JP5288541B2 - Welding power source - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a welding power source having improved connectivity of an interface signal from the outside. <P>SOLUTION: The welding power source is operated while exchanging interface signals with an external apparatus through an electric part for signal connection. The welding power source is provided with another electric part for signal connection which exchanges a part of the preliminarily defined interface signals and an assignment part. The assignment part is provided with an input signal assignment setting part which sets assignment of an input interface signal to individual input places of another electric part for signal connection, an output signal assignment setting part which sets assignment of an output interface signal to an output terminal, and an input signal selection part which selects one of predetermined signal set by the input signal assignment setting part and the same interface signal input from the electric part for signal connection. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a welding power source that includes a connector or the like for connecting a predetermined interface signal, and operates while exchanging the interface signal with an external device, and in particular, a part of the interface signal is connected to another external device. The present invention relates to a technique in which another connector or the like is provided so as to be able to operate by exchange, and a user can assign a desired interface signal among the interface signals to the connector or the like.

  The welding power source can perform welding work alone by using a welding transformer and a welding head by an operation from an operation unit provided in the welding power source. On the other hand, there is also known a welding apparatus that can be incorporated into the system and can input and output timing signals and the like (hereinafter referred to as interface signals) from the outside assuming that welding work is performed by signals input from other apparatuses. (For example, Patent Document 1 (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-31275)).

In order to draw such an interface signal into the welding power source, a connection with an external device is required, and a connector or a terminal block is used as an electrical component for connection. Usually, predetermined different interface signals are assigned to the individual pins and terminals of the electrical component for connection. In addition, the electrical components for connection are integrated in order to reduce the size of the welding power source and ease of connection, and the connection to external devices is realized with one electrical component for connection.
JP-A-6-31275

However, in the case where predetermined different interface signals are assigned to the individual pins and terminals of the signal connection electrical component as described above , if there is one external device, it is usually a simple one-to-one. Although it can be connected with an interface cable, when interface signals necessary for a plurality of external devices are separated, a branched cable has to be created, and there is a disadvantage that troublesome work is required.
The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and it is possible to input / output an interface signal connected to a normal interface signal connection electrical component, while providing another connection electrical component. Another object of the present invention is to provide a welding power source that is easy to be incorporated into a system by connecting a part of the interface signal to this other electrical component for connection and enabling the interface signal with the actually connected part.

A welding power source according to the present invention includes an interface unit including the following components, and performs a welding operation by a predetermined interface signal with an external device connected via the interface unit. It is.
a) A first signal connecting electrical component having a plurality of connection points for connecting all of the interface signals to predetermined points.
b) A second signal connecting electrical component having a plurality of connection points for connecting a part of the signals arbitrarily selected from the interface signals to any point.
c) Input signal assignment setting unit for setting assignment of input interface signals that can be assigned in advance in accordance with interface signals connected to each input terminal of the second signal connecting electrical component.
d) Output signal assignment setting unit for setting assignment of output interface signals that can be assigned in advance in accordance with interface signals connected to the output terminals of the second signal connecting electrical component.
e) An input signal selection unit that receives one of the predetermined signals set by the input signal allocation setting unit and the same interface signal input from the first signal connecting electrical component, and selects one of the signals.
f) Input signal allocation setting unit, output signal allocation setting unit, and I / O port for exchanging input / output interface signals and control signals between the input signal selection unit and the control unit
g) inputting / outputting interface signals connected to the first and second signal connecting electrical components via the I / O port; determining input interface signal allocation setting of the input signal allocation setting unit; Control units for respectively executing assignment settings of output interface signals of the output signal assignment setting unit

In addition, the input signal assignment setting unit of the welding power source according to the present invention is configured such that the number of input interface signals that can be assigned to the second signal connecting electrical component among the interface signals of the welding power source. ) Switching circuits as many as the number of input terminals of the second signal connecting electrical component, and the output signal allocation setting unit is m to 1 (m is the second signal connecting electrical among the interface signals of the welding power source). The number of output interface signals (number of output interface signals that can be assigned to parts) is provided by the number of output terminals of the second signal connecting electrical parts .

  The welding power source according to the present invention further includes an operation / display unit for confirming execution of the signal assignment.

The second signal connecting electrical component used in the welding power source according to the present invention is a terminal block.

