JP4567982B2 - Link setting device for control equipment - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a link setting device for a control device, and more particularly, a control system in which two or more control devices (for example, a programmable controller) are linked via a virtual memory (for example, an FA network system using FL-net). ) Is related to a link setting device used for link setting of each control device.

  A programmable controller (hereinafter referred to as PLC) is a sequence control device whose control operation is determined by software such as a ladder program, and is widely used in FA control systems.

  Currently, various PLCs are provided by a large number of vendors (manufacturers), and all of them are manufactured based on specifications and product systems unique to each vendor. For this reason, when a plurality of PLCs are to be operated in a coordinated manner, it is relatively easy to connect a PLC from the same vendor to construct a network system for FA control. However, it has been difficult to construct a network system in which PLCs of different vendors are connected and these PLCs operate in a coordinated manner.

  Thus, FL-net has been proposed by JEMA (Japan Electrical Manufacturers' Association) as a platform for connecting PLCs of different vendors. FL-net is a standard for mutually connecting various control devices (PLC, robot controller, numerical control device, personal computer, etc.) incorporated in the FA control system. By adopting this FL-net, it becomes easy to incorporate PLCs of different vendors in the same FA control system, and the FA control system can be multi-vendored.

  FIG. 19 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of a conventional FA control system adopting FL-net. In this FA control system, a plurality of PLCs 20 are connected via a communication line 1, and each PLC 20 can perform a control operation in cooperation with each other by sharing a virtual memory 3 called a common memory or a link register. it can.

  The virtual memory 3 is divided into memory areas 31 to 34 whose memory spaces do not overlap each other, and each of the memory areas 31 to 34 is assigned to each PLC 20. Each PLC 20 can write data only in the memory areas 31 to 34 allocated to its own device, and can read data in the entire memory space of the virtual memory 3. Therefore, for example, if the PLC writes data to the memory area 31 assigned to its own device, and the other PLC reads the data, the two PLCs are not aware of the difference in the internal configuration of each other. Delivery can be performed. That is, the virtual memory 3 that can be viewed from each PLC 20 performs a function similar to an electronic bulletin board (BBS: Bulletin Board System), and a plurality of PLCs 20 can be linked through the virtual memory 3.

  FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating an example of a correspondence relationship between the internal memories of PLC-1 and PLC-4 in FIG. 19 and the virtual memory 3. Each PLC 20 has an internal memory, and the memory areas 31 to 34 in the virtual memory 3 are allocated and held in the internal memory, and the virtual memory 3 itself is not held. Note that it is not always necessary that all the memory areas 31 to 34 in the virtual memory 3 are allocated to the internal memory. It is only necessary that the memory areas 31 to 34 necessary for each PLC 20 are allocated to the internal memory in advance. .

  In the figure, memory areas 31, 33 and 34 in the virtual memory 3 are allocated as memory areas L11, L13 and L14 in the internal memory of the PLC-1. The memory area 31 is a memory area of the virtual memory 3 assigned to the PLC-1 itself, and is assigned as the data write area L11 to the internal memory of the PLC-1. Further, the memory areas 33 and 34 are memory areas of the virtual memory 3 assigned to the PLC-2 and PLC-3 in FIG. 19, and are allocated as data reading areas L13 and L14 in the internal memory of the PLC-1. .

In exactly the same manner, in the internal memory of the PLC-4, the memory area 34 of the virtual memory 3 assigned to the PLC-4 itself is assigned to the other PLC-1 to PLC-3 as the data write area L44. The memory areas 31 to 33 of the virtual memory 3 are allocated as data read areas L41 to L43. Here, the memory area 32 of the virtual memory 3 allocated to the PLC-2 is not allocated to the internal memory of the PLC-1.
JP 7-36366 A

  As described above, by adopting FL-net, it is possible to construct an FA control system that connects multi-vendor control devices over a network and controls them in cooperation with each other. In order to construct such an FA control system, the virtual memory 3 is divided into non-overlapping memory areas, each control device is assigned to these memory areas 31 to 34, and the internal memory of each control device is further connected to the above-mentioned memory device. It is necessary to allocate it to the memory area. Such a series of preparation operations is called link setting.

  Since the type and purpose of use of the control device incorporated in the FA control system differ for each target system, the area size of the virtual memory 3 to be assigned to each control device differs for each system. Also, the number of control devices incorporated in the system and the combination of control devices to be linked differ depending on the target system, and any memory area of the virtual memory 3 is allocated as a data read area to the internal memory of each control apparatus. It will be different.

  Therefore, the contents of the link setting differ for each target FA control system, and the work needs to be performed by the user who wants to construct the system. Specifically, the user operates an input key of each control device, or connects a link setting device such as a personal computer to the control device, sets a memory area in the internal memory of each control device, An operation of allocating the memory area of the virtual memory to these memory areas is performed.

