WO2019239604A1 - Control apparatus and signal control method - Google Patents

Abstract

A control apparatus according to the present invention is characterized by comprising: a terminal connection unit that can be connected for communication with an electronic terminal; an operation signal control unit for controlling the state of an internal signal pre-assigned to an input unit to be in an ON state or an OFF state, on the basis of a signal that is related to the input unit operated by the electronic terminal and is received from the electronic terminal; and a communication state determination unit for determining the state of communication with the electronic terminal, wherein, when the state of the internal signal is in the ON state, and the communication state determination unit determines that communication failure with the electronic terminal is occurring, the operation signal control unit changes an effective duration time, during which the state of the internal signal is kept in the ON state, according to the content of the communication failure.

Description

Control apparatus and signal control method

This application relates to a control device and a signal control method.

Conventionally, programmable displays used in the field of factory automation for automating factory production processes are used as control devices such as PLCs (Programmable Logic Controllers) that control each device provided in the production equipment responsible for the factory production process. By being connected, the status of each device of the production facility can be displayed. The programmable display device can display the state of each device of the production facility in a state that can be recognized by the user by referring to a value recorded in a predetermined area in the internal memory mounted on the control device. There is also a technique for remotely operating each device installed in a production facility using an electronic terminal capable of communicating with a programmable display.

In the following Patent Document 1, in the method of operating the plant equipment by turning on the plant equipment operation command area of the sequencer by inching the handy terminal, the plant equipment operation command area is turned off at every constant scan of the sequencer, or If the plant equipment operation command area is ON for a predetermined time or longer, the plant equipment operation command area is forcibly turned OFF, so that even if a communication failure occurs between the handy terminal and the plant equipment, the plant equipment A method has been proposed that can be stopped.

JP 2005-182257 A

Considering the case where Patent Document 1 is applied to a programmable display as a control device, when a button on the electronic terminal is operated by the user of the electronic terminal, a signal corresponding to the operation content is transmitted to the programmable display. When the programmable display is a signal that requests that the button be pressed when the signal received from the electronic terminal is pressed, the internal signal of the programmable display that is assigned in advance to the button operated on the electronic terminal is pressed. Control to a value corresponding to the state. On the other hand, if the signal received from the electronic terminal is a signal that requests that the button be released, the programmable display displays an internal signal of the programmable display that is assigned in advance to the button operated on the electronic terminal. Control to the value corresponding to the release state.

Incidentally, a communication failure may occur between the programmable display and the electronic terminal. When a communication failure occurs between the programmable display and the electronic terminal after controlling the internal signal to a value corresponding to the pressed state, a signal requesting that the button be released from the electronic terminal is transmitted. However, the case where it cannot receive is assumed. For example, an operation of pressing a button performed by the user on the electronic terminal means operation of the equipment of the production facility, and an operation of releasing the button performed by the user on the electronic terminal is the equipment of the production facility. This means that even if the user performs an operation to release the button on the electronic terminal after the operation of the production facility device, the production facility device cannot be stopped. Stay in operation. Therefore, when the disclosure of Patent Document 1 is temporarily applied to a programmable display device, the internal signal of the programmable display device is released from a value corresponding to the pressed state after a predetermined time has elapsed. It will be forcibly changed to the indicated value. Thereby, it can suppress that each apparatus of a production facility remains working contrary to a user's intention.

However, when a communication failure occurs between the programmable display and the electronic terminal, the time until the internal signal of the programmable display is changed from a value corresponding to the pressed state to a value indicating the released state. It is a fixed time, and it is not possible to respond flexibly according to the state of communication failure.

The present invention has been made in view of the above, and an object of the present invention is to provide a control device and a signal control method that can flexibly cope with a communication failure state.

In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, a control device according to the present invention includes a terminal connection unit capable of communication connection with an electronic terminal, and a signal related to an input unit operated by the electronic terminal received from the electronic terminal. An operation signal control unit that controls an internal signal state assigned to the input unit in advance to an ON state or an OFF state, and a communication state determination unit that determines a state of communication with the electronic terminal. And the operation signal control unit, when the communication state determination unit determines that the internal signal is in the ON state and a communication failure has occurred with the electronic terminal, the content of the communication failure Accordingly, the effective duration time during which the state of the internal signal is continued in the ON state is changed.

According to the present invention, it is possible to change the effective duration time during which the internal signal of the control device is continued in a valid state according to the content of the communication failure.

The schematic diagram which shows an example of a function structure of the programmable display which concerns on Embodiment 1 The schematic diagram which shows an example of the information exchanged between the programmable display and electronic terminal which concern on Embodiment 1 The figure which shows the structural example of the data for operation signal control which concerns on Embodiment 1. FIG. The figure which shows the structural example of the communication status data which concerns on Embodiment 1. FIG. The figure which shows the control example 1 of the operation signal which concerns on Embodiment 1 The figure which shows the example 2 of control of the operation signal which concerns on Embodiment 1 The figure which shows the control example 3 of the operation signal which concerns on Embodiment 1. FIG. The figure which shows an example of the determination method of the communication state which concerns on Embodiment 1 The flowchart which shows the flow of the signal control process which concerns on Embodiment 1. The flowchart which shows the flow of the communication state determination process which concerns on Embodiment 1. FIG. The figure which shows the example of control of the internal signal in the programmable display which concerns on a comparative example The schematic diagram which shows an example of a function structure of the programmable display which concerns on Embodiment 2. FIG. The figure which shows the structural example of the signal discrimination | determination table which concerns on Embodiment 2. FIG. The figure which shows the structural example of the data for operation signal control which concerns on Embodiment 2. FIG. A flowchart showing a flow of signal control processing according to the second embodiment. The figure which shows an example of the hardware constitutions of the programmable display which concerns on each embodiment

Hereinafter, a plurality of embodiments of a control device and a signal control method according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Below, embodiment of the programmable display as a control apparatus which concerns on this invention is described as several embodiment of the control apparatus which concerns on this invention. The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described below.

