JPH05274009A - Monitor device for programmable controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To monitor the necessary state information with high efficiency by securing a constitution where the state information to be monitored is selected and acquired and then displayed. CONSTITUTION:Only the state information to be monitored that is selected out of a programmable controller 2 by a state information selector means is acquired by a state information acquiring means. Then the state information is shown on a display means 11. Thus only the necessary information can be acquired from the controller 2. As a result, the processing efficiency is improved and only the necessary state information can be effectively monitored.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a monitor device, and more particularly to a monitor device for a programmable control device connectable to a programmable control device which outputs a control signal according to a stored control procedure.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A programmable control device is provided for automatically controlling a controlled object such as a machine tool. The programmable control device stores a control procedure program created by a user, and generates and outputs a control signal according to the stored control procedure program based on an input signal from the outside.

The control procedure program stored in such a programmable control device is created using a programming console or a personal computer. A programming console or personal computer can be connected to the programmable control device so that the control procedure program can be created and edited, and the operating state of the programmable control device can be displayed on the display unit and monitored. ing.

In particular, the personal computer can create the control procedure program in the ladder diagram format.
The created control procedure program in the ladder diagram format is converted into a mnemonic format and further converted into an intermediate code. The programmable control device which has received the control procedure program of the intermediate code from the personal computer stores the control procedure program of the intermediate code, further compiles it into machine code and executes it.

The personal computer also has a function of reading the control procedure program of the intermediate code stored in the programmable control device, reversely converting it, and displaying it on the display unit as a control procedure program of the ladder diagram format. .. As this type of personal computer, there is known a personal computer that displays a control procedure program in a ladder diagram format during operation of a programmable control device and changes an input / output relay on the display according to an operating state.

There is also known a device which designates a signal to be displayed by the programmable control device and displays the state of the signal designated from the signal transferred from the programmable control device to the personal computer (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-277904). Publication).

[0007]

In the former prior art,
All state changes of input / output contacts on the ladder diagram displayed on one screen are displayed. For this reason, it is difficult to distinguish between the contact that you actually want to monitor and the contact that you do not want to monitor.
The monitor display of the desired contact is difficult to see.

In the latter prior art, all the signals transferred from the programmable control device are received, and the designated signal is selected and displayed from the signals. For this reason, it is necessary to transfer an unnecessary signal, the area for storing the transferred signal becomes large, and the processing for that requires a long time, which deteriorates the processing efficiency for monitoring.

An object of the first invention is to enable necessary status information to be efficiently monitored. An object of the second invention is to improve the visibility of the monitor display.

[0010]

A monitor device according to a first aspect of the present invention is connectable to a programmable control device that receives an input signal from the outside and outputs a control signal according to a stored control procedure program. , State information selection means, state information acquisition means, and display means. The status information selection means selects status information to be monitored by the control procedure program. The state information acquisition means is
The state information selected by the state information selecting means is obtained from the programmable control device. The display means displays the status information acquired by the status information acquisition means.

A monitor device according to a second aspect of the present invention is connectable to a programmable control device that receives an input signal from the outside and outputs a control signal in accordance with a stored control procedure. Means, display control means, and selection means are provided. The display means
A ladder diagram corresponding to the control procedure and including input / output elements is displayed. The status information acquisition means acquires status information of the input / output element to be monitored from the programmable control device.
The state control means changes the state display of the input / output element on the ladder diagram based on the state information. The selection means selects the input / output element changed by the display control means.

[0012]

In the programmable controller monitoring device according to the first aspect of the present invention, only the status information of the monitor target selected by the status information selecting means is acquired by the status information acquiring means, and the acquired status information is displayed on the display means. It Therefore, it is possible to obtain not only all the state information but only the necessary state information from the programmable control device, the processing efficiency is improved, and the necessary state information can be efficiently monitored.

In the programmable controller monitor of the second invention, when the ladder diagram including the input / output elements is displayed by the display means, the status information of the input / output elements to be monitored acquired by the status information acquisition means is displayed. Based on this, the display of input / output elements is changed on the ladder diagram. This input / output element can be selected by the selection means.
Therefore, only the display of necessary input / output elements can be changed on the ladder diagram. This can further improve the high visibility in the case of a monitor using a ladder diagram.

[0014]

1 shows a personal computer and a programmable controller according to an embodiment of the present invention. A personal computer 1 as a monitor device is connected to a programmable control device 2 via a communication line 3 of RS232C standard.

The programmable control device 2 has a rectangular parallelepiped case 4. On the upper part of the front surface of the case 4, a plurality of input terminals 5 are arranged side by side in the lateral direction. Further, a plurality of output terminals 6 are similarly arranged side by side in the lateral direction on the lower part. Various switches such as a push button switch and a limit switch, a sensor, and the like can be connected to the input terminal 5. Further, the output terminal 6 can be connected with a relay, a solenoid, a lamp or the like as a controlled object. A mounting flange 7 is provided on the back side of the case 4 for mounting this device to equipment such as a machine tool.

