JPS62135904A - Programmable controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To send out a control input/output signal and an internal control information to an output device without impeding the operation of a programmable controller owing to the use of a newly defined instruction by defining the new instruction in a user program. CONSTITUTION:It is assumed that the specific instruction defined newly in the user program is a 'PRINT-OUT' instruction. Then when 'DM5-DM8' are set as the contents of the 'PRINT-OUT' instruction, it means that the contents of addresses DM5-DM8 of a data memory 4 are printed out. This 'PRINT-OUT' instruction is processed as shown by flow charts (A) and (B) in a figure and necessary information is printed out on a printer 9.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION <Field of Industrial Application> The present invention relates to improvement of a programmable controller (hereinafter referred to as PC) used for automatic control of various mechanical equipment.

<Summary of the Invention> This invention defines a new instruction (named, for example, a printout instruction) that can be incorporated into a user program,
By using this command, any control input/output signals or internal control information can be sent to an output device (for example, a printer) without interfering with the operation of the PC.

2. Description of the Related Art For the purpose of test running a PC or analyzing abnormal operation, logical changes in specific control input/output signals may be monitored. Conventionally, this monitoring has generally been accomplished by attaching a lamp that turns on and off in accordance with the logic of control input/output signals, and having an attendant look at this lamp.

<Problems to be Solved by the Invention> It is troublesome to monitor the signal status by blinking the lamp. Not only that, but the high-speed traffic lights cannot be confirmed visually. It is also difficult to recognize all combinations of changes between multiple signals. Furthermore, it is a difficult task to record signal changes over a long period of time, and for the reasons mentioned above, it is impossible to do so in a concentrated manner.

This invention was made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and its purpose is to set all specific commands in a co-program, so that any control input/output signals and internal control information can be transferred. To provide a PC that can automatically send out data to an output device such as a printer.

<Means for Solving the Problems> Accordingly, in the present invention, when the operating conditions are satisfied at the time of execution of a specific instruction set in a user program,
A means for storing specific control input/output signals and internal control information specified by the specific instruction in a buffer memory and setting a specific flag, and a means for operating in parallel with the execution operation of the user program by time sharing, and a means for setting a specific flag. When is set, read the contents of the buffer memory 7
and means for sending the data to the output device.

<Example> Figure 1 shows an example of the present invention (/i''-1) C
It shows the overall structure of. A number of control input signal sources are connected to the input circuit l. The output circuit 2 has a large number of control output signal relays, to which devices to be controlled are connected. The control input signal group applied to the input circuit 1 is once taken into the data memory 4 and provided to the data memory 4. Output to the outside from 2.

The CPU (arithmetic control unit) 5 repeatedly executes the user program 3 stored in the memory 3 to determine new logic for the control output signal group according to the logic changes and history of the control input/output signal group. ~ing. The CPU 5 communicates with the programming console 7 via the interface 6.
In addition to performing predetermined processing at t, data is outputted to the printer 9 through the interface 8 [7] is printed.

In FIG. 2, the process of loading the latest control input signal group from the input circuit 1 into the data memory 4 (-TE and the process of loading the control output signal group of the data memory 4 into the output circuit 4 (input/output The process of executing the user program all over and generating a new group of control output signals in the data memory 4 is the user program execution process.
−? Other processes related to the printer 9 and the like are system service processes.

Generally, the user program execution process and the system service process are performed alternately as shown in FIG. 2, so that the overall repetition period is less than a certain period of time. Thereby, image processing is performed substantially in parallel.

In this embodiment, the above-mentioned "specific command" is named "printout command". An example of use (programming example) of this printout instruction is shown in FIG.

This example is in ladder diagram representation format. 81 in the figure is any one of the control input/output signals or internal control signals (output signals of timers, counters, etc.), and means that the printout command is substantially executed when this signal S1 turns on. do. In other words, the signal Sl is the operating condition for the printout command. These operating conditions can be arbitrarily set using the coder program.

In the example shown in FIG. 3, rDM5 to DM8 and l are set as the contents of the printout command. This means that the entire contents of addresses DM5 to DM8 of the data memory 4 are printed out. The data memory 4 stores control input/output signals and internal control information. Among these, the specified one is printed out by all the printers 9.

The printout command is processed as shown in FIGS. 4(A) and 4(B). (A) is a part of the user program execution process, and when a printout command is executed, first, the ON/OFF state of the signal S1, which is the operating condition, is fully determined. If the signal S1 is off, the printout command is not substantially executed. When signal S1 is on, address DM5 of data memory 4
- Store the contents of DM8 in the buffer memory 10. Next, flag 11 is set. After this, it is left to system service processing.

FIG. 4(B) shows part of the system service processing.

First, the flag 11 is checked, and if it is set, the data in the buffer memory 10 is sent to the printer 9 to be printed out.

Also, reset flag 1]. Above (A) (B)
Processing money is repeated.

<Effects of the Invention> As explained in detail above, in the PC of the present invention, arbitrary control input/output signals and internal control information can be controlled by programming using predetermined instructions in the user program. Since temporal changes in things can be automatically recorded using a printer or the like, extremely useful information can be automatically collected for test runs and analysis of abnormal operations.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a PC according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an outline of the processing of the above PC;
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of programming using a printout command, and FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing processing accompanying execution of the program in FIG. 3. 1... Input circuit, 2... Output circuit, 3... User program memory, 4... Data memory, 5... C
P.U. 9...Printer, 10...Buffer memory, 11.
··flag.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) In a programmable controller that determines a new logic for a group of control output signals according to logic changes and history of a group of control input/output signals by repeatedly executing a user program, specific instructions set in the user program means for storing a specific control input/output signal and internal control information specified by the specific instruction in a buffer memory and setting a specific flag when the operating condition is satisfied during execution of the user program; 1. A programmable controller characterized in that said programmable controller is provided with means for operating said buffer memory in parallel by time sharing, and for reading out the contents of said buffer memory and sending it to an output device when said flag is set.