According to the first to third aspects of the present invention, at least two signal connection electrical parts for interface signals are provided, and among these, all the interface signals are connected to one first signal connection electrical part, and the other one is connected . Since a predetermined part of the interface signal can be arbitrarily assigned to the two-signal connecting electrical component, it is possible to provide a welding power source that facilitates connection of the interface signal to the welding power source. In other words, if such a welding power source is used, even if the cable is connected to the first signal connecting electrical component to which all the interface signals are connected, it is incorporated into the automatic machine . By using the two-signal connecting electrical component, it is possible to easily connect an additional external device.

According to the invention of claim 4, since the terminal block is used as the second signal connecting electrical component, it is not necessary to use all interface signals, and only the necessary signals are taken out and connected to external devices. Since the connection with the cable can be avoided, restrictions on the cable connection by the connector can be avoided, so that the connection is facilitated.

Next, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a principal block diagram showing only a part related to input / output of an external interface signal of a welding power source according to the present invention.
2 is a detailed block diagram on the input side of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a detailed block diagram on the output side of FIG. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the operation / display unit 18 of the welding power source according to the present invention. Details of FIGS. 2 and 3 will be described later.

  In FIG. 1, 1 is a welding power source according to the present invention, and 2 and 3 are first and second external devices that operate the welding power source 1 by exchanging predetermined interface signals with the welding power source 1. The welding power source 1 is connected to a first signal connecting electrical component (hereinafter referred to as a standard connector) 11 to which the interface signal is connected and a predetermined part of the interface signal that can be assigned. A second signal connecting electrical component (hereinafter referred to as an expansion terminal block) 12, a connector 21 corresponding to a standard connector for the first external device 2, and a terminal block corresponding to an expansion terminal block for the second external device 3. 31 is provided. The standard connector 11 and the connector 21 and the extension terminal block 12 and the terminal block 31 are connected by cables 41 and 42, respectively.

  Here, the standard connector 11 of the welding power source 1 and the connector 21 of the first external device 2 are connected using a normally used cable without modification, and the expansion terminal block 12 of the welding power source 1 and the second external device are connected. 3 terminal block 31 is connected by a newly created cable or individual wiring.

  In the welding power source 1, 11 is the standard connector, 12 is the extension terminal block, 13 is 1 to n (n is the number of input interface signals that can be assigned to the extension terminal block 12 among the interface signals of the welding power source 1). ) Switching circuits are provided as many as the number of input terminals of the extension terminal block 12, and predetermined assignment of the assignable input interface signals is set in accordance with the interface signals connected to the input terminals of the extension terminal block 12. The input signal assignment setting unit 14 is an output of the extension terminal block 12 which is a switching circuit of m to 1 (m is the number of output interface signals which can be assigned to the extension terminal block 12 among the interface signals of the welding power source 1). There are as many terminals as the number of terminals that can be assigned in advance according to the interface signals connected to the output terminals of the extension terminal block 12. The output signal allocation setting unit 15 for setting the allocation of the ace signal receives a predetermined signal set by the input signal allocation setting unit 13 and the same interface signal input from the standard connector 11, and outputs either one of the signals. It is an input signal selection part to select.

  Reference numeral 16 denotes an input signal allocation setting unit 13, an output signal allocation setting unit 14, and an I / O port for exchanging input / output interface signals and control signals between the input signal selection unit 15 and the control unit 17, and 17 denotes an I / O port. Input / output interface signals to / from the first and second external devices 2 and 3 via the / O port 16; determining input interface signal assignment settings of the input signal assignment setting unit 13; output signal assignment setting unit 14 A control unit that executes each of the following: setting of output interface signal allocation; receiving operation information from the operation / display unit 18 and performing a predetermined operation; displaying predetermined information on the operation / display unit 18; 18 is an operation / display unit for instructing display and signal allocation setting at the time of allocation setting of interface signals connected to each of the input terminal and output terminal of the extension terminal block 12, and 19 is a control. This is a bus line that connects the control unit 17 to the I / O port 16 and the operation / display unit 18.

  FIG. 2 shows an example in which the number of input terminals of the expansion terminal block 12 is four and the number of signals that can be allocated to the expansion terminal block 12 among the input interface signals is four. It is a figure explaining the structure of the selection part 15 in detail. Since the number of input terminals of the expansion terminal block 12 and the number of input interface signals that can be allocated are both 4, four one-to-four switching circuits 13a to 13d as the input signal allocation setting unit 15 are input signal selection units. 15, four 5-input OR circuits 15 a to 15 d are required.

