JPS6121507A - Monitor device of programmable controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To allow a person to conduct an operating test of an object part simply by providing a portable remote monitor incorporating a receiver receiving a control input/output signal transmitted in radio while confirming visually the equipment state in the field. CONSTITUTION:The portable remote monitor 30 consists of an antenna 38 receiving a control input/output signal transmitted in radio, a display device 35, and a voice output/input switch 37. Further, a monitor main body 20 comprises a CRT24, a keyboard 25 and a transmission antenna and is connected to a programmable controller main body 10 by a cable 12. In conducting the operating test, a control input signal from photoelectric switches 43, 44, 45 and a control output signal driving a motor 42 registered as a remote monitor object, the monitor 30 is arranged near a conveyor 41 to observe the movement of the object part visually. Then the change in each control input/output signal is confirmed by the display and report of the device 30 and the operating test is conducted by comparing and collating them. That is, the operating test of the object part is conducted simply by one person.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] <Technical Field of the Invention> - The present invention relates to a programmable controller (hereinafter abbreviated as PC) used to control various processes, machines, and equipment, and in particular, to a programmable controller (hereinafter abbreviated as PC) used for controlling various processes, machines, and equipment, and in particular, The present invention relates to a monitor device for checking operation.

<Prior art and its problems> When a PC is applied to control mainly sequence control of processes and machines/equipment, it is necessary to analyze in detail not only the operation timing of each part of the controlled system but also the processing timing leg of the PC. , a program is designed. However, in the end, we apply the completed program to the target system and perform an operation test to discover and correct any malfunctions.
Systems are often completed by driving various parameters to their optimum values.

An operation test of a PC-applied system is performed by checking the transition state between certain control input/output signals and by comparing the transition state of the control input signal and the operating state of the equipment.

In a typical PC, a display lamp is provided corresponding to each control input/output signal, and the logical state of each signal is displayed by blinking the lamp. This indicator lamp is normally installed on the control turnout signal terminal board (=t19).Select the indicator lamp you want to inspect from among the many indicator lamps arranged on the board, and make that lamp blink. It is very difficult to monitor the signal closely and mistakes are likely to occur.Moreover, monitoring work such as mutually comparing the blinking timing of a plurality of display lamps is even more difficult.

In general, the PC main body and input/output terminal board are so-called *
It is housed in an i-control panel and installed at a certain distance from the control target. If the controlled object is large-scale and occupies a large space, the distance between the PC and each part of the controlled object will be large, and it will be difficult to visually check the actual operation of the controlled object at the same time as monitoring the signal using the indicator lamp mentioned above. become unable. In other words,
It is difficult for a single worker to efficiently and accurately perform an operation test that correlates the actual movement of a controlled object with the transition of control input/output signals of a PC.

By the way, a relatively large-scale and high-end PC is equipped with a dedicated monitor device. According to this type of monitoring device,
It is possible to arbitrarily specify a plurality of control input/output signals from among a large number of control input/output signals, and display only the transitions of the specified signals in a relatively easy-to-see format.

Furthermore, there are sophisticated monitor devices that convert a program into a sequence circuit and display it, and additionally display the status of control input/output signals in the circuit.

However, the conventional C) deviation monitor device is also integrated into the PC main body or is connected to the PC main body with a signal cable, and is installed together with the PC main body and is intended to centrally monitor the entire system. It is something. Therefore, when moving away from the installation point of the monitor device, the transition of the control input/output signal of the monitor device is checked while visually confirming the actual movement of the controlled object. You can't do something like that.

At the trial run stage of a PC-applied system, it would be possible to have a worker near the motor control perform an inspection that compares the change timing of a certain control input/output signal with the starting timing of a certain motor over a long period of time, for example. Very convenient. However, conventional monitoring devices have not been useful for this type of inspection. There are many similar cases in reality.

<Objective of the Invention> The object of the present invention is to enable one person to easily conduct an operation test in which the movement of a certain part of the controlled object is visually checked on-site and the transition of related control input/output signals is observed. <Structure and Effects of the Invention> In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides the following.

Transmitting means and receiving means for wirelessly transmitting the latest signal status of a specific control input/output signal in a PC are provided, and this receiving means is built into a portable remote monitor device. The remote monitor ME further includes means for temporarily storing the received control input/output signal, means for visually displaying the status of the received control input/output signal, and means for visually displaying the status of the received control input/output signal. means for acoustically notifying changes in the state of the vehicle.

