JP2643460B2 - Data logger device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a data logger device, in particular (but not exclusively), a water and sewage plant, a power plant,
The present invention relates to a data logger device having a function of taking in various data of various plants such as a steel plant and a general industrial plant, and tabulating and outputting the data in a predetermined format.

[Prior Art] In recent years, with the spread of personal computers,
Many attempts have been made to apply a personal computer (hereinafter, simply referred to as a personal computer) to a data logger device conventionally used in public facilities.

Representative examples of these attempts include, for example, the monthly sewer Vo
l.11, No.13 "Toshiba's monitoring and control system for small-scale sewerage systems"
Is disclosed.

As shown in FIG. 2, the conventional typical system configuration includes a personal computer 1 to which a typewriter 2 is connected.
And a process input / output device 4 connected to the personal computer 1 by a cable 3.

Various data (analog data and digital data) from the plant are periodically taken into the process input / output device 4 and converted into digital signals in a format that can be handled by a personal computer or the like. The data is input to the personal computer 1 by transmission (or parallel transmission).

In the personal computer 1, these various data are totaled (that is, arithmetic processing and filing), and the daily report data /
Create monthly report data, etc. Daily report data / monthly report data
It is printed out from a typewriter (T / W) according to a predetermined form format.

Since a personal computer is used in this way, there is an advantage that the distribution software of the personal computer can be used in form format creation / filing and the like, and the usability is good.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] By the way, in the conventional data logger device using a personal computer, it is necessary to sequentially receive various data periodically taken in by the process input / output device 4 and file the daily report data. The personal computer needs to be energized continuously.

However, the personal computer is originally designed for consumer use, and there is a problem in terms of product life when the personal computer is continuously used for business use as in the above-described data logger device. This problem also affects the reliability of the system including the data logger device.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a data logger device that maintains the ease of use by using a personal computer while also considering the product life.

[Means for Solving the Problems] To achieve the above object, a data logger device according to the present invention is a data logger device that totalizes and outputs periodically input signals, wherein the data logger device is always energized. The input section is divided into an online section and an offline section that is energized only when necessary. The online section stores the input signal periodically and stores the input signal as digital data for at least one day. Storage means, and the off-line section is provided with means for receiving and totalizing data transmitted from the transmitting means of the on-line section, and output means for displaying or printing out the totalized data. It is.

Preferably, the online unit includes an output unit that is always energized, separately from the output unit of the offline unit.

According to another aspect, a data logger device according to the present invention provides:
What is claimed is: 1. A data logger device having a function of collecting data generated with time, totaling and outputting the data, a unit for sequentially capturing the data generated with time, a unit for storing the captured data, and an alarm printing unit. An on-line unit comprising a printing unit, a personal computer having a form creation function and a communication function, and an off-line unit comprising a printing unit for outputting a form, wherein the on-line unit and the off-line unit are connected by a communication path. It is.

The online unit may be provided with means for turning on or off the power of the offline unit at a predetermined time.

[Operation] In the present invention, the data logger device is divided into an online unit and an offline unit, and the online unit is provided with storage means for storing at least one day of input data.
The off-line section does not need to be constantly energized. That is, the off-line unit normally turns off the power, turns on the power at least once during the number of days corresponding to the capacity of the storage means of the on-line unit, and transfers the input data accumulated in the on-line unit to the off-line unit. You just need to capture it.

With such a configuration of the present invention, even if a personal computer, which is a so-called consumer device, is used as a part (offline unit) of a business data logger device, the reliability of the system is not impaired due to the life of the personal computer. At the same time, an easy-to-use system using existing PC form creation software can be constructed.

Further, it is also possible to automatically control the power supply to the off-line unit by the on-line unit, and to automatically perform processing such as data absorption and daily report creation in the on-line unit. This eliminates the need for operator operation, and the on-line section has at least one input data storage capacity.
All you have to do is prepare for the day.

[Examples] Hereinafter, examples of the present invention will be described in detail.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a first embodiment of a system that can be used as a data logger device.

The system shown in FIG. 1 is divided into an off-line section 34 which is a personal computer-related section and an on-line section 33 which is a controller-related section.

The off-line section 34 includes the personal computer 1, the keyboard 13,
CRT display 14, hard disk drive (HD) 1
5. Consists of a floppy disk drive (FD) 16 and a logging typewriter 17. The personal computer 1 includes a microprocessor (MPU) 5 for controlling the entire personal computer, a main memory 10, a power supply (PS) 7 for supplying power to the personal computer, and control cards 6, 8, 9, for controlling external devices such as a keyboard 13. 1
1 and a communication card 12 for controlling communication with the online unit 33.

On the other hand, the online unit 33 includes a process input / output device 26 for inputting / outputting process data, a controller 18, and an alarm typewriter 25. Process input / output device 26
Is the control card 2 that exchanges data with the controller 18.
7, Address input card (AI) 2 for capturing analog signals
8. Digital input card (DI) 2 for capturing digital signals
9. Digital output card (DO) 3 that outputs digital signals
0, which are connected to the bus. The controller 18 includes an MPU 19 that controls the entire controller, a main memory 20, a control card 21 that exchanges data with the processor I / O device 26, and a power supply that supplies power to the online unit.
22, a communication card 23 for controlling communication with a personal computer, and a control card 24 for controlling an alarm typewriter 25. The communication between the online unit 33 and the offline unit 34
This is performed by an existing interface such as RS232C. The main memory 20 is backed up by a battery in case of a power failure or the like.

 FIG. 3 is an external view of the system configuration of FIG.

