JPH045725A - Display device for operator's console - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent the fall of displaying capacity even in the case the number of sets of picture display devices is increased by providing the picture display device with a control device and a picture memory for exclusive use, and connecting between the control devices by using a transmission line or a data bus for exclusive use. CONSTITUTION:The CRT control devices 13a to 13d of respective CRTs 6a to 6d exchange data for displaying displayed contents by linking them with each other as keeping required relation. Thus, a large picture can be constructed by combining the picture of each device 13a to 13d, and simultaneously, it can be scrolled by linking them with each other. Besides, switchers 24, 26 are provided at the inlet side and the outlet side of a position register 23a to participate in linked scrolling operation in each device 13a to 13d, and by controlling the operating state of these switchers 24, 26, linked display or independent display can be optionally selected for each device 13a to 13d. The operating state of the switchers 24, 26 are displayed by a display means, and thus, an operator knows the state of each CRT 6a to 6d. Besides, the number of sets of the CRTs can be increased without causing the full of the displaying capacity.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a display device for an operator's console, and is particularly suitable for an operator's console as a man-machine device applied to a process control computer, etc.
It has a function of having multiple display screens and displaying one large image using these display screens and scrolling them in conjunction, or operating each display screen independently to display separate images. The present invention relates to a display device for an operator's console.

[Conventional technology]

As a conventional display device, there is a display device disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 55-9276. In the display device according to this document,
A plurality of display screens are provided using a plurality of CRTs, and a portion of a large image is displayed on each of the plurality of display screens, thereby forming a wide screen as a whole. This display device is configured by providing a single control section and a single image memory section that are commonly used for a plurality of CRTs, so that the control section and the like are shared. This simplifies the configuration and reduces manufacturing costs compared to a configuration in which multiple display devices are connected, and does not require any other special external equipment for data processing. It is possible to achieve high-speed image display operations on each CRT.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

As mentioned above, conventional display devices are configured so that a single control unit handles the display operations of multiple CRTs, so as the number of CRTs increases, the load on the control unit increases and the display There is an inconvenience that the ability decreases. Furthermore, as a matter of course, the number of CRTs that can be increased is limited in order to exhibit effective display capability. In addition, when attempting to display the screen independently on some of the CRTs out of multiple CRTs, since the image memory is only one, there are restrictions on the display contents, and the image data in the small memory area that is restricted is limited. Another problem is that the screen can only be selected within the range.

An object of the present invention is to provide a plurality of image display devices such as CRT,
It is possible to display one large image by linking these multiple image display devices, and to perform linked scrolling regarding one large image displayed on the plurality of image display devices based on a command from an operation input device. can be done,
Additionally, additional image display devices can be easily installed.
Furthermore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a display device for an operator's console that can display individual display contents by operating any part of the image display devices independently without affecting the display contents of other image display devices. be.

[Means to solve the problem]

A first display device for an operator's console according to the present invention includes a main control device that manages the entire device, a storage device that stores image information, and a plurality of image display devices. In a display device for an operator's console in which at least one large screen is formed by arranging screens in a predetermined arrangement relationship, a plurality of image display control devices provided in each of the image display devices, and a plurality of image display control devices provided between the image display devices. A transmission system that connects multiple image display control devices and multiple image display control devices that have the function of mutually exchanging related data regarding image display and scrolling the multiple image display devices in conjunction with each other. and an operation input device attached to at least one of the image display control devices.

In the second operator's console display device according to the present invention, in the first configuration, each of the plurality of image display control devices has an image memory having a storage capacity larger than the display capacity of the screen of the corresponding image display device. and a position register for setting the part to be displayed on the screen among the stored contents of this image memory as coordinates, and display image data is retrieved from the image memory based on the position data of the position register and displayed on the screen of the image display device. and a display area controller, and is configured to update the contents of the position register with the operation input device, and when the operation input device updates the contents of any one of the position registers of the plurality of image display control devices, the other The position register of the image display control device is updated, and the screens of the plurality of image display devices are scrolled in conjunction with each other.

