An approach for radical innovative design based on cross-domain technology mining in patents

Abstract

The key to radical innovation lies in technological breakthroughs, and the key to technical breakthroughs lies in the application of cross-domain knowledge. However, in the conceptual design stage of new product development, the designer’s cognition and knowledge are limited and the retrieval and evaluation of cross-domain technologies is often subjective, making it difficult to generate radical concepts. To address the above issues, this paper proposes a method for cross-domain technology recommendation based on patent analysis. In this method, feature words in various domains of patents are used to generalise the abstract functions of product core subsystems, where designers can obtain more comprehensive cross-domain technologies. This is conducive to breaking the design fixation of designers. Subject–Action–Object structural and functional similarity are combined to quickly extract cross-domain technologies in patents. Then multiple technical indicators are used to objectively evaluate and rank cross-domain technologies. This approach helps designers objectively select cross-domain technologies to change the way next-generation products work, enabling early planning of production conditions and a head start in the market. The method has been verified in a new product development project on peeling equipment, a new product that meets radical indicators is finally obtained.

KEYWORDS:

• New product development
• conceptual design
• radical innovation
• patent mining
• cross-domain technology recommendation
• functional similarity

Acknowledgements

All the authors have approved this manuscript for submission to the journal, and there are no conflicts of interest regarding the publication of this manuscript. The authors sincerely thank the editors and reviewers for their valuable time and efforts in reviewing the manuscript. The authors acknowledge the supporting funds, the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51805142) and the Tianjin Education Commission (2020SK115).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The authors confirm that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article and its supplementary materials.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant number 51805142] and Achievements of Scientific Research Program of Tianjin Education Commission [grant number 2020SK115].

Notes on contributors

Fei Yu

Fei Yu received her PhD in Engineering from Hebei University of Technology in January 2014. She had a one-year visiting study at the Politecnico di Milano, Italy, from 2016 to 2017. She is an Associate Professor at the School of Mechanical Engineering of the Hebei University of Technology and the National Engineering Research Centre for Technological Innovation Methods and Tools. Her research interests are mainly in the theory and application of product innovation, especially in the research of TRIZ, radical innovation. E-mail: [email protected].

Jinfeng Fu

Jinfeng Fu’s (master’s degree) main research direction is technological innovation and methods, especially in radical innovation research. E-mail: [email protected].

Jing Guo

Jing Guo is a teacher at the Business School, Tianjin University of Finance and Economics. Her research interests are mainly in the theory and application of product innovation, innovative management, especially in the research of TRIZ, disruptive innovation theory and application for the development of new mechanical products. She has 18 papers that have been published, and four inventive patents have been authorised. E-mail: [email protected].

Runhua Tan

Runhua Tan is a professor and the director of China’s National Technological Innovation Method and Tool Engineering Research Center, the Vice President of the organisation of computer-aided innovation (WG5.4) of the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP) in Asia. His research interests are mainly in TRIZ, conceptual product design and radical innovation. More than 100 articles by Dr Tan have been published, and parts of his papers have appeared in journals such as the International Journal of Product Development and the Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship. E-mail: [email protected].

Bojun Yang

Bojun Yang, PhD, is an associate professor at the School of Mechanical Engineering of the Hebei University of Technology, deputy director of China’s National Technological Innovation Method and Tool Engineering Research Center and a postgraduate tutor. The main research direction is technological innovation and method, especially in the research of radical innovation and analogy design. E-mail: [email protected].