  In order to perform such link setting correctly, the user himself / herself needs to understand the concept of the virtual memory accurately, and there is a problem that the system cannot be constructed unless the user has specialized knowledge. there were. Further, the link setting is a complicated setting operation as described above, and there is a problem that human error is likely to occur. For example, in the internal memory of each control device, the data reading area and the data writing area are set redundantly, or the same memory area of the virtual memory 3 is set redundantly as the data writing area in different control devices. In this case, the system cannot be operated normally. Further, since the setting is made via the virtual memory, there is a tendency that the control devices to be linked are not correctly linked. Furthermore, when such a setting mistake occurs, there is also a problem that it takes time to find a problematic part.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a link setting device for a control device that can easily perform link setting for a control device linked through a virtual memory. To do. In particular, it is an object of the present invention to provide a link setting device that allows a user to perform link setting without being aware of virtual memory.

The link setting device according to the first aspect of the present invention allocates, as a link area, a memory area in a virtual memory shared with another control device via a network to the internal memory of the control device, and assigns the control device to the other device. A link setting device for a control device to be linked with a control device of the control device, wherein a link area specifying means for allowing a user to specify a link area of the control device and a memory area of a virtual memory are allocated to the specified link area As a link form of a virtual memory allocating means, a link area allocating means for allocating a memory area of the virtual memory allocated to the link area as a link area to the internal memory of the other control device , A link form selection means that allows a user to specify a parent-child link that links two parent devices and two or more child devices between the parent and child; When the parent-child link is designated, the link area designating unit queries the user for the link area to be allocated to the internal memory of each slave unit, and the link area allocating unit allocates to the link area of each slave unit. The memory area of the designated virtual memory is configured to be allocated as a link area to the internal memory of the parent device.

  When the user designates a link area (for example, L11), which is a memory area of the internal memory of the control device (for example, PLC-1) and to which the virtual memory is allocated, using the link area designating unit, Based on the area size of the specified link area (L11), the virtual memory is automatically divided, and the divided memory area is automatically allocated to the link area (L11) specified by the user. In addition, the link area allocation means uses the memory area of the virtual memory allocated to the control device (PLC-1) as an internal part of another control device (PLC-4) linked to the control device (PLC-1). Assign to memory.

With such a configuration, when the user designates a link area (L11) in the internal memory of the control device (PLC-1), a virtual memory is automatically allocated to the link area (L11), and further allocated. The virtual memory can be allocated to another control device (PLC-4). In this case, the area size of the memory area (L41) allocated to the internal memory of the other control device (PLC-4) is equal to the memory area (L11) specified by the user for the first control device (PLC-1). Can match the region size. The start address of the link area (L41) of the other control device (PLC-4) may be specified by the user or automatically determined. Further, the link form selection means can cause the user to select the link form of the control device, and can perform link setting based on the selection result. In particular, when performing parent-child links, the user can easily perform link settings.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a link setting device allocating a memory area in a virtual memory shared with another control apparatus via a network as a link area to an internal memory of the control apparatus. A link setting device for a control device to be linked with the other control device, a link area specifying means for allowing a user to specify a link area of the control device, and a memory area of a virtual memory for the specified link area A virtual memory allocating unit for allocating the memory area, a link area allocating unit for allocating the memory area of the virtual memory allocated to the link area to the internal memory of the other control device, and a link form of three or more control devices. A link form selection means that allows a user to specify a mutual link to be linked between the control devices. Is specified, the link area designating unit inquires the user about the data writing area allocated to the internal memory for each control device, and the link area allocation unit performs the internal memory for each control device. In addition, the memory area of the virtual memory allocated to the data writing area of the control apparatus different from the control apparatus is allocated as the data reading area. With such a configuration, when linking three or more control devices to each other, the user can easily perform link setting.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a link setting device according to the present invention, wherein, in addition to the configuration of the first or second aspect , the link area linked via the virtual memory is associated with the internal memory of the control device. And display means for displaying the internal memory of the other control device.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the link setting device according to the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the first or second aspect, the link area designating unit provides the user with a data write area allocated to the internal memory of the control device. The virtual memory allocating means allocates a memory area of the virtual memory to the specified data writing area, and the link area allocating means allocates the memory area of the virtual memory allocated to the data writing area. Is configured as a data reading area in the internal memory of the other control device. With such a configuration, for example, if the link area of the control device (PLC-1) designated by the user is the data write area (L11), the link area of the other control device (PLC-4) is The data read area (L41) is used.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the link setting device according to the present invention, in addition to the configuration of the second or fourth aspect , the link area designation means designates a data read area allocated to the internal memory of the control device to the user. The virtual memory allocating means allocates a memory area of the virtual memory to the designated data read area, and the link area allocating means assigns the memory area of the virtual memory allocated to the data read area to the data read area. It is configured to allocate as a data writing area to an internal memory of another control device.

  With this configuration, for example, if the link area of the control device (PLC-1) designated by the user is a data read area (for example, L14), the link area of the other control device (PLC-4) is It becomes a data writing area (L44).