In the third operator's console display device according to the present invention, in the second configuration, a first switch is provided on the entrance side of the position register, and the first switch allows the display device to transmit data via the transmission means. The present invention is characterized in that it is possible to select whether or not to accept updates to the position register from the image display control device.

A fourth operator's console display device according to the present invention includes a second switch provided between the output side of the position register and the transmission means in the second or third configuration; The present invention is characterized in that the user selects whether or not to send the updated content of the position register to another image display control device.

A fifth operator's console display device according to the present invention is characterized in that in the third or fourth configuration, the operating states of the first switch and the second switch are selected by the operation input means. Features.

In the sixth operator's console display device according to the present invention, in the second configuration, the transmission means used to update the respective position registers with the image display control device includes the main control device and the storage device. It is characterized in that the data bus used for data exchange between the device and the image memory is shared.

A seventh display device for an operator's console according to the present invention is characterized in that, in the third or fourth configuration, a display means is provided for indicating the respective operating states of the first switch and the second switch. shall be.

[Effect]

In the display device for an operator's console according to the present invention,
Each of the plurality of image display devices is provided with a dedicated image display control device (including an image memory), and this dedicated image display control device controls the image display operation of the corresponding image display device. This makes it possible to easily add more image display devices. The image display control device of each image display device has a function to exchange data between them for displaying the display contents of each image display device in a linked manner while maintaining the required relationship. A large screen can be created by combining the screens of the image display device, and the screen is configured so that a large image can be displayed and each screen can be scrolled in conjunction with each other. In addition, a switch is provided on at least one of the entrance side and the exit side of the position register involved in the linked scroll operation in each image display control device, and the linked display or independent display can be performed by manipulating the operating state of these switches. It can be arbitrarily selected for each image display device. The operational status of the cutting gun is displayed on the display means, and the operator thereby knows the status of each image display device.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 6 shows an overall configuration diagram of a process control system to which an operator's console having a display device according to the present invention is applied. In Figure 6, operator's console 1
is connected to the control computer 3 via the communication connection line 2, and exchanges control data, plant data, etc. with the control computer 3. The control computer 3 is the construction wiring 4
It is connected to the plant 5 via the , and receives and receives detection signals from sensors in the plant, and sends commands for operation control to the automatic opening/closing valve actuators, electric motors, etc. that are components in the plant. ing. The operator's console 1 includes, for example, four CRT6s a to 6d.
Four display screens formed by CRTs 6a to 6d are provided on the front part, and a part of the system configuration diagram of the plant 5 is displayed on the screens of these CRTs 6a to 6d, and the operating status of the plant 5 can be shown by this system configuration diagram. displayed graphically. In this illustrated example, the CRTs 6a to 6d are arranged, for example, in two columns vertically and two columns horizontally. 4 CRT6a
Since it is not possible to graphically display all the configurations of plant 5 with only the display screen 6d,
A graphical display is performed for a part of the image. However, by scrolling the display screens of the four CRTs 68 to 6d in conjunction with each other as if they were one screen, the contents displayed on the four CRTs 6a to 6d can be moved, thereby controlling the entire plant system. It can be displayed. Further, 7 is a keyboard which is an operation input device.

Next, the internal structure of the operator's console 1 will be explained based on FIG. 1. In FIG. 1, 10 is a main processor, and the main processor 10 includes CRTs 6a to 6a.
6d, the display operation, various command generation operations, data transmission/processing operations, etc. are managed as a whole. It is connected to the devices 13a to 13d. between the storage device 12 and each CRT control device, and each CRT control device.
Since the RT control devices are connected by the bus 11, data is exchanged with each other by this bus. The storage device 12 contains programs for various control operations, image data for displaying graphics on, for example, 256 CRT screens, and in addition, for example, 4 images for standard instruments.
It stores data etc. for 000 pages. Further, the CRT control devices 113a to 13d are provided to control the display operations of the respective CRTs, and each CRT has its own dedicated control device. Also, each CRT68
-6d are operation input devices 7a and 7b.

