JPH05157590A - Multiple signal measuring device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To make measurement efficient with the use of a software of a personal computer PC by connecting a multitude of interface boxes IB in series and connecting the one end of the IB and a personal computer PC by way of a transmission line. CONSTITUTION:When a signal take in command is produced from the MPU6 of IB2, the signal voltage input in a voltage input terminal 1 is switched by an analog scanner 7, transmitted in turn to an analog amplifier 8 and stored in a memory 10. The memory 10 combines the signals of used channels and forwards to a memory 11. When a transmission command is produced, the data in the memory 11 is forwarded to the memory 11 in the front by way of transmission terminals 12 and the first step IB data is forwarded to the PC's memory. Likewise, as m times of transmission command are produced, IB input signals from m sets are totally forwarded to the PC. As unused channels are ignored, the signals of used channel specified in advance are combined and recorded in the PC's memory.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a multipoint signal measuring device for measuring a voltage signal of an arbitrary number using a personal computer (hereinafter referred to as "PC").

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a multipoint signal measuring means for measuring a large number of sensor signals transmitted from a thermocouple, a flowmeter, etc. using a PC, a method of mounting an interface card on the PC, a dedicated interface box (IB) The method of making and joining is done.

However, according to these methods, there are problems that the number of input points and the signal level to be handled are limited, and that the command for controlling the input signal to the PC is complicated. Therefore, there is no known practical method of using a PC for measuring multipoint signals.

[0004]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION As a result of intensive studies on the practical mechanism of using a PC for multipoint signal measurement, the inventors of the present invention have minimized the function of the interface box and have a plurality of interfaces. It was clarified that a flexible and low-cost multi-point signal measuring device can be produced by designing a PC to have a control function for performing complex multi-point measurement by providing a buffer memory that can freely connect boxes.

The present invention was developed on the basis of the above findings, and an object thereof is to provide a highly practical multipoint signal measuring apparatus using a PC.

[0006]

A multipoint signal measuring device according to the present invention for achieving the above object comprises a plurality of voltage input terminals connected to a measuring instrument sensor and two transmission terminals, and a transmission terminal. A structural feature is that a plurality of interface boxes having a data buffer memory are connected in series, and the interface boxes and a personal computer are connected via a transmission line.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the system configuration of a multipoint signal measuring apparatus according to the present invention, where PC is a personal computer and IB is an interface box. A plurality of IBs 2 having a plurality of voltage input terminals 1 are connected in series via a transmission cable 3, and one end IB 2 is connected to a PC 5 by a transmission line 4.

The IB2 has a transmission data buffer memory built therein as shown in the block diagram of the internal mechanism of FIG.
It works as follows. When the signal capture command is generated from the MPU 6, the signal voltage input to the voltage input terminal 1 is switched by the analog scanner 7 and sequentially transmitted to the analog amplifier 8. The amplification factor of the analog amplifier 8 is sequentially switched to a value programmed in advance corresponding to the input voltage span, converted into a constant voltage and sent to the AD converter 9. The digitalized signal is temporarily recorded in the memory 10. Although the signal of n channel is recorded in the memory 10,
The unused channel signals are discarded, the used channel signals are concatenated and transferred to the memory 11.

Although a plurality of IBs are connected in series, when a transmission command is generated, the data in the memory 11 is transferred to the memory 11 at the preceding stage through the transmission terminal 12. Then, the IB data of the first stage is transferred to the memory of the PC.
In this way, for example, when m transmission commands are generated, all m IB input signals are transferred to the PC. Also, since unused channels are ignored, the signals of the pre-designated used channels are concatenated to P
It is recorded in the memory of C.

A temperature compensating transistor 14 is attached to the analog scanner 7 and is designed to measure the temperature of the input terminal and transfer it to the PC at the same time as the input signal. It is used as a cold junction compensation signal when measuring a thermocouple.