In addition to the configuration of claim 1, the link setting device according to the present invention described in claim 6 is configured such that the network is an FL-net network to which a multi-vendor control device can be connected. .

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the link setting apparatus of the control apparatus which can perform link setting easily with respect to the control apparatus linked via virtual memory can be provided. In particular, it is possible to provide a link setting device that allows a user to perform link setting without being aware of virtual memory.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of an FA control system to which a link setting device according to the present invention is applied. This system is a network system based on FL-net in which two or more PLCs 20 are connected via a communication line 1. Each PLC 20 shares a virtual memory 3 and is linked to each other via the virtual memory 3. . The link setting device 5 is a terminal device that is detachably connected to each PLC 20 and performs link setting for each PLC 20.

  In FL-net, the PLCs 20 are connected by Ethernet (Ethernet and Ethernet are registered trademarks), and UDP / IP (User Datagram Protocol / Internet Protocol) is used as a communication protocol. For this reason, an Ethernet cable such as 10BASE-T is used for the communication line 1 in the figure. By performing cyclic communication between the PLCs 20 via the communication line 1, the PLCs 20 share the virtual memory 3.

  Specifically, a node number (station number) is assigned to each PLC 20 in advance, and a message including data in the virtual memory 3 is transmitted to all the PLCs 20 by causing the tokens to circulate from the PLC 20 to the PLC 20 according to the node numbers. Transmitted. Therefore, the data in the virtual memory 3 that each PLC 20 has is refreshed periodically, and all the PLCs 20 can share the virtual memory 3.

  In each PLC 20, it is not necessary to hold all data in the virtual memory 3, and only a required memory area in the virtual memory 3 is allocated and held in the internal memory 4 of each PLC 20. The memory area (link area) of the internal memory 4 to which the virtual memory 3 is allocated consists of a data read area or a data write area. The data read area is a link area to which the memory area of the virtual memory 3 that the PLC 20 wants to refer is allocated. The data writing area is a link area allocated by the memory area of the virtual memory 3 that the PLC 20 wants to update. In other words, the data read area is a mirror memory that holds a copy of the virtual memory 3, and the mirror memory is formed in the virtual memory 3 in the data write area.

  The FL-net virtual memory 3 is composed of two area blocks called area 1 (31) and area 2 (32), and is used depending on the type of data transferred between the PLCs 20. Area 1 (31) is an area block consisting of 8k bits (500 words) for transferring bit data, and area 2 (32) is an area consisting of 8k words for transferring word (16 bits) data. It is a block.

  On the other hand, the internal memory 4 included in each PLC 20 includes two area blocks: a relay memory 41 that holds bit data and a data memory 42 that holds word data. The relay memory 41 is a memory used by imitating each bit of the open / close state of a single-pole contact relay. Here, the open / close state (that is, one word) of 16 relays is called one channel. The area 1 (31) of the virtual memory 3 is allocated to the relay memory 41, and the link area in the relay memory 41 is used to transfer bit data between the PLCs 20. The data memory 42 is an area block that holds word data. The area 2 (32) of the virtual memory 3 is allocated to the data memory 42, and the link area in the data memory 42 transfers word data between the PLCs 20. Used for. The link setting for associating the virtual memory 3 and the internal memory 4 in this way is given in advance to each PLC 20 as link setting data.

  The link setting device 5 is a terminal device that performs link setting of each PLC 20. The link setting data of each PLC 20 is created in a lump in the link setting device 5 and transferred from the link setting device 5 to each PLC 20. The link setting data is transferred by sequentially connecting the link setting device 5 to each PLC 20. Although details will be described later, by using such a link setting device 5, the user can perform link setting of each PLC 20 without performing complicated setting work and without being aware of the virtual memory 3. it can.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of each PLC 20 in FIG. The network I / F 61 is a communication interface circuit that is connected to the communication line 1 and transmits / receives an IP packet (token) to / from another PLC 20, and is composed of an Ethernet I / F here. The link setting I / F 62 is connected to the link setting device 5 and includes a communication interface circuit for receiving link setting data, for example, a serial I / F such as USB (Universal Serial Bus).

  The program memory 63 is data storage means for storing the system program P1 and the sequence control program P2, and includes a semiconductor storage device, a magnetic storage device, and the like (the same applies to the following data storage means). The system program P1 is a program related to network communication, link processing, and the like executed by the CPU 60. The sequence control program P2 is a user program describing a control sequence for an external input device and an external output device (not shown), for example, a ladder program, and is executed by the CPU 60 under the management of the system program P1. The system data memory 64 is data storage means for storing various system data used by the CPU 60, and the link setting data LD received from the link setting device 5 is stored in the system data memory 64.

