JP2003295996A - Control display device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a control display device capable of displaying a touch panel input type keyboard and other images simultaneously. <P>SOLUTION: In a graphic control panel 1 such as a programmable display unit, an alpha blending operation unit 20 performs alpha blending operation processing of respective color data in an overlapped area of a set value displaying window displayed on a display 14 and a keyboard displayed over the window, in accordance with each set transmission factor. A display control system program stored in a FEPROM 12b displays the keyboard to overlap the set value displaying window displayed on the display 14, and displays the set value displaying window with its overlapped area transmissive to the keyboard based on the result of alpha blending operation processing. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a control display device such as a programmable display device for displaying a touch keyboard capable of inputting numbers, characters, etc. on a screen.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A control display device such as a programmable display device or a panel computer as an HMI (Human Machine Interface) device has a dot display screen, an operation input switch, an interface with a host controller (PLC), and a screen. It is an operation indicator provided with a program memory for control such as operation input. In general, the programmable display is capable of providing functions such as a control panel, a switch, and an indicator lamp because it displays a graphic display, and also various monitors and devices for management such as operation status of devices and work instructions. It has a function as a terminal for inputting set values via a touch panel.

The screen displayed on such a programmable display can be created by the user by using screen creating software (drawing software). When creating a screen, a user configures a desired screen using parts such as switches, lamps, ten keys, a meter display, a graph display, and the like provided by drawing software in a personal computer, a drawing function, and the like.

The created screen is transferred to and stored in the control display device as screen data. Further, when the PLC is in operation, the control display device displays each part or figure on the screen according to the operating state of the control target device based on the data exchanged with the PLC.

Conventionally, in such a control display device, there is a model having a function of displaying a pop-up keyboard which can be input on a touch panel on a screen in order to input a set value. Since such a keyboard can be displayed on the screen when necessary, the display unit having a small area can be effectively used.

[0006]

However, when displaying a pop-up keyboard and other images on a narrow window, the smaller the area, the more difficult it becomes. Therefore, when you want to see other images, close the pop-up keyboard to display other images,
The pop-up keyboard must be displayed when performing input operations using the pop-up keyboard. Therefore, in such a case, another image cannot be displayed in a state in which the pop-up keyboard can be input, and a display switching operation is required, which is inconvenient.

It is also conceivable to increase the display resolution and display the pop-up keyboard small so that the pop-up keyboard and other images are displayed side by side even in a small display area. However, with such a method, the keys of the keyboard become too small, and it becomes difficult to operate a desired key with a finger. Therefore, for the convenience of operation, it is necessary to display the keyboard in a certain size.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides a control display device capable of simultaneously displaying a touch panel input type keyboard and other images even in a narrow display area. It is an object.

[0009]

A control display device according to the present invention acquires the state of a device and displays it on a display unit, and at the same time, inputs on the display unit for giving a control instruction to the device. In a control display device comprising a touch panel that receives the touch panel and a keyboard display unit that displays a keyboard that enables specific input to the touch panel, an image displayed on the display unit and the keyboard displayed on the image. And a transparent calculation processing unit that performs an alpha blending calculation process according to the set transparency for each color data of the portion where and overlap, and the keyboard display unit displays the keyboard on the image displayed on the display unit. On top of each other, and based on the result of the alpha blending calculation processing, The is characterized by transmitting the display relative to the keyboard.

In the above arrangement, the keyboard display means displays the keyboard over the image displayed on the display section. Further, the alpha blending calculation processing is performed by the transparency calculation processing means on each color data of the portion where the image and the keyboard overlap. At this time, because the color data newly obtained as a result of the alpha blending calculation process differs depending on the transmittance,
In order to obtain the desired transmittance, the transmittance may be set optimally. The portion where the image overlaps with the keyboard is transparently displayed by the keyboard display means based on the result of the above alpha blending calculation processing.

As described above, even if the keyboard is displayed on the image, the image is transparently displayed in the overlapping portion. Therefore, even if the keyboard is displayed over the image, the display state of the image can be confirmed. , You don't need to erase the keyboard.