According to the above configuration, even if the control target and the PC main body are far apart, one person can simultaneously monitor specific control input/output signals by taking the remote monitoring device to the site and visually checking the equipment status at the site. It is possible to monitor the transition of data, and to efficiently and effectively test the operation of a PC application system.

Furthermore, the remote handheld device is equipped with means for acoustically notifying changes in the state of the control input/output signals.

Even if you are watching the movement of a piece of equipment or doing other work without paying close attention to the control occupancy signal display, you can still do so by listening to the notification sound or by listening to the notification sound and looking at the display. , necessary timing checks can be performed. Therefore, it is possible to check long-period operations, such as once every hour, by other workers nearby without having to assign a specialized worker.

<Embodiments of the Invention> FIG. 1 schematically shows a situation in which a PC equipped with a monitor device according to the present invention is applied to a controlled object.

In Figure 1, IO is the PC main body, 20 is the PC main body IO
30 is a small portable remote monitoring device.

Reference numeral 40 indicates each controlled object. The illustrated controlled object 40 is a system that conveys articles 47 on a conveyor 41, and a photoelectric switch 4 that detects articles 47 on the conveyor 41.
3, 44, 45, etc. are the input devices of the PC (sources of control input signals), and the conveyor drive motor 42 and the plunger 46 for driving the pusher of the article 47 are the output devices of the PO (operating in response to control output signals). ). These input/output devices are respectively wired to the input/output terminal board of the PC body JO.

As is well known, the PC main body 10 stores a program tailored to the controlled object 40, and according to the program, arithmetic processing between control input and output signals is repeatedly executed, and the control output signal is updated from time to time with the processing result. Ru. As a result, the conveyor system and the like of the controlled object 40 operate according to a predetermined sequence.

Figure 2 shows the monitor device main body 20 and remote monitor 1j.
i! 30 configurations are shown. In the monitor device main body 20, a CPU (microprocessor) 21 that executes a system program stored in a memory 22 is a core element for signal processing.
U21 is coupled to the PC body 10.

The monitor device main body 20 has a control input/output signal Q to be monitored.
A keyboard 25 for inputting numbers (referred to as input/output numbers), etc., a CR1 display 24 for displaying the signal status of input/output numbers specified as monitor targets, and input/output numbers to be monitored and control inputs corresponding to the input/output numbers. Output signal (PC
data memory 26 for storing data (transferred from the main body 10)
and a transmitter 2 that wirelessly transmits part of the contents of the data memory 26 from an antenna 28 to a remote monitor device [30].
7.

The data memory 26 is divided into a main body monitor registration area E1 and a remote monitor registration area, and data in area E2 is transmitted by a transmitter 27. In this embodiment, up to eight input/output numbers can be registered in the remote monitor recorder Erina E2 as objects to be monitored.

FIG. 3 shows the operation of the monitor device main body 20, that is, the CPU 2.
1 is a flowchart showing an overview of a system program executed by the computer. The operation will be explained below along with this flowchart 1.

To register a monitoring target in the main body monitor registration area E1, an arbitrary input/output number is input using the numerical keys on the keyboard 25. This key input is detected in step 303 and stored in a predetermined buffer in step 304. Next, press the "main unit monitor registration" key - on the keyboard 25. This key input is detected in step 301, and the process proceeds to step 306, where the input/output number of the L buffer is stored in the main body monitor registration area E1. .

To register a monitor target in the remote monitor registration area E2, input an arbitrary input/output number using the numerical keys on the keyboard 25, and then input a one-digit monitor number. The monitor number is a number from rlJ to "8" that distinguishes up to eight monitor targets. This key manually generated number is stored in a buffer as before.

Next, press the "Remote Monitor Registration" key on the keyboard 25. This key input is detected in step 302, and the process proceeds to step 306, where the buffer input/output number and monitor number are stored in the remote monitor registration area E2. Furthermore, step 306 is also executed, and the input/output number is also stored in the main body monitor registration area El.

While the above registration operations and processing are not performed, the monitoring processing of steps 307→308→309 is executed. First, in step 307, the latest control input/output signals of the input/output numbers registered in the areas El and E2 of the data memory 26 are sent to the PC body 1 via the interface 23.
0 and stores each signal in the memory 26 in correspondence with its input/output number.

In the next step 308, the monitor data (input/output numbers and corresponding control input/output signals) in the main body monitor registration area E1 of the memory 26 is displayed on the CRT display 24. This display format is not related to the present invention.

In the next step 309, the monitor data (input/output number, monitor number and corresponding control input/output signal) of the remote monitor V record area E2 of the memory 26 is wirelessly transmitted from the transmitter 27.

