JPH04288603A - Numerical controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily extend the soft processing function in a numerical controller. CONSTITUTION:The numerical controller having a man-machine input/output part, an NC control part, and a first storage part is provided with an interface unit part 13 provided with a communication driver part 133, a packet buffer part 132, and a command analyzing part 131 and a second storage part 11 provided with an interface area 111 to the man-machine input/output part, an interface area 112 to the NC control part, and a common data area 113 for system management, and thereby, programs stored as a library in an external personal computer 15 are executed in the same manner as programs stored in the internal memory of the numerical controller.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

0001

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a numerical control device used in machine tools and the like, and more particularly to a numerical control device that facilitates expansion of software functions.

0002

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the general configuration of a numerical control device. Reference number 1 is the NC control unit;
3 is a man-machine system unit, 31 is a CRT, 32
5 is a keyboard, 5 is a servo unit, 51 is a servo motor, and 7 is a memory unit. Conventionally, when a numerical control device like the one shown in Figure 5 has been delivered to a user and it becomes necessary to expand its software functions, the manufacturer has prepared in advance software options for expanding the functions. This was achieved by adding a function expansion unit 9 having a memory storing a function expansion program as shown surrounded by a broken line.

0003

[Problem to be solved by the invention] However, when a user wants to extend the functionality of a program that has been independently developed by incorporating the user's know-how, (a) the numerical control necessary for the user to create the program is Internal specifications such as IO addresses of each input/output device attached to the device are unknown. (b) In order for users to write independently developed programs into the memory on the board for function expansion, they must have program development tools such as compilers, assemblers, linkers, and debuggers; Not being in an environment where it is possible to develop. Due to these problems, there was no other option but to request the manufacturer to develop a new program. The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and therefore, the purpose of the present invention is to:
Developed by a user using a personal computer,
By making it possible to run programs stored as a library in the memory of a personal computer in the same way as programs written in the memory on a function expansion board, users can easily understand software functions. The object of the present invention is to provide a numerical control device that is easy to expand.

0004

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the numerical control device of the present invention has a man-machine input/output section, an NC control section, and a first storage section. an interface unit section having a driver section, a packet buffer section, and a command analysis section;
A second storage unit having an interface area with the man-machine input/output unit, an interface area with the NC control unit, and a common data area for system management is provided to facilitate data communication with an external personal computer. The present invention is characterized in that a program stored as a library in a personal computer can be accessed in the same way as a program stored in a memory on a function expansion board.

[0005]

[Operation] In the numerical control device according to the present invention, a program developed by the user for expanding software functions is stored as a library in the memory of the personal computer, and the personal computer serves as an interface for the numerical control device. The unit is connected to the numerical control device, and the program for expanding the software functions can be executed in the same way as the program stored in the memory of the function expansion board in the numerical control device. .

[0006]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A numerical control device according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the numerical control device of the present invention, and FIG.
Components with the same reference numbers represent the same parts. In FIG. 1, reference number 11 is an interface memory unit, 13 is an interface unit, and 15 is a personal computer.

FIG. 2 shows in more detail the configuration of the interface memory unit 11 and the interface unit 13 shown in FIG. 1, as well as the configuration of the memory of the personal computer 15. In the interface memory unit 11, the interface area 111 with the man-machine system contains various inputs of the man-machine system section 3 that should be checked when exchanging commands and data between the man-machine system unit 3 and the personal computer 15. The state of the output section is stored, and commands and data to be exchanged are once stored in this area and then sent to the man-machine system unit 3 or the personal computer 15.

The interface area 112 with the NC control unit 1 displays the status of various input/output parts of the NC control unit 1 that should be checked when exchanging commands and data between the NC control unit 1 and the personal computer 15. Commands and data to be stored and exchanged are once stored in this area and then sent to the man-machine system unit 3 or the personal computer 15. Common data area 113 for system management stores common data necessary for systemically managing programs run by each control unit.

[0009] The switch state area 114 is provided with soft switches that are set to put each unit of the NC device into a standby state. This soft switch can be freely set from the personal computer 15 or NC device. When the personal computer 15 makes a setting, it uses a function prepared in a library, and when an NC device makes a setting, it uses a program prepared in the NC device as a user application function. ing.