In the above control display device, it is preferable that the image is a set value display area for displaying a set value set by the input operation by the keyboard and given to the device. Thus, even if the set value display area is displayed overlapping the keyboard, it is possible to confirm the state in which the input from the keyboard is displayed in the set value display area.

[0013]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6.

As shown in FIG. 1, a graphic operation panel 1 as a control display device according to the present embodiment has a C
PU 11, memory unit 12, VRAM 13, display 14, graphic controller 15, touch panel 1
6, a touch panel controller 17, a maintenance port 18, a communication controller 19, and an alpha blending arithmetic unit 20. The graphic operation panel 1 acquires the status of devices 4 ...
The touch panel 16 for accepting an input on the display 4 for giving the control instruction of 1.

The memory unit 12 includes a DRAM 12a and a FEP.
ROM (Flash Erasable and Programmable ROM) 12
b, a memory such as SRAM 12c is included. DRAM
12a is mainly used for work during arithmetic processing such as display control, and is also used for temporary storage of data exchanged with the PLC 2. SRAM12c is PL
It is used for logging data obtained from C2 and storing set value data (recipe data) given to PLC2. The FEPROM 12b is a rewritable read-only flash memory and plays a role of a hard disk drive in a general personal computer. Since the flash memory has no moving parts and is strong against shock, it operates stably even in a bad surrounding environment.

Further, the above FEPROM 12b is shown in FIG.
As shown in, the display control system program, the communication protocol, and the user screen data are stored in respective areas.

The display control system program is a program for realizing the basic functions for controlling image display. For this display control system program,
It will be described in detail later.

The communication protocol is a protocol used in communication processing with the PLC 2, and is uniquely determined according to the model (maker) of the PLC 2. This communication protocol includes a command code for instructing the PLC 2 to read data. This command code is P
By combining with the above-mentioned address associated with the control function of LC2, the data regarding the desired control function can be transmitted to PLC2.

The user screen data, which is the data of the user screen, includes the data of the base screen and the parts to be displayed on the display 14, the processing instruction word W to be described later given to each part, and the like. The user screen data is created by the drawing editor 32, which will be described later, and the FEPROM
12b has been downloaded. The user screen data will be described later in detail.

As shown in FIG. 3, the processing instruction word (tag) W included in the user screen data is created for each event to be executed on the base screen. This processing instruction word W
Is basically the file number F of the base screen on which the display control operation is to be executed, the event name T that identifies the operation content to be executed on this base screen, and 1 or referred to for each execution event. Reference information I consisting of a plurality of data is provided as a set.

The user screen data is, as shown in FIG.
It includes base screen data, screen link data, parts data and keyboard data.

The base screen data is data of the base screen which is a background screen, and parts and figures are arranged on the base screen.

The screen link data is data for associating related screens with each other, and includes coordinate data of the switching switch in the screen including the switching switch.

The part data is, for example, a figure in which a moving image function for expressing a dynamic change of a device such as a switch or a numerical display device or a graph displayed on the base screen or a graph on the base screen is displayed. Is expressed as This moving image function is realized by W after the above-mentioned processing instruction, and can be arbitrarily set by the user. In addition, it is preliminarily set as an imaged basic figure such as a touch switch, a lamp, and various display devices so that the user can easily handle it. It is prepared.

The keyboard data is data of a software keyboard displayed for inputting parameter settings. Since this keyboard data can be handled as a part, it may be included in the part data.

The display control system program displays user screen data, sets various data on the user screen,
The CPU 11 transmits the set data to the PLC 2 and displays the data received from the PLC 2 on the user screen.
It is a program to be executed by. This display control system program, as shown in FIG.
1, a set value input section P2, a communication control section P3, and a transparent display control section P4.

