JPH04310096A - Process controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To relieve the load of the operator and to improve the convenience of the controller by not fixing a location in which the process control is monitored but monitoring the process control at an optional location. CONSTITUTION:The process controller is provided with a process controller controlling a controlled system and a process monitor section 5 monitoring the control of the controlled system by the process controller 3, portable operation control means 9a, 9b displaying a measured value of the controlled system upon the receipt of the measured value of the controlled system controlled by the process controller 3 and sending a manipulated variable upon the receipt of the manipulated variable with respect to the control of the above controlled system, and a means 7 sending the measured value of the controlled system controlled by the process controller 3 in response to a request from the operation control means 9a, 9b sending the manipulated valiable received from the operation control means 9a, 9b to the said process controller 3.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention]

[Object of the invention]

0002

[Industrial Field of Application] The present invention relates to a process control device that includes a process controller that controls a controlled object and a process monitoring section that monitors the control of the controlled object by the process controller. The present invention relates to a process control device that enables monitoring of controlled objects at any location and improves operational convenience.

0003

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional process control device will be explained with reference to FIG.

The process control device described above has a configuration in which process controllers 15a and 15b are connected to a process monitoring section 19 via a process LAN 17.

[0005] The process controllers 15a and 15b
Excluding small-scale processes, the system executes PID control and sequence control, for example, by detecting pressure or flow rate and transmitting the data to the process monitoring unit 19 via the process LAN 17.
Send to. The process monitoring unit 19 displays the transmitted measured values of pressure or flow rate so that the process control can be monitored by an operator. The operator prints or records the measured values by monitoring and inputs the manipulated variable of the degree of opening and closing of the control valve from the operating end. When the input operation amount is transmitted to the process controllers 15a, 15b, the process controllers 15a, 15b control opening and closing of the control valves in response to the operation amount. The process is controlled by controlling the control valve, but in order to monitor the process control, an operator must be located near the process monitoring section 19, making it difficult to improve the convenience of the apparatus.

[0006]

By the way, in conventional process control devices, the data display section and operation section of the process monitoring section 19 are integrated. I had to be in the control room where it was installed. For this reason, since it is necessary to remain in the control room at all times during monitoring, the operator is restricted to the control room and cannot go to other locations, which may reduce the usability of the apparatus.

[0007] The present invention was made to solve such conventional problems, and its purpose is to reduce the burden on the operator by allowing process control to be monitored at any location without having to be fixed at a fixed location. An object of the present invention is to provide a process control device that reduces the amount of stress and improves the convenience of the device.

[Configuration of the invention]

[0009]

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a method for displaying a measured value of a controlled object controlled by a process controller and displaying the measured value to determine the amount of operation for controlling the controlled object. A portable operation control means transmits the operation information when input, and the operation amount received from the operation control means is transmitted to the process controller, and the process controller transmits the operation amount in response to a request from the operation control means. The object of the present invention is to include means for transmitting a measured value of a controlled object.

0010

[Operation] With the above structure, when the portable operation control means receives the measured value of the controlled object controlled by the process controller, it displays the measured value of the controlled object from the display section. When the manipulated variable for controlling the displayed control object is input, the manipulated variable is transmitted.

[0011] When the manipulated variable is received, the manipulated variable is transmitted to the process controller from the LAN and control is executed. Further, when a request is received from the operation control means, the measured value of the object to be controlled by the process controller is transmitted to the operation control means, so that process control can be monitored at any time.

0012

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of the process control apparatus of the present invention.

[0014] The process control device includes a process LA
The process controller 3, process monitoring section 5, and base station 7 are connected to N1, and the process controller 3 is controlled by wireless transmission and reception between the base station 7 and remote stations 9a and 9b.

The process LAN 1 executes data transmission between the process controller 3 and the base station 7. Except for small-scale processes, the process controller 3 normally executes, for example, PID control or sequence control, and detects pressure or flow rate and transmits it from the process LAN 1. Further, the process controller 3 controls the opening/closing degree of the control valve based on the operation amount input from the remote stations 9a, 9b transmitted from the base station 7 via the process LAN 1.

The process monitoring section 5 is installed, for example, in a control room, and monitors the pressure, etc. of the process controller 3 and the control valves.

The base station 7 temporarily stores display process data such as the pressure or flow rate and the degree of opening/closing of the control valve transmitted from the process controller 3 in a memory (not shown), and then transmits it to the remote stations 9a,
It is transmitted when data is requested from 9b. Further, the base station 7 transmits to the process controller 3 via the process LAN 1 the operation amount indicating the opening/closing amount of the control valve of the process controller 3, which is transmitted from the remote stations 9a and 9b.

Note that the base station 7 performs transmission and reception with the remote stations 9a and 9b using, for example, an RS232C wireless terminal.

The base station 7 also stores process data and the like transmitted from the process controller 3 at a predetermined address in a memory (not shown).

