JP2895172B2 - Process monitoring device - Google Patents

Description

Description: FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a process monitoring apparatus, and in particular, a large-scale distributed digital control system comprising a process control device for performing PID control and process state monitoring, and an operation monitoring console. The present invention relates to a process monitoring device which is applied to a process instrumentation system of the above, monitors and operates using a CRT operation, and is suitable for plant automation and labor saving.

[Conventional technology]

In the configuration of the process monitoring device in the conventional process instrumentation system, for example, as described in the “System Overview” of Hitachi Unitrol EX-1000 Series ES 3599-006, any screen of the CRT of the plant operation monitoring console can be used. By securing a special display area for displaying the process alarm on the top or preparing a dedicated screen where the process alarm is displayed collectively, the process alarm display and the confirmation process by the operator's confirmation key input can be performed. The method of doing it was common. With this conventional approach, when a process alert occurs during plant monitoring,
The currently displayed screen is switched to a specific screen dedicated to an alarm prepared by the system, and an operation for recognizing and confirming an alarm factor is performed.

As a known document that discloses another process monitoring apparatus, there is Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1-263804. This document proposes a display method of a process monitoring control device,
A configuration is disclosed in which predetermined detailed monitoring information and the like are combined and displayed on a screen indicating a system of a process.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

The former process monitoring device of the process instrumentation system is sufficiently useful for operation when the process is a relatively simple and small system. On the other hand, as systems become larger and more complex, the process will run continuously over a long period of time, so a large number of CRTs will be installed and these CRTs will be able to monitor the plant at a glance. Is always displayed to operate the plant and cope with unexpected situations. In such a large-scale process instrumentation system, when the conventional process monitoring device is applied, when a process alarm is generated, the graphic screen is switched to another specific screen for alarm to display and confirm the alarm. Then, an operation of returning to the original graphic screen is required again.

With the conventional process monitoring device, when an error occurs in a process, a process alarm is displayed on a predetermined screen of the CRT,
The alarm display is configured to be confirmed by the operator's input of the confirmation key.
This is in accordance with the flow of the confirmation processing.

By the way, in the operation and monitoring of the plant, the system becomes large-scale and complicated, and it is operated continuously. As a result, when the CRT operation becomes central, the number of monitoring CRTs also increases, Also increases the number of display screens. In this case, the minimum necessary information of the process to be monitored is displayed on each screen, and the operator looks at the screen of his / her territory and, for example, when an alarm is generated for the target to be monitored, the operator is promptly notified. Proper processing is essential.

However, in any case, the conventional process monitoring apparatus is not configured to be capable of confirming a process alarm displayed on a graphic screen of any specification most frequently used in plant operation monitoring. Here, the optional graphic screen is not a graphic screen based on the maker but a graphic screen that can be freely created by the user independently.In this case, the process monitoring device has a configuration capable of creating the graphic screen. It has software. Therefore, in the conventional process monitoring apparatus, it is not possible to confirm the process alarm on the optional graphic screen, and when an alarm is generated at a predetermined position on the screen, it is necessary to switch to another image. There was a problem that a central plant operation monitoring system could not be constructed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a plant monitoring apparatus capable of performing a check operation without changing to another screen in response to a process warning directly displayed on a graphic screen of any specification.

[Means for solving the problem]

A first process monitoring apparatus according to the present invention includes a display unit capable of displaying a graphic screen of any specification, a key input unit for an operator, and a processing unit. Means for exchanging process data and setting signals with the display means, and displaying the graphic screen of the optional specification on the display means by expressing the process equipment and the physical distribution route in the process to be monitored by arbitrary characters and figures. A first display mechanism, and at least one of a process signal and a setting signal for each monitoring point of the process is displayed on the display means using an expression form such as a numerical value, a character, a graphic, or the like, and an expression form such as a color or a flash. Second
And a third display mechanism for displaying a process alarm on the display means using the display format and the display mode based on a process alarm signal output by the process control means in response to an abnormality occurring in the process. A graphic screen representing the process is displayed on the display means by the first display mechanism, and at least one of the process signal and the setting signal is displayed by the second and third display mechanisms in conjunction with the graphic screen. In the process monitoring device in which one and the process alarm are displayed, when the operator checks the process alarm displayed on the graphic screen of the display means and operates the confirmation key of the key input means, the confirmation operation signal is generated. Change means for capturing and changing the display state of the process alarm on the graphic screen to a confirmed state Provided, along with the operator to obtain confirm operation of the process alarm in the graphic screen,
The third display mechanism includes a table in which the current status of the process alarm is arranged for each factor based on the process alarm signal sent from the process control means, and an arbitrary position on the graphic screen with reference to the table. Computing means for displaying a process alarm, the changing means,
When a confirmation key is operated for a process alarm being displayed, a feature is provided that has a mechanism for searching the table for the designated process alarm and confirming the corresponding factor.