7c, each of which is connected to a corresponding CRT control device. Note that in the CRTs 6c and 6d, illustration of the operation input device is omitted. Further, depending on the purpose of the CRT, the operation input device may be omitted. C
The RT control devices 13a to 13d have the same internal structure in terms of hardware configuration. Therefore, based on Figure 2, CR
The internal structure of the T control device 13a will be explained.

In FIG. 2, a CRT 6a, operation input devices 7a and 7b
, bus 11 is the same as that described in FIGS. 1 and 6. In the CRT control device W13a, 21 is an image memory, and the capacity of this image memory 21 is equal to that of the CRT6.
It has a capacity equivalent to, for example, four times the display screen area of a. Rectangular area 21A drawn inside the image memory 21
is a display area corresponding to the display screen area of the CRT 6a, and the image content defined in the display area 21A is displayed on the screen of the CRT 5a. In addition, since this display area 21A can be scrolled by moving within the image memory 21 as shown by the arrow, the display area 21A can be scrolled by moving within the range stored in the image memory 21.
The display contents of RT6a will be scrolled. The image memory 21 is connected to the bus 11, and the image data stored in the image memory 21 is appropriately transferred from the storage device 12 according to a transfer request from the CRT control device 13a and a transfer command from the main processor 10.

The contents of the image data to be transferred may have a desired relationship with the image data in the image memory of another CRT control device, or may have no relationship at all. That is, each CRT6a
When the screens of CRTs 6a to 6d are scrolled in conjunction with each other, the image data stored in the image memory of each CRT control device is related to each other in consideration of the screen arrangement positions of CRTs 6a to 6d. Furthermore, when displaying an image independently on the screen of only the CRT 6a, there is no relationship with other CRT control devices. Further, the moving operation of the display area 2'lA that determines the display content of the CRT 6a is controlled by the display area controller 22.

Furthermore, in FIG. 2, 23 is a register section, and the register section 23 includes a position register 23a and a screen attribute register 2.
3b and a screen number register 23c. The position register 23a has a function of storing the position coordinates (x, y) of the display area 21A on the image memory 21. The position data stored in this position register 23a is stored in the display area controller 22.
and the display area controller 22 receives position data (x,
y) to control the position of the display area 21A. The position data stored in the position register 23a is stored in the register section 2.
An interlocking display enable/disable switch 24 (
It can be updated or changed externally via the switch (when it is in the on state), or it can be updated or changed using the aforementioned operation input device 7b connected via the operation input controller 25. Therefore, if the position data stored in the position register 23a is continuously updated by an automatic control operation from the outside or by a manual input operation using the operation input device 7a, the function of the display area controller 22 can be used to update the position data stored in the CRT 6a. Scroll operation can be performed in .

As described above, the interlocking display enable/disable switch 24 is provided on the entrance side of the register section 23. On the other hand, on the exit side of the register section 23, an interlock operation enable/disable switch 26 is provided. According to the interlocking display enable/disable switch 24, when it is in the on state, the bus 11
The contents of the position register 23a of another CRT control device can be received and updated via the position register 23a.

No updates are performed when it is in the off state. The interlock operation enable/disable switch 26 transfers the position data of the position register 23a to the bus 11.
It has a function of transmitting data to other CRT control devices via the CRT controller, and performs data transfer when it is on, and does not perform data transfer when it is off. The switching operation between ON and OFF of the interlocking display enable/disable switch 24 and the interlock operation enable/disable switch 26 can be performed independently by the operator operating the operation input device 7a, or by operating them in conjunction with each other. done at the same time.

