MXPA96006229A

MXPA96006229A - Automated system of visualization of state bilin

Info

Publication number: MXPA96006229A
Application number: MXPA/A/1996/006229A
Authority: MX
Inventors: A Kusmierczyk Richard
Original assignee: Unova Ip Corp
Priority date: 1995-12-11
Filing date: 1996-12-09
Publication date: 1998-04-01

Abstract

The present invention relates to information on the status of the automated control system presented to an operator of the system stored in the electronic memory the first fields of graphic indications to generate a graphic representation of the display screen to the operator of the conditions of the system to be checked and the second fields of text indications associated with the graphic indications. The second field of text indications is stored in sets of separate subfields in each of the text languages, with each set in each subfield being associated with a first specific field of graphic indications. The system operator may alternatively select between sets of subfields of text indications such that the text fields displayed simultaneously with the graphics fields on the operator status display screen are all in one or the other of the two language versions. tex

Description

SYSTEM. OF AUTOMATED CONTROL WITH BILINGUAL STATE DISPLAY SCREEN FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to automated control systems, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for displaying system status information graphically and textually in any of two selectable text languages.

BACKGROUND AND BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Something that happens very often now is that an automated control system is designed and built in a geographical area or country and is installed and operated in another geographical area or country in which a different language is used. Even though the system control program is written in a single language, or the separate interchangeable programs are written in the two languages in question, there are difficulties in displaying status information to the system operator for installation and maintenance purposes. , and during REF: 23622 normal operation. For example, where an automated transfer system is designed and built in the United States, and then shipped to Russia for installation and use, the current control program can be written in either English or Russian DOS. However, it is desirable to have the ability to visualize the status information of the system in a text either in English or Cyrillic, as well as in graphic indications associated with the text and incomprehensible by people who speak any of the languages or languages. On the system's display screen it can be changed to a display screen text in English during installation or maintenance operations by representatives of the American manufacturer, for example, and to a display screen text in Russian during normal operation. A general object of the present invention is to provide a system and method for displaying the status information associated with an automated control system in which the status information is displayed both graphically and textually simultaneously, and in which the information textual is displayed selectively in any two (or more). languages or text languages. Another object of the present invention is to provide a system and method for displaying the state of the described character which can be easily implemented, and which are structured so that the text languages of the display screen can be easily altered without a redesign or substantial reconfiguration of the display screen system. The status information of the automated control system presented to an operator of the system according to the present invention storing in the electronic memory the first changes of graphic indications to generate graphic representations of the display screen to the operator in the conditions of the system to be verified and the second fields of text indications associated with the graphic indications. The second fields of the text indications are stored in sets of separate subfields in each of two text languages, with each set of each subfield being associated with a first specific field of graphic indications. The system operator may alternatively select between sets of subfields of text indications in such a way that the text fields displayed simultaneously with the graphic fields on the operator status display screen are all in one or the other of the two language versions. text.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention, together with the objects, features and additional advantages thereof, will be better understood from the following description, the appended claims and the accompanying drawings, in which: FIGURE 1 is a functional block diagram of an operator status display screen system according to the present invention associated with an automated transfer system; and FIGURES 2A and 2B, 3A and 3B, and 4A and 4B illustrate pairs of status display screens containing common graphical indications, and text indications according to the present invention either in Cyrillic or in English .