In the second process monitoring device according to the present invention, in the above-described device configuration, a plurality of the process alerts are displayed on the graphic screen of the display unit, and for the plurality of process alerts, a confirmed process alert and confirmation are provided. The display state of the process alert that is not performed is different from that of the process alert so that the two process alerts can be distinguished on the graphic screen.

In the third process monitoring device according to the present invention, in the above-described device configuration, the arrangement of each of the display objects displayed on the screen of the display means by the first, second, and third display mechanisms is provided. It is characterized by having a support mechanism for supporting arbitrarily changing the display specifications such as the relationship and the number of display points.

[Action]

In the process monitoring device according to the present invention, a process alarm is also displayed on a graphic screen of any specification of the display means. On this graphic screen, an operator can perform a confirmation process while looking at the screen. Is displayed, it is possible to distinguish between confirmed and unconfirmed process alerts.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a process monitoring apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a main part, FIG. 3 is a configuration example of a distributed digital type process instrumentation system to which the process monitoring apparatus according to the present invention is applied, and a process of detecting, transmitting, and displaying a process alarm, and FIG. It is each showing the example of the operation | movement confirmation operation of a process alert in a CRT screen.

First, a distributed digital process instrumentation system will be described with reference to FIG. This instrumentation system
It includes a process monitoring device 31 and a process control device 32, which are connected by a communication line 33. In the process instrumentation system, generally, a plurality of process monitoring devices 31 and a plurality of process control devices 32 are provided, but in the illustrated example, only one each is shown for convenience of explanation. An instrumentation system with one installed unit is the minimum configuration. For example, 16 process monitoring devices 31, 32 process control devices 32, or more are configured as large-scale instrumentation systems. You. Process monitoring device
As shown in FIG. 1, the reference numeral 31 comprises a CRT display device 1, a keyboard input device 2, and a processing device including various processing processors and interfaces. The process control device 32 takes in a process signal from the detection end 35 of the field via the process input / output terminal 34, and performs various control / monitoring operations such as PIC, a sequence control operation for moving the process device according to a predetermined schedule, and the like. Execute to determine the operation output signal to move the valve, motor, pump, etc.,
The operation terminal of the field again via the process input / output terminal 34
It is configured to output to 36.

In the example of the process monitoring device 31 shown in FIG. 3, the display screen 3 shown at the upper right of the drawing is an enlarged display of the display screen 3 of the CRT display device 1. On the display screen 3, for example, by forming two screens 3 </ b> A and 3 </ b> B on top of each other, a graphic screen representing the state of each device in the process, a physical distribution route, and the like is displayed. On the graphic screen 3, a fixed part image and a variable part image are displayed, and process signals and setting signals of a group of related process devices are further expressed by using numerical values, bar graphs, figures, and the like. It is displayed by a variable image using an expression mode such as color or flashing. By operating the keyboard input device 2, the operator can call up the target graphic screen and display it on the screen of the CRT display device 1.

The graphic screen displayed on the CRT display device 1 is configured to directly display a process alarm generated when the process signal exceeds a set upper limit value or when the process signal suddenly changes. I have. The process alarm is displayed on the graphic screen by changing the color or flashing of characters or graphics, and the display of such a process alarm prompts the operator to take an appropriate action.

The signal for generating the process alarm is generated by the process control device 32. The process control device 32 has a process data processing unit 37. In FIG. 3, only the process data processing unit 37 is taken out and the internal configuration is enlarged. The process data processing unit 37 receives the process signals a _{1 to} a _N and includes a pair of process alarm detection circuits 38 that set, for example, an upper limit and a lower limit for each of the process signals a _{1 to} a _N. Be composed. Conditions for generating an alarm for each process signal are set in the process alarm detection circuit 38. When the condition is satisfied, a process alarm signal is output. The process alarm signal generated by the process data processing unit 37 is transmitted to the process monitoring device 31 via the communication line 33, and after being subjected to the predetermined signal processing as described above, is displayed on the graphic screen 3 of the CRT display device 1. Is displayed.

In the plant monitoring apparatus having the above configuration, when a process alarm is displayed on the graphic screen 3 of the CRT display device 1, an operator who monitors the plant monitoring screen 3 determines the contents of the process alarm displayed on the graphic screen. Then, take appropriate action on the plant on the same graphic screen or another related screen. In the process monitoring device 1 configured as described above, it is customary that a plurality of process alarms are displayed on one graphic screen. Therefore, for the operator, a newly generated process alarm and a previously generated process alarm have already been confirmed. It must be configured so that process alerts that have been processed or processed can be clearly identified. Therefore, in the configuration according to the present embodiment, a process warning confirmation operation can be directly performed on a graphic screen of any specification.

