JP2008282260A - Ladder diagram editing device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a ladder diagram editing device capable of improving efficiency of editing work. <P>SOLUTION: When a circuit component is added to an arbitrary position in a ladder diagram managed by an editing data management means 3 by an input means 1, a non-connection detection means 4 detects whether the circuit component is in a non-connection state or not. When a non-connection circuit component is detected by the non-connection detection means 4, a connection destination determination means 5 determines a connection destination based on a predetermined restriction item of the ladder diagram and a position of the circuit component of non-connection. The editing data management means 3 updates editing data based on the determined connection destination, and a display means 6 displays the updated editing data. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention efficiently describes a ladder diagram (also called ladder logic or ladder language), which is a programming language adopted by a programmable logic controller (PLC) for sequence control or the like in process control or factory automation (FA). The present invention relates to a ladder diagram editing apparatus.

  In many ladder diagram editing software products (hereinafter referred to as “editing tools”), ladder diagrams are edited by drawing a rung line between the two left and right busbars and connecting contacts, coils, and these on that line. (Hereinafter, contact points and coils are referred to as circuit components, and circuit components and connection lines are collectively referred to as circuit elements). There are two types of operations for drawing connection lines and placing circuit components: using a mouse or using an arrow key and an execution key (also called an enter key) on a keyboard of a personal computer (PC). .

In any case, when the rung is a single line (hereinafter, this line is referred to as a main line), an operation for drawing the main line (the main line may be drawn in advance when the rung creation starts) In addition, the operation of arranging the circuit components is easy. For example, in the case of an operation for arranging circuit components, there are the following two AB procedures.
(A) First, the type of the circuit component to be arranged is selected, and then the position on the line where this is arranged is selected.
(B) First, the position on the line to be placed is selected, and then the circuit component to be placed is selected.

However, in the case of describing a rung having a so-called parallel circuit (a connection line branched from the main line (hereinafter referred to as a branch line) and a circuit component arranged on the branch line), the editing method for each editing tool is described. Is different. The general editing method is as follows.
(1) First, a branch line creation command is selected, and then a position (start point) on the main line (or other branch line) where the branch line is created is selected.
(2) Next, the cursor or mouse is moved, a branch line is created in the manner of drawing a broken line with a so-called drawing tool, and the end point is designated on the same branch line as the last created start point.
(3) Next, a circuit component creation command is selected, and a circuit component is arranged by designating a position on the created branch line.
In the above-described method, usually, there are many cases where circuit components cannot be arranged at positions other than existing main lines or branch lines. There is an editing tool that allows circuit components to be placed at positions other than existing main lines or branch lines, and allows branch lines (connection lines) to be created after placement, but in the end, it does not change.

  In addition, there is a function for drawing a vertical line from the main line at the cursor position, and a function for automatically connecting to the right bus when a coil is added by moving the cursor vertically (see, for example, Patent Document 1). ). In addition, there is one that configures the parallel circuit and places the dropped circuit component by selecting and dragging the circuit component to be arranged with the mouse and dropping it on the circuit component on which the parallel circuit is to be created. For example, see Patent Document 2).

JP-A-2-82301 JP 2002-373004 A

  However, in a conventional ladder diagram editing apparatus, for example, in an apparatus as described in Patent Document 1, it is necessary to draw a vertical line. In an apparatus as described in Patent Document 2, a parallel circuit is required. For example, it is necessary to input parts as a ladder diagram editing device because parts must already be arranged in order to configure the system.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to obtain a ladder diagram editing apparatus capable of improving the efficiency of editing work.

  The ladder diagram editing apparatus according to the present invention has an edit data management means for managing edit data of a ladder diagram, and circuit components are added to arbitrary positions with respect to the edit data managed by the edit data management means. The unconnected detection means for detecting whether the circuit component is in an unconnected state, and when the unconnected circuit component is detected by the unconnected detection means, the position of the unconnected circuit component and a predetermined ladder diagram And a connection destination determination unit that determines a connection destination based on the restriction item, and the edit data management unit updates the edit data with the connection destination determined by the connection destination determination unit.

  In the ladder diagram editing apparatus of the present invention, when a circuit component is added to an arbitrary position in the ladder diagram, the connection destination is determined based on the position of the circuit component and a predetermined restriction on the ladder diagram. As a result, it is possible to improve the efficiency of the editing work in the ladder diagram.

