JP2529773B2 - Message sequencer - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention [Industrial applications]

The present invention relates to a sequencer for sequence-controlling various devices, and more particularly to a message sequencer with a display unit and a switch unit as a man-machine interface.

[Prior art]

Conventionally, a control panel consisting of multiple relays and a timed relay has been generally used for sequence control of various devices.However, in such a control panel, many control panels are used to connect the relays. Not only is the wiring required, but it is also necessary to individually design the control panel according to each sequence control, and it is difficult to change the sequence control due to the specification change and the like. As described above, the conventional control panel having a simple hardware configuration has a difficulty in designing, manufacturing, and maintaining. Therefore, the contents of sequence control as a program in EPROM
A programmable controller, a so-called sequencer, which controls various devices by a program read from the EPROM in advance, has come into wide use, and has come to be widely used in mechanical devices that require complicated sequence control. According to this sequencer, various sequence controls can be supported simply by changing the program contents, so the sequencer can be standardized, and since complicated wiring such as the conventional control panel is unnecessary, it greatly contributes to labor saving. There is.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]

However, in the above sequencer, programming work is required, and therefore, conventionally, it is necessary to program with a special language (ladder language) using a programming device (loader). There was a problem that only a familiar person could program. Even if such a sequencer is used in a mechanical device, there are many parts such as switches such as operation switches of the mechanical device, various indicator lights for operating / fault display, timers and counters for setting operating time, etc. This is necessary, and the operability of the mechanical device is impaired because a large number of such switches are provided on the operation panel board. Also, of course, the wiring for connecting the operation panel board and the sequencer is required, and the operation panel board including switches and wiring must be manufactured for each machine device. There wasn't. The present invention has been made to solve the problems described above, and integrates a programmable sequencer with a display unit and a switch unit as a man-machine interface to simplify a control panel and an operation panel panel. In addition to providing a standardized message sequencer, it is possible to easily program the sequencer without using a special language simply by inputting the step condition and the on / off state of each device in accordance with the process step. The purpose is to provide a support device.

[Means for Solving the Problems]

Simplified and standardized control panel and operation panel panel by using a man-machine interface that can be set to any specifications instead of the operation panel panel, and integrating this man-machine interface with a sequencer as a control panel. Is possible. In addition, in order to simplify the work of programming the sequencer, a programming device was developed as a programming support device, and by using this programming device, the step conditions and the on / off of each device can be changed according to the process step. The sequencer program can be created simply by inputting the status.

【Example】

FIG. 1 shows an example of using the message sequencer of the present invention. On the front surface of the sequencer section 50, as a man-machine interface section 60, a display having a transparent touch panel for coordinate input bonded (here, a liquid crystal type is used). 61) and the minimum necessary switches 62, 63, 64, and the casing of the mechanical device controlled by the sequencer unit 50.
The man-machine interface unit 60 is mounted instead of the operation panel board provided in a predetermined portion of 70. The sequencer section 50 receives a signal from, for example, a limit switch or a thermometer as an input, and directly drives a pump, a heater, a valve or the like by the output thereof. FIG. 2 is a control block diagram showing an embodiment of the sequencer section 50 and the man-machine interface section 60. 1 is a CPU that controls the sequencer unit 50 as a whole
(Central processing unit), 2 is this sequencer unit
ROM that stores the basic program for operating the 50
(Read-only memory), and data for displaying kanji is stored in kanji ROM3. 4 is a RAM (random access memory) that stores data required for control,
A control program, which will be described later, for controlling the sequence of the mechanical device is stored in the EEPROM 5. Reference numerals 6 and 7 are input / output units each having 8 circuits, and the input unit 6 uses a photocoupler 6a for electrically insulating the input signal from a limit switch or the like.
Further, the output section 7 is provided with a relay 7a having a contact capacity of 2A so that a pump, a heater and the like can be directly driven. It is possible to add such input / output units 6 and 7 to a maximum of 6 channels (48 circuits for input and output). As shown by the input / output units 6 "and 7", an A / D converter 8 and a D / A converter 9 are provided so that an analog input signal of a thermometer or the like can be taken in and output as an analog signal. . Reference numeral 10 is an interface for connecting to an external device by RS232C, and as the external device, a programming device 11 for programming the sequencer unit 50 is connected. Reference numeral 12 is a display unit including a display unit 61 with a backlight and a driving unit thereof, and 13 is a transparent touch panel for coordinate input, which is attached to the entire surface of the display unit 61, and is displayed on the display unit 61. A desired menu can be selected by directly pressing the selected menu on the transparent touch panel 13 with a finger. 14
Is an input / output unit for the display unit 12 and the transparent touch panel 13. As described above, the control program stored in the EEPROM 5 has conventionally been required to be created in a special programming language by using a dedicated tool, but in the present invention, as a support device, it does not require special knowledge. A programming device 11 is provided which is extremely easy to program. This programming device 11 is a personal computer on which a tool (software) for creating a program is installed, and the step conditions are input according to the name of each machine device, the on / off state of each device, and the process step. Keyboard 11a for operating, a storage unit 11b for storing the data input by the keyboard 11a, a control program generation unit 11c for generating the data stored in the storage unit 11b in the programming language of the sequencer, and the man-machine interface On the display unit of the unit, a display program generation unit 11d that generates a display program for interactively displaying the operation status etc. Prepare Below, programming in the case where the sequencer of the present invention is applied to a device for heat sterilizing food as a mechanical device to be controlled and a method of operating the programmed device will be described. First, programming will be described in order. 1) Initial setting: Here, the model of the heat sterilizer to be controlled, the number of operating modes of the heat sterilizer, the number of inputs and outputs of the input / output units 6 and 7 are input. 2) Message (operation name) registration for each operation mode: For example, enter 8 messages as follows. No. Message 1 Caustic cleaning 2 Drying step 1 3 Drying step 2: :: 8 End 3) Set operating conditions for each operation mode: For example, for caustic cleaning message, maximum and minimum number of cleanings, maximum cleaning time, Enter the minimum. 4) Registration of the alarm message displayed on the screen when an error occurs during sequence execution: 5) Input of device name (input label) input to the input section 6: Add numbers to each channel in the following order. To register the input label. 6) Input of device name (output label) connected to the output unit 7: Input in the same manner as input of input label. 7) Input the maximum number of steps in each operation mode: 8) Input to the programming map: By the operations of 1) to 7) above, the programming map for caustic cleaning is displayed on the screen as shown in FIG. . A driving message appears at the right end of this programming map. On this map, the ON or OFF state of each device of the output label in the step (named as a step) corresponding to the step condition is input and programmed according to the actual step step. After that, the numerical value of the operating condition such as the number of times of cleaning and the cleaning time, the setting of the timer time, the input of the operation message, the setting of the alarm and the like are performed. The data thus input is stored in the storage unit 11b of the programming device 11, and the data read from the storage unit 11b is created by the control program generation unit 11c in the programming language of the sequencer unit 50. A control program is generated, and a display program generation unit 11d generates a display program, and these programs are transferred and stored in the EEPROM 5 of the sequencer unit 50 via the RS232C. A method of operating the device programmed in the sequencer unit 50 in this way by the man-machine interface unit 60 will be described. The above-mentioned display program causes the display 61 to initially display the operation mode selection screen as shown in FIG.
For example, to select caustic cleaning, the display area is pressed with a finger on the screen. If the operation pattern is not registered for the selected caustic cleaning, "Pattern not registered" is displayed, so it is necessary to register the operation pattern. It becomes the selection mode of pattern NO such as. When "01" is input as the desired operation pattern, the operation condition setting mode for the operation pattern 01 is entered as shown in FIG. Although the preset standard number of times of washing and the washing time are displayed on the display screen of this mode, these set values can be changed with the ten keys on the display screen as required. Similarly, when the operation button 61 is turned on after setting the timer time and the like, the operation is performed according to the programmed sequence. During the sequence execution, the operation status screen of the device controlled by the sequencer 50 is displayed as shown in FIG. If an abnormality occurs during this period and an alarm is output, press the abnormality key to check the details of the abnormality on the abnormality confirmation screen on the display 61, turn on the alarm stop button 62, and If the stop is required, the stop button 63 is turned on. As described above, since complicated control can be easily executed only by following the guides sequentially displayed on the display 61 interactively, the operability as the operation panel board is improved. In the above-described embodiment, the switch unit is a display unit 61 to which a transparent touch panel is attached. However, for example, without fixing the function of each button switch shown in FIG.
The function name of the switch may be displayed on the display 61 at any time.