Embodiment 1 FIG.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of the programmable display device 10 according to the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the programmable display device 10 according to the first embodiment is connected to the electronic terminal 20 and the PLC 30 through the communication network 1 in a communicable state. The communication network 1 may include the Internet and a LAN (Local Area Network).

The programmable display 10 includes a display unit 110, an input unit 120, a communication control unit 130, a storage unit 140, and a control unit 150. The programmable display 10 is illustrated as one of the control devices according to the present invention.

The display unit 110 can display a plurality of screens for displaying information relating to the production facility 40 and performing operation inputs relating to operation control of the production facility 40. The display unit 110 may include a display device such as a liquid crystal display (LCD: Liquid Crystal Display), an organic EL display (OELD: Organic Electro-Luminescence Display), or an inorganic EL display (IELD: Inorganic Electro-Luminescence Display). .

The input unit 120 is an input interface that receives an operation by an operator. The input unit 120 may include a button and a keyboard.

The display unit 110 and the input unit 120 may be mounted on the programmable display 10 by a touch screen display in which the display function of the display unit 110 and the input function of the input unit 120 are functionally and physically integrated. When the touch screen display is mounted on the programmable display 10, the input unit 120 configuring the touch screen display includes a touch panel that detects contact or proximity of a finger, a pen, a stylus pen, or the like to a display device included in the display unit 110. be able to. As the touch panel, a device that detects contact or proximity by any method such as a capacitance method, a resistance film method, a surface acoustic wave method, an infrared method, and a load detection method can be used.

The communication control unit 130 can control communication between the electronic terminal 20 and the PLC 30 via the communication network 1. The communication control unit 130 can support a short-range wireless communication standard for communicating with the electronic terminal 20 via the communication network 1. Examples of the electronic terminal 20 include a smartphone, a tablet terminal, and a personal computer. The short-range wireless communication standard supported by the communication control unit 130 may include WiMAX (registered trademark) (Worldwide interoperability for Microwave Access), IEEE 802.11, Bluetooth (registered trademark), and the like. The communication control unit 130 can support a LAN standard for communicating with the PLC 30 via the communication network 1. Ethernet (registered trademark) may be included as a LAN standard supported by the communication control unit 130. The communication control unit 130 may be implemented in the programmable display 10 by functionally and physically distributing a unit that controls communication with the electronic terminal 20 and a unit that controls communication with the PLC 30.

The storage unit 140 stores programs and data. The storage unit 140 may be used as a work area that temporarily stores the processing result of the control unit 150. The storage unit 140 may include any non-transitory storage medium such as a semiconductor storage medium and a magnetic storage medium. The storage unit 140 may include a plurality of types of storage media. The storage unit 140 may include a combination of a storage medium such as a memory card, an optical disk, or a magneto-optical disk and a storage medium reader. The storage unit 140 may include a storage device used as a temporary storage area such as a RAM (Random Access Memory). The program stored in the storage unit 140 can include a basic program such as an OS (Operating System) and an application program.

The storage unit 140 can store the control program 141, the setting tool 142, the operation signal data 143, the operation signal control data 144, and the communication state data 145 as closely related to the first embodiment.

The control program 141 can provide a function for realizing processing related to various operations of the programmable display 10. The function provided by the control program 141 can include a function in which the programmable display 10 displays the state of each device of the production facility 40 on the display unit 110. The function provided by the control program 141 can include a function of changing the operation of the programmable display 10 according to the input from the input unit 120. The function provided by the control program 141 can include a function of controlling communication between the electronic terminal 20 and the PLC 30 that are executed via the communication control unit 130. The function provided by the control program 141 includes a function for realizing processing of each functional unit of the control unit 150 described later.

The setting tool 142 is used in processing executed by the setting processing unit 154 of the control unit 150 described later.

The operation signal data 143 is a value of an internal signal of the programmable display 10 that is assigned in advance to a button operated on the user interface of the electronic terminal 20. The operation signal data 143 is recorded every time a signal requesting a change in the state of the internal signal of the programmable display 10 is received from the electronic terminal 20, and is managed in the latest state. The signal received from the electronic terminal 20 includes at least a signal requesting to change the state of the internal signal of the programmable display 10 to a pressed state (hereinafter referred to as a “press request signal”), and the electronic terminal 20. A signal (hereinafter referred to as “release request signal”) indicating that the user of the electronic terminal 20 has performed an operation for releasing the button on the user interface displayed in FIG.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of information exchanged between the programmable display 10 and the electronic terminal 20 according to the first embodiment. For convenience of explanation, the user interface shown in FIG. 2, the buttons displayed on the user interface shown in FIG. 2, the light emitting unit displayed on the user interface shown in FIG. 2, and the internal signals shown in FIG. .

When the button OB1 on the user interface 50 is operated, the electronic terminal 20 determines the operation content for the button OB1, and a signal corresponding to the determined operation content is transmitted to the programmable display device 10. When the electronic terminal 20 determines that the operation content for the button OB1 is a pressing operation, the electronic terminal 20 transmits a press request signal to the programmable display device 10, and when the electronic terminal 20 determines that the operation content for the button OB1 is a release operation, the release request signal is sent to the programmable display device 10. Send. The button OB1 is exemplified as one of the input units. The input unit may be configured in any manner such as a software key, a physical key, and a switch as long as it can transmit a signal to the programmable display 10.