The display control section P1 uses the above-mentioned base screen data to display the parts data. Further, the display control unit P1 uses the screen link data to switch the display of the base screens associated with each other according to the operation of the operator for switching the screens. Furthermore, the display control unit P1 uses the data display parts (meter display, numerical display, graph display, etc.) for the data from the PLC 2 received from the communication control unit P3 in order to realize the data display function. And display it on a predetermined base screen.

The memory in the PLC 2 is set so that the storage location of the word device and the bit device can be specified by designating an address. A word device is set for input / output data for word data such as a numerical value, and a bit device is set for bit data such as an on / off state. With such a setting, it is possible to control the devices 4 made up of the input / output devices or individually retrieve the information regarding the operating state thereof by only accessing an arbitrary word device or bit device in the PLC 2.

The display control unit P1 reads the necessary information out of the status information indicated by the bit device or the word device into the memory unit 12 in a timely manner, and repeatedly reads out the above processing instruction word W to obtain each processing instruction word. Event name T of W
The operation of the content specified by is executed with reference to the state information on the PLC2 side. As a result, the display operation that changes according to the change in the state of the bit device or the word device is executed.

The set value input section P2 as a keyboard display means displays a pop-up keyboard that enables specific input to the touch panel 16, for example, set value input to the devices 4 ... In addition, display parts for displaying the above set values (set value display, etc.) are displayed at designated positions on the base screen. This set value input section P2
When the operator touches the set value display portion of the set value input part described above, a pop-up keyboard is displayed so that the set value can be input by the hop-up keyboard. The input setting value is SRAM12c
Memorized in.

The communication control unit P3 receives the set value data to be transmitted to the PLC 2 from the set value input unit P2 and instructs the communication controller 19 to transmit the set value data. The communication controller 19 transmits the set value data to the designated PLC 2. Further, the communication control unit P3 includes the communication controller 19
The data received from the PLC 2 is received and passed to the display controller P1.

The transparent display control unit P4 controls the transparency (alpha value α described later) set in the drawing editor 32 as described later and the pop-up keyboard and the overlapping portion of the image transparently displayed on the pop-up keyboard. The color data of the pixel is given to the alpha blending arithmetic unit 20. Since the CPU 11 constantly recognizes the display position of the image and the keyboard for display control, the image of the overlapping portion and each pixel of the keyboard are specified based on the position information. As a result, the color data of those pixels to be given to the alpha blending arithmetic unit 20 is determined. In addition, the transparent display control unit P4 uses the alpha blending calculation device 20.
The result of the alpha blending calculation executed in step 1 is acquired, and the result is passed to the set value input part P2 as drawing data for transparent display.

The display control system program is software that can be provided in the form of a program medium such as package software, and is recorded in a recording medium that can be separated from the graphic operation panel 1, for example.

The above program media are tape systems such as magnetic tapes and cassette tapes, magnetic disk systems such as floppy disks and hard disks, CD-ROMs,
Optical disc systems such as MO, MD, and DVD, card systems such as IC cards (including memory cards) and optical cards are suitable. In addition, the above program media are mask ROM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash RO
It may be a medium including a semiconductor memory such as M that holds a program fixedly.

The alpha blending arithmetic unit 20 as the transparent arithmetic processing means displays a pop-up keyboard on the user screen, and performs arithmetic processing for superimposing another image behind the pop-up keyboard to display another image such as a set value display. Is a device for realizing high-speed processing, for example,
As disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-200869, it is configured by hardware such as a logic circuit.

In the alpha blending process, an alpha value α (0 ≦ α is set as a value indicating the transmittance of an image to be transmitted.
It is expressed using ≦ 1). Specifically, for the color C1 (color data) of the displayed pixel and the color C2 (color data) of the same pixel that is superimposed and transmitted on this pixel, the color C (color data) to be newly drawn. Is C = α × C1 + (1-
α) C2. In this way, the colors C1 and C2 are mixed at the ratio of the alpha value α, and the new color C
By drawing the same pixel with, the image on the rear side can be seen through.

