JP7636660B2 - Assistive devices - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an auxiliary device connected to a PLC.

A PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) that is configured by connecting independent devices such as a power supply unit and a CPU unit is known as a conventional technology. Patent Document 1 discloses a PLC system that can determine the power supply state in each unit that configures the PLC system.

Patent No. 5819023

The power supply unit that makes up a PLC uses components such as electrolytic capacitors that have a relatively short lifespan, and often requires replacement earlier than other units. However, in the conventional technology described above, even when continuous operation is desired, the power supply unit cannot be replaced unless the system including the PLC is stopped.

One aspect of the present invention was made in consideration of the above problems, and aims to make it possible to replace a power supply unit without shutting down a system that includes a PLC.

To solve the above problems, the present invention adopts the following configuration.

That is, the auxiliary device according to one aspect of the present invention is an auxiliary device as a unit in which a programmable logic controller is configured by connecting a plurality of units, and includes a first connection section that transmits power between the auxiliary device and a first unit, which is another unit, when the auxiliary device is connected to another unit, a second connection section that is electrically connected to the first connection section and transmits power between the auxiliary device and a second unit, which is yet another unit, when the auxiliary device is connected to a second unit, and a third connection section that receives power from the outside and can supply the received power to the first connection section and the second connection section. In the above configuration, the first connection section and the second connection section realize the transmission of power between the first unit and the second unit, and further, the power received from the outside can be supplied to at least one of the first unit and the second unit via the third connection section. This makes it possible to replace the power supply unit without stopping the system including the PLC.

The auxiliary device according to the above aspect may further include a power supply monitoring unit that monitors the quality of the power received from the third connection unit. With this configuration, for example, if the quality of the power supplied to the third connection unit does not meet the criteria for operating the PLC, it is possible to notify the administrator of this fact.

In the auxiliary device according to the above aspect, the first unit may be a power supply unit, and the second unit may be a CPU unit. With this configuration, power can be transmitted between the power supply unit and the CPU unit, and power received from the outside can be further supplied to the CPU unit via the third connection part.

In the assist device according to the above aspect, the first unit is a CPU unit,
The second unit may be an I/O control unit. With this configuration, power can be transmitted between the CPU unit and the I/O control unit, and power received from the outside via the third connection part can be supplied to the CPU unit and the I/O control unit.

In the auxiliary device according to the above aspect, the first unit may be a first component unit, and the second unit may be a second component unit. With this configuration, power can be transmitted between the first component unit and the second component unit, and power received from the outside via the third connection part can be supplied to at least one of the first component unit and the second component unit.

The auxiliary device according to the above aspect may further include a fourth connection section for transmitting and receiving signals to and from the first unit and a fifth connection section for transmitting and receiving signals to and from the second unit when the auxiliary device is connected to the first unit and the second unit, and may mediate the transmission of signals between the first unit and the second unit. With this configuration, it becomes possible to transmit signals throughout the entire PLC, starting from the CPU unit, for example.

According to one aspect of the present invention, it is possible to replace a power supply unit without shutting down a system that includes a PLC.

1A and 1B are schematic diagrams illustrating an example of an application scene of the assist device according to the first embodiment. 2 illustrates an example of a hardware configuration of an auxiliary device according to a first embodiment. 11 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure when an administrator replaces a power supply unit. 13 illustrates an example of a hardware configuration of an auxiliary device according to a second embodiment. 13A and 13B are schematic diagrams illustrating an example of an application scene of an auxiliary device according to a modified example. 13A and 13B are schematic diagrams illustrating an example of an application scene of an auxiliary device according to a modified example. 13A and 13B are schematic diagrams illustrating an example of an application scene of an auxiliary device according to a modified example.

Below, an embodiment of one aspect of the present invention (hereinafter also referred to as "this embodiment") will be described with reference to the drawings.