When the programmable display device 10 receives a signal from the electronic terminal 20, the programmable display 10 is assigned in advance to the button OB <b> 1 operated on the electronic terminal 20 according to the content of the signal (whether it is a press request signal or a release request signal). The value of the signal SG1 is controlled and the controlled value is recorded. When the signal received from the electronic terminal 20 is a press request signal, the programmable display 10 records a value indicating the press state as the state of the internal signal SG1, and the signal received from the electronic terminal 20 is a release request signal The value indicating the released state is recorded as the state of the internal signal SG1. The programmable display 10 can transmit information indicating the signal state to the electronic terminal 20.

When the electronic terminal 20 receives the information indicating the signal state from the programmable display 10, the electronic terminal 20 emits light in conjunction with the operation on the button OB1 by, for example, a method of turning on, blinking, or turning off according to the received information. The light emission state of the part L1 can be changed.

The operation signal control data 144 is used in processing executed by the operation signal control unit 152 of the control unit 150 described later. In the following description, the time for maintaining the internal signal corresponding to the press request signal received from the electronic terminal 20 in the ON state, that is, the time for maintaining the value of the internal signal “ON” is “effective duration”. May be described.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the operation signal control data 144 according to the first embodiment. The operation signal control data 144 is configured by associating the effective duration of the internal signal with each communication failure content. In the example shown in FIG. 3, the effective duration of the internal signal when the content of the communication failure is “disconnected” is “dT ₁ ”, and the internal signal when the content of the communication failure is “unstable” The effective duration of is “dT ₂ ”. The programmable display 10 can employ, for example, the minimum time that can be set in the programmable display 10 as the effective duration “dT ₁ ”. For example, the minimum time that can be set as the effective duration “dT ₁ ” may be set based on the minimum time that the programmable display 10 processes according to the control program 141. That is, until the programmable display 10 detects the disconnection of communication until the value of the internal signal is set to “OFF”, the processing of the programmable display 10 is not intentionally delayed, and the internal signal can be processed with the minimum processing time. This is intended to execute the process. The programmable display 10 has a maximum time during which a retry process for reconnecting the programmable display 10 and the electronic terminal 20 to a communicable state can be continued as an effective duration “dT ₂ ”, that is, a retry process. It is possible to employ a time longer than a preset time as the execution time. For example, when 3 seconds is set as the execution time of the retry process, 5 seconds can be adopted as the effective duration “dT ₂ ”. For example, 5 seconds may be set based on the maximum time estimated as the time for which the user of the electronic terminal 20 continues the long press operation of the button performed on the electronic terminal 20. In other words, the duration of the button long press operation performed on the electronic terminal 20 is expected to vary depending on the user operating the electronic terminal 20, but the maximum time estimated as the duration of the button long press operation is effective. By setting the duration time “dT ₂ ”, for example, whoever operates the electronic terminal 20, the internal signal corresponding to the button pressing operation signal is continued in a valid state in the programmable display 10. This is the purpose.

The communication status data 145 is generated by the communication status determination unit 153 of the control unit 150 described later. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of communication state data according to the first embodiment. The communication state data 145 includes information indicating whether the current state of the communication state corresponds to any state of “failed (unstable)”, “failed (disconnected)”, or “no failure”. The In the example illustrated in FIG. 4, “X” is associated with “failed (unstable)” and “failed (disconnected)”, and “O” is associated with “no failure”. Thus, the current state of the communication state is “no failure” associated with “◯”. The communication state data 145 is updated to the latest state by a communication state determination unit 153 described later.

The control unit 150 can implement various controls related to the operation of the programmable display 10 by executing the control program 141 and the like. The control unit 150 includes a terminal connection unit 151, an operation signal control unit 152, a communication state determination unit 153, and a setting processing unit 154 as closely related to the first embodiment.

The terminal connection unit 151 can connect the programmable display 10 and the electronic terminal 20 in a communicable state. Upon receiving a connection request from the electronic terminal 20, the terminal connection unit 151 executes user authentication using an ID (Identification) and a password, and the programmable display 10 from the electronic terminal 20 on condition that the user authentication is successful. You can allow access to When the connection of the electronic terminal 20 becomes unstable after connecting the electronic terminal 20, the terminal connection unit 151 can execute a retry process that attempts to reconnect to the electronic terminal 20 for a preset time.

The operation signal control unit 152 controls the state of the internal signal previously assigned to the button to the ON state or the OFF state based on the signal related to the button operated on the electronic terminal 20 received from the electronic terminal 20. it can. Specifically, when the operation signal control unit 152 receives a signal from the electronic terminal 20, it is assigned in advance to a button operated on the electronic terminal 20 according to the content of the signal (whether it is a press request signal or a release request signal). The value of the received internal signal is controlled, and the controlled value is recorded in the storage unit 140. When the signal received from the electronic terminal 20 is a pressing request signal, the operation signal control unit 152 records a value (ON) indicating a pressing state in which the button of the electronic terminal 20 is pressed as an internal signal state. When the signal received from 20 is a release request signal, a value (OFF) indicating the release state is recorded as the state of the internal signal.

The operation signal control unit 152 can identify which button is the button operated by the user on the electronic terminal 20 based on the identification information included in the signal received from the electronic terminal 20, for example. The identification information can be any information as long as the information is unique for each button predetermined between the programmable display 10 and the electronic terminal 20. The operation signal control unit 152 can provide information on the state of the internal signal by periodically transmitting the operation signal data 143 stored in the storage unit 140 to the electronic terminal 20.

