JPH03255201A - Sensor output transmission system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve the performance and miniaturize the system based on signals transmitted and received mutually among actuators, by connecting information signals, such as absolute or relative position, action process, fluid pressure and other condition signals, to a serial transmission means or transmitting those signals by network transmission means. CONSTITUTION:Actuators 20a-20f are constituted of a cylinder, a valve mechanism and a control part. The valve mechanism drives and controls a cylinder together with a solenoid valve, and the control part selects a signal of a specified address to drive and control the valve mechanism based on signals from a computer 30. The actuators 20a-20f are connected to an air supply path 22 and an optical fiber 32. The air supply path 22 is connected to air supply sources 24a-24c, while the fiber 32 transmits an address signal and a data signal in series or parallel from a conducting wire 26 connected to a power supply 28 energizing the solenoid valve and from the computer 30. The signals transmitted and received mutually among actuators 20a-20f simplifies wiring and piping and improves performance, enabling downsizing.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a sensor output transmission method for transmitting information signals by serial transmission means or network transmission means.

[Prior Art] Various actuators have been used and widely used to convert fluid energy into mechanical energy. As is well known, actuators can be broadly divided into reciprocating types and rotary types, and each actuator has a pressure supply system for receiving and discharging fluid pressure, and a pressure supply system for adjusting the opening of a valve body, etc. Generally, a power supply system is attached. Therefore, the pressure supply system and the power supply system are connected to the respective actuators via tubes and conductive wires.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] For this reason, the control box and actuator are connected to each other by tubes and conductive wires, which leads to an increase in the size and complexity of the mechanism, and also makes it impossible to downsize the control system including the sequencer. Such inconveniences have been confirmed.

For example, FIG. 1 shows an example of an actuator using pneumatic pressure according to the prior art. In this conventional example, a pair of conductive wires are connected for sending driving electric signals from a plurality of drivers 4a to 4r constituting the controller 2 to individual manifold-type solenoid valves 6a to 6f. Furthermore, the air pressure supply system 8 includes the electromagnetic valves 6a to 6f.
It reaches the air cylinders 10a to 10f via the air cylinders 10a to 10f.

On the other hand, each of the air cylinders 10a to 10f is provided with a pair of limit switches (not shown) in order to detect the operating positions of pistons (not shown) in the air cylinders 10a to 10f, and the detected positions of these limit switches are In order to feed back the signal to controller 2,
Separately, a detection signal transmission wiring is provided, and this is connected to the detector 1.
The actual situation is that they are connected to 2a to 12f. That is, the controller 2 - solenoid valves 6a to 6f, the solenoid valve 6
A to 6f - Air cylinders 10a to 10f1 Air cylinders 10a to 10f - A pair of conductive wires or tubes are arranged between the controllers 2, so the configuration is extremely complicated and difficult to miniaturize. Because the conductor wire and pipe body of the instrument are longer, they are more susceptible to the influence of external signal systems.
It was not uncommon for malfunctions to occur.

Furthermore, due to the increase in the number of actuators, the controller 2 or the CPU that controls the controller 2 as a whole cannot quickly respond and give instructions. Therefore, there are disadvantages such as restrictions on the operating time of the actuator.

Therefore, according to the present invention, it is an object of the present invention to provide a sensor output transmission method capable of quickly and reliably controlling the energization of actuators by exchanging control signals between the actuators.

Further, according to the present invention, miniaturization can be easily achieved, malfunctions can be avoided, wiring and piping can be simplified, and each actuator can be energized and deenergized as quickly as possible. The purpose is to provide a possible sensor output transmission method.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention uses absolute position signals such as position, velocity, and acceleration, or relative position signals, motion,
The present invention is characterized in that information signals such as signals related to processes and the like and status signals related to fluid conditions such as fluid pressure are transmitted by a serial transmission means or by a network transmission means.

[Operation] Fluid pressure and voltage/current signals are commonly supplied to the plurality of actuators. Each actuator receives control signals sent from other actuators based on its own address.

[Embodiments] Next, preferred embodiments of the sensor output transmission system according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In FIG. 2, reference numerals 20a to 20f indicate actuators arranged in relation to each other, and these actuators 20a to 20f share a single air supply conduit, preferably an air supply line extending in a loop. They are connected to each other by a supply conduit 22. Air supply sources 24a to 24c are connected to the conduit 22 at predetermined intervals, and are configured to supply pressurized air as a driving source to the individual actuators 20a to 2Of at approximately equal pressure.