As described above, in each CRT control device 13a to 13d,
This is because it is configured to include a position register 23a that provides position data to the display area controller 22 and updates or changes the stored position data as appropriate, an interlocking display enable/disable switch 24, and an interlock operation enable/disable switch 26. By causing the CRT controllers 13a to 13d of the plurality of CRTs 6a to 6d to perform control operations while maintaining the required relationships, the displays on multiple CRT screens can be scrolled in conjunction with each other. , each CRT control device can be individually displayed on the screen.

In this way, it is possible to specify whether or not to interlock each of the CRT control devices 13a to 13d.

That is, when all the interlocking display enable/disable switchers 24 and interlock operation enable/disable switch 26 of the CRT control devices 13a to 13d are in the ON state, if any one position register is changed manually, for example, all the position registers are changed. Since the information is updated, the display screens of all CRTs 6a to 6d are scrolled in conjunction with each other. Furthermore, if the interlocking display enable/disable switch 24 of the CRT control device is turned off, position data given from other CRT control devices will not be received even if the interlock operation enable/disable switch 26 is in the on or off state. Therefore, no linked display is performed for that CRT. On the other hand, if we focus only on the interlock operation enable/disable switch 26, when it is in the on state, the corresponding CRT
When the position register is updated using an operation input device connected to a control device, the contents will be updated to other CRT control devices (the relevant CR).
(in the case where the interlocking display enable/disable switch 24 of the T control device is in the ON state), the screens of a plurality of CRTs can be scrolled in conjunction. In addition, when the CRT control device is in the off state, the contents of the position register of the CRT control device cannot be transferred to other CRT control devices, so the CRT control device can be used without affecting the display contents of other CRTs.
You can scroll the screen by pressing T only.

Here, an explanation will be given of the operating state and the usage form of the display device based on the combination of on and off of the interlocking display enable/disable switch 24 and the interlock operation enable/disable switch 26. Switcher 2
When both 4 and 26 are on, it is effective when forming a large screen by combining the CRTs 6a to 6d. This large screen allows scrolling from any CRT. In the operator's console 1, the display device is normally used to form a large screen in which a plurality of CRTs are linked together. When both switchers 24 and 26 are off, the CRT is disconnected from the interlocking operation.
This is effective when performing display operations as a single CRT.

When the switch 24 is on and the switch 26 is off, it is used when searching for a part of the system screen without scrolling other CRTs. When the switch 24 is off and the switch 26 is on, the area of the screen you want to see will not be moved by other CRTs, so when fixing the image area of interest to a specific CRT. used for. Note that when the switch 24 is on and scrolling is performed in conjunction with operation from another CRT, the screen being displayed is ignored.

The operating states of the interlock display enable/disable switch 24 and the interlock operation enable/disable switch 26 are changed by the operation input device 7a as described above, and the states are displayed as symbols on the screen of the corresponding CRT. In Figure 3, CRT
The symbol 24a on the screen 6b is a symbol representing the on state of the interlocking display enable/disable switch 24, and the symbol 26a is the symbol representing the on state of the interlock operation enable/disable switch 260.

Note that it is not always necessary to provide two of the interlocked display enable/disable switch 24 and interlock operation enable/disable switch 26 in the CRT control device. Depending on the intended use of the CRT, e.g.
Since the functions are limited in advance, either one can be omitted.

Furthermore, in FIG. 2, the screen attribute register 23b is a register that stores data specifying the type of display screen on the CRT, such as a graphic screen or an instrument screen, and the screen number register 23c stores the numbers of a plurality of CRT screens. This is a register that stores . These registers 23
b and 23c are for other CRTs as well as the position register 23a.
It is updated by the control devices 6b to 6d, and can also be updated by the operation input device 7b. Reference numeral 27 is a call screen attribute register, in which the type of screen to be called for interlocking display is registered in advance. 28 is screen number register 2
This is a comparator that checks whether the contents of 3b are in the contents of the call screen attribute register 27, and if there is a match, starts an image data caller 30, which will be described later. Reference numeral 29 is a split screen number register in which the positions of partial screens to be displayed in correspondence with the installation positions of each CRT when performing linked display are registered in advance. Reference numeral 30 denotes an image data caller, which has a function of receiving the contents of the screen number register 23c and the divided screen number register 29 and requesting the main processor 10 to transfer necessary image data.