Further, the operation signal control unit 152 refers to the communication state data 145, acquires the communication state between the programmable display 10 and the electronic terminal 20, and controls the state of the internal signal according to the acquired communication state. it can. The operation signal control unit 152 refers to the operation signal control data 144 and sets the state of the internal signal to the ON state based on the valid duration corresponding to the content of the communication failure between the programmable display 10 and the electronic terminal 20. The timing of transition from the (pressed state) to the OFF state (released state) can be controlled. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a control example 1 of the operation signal according to the first embodiment. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a control example 2 of the operation signal according to the first embodiment. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a control example 3 of the operation signal according to the first embodiment. As will be described below, transitioning the state of the internal signal from the ON state (pressed state) to the OFF state (released state) includes changing the value of the internal signal from “ON” to “OFF”.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, the operation signal control unit 152 refers to the communication state data 145, and if the communication state determination result is “no failure” and there is no problem, the time ct when the push request signal is received from the electronic terminal 20 ₁ , the value of the internal signal is controlled to “ON (press)”, and the value of the internal signal is controlled to “OFF (release)” at time ct _{2 when the} release request signal is received from the electronic terminal 20.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 6, after controlling the value of the internal signal to “ON (press)” at time ct _{11 when the} press request signal is received from the electronic terminal 20, the operation signal control unit 152 has a constant cycle. With reference to the communication state data 145, the result of the communication state determination is monitored. The operation signal control unit 152 controls the value of the internal signal according to the operation signal control data 144 when the result of the communication state determination is “failed (disconnected state)”. More specifically, the operation signal control unit 152 acquires the effective duration “dT ₁ ” corresponding to the case where the content of the communication failure is “failed (disconnected state)” from the operation signal control data 144. . Subsequently, the operation signal control unit 152 waits for the time ct _{13 when} the effective duration “dT ₁ ” elapses from the time ct ₁₂ at which the communication state is determined to be the disconnected state, and then sets the value of the internal signal to “ON ( Forcibly change from “press” to “OFF (release)”. The effective duration “dT ₁ ” is set, for example, as a minimum time that can be set in the programmable display 10.

Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 7, after the value of the internal signal is controlled to “ON (press)” at time ct _{21 when the} press request signal is received from the electronic terminal 20, the result of the communication state determination is “failed (not faulty). In the stable state), the operation signal control unit 152 controls the value of the internal signal according to the operation signal control data 144 in the same manner as in the disconnected state. More specifically, the operation signal control unit 152 acquires the effective duration “dT ₂ ” corresponding to the case where the content of the communication failure is “failed (unstable)” from the operation signal control data 144. To do. Subsequently, the operation signal control unit 152 waits for the time ct _{26 when} the effective duration “dT ₂ ” elapses from the time ct ₂₂ at which the communication state is determined to be unstable, and then sets the value of the internal signal to “ON”. Forcibly change from “press” to “OFF (release)”. The operation signal control unit 152 temporarily recovers the communication state determination result from “failed (unstable)” to “no failure” at time ct ₂₃ , and then released from the electronic terminal 20 at time ct _24. Even if the request signal is received, the operation signal control unit 152 observes the effective duration “dT ₂ ”, waits for the arrival of the time ct ₂₆ , and then changes the value of the internal signal from “ON (press)” to “OFF”. (Release) ". The effective duration “dT ₂ ” is set to a time longer than at least the maximum time during which the retry process for reconnecting the programmable display 10 and the electronic terminal 20 can be continued.

The communication state determination unit 153 determines the state of communication between the programmable display 10 and the electronic terminal 20. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a communication state determination method according to the first embodiment. Communication state determining unit 153, after the completion of connection between the programmable display device 10 and the electronic device 20, based on the connection confirmation signal transmitted from the electronic device 20 at a constant time period t _c, the programmable display device 10 and the electronic device 20 The state of communication with is determined. More specifically, the communication status determination unit 153, after the completion of connection between the electronic terminal 20, the actual number of times of reception with the estimated number of times of reception of the connection confirmation signal should be received from the electronic device 20 at a constant time period t _c Based on the above, the calculation and update of the reception success rate are repeated. The communication state determination unit 153 performs a comparison with a predetermined threshold every time the reception success rate is calculated. When the reception success rate is equal to or less than the threshold, the communication state determination unit 153 performs communication between the programmable display 10 and the electronic terminal 20. A determination result for deriving the state as “unstable state” is derived.

Furthermore, the communication state determination unit 153 determines whether a certain time has elapsed since the last successful reception of the connection confirmation signal. As a result of the determination, the communication state determination unit 153 determines that the reception of the connection confirmation signal has failed consecutively based on the time period t _c (hereinafter referred to as “reception confirmation signal”) when a predetermined time has elapsed since the reception was successful. The estimated value of “the number of consecutive reception failures” is calculated, and it is determined whether the calculated estimated number of consecutive reception failures exceeds a threshold value. If the estimated value of the number of consecutive reception failures is equal to or greater than the threshold value as a result of the determination, the communication state determination unit 153 determines the determination result that the communication state between the programmable display 10 and the electronic terminal 20 is “disconnected state”. To derive.

The setting processing unit 154 executes processing related to the setting of the operation signal control data 144. The setting processing unit 154 receives the setting operation of the operation signal control data 144 via the user interface operated by the user of the electronic terminal 20 using the function provided by the setting tool 142, and the storage unit 140. To record.

The electronic terminal 20 is an information processing apparatus capable of communicating via the communication network 1 such as a PC (Personal Computer) or a tablet. The electronic terminal 20 is communicably connected to the programmable display device 10 via the communication network 1. The user of the electronic terminal 20 can remotely operate the PLC 30 connected to the programmable display 10 by operating a user interface that operates on the electronic terminal 20.

The electronic terminal 20 may include a touch screen display. When the electronic terminal 20 includes a touch screen display, visual information such as buttons for controlling the operation of the PLC 30 can be reproduced and displayed on the user interface by software. The electronic terminal 20 can transmit a signal related to a button operated by the user on the user interface to the programmable display 10. The content of the signal related to the button is determined based on the operation content for the button displayed on the user interface. When the electronic terminal 20 determines that the operation content for the button is a pressing operation, the electronic terminal 20 determines the content of the signal related to the button to be transmitted to the programmable display 10 as a pressing request signal. When the electronic terminal 20 determines that the operation content on the button is a release operation, the electronic terminal 20 determines the content of the signal related to the button to be transmitted to the programmable display 10 as a release request signal. As described above, when the electronic terminal 20 includes the touch screen display, the user of the electronic terminal 20 can control the operation of the PLC 30 through an intuitive operation via the user interface displayed on the touch screen display.