Embodiment 1 FIG.
1 is a block diagram showing a ladder diagram editing apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.
In the figure, the ladder diagram editing apparatus includes an input unit 1, an editing position management unit 2, an editing data management unit 3, an unconnected detection unit 4, a connection destination determination unit 5, and a display unit 6.
The input unit 1 is a unit that receives a movement of an editing position, an instruction to add a circuit component, and other inputs from a user. The editing position management means 2 is a means for receiving an editing position movement instruction from the input means 1 and updating the editing position. The edit data management means 3 is means for managing the data of the ladder diagram being edited. The unconnected detection unit 4 is a unit that monitors the update state of the edit data and detects an open circuit component. The connection destination determination unit 5 is a unit that determines a connection destination of an open circuit component and instructs the editing data management unit 3 to connect. The display means 6 is a means for displaying edit data.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a computer for realizing the ladder diagram editing apparatus according to the present embodiment.
The illustrated computer includes a keyboard 101, a mouse 102, a microprocessor 103, an HDD (hard disk device) 104, a RAM 105, a ROM 106, a graphic chip 107, a frame buffer 108, and a display monitor 109.

  The input means 1 is realized by a keyboard 101 and a mouse 102. The editing position management means 2, editing data management means 3, unconnected detection means 4 and connection destination determination means 5 store programs corresponding to the functions of the respective means in storage areas such as the HDD 104, RAM 105, ROM 106, etc. This is realized by the microprocessor 103 executing the above program. The display means 6 is realized by a graphic chip 107, a frame buffer 108, and a display monitor 109.

Next, the data of the ladder diagram will be described.
The user can create a new ladder diagram or read data already created. When new creation is performed, internal information of the editing position management unit 2 and the editing data management unit 3 is initialized by performing a predetermined operation on the input unit 1. When reading data, by performing a predetermined operation in the input unit 1, the editing position management unit 2 can be accessed from the removable media inserted in the HDD 104 or the removable media input / output device (both of which are not shown). And the data is read into the edit data management means 3 and the internal information is set.

  The editing position, which is internal information of the editing position management means 2, is a coordinate. The editing position may be represented by coordinate points, or may have a height and width like a cursor such as a computer. If it has a height and width, its coordinates are represented by the center position of the rectangle.

Ladder data, which is internal information of the editing data management means 3, is composed of one or a plurality of rung data columns. One rung data is composed of one or a plurality of parts data columns. One component data is composed of information of “component ID”, “component type”, “coordinate value”, and “connected component ID column”.
“Part ID” is a numerical value or a character string according to a certain format for distinguishing individual parts. In addition to the contacts and coils, “part type” includes a connection point that is an intersection of two or more connection lines. The “coordinate value” is a plane coordinate in which the upper end of the left bus is the origin, the right direction is the X coordinate, and the lower direction is the Y coordinate. "Connected component ID column" holds two as component IDs of the respective circuit components connected to the left and right in the case of contacts and coils, and in addition to the left and right component IDs in the case of connection points. The component ID (one or more) of the circuit component branched and connected to the lower side is held.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a rung, and the content of rung data will be described using this.
In the figure, a vertical line 51 is a left bus line, and a vertical line 52 is a right bus line. The horizontal line between these two is the ladder. Symbols 53, 54, and 56 indicated by two vertical lines represent contacts, and a figure 55 shaped like a parenthesis represents a coil. Intersection points 57 and 58 indicate connection points. That is, the ladder data of this example is composed of three contact points, one coil, and two connection points. The configuration content of this ladder data is shown in FIG. In the coordinate system, the X coordinate of the left bus is 0, the X coordinate of the right bus is 100, and the Y coordinate of the main line is 0.

  In FIG. 4, the component ID connected to the left of the component ID = 1 (contact 53 in FIG. 3) is 0, which indicates that it is connected to the left bus 51. Similarly, the component ID connected to the right of component ID = 3 (coil 55) is 0, which indicates that it is connected to the right bus 52. The component ID = 2 corresponds to the contact 54. Since the component ID = 4 (terminal 56) is connected to the two connection points 57 (component ID = 5) and 56 (component ID = 6) on the main line, the component ID connected to the left is 5, right The component ID connected to is 6. At the connection points 57 and 58, the component ID 4 of the terminal 56 is held in the component ID connected below. The connection points 57 and 58 from the terminal 56 are connected to the left and right, respectively, and the data is held so that the terminal 56 is connected to the connection point 57 and 58 from the bottom. This is connected as shown in the figure. Since the connection line that branches from the point and connects to the terminal is L-shaped (or inverted L-shaped), this is the data holding method.

