JP2006301025A - Control system and personal computer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make a specific indicator easily identifiable without mistaking the same with another indicator in the case of a transfer of data to the specific indicator. <P>SOLUTION: The control system is equipped with an external PC10 and a plurality of indicators 20 which are commonly connected via a common network 50 to the external PC10 and to which data is transferred from the external PC10. The external PC10 displays a listup picture of the plurality of indicators 20 in response to the operation of a mouse etc., and transfers the display command to make the specific indicator 20 display the user picture in a specific form by responding to the selection operation of the specific indicator 20 by the input device from the plurality of listed up indicators 20. The specific indicator 20 displays and operates the specific form on the user picture by responding to the display command. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a control system including a personal computer and a plurality of displays commonly connected to the personal computer via a common network, and transferring data from the personal computer to the plurality of displays.

  Such a control system includes a system including an external PC (personal computer), a display (including a programmable display), and a PLC (programmable logic controller). In this control system, PLC controls the sequence of external devices, displays the external devices as HMI (Human Machine Interface) display components, displays the status of external devices on the HMI display components, The external device can be operated by operating the HMI display component above, and the external PC can control these PLCs and displays by protocol communication. In this specification, an HMI display component is defined as a display component that forms an interface between an external device and a user.

  In such a control system, the display unit can be equipped with functions of external devices such as operation panels, switches, and indicator lights in factory facilities, and for management such as operation status of external devices and work instructions. It has a function as a terminal for inputting set values for various monitors and devices (see Patent Document 1). Therefore, various HMI display components such as meters, graphs, switches and the like are displayed on the display screen (user screen) corresponding to these for controlling and operating external devices.

In the above control system, when the user screen of the display device is created using the drawing tool on the external PC and the completed user screen is transferred to the display device, the external PC and the display device are connected with a serial cable or a USB cable. When connected in a one-to-one relationship (see Patent Document 2), it is not necessary to identify the display device to be transferred, but when the external PC is connected to multiple display devices, multiple display devices When transferring the user screen only to a specific display unit from among the display units, it is necessary to distinguish the display unit that is the transfer target from other display units, but the display unit name, IP (Internet Protocol) address, Or, it can be identified only by a method of identifying by MAC (Media Access Control) address alone. However, such identification may erroneously transfer the user screen to another display.
JP 2004-252920 A JP 2002-157014 A

  In the case where an external PC is connected to a plurality of display units via a common network, the specific display unit is displayed on another display when data such as a user screen for the specific display unit is transferred. It is an object of the present invention to make it possible to identify and transfer data easily and without mistakes.

  The control system according to the present invention is a control system comprising a personal computer and a display that is commonly connected to the personal computer via a common network and capable of data communication with the personal computer. In response to an operation of the input device, a list-up screen of the plurality of display devices is displayed, and the selection operation of the input device is performed for selecting a display device from the plurality of display devices displayed on the list-up screen. In response, the display command for displaying the user screen in a specific form is transferred to the display device related to the selection via the common network, and the specific display device to which the display command is transferred is transferred to the display command. In response, a display operation is performed in a specific display form.

  As the specific display form, there is a display form by blinking, appropriate characters, or the like indicating that the personal computer is editing the user screen of the display unit or under maintenance of the display unit.

  According to the control system of the present invention, when a display device to be transferred is identified from another display device, a plurality of displays are displayed on the screen of a personal computer in response to an operation of an input device such as a keyboard or a mouse. Display the list, select the display from the multiple displays displayed on the list, and select the display using the input device, and transfer the display command to display the user screen in a specific form on the selected display The display device to which the display command is transferred operates to display the user screen in the specific form, for example, blinking. Therefore, in the present invention, when data is transferred to any one of the plurality of display devices, the display device to be transferred is displayed in a specific display form such as blinking, so that the user can Data such as a user screen can be transferred to the specific display without making a mistake in data transfer.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to eliminate erroneous transfer of data to a display other than a specific display that is a data transfer target from among a plurality of displays.

  Hereinafter, a control system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 shows the configuration of the entire control system. In FIG. 1, 10 is an external PC as a host computer on the upper side of the system, 20 is a plurality of displays equipped with user screens, 30 is a plurality of PLCs, and 40 is a plurality of external devices. The external PC 10 and the plurality of displays 20 are connected to each other via a common network 50 that can communicate with a common communication protocol, and each of the plurality of displays 20 and the plurality of PLCs 30 can be communicated with each other with a unique communication protocol. Individually connected via a network 60. The external device 40 is an input external device such as a sensor or a switch, and an output external device such as an actuator or a relay.