The remote stations 9a, 9b are portable computers, such as battery-powered laptop computers, which are small and lightweight. Moreover, the remote stations 9a and 9b are
For example, it is equipped with a wireless function, such as an RS232C wireless terminal, and displays the pressure transmitted from the process controller 3 from the base station 7 and the degree of opening/closing of the control valve on the CRT of the display sections 11a and 11b. on the other hand,
When the operator inputs a manipulated variable for controlling the degree of opening and closing of the control valve of the process controller 3 using the keys on the operating units 13a and 13b, the remote stations 9a and 9b convert the manipulated variable into a transmission format and send it to the base station 7. do.

[0021] Here, the remote stations 9a,
The communication method between the base station 9b and the base station 7 will be explained.

First, if the base station 7 and the remote stations 9a, 9b are in a one-to-one system, the base station 7 has one remote station for each remote station.
Install communication lines. Since the task of the base station 7 controls the transmission and reception of data requests transmitted from the remote stations 9a and 9b, high-speed data transmission and reception can be realized.

Next, the method of connecting a plurality of N remote stations to one base station 7 is to install one communication line in the base station 7 and connect N remote stations to the same communication line. Make use of it. The base station 7 employs a polling method in which it periodically invites all N remote stations to see if there is a communication request. With this polling method, the base station 7
Since the remote stations interact one by one, if two or more remote stations make requests at the same time, it takes time to respond, but there is a cost advantage.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be explained.

First, after power is turned on to the apparatus, the process controller 3 transmits the pressure or flow rate and the degree of opening/closing of the control valve via the process LAN 1. Process L
The degree of opening/closing of the control valve, etc. transmitted via the AN1 is transmitted to the base station 7, converted into a transmission format, and then transmitted to the remote station 9a. The remote station 9a displays the received degree of opening/closing of the control valve, etc. on the display section 11a. After the operator visually confirms the displayed degree of opening/closing of the control valve, the operator moves from the control room he/she is currently in to the rest room, and from the rest room controls the operation amount of the control valve of the process controller 3 on the operation unit 13.
Input from a. The input operation amount is transmitted to the base station 7 after being converted into a transmission format. The base station 7 receives the manipulated variable and transmits it to the process LAN 1. After the transmission, the process controller 3 controls the opening and closing of the control valve based on the transmitted operation amount.

Next, when the operator returns to the control room from the rest room and monitors the flow rate of the process controller 3, the operator inputs a request to display the measured value of the flow rate from the operating section 13a. When a request for a flow rate measurement value is input, the remote station 9a converts the request into a transmission format and transmits it to the base station 7. Base station 7 reads the received flow rate data from a memory (not shown) and transmits it to remote station 9a. The remote station 9a allows the operator to monitor the flow rate by displaying the received flow rate data on the display unit 13a.

On the other hand, when another operator inputs a request for the flow rate, control valve, etc. controlled by the process controller 3 from the operation unit 13b, the remote station 9b transmits a data request to the base station 7 and sends the data request to the base station 7. The measured value of the flow rate received from 7 is displayed on the display section 11b.

[0028] As a result, the place where the operator monitors the process is not limited to the control room as in the past, and it is now possible to monitor the process not only in the control room but also in the office or break room. , improve the convenience of the device.

Furthermore, the remote stations 9a and 9b are small, lightweight, and portable, making them easy to carry, which improves their utility value as portable devices.

Next, another embodiment will be explained.

As a method for promoting high-speed response display of process data, there is a method for periodically communicating process data. The periodic communication method described above is based on the remote station 9a,
In this method, all process data values or only changed values among all the process data values are transmitted to the process data 9b at regular intervals.

[0032] As a result, remote stations 9a,
9b can constantly update the latest process data values to speed up the query time of the base station 7 regarding the display of the updated process data values.

[0033] If there is a conflict between the key operations of the remote stations 9a and 9b and the regular communication of the base station 7, full-duplex transmission and reception is possible by using two lines, one for transmission and one for reception. Become.

Furthermore, in the field of process control, since reliability must be emphasized, the transmitter/receiver circuit is normally used in a two-line full-duplex communication system. If one of the two lines fails, the polling method on the base station 7 side is used to switch to a half-duplex communication method that uses only one line, thereby slowing down the display speed and allowing process monitoring to continue.

[0035]

As explained above, in the present invention, process data is transmitted and received from a base station to a portable remote station wirelessly, so process control can be monitored at any location without being fixed. By being able to monitor, it is possible to reduce the burden on the operator and improve the convenience of the device.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of a process monitoring device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of a conventional process monitoring device.

[Explanation of symbols]

3 Process controller 7 Base station 9a, 9b Remote station 11a, 11b Display section 13a, 13b Operation section

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A process control device comprising a process controller that controls a controlled object and a process monitoring unit that monitors control of the controlled object by the process controller, wherein a measured value of the controlled object controlled by the process controller is A portable operation control means that displays the measured value when received and transmits the operation amount when the operation amount for controlling the controlled object is input, and a portable operation control means that transmits the operation amount received from the operation control means to the process controller. 1. A process control device comprising: a means for transmitting a measured value of a controlled object controlled by a process controller in response to a request from the operation control means.