The image recaller 30 is activated when there is a match in the comparator 28. As a result of this activation, the linked display screen is transferred to the image memory 21 and displayed on the CRT 6a. Furthermore, when a screen to be displayed in conjunction with another CRT control device is called up, the attributes and screen number of that screen are transferred to and stored in registers 23b and 23c.

As described above, each CRT control device 13a to 13d is provided with the screen attribute register 23b, screen number register 230, etc., so that each of the plurality of CRTs 6a to 6d is assigned an assigned area, and the screen of each of the CRTs 6a to 6d is displayed. images can be associated with each other, thereby enabling linked scrolling operations on a large screen made up of each screen.

Next, based on the CRT control device having the above configuration,
The linked scrolling operations of 6a to 6d will be explained. In FIG. 4, numeral 41 indicates the structure of the entire large screen that is displayed in conjunction with each other. The size of one rectangular A-shiba divided into 9 parts is CR7
This corresponds to the display screen of one machine. In FIG. 4, a number is assigned to the lower right of each rectangle for convenience, and this number is the split screen number. Since four CRTs are used to display the above screen 41, CRTs 6a to 6
It is not necessary to provide the entire image data of the screen 41 to the image memory of each of the CRT control devices 13a to 13d. CRT
By considering the installation positions of CRTs 6a to 6d, and determining the split screen numbers to be displayed on each CRT, such as 21a to 21d, and storing them in the image memory, each image memory of the CRT control device can display the entire screen. It is only necessary to store less than half of the screen area of 41. When the divided screens 21a to 21d are respectively associated with the CRT control devices 13a to 13d, the display screen of the operator's console 1 is displayed as shown in FIG. 5(A). For example, C
Looking at the configuration of the register section 23 etc. of the RT control device 13a, the split screen number register 29 has screen numbers 1, 2, etc.
4.5 is stored, 1 is stored in the screen number register 23c, and position data is stored in the position register 23a so as to display the screen number 1 of the divided screen 21a. The contents of each register are also stored in the other CRT control devices 13b to 13d depending on the installation position of the corresponding CRT. Furthermore, when scrolling the four display screens in conjunction with each other as shown in FIG. The contents of will be updated by the same amount, and as a result, Figure 5 (B)
As shown in , the large screen 41 moves across the plurality of CRTs 6a to 6d, and interlocking scrolling is executed.

The above embodiment has the following advantages.

A CRT control device 1 is provided for each of the plurality of CRTs 6a to 6d.
3a to 13b are provided and these CRT control devices are combined, so even if the number of CRTs increases, expansion is easy and the display capacity of the screen will not be reduced.

CP as a data transmission means that corresponds the contents of the position register 23a for interlocking scrolling of each CR7 screen.
Since the U bus 11 is used, no special equipment is required for adding CRT control means.

Since the configuration is such that switchers 24 and 26 are provided on the input side and the exit side of the position register 23a, it is possible to arbitrarily and easily set whether each CRT is displayed in conjunction with other CRTs or independently. be able to. Furthermore, since the operating states of the interlocking display enable/disable switch 24 and the interlock operation enable/disable switch 26 can be displayed on the screen of the corresponding CRT, erroneous operations can be avoided.

When displaying a large screen, the image data corresponding to the split screen is divided and displayed for each CRT control device, so that large screen display and interlocking scrolling can be performed with a small image memory capacity. It also includes a register that stores the attributes and screen number of the screen to be displayed and allows these data to be updated by another CRT control device, and a register in which the attributes of the screen to be displayed in conjunction are registered in advance. By providing this, for example, when displaying a specific type of screen, image data related to the screen can be automatically transferred from the storage device 12 to the image memory.

