Patent ID: 7877157

Claim:
A design support apparatus for supporting a design of a product based on an evaluation result of recyclability of the product, the apparatus comprising: a first memory to store for each part, parts basic data including a kind of material composing a part and mass of the material of each kind: a data generator to generate, for each of parts composing the product, parts material data including a kind of material composing each part and mass of each kind of material; a second memory to store, for every combination of materials, a table including information indicating at least one of a permissible value with respect to compounding ratio of the combination, a separation admissibility for the combination, level of compatibility of the combination, and marketability of the combination; a first evaluator to evaluate, for each part in the parts material data, (a) whether the part is composed of a plurality of materials of different kinds and (b) recyclability of the product including a mixture admissibility of a plurality of material which relates to at least one of the combination of the materials of the part and the combination ratio thereof, information representing an ability to separate the combination, a level of compatibility of the combination, and merchantability of the combination, referring to the table when the part is not composed of a plurality of materials of different kinds; a calculator to calculate, for each part, a mass of the material of the part that recycling is impossible, based on an evaluation result of the first evaluator; a display to display the parts in order of decreasing mass; a first analyzer to check whether the part is composed of a plurality of materials of different kinds for each part, referring to the parts material data, and display on the display as an obstruction factor of recyclability of the part a condition that collectable materials and recycling rate are limited when the part is composed of a plurality of materials of different kinds and a remedy of the obstruction factor to change the part to a part composed of a single material; and a second analyzer to check whether the part is composed of a plurality of materials of different kinds for each part, referring to the part material data, and display on the display as an obstruction factor of recyclability of the part a condition that the part is composed of materials of a plurality of kinds and an evaluation result of the mixture admissibility indicates no mixture admissibility; and display on the display information relating to at least one of (a) changing the part to a part composed of a single material, (b) dismantling the part for every kind of material and (c) changing the material to a mixture permissible material.