Project construction with depiction means and methods
First Claim
1. In means to accomplish a building construction project provided with a schedule of discrete work activities to construct increments of structure of the project and provided with drawings of such structural increments,means depicting such structural increments as of a given time in the schedule, andmeans shading the depicted structural increments with degrees of boldness determined by time characteristics of the depicted structural increments.
0 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Construction of projects such as buildings, bridges, dams, industrial plants, means of transport, or the like with the aid of means and methods for incremental depiction of such buildings, etc. Complex structural features of the construction project are divided into discrete increments and characterized by ordered work activities essential to their construction, then are depicted as in construction drawings to assist in supervision of the project itself. Such characterization and depiction enable urgencies to be emphasized, as by shading structural features due to be started or finished by some given time in the construction schedule differently from those not due until later--or to have been completed earlier. Likewise, during actual construction, deviations from the project schedule can be distinguished readily, as by depicting structural features due (or overdue) in boldest shading and by diminishing the boldness of shading the more time is available within which to complete subsequent features. The boldness of monochromatic shading may be by line thickness and/or continuity, whereas for polychromatic representation it may be by hue and/or brightness of color. Storage and retrieval of structural information, work activities, and other data are conveniently machine-assisted , as by an appropriately programmed general-purpose computer or by an otherwise similar computer especially dedicated to such purpose.
-
Citations
34 Claims
-
1. In means to accomplish a building construction project provided with a schedule of discrete work activities to construct increments of structure of the project and provided with drawings of such structural increments,
means depicting such structural increments as of a given time in the schedule, and means shading the depicted structural increments with degrees of boldness determined by time characteristics of the depicted structural increments.
-
10. Structural graphics representation system for construction projects, comprising operatively interconnected means for depicting discrete increments of structure for a given project,
memory means for retrievably storing data about activities essential to construction of the discrete structural increments and data representing durations of the respective work activities and their sequencing, processing means to calculate therefrom early and late start and finish times for the respective activities and to calculate a resulting time schedule for the period from start to finish of the construction project, input/output means for use in inputting data and instructions to the memory means and to the processing means and in selectively retrieving data therefrom for display including structural increment data to depict selected structural increments thereon, and means for shading structural increments differently in accordance with their scheduled times of completion.
-
17. In means for construction of a building, bridge, dam, industrial plant, or means of transport,
whereby a schedule of discrete work activities is prepared for constructing corresponding increments of structure of the project, and whereby depictions of such resulting structural increments in construction drawings are also prepared, the improvement comprising means for depicting the corresponding structure as in such construction drawings, as of a given time within the schedule, including means for shading the respective structural increments with degrees of boldness corresponding to respective time relationships relative to the given time.
-
24. Means for use in construction of a building, bridge, dam, industrial plant, or means of transport, wherein work activities are performed to build increments of structure according to drawings thereof and a time schedule therefore, such means comprising
means for storing the schedule and the structural drawings for retrieval, means for retrieving such structural drawings corresponding to the status of the project as of any given time in the schedule, and means for shading the respective structural increments as of such given time with degrees of boldness corresponding to selected construction characteristics.
-
28. In means for construction of a building, bridge, dam, industrial plant, or means of transport, wherein certain work activities are performed to build discrete increments of structure according to a given time schedule, the improvement comprising
comparing scheduled and actual structure of such increments at a given time in the schedule during actual construction, depicting most boldly incomplete structural increments scheduled for completion within a selected incremental period of time from the given time, and altering the construction rate to bring the completion of incomplete structural increments into closer agreement with their scheduled construction times.
-
30. In means for construction of a building, bridge, dam, industrial plant, or means of transport, wherein certain costs are budgeted and work activities are performed to build discrete increments of structure according to a given time schedule, the improvement comprising
comparing scheduled and actual structure of such increments at a given time in the schedule during actual construction, depicting most boldly incomplete structural increments scheduled for completion within a selected incremental period of time from the given time but running over budgeted costs, and altering the costs of work activities for incomplete structural increments to bring the costs of completion into closer agreement with their budgeted construction costs.
-
32. In accomplishing a building construction project wherein discrete work activities are performed to construct increments of structure of the project according to drawings of such structural increments and according to a construction schedule, the steps of
depicting as of a given time the existing extent of the structural increments under construction, shaded with more or less boldness to indicate more or less discrepancy between their actual extent and scheduled extent when behind schedule, and takin appropriate steps to reduce such degree of discrepancy of the most boldly shaded structural increments.
Specification