JPH01320507A - Control panel with state display function - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To easily perform the analysis of the cause of a generated signal unit, etc., by displaying time data representing the generation time of a signal on the display screen of a control panel with signal data. CONSTITUTION:The signal unit sent from a sequencer 3 or an external switch 14 is displayed on the display panel 8 of the control panel 1. In addition to the display of the signal unit, switch information on the control panel 1, e.g. the operating status of an emergency stopping switch 14b or an automatic/ manual operation change-over switch 14c, etc., is displayed on the display panel 8 in time series. In such a way, it is possible to easily analyze the cause of the generated signal unit, etc., by an operator or a maintenance engineer.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] [Industrial application field]

The present invention is connected to an external control device such as a sequencer that controls a mechanical device and, if necessary, to the mechanical device via a signal line, and transmits an operation signal to operate the mechanical device, and an external control device that indicates the status of the mechanical device. This invention relates to an operation panel that receives signals from a computer via the signal line, stores and displays signal data indicating a predetermined signal among the operation signals and external signals in the order of their occurrence, and in particular, displays the signal data along with the signal data. The present invention relates to an operation panel with a status display function, which has a function of displaying time data indicating the time point at which a signal is generated. Note that in the following figures, the same reference numerals indicate the same or corresponding parts.

[Conventional technology]