【The invention's effect】

As described above, the present invention uses a man-machine interface that can be set to arbitrary specifications in place of the operation panel board, and by integrating this man-machine interface and a sequencer as a control board,
The control panel and operation panel panel can be simplified and standardized. With such a sequencer with man-machine interface of the present invention, arbitrary display contents and control contents can be programmed, so that it can be incorporated into any mechanical device, and ultimate labor saving can be achieved. Further, if a programming device developed to simplify the work of programming the sequencer of the present invention is used, the sequencer can be simply input by inputting the step condition and the ON / OFF state of each device to be controlled in accordance with the step progress. A program is automatically generated according to the language used, so that the user can easily perform programming without knowing a special programming language, and can easily deal with changes in specifications.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing an example of mounting the message sequencer of the present invention on a mechanical device, FIG. 2 is a control block diagram showing an embodiment of the message sequencer of the present invention, and FIG. FIGS. 4 to 6 are diagrams showing programming maps for facilitating programming of the illustrated message sequencer, and FIGS. 4 to 6 are interactive in the man-machine interface unit when setting an operation mode or the like for the message sequencer unit of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the display contents displayed in FIG. 7, and FIG. 7 is an operation screen displayed during execution of the sequence. 1 ... CPU, 2 ... ROM, 3 ... Kanji ROM, 4 ... RAM, 5 ... EEPRO
M, 6, 7 ... I / O section, 8 ... A / D converter, 9 ... D / A converter, 10
... Interface, 11 ... Programming device, 12 ... Display unit, 13 ... Transparent touch panel, 14 ... Input / output section, 50 ...
Sequencer section, 60 ... Man-machine interface section,
61 ... Display.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Hiromasa Yanase 3-4-6 Hiranocho, Chuo-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka (56) References JP-A-53-116751 (JP, A) Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 57-75308 (JP, A) Actual development No. 58-85237 (JP, U)

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A man-machine interface, which is provided in the vicinity of a display section for displaying operating conditions, operating methods, operating conditions, etc., and a switch section or a display section for directly pressing an area shown on the display section. On the display section and a sequencer that receives an input from the control target and controls the sequence of the controlled device in an integrated manner, and displays the display content on the display section and the control content of the sequence control. Message sequencer characterized by being programmable. 2. A programming device used as a support device for programming the display contents and / or control contents for the message sequencer according to claim 1, wherein each device name of a mechanical device and their on / off states. Means for inputting the states of the above according to the process sequence of the control operation, a storage means for storing the data input by the input means, and a control program generation for generating the data stored in the storage means in the programming language of the sequencer. A programming device comprising: a means and a display program generation means for generating a display program for displaying an operating condition, an operating method, an operating condition, etc. on the display.