On the other hand, conductive wires 26 are connected to the actuators 20a to 2Of in parallel to energize electromagnetic valves to be described later.
is connected, and this conducting wire 26 is connected to a power source 28. Furthermore, the actuators 20a to 2Of
An optical fiber 32 is connected to the computer 30 for receiving address and data signals from the computer 30 serially or in parallel. In this case, the optical fiber 32 is
Can be replaced with coaxial cable. This can improve noise resistance.

Next, the internal structure of the actuator configured as described above will be explained with reference to FIG.

Each of the actuators 20a to 2Of basically consists of a cylinder section 34 and a control section 36. The cylinder section 34 has a piston 40 movably disposed inside the cylinder 38, and one end of a piston rod 42 connected to the piston 40 extends outside the cylinder 38 to control the reciprocating movement of the piston 40. It is transmitted to other equipment not shown. Note that a first port 44 and a second port 46 are formed at both ends of the cylinder 38 for supplying or deriving air, respectively, and the position, speed, acceleration, and fluid in the cylinder of the piston 40 are provided in the cylinder 38. A sensor 48 for detecting pressure etc. is attached.

Next, the control section 36 will be explained. The control unit 36 is
It has a housing 50 connected to the cylinder 38, and a valve mechanism 52, an input/output circuit 54, and a detection device 56 are installed in the housing 50.
, a driving device 58 and an arithmetic device 60. Valve mechanism 52
includes a solenoid valve (not shown), and the first boat 44,
It is configured to supply air at a predetermined pressure to the second boat 46. The conduit 22 is connected to a valve mechanism 52.

The input/output circuit 54 has a sensor 48 and a conductor 66 on one side.
．． 68 and, on the other hand, to the arithmetic unit 60 via a bus line 70 (see FIG. 4).

The detection device 56 detects the speed and acceleration of the piston 4G, the fluid pressure inside the cylinder portion 34, etc. via the sensor 48, and the results are supplied to the arithmetic device 60 via the input/output circuit 54. Ru. That is, the arithmetic unit 60 has a memo stored therein. I 72 , CPU 74 and communication interface 75 . The communication interface 75 takes in the data signal from the communication module, etc. sent from the optical fiber 32 based on the address it has, and sends it to the CPU 74 built in itself. In addition, the actuator 20
During the operation of actuators a to 2Of, data signals are sent to the computer 30 together with address signals, or the actuators 20a to 2Of are energized in a correlated manner so as to move the object in cooperation with other actuators 20a to 2Of. If so, it is possible to transmit control signals for other actuators 20a to 2Of. In this case, the input/output circuit 54 takes in control data signals sent from the other actuators 20a to 2Of based on its own address signal and uses them as control signals for the actuators 20a to 2Of. The control signals for 2Of to 2Of are retrieved from storage memory 72 and sent.

Therefore, the optical fiber 3 is connected in a loop to each actinator 20a to 2Of configured as described above.
2. A specific method of connecting the air supply pipe 22 and the conducting wire 26 is shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. That is, a first socket 76 and a second socket 78 are arranged on the upper surface of the casing 50, and air supply tube fittings 80a, 80b and exhaust tube fittings 82a, 82b are installed in the respective sockets 76 and 78.
, connectors 84a, 84b, 86a, 86 for the conducting wires 26
b and a pair of optical fiber connectors 88a, 88b,
90a and 90b are formed. As shown by the broken line, the air supply tube fitting 80a is connected to the air supply tube fitting 80b of the second socket 78 inside the housing 50, and the exhaust tube fitting 82a is also connected in the same way as the tube fitting 82b. It is something that will be done. Conductor connectors 84a, 84b, 86
a, 86b and optical fiber connectors 88a, 88b
, 90a, and 90b are also the same. With this configuration, the air supply system, power supply system, and control system are substantially looped.

Next, the operation and effects of the actuator configured as described above will be explained.

When air at a predetermined pressure is supplied from the air supply sources 24a to 24C through the air supply pipe 22, this air is introduced into the valve mechanism 52 via the pipe joint 80a of the actuator 20a, while, as described above, This air reaches the next stage actuator 20b at the same pressure via the pipe joint 80b. Since the actuators 20a to 2Of are connected in parallel, they are supplied with the same pressure one after another to the final pipe joint 82.
When reaching a and 82b, the exhaust tube fitting 82a is reached.
, 82b to the air supply source. When the power supply 28 is energized, a predetermined voltage supplied from the power supply 28,
The current is fed through the conductor 26 and is supplied to the drive device 58 etc. through the connectors 84a, 84b of the individual actuators 20a to 2Of.