The CPU 11 controls the operation of each part of the graphic operation panel 1 according to the display control system program described above. Further, the CPU 11 has a function of controlling communication with a computer device 3 described later via a maintenance port 18 described later, and when receiving user screen data from the drawing editor 32, FEPR.
Store in the OM 12b.

The VRAM 13 is a memory that temporarily holds the image of the screen displayed on the display 14, and stores the image of the user screen data from the FEPROM 12b as dot data in the order of being displayed in the horizontal direction.

The display 14 as a display unit is composed of a flat panel display element such as a liquid crystal panel or an EL panel. The graphic controller 15 is a VR
This is driver software that draws an image of the screen developed on the AM 13 on the display 14. The touch panel 16 is provided for inputting on the display screen of the display 14, and is preferably an analog resistance film type touch panel or the like. Touch panel controller 17
Converts the output voltage of the touch panel 16 into input position information and outputs it to the CPU 11. The display 14 and the touch panel 16 constitute the display panel 6.

The maintenance port 18 is a communication port for communicating with the computer device 3 described later, and is used for transferring user screen data from the computer device 3 to the graphic operation panel 1. On the other hand, the communication controller 19 uses a communication cable (for example, RS-2
32C) is an interface for controlling transfer of data relating to control and monitoring of the devices 4 ...

Next, the computer device 3 will be described.

The computer device 3 is composed of a general-purpose computer such as a personal computer. As shown in FIG. 1, this computer device 3 has a C
PU 31, drawing editor 32, screen database 33,
The memory unit 34, the display 35, the input device 36, the external storage device 37, and the interface unit (in the figure, I /
F) 38 is provided.

The CPU 31 is an OS (operating system) installed in the computer device 3.
The control and arithmetic processing of each unit when operating various application software including the drawing editor 32 are performed.

The memory unit 34 is provided with a memory such as a RAM and a ROM, and plays a role of storing fixed data, temporarily storing data, and providing a work area during arithmetic processing of the CPU 31.

In the drawing editor 32, the graphic operation panel 1 is provided with a function as a terminal for inputting various monitors for management such as the operating status of the devices 4 ... Further, it is screen creation software for creating a screen to be displayed on the display 14. Generally, the drawing editor 32 draws parts such as switches, lamps, ten keys, various indicators (for example, numerical indicators, meter indicators and graph indicators), and draws so that a user's own screen (user screen) can be created. It is equipped with functions and text input functions.

Further, the drawing editor 32 is provided with a set value display and a pop-up keyboard as parts, and has a function of setting so that a numerical value can be input to the set value display from the pop-up keyboard displayed on the user screen. is doing. In addition, the drawing editor 32 also has a function of setting the transparency when the alpha blending computing device 20 overlays the pop-up keyboard to transparently display the set value display. Hereinafter, a setting method using the setting function regarding the pop-up keyboard will be described.

Specifically, first, the drawing editor 32 is activated, and the base screen 5 is displayed as shown in FIG.
With the part 52 for the set value display placed on 1,
By double-clicking on the part 52, a dialog box 53 as shown in FIG. 5B appears on the base screen 51. When the "Keyboard" tab 54 is selected from this dialog box 53 and the "Use pop-up keyboard" check box 54a is checked there, the pop-up keyboard is used and the pop-up keyboard is displayed over the part 52. Is selected. Further, if the desired transmittance is entered in the transmittance setting box 54b below that and the OK button is clicked, it becomes possible to use a pop-up keyboard overlaid on the set value display, and the set transmittance is set. Enables transparent display of the set value display.

When the transmittance is not entered in the box 54b, it is considered that the transmittance is set to 0%.

The user screen created by the drawing editor 32 is stored in the screen database 33 as user screen data, and is transferred to the graphic operation panel 1 via the interface section 38 if necessary, and is stored in the FEPROM.
12b is downloaded.

The computer device 3 includes the drawing editor 32.
By functioning as an editor device for creating and editing a user screen.