  An assignable interface signal is connected between the I / O port 16 and the outputs of the four 5-input OR circuits 15a to 15d. Of the five inputs of the five-input OR circuits 15a to 15d, four inputs are connected to the outputs of the one-to-four switching circuits 13a to 13d, respectively, and the remaining one input is connected to a predetermined pin of the standard connector 11. Has been. Of course, these five signals are the same interface signals as the signals output from the five-input OR circuits 15a to 15d. Switching of these one-to-four switching circuits 13a to 13d can be individually determined by input determination signals 1 to 4 output from the control unit 17 via the I / O port 16.

FIG. 3 shows an example of the configuration of the output signal allocation setting unit 14 assuming that the number of output terminals of the expansion terminal block 12 is 6 and the number of signals that can be allocated to the expansion terminal block 12 among external input interface signals is 6. FIG. Since the number of output terminals of the expansion terminal block 12 and the number of output interface signals that can be assigned are both 6, six 6-to-1 switching circuits 14a to 14f are required.
An assignable signal is connected between the input of the I / O port 16 and the six 6-to-1 switching circuits 14a to 14f. These signals are connected from the I / O port 16 to predetermined pins of the standard connector 11. The switching of these 6 to 1 switching circuits 14 a to 14 f can be individually determined by output determination signals 1 to 6 output from the control unit 17 via the I / O port 16. 2 and 3, the receiver / driver circuit for the input / output interface signal is omitted.

Next, the interface signal connection of the welding power source 1 will be described.
The interface signals that can be connected to the first external device 2 or the second external device 3 are “input interface signal 1” to “input interface signal 4” for input and “output interface signal 1” to “output” for output. Assume that there is an output interface signal 6 ".
[Interface signal connection]
First, interface signals are connected.
First, determine which side of the first external device 2 or the second external device the external interface signal connected to the welding power source 1 is connected to, and connect to the standard connector 11 and the expansion terminal block 12 To decide. Then, the cable 42 is created and connected between the terminals of the extension terminal block 12 and the terminals of the terminal block 31 as determined. The standard connector 11 and the connector 21 are connected by a cable 41 that is not particularly processed. At this time, it is clarified which interface signal of the external interface signals is connected to each terminal of the extension terminal block 12.

  Here, as the input interface signal, the “extension input interface signal 1” and the “extension input interface signal 4” are connected to the terminals (1) and (4) of the extension terminal block 12, respectively, and the pin (2), “Input interface signal 2” and “input interface signal 3” are connected to (3), and “extension” is applied to terminals (5), (7), (9) and (10) of the extension terminal block 12 as output interface signals. “Output interface signal 1”, “Extended output interface signal 3”, “Extended output interface signal 5”, “Extended output interface signal 6” are connected, and “Output interface signal” is connected to pins (6) and (8) of the standard connector 11. 2 ”and“ output interface signal 4 ”are connected. Here, “extended” is added to clarify that the interface signal is a signal having the same function but different from the standard connection.

[Assignment of signals to terminals of expansion terminal block]
Subsequently, the signal allocation setting in each of the input signal allocation setting unit 13 and the output signal allocation setting unit 14 is performed so that the signal connected to the extension terminal block 12 can be correctly read / read by the control unit 17 via the I / O port 16. I do.
This signal allocation setting is performed using the keys of the operation switch unit 182 and the display unit 183 that displays the setting state. Specifically, “SET” key (operation switch unit 182 (1)) for confirming the transition to the signal assignment setting mode and the signal assignment setting, and the same interface signal that is actually connected to the extension terminal block can be assigned. “+” Key (operation switch unit 182 (2)) to be displayed in order, “−” key (operation switch unit 182 (3)), and the terminal are sequentially changed when selecting signals for the terminals of the extension terminal block 12. > ”Key (operation switch unit 182 (4)) and“ <”key (operation switch unit 182 (5)).

First, when the “SET” key of the operation switch unit 182 is operated, this operation information is read into the control unit 17 via the operation / display unit 18, and the mode shifts to a setting mode for assigning signals to the terminals of the extension terminal block 12. Then, setting of the external interface signal of the first “INPUT1” of the external interface signal connected to the terminal (1) of the extension terminal block 12 is awaited. At this time, a cursor is displayed on the signal input part of “INPUT1” in the signal selection part of the display part 183 (FIG. 4).