The functions of the PC are setting of measurement conditions, setting of channel parameters for each input terminal of each IB, database file of measurement signals, and other auxiliary functions. Of these, the measurement conditions are set by inputting the total number of measurement points, the measurement period, the measurement period, etc. from the keyboard, and the channel parameters are set by the voltage level of the input signal and the signal type (for example, the type of thermocouple) in each IB. ) And the like are input from the keyboard to set them respectively. The database file is created by converting the voltage of the measurement signal into a physical quantity such as temperature and flow rate, inputting a control command for giving a name and making a file, from the keyboard. The auxiliary function inputs commands such as graph display of measurement signals and data transfer from the keyboard.

[0012]

According to the multipoint signal measuring method of the present invention, an IB having a plurality of voltage input terminals and two points of transmission terminals is connected in series and coupled to a PC so that the IB is built in the PC. It is possible to manage practical multipoint signals by database management and graphic display using existing software. Further, the IB has analog inputs of a plurality of channels, and the number of input channels can be easily increased by connecting a large number of them.

[0013]

EXAMPLE FIG. 3 is a system configuration diagram for measuring the temperature of a large heat treatment furnace by using the multipoint signal measuring apparatus of the present invention. The heat treatment furnace comprises a heating zone 15 having a length of 90 m and a cooling zone 16 having a length of 60 m. Thermocouples 17 (90 points in total) are embedded in the furnace wall of the heating zone 15 at 3 m intervals in the upper and lower three stages, and on the furnace wall of the cooling zone 16 thermocouples 17 (total 24 points in the upper and lower two stages at 5 m intervals). The points are buried and the temperature inside the furnace can be measured. A radiation thermometer 18 is set at each outlet of the heating zone 15 and the cooling zone 16. The heat treatment material 19 moves on the conveying roller 20 and passes through the heat treatment furnace in 5 to 10 hours.

A total of 7 IB2s were connected in series to the above heat treatment furnace. Since these IBs are dispersed and placed in the vicinity of the furnace, the length of the signal line can be significantly shortened. The voltage of the thermocouple 17 and the radiation thermometer 18 and the temperature conversion table are stored in the PC 5, and the voltage is converted into the temperature and stored in the database each time measurement is performed. In this way, the PC output example (measurement record table) when the output signal is measured at 5 minute intervals and recording is performed every 30 minutes is as shown in Table 1. Also, if you enter the file number and measurement time, the time transition of the file data will be P
It is displayed on the CRT of C.

[0015]

[Table 1] Measurement time 12:00 on February 19, 1991 ────────────────────────────────── ── Ch number File name Temperature (℃) Comment ──────────────────────────────────── 1 HTC-1 429 Heating zone upper stage No.1 thermocouple 2 HTC-2 422 ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ 90 HTC-90 992 91 HRP-1 981 Heating zone outlet radiation thermometer 92 CTC-1 651 Upper stage cooling zone No.1 thermocouple ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ ・ 116 CTC-24 28 117 CRP-125 Cooling zone exit radiation thermometer ────────────────── ──────────────────

[0016]

As described above, according to the present invention, various voltage signals generated at a manufacturing site or a laboratory are connected to a plurality of interface boxes, and measurement is performed as a multipoint signal using software of a personal computer. Can be performed efficiently. Therefore, great practicality is exhibited in system construction such as database management of measurement.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a system configuration of a multipoint signal measuring apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing internal functions of an interface box (IB) of the multipoint signal measuring apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a temperature measurement system configuration diagram of a large heat treatment furnace according to an embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 voltage input terminal 2 IB (interface box) 3 transmission cable 4 transmission line 5 PC (personal computer) 6 MPU 7 analog scanner 8 analog amplifier 9 AD converter 10 memory 11 memory 12 transmission terminal 13 transmission terminal 14 temperature compensation Transistor 15 Heating zone 16 Cooling zone 17 Thermocouple 18 Radiation thermometer 19 Heat treatment material 20 Conveying roller

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of interface boxes each having a plurality of voltage input terminals connected to a measuring instrument sensor and two transmission terminals and having a transmission data buffer memory built therein are connected in series, and the interface box and a personal computer are connected. A multipoint signal measuring device characterized in that a computer is connected via a transmission line.