  When the communication protocols in the networks 50 and 60 are different, the display device 20 exchanges the communication protocols between the PLC 30 connected to the display device 20 itself and the external PC 10 or another display device 20. Can be relayed. A LAN (local area network) is used as the common network 50, and TCP / IP can be adopted as a communication protocol in the common network 50. The display device 20 can draw the user screen based on the user screen created by the drawing editor of the external PC 10. In the user screen, display HMI components (imaged components such as a touch switch, a lamp, and various displays) are synthesized as an image block on the background screen. On this user screen, the display HMI component moves according to the operation of the external device, and the operation status of the external device 40 is visualized. The external PC 10 is provided with a desktop main body 10a, a keyboard 10b, and a mouse 10c as a host computer in the same manner as a general-purpose personal computer. The edit screen is displayed on the screen, and the HMI display component can be processed and edited on the edit screen. The external PC 10 can communicate data with the display device 20 via the common network 50. For example, a user screen created by a drawing editor is transferred to the display device 20 or distributed from the display device 20. The input / output data of the PLC 30 can be collected and processed. The external PC 10 can manage a database, and manages names such as a user screen corresponding to the display 20, display HMI components, an IP address of the display 20, a station name of the display 20, a model name, and the like. The external PC 10 can send data to the common network 50 with an IP address or the like.

  Since the common network 50 is a LAN such as Ethernet (registered trademark) as described above and TCP / IP as the communication protocol of the common network 50, the external PC 10 and the plurality of displays 20 connected to the common network 50 are respectively connected to the common network 50. A unique IP address is assigned. When communicating via the common network 50, the data string of the format prescribed | regulated by TCP / IP is transmitted / received. This data string includes a header portion including an Ethernet (registered trademark) header and a TCP / IP header, and a data body indicating communication contents. The TCP / IP header is composed of an IP header including IP addresses of a transmission source and a transmission destination, and a TCP header including port numbers of the transmission source and the transmission destination. In the communication protocol, the data body includes a common code indicating the command content and related information accompanying the common code.

  The display 20 analyzes the IP address of the transmission destination included in the data of the external PC 10 transmitted from the common network 50, and reads the command included in the data from the external PC 10 if the IP address is its own. Necessary display operations can be performed. The display device 20 can perform a display operation in response to a command from the external PC 10. This command includes a display command indicating the display mode of the user screen of the display device 20, and information associated with display such as a flashing mode is added as related information.

  FIG. 2 shows the external PC 10 and the plurality of displays 20, and nothing is displayed on the plurality of displays 20. FIG. 3 shows the external PC 10 and a plurality of display devices 20. Among the plurality of display devices 20, the character “editing” is displayed on the user screen of the display device 20 in the center of FIG. ing. The external PC 10 displays the user screen of the display 20 being edited in a specific form such as blinking indicating that editing is in progress or displaying the name of the external PC 10 among the plurality of displays 20. The display command and the IP address of the display 20 being edited to be displayed are specified, and data is transmitted to the display 20 on the common network 50. The display 20 being edited out of each display 20 is assumed to have its own IP address, and the display operation is performed from the display state of FIG. 2 to the specific display state “editing” of FIG. 3 according to the display command. The display in this specific form is to allow the user to easily confirm which display device 20 the user screen edited by the external PC 10 is for. For example, before editing, the user can confirm which display 20 is to be edited, and during editing, the user can confirm which display 20 is currently being edited. Even in the stage of transferring the screen to the display device 20, the user can confirm to which display device 20 the user screen is transferred.

  For the above display operation, the external PC 10 can display the list-up screens of all the display devices 20 connected to the common network 50 by operating the input device such as a keyboard or a mouse as shown in FIG. It has become. The external PC 10 can select a specific display 20 by responding to the operation of the input device with respect to the plurality of displays 20 displayed on the list-up screen. The user can select the display device 20 corresponding to the user screen being edited on the external PC 10. The selected specific indicator 20 is shown with contrast in FIG. 4 for illustration purposes. FIG. 5 shows a specific display 20 related to this selection, and the user screen of this display 20 blinks as a specific display form and displays the name of the external PC 10. By this display, the user can confirm the display 20 related to editing.

  Referring to the flowchart of FIG. 6, the user edits the user screen of the specific display device 20 on the editing screen of the external PC 10 by operating the keyboard or mouse. Next, the display device 20 connected to the common network 50 is listed up (listed) on the display screen of the external PC 10 before, during or after editing. The user selects a specific display device for editing from the display devices 20 displayed in the list. In response to this selection, the external PC 10 sends data with a display command and an IP address to the common network 50. In accordance with the display command, the display device 20 corresponding to the IP address blinks the user screen and displays the name of the external PC 10.

  In the embodiment described above, when data is transferred to any one of the plurality of display devices 20, the display device 20 to be transferred is displayed in a specific display form such as blinking. Therefore, the user can transfer data such as a user screen to the specific display device 20 without making a mistake in transferring the data.