  The input memory 65 is data storage means for holding input data to the PLC 20 from an external input device (not shown). The input memory 65 is provided with one or more input circuits 66, and an output signal of the external input device is written into the input memory 65 through the input circuit 66 to which the external input device is connected. The output memory 67 is data storage means for holding output data from the PLC 20 to an external output device (not shown). The output memory 67 is provided with one or more output circuits 68, and output data written in the output memory 67 by the CPU 60 is output to an external output device via the output circuit 68. The internal memory 4 is data storage means to which the input circuit 66 and the output circuit 68 are not connected, and is usually called an auxiliary memory.

  The sequence control program P2 includes a procedure for performing various arithmetic processes based on data in the internal memory 4, the input memory 65, and the output memory 67, and storing the results in the internal memory 4, the input memory 65, and the output memory 67. On the other hand, the system program P1 includes a link processing procedure for performing packet transmission / reception with another PLC 20 via the network I / F 61 and matching the data in the virtual memory 3 and the internal memory 4 that are allocated in advance. It is. For this reason, the sequence control program P2 is executed in a state in which the virtual memory 3 and the internal memory 4 are linked by the link processing by the system program P1, and can realize sequence control linked with another PLC 20.

  The link setting data LD is data indicating a correspondence relationship between the linked virtual memory 3 and the internal memory 4, and the CPU 60 executes a link process based on the link setting data, and the correspondence between the virtual memory 3 and the internal memory 4. The data in the memory area to be matched is matched. That is, the CPU 60 periodically generates a token in which data in the data writing area of the internal memory 4 is assigned an address on the virtual memory 3 assigned to the area, and the communication line 1 is transmitted via the network I / F 61. Is being sent to. When the network I / F 61 receives a token from another PLC 20, the data read area of the internal memory 4 is updated based on the data of the virtual memory 3 included in the token. In this way, the memory areas of the virtual memory 3 and the internal memory 4 associated with each other by the link setting data LD are refreshed at a predetermined cycle and always hold the same data.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the link setting device 5, which is composed of a personal computer or the like in which a link setting program is installed. The operation input unit 51 includes means for a user to perform operation input, such as a keyboard and a mouse. The display output unit 52 includes means for performing screen display, for example, a liquid crystal display. The link setting I / F 53 is connected to the PLC 20 and includes a communication interface circuit for transmitting link setting data to the PLC 20, for example, a serial I / F such as a USB (Universal Serial Bus). The program memory 54 is data storage means for storing the data generation program LP1 and the data transfer program LP2. The data memory 55 is data storage means for storing the link setting data LD of each PLC 20.

  The CPU 50 is a processor that executes the data generation program LP1 and the data transfer program LP2. The data generation program LP1 is a program for collectively generating link setting data LD of all the PLCs 20 connected to the communication line 1, and the data generation by the program is based on user input by the operation input unit 51. The link setting data LD, which is executed while displaying the screen by the display output unit 52, is temporarily stored in the data memory 55. The data transfer program LP2 is a program for transferring the link setting data LD to the PLC 20, is executed in a state where the PLC 20 is connected to the link setting device 5, and the link setting data LD of the connected PLC 20 is read from the data memory 55. Read and transfer. Such transfer of link setting data is sequentially performed for each PLC 20, and the link setting is completed if the link setting data is transferred to all the PLCs 20.

  If the link setting data LD of all the PLCs 20 is generated in one place (here, the link setting device 5), the process of dividing the memory area of the virtual memory 3 and assigning it to each PLC 20 is automatic even if there is no user designation. Can be executed automatically. Therefore, the data generation program LP1 divides the virtual memory 3 if the user designates a memory area (that is, a data read area and a data write area) of the internal memory 4 of each PLC 20 to be linked to the virtual memory 3. Then, the allocation of the divided memory areas to the PLCs 20 can be automatically performed, and the link setting between the PLCs 20 can be performed.

  In this case, since the user can link two or more PLCs 20 without being aware of the existence of the virtual memory 3, the complicated link setting work can be facilitated, and the setting work time can be reduced. It can be shortened. In addition, since the automatically divided memory area in the virtual memory 3 is automatically allocated to the link area specified by the user (the memory area in the internal memory 4), for example, the data read areas of the two PLCs 20 to be linked to each other Can be prevented such that the data read area and the data write area are not correctly linked, such as the data write areas and the data write areas.

  4 and 5 are diagrams showing an example of the display screen in time series for explaining the operation of the link setting device 5 according to the present invention. In the link setting device 5, when the link setting program LP1 is started, a wizard screen for link setting is displayed. The user can generate the link setting data LD only by inputting necessary items according to the wizard screen.

  First, the link type selection screen shown in FIG. 4A is displayed. In this case, any one of “1: 1 link”, “1: N parent-child link”, “N-unit data sharing”, and “manual connection” can be selected as a link type option.