The drawing editor 32 is software that can be provided in the form of a program medium as packaged software or made-to-order software, like the above-mentioned display control system program.
It is recorded on a recording medium 5 that can be separated from the computer device 3. The drawing editor 32 can exhibit the editor function by being installed in the computer device 3 from the recording medium 5.

The screen database 33 is used by the drawing editor 3
It is a database for storing the user screen data created in 2. The user screen data stored in the screen database 33 is graphic data for the input parts and the like. The above graphic data is graphic data,
Contains text data and part data. The graphic data is graphic data such as a line, a circle, an ellipse, a triangle, a quadrangle, and a painted figure. The text data includes the title and text of the user screen composed of characters and symbols. The parts data is data regarding the above-mentioned parts prepared in the drawing editor 32 in advance.

The display 35 is composed of a CRT, a flat panel display element (for example, LCD or EL panel) and the like. The input device 36 is a device for performing an input operation such as a keyboard and a mouse, and in particular, a GUI (Graphic)
al User Interface) Drawing editor 32 that operates on the environment
A pointing device such as a mouse is suitable for inputting with.

The external storage device 37 is a device such as a magnetic disk drive such as a hard disk device, an optical disk drive such as a CD-ROM drive, or a memory card drive such as an IC card. This external storage device 37
Includes at least a device capable of reading information such as a program recorded in the recording medium 5.

The interface section 38 is an input / output section for performing data communication with the graphic operation panel 1. The user screen data created by the drawing editor 32 is transferred to the graphic operation panel 1 via the interface unit 38.

Next, the transparent display operation in the graphic operation panel 1 configured as described above will be described. Here, in particular, the operation when the set value display is transparently displayed behind the displayed popup keyboard will be described.

First, on the display 14 of the graphic operation panel 1, the setting window 6 shown in FIG.
1 is displayed. The setting display window 61 as a set value display area includes setting boxes 62 and 63 as set value display devices. In this state, for example,
When the operator touches the setting box 62, the set value input section P2 displays a numeric keypad 71 as a pop-up keyboard in front of the setting display window 61 as shown in FIG. 6A.

As shown in FIG. 6B, the ten-key pad 71 is provided with numeral keys 71a for inputting numbers 0 to 9, a decimal point key 71b, an up key 71c, a down key 71d, a return key 71e, Send key 71f, delete key (DEL in the figure) 71g, minus key 71h,
It comprises a clear key (CLR in the figure) 71i and an enter key (ENT in the figure) 71j.

When the numeric keypad 71 is displayed, the setting box 62 is displayed in the display control system program.
When the touch state of is detected by the touch panel 16, the setting value input unit P2 reads and displays the keyboard data of the user screen data, and the transparent display control unit P4 performs a process for transparent display of the setting display window 61. To perform.

In response to this, the transparent display control unit P4 supplies the alpha blending calculation device 20 with the data of the transmittance to execute the alpha blending calculation. Then, when the display control unit P4 receives the pixel data as the calculation result from the alpha blending calculation device 20, the display control unit P4 passes it to the set value input unit P2. Setting value input section P2
Draws for display based on the pixel data, so that the drawing portion where the setting display window 61 overlaps the numeric keypad 71 is displayed in a state in which the pixel data makes it appear to be transparent. To be done.

In this state, when the operator inputs a numerical value using the above-mentioned numeric keypad 71, the setting box 62
The numerical value is displayed on. Further, in this state, the input operation to the setting display window 61 is performed by the set value input section P2.
Not accepted by. When the operator presses the enter key 71j after entering the numerical values, the numeric keypad 7
When 1 is closed (disappeared), the numerical value displayed in the setting box 62 is determined as the setting value.

As described above, the numeric keypad 71 is normally displayed in a state of being overlaid on the front of the setting display window 61 for inputting the setting value, and the setting display window 61 is displayed.
By transparently displaying the overlapped portion in the alpha blending calculation process, while inputting a numerical value with the ten-key pad 71, the state of inputting (displaying) a numerical value in the setting box 62 of the setting display window 61 is confirmed. be able to. Since the degree of transparency of the setting display window 61 can be arbitrarily set by the transmittance, it is possible to select a desired degree of transparency according to the display state of the numeric keypad 71 by setting a desired transmittance.