Here, the signal setting of “INPUT1” is performed. Since the “extension input interface signal 1” is connected to the terminal (1) of the extension terminal block 12 corresponding to “INPUT 1”, the “INPUT 1” is changed to “IN INTERFACE” by operating the “+” and “−” keys. “SIGNAL 1” is displayed and the connection of the signal of this name is determined. Thus, in the one-to-four switching circuit 13a by the input determination signal 1, “0” and “1” are connected, and the “extended input interface signal 1” connected to the terminal (1) is “input interface”. The signal 1a "is connected to" 1 "of the 5-input OR circuit 15a. In addition, since no signal is connected to “2”, “3”, and “4” of 13a, no signal is connected to the corresponding connection locations 15b “1”, 15c “1”, and 15d “1”. become.

  Next, “INPUT2” signal is set. First, the “>” key is operated to shift to “INPUT 2” signal setting. Here, since no signal is connected to the terminal (2) of the extension terminal block 12 corresponding to “INPUT2”, the “+” and “−” keys are operated to display “blank” in “INPUT1”. Determine that there is no signal connection. In this way, “0” is not connected to any of “1” to “4” in the one-to-four switching circuit 13b by the input determination signal 2. That is, since the signal is not connected to “1” to “4” of 13b, the signal is also connected to the corresponding connection locations 15a “2”, 15b “2”, 15c “2”, and 15d “2”, respectively. Will not be.

  Next, “INPUT3” is set. However, since no signal is connected here, the same operation as in “INPUT2” is performed. That is, since no signal is connected to “1” to “4” of 13 c, 15 a “3”, 15 b “3”, 15 c “3”, and 15 d “3” that are corresponding connection locations by the input determination signal 3, respectively. Also, no signal is connected.

  Next, “INPUT4” signal is set. Since the “extension input interface signal 4” is connected to the terminal (4) of the extension terminal block 12 corresponding to “INPUT 4”, the “INPUT 1” is changed to “IN INTERFACE” by operating the “+” and “−” keys. “SIGNAL 4” is displayed, and the connection of the signal of this name is determined. By doing so, in the one-to-four switching circuit 13d by the input determination signal 4, “0” and “4” are connected, and the “extended input interface signal 4” connected to the terminal (4) is “input interface”. The signal 4a "is connected to" 4 "of the 5-input OR circuit 15d. Further, since no signal is connected to “1”, “2”, and “3” of 13d, no signal is connected to the corresponding connection locations 15a “4”, 15b “4”, and 15c “4”. become.

Next, signal settings from “OUTPUT1” to “OUTPUT6” are performed.
First, “OUTPUT1” signal is set. Since the “extension input interface signal 1” is connected to the terminal (5) of the extension terminal block 12 corresponding to “OUTPUT1”, the “OUTPUT” is changed to “OUT INTERFACE” by operating the “+” and “−” keys. “SIGNAL 1” is displayed and the connection of this signal is determined. In this way, in the 6 to 1 switching circuit 14a according to the output determination signal 1, “0” and “1” are connected, and the “output interface signal 1S” output from the I / O port 16 becomes the extension terminal block. To 12 terminals (5).

  Next, the “OUTPUT2” signal is set. Since no signal is connected to the terminal (6) of the extension terminal block 12 corresponding to “OUTPUT2”, the “+” and “−” keys are operated to display “blank” in “OUTPUT1”, and the signal is Determine that it is not connected. By doing so, in the 6 to 1 switching circuit 14b according to the output determination signal 2, “0” is not connected to any of “1” to “6”, and thus a signal is output from the terminal (6). Absent.

The signal setting from “OUTPUT3” to “OUTPUT6” is performed in the same manner.
Then, in the 6 to 1 switching circuit 14c by the output determination signal 3, “0” and “3” are connected, and the “output interface signal 3S” output from the I / O port 16 is the terminal of the extension terminal block 12. In the 6 to 1 switching circuit 14e output to (7), “0” and “5” are connected by the output determination signal 5, and the “output interface signal 5S” output from the I / O port 16 is expanded. “0” and “6” are connected to the 6 to 1 switching circuit 14f by the output determination signal 6 and output to the terminal (9) of the terminal block 12, and the “output interface” output from the I / O port 16 is connected. The signal 6S ”is output to the terminal (10) of the extension terminal block 12.

  On the other hand, in the 6 to 1 switching circuit 14d having no output to the terminal (8) of the extension terminal block 12, "0" is not connected to any of "1" to "6" by the output determination signal 4, and the extension is eventually performed. No signal is output from the terminal (10) of the terminal block 12.