Next, with reference to FIG. 4, an example of an operation of confirming a process alarm on a graphic screen of an arbitrary specification will be described. In FIG. 4, the graphic screen 3 of the CRT display device 1 is displayed in a state in which a graphic screen fixed part / variable part image 301 and a process warning image 302 are superimposed. The operator appropriately operates the cursor movement key 2A provided on the keyboard input device 2 to move the cursor 41 on the screen, matches the target process alarm factor, and presses the confirmation key 2B in that state to confirm the operation. I do. In FIG. 4, the cursor movement key 2A and the confirmation key 2B provided on the keyboard input device 2 are enlarged for convenience of explanation. In the illustrated screen, three process alarm factors 42, 43, and 44 are displayed as an example. Regarding the graphic screen 3 in FIG. 4, the screen transition in the order of 303 → 304 → 305 corresponds to the movement of the cursor 41 in accordance with the operation for confirming the process alarm factor. In this confirmation operation, unconfirmed process alarm factors are displayed in the flash specification, and the flash of the confirmed process alarm factors is stopped, whereby the unconfirmed factors and the confirmed factors are distinguished. In this way, the operator operates in the order of 303 → 304 → 305 on the process alarm confirmation screen to confirm the process alarm.

Next, based on FIG. 1 and FIG.
The configuration of 31 will be described in detail.

FIG. 1 shows that a process alarm is superimposed on a graphic screen of an optional specification displayed on the CRT display device 1 of the process monitoring device 31, and a designated process alarm has been confirmed in response to an operation of an operator's confirmation key. 2 shows a mechanism for displaying the state. In FIG. 1, 1 is the CRT display device, 2 is the keyboard input device for the operator, and 3 is a screen of the CRT display device 1, that is, a graphic screen of an arbitrary specification displayed on the screen. The graphic screen 3 is configured by superimposing a graphic screen fixing unit 301A and a graphic screen variable unit 302B. 4 is a graphic screen fixing unit
A graphic screen construction support unit for creating each of the graphic screen changing unit 301A and the graphic screen changing unit 301B. The graphic screen construction support unit 4 displays the plant system on the screen 3 of the CRT display device 1 by displaying a graphic image.
Graphical representations of a number of plant components are provided. Therefore, the operator can arbitrarily create the graphic screen 3 of the process to be monitored on the screen of the CRT display device 1 by using the graphic screen construction support unit 4. Graphic screen construction support section 4
Is used as a screen creation tool to arbitrarily create a graphic screen fixing part 301A and a graphic screen variable part 301B, and a graphic screen fixed part display code 5 and a graphic screen variable part display code 6 are generated corresponding to the graphic screen fixing part 301A and the graphic screen variable part 301B, respectively. You.

As described above, when creating the graphic screen 3 for displaying the process to be monitored on the CRT display device 1, the generation of the graphic screen fixed part display code 5 and the graphic screen variable part display code 6 is already known. The generation of these display codes is executed by a screen creation process (not shown) based on the input of the operator.

Reference numeral 7 denotes a process alarm capture / confirmation processing unit. Process alarm signals 1 to n sent from the process control unit 32 are input to the process alarm capture / confirmation processing unit 7. The process alarm capture / confirmation processing unit 7 sets a process alarm current status table 9 based on the input process alarm signal 8. In the process current status table 9, S means status (current alarm occurrence state), and D means display (whether an alarm is displayed or not).
And R means reset (0 is reset, 1 is not reset). These data are set for all process alarm signals 1 to n.

The graphic image of an arbitrary specification to be displayed on the CRT display device 1 of the process monitoring device 31 fetches the data from the graphic screen fixed part display code 5 and the graphic screen variable part display code 6 in the image synthesizing unit 10 and analyzes them. Then, it is created by performing image composition. If a request for a process alarm is generated in the graphic screen variable section display code 6, the screen compositing section 10
The current status of the corresponding alarm factor is extracted from the process alarm current status table 9 and a process alarm display image is superimposed on the graphic image. The image created in this way is stored in the image memory 11, and then the image memory 11
Are output as an image on the screen of the CRT display device 1 via the image output unit 12. In the contents stored in the image memory 11, F indicates a flash state, R, G, and B indicate display colors, and CD indicates a code.

As described above, the graphic image 3 of the process to be monitored is displayed on the screen of the CRT display device 1 together with the process alarm. When the operator presses the confirmation key 2B of the keyboard input device 2 while the process alarm 13 is displayed on the graphic screen 3, the process alarm capture / confirmation processing unit 7 determines the display position of the process alarm on the screen 3, The corresponding process alarm factor on the process alarm current status table 9 is set to a confirmed state. And
The process warning factors that have been confirmed are the image synthesis unit 10,
It is displayed as a confirmed process alarm on the screen of the CRT display device 1 through the image memory 11 and the image output unit 12.