In the interface unit 13, a command analysis section 131 converts the command into the format of the personal computer 15 when sending a command from the numerical control device to the personal computer 15, and sends the command from the personal computer 15 to the numerical control device. When sending a command, it is the part that converts the command into the format of the numerical control device, and the packet buffer 132 is used until the command and data to be sent are received, or until the sent command is executed and the required processing result data is returned. This is a buffer that stores commands as packets until they are sent. The communication driver section 133 is a section that connects the numerical control device and the personal computer 15 to perform transmission and reception. The personal computer 15 stores a plurality of programs as a library 151 developed by the user for functional expansion. Commands are exchanged in the form of packets. Here, a packet is a set of a command and data to be sent along with the command as shown in FIG. 3, or a set of a command and data to be returned as a result of executing the command. The packet is received by the communication driver section 133 of the interface unit 13 and once stored in the packet buffer 132. The packet stored in the packet buffer 132 is analyzed by the command analysis unit 131 to determine which unit of the numerical control device should process the command.
If the command is sent to the area of the corresponding unit in the interface memory unit 11 and there is processing result data as a return value after the command is executed and processed in the corresponding unit, that data is sent to the area of the corresponding unit in the interface memory unit 11. It is written as a return value to the command analysis section 131 and analyzed, and then written to the packet buffer 132 as a return value, and the communication driver section 1
33 and back to the personal computer 15.

FIGS. 4A, 4B, 4C, and 4D show the personal computer 15, communication driver section 133, and command analysis section 13 when a user's application program is started on the personal computer 15.
1 and each unit, the state in which commands sent or received between the numerical control device and the personal computer 15 are processed is shown in a flowchart. In such a state, the NC device is in a standby state so that it can immediately respond to packets sent from the user's application function. What is standby state?
A state in which you wait for a packet to be sent, and when the packet is sent, you can immediately perform processing according to the command. In FIG. 4, (a), step S
a1 sends the command packet to personal computer 1
5 to the communication driver unit 133 of the interface unit 13 of the numerical control device, and step Sa
In step 2, the process waits for a return value to be returned as a processing result from the communication driver unit 133, and ends the process when the return value is returned. In (b), the communication driver unit 133 waits for a command to be received in step Sb1, and when the command is received, writes the command to the packet buffer 132 in step Sb2, waits for a return value to be returned in step Sb3, and returns When a value is returned, the returned value is sent to the personal computer 15 in step Sb4. In (c), the command analysis unit 131 waits for the command to be written to the packet buffer 132 in step Sc1, and when the command is written, analyzes the command in step Sc2 and stores it in the area of the corresponding unit of the interface memory unit 11. Write the command, wait for the return value to be returned in step Sc3, and when the return value is returned, write the return value to packet buffer 1 in step Sc4.
Write to 32. In (d), each unit waits to receive a command in step Sd1, and when the command is received, processes the command in step Sd2, and returns a return value in step Sd3.

[0013]

[Effects of the Invention] As described above, the numerical control device of the present invention provides the following effects. (a) Programs stored as a library in a personal computer can be executed in the same way as programs stored in a numerical control device, making it possible to expand functionality without requiring any hardware knowledge. (b) Since the various types of equipment required to develop programs to be written to the RAM in the numerical control device are not required, even users who are not in an environment for developing programs can easily create programs for functional expansion. be able to.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a numerical control device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing in more detail portions related to the present invention among the components shown in the block diagram of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the structure of a packet.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the processing status of commands related to each unit.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a conventional numerical control device.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 NC control unit 3 Man-machine system unit 11 Interface memory unit 111 Interface area 112 with man-machine system
Interface area 113 with NC control unit
Common data storage area 13 Interface unit 131 Command analysis section 132 Packet buffer 133 Communication driver section 15 Personal computer

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A numerical control device comprising a man-machine input/output section, an NC control section, and a first storage section, comprising: an interface unit section having a communication driver section, a packet buffer section, and a command analysis section; A second storage section is provided which has an interface area with the input/output section, an interface area with the NC control section, and a common data area for system management, and communicates data with an external personal computer. A numerical control device characterized in that it is possible to execute a program stored as a library in a computer.