JPH11338514A - Programmable controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a programmable controller which is made able to perform predetermined processes with one description element such as a contact and a coil. SOLUTION: On the programmable controller which processes a program described with ladder programs, at least one process content is made to correspond to one specific description element among predetermined specific description elements TX102, TX103, TY211, and TY212 as description elements such as contacts and coils at the time of the ladder programs are generated so that specific processes are executed when the description elements are selected.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to a programmable controller for executing a process described by a ladder program.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Programmable controllers are used to execute various processes in accordance with a program description called a ladder program and to control operations of machines and the like connected to the programmable controller. This programmable controller is sometimes called a sequencer or a programmable logic controller.

[0003] Among the processes using such a programmable controller, there is a process for detecting an operating position of a machine. For example, in order to detect the operating position of a cylinder, which is often used for mechanical operation, a signal from a limit switch provided on the cylinder is used to detect the cylinder operation limit (exit limit, return limit) based on the ON / OFF signal of the limit switch. ) Is detected and a lamp corresponding to the operation limit of the cylinder provided on the operation panel or the like is turned on.

In such a process of detecting the operation limit of the cylinder and displaying the same on the operation panel, in a normal case, the cylinder is actually determined based on the positional relationship between the cylinder and the limit switch detecting the operation limit. The limit switch is turned on and off before the operation limit is completely reached. For this reason, when a ladder program for executing the above processing is set, a delay processing corresponding to a time lag from detection of the operation limit by the limit switch to reaching the actual operation limit is incorporated. Note that the above time lag varies in various ways depending on the configuration of the machine.

[0005]

Conventionally, when a ladder program including a program for such a delay processing is created, a contact X102 corresponding to a limit switch is usually provided as shown in FIG. In order to adjust the delay time, a coil T09A for performing a delay processing for a fixed time (here, 1 second) by a timer inside the programmable controller, a contact T09A for detecting the state of the coil, and a delay processing for performing a delay processing at the time of output. A coil T09B, a contact T09B for detecting the state of the coil, and a coil Y211 for outputting a signal to turn on the lamp according to the state of the coil.

As described above, it is necessary to incorporate a plurality of contacts and coils only for obtaining a time lag from detection of one operation to display of the result (lamp lighting). Such an example is very simple. Actually, since there are tens, hundreds, or thousands of contacts, the creation of such a program itself requires much time and labor.

Also, since the actual operating part does not correspond to the coil for performing the delay by the timer, when debugging the assembled ladder program, just looking at the ladder program shows what kind of coil or contact is. In some cases, the number of contacts on the ladder program should be as small as possible. Therefore, there is a demand that the unsupported coils and contacts such as external switches be omitted as much as possible.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a programmable controller capable of executing predetermined processes by using a description element such as a single contact or a coil for predetermined processes.

[0009]

The object of the present invention is achieved by the following means.

(1) In a programmable controller for processing a program described by a ladder program, a description element selected for a predetermined specific description element as a description element when creating the ladder program is selected. A programmable controller characterized in that at least one process is previously associated with one specific description element and stored so that a specific process is sometimes executed.

(2) The programmable controller according to the present invention, wherein the specific description element is expressed by adding an address for associating the content of the specific processing with the specific description element.

(3) The specific description element is a contact for detecting ON / OFF of a signal, a coil for outputting a signal, and a coil for executing an internal process. controller.

(4) The programmable controller, wherein the specific process is a process for performing a time delay process.

(5) The programmable controller, wherein the specific process is a process in which a plurality of processes are put together.

[0015]

According to the present invention described above, the following effects can be obtained for each claim.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, by associating a specific process element with a specific description element of the ladder program, one specific description element is described when forming the ladder program. As a result, it is possible to execute a specific processing content, and it is possible to simplify the description of the ladder program as compared with a case where a certain processing is described by a plurality of description elements as in the past. ,
Creating and debugging programs becomes easier.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the specific processing is associated with the specific description element by the address assigned to each description element of the ladder program, and therefore, it is desired to execute the specific processing. The specific processing can be executed only by writing the address for associating the specific processing with the description element, so that the contents of the ladder program can be simplified and the program can be created. And debugging becomes easier.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the specific description element corresponding to the specific processing is a contact point or a coil, so that the specific processing element can be used for the input ON / OFF state. Can be executed, and specific processing can be executed for the output operation.