[Embodiment 1]
§1 Application Example First, an example of a scene in which the present invention is applied will be described with reference to Figures 1 and 2. Figure 1 illustrates a schematic example of an application scene of the auxiliary device 10 according to this embodiment. Figure 1 also illustrates the entire PLC 1 to which the auxiliary device 10 is connected. Figure 2 illustrates a schematic example of a hardware configuration of the auxiliary device 10 according to this embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 1, the PLC 1 includes a power supply unit 12, an auxiliary device 10, a CPU unit 14, an I/O control unit 16, one or more configuration units 18, and an end cover (end plate) 20. Here, the configuration units 18 include, for example, a basic I/O unit, a high-performance I/O unit, and a CPU high-performance unit. Adjacent units such as those mentioned above are connected to each other to transmit power and signals.

The auxiliary device 10 is an auxiliary device as one of the units that constitute the PLC, which is formed by connecting multiple units, and is a device that enables power received from an external source such as an external power source 32 to be supplied to other units of the PLC 1 when, for example, the power supply unit 12 is replaced. In one embodiment, the auxiliary device 10 is configured to be connected between the power supply unit 12 and the CPU unit 14 as shown in FIG. 1. In the above configuration, when the PLC 1 operates using power from the power supply unit 12, the auxiliary device 10 supplies the power supplied from the power supply unit 12 to the adjacent CPU unit 14.

As shown in FIG. 2, the auxiliary device 10 includes a first connection part 22 that transmits power between the auxiliary device 10 and a first unit when the auxiliary device 10 is connected to another unit, a second connection part 24 that is electrically connected to the first connection part 22 and transmits power between the auxiliary device 10 and a second unit when the auxiliary device 10 is connected to the second unit, and a third connection part 26 that receives power from the outside and can supply the received power to the first connection part 22 and the second connection part 24.

Conventionally, in a PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) that is configured by connecting independent devices such as a power supply unit and a CPU unit, when replacing the power supply unit that supplies power, it was necessary to stop the system including the PLC. The auxiliary device according to this embodiment is connected between the units that the PLC comprises, and in the above case, it is possible to replace the power supply unit without stopping the system including the PLC.

§2 Configuration Example Next, an example of the hardware configuration of the assist device 10 according to this embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

As shown in FIG. 2, the auxiliary device 10 is connected between the first unit and the second unit in the PLC 1 via the connections 34 and 36 of each unit. As an example, the first unit will be the power supply unit 12 and the second unit will be the CPU unit 14, but this is not limiting. The auxiliary device 10 may be connected between other units, with the first unit being the CPU unit 14 and the second unit being the I/O control unit 16. However, in the following description, of the units adjacent to the auxiliary device 10, the unit closest to the power supply unit 12 will be described as the first unit, and the unit furthest from the power supply unit 12 will be described as the second unit.

The auxiliary device 10 has a first connection portion 22, a second connection portion 24, a third connection portion 26, a fourth connection portion 28, and a fifth connection portion 30. The first connection portion 22 is a connector for transmitting power between the auxiliary device 10 and the first unit when the auxiliary device 10 is connected to the first unit.

The second connection part 24 is a connector for transmitting power between the auxiliary device 10 and the second unit when the auxiliary device 10 is connected to the second unit. The first connection part 22 and the second connection part 24 are electrically connected. Therefore, when the first unit and the second unit are connected to both sides of the auxiliary device 10, power transmission between the first unit and the second unit becomes possible. For example, when the second connection part 24 is connected to the CPU unit 14, it supplies the power supplied from the first connection part 22 or the third connection part 26 to the CPU unit 14.

The third connection unit 26 receives power supplied from the outside. The third connection unit 26 can also supply the power received from the outside to at least one of the first connection unit 22 and the second connection unit 24. For example, an external power source 32 different from the power source unit 12 constituting the PLC 1 supplies power to the third connection unit 26.