Next, the operation of the ladder diagram editing apparatus according to the first embodiment will be described.
When the input unit 1 instructs to change the editing position by a predetermined operation by the user, the instruction is transmitted to the editing position management unit 2. The editing position management means 2 updates the internal editing position information (XY coordinates) and instructs the display means 6 to update the display. The display means 6 creates display data based on the edit position obtained from the edit position management means 2 and the ladder diagram data obtained from the edit data management means 3, and updates the display.
When the input means 1 instructs the user to add a circuit component by a predetermined operation, the edit data management means 3 acquires the edit position from the edit position management means 2, and a circuit component or a connection line is already at that position. Check if it exists. For the check, it is only necessary to check whether the XY coordinates of the editing position are on the coordinates of each circuit component in the data and the line segment of the connection line. Since the circuit component has a height and a width, it is checked whether the rectangle includes the XY coordinates of the editing position (or the rectangular area occupied by the circuit component to be added).

In order to check the positional relationship with the connection line, first, the connection relationship between the circuit components is taken out from the ladder diagram data and converted into a line segment. If the Y-coordinates of the parts to be connected are the same, it is a single line segment, and if they are different, it is an L-shaped or inverted L-shaped broken line (two line segments). Assuming that the line segment has a certain width, it is checked whether the rectangle includes the XY coordinates of the editing position (or the rectangular area occupied by the circuit component to be added).
If there is a connection line at the editing position, a circuit component is added to the position, the circuit component to which the existing connection line is connected is checked, and the rung data is updated. For example, if the connection line at the position where the part is added connects the circuit part with the part ID = 1 and the circuit part with the part ID = 2 (provided that the part ID = 1 is on the left side), the connection line is newly added. The connected component ID of the circuit component (part ID = 3) is left = 1, right = 2, the right of “connected component ID” of component ID = 1, and the component The circuit component with ID = 2 is updated such that “left of connected component ID” = 3.

  Next, when drawing the updated data, if there is not enough space to display the added circuit component (a circuit component or a branched branch line is displayed nearby), the logic of the circuit Other circuit components and connection lines are moved to appropriate positions within a range that does not impair the meaning of. That is, when a circuit component already exists, the circuit component is moved to an appropriate position on the right side (in the positive direction of the X coordinate) on the main line or branch line, and processing similar to the above processing is performed. At this time, if there is not enough space for display on the right side, the main line or branch line is extended in the X direction if there is not enough space on the left side (negative direction of the X coordinate). Reserve space and move the circuit components.

When the circuit data is added as described above, the editing data management means 3 checks the presence of the circuit component or the connection line at the additional position, and if none of them exists, the added circuit component becomes unconnected. In terms of data, both of the “connected component IDs” of the added component are values indicating no connection (for example, −1). At this time, the unconnected detection means 4 detects this unconnected state, and instructs the connection destination determination means 5 to determine the connection destination of the circuit component. The connection destination determination means 5 refers to the ladder diagram data of the edit data management means 3 and is above the negative end of the Y coordinate (note that the circuit component has a width when drawing). The closest main line or branch line existing in each direction is determined as a circuit connection destination.
To check this, the connection relationship between circuit components is extracted from the ladder diagram data, converted into line segments, and extended from the left and right X coordinates of the circuit component to be added in the negative direction of the Y axis. Of the line segments that intersect the half line, the one with the largest Y coordinate at the intersection may be selected. However, when the Y coordinates of the two connected circuit parts are different, the line segment connecting the two circuit parts is represented by an L shape (or an inverted L shape) as shown in FIG. Only the line segment parallel to the X axis (the so-called L-shaped base) is used.

When another circuit component (referred to as A) is drawn at the position of the obtained left connection point, the X coordinate of the left connection point moves to the left end of A (or a point at a certain distance from the left end to the left). And Similarly, when another circuit component (referred to as B) is drawn at the position of the right connection point, the right connection point moves to the right end of B (or a point at a certain distance from the right end to the right). .
When a contact is added and the editing position is sufficiently close to the left bus (for example, in the case of rung data as shown in FIG. 3, the X coordinate of the editing position is 10 or less), the connection destination at the left end may be the left bus. . Similarly, when a coil is added and the editing position is sufficiently close to the right bus (for example, in the case of rung data as shown in FIG. 3, the X coordinate of the editing position is 90 or more), the right end is connected to the right bus. As good as Since these depend on the display specifications (or user policy and preferences), whether or not to connect to the bus may be specified in general or individually.

  When the circuit component to be added is a contact and one or both of the two connection points to be connected are on the right side of the coil, both of the connection points are moved to the left side of the coil. Similarly, when the circuit component to be added is a coil and one or both of two connection points to be connected are on the left side of the contact point, both of the connection points are moved to the right side of the contact point. This is due to a basic restriction of the ladder diagram that the contact and the coil must not be in a parallel circuit, or that the contact should not be arranged on the right side of the coil.