Next, the details of the processing of the image synthesis 10 will be described with reference to FIG.

Step 21 is a processing step for displaying the graphic screen fixed part. Here, the graphic screen fixed display code 5 is fetched, and the image data of the fixed part is set in the image memory 11. Subsequently, the graphic screen variable section display code 6 is fetched from the top and analyzed sequentially (step
twenty two). In step 23, it is determined whether or not the content of the graphic screen variable portion display code 6 is a display code of process information. If the variable portion display code is a process warning, the process proceeds to step 24; Move on. In step 24, the current status of the corresponding process alarm factor is fetched from the table 9 and step 25 is executed.
Then, various signals are fetched and settings are made in the image memory 11.
After step 24, the process proceeds to a process alarm confirmation / non-confirmation determination step 26, and after step 25, the process proceeds to step 29. At step 26, it is determined whether or not the process factor has been confirmed. When the process factor has been confirmed, at step 27, the process factor is set in the image memory 11 to be displayed as being confirmed. If unconfirmed, the process factor is set in the image memory 11 to be displayed as unconfirmed. In the last step 29, the destination of the variable portion display code 6 is updated, and it is determined whether or not the analysis of all the codes has been completed. If the analysis of all the codes is not completed, the process returns to step 22, and the above operation is repeated. If the analysis is completed, the process ends.

〔The invention's effect〕

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, a process alarm is displayed on a display device of a process monitoring device in addition to a graphic screen of an optional specification created according to a user's request, and the operator can display the graphic screen. While monitoring, without switching to another screen, by selecting a process alarm that has occurred and performing a confirmation operation, the display status can be individually confirmed, and operability and maintainability in process operation / monitoring can be achieved. Can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram for explaining a characteristic display mechanism of a process monitoring apparatus according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a typical operation of an image synthesizing unit, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram showing a relationship between the control device and the plant, and FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a confirmation process on a graphic screen. [Description of Signs] 1 ... CRT display device 2 ... Keyboard input device 2A ... Cursor movement key 2B ... Confirmation key 3 ... Graphic screen 4 ... Graphic screen construction support unit 5 ... Graphic screen fixed unit display code 6 Graphic display variable section display code 7 Process alarm capture / confirmation processing section 9 Process current status table 10 Image synthesis section 11 Image memory 12 Image output section 31 Process monitor 32 …… Process control device 33 …… Communication line 34 …… Process input / output terminal 37 …… Process alarm data processing section

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. An image processing apparatus comprising: a display unit capable of displaying a graphic screen of an arbitrary specification; a key input unit for an operator; and a processing unit. Means for exchanging signals, a first display mechanism for expressing process equipment and a physical distribution route in the process to be monitored by arbitrary characters and graphics on the display means and displaying the graphic screen of the optional specification on the display means, A second display mechanism for displaying at least one of a process signal and a setting signal for each monitoring point of the process on the display means using an expression form such as a numerical value, a character, a graphic, and the like, and an expression form such as a color or a flash; A process alarm is displayed in the display format and the display mode based on a process alarm signal output by a process control unit in response to an abnormality occurring in the process. And a third display mechanism for displaying on the display means using the first display mechanism. A graphic screen representing the process is displayed on the display means by the first display mechanism. 3. A process monitoring apparatus, wherein at least one of a process signal and a setting signal and the process alarm are displayed by the display mechanism of 3, wherein an operator confirms a process alarm displayed on the graphic screen of the display means, and the key input means When the confirmation key is operated, the confirmation operation signal is acquired, and a change means for changing the display state of the process alarm on the graphic screen to a confirmed state is provided, and the operator performs the confirmation operation of the process alarm on the graphic screen. And the third display mechanism is sent from the process control means. A table in which the current status of the process warning is arranged for each factor based on the process warning signal, and a calculating unit that displays the process warning at an arbitrary position on the graphic screen with reference to the table; A process monitoring device, comprising: a mechanism for retrieving the table for a designated process alert and confirming a corresponding factor when a confirmation key is operated for a process alert being displayed. 2. A process monitoring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of said process alarms are displayed on said graphic screen of said display means, and said plurality of process alarms are confirmed and confirmed. A process monitoring device characterized in that the display state of the process alert is different from that of the process alert, and the two process alerts can be distinguished on the graphic screen. 3. A process monitoring apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said display objects displayed on said display means by said first, second and third display mechanisms are arranged and displayed. A process monitoring device comprising a support mechanism for supporting arbitrarily changing display specifications such as points.