The electronic terminal 20 can receive information indicating the latest state of the internal signal of the programmable display 10 corresponding to the button operated on the user interface from the programmable display 10. The electronic terminal 20 can be provided to the user by displaying information indicating the latest state of the internal signal received from the programmable display 10.

The PLC 30 can control the operation of each device of the production facility 40 that is responsible for the production process of the factory. The PLC 30 is a PLC (Programmable Logic Controller).

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a flow of signal control processing according to the first embodiment. The process shown in FIG. 9 is executed by the control unit 150 using a program and data. The process shown in FIG. 9 is repeatedly executed when the programmable display 10 and the electronic terminal 20 are being connected.

As shown in FIG. 9, the control unit 150 determines whether or not a press request signal has been received from the electronic terminal 20 (step S101).

If the determination result indicates that a press request signal has been received from the electronic terminal 20 (step S101, Yes), the control unit 150 turns on the value of the internal signal (step S102).

Subsequently, the control unit 150 determines whether a release request signal has been received from the electronic terminal 20 (step S103).

When the determination result shows that the release request signal has not been received from the electronic terminal 20 (No in step S103), the control unit 150 has a failure in communication with the electronic terminal 20, that is, is disconnected or unstable. It is determined whether it is in a state (step S104).

The control unit 150 determines whether the content of the failure is in a disconnected state (step S105) when the communication with the electronic terminal 20 has a failure as a result of the determination (step S104, Yes).

If the result of determination is that the control unit 150 is in a disconnected state (step S105, Yes), the control unit 150 waits for the effective duration time associated with the disconnected state set in the operation signal control data 144 to arrive, and the internal signal Is changed from ON to OFF (step S106).

Subsequently, the control unit 150 determines whether it is connected to the electronic terminal 20 (step S107). As a result of the determination, if the control unit 150 is connected to the electronic terminal 20 (Yes at Step S107), the control unit 150 returns to the determination at Step S101. On the other hand, if the result of determination is that the control unit 150 is not connected to the electronic terminal 20 (No at step S107), the control unit 150 ends the processing shown in FIG.

In step S105, when the communication with the electronic terminal 20 is not disconnected (step S105, No), that is, in an unstable state, the control unit 150 stores the operation signal control data 144 as a result of the determination. Waiting for the effective duration time associated with the set unstable state to arrive, the value of the internal signal is changed from ON to OFF (step S108), and the process proceeds to the determination in step S107.

In step S104, if there is no failure in communication with the electronic terminal 20 as a result of the determination (step S104, No), the control unit 150 returns to the determination in step S103.

In step S103, if the determination result shows that the release request signal has been received from the electronic terminal 20 (step S103, Yes), the control unit 150 changes the value of the internal signal from ON to OFF (step S109). Then, the process returns to the determination in step S107.

In step S101, if the determination result shows that the control unit 150 has not received a press request signal from the electronic terminal 20 (step S101, No), the control unit 150 proceeds to the determination in step S107.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a flow of communication state determination processing according to the first embodiment. The process shown in FIG. 10 is executed by the control unit 150 using a program and data. The process shown in FIG. 10 is repeatedly executed when the programmable display 10 and the electronic terminal 20 are being connected.

As shown in FIG. 10, when the connection with the electronic terminal 20 is completed (step S201), the control unit 150 starts the process of calculating the connection success rate of the connection confirmation signal (step S202).

Subsequently, the control unit 150 determines whether or not the success rate of receiving the connection confirmation signal is equal to or less than the threshold (step S203).

As a result of the determination, if the successful reception rate of the connection confirmation signal is equal to or less than the threshold value (Yes at Step S203), the control unit 150 determines whether a certain time has elapsed since the last successful reception of the connection confirmation signal (Step S203). S204).

As a result of the determination, when a certain time has elapsed since the last successful reception of the connection confirmation signal (Yes in step S204), the control unit 150 estimates the number of consecutive reception failures that are estimated to have failed to receive the connection confirmation signal ( It is determined whether (estimated value) is equal to or greater than a threshold value (step S205).

As a result of the determination, if the number of consecutive reception failures (estimated value) is equal to or greater than the threshold (Yes in step S205), the control unit 150 sets the communication state between the programmable display 10 and the electronic terminal 20 to “failed (disconnected). State) ”(step S206). The latest communication state between the programmable display 10 and the electronic terminal 20 is recorded in the communication state data 145.

Subsequently, the control unit 150 determines whether it is connected to the electronic terminal 20 (step S207). As a result of the determination, if the control unit 150 is connected to the electronic terminal 20 (Yes at Step S207), the control unit 150 returns to the determination at Step S203. On the contrary, if the result of determination is that the control unit 150 is not connected to the electronic terminal 20 (No in step S207), the control unit 150 ends the processing shown in FIG.

In step S205, if the result of determination is that the number of consecutive reception failures (estimated value) is not equal to or greater than the threshold (No in step S205), the control unit 150 determines the communication state between the programmable display 10 and the electronic terminal 20. The information is updated to “failed (unstable)” (step S208), and the process proceeds to the determination in step S207. The latest communication state between the programmable display 10 and the electronic terminal 20 is recorded in the communication state data 145.

In step S204, if it is determined that the predetermined time has not elapsed since the last successful reception of the connection confirmation signal (No in step S204), the control unit 150 proceeds to step S208 and receives the number of consecutive reception failures (estimated). The communication state is updated in the same manner as when the value is not equal to or greater than the threshold. That is, the control unit 150 updates the communication state between the programmable display 10 and the electronic terminal 20 to “failed (unstable)” (step S208), and proceeds to the determination of step S207.