The connection destination determining means 5 informs the editing data management means 3 of the connection destination of the circuit component determined as described above, and instructs the connection. That is, it is instructed to add the left connection point and the right connection point as circuit data, and instruct to update these connection information. The edit data management means 3 reconstructs data based on this information. At this time, in order to make the display easier to see, the circuit components and connection points may be moved to appropriate positions (shifted to the left and right, etc.).
Also, if there is already a connection point at the position where the connection point is instructed to be added, a new connection point is not added at that position, and the “connected component ID column” of the connection points already arranged To the part ID of the circuit part added by the user. Adjacent to either the left or right of the position instructed to add the connection point, close enough (for example, if the rung data as shown in FIG. 3 has an X coordinate difference of 10 or less with the adjacent connection point). The same may be done when there is a connection point (this is called integration of connection points).
The edit data management means 3 instructs the display means 6 to update the display after data reconstruction.

The connection point addition processing based on the detection of the unconnected parts will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 5 is an example in which a ladder diagram is displayed on the display monitor 109 of the display means 6 of the present invention.
In the figure, the display area is divided into an 8 × 4 grid, which is an input and display index for arranging circuit components, main lines, and branch lines in an easy-to-see manner. A number is assigned to the upper right of each grid, but this is shown for convenience in the following description, and no number is displayed on the actual display section. The size of the grid is not fixed, and a smaller grid may be used when placing a large number of circuit components. Although one circuit component is basically arranged in one grid, when the grid becomes small, it may be arranged across a plurality of grids in order to keep the component in a size that is easy to see. . The size of the grid can be reduced to the size of one pixel on the display device, and at this time, the state is the same as when no grid exists.

In FIG. 5, the line drawn from the grid 11 to the grid 41 is the left bus line, the line drawn from the grid 18 to the grid 48 is the right bus line, and the line drawn from the grid 11 to the grid 18 is the main line, the grid 12. It is a contact that is arranged on the grid, and a coil is arranged on the grid 17. The shaded area of the grid 13 is a cursor representing the editing position. The same notation is used in the subsequent drawings.
The case where a contact is added to the grid 22 will be described with respect to the ladder diagram of FIG. FIG. 6 shows a state immediately after the editing position is on the grid 22 and a contact point is added in the editing data management means 3 (a conceptual diagram showing the middle of processing). At this time, the unconnected detection means 4 detects that the contact is not connected, and instructs the connection destination determination means 5 to determine the connection position. The processing in the connection destination determination means 5 is as follows.

(Process 1) Since the contact is sufficiently close to the left bus (X coordinate is sufficiently small), the left connection point is the left bus.
(Process 2) The right side of the contact is connected to the upper main line. At this time, the X coordinate of the line separating the grid 22 and the grid 23 is set as the X coordinate on the right side of the circuit, and the circuit components and branch lines in the Y-axis direction are checked. As a result, an intersection between the “line separating the grid 12 and the grid 13” and the main line (hereinafter, such an intersection is referred to as an “intermediate point between the grids XX to ΔΔ” for the sake of simplicity) is connected to the right connection point. And
After the above processing, the connection destination is specified by the connection destination determination means 5 to the edit data management means 3, and the data is reconstructed. At this time, the right connection point is moved to the center of the grid 13 for convenience of display. As a result, a ladder diagram as shown in FIG. 7 is displayed on the display monitor 109.

As another example, a case will be described in which contacts are added to the grid 23 with respect to the ladder diagram of FIG.
In the edit data management means 3, when a contact is added to the grid 23, the unconnected detection means 4 detects that the contact is not connected, and instructs the connection destination determination means 5 to determine the connection position. The processing in the connection destination determination means 5 is as follows.
(Process 1) The left side of the contact is connected to the upper main line. At this time, an intermediate point between the grid 22 and the grid 23 is set as the X coordinate on the left side of the circuit, and the circuit components and branch lines in the Y-axis direction are checked. Thereby, the intermediate point of the grids 12 to 13 is set as the left connection point.
(Process 2) The right side of the contact is connected to the upper main line. At this time, an intermediate point between the grid 23 and the grid 24 is set as the X coordinate on the right side of the circuit, and the circuit components and branch lines in the Y-axis direction are checked. Thereby, the intermediate point of the grids 13 to 14 is set as the right connection point.
After the above processing, the connection destination is specified by the connection destination determination means 5 to the edit data management means 3, and the data is reconstructed. At this time, for the sake of display, the left connection point is moved to the center of the grid 13, the circuit component of the grid 13 is moved to 14, the right connection point is moved to the center of the grid 15, and the cursor is moved to 24. Thereby, a ladder diagram as shown in FIG. 9 is displayed on the display unit.