In the embodiment described above, a CRT was used as the image display device, but it goes without saying that the present invention can be applied to other image display devices, and the number of such devices is arbitrary.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As is clear from the above description, the present invention provides the following effects.

In an operator's console equipped with multiple image display devices, each image display device is equipped with a dedicated control device and image memory, and these control devices are connected using a dedicated transmission line or data bus. Even when the number of image display devices is increased, it is possible to easily increase the number of image display devices without reducing the display capacity. Furthermore, since a configuration is provided that can perform linked scroll display between the control devices of each image display device, the screens of a plurality of image display devices can be linked together as one large screen.

In addition, when interlocking scrolling operations between multiple image display devices are performed using position registers provided in each of the dedicated control devices of the image display devices, at least one of the entrance side and exit side of the position register is A switch is provided, and by arbitrarily selecting the on/off operation of the switch using an operation input device, it is possible to select interlocking display or independent display, which improves ease of use and is very convenient. Furthermore, since a display means is provided to display the on/off operating status of each switch, operability can be improved.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is an internal configuration diagram of a display device according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a detailed configuration diagram of a CRT control device, Fig. 3 is a diagram showing symbols indicating the operating status of a switch, and Fig. 4 is a large screen. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an image display and linked scroll state on a CRT, and FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an operator's console and the entire process control system. [Explanation of symbols] 1...- Operator's console 2...
Communication connection line 3... Control computer 5 - Clear... Plant 6a to 6d... CRT 7... Keyboard 7a to 7C... Operation input device 10... Main Processor 11...Bus 12...Storage devices 13a to 13b Kenji/CRT control device 21...Image memory 22...Image area controller 23...Registers Section 23a...Position register 24...Interlocked display enable/disable switch 26...Interlock operation enable/disable switch 24a, 26a--Φ symbol FIG.

Claims (7)

[Claims] (1) It is equipped with a main control device that manages the entire device, a storage device that stores image information, and a plurality of image display devices, and the screens of each of these image display devices are arranged in a predetermined arrangement relationship. A display device for an operator's console in which at least one large screen is formed by a plurality of image display control devices provided in each of the image display devices, and mutually related data regarding image display between the image display devices. the image display control device having a function of exchanging information and performing a scrolling operation in conjunction with a plurality of image display devices; a transmission means for connecting the plurality of image display control devices; 1. A display device for an operator's console, comprising an operation input device attached to at least one of the display devices. (2) In the operator's console display device according to claim 1, each of the plurality of image display control devices includes an image memory having a storage capacity larger than the display capacity of the screen of the corresponding image display device, and a position register for setting a portion to be displayed on the screen out of the stored content of the memory as coordinates; and a display area controller for extracting display image data from the image memory based on position data of the position register; The operation input device is configured to update the contents of the position register, and when the operation input device updates the contents of any one of the position registers of the plurality of image display control devices, the operation input device updates the contents of the position register of the other image display control devices. A display device for an operator's console, characterized in that a position register is updated and screens of a plurality of image display devices are scrolled in conjunction with each other. (3) In the display device for an operator's console according to claim 2, a first switch is provided on the entrance side of the position register, and the first switch controls the display of other images sent via the transmission means. A display device for an operator's console, characterized in that it is configured to select whether or not to accept update contents of the position register from the device. (4) In the display device for an operator's console according to claim 2 or 3, a second switch is provided between the output side of the position register and the transmission means, and the second switch is used to control the position register. A display device for an operator's console, characterized in that it is possible to select whether or not to send updated content to other image display control devices. (5) The display device for an operator's console according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the operating state of the first switch and the second switch is selected by the operation input means. Display device for console. (6) In the operator's console display device according to claim 2, the transmission means used for updating respective position registers with the image display control device includes the main control device, the storage device, and the A display device for an operator's console, characterized in that a data bus used for exchanging data with an image memory is shared. (7) The display device for an operator's console according to claim 3 or 4, further comprising display means for indicating the operating status of each of the first switching device and the second switching device. Display device.