The personal computer 1 has a control section 10 as shown in FIG. The control unit 10 is a CP
It is provided with U15, ROM16, RAM17 and the like. The control unit 10 is also connected to a (LCD) 11, a keyboard 12, a memory card drive 13, a flexible disk drive (FDD) 14, a hard disk drive (HDD) 21, and an RS232C interface 22 via a bus 18. As shown in FIG. 1, a memory card 24 can be attached to the memory card drive 13, and a flexible disk 23 can be attached to the FDD 14.

The RAM 17 is used not only as an internal memory but also as a storage area for the designated monitor contact table 25 and the monitor buffer 26. HDD2
1 includes a ladder diagram information file 2 that includes information such as contact positions and figures in the ladder diagram of the sequence program.
7. A designation file 28 and the like in which the information is stored when the contact point is designated by the ladder diagram are stored.

The flexible disk 23 which can be housed in the FDD 14 has an operation system, a development support program for supporting the development of a sequence program for the programmable controller, and various tables and front ends referred to in the development support program. The processor etc. are recorded. Next, the operation of the above-described embodiment will be described while explaining the contents of the development support program. 3 to 5 are control flowcharts of the development support program.

First, the flexible disk 23 is set in the flexible drive 14 of the personal computer 1, and the contents of the flexible disk 23 are taken into the internal memory of the personal computer 1. Based on the automatic start-up function of the operation system, when the development support program starts up, the processes shown in FIGS. 3 to 5 are executed.

In step S1 of FIG. 3, initialization such as clearing the designated monitor contact table 25 and the monitor buffer 26 is performed. In steps S2 to S6,
It waits for a command from the keyboard 12 by the operator. When the monitor command is input, the process proceeds from step S2 to step S7, and the monitor processing subroutine shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 is executed. If a program creation command is issued, the process proceeds from step S3 to step S8, and a program creation process such as inputting a sequence program in a ladder diagram format and converting it into a mnemonic format is performed. If it is determined that the command is an edit command, the process proceeds from step S4 to step S9. In step S9, the created ladder diagram format or mnemonic format sequence program is edited. If it is determined to be another command, the process proceeds from step S5 to step S10. In step S10, another process according to the command is performed. If the end of the development support program is instructed, the determination in step S6 is Y.
The program becomes ES and the program ends. On the other hand, when the end command is not issued or when the processing by each of the above commands is completed, the process returns to step S2 to wait for the next command.

In the monitor procedure, steps S11-S11.
In step S13, the operator waits for a command from the keyboard 4. When the contact setting command is issued, the process proceeds from step S11 to step S14. Here, the contact setting is a process for making settings for monitoring the states of input / output contacts on a ladder diagram and input / output elements (hereinafter referred to as contacts) such as timers and counters in timer commands and count commands. is there. If the contact is set here, the state of the contact of the input / output command and the operating state at the time of operation by the timer or counter command can be monitored.

In step S14, the ladder diagram information is read from the ladder diagram information file 27 in the HDD 21.
The ladder diagram information to be read here may be the ladder diagram information created by the program creation process. Alternatively, the sequence program of the intermediate code stored in the programmable control device 2 is read out and inversely converted into the ladder diagram format. It may be the one obtained. Step S
At 15, the read ladder diagram information is displayed on the LCD 11. In step S16, a pointing device such as a mouse, a cursor key, or the like is used to specify an input / output contact or a contact such as a counter or a timer on the displayed ladder diagram. If the input / output relay is specified here, the on / off state of the specified input / output relay is displayed at the time of monitor display described later, and if the timer, counter, etc. are specified, the values of the timer, counter, etc. are displayed. In step S17, the designated contact is written in the designated file. When this process ends, the process returns to step S11.

When the monitor display is instructed, the process shifts from step S12 to step S18. Step S18
Then, the monitor display routine shown in FIG. 5 is executed. When the end command is input in step S13, the process returns to the main routine, and when the end command is not issued, the process returns to step S11. In the monitor display routine, the designated file 28 is read in step S21 of FIG. When the designated file 28 is read, the read contents are stored in the RAM 17
It is stored in the designated monitor contact table 25 therein. In step S22, it is determined from the contents of the designated monitor contact table 25 whether or not a contact has been designated. If it is determined that the contact is designated, the process proceeds from step S22 to step S23. In step S23, the ladder diagram information file 27 is read, the ladder diagram is displayed, and the designated contacts are sequentially read from the designated monitor contact table 25 one by one. Then, information such as the display position of the designated contact is created. In step S24, it is determined whether or not the designated contact read from the designated monitor contact table 25 is displayed on the monitor based on the ladder diagram information file, and whether or not to monitor. If it is determined to monitor, the process proceeds from step S24 to step S25.