  The “1: 1 link” is the most basic link form for linking two PLCs 20. “1: N parent-child link” is a form in which one PLC 20 and two or more PLCs 20 are linked, where the one PLC 20 is a master unit and each of the two or more PLCs 20 is a slave unit. In other words, the PLCs 20 in a parent-child relationship are linked, and the PLCs 20 in a sibling relationship are not linked. “N-unit data sharing” is a mutual link of three or more PLCs 20, that is, a link form in which an arbitrary PLC is linked to all other PLCs 20. All of these link forms are based on the premise that all the PLCs 20 to be linked are PLCs 20 (support devices) that can be link-set by the link setting device 5. On the other hand, “manual setting” is an option in the case of a link configuration including a PLC 20 (non-supporting device) that cannot be linked by the link setting device 5.

<1: 1 link>
FIG. 4B is a diagram showing a display screen when “1: 1 link” is selected on the link type selection screen, and a link setting screen related to the first PLC 20 (connected device 1) is displayed. Has been. The link setting screen includes a link setting input field as well as a name input field and a type selection field of the connected device. An arbitrary character string can be entered in the name input column of the connected device, and “pre-process controller” is entered here. In the type input column, a preset model name can be selected from a pull-down menu, and “KV-700” is selected here. In the link setting input field, a link area (memory area of the internal memory 4) to be linked with the second PLC 20 (connected device 2) is input.

  Here, a data write area and a data read area are designated for each of the relay memory 41 and the data memory 42 in the link setting input field. Specifically, by inputting the start address of the link area and the area size of the data write area and the data read area, the data write area and the data read area are formed as continuous areas of a desired size starting from the start address. It is specified.

  In the figure, “head relay channel” indicates the head address of the link area in the relay memory 41, and “head DM” indicates the head address of the link area in the data memory 42. The “write size” and “read size” are the area sizes of the data write area and the data read area, which are specified in units of channels in the case of the relay memory 41 and in the case of the data memory 42. Specified in units.

  FIG. 4C is a diagram showing a display screen after the link setting of the connected device 1 is completed, and a link setting screen related to the connected device 2 is displayed. The basic screen configuration of this link setting screen is the same as that of the connected device 1, but is different in that the area size of the link area is displayed in advance in the link setting input field and no user input is required. That is, the user need only input the top address.

  In the case of a 1: 1 link, the area size of the data writing area of one connected device must match the data reading area of the other connected device. Accordingly, the link setting device 5 can automatically determine the region size of the control device 2 based on the region size of the control device 1 previously designated by the user. More specifically, the area size of the data writing area of the control device 1 is the area size of the data reading area of the control device 2. Similarly, the area size of the data reading area of the control device 1 is set as the area size of the data reading area of the control device 2. In this way, if the link setting device 5 automatically determines the area size of the link area of the control device 2 specified later by the user, the user's input operation can be simplified, and the user's carelessness can be achieved. Incorrect settings due to mistakes can be prevented.

  If the above setting operation is performed according to the link setting wizard, the link setting data LD of the two PLCs 20 (control devices 1 and 2) is generated and stored in the data memory 55. In this case, the link area (the memory area in the internal memory 4) is specified by the user on the link setting screen, but the user does not specify the memory area of the virtual memory 3 assigned to these link areas. The area setting of the virtual memory 3 is automatically performed by the link setting device 5 based on the user-specified link area, and the user is aware that the virtual memory 3 is interposed in the link between the PLCs 20. There is no need.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a display screen after the link setting wizard is completed, and shows a confirmation screen for confirming the link setting. On the left side of the screen, names (pre-process controller and post-process controller) of the two PLCs 20 to be linked are displayed, and the respective link areas are displayed in a table format. In this table, the vertical direction is the data writing area and the data reading area, the horizontal direction is the relay memory 41 and the data memory 42, and the four link areas are displayed in matrix. For each link area, the area size, The area start address and area end address are displayed.

  In the address of the relay memory 41, the last two digits represent the bit number (0 to 15) in the same channel, and the higher digit represents the channel number. As the system area, 2 words (2 channels) are automatically assigned in the relay memory 41 and 300 words are automatically assigned in the data memory 42 from the head address designated by the user, and then the link area is assigned.

  On the right side of the screen, the link areas of the PLCs 20 are displayed in a graph format together with their corresponding relationships. That is, a bar-shaped figure indicating the space of the internal memory 4 is arranged in parallel for both PLCs 20 and each internal memory 4 is divided into a system area, a data write area, and a data read area, and data between the PLCs 20 The correspondence relationship between the write area and the data read area is shown by arrows. In this figure, the relay memory 41 and the data memory 42 are switched and displayed by tabs, and the case where the data memory (DM) 42 is selected is illustrated, but the relay memory 41 is When selected, it is displayed in the same manner.