When the power supply unit 12 is connected to the PLC 1, the auxiliary device 10 can supply the power supplied from the first unit to the first connection part 22 to the second unit via the second connection part 24. On the other hand, when the power supply unit 12 is not connected to the PLC 1 and an external power supply 32 is connected, the auxiliary device 10 can supply the power supplied from the external power supply 32 to the third connection part 26 to the second unit via the second connection part 24, and when the first unit is not the power supply unit 12, can supply the power to the first unit via the first connection part 22.

In other words, when the power supply unit 12 is connected within the PLC 1, the first connection portion 22 supplies the power received from the first unit to the second connection portion 24, and the third connection portion 26 does not receive power from the outside as power to be consumed in the PLC 1, and when the power supply unit 12 is not connected within the PLC 1, the third connection portion 26 can supply the power received from the outside to the first connection portion 22 and the second connection portion 24.

The signal line 38 in FIG. 2 indicates a transmission path for signals indicating addresses and other data. In other words, signals are transmitted between each unit constituting the PLC 1 via the signal line 38. The fourth connection part 28 is a connector for transmitting signals to and from the first unit when the auxiliary device 10 is connected to the first unit and the second unit. The fifth connection part 30 is a connector for transmitting signals to and from the second unit in the above-mentioned case.

The fourth connection portion 28 may be realized as a connector integrated with the first connection portion 22, or may be realized as a separate connector. The fifth connection portion 30 may be realized as a connector integrated with the second connection portion 24, or may be realized as a separate connector.

The CPU unit 14 also includes a connection section 36 and a connection section 37 that is connected to the adjacent I/O control unit 16, as well as a DC transformer section 40 that changes the voltage of the DC power, and a control circuit 42 that controls the entire CPU unit 14. The DC transformer section 40 appropriately transforms the supplied DC power in accordance with the specifications of the control circuit before supplying it to the control circuit 42.

§3 Example of Procedure Next, a procedure example in which an administrator replaces the power supply unit 12 without stopping the PLC 1 to which the auxiliary device 10 according to the present embodiment is connected will be described with reference to FIG. 3. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the procedure example. At the start of the procedure shown in the flowchart of FIG. 3, the first unit is connected to the first connection section 22 of the auxiliary device 10, the second unit is connected to the second connection section 24, and the PLC 1 is operating. Note that the processing procedure described below is merely an example, and each process may be changed as much as possible. In addition, steps may be omitted, replaced, or added to the processing procedure described below as appropriate depending on the embodiment. This also applies to the following embodiments.

(Step S101)
In step S101, the administrator connects the external power supply 32, which outputs a predetermined voltage, to the third connection portion 26 of the auxiliary device 10, and starts power supply from the external power supply 32 to the PLC 1.

(Step S102)
In step S102, the administrator operates the power supply unit 12 to stop the power supply from the power supply unit 12 to the PLC 1.

(Step S103)
In step S<b>103 , the administrator removes the power supply unit 12 from the PLC 1 .

(Step S104)
In step S<b>104 , the administrator installs a new power supply unit 12 in the PLC 1 .

(Step S105)
In step S105, the administrator operates the PLC 1 to start power supply from the power supply unit 12 to the PLC 1.

(Step S106)
In step S106, the administrator operates the external power source 32 to stop the power supply from the external power source 32 to the PLC 1.

(Step S107)
In step S<b>107 , the administrator removes the external power supply 32 from the third connection unit 26 .

The above describes an example of the procedure for an administrator to replace the power supply unit 12. According to the configuration of this embodiment, the PLC 1 is always supplied with power from the power supply unit 12 or the external power supply 32, so the power supply unit 12 can be replaced without stopping the system including the PLC 1.

[Embodiment 2]
A second embodiment of the present invention will be described below. For ease of explanation, the same reference numerals are used for components having the same functions as those described in the above embodiment, and redundant explanations will not be repeated. In this embodiment, an example of a configuration in which the auxiliary device 10 monitors the quality of the power received from the third connection portion 26 will be described. Here, monitoring the quality of the power means continuously evaluating whether the quality of the target power meets a certain standard for operating the PLC 1.