In step S203, if the determination result indicates that the connection success rate of the connection confirmation signal is not a threshold value (No in step S203), the control unit 150 sets the communication state between the programmable display 10 and the electronic terminal 20 to “failure”. Update to “None” (step S209), and the process proceeds to the determination in step S207.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a control example of internal signals in a programmable display according to a comparative example in which Patent Literature 1 is applied to a programmable display. The programmable display of the comparative example changes the value of the internal signal from ON to OFF after receiving the press request signal from the connected electronic terminal and waiting for the elapse of the fixed time dT _f after receiving the press request signal. Therefore, even if a communication failure occurs before receiving the release request signal, the value of the internal signal is changed from ON to OFF after the fixed time dT _{f has} elapsed since the reception of the press request signal. On the other hand, the programmable display device 10 according to the first embodiment determines the state of communication failure, and according to the content of the communication state, the state of the internal signal remains ON, that is, the value of the internal signal remains “ON”. Change the effective duration to continue with.

When communication between the programmable display 10 and the electronic terminal 20 is in a disconnected state, even if the electronic terminal 20 transmits a release request signal, it is not transmitted to the programmable display 10, for example.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6, for example, when the communication state becomes a disconnected state, the programmable display 10 has the minimum time that can be set in the programmable display 10, that is, the programmable display 10 has the control program 141. Is set to the effective duration “dT ₁ ”. Thereby, after it determines with the communication between the programmable display 10 and the electronic terminal 20 being a disconnection state, the value of an internal signal can be changed from ON to OFF at the earliest possible timing. In this way, when the communication with the electronic terminal 20 is disconnected, the programmable display 10 is operating in the production facility 40 by guiding the pressed button to the released state as soon as possible. The operation of the equipment can be stopped as soon as possible.

Further, when the communication environment is unstable, even if the user of the electronic terminal 20 intends to continuously press the button, the occurrence of the communication failure and the recovery of the communication failure are repeated, so that the internal signal The change of the value from “ON” to “OFF” and the change from “OFF” to “ON” are repeated, and control unintended by the user of the electronic terminal 20 is performed.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 7, for example, when the communication state becomes unstable, the programmable display 10 performs a retry process for reconnecting the programmable display 10 and the electronic terminal 20 to a communicable state. maximum time continue to be implemented, that is, set to a valid duration dT ₂ longer than a preset time as the execution time of the retry process. Thereby, after it determines with communication between the programmable display 10 and the electronic terminal 20 being an unstable state, the process of the retry which at least reconnects the programmable display 10 and the electronic terminal 20 can be continued. For the time exceeding this time, the value of the internal signal can be maintained “ON”. In this way, even when the programmable display 10 is in an unstable state of communication between the programmable display 10 and the electronic terminal 20, the value of the internal signal is between ON and OFF. Occurrence of events that frequently come and go can be avoided as much as possible. Furthermore, as a result of the operation of the PLC 30 being easily performed according to the intention of the user of the electronic terminal 20, the operability when operating a device that is operating in the production facility 40 is improved.

Embodiment 2. FIG.
In said Embodiment 1, although the programmable display 10 demonstrated the example which changes the effective continuation time of the value of an internal signal according to the content of the communication failure, each of the some button with which the electronic terminal 20 is provided is demonstrated. At least a part of the internal signals assigned in advance may be a target of processing for changing the effective duration time during which the state of the internal signal is continued in the ON state. In the following second embodiment, an embodiment in this case will be described.

FIG. 12 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a functional configuration of the programmable display 10 according to the second embodiment. The functional configuration of the programmable display 10 shown in FIG. 12 is basically the same as the functional configuration of the programmable display 10 according to the first embodiment, except for the points described below.

The storage unit 140 stores a signal determination table 146. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a signal determination table according to the second embodiment. In the signal determination table 146, an internal signal according to a communication state between the programmable display 10 and the electronic terminal 20 is associated with a button identifier uniquely assigned to a button operated on the user interface of the electronic terminal 20. Information indicating whether or not to be controlled is set. According to the signal determination table 146 shown in FIG. 13, for example, the internal signal previously assigned to each of the buttons with the button identifiers B1 and B2 is a process of changing the effective duration for continuing the internal signal state in the ON state. The internal signals that are set as the target of the button and are assigned in advance to the buttons of the button identifiers B3, B4, and B5 are not set as the target of the process of changing the effective duration for continuing the state of the internal signal in the ON state. In addition, it is not limited to the example which uses a button identifier for the signal discrimination | determination table 146, You may set the predetermined flag which shows whether it becomes the control object of an internal signal for every button.

In the operation signal control data 144 stored in the storage unit 140, the effective duration of the internal signal corresponding to the communication state is set for each button identifier. FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of the operation signal control data 144 according to the second embodiment. In the example illustrated in FIG. 14, for the button identifier “B1”, the effective duration of the internal signal when the communication state is “disconnected” is “dT ₃ ”, and the communication state is “unstable” The effective duration of the internal signal is “dT ₄ ”. In the example illustrated in FIG. 13, for the button identifier “B2”, the effective duration of the internal signal when the communication state is “disconnected” is “dT ₅ ”, and the communication state is “unstable”. The effective duration of the internal signal at a certain time is “dT ₆ ”.

In the example shown in FIG. 14, for each button, the effective duration when the communication state is disconnected and the effective duration when the communication state is unstable are different from each other. As described above, the effective duration time corresponding to the communication state can be set to a different time for each button operated on the electronic terminal 20. Moreover, when it is a cutting | disconnection state, you may set the same effective continuation time with all the buttons, such as the minimum time which can be set in the programmable display 10, for example. Further, instead of one button at a time, grouping may be performed for each type of operation signal corresponding to the button, and an effective duration may be set for each type of button grouped.