According to the present invention, a time delay process is performed as the specific process. Therefore, by describing one contact or a coil, the ON / OFF state of the contact is described. And a time delay process can be executed for the output operation of the coil.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, as the specific process, a process in which a plurality of processes are put together is executed. It becomes possible to execute a plurality of processes described above.

[0021]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG.
An embodiment of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a programmable controller to which the present invention is applied. It should be noted that the configuration of the programmable controller shown here is the simplest configuration for understanding the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to the programmable controller having such a simple configuration, but may be a general controller. The present invention can be applied to a programmable controller.

The programmable controller includes a program processing unit 1 for executing a program described by a ladder program, a storage unit 2 for storing a ladder program and predetermined processing contents described later, and a programmable controller. Input ports IN1, IN2, IN3,... To which signals from switches provided in the controlled machine are input, and a plurality of output ports OUT1 and OUT2 for outputting processing results of the programmable controller to the machine. , OUT3,
, And a timer 3 for performing processing only inside the programmable controller is built in the programmable controller.

The input port and the output port are respectively connected to switches and lamps of a mechanical device controlled by the programmable controller 10. Specifically, the input ports IN1, IN2, IN3,.
For example, the output ports OUT1, OUT2, and OUT are connected so that outputs of mechanical devices such as limit switches for detecting an output limit and a return limit of a cylinder or the like are input.
Are connected to switches for turning on and off lamps and the like provided on the operation panel, switches for executing and stopping the operation of the mechanical device, and the like. Each of these input ports and output ports is individually assigned an address for identifying each port.

The basic operation of the programmable controller is to execute a ladder program to sequentially scan each input port and output port specified by the ladder program, and read out a change in a signal from each input port. , And outputs a signal to each output port. When internal processing is required, the internal processing is executed according to a ladder program.

In such a programmable controller, an address given to an input port and an output port (hereinafter simply referred to as a port) is conventionally simply used to identify the port. However, in the present embodiment, in addition to an address for simply identifying each port, an address corresponding to a specific process in advance is provided for each port as an address corresponding to the port.

FIG. 2 shows such an embodiment.
5 is a diagram showing addresses associated with each port and table data indicating what processing is performed on the addresses.

As shown, for each port, a port address for simply identifying the port, an address (processing address) in which a specific process is associated with each port, and The contents (processing contents) are described. Here, the address to which X is assigned (X102, X103,..., Etc.) is the address of the input port, and the address to which Y is assigned (Y211,
Y212,...) Are the addresses of the output ports.
Those with T (TX102, TX103,
, TY211, TY212,...) Are addresses to which a delay process by a timer is associated as a specific process. Therefore, TX102, TX103,... Are addresses at which timer delay processing is associated with input ports, and TY211, TY212,.

Here, the on-delay of the processing contents means that when an ON signal is received at the port,
Alternatively, this is a time during which delay processing is executed when outputting and the set value at that time is delayed. Similarly, the off-delay is a process of executing a delay process when an off signal is received or output at the port, and the set value at that time is a delay time.

The processing content associated with each port in this manner is one processing (TX102, TX103) for an address indicating one port such as X102 or X103.
103), or a plurality of processes (TX1041, TX1042) may correspond to an address indicating one port such as X104.
However, each address must be unique. Note that port addresses (X102, X103, Y2
, Y212,...) And addresses (TX102, TX103, TY)
, 211, TY212,...) May be used simultaneously in the same program.

Each of these addresses is stored in the storage unit 2 as a data table as shown in FIG. 2 and the corresponding processing contents are stored in the storage unit 2. When the ladder program is executed, the ladder program is executed. When a contact or coil, which is a description element of the program, is read, each process corresponding to the address indicated on the contact or coil is executed. As for the set value which is the delay processing time, the time (set value) itself may be stored in advance, but may be set when the ladder program is created.