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED MODALITY The system and method of the present invention are described in connection with a transfer system in an automotive manufacturing environment. However, it should be appreciated that the principles of the present invention in their broader aspects could equally well apply to other automated control environments. FIGURE 1 illustrates a control and status display screen system 10 associated with an automated transfer system 12 and includes electronic control / diagnostic devices 14 coupled to the transfer system 12 both to control the operation thereof and to receive information of feedback indicative of the state of operation of the transfer system. The electronic control / diagnostic devices 14 are coupled to an electronic memory 16 to obtain the programming and control information as is conventional in the art, and to obtain the indications of the memory display 16 in accordance with the present invention. . The electronic control / diagnostic devices 14 are also connected to an operator display screen 18 which includes a display 20 and an operator keyboard 22. The keyboard 22 includes function keys to selectively control the display screen of the operator. operator, as will be described. Alternatively, the display 20 may comprise a touch-sensitive panel display screen in which the language of the display is selectively controlled by the operator through the sections of the touch-sensitive panel displayed on the display. the screen, or a voice analyzer that performs vocal commands. FIGURES 2A and 2B illustrate display screens of the entire state of the transfer system in Russian (FIGURE 2A) and in English (FIGURE 2B). In each display screen, there is a graphic display screen information such as the graphic illustration 30 of the transfer system and the different stations 1-25 thereof, and status indicator boxes 32, 34 that surround and are adjacent to the information of status in the form of alphanumeric text indications. Associated with the graphic indications in both FIGURE 2A and 2B - that is, tables 32 and indication of status indicator 34 - there is a field of alphanumeric text indications displayed simultaneously with the graphic indications. This alphanumeric text indication is stored in subfields for display screens either in Russian (FIGURE 2A) or in English (FIGURE 2B). These text subfields can be stored either as text files generated using an appropriate keyboard - that is, an English keyboard in the case of FIGURE 2B or a Russian keyboard in case of FIGURE 2A - or they can be stored as a graphic subfield. The graphic file can be generated using any suitable conventional means, and is particularly advantageous for languages with non-Latin alphabets such as Russian and Chinese. The lower portions 36 of each display screen in FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate the function keys Fl through FIO to select various control state characteristics. For example, the Fl function key on each display screen selects the option to "exit" from the associated display screen, and the function keys F2 and F4-F10 on each display screen select other options on the display screen of State. The F3 function key on each display screen allows the operator to change back and forth between the text display screens in English and Russian, the graphic portion of each display screen is the same. In this way, with the information displayed in English as illustrated in FIGURE 2B, pressing the F3 function key with the Russian description on the keyboard 22 (FIGURE 1), or touching the F3 section of a touch-sensitive panel display screen (or giving a vocal command), automatically changes the textual portion from the English display screen (FIGURE 2B) to Russian (FIGURE 2A). Once the Russian has been selected for the text indications on the display screen, all other status display screens will include the Russian text until the English text is selected again. FIGURES 3A and 3B illustrate different status display screens showing the status of doors and emergency stop elements in each of the transfer line stations 1-25, either in Russian (FIGURE 3A) or in English (FIGURE 3B). On those display screens, the F8 function key is used to select either Russian or English as the language of the display screen. Again, the graphic portions of the display screens are identical, while the adjacent text portions of the display screens are selectively switchable between Russian and English. FIGURES 4A and 4B illustrate another display screen, this time showing the status of the doors in transfer stations 1-13. Again, the graphic portions are identical, while the adjacent text portions are selectively switchable between the Russian and the English by means of the function key F8. In this way, a method and an apparatus for a status display screen of the automated control system has been described in which the graphic indications for each screen and text indication for each screen are stored in the memory as fields of display screens. separate viewing. The text indications are stored as separate subfields in each of the text languages, with the subfields being selectable by the operator. When the status display screen is generated, the graphic field and the selected text subfield are displayed simultaneously so that the text in the selected language is associated with the appropriate portions of the graphic display screen. Text subfields are stored in separate portions of the memory respectively associated with the two text languages, and can be accessed selectively under operator control. Subfields of text indications can be stored either as text files or graphics or may be appropriate for the language in question. The principles of the invention can also be employed to selectively display state text information in more than two languages, if desired. It is noted that in relation to this date, the best method known to the applicant to carry out the aforementioned invention, is that which is clear from the present description of the invention. Having described the invention as above, property is claimed as contained in the following:

Claims

1. In a method for displaying the control information to an operator in an automated control system characterized in that it comprises the steps of: (a) storing in the electronic memory the. first fields of graphic indications to generate in an operator display screen graphic representations of the conditions to be verified and the second fields of text indications associated with. the graphic indications, and (b) selectively displaying on an operator display screen one of the first fields of graphic indications and an associated field of text indications, so that both the graphic and text indications are simultaneously presented to a user. operator, the improvement for the selective bilingual display screen of text indications with graphic indications are: step (a) includes the step of: storing the second fields of text indications in set of separate subfields in each of two languages of text, with each of the sets associated with a first specific field of graphic indications, and step (b) includes the step of: selecting alternatively between sets of subfields of text indications in such a way that the text fields displayed with the graphic fields they are all in one or the other of the two text languages.

2. The method in accordance with the claim 1, characterized in that step (a) is performed by storing subfield sets either as text files or graphics.

3, The method of compliance with the claim 1, characterized in that step (a) is performed by storing the subfields in separate portions of the electronic memory, respectively associated with the two languages of > text, and wherein step (b) is effected by having selective access to the separate portions of the memory under the control of an operator.

4. A status display screen of the automated control system, characterized in that it comprises: control means for connecting to a control system to control and verify the status thereof, display means including a screen to present the system status information an operator, an electronic memory coupled to the control means and the display means, and which has pre-stored in it the first fields of graphic indications representative of the conditions verified in the system, and second fields of text indications associated with the graphic indications, the second fields of graphic indications are stored in sets of separate subfields in each of the text languages, in each set being associated with a first specific field of graphic indications, means for the selection of the operator between sets of subfields , and media coupled to the media with The display means, the display means, the memory and the selection means for selectively displaying on the screen one of the fields of graphic indications and a subset associated with the text indications, in a text language selected by the operator, to indicate both graphic as textually information related to the state of the system. AUTOMATED CONTROL SYSTEM WITH BILINGUAL STATUS DISPLAY SCREEN SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The status information of the automated control system is presented to a system operator storing in the electronic memory the first fields of graphic indications to generate a graphic display of the operator's display screen of the system conditions to be verified and the second fields of text indications associated with the graphic indications. The second field of text indications is stored in sets of separate subfields in each of two text languages, with each set in each subfield being associated with a first specific field of graphic indications. The system operator may alternatively select between sets of subfields of text indications such that the text fields displayed simultaneously with the graphics fields on the operator status display screen are all in one or the other of the two language versions. text.