As described above, the interface signal of each terminal of the extension terminal block 12 is determined.
Here, it is confirmed by taking one interface signal as an example that the input interface signal and the output interface signal connected to the extension terminal block 12 can be read / read from the control unit 17 via the I / O port 16. To do.

First, “extended input interface signal 1” is confirmed. As described above, the “extension input interface signal 1” is input from the terminal (1) of the extension terminal block 12, switched by the one-to-four switching circuit 13a, and input to the input section “1” of the five-input OR circuit 15a as the input interface signal 1a. Is input.
On the other hand, the other input units “2” to “5” of the 5-input OR circuit 15a do not receive any signal input from the outside. Therefore, the output of this 5-input OR circuit 15a is determined by the "extended input interface signal 1" which is the only input. That is, “extended input interface signal 1” becomes “input interface signal 1”.

  Next, “extended output interface signal 1” is checked. As described above, the “output interface signal 1s” is connected to “1” of each of the 6-to-1 switching circuits 14a to 14f. However, as described above, it is connected to “0” of the 6-to-1 switching circuits 14a to 14f. It is only 14a. Therefore, the output interface signal 1 is output to the terminal (5) of the extension terminal block 12. Although the same signal is output to the pin (5) of the standard connector 11, the signal output from this pin is not used as described above.

  Thus, the input / output signals assigned to the standard connector 11 and the input / output signals assigned to the extension terminal block 12 are as desired.

  In this example, an example in which different signals are connected to each terminal of the extension terminal block 12 has been described. However, an output interface signal for the same purpose can be output to a plurality of terminals as long as it is an output interface signal. is there. If output interface signals for the same application are output from a plurality of terminals in this way, a plurality of external devices that require the same signal can be connected, and there is a possibility of application of a welding system using this welding power source. It has the effect of spreading.

It is a principal part block diagram showing only the part regarding the input / output of the external interface signal of the welding power source which becomes this invention. It is a figure explaining the structure of the input setting part 13 of FIG. 1 and the input signal selection part 15 in detail. It is a figure explaining the structure of the output setting part 14 of FIG. 1 further in detail. It is a schematic diagram of the operation display part of this principal part block diagram.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Welding power source 2 1st external device 3 2nd external device 11 1st signal connection electrical component (standard connector)
12 Electrical components for second signal connection (extension terminal block)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 13 Input signal setting part 14 Output signal setting part 15 Input signal selection part 16 I / O port 17 Control part 18 Operation / display part 19 Bus line 21 Connector 31 corresponding to a standard connector Terminal block 41, 42 corresponding to an extended terminal block cable

Claims (4)

A welding power source comprising an interface unit including the following components, and performing a welding operation by a predetermined interface signal with an external device connected via the interface unit .
a) A first signal connecting electrical component having a plurality of connection points for connecting all of the interface signals to predetermined points.
b) A second signal connecting electrical component having a plurality of connection points for connecting a part of the signals arbitrarily selected from the interface signals to any point.
c) Input signal assignment setting unit for setting assignment of input interface signals that can be assigned in advance in accordance with interface signals connected to each input terminal of the second signal connecting electrical component.
d) Output signal assignment setting unit for setting assignment of output interface signals that can be assigned in advance in accordance with interface signals connected to the output terminals of the second signal connecting electrical component.
e) An input signal selection unit that receives one of the predetermined signals set by the input signal allocation setting unit and the same interface signal input from the first signal connecting electrical component, and selects one of the signals.
f) Input signal allocation setting unit, output signal allocation setting unit, and I / O port for exchanging input / output interface signals and control signals between the input signal selection unit and the control unit
g) inputting / outputting interface signals connected to the first and second signal connecting electrical components via the I / O port; determining input interface signal allocation setting of the input signal allocation setting unit; Control units for respectively executing assignment settings of output interface signals of the output signal assignment setting unit The input signal allocation setting unit includes a second switching circuit of 1 to n (where n is the number of input interface signals that can be allocated to the second signal connecting electrical component among the interface signals of the welding power source). The number of input terminals of the signal connection electrical component is provided, and the output signal allocation setting unit can be allocated to the second signal connection electrical component of m to 1 (m is the interface signal of the welding power source. 2. The welding power source according to claim 1, wherein the number of output interface signal switching circuits is equal to the number of output terminals of the second signal connecting electrical component .   The welding power source according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising an operation / display unit for confirming execution of signal allocation in the welding power source. The welding power source according to claim 1, wherein the second signal connecting electrical component is a terminal block.

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