An example of this type of operation panel is Japanese Patent Application No. 176693/1983, filed by the present applicant, titled "Programmable Operation Display." FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the connection relationship between the operation panel and external devices in the present invention and the prior application, and FIG. 5 is a system configuration diagram of the operation panel. Next, the conventional technology will be explained using FIGS. 5 and 6. In FIG. 6, 1 is an operation panel, and 3 is an external control device. This external control device 3 is most often a sequencer (programmable controller), but may also be a microcomputer, an electronic device equipped with a microcontroller, etc. However, in the following, for convenience, this external control device 3 will also be abbreviated as sequencer 3. This sequencer 3 controls a mechanical device 4, and is connected to control elements and sensors such as a motor, a solenoid, and an electromagnetic valve (not shown) in the mechanical device 4 via a control cable 5. Here, the mechanical device 4 may be, for example, a machine tool, a constant temperature oven, an office machine, a printing machine, etc. Reference numeral 6 denotes an input/output interface bus, such as a serial interface or bit parallel, which connects the operation panel 1 and the sequencer 3. L (Ll. L2) is an external switch line that directly transmits contact signals, and the contacts of the switch (external switch) on line L1 are mainly provided on the operation panel 1, and the contacts of the switch (external switch) on line L2 are It is provided in the mechanical device 4 as necessary. The operation of each external switch is read by a microcomputer system 7 (FIG. 5) inside the operation panel 1, which will be described later. For safety reasons, this external switch line L1 is always connected to the operation panel 1 even when the ink face bus 6 loses its function.
The external switch line L2 is a signal line that transmits important signals to be transmitted from the sequencer 3 to the sequencer 3, such as operation signals for the emergency stop switch 14b and the automatic/manual operation changeover switch 14c, which will be described later in FIG.
This is a signal line that transmits signals 2 in the mechanical device 4 unrelated to the operation panel 1, such as signals necessary for production control. Next, in the system configuration diagram of the operation panel 1 in FIG.
7 is a microcomputer system consisting of a CPU, input/output ports, address and data buses. It shall be equipped with an external interface, etc. A display panel 8 is provided with a large number of transparent touch keys TK on its surface, and has the main functions of inputting operation signals to the mechanical device 4 and displaying various display data. This operation signal is transmitted to the microcomputer system 7 by operating the touch key TK of the operation switch (referred to as an image switch) portion of the image displayed on the display screen, as if the image switch in question had been operated. It is input and further sent to the sequencer 3. Furthermore, as the display panel 8, a flat display consisting of an LCD, a plasma display, an EL, etc. is used, and it is also possible to use a CRT for boat fishing, or at least any display that can display characters. But that's fine. 14 (14a to 14d-) are external switches for inputting contact signals, each having a predetermined role, separately from the touch keys TK. That is, in this example, 14a is a display control switch individually provided on the operation panel 1;
This is a switch for inputting a signal for scrolling the display screen of the display panel 8 and a signal for moving the cursor to the microcomputer system 7. Also, 14b is the above-mentioned emergency stop switch that is individually provided on the operation panel 1, and 14C is the automatic/manual operation changeover switch, and these switches 14b and 14c are used as important operation signals for emergency stop signals and automatic operation, respectively. /
A manual operation switching signal is directly sent to the sequencer 3 via the external switch line L1. Note that each of these sending signals is read by the microcomputer system 7. Further, 14b is various switches provided in the mechanical device 4, and in this example, (a) a switch signal that closes when the machine is operating; (ii) a switch signal that closes when the machine is operating;
A switch signal that closes every time a product is manufactured, (c) A serial or parallel data signal that communicates the failure number every time a failure occurs, (=) a serial or parallel data signal for the tool number and a signal that turns on when it is used. Signals necessary for production control, such as switch signals, which are not directly related to the sequencer 3, are transmitted to the external switch line 2 to the microcomputer system 7. The first part is a character generator used to convert a display code for data to be displayed on the display panel 8 into a display dot pattern. The ROM 12 stores a program for controlling the microcomputer system 7 and fixed display data to be displayed on the display panel 8, which are set by the loader 9 or the like. The RAM 13 stores various variable data, such as microcomputer system control data, image switch operation information, information on signal units received or input from the sequencer 3 or mechanical device 4 (that is, various individual signals), It is used to store operation information of the external switch 14, time difference data between display data classified by occurrence time, etc., which will be described later in the present invention. The character generator 11, ROM 12. R
The AM 13 and display panel 8 are connected to the microcomputer system 7 via an internal bus 15 consisting of an address bus, a data bus, etc. The microcomputer system 7 includes the ROM 12. The various display data in the RAM 13 are converted into a dot pattern by the combination character generator 11 in a predetermined format and output to the display panel 8 for display. The loader 9 is used to set the data to be displayed on the display panel 8 for each signal, and uses the RS-232C
The microcomputer system 7 is connected to the microcomputer system 7 by an interface bus 6 such as a parallel bus or the like. Further, a mechanical device 4 is connected to the end of the sequencer 3 via a control cable 5, and the operation of this mechanical device 4 is controlled by the operating procedure (program) of the sequencer 3. This sequencer 3 sends signal units to the microcomputer system 7 via the interface bus 6 in accordance with the status of the mechanical device 4, and conversely, sends operation information of the image switches on the display panel 8 via the interface bus 6. It is sent from the microcomputer system 7 to the sequencer 3. In this way, the operation panel 1 can store various individual signals (signal units) of the mechanical device 4 inputted from the sequencer 3 or the external switch 14 in the order of their input, and display them on the display panel 8. This reduces the burden on the operator.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