The operation signal control unit 152 controls the value of the internal signal to “ON (press)” and then monitors the communication state determination result with reference to the communication state data 145 at a constant cycle. When the result of the communication state determination is “failed (disconnected state)”, the operation signal control unit 152 determines that the internal signal whose value is controlled to “ON (press)” is based on the signal determination table 146. Then, it is determined whether the signal is a signal to be controlled according to the communication state (hereinafter referred to as “control target signal”). For example, the electronic terminal 20 includes a button identifier in the press request signal transmitted to the programmable display 10. The operation signal control unit 152 acquires a button identifier included in the press request signal, and can determine whether the signal is a control target signal based on the acquired button identifier and the signal determination table 146.

The operation signal control unit 152 can determine the effective duration of the internal signal that is the control target signal for each button based on the operation signal control data 144 (see FIG. 14). That is, the operation signal control unit 152 acquires the button identifier included in the press request signal and the effective duration corresponding to the communication state from the operation signal control data 144 (see FIG. 14), and sets the acquired effective duration. Based on this, the value of the internal signal can be changed from ON to OFF.

The setting processing unit 154 as a time setting unit executes processing related to setting of the effective duration of the operation signal control data 144 (see FIG. 14). The setting processing unit 154 uses the function provided by the setting tool 142 to enable the user of the electronic terminal 20 to operate the effective signal control data 144 (see FIG. 14) through the user interface operated on the electronic terminal 20. Is received and recorded in the storage unit 140.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing a flow of signal control processing according to the second embodiment. The process illustrated in FIG. 15 is executed by the control unit 150 using a program and data. The process shown in FIG. 15 is repeatedly executed when the programmable display 10 and the electronic terminal 20 are being connected. The processing shown in FIG. 15 is basically the same as the signal control processing (FIG. 9) according to the first embodiment, but the signal including the processing procedure of step S304 described below is the signal according to the first embodiment. It is different from the control process.

As shown in FIG. 15, the control unit 150 determines whether a press request signal has been received from the electronic terminal 20 (step S301).

If the determination result indicates that the pressing request signal is received from the electronic terminal 20 (step S301, Yes), the control unit 150 turns on the value of the internal signal (step S302).

Subsequently, the control unit 150 determines whether a release request signal has been received from the electronic terminal 20 (step S303).

When it is determined that the release request signal has not been received from the electronic terminal 20 (No at Step S303), the control unit 150 refers to the signal determination table 146 and determines that the internal signal turned ON at Step S302 is the control target signal. (Step S304).

The control part 150 returns to the determination of said step S303, when it is not a control object signal as a result of determination (step S304, No).

On the other hand, if the result of determination is that the signal is a control target signal (step S304, Yes), the controller 150 refers to the communication state data 145 and has a failure in communication between the programmable display 10 and the electronic terminal 20. That is, it is determined whether it is a cut state or an unstable state (step S305).

The control unit 150 determines whether the content of the failure is in a disconnected state (step S306) when there is a failure in communication with the electronic terminal 20 as a result of the determination (step S305, Yes).

If the result of determination is that the device is in the disconnected state (Yes in step S306), the control unit 150 waits for the button identifier and the effective duration corresponding to the disconnected state to reach, and changes the value of the internal signal from ON to OFF ( Step S307).

Subsequently, the control unit 150 determines whether it is connected to the electronic terminal 20 (step S308). As a result of the determination, when the control unit 150 is connected to the electronic terminal 20 (step S308, Yes), the control unit 150 returns to the determination in step S301. On the contrary, if the determination result shows that the control unit 150 is not connected to the electronic terminal 20 (step S308, No), the process shown in FIG.

In step S306, if the determination result indicates that the communication with the electronic terminal 20 is not in a disconnected state (No in step S306), that is, if the controller 150 is in an unstable state, the control unit 150 sets the button identifier and the unstable state. Waiting for the corresponding effective duration to arrive, the value of the internal signal is changed from ON to OFF (step S309), and the process proceeds to the determination in step S308.

In step S305, if there is no failure in communication with the electronic terminal 20 as a result of the determination (step S305, No), the control unit 150 returns to the determination in step S303.

In step S303, when it is determined that the release request signal has been received from the electronic terminal 20 (step S303, Yes), the control unit 150 changes the value of the internal signal from ON to OFF (step S310). Then, the process returns to the determination in step S308.

In step S301, when the determination result shows that the control unit 150 has not received a press request signal from the electronic terminal 20 (step S301, No), the control unit 150 proceeds to the determination in step S308.

According to the second embodiment, the programmable display 10 can determine whether to change the effective duration of the internal signal for each button corresponding to the internal signal according to the content of the communication failure. For this reason, according to the second embodiment, it is possible to realize control according to the button corresponding to the internal signal.

An example of a computer that executes processing based on various functions provided by the programmable display device 10 described in the first and second embodiments will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the programmable display device 10 according to each embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 16, the computer 200 as the programmable display 10 described in the first and second embodiments includes, for example, a processor 201, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 202, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 203, and an input interface 204. , Input device 205, output interface 206, output device 207, communication interface 208, bus 209, and the like. The processor 201, RAM 202, ROM 203, input interface 204, input device 205, output interface 206, output device 207, and communication interface 208 are connected via a bus 209.

The RAM 202 is a readable / writable memory device. For example, a semiconductor memory such as SRAM (Static RAM) or DRAM (Dynamic RAM), or a flash memory is used even if it is not a RAM. The ROM 203 stores a program that realizes processing based on various functions provided by the programmable display 10 described in the first and second embodiments and data used for processing by the program. The ROM 203 includes a PROM (Programmable ROM) and the like. The ROM 203 corresponds to the storage unit 140, for example. Data used for processing by a program that realizes processing based on various functions provided by the programmable display 10 described in the first and second embodiments corresponds to various data and various parameters stored in the ROM 203, for example.

