JPS60121302A - Method of controlling actuator and device therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To simplify wiring and piping and secure operation of actuators, by incorporating an operating device and the like in the individual actuator, and commonly using a fluid supply system, electric system and control system. CONSTITUTION:An operating device 60, input/output circuit 54, detecting device 56 and driving device 58 are incorporated in an individual actuator 20. An optical fiber 32, lead wire 26 and pipe 22 connecting a computer with the individual actuator 20 are commonly used. With this arrangement, it is not necessary to provide lead wire for the individual actuator. Further, as a sequencer manifold is not required, it is possible to simplify wiring and piping and obtain secure operation of the actuator.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for controlling an actuator, and more particularly, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for controlling an actuator, and more specifically, a method and apparatus for controlling an actuator, and more specifically, for providing various functions such as a communication function, a storage function, and a program execution function to individual actuators arranged in a plurality. The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for controlling an actuator, which controls the actuator effectively.

Various actuators have been used and are 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.

For this reason, the control box and the 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 it has been confirmed that the control system including the sequencer cannot be made smaller.

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 4f constituting the controller 2 to individual manifold-type solenoid valves 6a to 6f. The air pressure supply system 8 reaches the air cylinders 10a to 10f via the electromagnetic valves 6a to 6f. On the other hand, in order to detect the operating positions of pistons (not shown) in the air cylinders 10a to 10f, each cylinder 10a is
A pair of limit switches (not shown) are provided at 10f to 10f, and in order to feed back the signals detected by these limit switches to the controller 2, the detection signal transmission wiring is separately provided, and this is connected to the detector 12a.
The actual situation is that they are connected to 12f to 12f. That is, controller 2 - solenoid valve 6, solenoid valve 6 - cylinder 10
Since a pair of conducting wires or tubes are arranged between the cylinder 10 and the controller 2, the configuration is extremely complicated and difficult to miniaturize.Moreover, since the connecting wires and tubes are long, the external signal system is It is easy to be affected by this, and it is not uncommon for malfunctions to occur.

Therefore, as a result of intensive research and efforts, the inventors of the present invention have developed a system that receives address signals and data signals sent from a computer to each actuator, converts the drive state into a signal, and converts the address signal and data signal to other actuators into signals. Incorporates a calculation device that transmits driving signals,
It has been found that if each actuator is commonly connected to the fluid supply system and control system, an actuator that is easy to control, does not malfunction, and has a simplified structure can be obtained, and the above-mentioned disadvantages can be eliminated. Ta.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an actuator control method and device that can easily achieve miniaturization, avoid malfunctions, simplify wiring and piping, and function effectively in a narrow space. is to provide.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention supplies predetermined fluid pressure, voltage/current, and control signals to a plurality of actuators that are connected to each other from a fluid supply system, a power supply system, and a control system that are shared by each actuator. Each of the actuators receives its own control signal from among the control signals based on the address it owns, energizes and controls the actuator based on this signal, and sends control signals to other actuators. Further, the actuator is energized and controlled based on a control signal transmitted from another actuator.

Furthermore, as a device for achieving the above object, the present invention has a fluid supply system, a power supply system, and a control system commonly connected to a plurality of actuators, and each of the actuators has at least an arithmetic unit and a control system. and a signal input/output circuit, wherein each actuator is energized based on its own control signal sent from the control system, and derives a control signal for another actuator from the respective control signal input/output circuit. It is characterized by being configured to do so.

Next, a method for controlling an actuator according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings, citing preferred embodiments in relation to the control device.

In FIG. 2, reference numerals 20a to 2Of indicate actuators arranged in relation to each other, and these actuators 20a to 2Of 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 so as to supply pressurized air as a driving source to the individual actuators 20a to 20f at approximately equal pressure.