On the other hand, the address signals and data signals of the individual actuators 20a to 20f, which are converted into optical signals and sent from the optical fiber 32, are sent to the control unit 1 through connectors 88a and 88b.
1 section 36, and only the data signal related to that specific address signal is introduced into a predetermined arithmetic unit 60. These signals are returned to computer 30 via optical fiber 32 and connectors 90a, 90b.

Therefore, the signal taken into the control unit 36 is transmitted to the arithmetic unit 6.
0, the data is processed together with data such as the position, velocity, acceleration, and fluid pressure of the piston 4Q stored in the storage memory 72, and the processed signals are sent to the drive device 5.
8 to control the energization and deenergization of the valve mechanism 52 and the like. The detection device 56 sends the piston position signal etc. detected from the sensor 48 etc. to the input/output circuit 54, and this input/output circuit 54 sends it again to the arithmetic device 60 and stores it in the storage memory 72.
The data is stored as the latest data and sent to the computer 30 via the communication interface 75.

In such a control system, individual actuators 20a
2Of will be controlled respectively.

Note that in cases where a plurality of actuators 20a to 20f are energized in a correlated manner, as described above, the address signal and data signal of the other actuators 20a to 2Of are sent from the arithmetic unit 60, and It becomes possible to control the actuators 20a to 20f based on this. That is, actuators 20a to 2O
It becomes possible to communicate control between fs, and faster and more reliable correlated operations can be achieved than with centralized control performed by the CPU 74.

FIG. 7 shows another embodiment of the actuator control device according to the present invention.

In this case, the control system consisting of the optical fiber 32 or coaxial cable is looped, and a branching device is used to derive signals to the optical fiber 32 for each actuator 20a to 2Of according to the address of each actuator 20a to 2Of. There are 88. optical fiber 32
and the computer 30 are connected via another connection device 90.

[Effects of the Invention] According to the present invention, control signals are exchanged between actuators, so even if there are a large number of actuators, energization and deenergization control can be performed extremely quickly. Therefore, it is also possible to control the actuators in relation to each other.

Furthermore, according to the present invention, as described above, each actuator incorporates a computing device, etc., and also shares the fluid supply system, electrical system, and control system, so that wiring etc. for each actuator is not necessary. A sequencer manifold can also be eliminated. Furthermore, if the fluid supply system, electrical system, and control system are looped, the actuator can be expanded or contracted as desired. This simplifies the wiring and piping system for the actuator and ensures reliable operation of the actuator.Moreover, the area occupied by wiring, etc. is reduced, which promotes structural downsizing and reduces the cost and reliability of the entire equipment. Various effects such as improvement can be obtained.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 shows an actuator and piping system according to the prior art.
An explanatory diagram showing the connection relationship with the control system, Figure 2 and the following are related to the present invention, and Figure 2 shows actuators arranged in parallel and a looped fluid pressure supply system that interconnects them. , an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between the electrical system and the control system, FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the internal structure of the actuator, FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the control section of the actuator, and FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the control section of the actuator. Fig. 6 is an explanatory diagram of the state in which the fluid pressure supply system, electrical system, and control system are connected to the actuators. FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of an actuator connected to a loop-shaped control system via a branching device. 2...Controller 4a-4f...Driver 6a-6f...Solenoid valve 8...Air pressure supply system 1[)a-1[1f...Air cylinder 20a-2Of
...Actuator 22...Air supply pipes 24a to 24C...Air supply source 26...Conducting wire 28...Power supply 30...Computer 32...Optical fiber 34...Cylinder section 36... ...Control unit 38...Cylinder 40...Piston 42...Piston rod 44...First port 46...Second port 48...Sensor 50...Casing 52...Valve Mechanism 54...Input/output circuit 56...Detection device 58...Drive device 60...Arithmetic device 62.64...Air supply pipe line 66.68...Conducting wire 70...Bus wire 72 ...Storage memory 74...CPU 75...Communication interface 76...
・First socket 78...Second socket 8Q a, 8Q b, 32a, 82 b...Pipe fitting 84a, 84b, 86a, 86b...:l connector 88
...Branch device 90...Connection device Fig, 1

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) Absolute position signals such as position, velocity, acceleration, etc., or
A sensor output transmission method characterized in that information signals such as relative position signals, signals related to operations, processes, etc., and status signals related to fluid conditions such as fluid pressure are transmitted by combining them with serial transmission means or by means of network transmission means. .