The input interface 204 is a circuit that transmits an input signal from the input device 205 to the processor 201. The output interface 206 is a circuit that executes output to the output device 207 in accordance with an instruction from the processor 201. The communication interface 208 is a circuit that controls communication executed via the communication network 1. The communication interface 208 is, for example, a network interface card (NIC). The input interface 204 and the output interface 206 may be an integrated unit.

The processor 201 reads out a program stored in the ROM 203, expands it in the RAM 202, and executes instructions included in the program expanded in the RAM 202. When the processor 201 operates according to the execution result of the instruction included in the program, processing based on various functions provided by the programmable display 10 described in the first and second embodiments is realized. When executing instructions by the processor 201, the RAM 202 may be used as a work area for the processor 201.

The program that realizes the processing based on the various functions provided by the programmable display 10 described in the first and second embodiments and the data used for the processing by the program do not necessarily need to be stored in the ROM 203 from the beginning. For example, it is stored in “another computer (or server)” connected to the computer 200 via a network such as a public line, the Internet, a LAN, and a WAN (Wide Area Network), and the computer 200 stores each program from these It may be downloaded and executed.

As shown in FIG. 16, an example of realizing processing based on various functions provided by the programmable display 10 described in the first and second embodiments when the processor 201 reads and executes a program stored in the ROM 203. However, embodiments disclosed in the present application are not limited. The wired logic in which a plurality of processing circuits for realizing each of the processes based on the various functions provided by the programmable display 10 described in the first and second embodiments are linked to each other, as described in the first and second embodiments. You may implement | achieve the process based on the various functions provided by the programmable display 10. FIG. For example, a processing circuit corresponding to processing based on various functions provided by the programmable display 10 described in the first and second embodiments includes an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) or an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array). Can be applied.

In the above embodiment, the operation method of the button displayed on the user interface of the electronic terminal 20 includes a momentary method. In the above embodiment, the buttons operated on the electronic terminal 20 are not limited to buttons reproduced by software on the user interface displayed on the electronic terminal 20, and are provided on the electronic terminal 20. It may be a physically configured button.

The control of the internal signal in the programmable display 10 described in the above embodiment receives a signal transmitted from a terminal device that is communicably connected, and controls the value of the internal signal corresponding to the received signal. The same applies to other control devices such as PLC.

The configuration described in the above embodiment shows an example of the contents of the present invention, and can be combined with another known technique, and can be combined with other configurations without departing from the gist of the present invention. It is also possible to omit or change the part.

1 communication network, 10 programmable display, 20 electronic terminals, 30 PLC, 40 production facilities, 200 computers.

Claims (10)

1. A terminal connection unit capable of communication connection with an electronic terminal;
   An operation signal control unit that controls the state of an internal signal assigned in advance to the input unit to an ON state or an OFF state based on a signal relating to the input unit operated by the electronic terminal received from the electronic terminal. When,
   A communication state determination unit for determining a state of communication with the electronic terminal,
   The operation signal control unit, when the communication state determination unit determines that the internal signal is in an ON state and a communication failure has occurred with the electronic terminal, A control device that changes an effective duration time during which the state of the internal signal is continued in an ON state according to the contents.
2. The communication state determination unit determines whether the content of the communication failure is a disconnected state or an unstable state based on a connection confirmation signal received from the electronic terminal. Control device.
3. A storage unit for storing a first effective duration corresponding to when the content of the communication failure is in a disconnected state and a second effective duration corresponding to when the content of the communication failure is in an unstable state; ,
   The operation signal controller is
   When it is determined that the state of the internal signal is ON and the content of the communication failure is a disconnected state, wait for the first effective duration to elapse after the communication is determined to be a disconnected state. , Transition the state of the internal signal from the ON state to the OFF state,
   When the state of the internal signal is ON and the content of the communication failure is determined to be unstable, wait for the second effective duration to elapse after the communication is determined to be unstable. The control device according to claim 2, wherein the state of the internal signal is changed from an ON state to an OFF state.
4. The communication state determination unit
   When the reception success rate of the connection confirmation signal is equal to or lower than a threshold, it is determined that the content of the communication failure with the electronic terminal is in an unstable state,
   After determining that the state is unstable, it is further determined that the state of communication with the electronic terminal is a disconnected state when the number of consecutive reception failures of the connection confirmation signal is equal to or greater than a threshold value. The control device according to claim 3.
5. The control device according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the first effective duration time is set based on a minimum time processed by the control device.
6. The second effective duration is set longer than a time set in advance as an execution time of a retry process for reconnecting the control device and the electronic terminal to a communicable state. The control device according to any one of 1 to 5.
7. The control device according to any one of claims 3 to 6, wherein the first effective duration time is shorter than the second effective duration time.
8. At least a part of the internal signals assigned in advance to each of the plurality of input units included in the electronic terminal is a target of a process for changing an effective duration time in which the state of the internal signal is continued in the ON state. The control device according to claim 3, wherein the control device is a control device.
9. The control device according to any one of claims 3 to 8, further comprising a time setting unit that receives settings of the first effective duration and the second effective duration from an electronic terminal.
10. A signal control method to be executed by a control device,
    A communication connection with an electronic terminal;
    Based on a signal relating to an input unit operated by the electronic terminal received from the electronic terminal, controlling a state of an internal signal pre-assigned to the input unit to an ON state or an OFF state;
    Determining a state of communication with the electronic terminal,
    The step of controlling the state of the internal signal includes:
    When it is determined that the internal signal is in the ON state and a communication failure has occurred with the electronic terminal, the internal signal state is set to the ON state according to the content of the communication failure. The signal control method characterized by changing the effective continuation time to be continued as it is.

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