In this system, the configuration that can be seen from the outside of the offline unit 34 includes the personal computer 1, the CRT display 1
4, consisting of a keyboard 13, and a logging typewriter 17.
On the other hand, the configuration visible from the outside of the online unit 33 includes the controller 18, the process input / output device 26, and the alarm typewriter 25. Each element of the offline unit 34 and the alarm typewriter 25 of the online unit are mounted on a table 31, and the controller 18 and the processor input / output device 26 are stored in a housing 32. The controller 18 is equipped with the microprocessor 19, the main memory 20, the control cards 21 and 24, the power supply 22, the communication card 23, etc. described in FIG. A card 28 and the like are mounted.

 Hereinafter, the operation of the present system will be described.

Input signals periodically captured by the analog input card 28 and the digital input card 29 of the process input / output device 26 are stored as time data in the main memory 20 in the controller 18 via the control card 27 and the control card 21. . At this time, the data is a source of a daily report. In this embodiment, hour data is stored in the main memory 20 for seven days. That is, the daily report data for seven days is always stored in the controller 18. The number of days "7 days"
This is determined corresponding to the maximum period during which the power of the off-line unit may be continuously turned off, and may vary depending on the operation mode of the system.

In addition, the operation / failure information of the process device input by the digital input card 29 is printed out by the alarm typewriter 25 connected to the controller 18.

The off-line unit 34, that is, the personal computer unit includes
Turn on the power when operation is required. For creating a daily report, for example, the power is turned on once a day for use.

To print a form, first turn on the power of the personal computer 1, and then operate the keyboard 13 to send a form print command to the MPU 1.
Give 5 In response, the MPU 5 takes in the daily report data stored in the main memory 20 in the controller 18 via the communication cards 12 and 23 according to a program stored in the main memory 10 in advance. This daily report data is stored on the hard disk
Stored in 15 This operation is performed, for example, as described above.
It is performed once a day, and the hard disk 15 accumulates daily report data for several months.

Thereafter, the daily report data is printed on the logging typewriter 17 in accordance with the content of the given form printing command. In the daily report, for example, measurement data and the like to be controlled in the process every hour of the day are printed out on a single sheet in a tabular form.

Note that the logging typewriter 17 is not essentially different from the alarm typewriter 25. The typewriter 17 is energized only when necessary for printing out a daily report or the like.

If the power of the off-line unit 34 is not turned on for a long period of time, the daily report data file in the hard disk 15 of the personal computer is not normally stored. Even in this case, there is no problem as long as there are seven days of daily data files in the online unit 33, that is, in the controller 18, and the power-off period of the offline unit 34 is seven days or less. Therefore, even if the power of the personal computer 1 is turned off, no trouble occurs in the daily report data file of the hard disk 15 in the personal computer 1.

In the above-described embodiment, the power of the personal computer is turned on and off by the operator. However, depending on the operation method, it is necessary to automatically turn on and off the power of the personal computer. FIG. 4 shows a system configuration example for coping with such an operation method as a second embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in the figure, a commercial power supply of 100 V AC is always applied to the power supply 22 of the controller 18, while the power supply 7 of the personal computer 1 and the logging typewriter 17 are connected via the contacts of the digital output card 30 in the controller 18. And apply 100V AC.

The controller 18 performs on / off control of the contacts of the digital output card 30 according to a program stored in the main memory 20 in advance. For example, the power of the personal computer is turned on at a certain time of the day, and turned off at a certain time after a lapse of a predetermined time. During that time, the daily report data is automatically received from the online unit 33 and stored in the hard disk 15. It is also possible for the logging typewriter 17 to automatically create a daily report as a form. According to this embodiment, the capacity of the main memory 20 in the controller 18 does not need to be large enough to store the files for the seven days.

In addition, the controller 18 may control the power supply of the personal computer by only turning on the power at a fixed time, and turning off the power by the operator after processing by the operator.

According to the first and second embodiments described above, in a data logger device to which a personal computer is applied, it is not necessary to keep the personal computer continuously energized, and sufficient consideration is given to the life of the personal computer, and further to the reliability of the entire system. A system can be built. In addition, the usability of the personal computer such as the availability of the distribution software can be maintained as it is.

[Effects of the Invention] According to the present invention, the data logger device is divided into an online unit and an offline unit, and the off-line unit needs to be energized only when necessary. A system can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a first embodiment of a system constituting a data logger device according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is an external view of a data logger device using a conventional personal computer, and FIG. 3 is an external view of the system of FIG. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of another embodiment of the present invention. 1 ... PC, 13 ... Keyboard, 14 ... CRT display, 15 ... Hard disk drive, 16 ... Floppy disk drive, 17 ... Logging typewriter, 18
…… Controller, 25 …… Alarm typewriter, 26…
... Process input / output device.

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. A data logger device for collecting and outputting periodically input signals, wherein the data logger device is divided into an online unit that is always energized and an offline unit that is energized only when necessary. And input means for periodically capturing the input signal, and storage means for storing the captured input signal as digital data for at least one day,
And a data logger device, wherein the off-line unit is provided with a unit for receiving and totalizing data transmitted from the transmitting unit of the on-line unit, and an output unit for displaying or printing out the totalized data. . 2. The data logger device according to claim 1, wherein said on-line section is provided with an output section which is always energized, separately from said output section of said off-line section. 3. A data logger device having a function of collecting data generated with time, totaling and outputting the data, and means for sequentially capturing the data generated with time, and means for storing the captured data. An on-line unit including a printing unit for alarm printing, a personal computer having a form creation function and a communication function, and an off-line unit including a printing unit for form output, and communicating between the on-line unit and the off-line unit. A data logger device connected by a road. 4. The data logger device according to claim 1, wherein said on-line unit is provided with means for turning on or off the power of said off-line unit at a predetermined time.