The five levels of TRIZ inventions

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This post was last edited by liaifeng on 2020-3-19 20:10. TRIZ finds, through the analysis of patents, that there are significant differences in the scientific knowledge and technical level contained within various **different invention patents. In the past, it was difficult to determine issues such as the knowledge content, technical level, scope of application, importance, and contribution to humanity of different invention patents without clarifying their specific details. Therefore, invention patents are classified into different grades based on their contributions to science, the scope of technological application, and the economic benefits they bring to society, in order to facilitate their better promotion and application. The TRIz theory classifies invention patents or inventions into the following 5 categories. Level 1: Mostly small inventions related to parameter optimization, typically representing ordinary designs or simple improvements to existing systems. This type of invention does not require any specialized skills or knowledge from adjacent fields; problem-solving relies mainly on the knowledge and experience possessed by the designer themselves, without the need for innovation – it is simply an application of existing knowledge and experience. For example, to improve thermal insulation, plastic-steel windows are made thicker; heavy trucks with greater load capacity are used in place of light trucks to reduce transportation costs. Such inventions or patent applications account for 32% of the total number of all inventions or patent applications. Level 2: Make minor improvements to the existing system by resolving a technical contradiction. Solving such problems primarily relies on existing theories, knowledge, and experience within the industry. The traditional approach to solving such problems is the compromise method. For example, a fire extinguisher added to the welding device, the hollow handle of an axe, etc. Such inventions or patent applications account for 45% of the total number of all inventions or patent applications. Level 3: Fundamental improvements to existing systems. Solving such problems primarily relies on existing methods and knowledge from outside the industry, and contradictions must be resolved during the design process. For example, automatic transmission systems are used in cars instead of mechanical transmission systems; mice are used in computers; clutches are installed on electric drills, and so on. Such inventions or patent applications account for 18% of the total number of all inventions or patent applications. Level 4: Innovate the basic functions of existing systems by employing entirely new principles. Solving such problems relies primarily on a scientific approach rather than an engineering one, making full use of scientific knowledge and principles to achieve new inventions and creations. Such as the invention of the first internal combustion engine, the development of integrated circuits, pneumatic tires, and memory alloy pipe fittings. Such inventions or patent applications account for 4% of the total number of all inventions or patent applications. Level 5: Rare scientific principles lead to the invention or discovery of a new system. The solution to such problems relies mainly on new discoveries in natural laws or new scientific findings. Such as the first inventions of computers, shape memory alloys, steam engines, lasers, and light bulbs. Such inventions or patent applications account for 1% of the total number of all inventions or patent applications. In fact, the higher the level of an invention, the more knowledge is required to obtain that patent, the broader the field to which this knowledge belongs, and the longer it takes to find useful information. At the same time, as society develops and technological levels improve, the threshold for what constitutes an invention or innovation continues to drop over time; the most advanced inventions of once have gradually become knowledge that is well-known and understood by people. Therefore, if a company encounters technical challenges or problems, it can first look for solutions within the industry; if that is not possible, it can then turn to sources outside the industry to find solutions. To achieve innovation, especially major inventions and creations, it is necessary to fully explore and utilize knowledge from outside the industry. The vast majority of inventions that people encounter in everyday life belong to levels 1, 2, and 3. Although high-level inventions are of great significance in driving the progress of technological civilization, the number of such inventions is quite scarce. Lower-tier inventions, on the other hand, serve to continuously improve technology. Regarding level 1 inventions, Archshuler considered them to be no innovation. As for level 5 inventions, he believes that if a person chooses a completely new technical system before the old system has entirely lost all hope of development, the path to success and acceptance by society will be difficult and long. Therefore, it is a better strategy to invent several improved systems based on the original ones. He suggested excluding these two levels, as the TRIZ theoretical tools are more useful for inventions in the other three levels. Generally, levels 2 and 3 are referred to as “Innovative,” while level 4 is called “Inventive.”