As another example, a case where a contact point is added to the grid 35 with respect to the ladder diagram of FIG. 10 will be described.
In this figure, the grid is half the size of the previous example, and the circuit components are displayed side by side in the grid side by side for ease of viewing. (Only the necessary number of grid numbers are displayed)
When a contact is added to the grid 35 by the operation (this contact occupies the grid 35 and the grid 36 in the display. In this example, the position of the circuit component is indicated by the grid number on the left side thereof). The unconnected detection means 4 detects that the contact is not connected and instructs the connection destination determination means 5 to determine the connection position. The processing in the connection destination determination means 5 is as follows.

(Process 1) The left side is connected to the upper main line. At this time, the intermediate point of the grids 34 to 35 is set as the X coordinate on the left side of the circuit, and the circuit components and branch lines in the Y-axis direction are checked. That is, an intermediate point between the grids 14 to 15 is set as a left connection point.
(Process 2) The right side is connected to the upper main line. At this time, the intermediate point of the grids 36 to 37 is set as the X coordinate on the right side of the circuit, and the circuit components and branch lines in the Y-axis direction are checked. That is, the intermediate point of the grids 16 to 17 is set as a candidate position for the right connection point. At this time, since a contact point already exists at the same position, the intermediate point of the grids 17 to 18 on the right side is set as the right connection point. .
After the above processing, the connection destination is specified by the connection destination determination means 5 to the edit data management means 3, and the data is reconstructed. At this time, for the convenience of display, the left connection point is moved to the center of the grid 15, the circuit component of the grid 35 is moved to 36, the right connection point is moved to the center of the grid 18, and the cursor is moved to 35. As a result, a ladder diagram as shown in FIG. 11 is displayed on the display unit.

  Circuit parts and branch lines can be moved and deleted in the same way as with conventional ladder diagram editing devices of the same type. Therefore, when the created branch lines need to be changed or modified, the user can perform predetermined operations. Thus, circuit parts and branch lines can be moved and deleted.

  As described above, according to the ladder diagram editing apparatus of the first embodiment, the edit data management unit that manages the edit data of the ladder diagram, and the edit data managed by the edit data management unit can be moved to an arbitrary position. If the circuit component is added, the unconnected detection means for detecting whether the circuit component is in an unconnected state, and if the unconnected circuit component is detected by the unconnected detection means, the position of the unconnected circuit component And a connection destination determination unit that determines a connection destination based on a predetermined restriction on the ladder diagram, and the edit data management unit updates the edit data with the connection destination determined by the connection destination determination unit. Since it did in this way, it becomes unnecessary for a user to add a branch line after the addition of a circuit component or before addition, the editing effort can be omitted, and the efficiency of editing work can be improved.

Embodiment 2. FIG.
In the second embodiment, when a circuit component is added, if a connection point (a connection point having two or more connections in the downward direction) connected to four or more circuit components is generated, this is represented as one connection point. Display or divided into two or more connection points and displayed. In each of the following embodiments, the construction of the ladder diagram editing apparatus on the drawing is the same as that shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and therefore, the following embodiments will be described with the aid of these drawings.

  When the display means 6 of the second embodiment displays a connection point to which four or more circuit components are connected, whether the connection point is displayed as one connection point or a plurality of connection points is displayed. Switching is possible based on the data of the editing data management means 3. Since the configuration other than this is the same as that of the first embodiment, description thereof is omitted here.

Hereinafter, an example of circuit component addition will be described.
FIG. 12 is an explanatory diagram of an example in which a contact is added to the grid 22 of the ladder diagram.
The processing in the connection destination determination means 5 at this time is as follows.
(Process 1) Since the contact is sufficiently close to the left bus (X coordinate is sufficiently small), the left connection point is the left bus.
(Process 2) The right side of the contact is connected to the upper main line. At this time, the intermediate point of the grids 22 to 23 is set as the X coordinate on the right side of the circuit, and is extended and connected. That is, the middle point of the grids 12 to 13 is set as the right connection point.
After the above processing, the connection destination is specified by the connection destination determination means 5 to the edit data management means 3, and the data is reconstructed. At this time, the position of the right connection point is moved to the center of the grid 13 for convenience of display. However, since there is already a connection point at this location, the two connection points are merged. At this time, the user can select whether to display this as one connection point as shown in FIG. 13 or to display it as two connection points as shown in FIG.