On the other hand, the actuators 20a to 20f have conductive wires 26 connected in parallel to energize solenoid valves to be described later.
is connected, and this conductive wire 26 is connected to a power source 28. Furthermore, the actuator includes a computer 3.
An optical fiber 32 is connected to receive address and data signals from 0 serially or in parallel. In this case, the optical fiber 32 can be replaced with a coaxial cable. This improves noise resistance.

Next, the internal structure of the actuator configured as described above will be explained with reference to FIG. 3.

Each actuator 20 basically consists of a cylinder section 34 and a control section 36. The cylinder portion 34 has a piston 40 movably disposed inside the cylinder 38 and a piston rod 42 connected to the piston 40.
One end of the piston 40 extends outside the cylinder 38 to transmit the reciprocating motion of the piston 40 to another device (not shown).

Note that a first boat 44 and a second boat 46 are formed at both ends of the cylinder 38 for supplying and deriving air, respectively. A sensor 48 for detecting the like 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.
．． 6B, and the other side is connected to the arithmetic unit 60 via a bus line 70 (see FIG. 4).

The detection device 56 internally detects the velocity acceleration of the piston 40, the fluid pressure inside the cylinder 34, etc. via the sensor 48, and the results are sent to the calculation device 60 via the input/output circuit 54. Supplied. That is, the arithmetic device 60 includes therein a storage memory 72, a CPU 74, and a communication interface 75. The communication interface 75 takes in a data signal from a communication module or the like sent from the optical fiber 32 based on its own address, and sends it to the CPU 74 built therein. In addition, data signals related to the operation of the actuator are sent to the computer 30 together with address signals, or when the actuator is energized in a correlated manner such as moving an object in cooperation with other actuators, other actuators may be used. It is possible to transmit control signals for the actuators.

Therefore, a specific method of connecting the optical fiber 32, conduit 22, and conducting wire 26 that are connected in a loop to the individual actuators configured as described above 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 housing 50, and air supply tube fittings 80a, 80b and exhaust tube fittings 82a are connected to the respective sockets 76 and 78.
, 82b , connector 84a for conductor 26 , 84
b.

86a, 86b and a pair of optical fiber connectors 8
8a, 88b, 90a, and 90b are formed. As shown by the broken line, the air supply pipe joint 80a connects to the second socket 78.
It is connected to the air supply pipe joint 80b inside the housing 50, and the exhaust tube joint 82a is also connected in the same way as the pipe joint 82b. Conductor connector 84a184b,
86a, 86b and optical fiber connector 88
The same applies to a, 88b, 90a, and 90b. By configuring in this way, the air supply system,
The power supply system and control system are looped.

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

Air at a predetermined pressure is supplied to the pipe line 2 from the air supply sources 24a to 24c.
2, this air flows through the actuator 2
The air is introduced into the valve mechanism 52 via the pipe joint 80a at 0a, and 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 20f are connected in parallel, they are supplied one after another with equal pressure to the final pipe joint 82a,
When reaching 82b, the exhaust tube fitting 82a,
It is returned to the air supply via 82b. When the power supply 28 is energized, a predetermined voltage and current supplied from the power supply are sent through the conductive wire 26 and supplied to the drive device 58 and the like through the connectors 84a and 84b of the individual actuators.

On the other hand, the address signal and data signal of each actuator converted into optical signals sent from the optical fiber 32 reach the communication ink face 75 of the control unit 36 via the connectors 88a and 88b, and are transmitted to the communication ink face 75 of the control unit 36, and are transmitted to the communication ink face 75 of the control unit 36 via the connectors 88a and 88b. Only such data signals are 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 40 stored in the storage memory 70, and the processed signals are sent to the drive device 58.
energization and deenergization control of the valve mechanism 52 and the like. The detection device 56 sends a piston position signal etc. detected from the sensor 48 etc. to the input/output circuit 54.
sends this again to the arithmetic unit 60, stores it in the storage memory 70 as the latest data, and sends it to the computer 30 via the interface 74. Each actuator will be individually controlled by such a control system.