As described above, since the image displayed on the rear side of the ten-key pad 71 is transparently displayed, even when the ten-key pad 71 is operated, the change of the rear-side image can be performed in real time without closing the ten-key pad 71. You can check. Therefore, the image transparently displayed on the rear side is not limited to the setting display window 61, but may be a part such as a graph or a meter whose display state dynamically changes. However, displaying the image including the display parts such as the setting boxes 62 and 63 on which the input result from the keyboard such as the ten-key pad 71 is directly reflected on the keyboard makes the input operability by the keyboard significantly. It is more preferable because it can be improved.

Further, by displaying the keyboard and other images in an overlapping manner, a narrow display area can be effectively utilized. Therefore, depending on the size of the display area, it is possible to display a keyboard having a large number of keys including keys such as alphabets.

[0065]

As described above, the control display device of the present invention acquires the state of a device and displays it on the display unit, and at the same time, inputs on the display unit for giving a control instruction to the device. A touch panel that accepts, a keyboard display unit that displays a keyboard that enables specific input to the touch panel, and a portion of each of the portion where the image displayed on the display unit and the keyboard displayed thereon overlap. The color data includes a transparency calculation processing unit that performs an alpha blending calculation process according to the set transparency, and the keyboard display unit displays the keyboard overlaid on the image displayed on the display unit. , Based on the result of the alpha blending calculation process Is a configuration to be over-display.

As a result, even if the keyboard is displayed on the image, the image is transparently displayed in the overlapping portion. Therefore, even if the keyboard is displayed over the image, the display state of the image can be confirmed. There is no need to erase the keyboard. Therefore, the display state of the image and the keyboard can be confirmed even in the narrow display area of the display unit, and the display area can be effectively utilized.

In the above control display device, since the image is a set value display area which is set by the input operation by the keyboard and displays the set value given to the device, the set value display area is the keyboard. Even if they are displayed in an overlapping manner, the state in which the input from the keyboard is displayed in the set value display area can be confirmed in the state in which the keyboard is displayed. Therefore, there is an effect that the input operation by the keyboard in the narrow display area can be efficiently performed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a display control system including a graphic operation panel according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing programs and data stored in an FEPROM of the graphic operation panel.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a basic format of a processing instruction word included in user screen data which is data of a user screen displayed on the graphic operation panel.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing details of the program and data.

5 (a) and 5 (b) show screens in which a pop-up keyboard is displayed on a set value display and settings for displaying the set value display transparently on the pop-up keyboard are performed by a drawing editor. It is a figure.

FIG. 6A is a diagram showing a state in which a setting value display window including a setting value display is transparently displayed below a keyboard displayed on a user screen, and FIG. 6B shows the keyboard. It is a figure and (c) is a figure which shows the said setting value display window.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Graphic Operation Panel (Display Device for Control) 4 Device 14 Display (Display Unit) 16 Touch Panel 20 Alpha Blending Arithmetic Device (Transparent Arithmetic Processing Means) 61 Window for Setting Value Display (Setting Value Display Area) 71 Numeric Keypad (Keyboard) P1 Set value input section (keyboard display means)

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A touch panel that receives a state of a device and displays it on a display unit, and that accepts an input on the display unit for giving a control instruction to the device, and a specific input to the touch panel. In a control display device having a keyboard display unit for displaying a keyboard, the color data of each of the portions where the image displayed on the display unit and the keyboard displayed on the image are set are set. And a transparency calculation processing unit that performs an alpha blending calculation process according to the transparency, and the keyboard display unit displays the keyboard overlaid on the image displayed on the display unit.
A control display device, wherein the image is transparently displayed on the keyboard in an overlapping portion based on the result of the alpha blending calculation process. 2. The control display device according to claim 1, wherein the image is a set value display area which is set by an input operation by the keyboard and displays a set value given to the device.