In step S25, the contact to be monitored is registered in the monitor buffer 26. The registered content is also transferred to the monitor buffer in the programmable control device 2. When the monitor registration is completed, the process proceeds to step S26. Also, if it is determined in step S24 that the contacts do not match, the process proceeds to step S26. In step S26, it is determined whether or not it is determined whether or not monitor registration is possible for the contacts of one screen of the sequence program. If all the contacts have not been checked, the process returns to step S22. When all the contacts are checked, the process moves from step S26 to step S27.

In step S27, the monitor result data of the contact registered as the monitor is collected. The collected data is stored in the monitor buffer 26. Step S28
Then, the collected monitor results are displayed on the LCD 11.
For example, when the contacts 50 to 54 are designated in the ladder diagram format sequence program as shown in FIG. 6, the contents are temporarily stored in the designated file 28 and stored in the designated monitor contact table 25 at the time of monitor display. After the monitor contact is determined, the contact is the monitor buffer 26.
Be registered with. Then, the monitoring results are collected only for the registered contacts, and the monitoring results are displayed only for the registered contacts. Here, for example, on the LCD 11, the display is reversed only when the signal is turned on. When the timer command 52 is designated, the timer command 5
The current count value of the timer is displayed at the lower right of 2. In the example of FIG. 6, counting 100 times in 0.001 seconds,
A timer command to operate a 0.1 second timer is described, which indicates that the count is currently 65.

In step S29, it is determined whether the screen switching key has been pressed. This screen switching key
It is operated when you want to display the front and back of the displayed sequence program. If it is determined that the screen switching key has not been pressed, the process proceeds from step S29 to step S30. In step S30, it is determined whether the add / delete key has been pressed. If it is determined that the add / delete key is not pressed, the process proceeds from step S30 to step S31. In step S31, it is determined whether the end key has been pressed. When it is determined that the end key has been pressed, the process returns to the monitor processing routine. If it is determined that the end key has not been pressed, the process returns to step S27, and the monitor results are collected again.

When the screen switching key is pressed, the process proceeds from step S29 to step S33. In step S33, screen switching processing is performed. When the screen switching process is performed, the process returns to step S22. If the add / delete key is pressed, steps S30 to S3
Move to 2. In step S32, the process of adding / deleting the contacts to be monitored is performed. When the addition / deletion process is performed here, the contents of the designated monitor contact table 25 are rewritten and updated with new contents. When this process ends, the process moves to step S33 to perform the screen switching process, and then returns to step S22.

If it is determined in step S22 that the designated contact does not exist, the process proceeds to step S34. In step S34, all contacts displayed in one screen are registered in the monitor buffer 26. When this process ends, the process moves to step S27. In this case, monitor information is collected and displayed for all contacts. In the above embodiment, the contents of the contacts to be monitored are set, only the contents of the set contacts are fetched from the programmable control device 2, and the fetched contact information is displayed on the ladder diagram, which is unnecessary. It is not necessary to transfer the contact information, and the transfer process can be efficiently performed in a short time. Further, since only the desired contact change state is displayed on the ladder diagram, the visibility when monitoring the execution state of the sequence program is improved.

[0029]

In the programmable controller monitoring device of the first aspect of the present invention, the monitoring target state information is selected, the selected state information is acquired, and the acquired state information is displayed. It is not necessary to acquire various status information, and the necessary status information can be efficiently monitored.

In the monitoring device for the programmable control device of the second invention, since the change in the state information of the selected input / output object can be monitored on the ladder diagram, the high level in the case of the monitor using the ladder diagram can be obtained. The visibility can be further improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a personal computer as an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a control block diagram thereof.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a development support program.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a development support program.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a development support program.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a display state of an LCD.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Personal Computer 2 Programmable Control Device 3 Communication Line 10 Control Unit 11 LCD 12 Keyboard 14 Flexible Disk Drive 17 RAM 21 Hard Disk Drive 23 Flexible Disk 25 Designated Monitor Contact Table 26 Monitor Buffer 27 Ladder Diagram Information File 28 Designated File

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A monitor device for a programmable control device, which is connectable to a programmable control device that receives an input signal from the outside and outputs a control signal according to a stored control procedure program, which is a monitoring target of the control procedure program. Status information selection means for selecting status information, status information acquisition means for acquiring status information selected by the status information selection means from the programmable control device, and display for displaying status information acquired by the status information acquisition means And a monitor device for a programmable control device, comprising: 2. A monitor device for a programmable control device that can be connected to a programmable control device that receives an input signal from the outside and outputs a control signal in accordance with a stored control procedure, which corresponds to the control procedure and is input / output. Display means for displaying a ladder diagram including elements, state information output means for obtaining state information of the input / output element to be monitored from the programmable control device, and the input / output on the ladder diagram based on the state information A monitor device for a programmable control device, comprising: display control means for changing a state display of an element; and selection means for selecting the input / output element changed by the display control means.