Here, a specific example of a ladder program executed by such a programmable controller will be described. Here, a ladder program for detecting the limit of the cylinder and the limit of the return and adjusting the time lag with respect to the detected signal will be described as an example, as in the case of the related art.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a ladder program to be executed by the programmable controller according to the present embodiment.

As shown in the figure, the ladder program includes a contact TX102, which is a description element with an address corresponding to delay processing at the time of input, and a coil, which is a description element with an address corresponding to delay processing on the output. TY21
1 is described.

The ladder program thus created is stored in the storage unit 2 and executed in the program processing unit 1. At this time, the program processing unit 1 executes each process with reference to the table data shown in FIG. Therefore, when the contact TX102 is read, the one-second on-delay processing is associated in advance, and the port address X102 is read by this one contact.
When the signal is turned on, the timer 3 is operated for one second to execute the delay processing. Similarly, in the TY211, the one-second on-delay processing is also associated in advance, so that when outputting a signal to the port address Y211, the signal is actually output one second after the signal output command. To run.

As can be seen by comparing FIG. 3 with FIG. 7 described above, when a ladder program for performing the same processing is created, the ladder program for the programmable controller according to the present embodiment is simpler than the conventional ladder program. Will be. In addition, the shortening of the program itself makes debugging easier, and the address shown on the contact or coil indicates what processing is included in the description element such as the contact or coil. Since the code (here, the letter of T is added to the head of the port address) is attached, it is easy to know what processing is performed at the contact point, so that debugging is also easy in this regard.

Although the above description has been made by taking as an example the case where a delay process is performed by a timer as a specific process, the present invention is not limited to such a timer process, and various processes are previously associated with each other. I can put it.

For example, among the processes in the programmable controller, there are cases where a plurality of processes are repeatedly executed. In this case, the plurality of processes are grouped as a specific process and corresponded to one contact in advance. Will be described.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the addresses of the internal auxiliary relays in which a plurality of such processes are collectively associated with each other, and the contents of the processes.

Here, as shown in the figure, X102, X104, X
The process in which the port addresses of 106 and X108 are connected in series is associated with each other.
3, X105 are connected in parallel.

FIG. 5 shows an example of a ladder program using an internal auxiliary relay in which a plurality of processes are associated with each other.

As shown, the ladder program uses the internal auxiliary relay address RX102 as a contact and connects the coil Y211 to the output.
The actual processing by the ladder program is performed by the internal auxiliary relay RX102 on X102, X104, X10
6, when all X108 are turned on, the coil Y211
Will output a signal.

When this is assembled as a ladder program to be executed by a conventional programmable controller, a plurality of contacts (X
102, X104, X106, X108) and the output coil (Y211).

As can be seen by comparing FIGS. 5 and 6, processing by a plurality of contacts is grouped together so that it can be described by one contact by one internal auxiliary relay address. As described above, the ladder program is simplified and its debugging is also facilitated. This is particularly effective when a plurality of processes are repeatedly output many times.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a basic configuration of a programmable controller to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of addresses used in the programmable controller and processing contents thereof.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a specific example of a ladder program executed in the programmable controller.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing another example of addresses used in the programmable controller and processing contents thereof.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing another example of a ladder program executed in the programmable controller.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a ladder program executed in a conventional programmable controller.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing another example of a ladder program executed in a conventional programmable controller.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1. Program processing unit 2. Storage unit 3. Timer.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A programmable controller that processes a program described by a ladder program, wherein the ladder program includes:
At least one process is previously associated with one specific description element so that a specific process is executed when the description element is selected for the predetermined specific description element. A programmable controller characterized by being stored. 2. The programmable controller according to claim 1, wherein the specific description element is expressed by adding an address for associating the content of the specific processing with the specific description element. 3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the specific description element is a contact for detecting on / off of a signal, a coil for outputting a signal, and a coil for executing internal processing. 3. The programmable controller according to 1 or 2. 4. The programmable controller according to claim 1, wherein the specific process is a process of performing a time delay process. 5. The programmable controller according to claim 1, wherein the specific process is a process in which a plurality of processes are integrated.