Steps 307, 308, and 309 are repeated at appropriate intervals, and the latest monitor data is displayed on the CRT' display 24, and part of it is wirelessly transmitted to the remote monitor device 30.

Next, the remote monitor device i30 will be explained.

This device 30 includes a CPU (microprocessor) 3 that executes a system program stored in a memory 32.
1 is the central element of signal processing. Also, this outfit [30 is
A receiver 33 that captures radio waves from the transmitter 27 with an antenna 38 and demodulates the transmitted data, a data memory 34 for storing received monitor data, and a memory for displaying the received monitor data. A display device 35 consisting of eight display lamps; an audio output device 36 for outputting signal changes of received monitor data as synthesized audio; and an audio on/off switch 3 for turning on/off the operation of this audio output device 36.
7.

FIG. 4 shows the operation of the remote monitor device 30, that is, the CP
This is a brooch yard showing an overview of the system program executed by U31. The operation will be explained below along with this □ low chart.

The data memory 34 has a new data area E3 and an old data area E as areas for storing eight pieces of monitor data.
4 are available. First, in step 401, the monitor data stored in the new data area E3 is moved to the old data area E4, and in the next step 402, the latest monitor data received by the receiver 33 is transferred to the new data area E.
Store in 3.

In the next step 403, the monitor data of the new data area E3 is displayed on the display 35. The display 35 shows "1" to "
It consists of eight display lamps corresponding to the monitor numbers "8", and the logical state of each control input/output signal of the monitor data to which the monitor numbers have been added as described above is displayed by blinking the corresponding lamps.

In the next step 404, it is checked whether the audio output switch 37 is on or off. If it is on, step 4
Proceed to 05, new data area E3 and old data area E4
Compare the monitor data number by number. First, the signals of the first number are compared, and if they match (no change), the process proceeds to steps 406→408→405, and the signals of the next number are compared.

If the compared signals of the same number do not match, it means that the control input/output signal of that number has changed (ON-OFF or OF→ON). In this case steps 406 to 407
Then, the input/output number of the changed signal and the latest signal state (ON or OFF) are registered in the audio output table E5 of the memory 34.

Once the above comparison process has been completed for all eight pieces of monitor data, the process proceeds from step 40.8 to step 409.

In step 409, the contents of the audio output table E5 are read out, and if there is any registered data, step 4]0. The process proceeds to 411, and the content of the registered data is transmitted to the audio output device 36.
Output with . In other words, table E5 has [input/output number i,
If the data ``ON J'' is registered, a synthesized voice saying ``Signal i has turned on'' will notify the surrounding people of the signal change. Thereafter, in step 4I-2, the table E5 is cleared, and the process returns to the first step 401 to repeat the above operations.

For example 1. Photoelectric switch in Figure 1 43°44.4
5, the motor 42 and the plunger 46
The control output signal that drives the is registered as a remote monitoring target, and the remote monitoring device 30 is brought close to the conveyor 41.

Therefore, by visually observing the movement of the conveyor 41 and the articles 47 on it, and by checking the changes in each control input/output signal by the display and notification sound on the remote monitor device 30, and comparing and contrasting these, it is possible to determine the operation. Conduct the test.

Note that the display device 35 is not limited to a display lamp, and other visual display means may be used. As the acoustic notification means, a simpler buzzer or the like may be used instead of the audio output device 36.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 shows a computer equipped with a monitor device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Schematic diagram 2 showing the situation in which C is applied to a controlled object. Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the monitor device main body and remote monitor device, Fig. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the above monitor device main body, and Fig. 4 is the above-mentioned This is a broachyard showing the operation of the remote monitoring device. IO...Programmable controller main body, 20.
...Monitor device body, 27...Transmitter, 30...Remote monitor device, 33...Receiver, 35...Display device, 36...Audio output device. Patent Applicant Tateishi Electric Co., Ltd. Agent Patent Attorney Tetsuji Iwakura (and 1 other person) Figure 2 Figure 4

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) In a programmable controller that performs arithmetic processing on a large number of control input signals and control output signals related to a controlled system according to an arbitrarily set program, and updates the control output signals as needed with the processing results, It has a transmitting means for wirelessly transmitting the latest signal status of a specific one of the control input/output signals, and a receiving means paired with the transmitting means, and the receiving means is connected to a portable remote monitor device. The remote monitoring device further includes means for temporarily storing the received control input/output signal, means for visually displaying the state of the received control input/output signal, and a means for visually displaying the status of the received control input/output signal. A monitor device for a programmable controller, comprising means for acoustically notifying a change in the state of the programmable controller.