However, the above-mentioned conventional operation panel only has the function of memorizing and displaying only the signal unit for the mechanical device as a meaningful one, so when the operator uses the display to work, it is difficult to There are problems like this. (1) Since only the signal unit is memorized and displayed, it is not possible to know what kind of condition B (generally, mechanical equipment 4 is in automatic operation or manual operation) when the input signal unit occurred. Therefore, it is difficult for the operator to analyze why the displayed signal unit was sent. For example, some signal units sent from a sequencer may be abnormal signals, and not only the signal unit itself but also the state when the signal unit occurs is an important factor in analyzing abnormalities. This is to become. (2) Even if the signal units received from the sequencer 3 can be stored and displayed in the order in which they were received, the relationship in the generation time between each signal unit is not known, so the signal units may occur consecutively. It is difficult to distinguish whether something has occurred intermittently, and there is not enough information to analyze the situation. As mentioned above, it is very important not only to memorize and display the signal unit from the sequencer, but also to analyze when and in what form that signal unit occurred. A control panel with this functionality has been desired for some time. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an operation panel that stores and displays time differences between signal units and switch information other than signal units, which is effective for an operator to analyze the causes of occurrence of signal units. The goal is to solve problems.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to solve the above problems, the operation panel of the present invention has r
A control device (sequencer 3, etc.) that controls mechanical devices (4, etc.)
etc.) and the mechanical device and signal lines (interface bus 6, external pinch line L (LLL2)) as necessary.
etc.), and the display surface that displays characters etc.
An operation panel (1, etc.) provided on the display panel 8, etc. (input from the touch key TK, emergency stop switch 14b, automatic/manual operation changeover switch 14c, etc.)
An operation signal for operating the mechanical device is sent to the control device via the signal line (interface bus 6, external switch line L1, etc.), and a signal indicating the state of the mechanical device (hereinafter referred to as an external signal) is sent to the control device. Data (signal unit Of, External switch information 02, etc. (hereinafter referred to as signal data) are stored in the order of occurrence (to RAM 13, etc.), and (microcomputer system 7, character generator 11.ROM 1)
2, etc.), the operation panel displays on the display screen, along with the signal data, a means for displaying time data (time difference 03, etc.) indicating the point in time of generation of the signal on the display screen (microcomputer system 7, ROM 12, etc.). ) with j
shall be taken as a thing.

[For use]

The information stored and displayed by the operation panel of the present invention includes not only signal units sent from sequencers and external switches, but also switch information on the operation panel other than signal units,
And by providing an operation panel that can store and display time-series time information indicating the respective occurrence points of the signal units and the switch information, it is possible for operators and maintenance workers to understand the cause of the signal units that have occurred. The purpose is to make it easier to analyze such matters.

【Example】

Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in detail based on FIGS. 1 to 6. FIG. 4 shows a front external view of the present invention. In the figure, the display panel 8 is equipped with transparent touch keys TK on its display surface as described above, and the operation panel l of the present invention includes the touch keys TK, an emergency stop switch 14b, and an automatic/manual operation changeover switch 14c. Operation information for etc., sequencer 3
, the signal unit inputted from the external switch 14d in the mechanical device 4, the operation information, the generation time information for the signal unit, etc. are stored in the RAM 13 in the order of their generation time, and are displayed on the display panel 8. Here, the emergency stop switch 14b and the automatic/manual operation changeover switch 14c are included in the external switch 14 along with the display control switch 14a and the switch 14d in the mechanical device 4, as described above, and the contact information of these switches is Read into the main body of panel l, RAM1 in the main body
The state is stored in 3. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the main operations of the microcomputer system 7 on the operation panel 1, and FIG. 1 is an example of a screen displayed on the display panel 8 based on the procedure shown in FIG. FIG. 2 shows a storage format (also referred to as a store format) for each display item when individual information to be displayed on the display panel 8 in the order of occurrence as shown in FIG. 1 is stored in the RAM 13. To explain Fig. 3, first, in step S1, it is determined whether or not the signal unit 01 (Fig. 1) from the external sequencer 3 has been received. Each proceeds to S2. In step S2, information 02 of the external switch 14 (Fig. 1)
It is determined whether or not there is an input to the emergency stop switch 14b, which is one of the above, and if there is, the process proceeds to step S6, and if there is no input, the process proceeds to step S3. In step S3, a change in the automatic/manual operation changeover switch 14c, which is also one of the external switch information 02, is determined, and if there is an input for automatic operation, the process advances to step S7; on the other hand, if there is no input for automatic operation, the process advances to step S4. . In step S4, it is checked whether there is an input for manual operation of the operation changeover switch 14c, and if there is no input, step S4 is executed to repeat steps 31 to S4 described above.
Return to 1. On the other hand, if there is an input for 9 manual operation, step S8
Proceed to. In steps 35 to S8, an identification code 04 (FIG. 2) corresponding to each input data is stored in the memory (RAM) 13. When receiving the signal unit 01, the identification code 04 is stored in step S5, and then the sequencer rank number 05 (FIGS. 1 and 2) received from the sequencer 3 is stored in the memory 13 in step S9. Step SI
In O, a time difference 03 (FIGS. 1 and 2) as a time value of a time difference timer (not shown) is stored in the memory 13 in common. Then, in step Sll, the time difference timer is reset and the time measurement is repeated from the beginning. In the next step 312, the above-mentioned stored contents are read out and displayed on the display panel 8 as shown in FIG. When performing this display, if the screen is already displayed completely, the entire screen is scrolled down by one line and the screen is displayed on the empty top line. Sequencer 3 or external switch 1
In the example of FIG. 1, the signal unit 01 received from the external switch 4d is displayed in the display format of "Alarm Nα-XX", and the external switch information 02 as the operation information input from the external switch 14c or 14b is "Manual operation changeover". ” or “Emergency stop.” Also, these information 01
02 is displayed together with the occurrence time difference 03 from the time of occurrence of the information one line below. For example, in the display example shown in Figure 1, the alarm number = 100 is 2 times after the manual operation changeover.
This indicates that the event occurred after 0 seconds. In this way, the operation panel 1 displays not only the data of the signal unit 01 received from the sequencer 3, but also the operation status of the emergency stop switch 14b, automatic/manual operation changeover switch 14c, etc. in chronological order, so that the displayed information is This has the advantage that it is easy to analyze the situation. Furthermore, since it shows the time difference between each occurring item, it is advantageous for analysis, recording of driving conditions, etc. Next, in the store format shown in Fig. 2, 04 is the identification code mentioned above, and in the example shown in Fig. 1, it is a code indicating the major classification of display information items such as "Alarm", "Manual Operation Switch", "Emergency Stop", etc. 05 is the signal unit number, and in the example shown in Fig. 1, it is a three-digit number attached after the first alarm of signal unit 01, and is a number to distinguish signal unit 01. Also, 03 is the number mentioned above. This is a time difference. In this embodiment, data with a time difference of 03 is used as time information for each display item, but the time may be stored using a clock I, St, or the like.

