, at least one
activity (usually many more) and structural increment(s),
whereupon the array of time intersections with activities
and structures constitutes a calendar of the project and may
be reconstituted more directly as such--as sug~ested in
dashed lines on the drawing. Moreover, as previously noted,
the scheduled and actual construction times for the various
structural features provide calendars for them in like
manner, and comparison of the structures as scheduled and as
actually built readily highlights departures of construction
from the original schedule--which may have to be revised
from time to time~
Fig. 10 shows, in schematic block form, representative
steps for using such a data base to produce a composite
depiction of structural increments shaded--whether in
monochrome or polychrome--to indicate graded degraes of
emphasis, here by completion times. An operator of computer
apparatus appropriate for such use keys in a specific time
"Tm" during the project schedule when the operator or
another person would like to see a visual depiction of
resulting structure (a) scheduled to be in place by then,
(b) currently due for completion, and (c) to become due by
one or more later times.
Selected time Tm is usually stated as a given number of
working days from the beginning of the project construction,
but it may be a given date for conversion into a number of
such days (or other time units) in accordanca with the
number of work days per week and allowing for holidays, etc.
~8~
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Alternatively, Tm may be an interval of several days, but
for this example will be considered as a single day.
The operator also keys in--or calls up, if already
stored--desired time emphasis intervals for (b) and ~c).
The intervals may be alike (e.g., a work week of a certain
number of days) or may be unlike (e.g., 3 days, 5 days, 10
days) and are represented here by letters x, y, and z. All
later activities may be grouped under a single heading or,
if desired, the last stated interval may be left open-ended
to include such activities to the end of the schedule. The
time intervals will determine gradations in boldness of
shading in the structural display, as explained below.
Keying in of specific time Tm triggers retrieval of a
schedule (cf. Fig. 5) that shows, to look up each work
activity essen~ial to the construction~ whether it should be
completed before time Tm, or (if not) be completed by time
Tm, or within the given numbers of t~me units after time Tm.
Activities wit~l finish times before Tm are so identi~ied
(bottom row in diagram), then all the collocated structural
increments are identified from their relation to those
activities (as by being looked up in a stored A, S array),
then their corresponding depiction data are called up and
are used to depict the strucural increments together.
Also, as indicated along the upper part of Fig~ 10,
activities with completion times within the respective
intervals after Tm are identified, as are their collocated
structural increments. Then depiction data tstored as
attributes of the structural increments) are called up for
each structural increment in each such groupin~, preferably
triggered automatically by the preceding steps, although
alternatively keyed by the operator.
In order for the structure displayed via such groups of
depiction data to be suitably shaded, instructions must be
keyed in (or be called up as previously stored~ to affect
the respective groups of depiction data accordingly~ Such
instructions go also to the completed structure.
~X~141
- 1 9 -
Alternative polychrome and monochrome shading scales
are provided (much as in Table 1) so that those structural
increments predating time Tm will appear in single-line
black, and structure due for completion on (not before or
after) Tm will show in red if polychrome (otherwise in bold
solid lines). In like manner, structure due within the next
x days will appear orange (or in bold long dashed lines),
within y days thereafter in light or yellow green (orbold
short dashes), within the next z days in dark or ~orest
green (or bold dash-dot lines~, and from thsn until the end
of the project in a more subdued shading, such as light blue
(or single-thickness dashes)--not shown in Fig. 10. Though
each such structural depiction may also be shown separately,
a composite of allof them will usually appear, as indicated
at the lower right.
Placement of suitable xelational links (shown in part
in Fig. 9) in digital electronic computer memories (as via
memory addresses) is well known in the art and is within the
skill of software designers. Also within programming skill
are the steps of converting drawn elements of structure to
depiction in another medium such as a video display, shading
such display with reference to a schadule or related time
characteristics, comparing scheduled and actual items and
determining differences between them, and annotating a
display of structural features graphically with arrows or
other symbols and optionally with textual information. The
same is true of devising ways of varying such displays by
diminished or enhanced intensity, blinking or flashing
between normal and varied intensity (including on and off~
and other visual modifications that will come to mlnd~
The drawings to be stored electronically need not be
prepared differently from what dra~tsmen normally proviae
for construction projects; indeed, some customary
annotation of relationships can be eliminated because they
will be apparent in the video display. This is not to say
that improvements in draftsmanship will not come in handy in
preparing drawings for use according to this invention.
.
4~
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Examples of improvements include performing the
drafting with implements adapted to store a drawing as soon
as it is made (or while it is being made), and utilizing
prepared graphical or plctorial symbols for components that
can be called up ~rom storage rather than being drawn from
scratch every time they are required, also keying the views
so that they can be combined into more comprehensive
illustrations--all as are becoming well known in the art of
computer-aided drafting. These and other measures reduce an
already large memory requirement and permit advantageous
reduction in paper storage, use, and disposal~
It should be understood that "structural" is used
generally in this specification to denote whatever makes up
a constructed work (building, bridge, etc.) rather than
being interpreted in a more limited structural engineering
sense. Thus, electrical, plumbing, and finishing features
of construction, for example, may well be treated as
structural elements in the practice of the invention~ Also,
collateral activities essential to a project, such as hiring
personnel, buying or leasing equipment, expediting delivery,
and receiving materials on site, are related data elements.
Time units other than days may be more suitable for
some projects. The assigned duration for any work activity,
if not a fixed number of time units, may be expressed in a
range with a stated minimum and a stated maximum, with or
without a stated intermediate, such as their m~an duration,
a defined "most likely" duration, etc.
As is well known in the scheduling art, the "early
start" date of any given work activity is the earliest date
by whic~l all essential prior activities can be (or have
been) completed, and the "early finish" date is obtained by
adding the minimum duration of that activity to its early
start date. The "late finish" date of a given work activity
is the latest date by which that activity can be completed
without delaying completion of the project, and the "late
start" date is obtained by subtracting the minimum duration
of that activity from its late finish date.
-21-
Software for handling these variants will come readily
to mind for persons skilled in the pertinent art of computer
programming. Accordingly, programs do not constitute part
of the invention claimed here, whereas selecting for display
and displaying timely structural features (with ox wlthout
related data) are subject steps of this inventionD ~k i~
also apparent that a report yenerator (program) may be
devised so as to enable a human operator to obtain one or
more of a wide variety of transient displays or permanent
printouts at the touch of a key or (with voice-recognition
equipment? just by an oral re~uest. Thus, computer programs
or software devised or adapted especially for effecting the
present objectives may be particularly useful--and may be
patentable (or not).
Industrial Applicability.
This invention is inherently advantageous for project
management in the constr-lction of bridges, buildings, dams,
industrial plants, means of transport, and the like--and at
all levels. Prominent among its benefits are increased
facility in project scheduling and control, decrease in
required personnel and communications, and reduced costs all
around. As noted in the foregoing description of Fig. 3,
many persons involved in construction projects can improve
their work product accordingly. Of course, with the time
and cost data obtained they also can compute dispersions,
variances, and other statistical and accounting measures, or
the like for use in accounting and other financial analysis.
The invention benefits not only the construction firms
that undertake to practice it but also those whose projects
are constructed by means of it. The suppliers of hardware
and so~tware used in doing so also b~nefit. More advantages
may become evident to readers of this speci~ication.
Some modifications in this invention have been
suggested, as noted above. Others may be made, as by
adding, deleting, combininy, or subdividing parts or steps/
while retaining some of the advantages and benefits of the
invention, which itself is defined in the following claims.