Specifically, when two connection points are integrated in the edit data management means 3 in the above procedure, the edit data management means 3 prompts the user to select the display method. An input screen for prompting is displayed. The input means 1 passes the input result to the edit data management means 3 and stores it as accompanying data of rung data. The format of the accompanying data is, for example, a table format in which the connection point ID and the display method type are paired. The display means 6 checks the value of the accompanying data at the time of display and switches the display method appropriately.
Editing by adding circuit parts Each time such a connection point occurs, the user may be inquired, or any one of them may be selected by default.
Further, when the display is divided into two connection points, the grid 13 may be divided into two vertically as shown in FIG. 15, and the connection points may be arranged in each of them. The user can add circuit components to the divided grid.

  Further, when asking the user about the display method, a selection may be made so as not to integrate the connection points. In other words, when the user selects not to integrate, the editing data management means 3 adds a new connection point, changes the data so that the circuit component added by the user is connected to this, and displays the appropriate data on the display. Move other circuit components associated with the connection point to the position. In the case of the previous example, a new connection point is added as the right connection destination of the contact added to the grid 22, the connection point originally in the grid 13 is set to the grid 14, and the contact point that was originally in the grid 14 is set to the grid 15. In addition, the contact point in the grid 24 is moved to the grid 25 and changed to ladder data such that a ladder diagram as shown in FIG. 16 is displayed.

In addition to adding a circuit component, when the user moves the editing position and there is a connection point connected to four or more circuit components at that position, the user performs a predetermined operation, This may be divided into two or more connection points as before.
When the user moves the editing position and there is a connection point at each of the position and the adjacent position (in terms of data, when the connection point is included in the connection circuit component ID held by the connection point) ) The user may perform a predetermined operation so that it can be integrated into one connection point. At this time, the related display component is moved to an appropriate position on the display.

In the above example, the case where a plurality of parallel circuits of two circuit components are connected as connection points to connect to four or more circuits has been described. However, other connections can be similarly applied. is there.
FIG. 17 is an explanatory diagram illustrating another example of connection points connected to four or more circuits.
In the illustrated example, three circuit components form a parallel circuit, and three circuit components are connected to the connection points of the grids 13 and 15. Here, since the bus line can also be considered as a kind of circuit component, the connection point of the grids 13 and 15 is also a connection point connected to four circuits. In such an example, it is displayed as one connection point. Or display as a plurality of connection points.

  As described above, according to the second embodiment, the display means for displaying edit data is provided, and when the display means displays connection points to which four or more circuit components are connected, these connection points are displayed. Since switching between displaying as one connection point or multiple connection points is switched, it is possible to display a ladder diagram with few connections and easy to see while maintaining compatibility with the notation of other devices. .

Embodiment 3 FIG.
In the third embodiment, a means for visually confirming where a branch line is connected is provided before adding a circuit component to the editing position. That is, in the third embodiment, the display unit 6 is configured to display the position where the connection line is drawn when the circuit component is arranged. Other configurations are the same as those in the first or second embodiment.

  In the third embodiment, the user moves the editing position to a place where circuit components are not arranged by a predetermined operation, or performs a predetermined operation after moving (to a place where circuit parts are not arranged), The edit data management means 3 receives the edit position of the edit position management means 2 and connects when either of a certain time has passed after moving (to the place where the circuit component is not arranged). When the circuit component is added to the current editing position, the destination determination unit 5 is instructed to calculate where to connect. The connection destination determination means 5 calculates two connection points by the same method as described in the first embodiment. The edit data management means 3 instructs the display means 6 to display it as a branch line candidate.

FIG. 18 is an example in which candidates for connection positions (branch lines) are displayed when a component is added when the cursor is on the grid 23. The calculation process of the connection position is the same as that when the terminal is added to FIG. 8 in the first embodiment.
In FIG. 18, a dotted line represents a candidate, but the thickness of the line may be changed, or the display monitor 109 capable of color display may display a color different from the main line or branch line.

  As described above, according to the ladder diagram editing apparatus of the third embodiment, the display unit that displays the editing data is provided, and the display unit displays the position of the connection line when the circuit component is arranged. Therefore, when adding a part, there is no mistake that a branch line different from the one assumed by the user is generated, and appropriate editing can be performed.

Embodiment 4 FIG.
In the fourth embodiment, when adding a circuit component, there is provided means for enabling designation of two points of an addition start point and an addition end point instead of one point indicated by the current editing position. That is, in the fourth embodiment, the editing position management means 2 manages the addition start position and the addition end position of the circuit components, and the connection destination determination means 5 is based on the addition start position and the addition end position. It is configured to determine the connection destination.