【Effect of the invention】

According to the invention, the external side fi! Not only the unit of signals received from the device (sequencer), but also operation information of external switches attached to the operation panel and time information indicating the time point at which the signal units and operation information occurred are stored and displayed. The occurrence status of each signal, that is, the operating status of mechanical devices and external control devices and the operating status of the operator, can be understood not only by the order of occurrence but also as meaningful data in terms of time. Useful for analyzing causes.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a display panel chart as an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 4 is a front external view, FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the system configuration of the present invention and a conventional operation panel, and FIG.
The figure is a diagram showing a connection relationship between an operation panel and an external device according to the present invention and a conventional one. 01: Signal unit, 02: External switch information, 03: Time difference, 04: Identification code, 05: Signal unit Nα, 1: Operation panel, 3: External control device (sequencer), 4: Mechanical device, 5: Control cable, 6: Interface bus, L(
Ll~L2): External switch line, 7: Microcomputer system, 8: i display panel, TK: Touch key, 11: Character generator, 12: ROM, 13: RAM,
14 (14a to 14d-): External switch, 1
4a: display control switch, 14b; emergency stop switch,
14c: Automatic/manual operation switch No. 1 Fig. 2 Fig. 4 Upper control cable O Fig. 6 Fig. 5

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1) An operation panel comprising a control device for controlling a mechanical device and, if necessary, a display surface connected to the mechanical device via a signal line and displaying characters, etc. Sending operation signals for operating the device to the control device via the signal line, and receiving signals indicating the state of the mechanical device (hereinafter referred to as external signals) from the control device and the mechanical device via the signal line. , data indicating each of predetermined various signals among the operation signal or the external signal (hereinafter referred to as signal data)
The control panel is characterized in that it stores the signals in the order of their occurrence, and displays on the display surface, along with the signal data, time data indicating the time point at which the signal is generated, on the operation panel. Operation panel with status display function.