  Each link area is actually associated via the virtual memory 3, but as shown by the graph display in FIG. 5, the link area of the PLC 20 to be linked directly corresponds without displaying the virtual memory 3. It is also illustrated. For this reason, not only does the user need not be aware of the virtual memory 3, but it becomes extremely easy to understand the link setting status. Even if there is a setting mistake, it can be easily found.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation when performing the “1: 1 link” described above. When the data generation program is started, a link type selection screen is first displayed, and the user selects a link type (step S101). When “1: 1 link” is selected (step S102), a link setting screen is sequentially displayed for the first PLC and the second PLC, and the user sets a link area (steps S103 and S104). . When the link setting on these link setting screens is completed, a confirmation screen for confirming the link setting is displayed (step S105). The link setting data generated in this way is then transferred to each PLC 20.

<1: N parent-child link>
7 to 9 are diagrams showing examples of screen display when “1: N parent-child link” is selected as the link form of the PLC 20. FIG. 7A shows a link type selection screen in the link setting wizard. When the user selects “1: N parent-child link” on this selection screen, the setting screen for the number of connected slave units shown in FIG. 7B is displayed. The user designates the number of slave units to be linked to one master unit on this setting screen.

  FIG. 7C is a diagram showing a display screen after the setting of the number of connected slave units is completed, and a setting screen for the number of reserved slave units is displayed. A reserved child device is a child device that may be added in the future. By setting the link including the reserved child device, there is no need to change the link setting when adding a child device in the future. Can be easily added. In addition, on the setting screen for the number of connected slave units, the number of slave units including reserved slave units may be entered. However, by explicitly querying the user for the number of reserved slave units and prompting the input, Users can be alerted about expansion.

  FIG. 8D shows a display screen after the setting of the number of reserved slave units is completed, and a link setting screen relating to the first connected slave unit is displayed. This link setting screen is the same as in the case of FIG. If link setting is completed for the first connection slave unit, a similar link setting screen is displayed for the second connection slave unit. Further, the link setting screen is displayed in the same manner for the reservation slave unit. In this way, link setting is sequentially performed for all the slave units (connection slave unit and reservation slave unit).

  FIG. 8E is a diagram showing a display screen after link setting of all the slave units is completed, and a link setting screen regarding the master unit is displayed. In this link setting screen, as in the case of FIG. 4C, the area size of the link area is displayed in advance in the link setting field, and the user only has to input the head address. The displayed area size of the data reading area is the sum of the area size of the data writing area in all the slave units, and the displayed area size of the data writing area is the area of the data reading area in all the slave units. It is the sum of sizes.

  In the case of a parent-child link, the area size of each link area in the parent machine must match the link area of the child machine that is the link destination. Therefore, the link setting device 5 can automatically determine the area size of the link area of the parent device based on the area size of the link area of each child device designated by the user. More specifically, the area size of the data write area of each slave unit is the area size of the data read area linked to the slave unit in the master unit. Similarly, the area size of the data read area of each slave unit is set to the area size of the data read area linked to the slave unit in the master unit. In this way, if the link setting device 5 automatically determines the area size of the link area of the parent device, the user's input operation can be simplified, and an erroneous setting due to a user's careless error or the like can be made. Can be prevented.

  FIG. 8F is a diagram showing a confirmation screen displayed after the link setting of the parent device is completed. For each of the master unit and the slave unit, the link area is listed in a table format, and then the link setting wizard ends.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a display screen after the link setting wizard is completed, and shows a confirmation screen for confirming the link setting. On the left side of the screen, the names of one child device and the parent device (here, child device 1, parent device) are displayed, and the respective link areas are displayed in a table format. The slave unit in which the link area is displayed is a slave unit whose name is selected from the pull-down menu by the user. In addition, in each data reading area of the master unit, a link destination slave unit is displayed. On the right side of the screen, the link areas of the slave unit and the master unit are displayed in the form of a graph together with the corresponding relationship.

  By directly displaying the link areas of the single slave unit and the master unit selected in this way in a graph, it is very easy to understand the link setting status. Even if there is a setting mistake, it can be easily found.

  FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an operation when the above-described “1: N parent-child link” is performed. If the user selects “1: N parent-child link” in step S101 in FIG. 9 (step S201), a setting screen for the number of connected child devices and a setting screen for the number of reserved child devices are displayed. The number of slave units is designated (steps S202 and S203). When the number of slave units is set, a link setting screen is sequentially displayed for each slave unit, and then a link setting screen is displayed for the master unit (steps S204 to S206). When the link setting is completed for all the slave units and the master unit, a confirmation screen for confirming the outline of the link settings for each device is displayed (step S207). Thereafter, a confirmation screen for confirming detailed link settings is further displayed for the selected one slave unit and master unit (step S208). The link setting data generated in this way is then transferred to each PLC 20 (except for the link setting data of the reserved slave unit).

<N data sharing>
FIGS. 11 to 13 are diagrams showing examples of screen display when “N data sharing” is selected as the link form of the PLC 20. FIG. 11A shows a link form selection screen in the link setting wizard. When the user selects “N link sharing” on this selection screen, the connection shown in FIG. 11B is displayed. A setting screen for the number of devices is displayed, and further, a setting screen for the number of reserved devices shown in FIG. 11C is displayed. A reserved device is a PLC that may be added in the future. By setting the link including the reserved device, it is not necessary to change the link setting when adding a future PLC, and it is easy to add a PLC. It becomes possible.