  Hereinafter, a hardware configuration of the external PC 10, the display 20, and the PLC 30 in the control system will be described as an example (see FIG. 7).

(Hardware configuration of external PC 10)
The external PC 10 includes a CPU, a memory (RAM, ROM, etc.), an external storage device (hard disk drive, MO drive, etc.), a display device, and an interface (I / F) in the desktop main body 10a, like a general-purpose personal computer. In addition, a keyboard 10b and a mouse 10c are provided as input devices. The external PC 10 is connected to the common network 50 in order to perform communication with the display device 20. The external PC 10 performs data communication processing with the display device 20 via the common network 50, transfers the user screen created by the drawing editor to the display device 20, and transmits the PLC 30 distributed from the display device 20. Processing for collecting input data and output data can be performed. The external PC 10 can register the user screen created by the drawing editor and the input / output data of the PLC 30 in the database, and can read the data registered in the database.

  In the external PC 10 described above, display data for the list-up screen of the display device 20 is stored in a memory or the like. The CPU accesses the memory by operating the keyboard 10b and the mouse 10c, reads the list-up screen from the memory to the display device, and displays it. When any display item in the list-up screen is selected by operating the keyboard 10b or the mouse 10c, a display command for displaying in a specific display form is transferred to the corresponding display unit 20. . Since this transfer can be performed by a known transfer technique, a detailed description thereof is omitted. Further, the specific display form is stored in the memory. For example, if it is blinking, it can be implemented by a change in the display brightness of the display 20 or the like. Since the blinking of the display screen can be performed by a known technique, a detailed description is omitted. The external PC 10 stores a program for executing the flowchart shown in FIG. 6 in a memory.

(Hardware configuration of display 20)
The display device 20 includes a memory such as a RAM, a ROM, a flash ROM, and a VRAM, and a CPU, a display device, an input device, and an interface (I / F) that are arithmetic processes. The operation is controlled. The display device 20 can perform various types of data processing in order to perform user screen display control, protocol conversion, and data distribution processing in the CPU. The display device 20 can draw a user screen on the screen of the display device using a memory such as a VRAM based on the user screen created by the drawing editor of the external PC 10. On the user screen, HMI display components and tags are combined as image blocks. On the user screen, the HMI display component and the tag move according to the operation of the input / output external device, and the operation status of the input external device and the output external device is visualized. The display 20 stores a program for executing the flowchart shown in FIG. 6 in a memory. The CPU of the display device 20 displays the user screen in a specific display form in response to a display command from the external PC 10. The blinking display on the user screen may be performed by changing the background color, alternately turning on and off, or changing the luminance of the same color.

(Hardware configuration of PLC30)
The PLC 30 performs calculation processing of control data to be given to the output external device 40 based on a signal input from the input external device 40 according to the control sequence. As the input external device 40, devices such as sensors (temperature sensors, optical sensors, etc.) and switches (push button switches, limit switches, pressure switches, etc.) are used. As the output external device 40, an actuator, a relay, a solenoid valve, or the like is used. The input external device 40 and the output external device 40 are arranged in required parts such as a production line.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and includes various changes or modifications within the scope described in the claims.

It is a block diagram of the control system which consists of external PC, a display, and PLC. It is a figure which shows the state from which the display command is not transferred to any of several display devices from external PC. It is a figure which shows the state in which a display command is transferred and displayed as "editing" to the external display and the center display of a plurality of displays. It is a figure which shows the display apparatus list up screen of external PC. It is a figure which shows the indicator which is selected and blinked and displayed on the indicator list-up screen of FIG. It is a flowchart with which it uses for operation | movement description of an external PC and a display. It is a figure which shows the specific hardware constitutions of a control system.

Explanation of symbols

10 External PC
20 Display 30 PLC
40 External device 50 Common network 60 Dedicated network

Claims (2)

  In a control system comprising a personal computer and a display connected to the personal computer via a common network and capable of data communication with the personal computer, the personal computer responds to the operation of the input device. In response to a selection operation of the input device that displays a list-up screen of the plurality of display units and selects a display unit from the plurality of display units displayed on the list-up screen. A display command for displaying the user screen in a specific form is transferred to a display unit related to the selection via a network, and the specific display unit to which the display command is transferred is in a specific display form in response to the display command. A control system characterized by display operation.   In a personal computer in which a plurality of displays are connected in common via a common network and capable of data communication with each of the displays via the common network, the personal computer is used to operate an input device. A function of responding to display a list-up screen of the plurality of display units, a function of selecting a specific display unit from the plurality of display units displayed on the list-up screen, and a selection operation thereof A personal computer having a function of transferring and controlling a display command to be displayed in a specific display form on the display device in response to the selection.

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