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.