  FIG. 12D is a diagram showing a display screen after the setting of the number of reserved devices is completed, and a link setting screen related to the first connected device is displayed. The basic screen configuration of this link setting screen is the same as in FIG. 4B, but the link setting input field is provided with only the data writing area input section, and the data reading area input section is Not provided. This link setting screen is sequentially displayed for all the connected devices and reserved devices, and the user sequentially designates the data writing area of each connected device and reserved device.

  In the case of N data sharing, each PLC 20 has one data writing area and (N−1) data reading areas corresponding to each of the other PLCs 20. The area size of these data reading areas must correspond to the area size of the data writing area of the corresponding other PLC 20. Therefore, the user designates only the data writing area for each PLC 20, and the data reading area is automatically determined based on the area size of the data writing area of the other PLC 20. Specifically, a data read area is provided for each other connected device and reserved device, and (N-1) data read areas are continuously allocated to an area continuous with the data write area, The size of the entire data reading area is the sum of the area sizes of the data writing areas of the other PLCs 20.

  FIG. 12E is a diagram illustrating a confirmation screen that is displayed after link setting has been completed for all of the connected devices and the reserved devices. For each device, a list of link areas is displayed in a tabular form. As the link areas, a data write area and a data read area for each of the relay memory 41 and the data memory 42 are shown. However, the data read area displayed here is not the data read area corresponding to each device but only the entire data read area. After displaying the confirmation screen, the link setting wizard ends.

  FIG. 13 is a view showing a display screen after the link setting wizard is completed, and shows a confirmation screen for confirming the link setting. On the left side of the screen, the name of one device is displayed, and its link area is displayed in a table format. The device in which the link area is displayed is a connected device or a reserved device whose name is selected from the pull-down menu by the user. The data reading area displayed here is a data reading area corresponding to each other device, and is displayed together with the name of the corresponding device. On the right side of the screen, the link area of the device is displayed in a graph format together with the correspondence with other devices.

  FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing an operation when performing the “N data sharing” described above. If the user selects “N data sharing” in step S101 in FIG. 9 (step S301), a setting screen for the number of connected devices and a setting screen for the number of reserved devices are displayed (steps S302 and S303). When the user sets the number of devices, a link setting screen is sequentially displayed for each device (steps S304 and S305). When the link setting is completed for all the devices, a confirmation screen for confirming the outline of the link setting for the entire system is displayed (step S306). Thereafter, a confirmation screen for confirming the detailed link setting is displayed for the selected device (step S307). The link setting data generated in this way is then transferred to each PLC 20 (except for the link setting data of the reserved device).

<Manual setting>
FIGS. 15 to 17 are diagrams showing examples of screen display when “Manual setting” is selected as the link form of the PLC 20. When the target FA control system includes a PLC 20 (non-supporting device) that cannot be set by the link setting device 5, the link setting data as described above cannot be automatically generated. In this case, “Manual setting” is selected on the link type selection screen.

  FIG. 15A shows a link form selection screen in the link setting wizard. When the user selects “manual setting” on this selection screen, the number of connected devices shown in FIG. 15B is shown. The setting screen is displayed. When the number of connected devices is designated, the link setting screens shown in FIGS. 15C and 16D are sequentially displayed for each device. As in the case of FIG. 4B, the link setting screen is provided with a name input column, a type selection column, and a link setting input column for the connected device 1, and FIG. A state in which the support device of the link setting device 5 is designated as the type, and FIG. 16D shows a state in which the non-support device is designated.

  When a support device is specified, in the link setting input field, the memory area in the areas 1 and 2 of the virtual memory 3 and the data write area of the internal memory 4 allocated to the apparatus can be specified. The read area is not specified. On the other hand, when an unsupported device is designated, only the memory regions in the areas 1 and 2 of the virtual memory 3 allocated to the device can be designated. This is because in the case of a non-supporting device, the internal memory cannot be set by the link setting device 5.

  FIG. 16E is a diagram showing a confirmation screen displayed after the link setting for each connected device is completed. A list of link areas for all connected devices is displayed in tabular form. After displaying this confirmation screen, the link setting wizard ends, and a confirmation screen for confirming the link setting shown in FIG. 17 is displayed. In the case of manual setting, since the data reading area is not set, only the data writing area is displayed on these confirmation screens, and the data reading area is not displayed or is displayed as unused. Also, the graph format is not displayed on the confirmation screen of FIG.

  FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing an operation when performing “manual setting”. If the user selects “manual setting” in step S101 of FIG. 9, a setting screen for the number of connected devices is displayed (step S401). When the number of connected devices is set, a link setting screen is sequentially displayed for each device (steps S402 and S403). When the link setting is completed for all the devices, a confirmation screen for confirming the outline of the link setting for the entire system is displayed (step S404). Thereafter, a confirmation screen for confirming detailed link settings is displayed for the selected device (step S405). The link setting data generated in this way is then transferred to each PLC 20 (except for link setting data of non-supporting devices).

  In addition, although this Embodiment demonstrated the example in the case of performing link setting about PLC20, the link setting apparatus 5 of the control apparatus by this invention is not limited to what performs link setting with respect to PLC20. That is, the present invention can be applied to a link setting device that performs link setting for various control devices connected to the communication line 1 and linked via the virtual memory 3.

It is the figure which showed an example of FA control system to which the link setting apparatus by this invention is applied. It is the block diagram which showed one structural example of each PLC20 of FIG. It is the figure which showed one structural example of the link setting apparatus. It is the figure which showed an example of the screen display when "1: 1 link" is selected as a link form. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen display following FIG. 4. It is the flowchart which showed the operation | movement at the time of performing "1: 1 link". It is the figure which showed an example of the screen display when "1: N parent-child link" is selected as a link form. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen display following FIG. 7. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen display following FIG. 8. It is the flowchart which showed the operation | movement at the time of performing "1: N parent-child link". It is the figure which showed an example of the screen display when "N data sharing" is selected as a link form. FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen display following FIG. 11. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen display following FIG. 12. It is the flowchart which showed the operation | movement at the time of performing "N units data sharing". It is the figure which showed an example of the screen display when "manual setting" is selected as a link form. FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen display following FIG. 15. It is the figure which showed an example of the screen display following FIG. It is the flowchart which showed the operation | movement at the time of performing "manual setting". It is the conceptual diagram which showed an example of the conventional FA control system which employ | adopted FL-net. It is the figure which showed an example of the correspondence of the internal memory of PLC-1 and PLC-4 of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

1 Communication line 20 Programmable controller (PLC)
3 Virtual memory 31 Virtual memory area 1
32 Virtual memory area 2
4 Internal memory 41 Relay memory 42 Data memory 5 Link setting device 51 Operation input unit 52 Display output unit 53 Link setting I / F
54 Program memory 55 Data memory LD Link setting data LP1 Data generation program LP2 Data transfer program P1 System program P2 Sequence control program

Claims (6)

A link setting device for a control device that allocates a memory area in a virtual memory shared with another control device via a network as a link region to the internal memory of the control device, and links the control device with the other control device. And
Link area designating means for allowing the user to designate the link area of the control device;
Virtual memory allocating means for allocating a memory area of the virtual memory to the specified link area;
Link area allocating means for allocating the memory area of the virtual memory allocated to the link area as a link area to the internal memory of the other control device ;
As a link form of three or more control devices, a link form selection unit that allows a user to specify a parent-child link that links one parent machine and two or more child machines between the parent and child,
When a parent-child link is designated, the link area designating unit inquires the user of the link area allocated to the internal memory of each slave unit, and the link area allocation unit is allocated to the link area of each slave unit. A link setting device for a control device, wherein a memory area of a virtual memory is allocated as a link area to an internal memory of a parent device. A link setting device for a control device that allocates a memory area in a virtual memory shared with another control device via a network as a link region to the internal memory of the control device, and links the control device with the other control device. And
Link area designating means for allowing the user to designate the link area of the control device;
Virtual memory allocating means for allocating a memory area of the virtual memory to the specified link area;
Link area allocating means for allocating the memory area of the virtual memory allocated to the link area as a link area to the internal memory of the other control device;
As a link form of three or more control devices, a link form selection means that allows the user to specify a mutual link to be linked between the control devices,
When the mutual link is designated, the link area designation means inquires the user of the data writing area allocated to the internal memory for each control device, and
Said link area allocation means for each control device, in its internal memory, and characterized by allocating a memory area of the virtual memory allocated to the data write area of a different controlled device and the control device as a data read area Link setting device for control equipment. In association with the link area that are linked through a virtual memory, an internal memory of the control device, according to claim 1, characterized in that comprising a display means for displaying the internal memory of the other control devices or 3. A link setting device for a control device according to 2 . The link area designating unit causes the user to designate a data writing area allocated to the internal memory of the control device,
The virtual memory allocating means allocates a memory area of the virtual memory to the designated data writing area;
Said link area allocation means, the memory area of the virtual memory allocated to the data write area, according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that allocated to the internal memory of the other control devices as data reading region Link setting device for control equipment. The link area designating means allows a user to designate a data read area allocated to the internal memory of the control device;
The virtual memory allocating means allocates a memory area of the virtual memory to the designated data read area;
It said link area allocation means, the memory area of the virtual memory allocated to the data read area, according to claim 2 or 4, characterized in that allocated as a data write area in the internal memory of the other control devices Link setting device for control equipment.   2. The control device link setting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the network is an FL-net network to which a multi-vendor control device can be connected.

Images