Note that in cases where a plurality of actuators are energized in a correlated manner, the address signal and data signal of the other actuators are sent from the calculation device 60 as described above, and the control of the actuator is performed based on these. It becomes possible to do so.

That is, communication regarding control between the actuators becomes possible, and correlation operations can be achieved more quickly and reliably than by centralized control performed by the CPU 72.

Note that 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 88 is provided for each actuator 20 to derive a signal from the optical fiber according to the address of each actuator. The optical fiber 32 and the computer 30 are connected via another connection device 90.

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 wiring for each actuator is not necessary, and furthermore, the sequencer manifold is also installed. It can be made unnecessary. Moreover, the fluid supply system, electrical system,
If the control system is 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, since the area occupied by wiring etc. is reduced, structural miniaturization is promoted, and various effects such as lower cost and improved reliability of the entire equipment can be achieved.

Although the present invention has been described above with reference to preferred embodiments, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, and various improvements and design changes can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention. Of course.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing the connection relationship between the actuator, piping system, and control system according to the prior art, and the transition to Fig. 2 is related to the present invention. An explanatory diagram showing the relationship between the looped fluid pressure supply system, electrical system, and control signal system that interconnects the actuator, FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the internal structure of the actuator, and FIG.
An explanatory diagram of the control section of the actuator. Fig. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the state in which the fluid pressure supply system, electrical system, and control signal system are connected to the control section of the actuator. Fig. 6 is an explanatory diagram of the state in which the actuator is connected in a loop shape. FIG. 7 is a perspective explanatory view of a state in which the fluid pressure supply system, electric system, and control system are put together. FIG. 7 is an explanatory view of an actuator connected to a loop-shaped control system via a branching device. 2. Controller 4. Driver 6. Solenoid valve 8. Air pressure supply system 10. Air cylinder 20. Actuator 22.
・Pipe line 24・・Air supply source 26・・Conductor 28・・・Power source 30・・・Computer 32・・Optical fiber 34・・・Cylinder part 36・・Control unit 38・・Cylinder 40・・Piston 42・・・Piston rod 44 ...First boat 46...
2nd boat 48... Sensor 50... Housing 52... Valve mechanism 5 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 line 72...Storage memory 74...CPU 75...Interface 76...First socket 78...
・Second socket 80.82・・Pipe joint 84.86・・
Connector 88... Branching device 90... Connecting device patent applicant Sintered Metal Industry Co., Ltd. 6

Claims (7)

[Claims] (1) Predetermined fluid pressure, voltage/current, and control signals are supplied to a plurality of actuators that are connected to each other from a shared fluid supply system, power supply system, and control system, and each of the actuators is independently owned. The actuator takes in its own control signal from among the control signals based on the address, energizes and controls the actuator based on this signal, and sends a control signal to another actuator, and the actuator sends a control signal from the other actuator. A method for controlling an actuator, characterized in that energization is controlled based on a control signal generated by the actuator. (2) A fluid supply system, a power supply system, and a control system are commonly connected to a plurality of actuators, each of the actuators is provided with at least an arithmetic unit and a control signal input/output circuit, and each of the actuators is , an actuator that is energized based on its own control signal sent from the control system, and further configured such that the actuator derives a control signal for another actuator from its control signal input/output circuit. control device. (3) An actuator control device according to claim 2, wherein each actuator is further provided with a communication function. (4) In the apparatus according to claim 2 or 3, the fluid supply system is an actuator control device comprising a pneumatic supply system or a hydraulic supply system. (5) An actuator control device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the control system includes an optical fiber or a coaxial cable as a control signal transmission means. (6) In the apparatus according to claim 2, the actuator is an actuator control device comprising a pneumatic cylinder with a valve. (7) In the device according to claim 2, the fluid supply system and the control system are arranged in a loop or star shape, and the plurality of actuators are branched from the system formed in the loop or star shape. A control device for the connected actuator.