After the user moves the editing position to a position where there is no circuit component or branch line, the user designates that the position is the addition start position by a predetermined operation. This addition start position is held by the editing position management means 2. At this time, the user can also add a circuit component to the position by a predetermined operation. When the circuit component is added, the edit data management means 3 adds it to the data, but based on the addition start position from the edit position management means 2, the function of the unconnected detection means 4 is suppressed, Do not connect with branch lines.
Next, the user moves the editing position. The movement at this time is only possible in the left-right direction (direction parallel to the X axis). Further, it cannot move to a position where the circuit component or branch line is sandwiched between the position where the circuit component or branch line already exists and the position designated as the addition start position.
In the middle of the movement, the user can add a circuit component to the current editing position by a predetermined operation. When the circuit component is added, the edit data management means 3 adds it to the data and updates the connection relationship with the adjacent circuit component (the circuit component added after the start of this process). The function of the unconnected detection means 4 is suppressed so that the circuit component is not connected to the upper branch line.

  When the editing position is moved to an appropriate position, the user designates that the position is an additional end position by a predetermined operation. The editing position management means 2 holds this addition end position, and the editing data management means 3 does not inhibit the operation of the unconnected detection means 4 at this time. Therefore, the unconnected detecting means 4 should be the circuit components that are not connected by a series of operations (the added leftmost and rightmost circuit components. However, the case where they are the same is also included. ) And the leftmost and rightmost ones are selected from the addition start position and the addition end position, and the connection destination determination means 5 is instructed to calculate the connection destination based on this position. The connection destination determination means 5 calculates the left connection point and the right connection point by the same method as already described, instructs the edit data management means 3 to add this, and the edit data management means 3 reconstructs the data. The display means 6 is instructed to update the display. This will be described with reference to the drawings.

19 to 22 are explanatory diagrams showing a series of processes.
As shown in FIG. 19, it is assumed that the user designates the addition start on the grid 23. At this time, the pattern and color of the cursor may be changed to make it easier for the user to confirm that the addition has started. This is a case where the cursor is moved to the grid 24 as shown in FIG. 20 (in the middle of the process). As shown in this figure, the pattern is shown at the start position in order to easily show the user where the addition start position is. Alternatively, a cursor with a different color may be placed, and a dotted line (or a thin line, a line with a color different from the main line or branch line if the display device is capable of color display) may be drawn between the current editing position.
FIG. 21 shows a display example when the user adds a contact to the grid 24 by a predetermined operation. Then, when the user designates addition end by a predetermined operation, the edit start position (grid 23) is selected as the leftmost and the contact point of the grid 24 is selected as the rightmost, and the left connection is performed by the same processing as described above. The points are calculated as the midpoints of the grids 12 to 13, and the right connection points are calculated as the midpoints of the grids 14 to 15. The left and right connection points are moved for convenience of display, and a ladder diagram as shown in FIG. 22 is created.

  As described above, according to the ladder diagram editing apparatus of the fourth embodiment, the editing position management unit that manages the addition start position and the addition end position of the circuit component is provided, and the connection destination determination unit includes the addition start position and the addition end. Since the connection destination is determined based on the position, the branch line (and the circuit part placed on it) that jumps over any number of circuit parts placed on the existing main line or branch line is created. Furthermore, since the connection destination can be appropriately determined and connected, the labor of editing can be omitted, and the efficiency of editing work can be further improved.

Embodiment 5. FIG.
In the fifth embodiment, in the fourth embodiment, there is provided means for visually confirming where a branch line is connected between the start of editing and the end of editing. That is, in the fifth embodiment, the editing position management means 2 manages the editing positions such as the circuit component addition start position, the addition end position, and the current editing position, and the connection destination determination means 5 is based on these editing positions. The connection destination is calculated, and the display means 6 is configured to display the connection destination.

  When the user designates the editing start, the editing data management means 3 is based on the editing position managed by the editing position management means 2 and is selected from among the unconnected circuit parts, the addition starting position, and the current editing position. The left one and the rightmost one are selected and the connection destination determination means 5 is instructed to calculate the connection destination based on this position. The connection destination determination means 5 calculates the left connection point and the right connection point by the same method as already described, and the editing data management means 3 instructs the display means 6 to display these as branch line candidates.

This will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 23 shows an example of displaying connection position (branch line) candidates when the user designates the addition start on the grid 23. At this time, since the leftmost and rightmost are start points (grid 23), the left connection point becomes the intermediate point of the grids 12 to 13 and the right connection point becomes the intermediate point of the grids 13 to 14 by the method described above. Is displayed.
FIG. 24 shows an example in which candidates for connection positions (branch lines) are displayed when a contact is added after moving the cursor to the grid 24. At this time, since the leftmost is the start point (grid 23) and the rightmost is the contact point (or the grid 24 which is the current editing position), the left connection point is the intermediate point of the grids 12 to 13 and the right connection by the method described above. A point becomes an intermediate point of the grids 14 to 15 and is displayed as shown in the figure.

  As described above, according to the ladder diagram editing apparatus in the fifth embodiment, the editing position management unit that manages the editing position of the circuit component and the display unit that displays the editing position are provided. Since the connection lines from the leftmost and rightmost positions are displayed, there is no mistake that a branch line different from the one assumed by the user will be generated when adding a part, and appropriate editing can be performed. It can be carried out.

1 is a configuration diagram illustrating a ladder diagram editing apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the hardware constitutions of the ladder diagram editing apparatus by Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of the ladder diagram of the ladder diagram editing apparatus by Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of the ladder data of the ladder diagram editing apparatus by Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is explanatory drawing at the time of the start of edit of the ladder figure of the ladder figure editing apparatus by Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is explanatory drawing in the middle of the circuit component addition in the ladder figure of the ladder diagram editing apparatus by Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is explanatory drawing in the middle of the circuit connection line addition in the ladder figure of the ladder diagram editing apparatus by Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is explanatory drawing at the time of the edit start of the other example in the ladder figure of the ladder figure editing apparatus by Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is explanatory drawing in the middle of the circuit connection line addition of the other example in the ladder diagram of the ladder diagram editing apparatus by Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is explanatory drawing at the time of the edit start of the further another example in the ladder figure of the ladder figure editing apparatus by Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is explanatory drawing in the middle of the circuit connection line addition of the further another example in the ladder diagram of the ladder diagram editing apparatus by Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is explanatory drawing at the time of the edit start of the ladder figure of the ladder figure editing apparatus by Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is explanatory drawing in the middle of the circuit connection line addition in the ladder figure of the ladder diagram editing apparatus by Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the circuit connection line display in the ladder diagram of the ladder diagram editing apparatus by Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the other example of the circuit connection line display in the ladder diagram of the ladder diagram editing apparatus by Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the circuit connection line division | segmentation in the ladder diagram of the ladder diagram editing apparatus by Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the other example of the ladder figure of the ladder figure editing apparatus by Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the connection line candidate display in the ladder figure of the ladder figure editing apparatus by Embodiment 3 of this invention. It is explanatory drawing at the time of the start of edit of the ladder figure of the ladder figure editing apparatus by Embodiment 4 of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the display at the time of the cursor movement in the ladder figure of the ladder figure editing apparatus by Embodiment 4 of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the circuit component addition middle in the ladder figure of the ladder figure editing apparatus by Embodiment 4 of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the time of the circuit connection line addition in the ladder diagram of the ladder diagram editing apparatus by Embodiment 4 of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the connection line candidate display in the ladder figure of the ladder figure editing apparatus by Embodiment 5 of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the connection line candidate display at the time of the circuit component addition in the ladder diagram of the ladder diagram editing apparatus by Embodiment 5 of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

  1 input means, 2 edit position management means, 3 edit data management means, 4 unconnected detection means, 5 connection destination determination means, and 6 display means.

Claims (5)

Edit data management means for managing the edit data of the ladder diagram;
When a circuit component is added to an arbitrary position with respect to the edit data managed by the edit data management unit, an unconnected detection unit that detects whether the circuit component is in an unconnected state;
When an unconnected circuit component is detected by the unconnected detection means, a connection destination determining means for determining a connection destination based on the position of the unconnected circuit component and restrictions of a predetermined ladder diagram. Prepared,
The ladder diagram editing apparatus, wherein the editing data management means updates editing data with the connection destination determined by the connection destination determination means.   When displaying a connection point to which four or more circuit components are connected, the display unit displays the connection point as one connection point or as a plurality of connection points. The ladder diagram editing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein display is switched.   3. The ladder diagram editing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising display means for displaying edit data, wherein the display means displays a position of a connection line when circuit parts are arranged. Edit position management means for managing the addition start position and the addition end position of circuit parts,
4. The ladder diagram editing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the connection destination determination unit determines a connection destination based on the addition start position and the addition end position. 5. Editing position management means for managing the editing position of the circuit component, and display means for displaying the editing position,
5. The ladder diagram editing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display unit displays a connection line from a leftmost position and a rightmost position at an editing position.

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