Figure 4 illustrates a schematic example of a hardware configuration of the auxiliary device 10 according to this embodiment. As shown in Figure 4, the auxiliary device 10 is configured to further include a power supply monitoring unit 44, in comparison with the auxiliary device 10 shown in Figure 2.

The power supply monitoring unit 44 monitors the quality of the power received from the third connection unit 26. The power supply monitoring unit 44 monitors the quality of the power, for example, by continuously evaluating the voltage of the power supplied from the external power supply 32.

In addition, if the power supply monitoring unit 44 determines that the quality of the power received from the third connection unit 26 does not meet the standard, it may be configured to transmit information indicating this to the CPU unit 14 via the signal line 38, and the CPU unit 14 may perform a specified process.

Next, an example of the operation of the power supply monitoring unit 44 will be described. Below, an example will be described in which an external power supply 32 is connected to the third connection unit 26.

When power is being transmitted between the first unit and the second unit and an external power source 32 is connected to the third connection section 26, the power source monitoring section 44 monitors the quality of the power received from the third connection section 26. If the quality of the power does not meet a certain standard, the power source monitoring section 44 transmits information indicating that the quality of the power received from outside is outside the standard value to the CPU unit 14 via the signal line 38. The CPU unit 14 then performs processing to output the information to notify the administrator. Alternatively, the auxiliary device 10 may be equipped with a notification function such as a warning lamp to warn that the quality of the power received from outside is outside the standard value.

According to the above configuration, for example, in the procedure of step S102 in embodiment 1, before switching the power supply source in PLC 1 from power supply unit 12 to external power supply 32, the administrator can determine whether the quality of the power supplied to third connection unit 26 meets the standard for operating PLC 1. If the quality of the power does not fall outside the standard value, the power supply source in PLC 1 is not switched from power supply unit 12 to external power supply 32, thereby contributing to a stable power supply.

The quality of the power may be, for example, a state of noise contamination. If an external power source 32 that contains a lot of noise is connected to the third connection part 26 and power is supplied, there is a risk of the PLC 1 failing, but the auxiliary device 10 of the second embodiment can prevent such a situation from occurring.

[Modifications of the First and Second Embodiments]
As described above, the position where the auxiliary device 10 is connected within the PLC 1 is not limited to between the power supply unit 12 and the CPU unit 14. Figures 5 to 7 show schematic examples of application scenes of the auxiliary device 10 connected to each of the following positions.
Between the CPU unit 14 and the I/O control unit 16 (FIG. 5)
Between a configuration unit (such as an I/O unit) 18 and another configuration unit 18 (FIG. 6)
Between the structural unit 18 and the end cover 20 (FIG. 7)
In addition, for example, the auxiliary device 10 may be configured to be capable of supplying power to the PLC 1 by connecting the first connection portion 22 to a connection portion of a terminal I/O unit instead of the end cover 20 .

Figure 5 also shows that the first unit may be a (first) power supply unit and the second unit may be a CPU unit.

FIG. 6 also shows that the first unit may be a CPU unit and the second unit may be an I/O control unit.

FIG. 7 also shows that the first unit may be a first constituent unit and the second unit may be a second constituent unit.

In addition, the number of connection parts through which one auxiliary device 10 receives power from the outside is not limited to being single, and may be multiple.

In addition, the external power source 32 may be configured to be connected to an AC power source and output a DC voltage converted from an AC voltage, or may be realized as a mobile battery connected via a USB terminal or the like.

[Software implementation example]
The control block of the auxiliary device 10 (particularly the power supply monitoring unit 44) may be realized by a logic circuit (hardware) formed on an integrated circuit (IC chip) or the like, or may be realized by software.

In the latter case, the auxiliary device 10 includes a computer that executes the instructions of a program, which is software that realizes each function. The computer includes, for example, one or more processors, and a computer-readable recording medium that stores the program. The object of the present invention is achieved by the processor reading the program from the recording medium and executing it in the computer. The processor can be, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit). The recording medium can be a "non-transient tangible medium," such as a ROM (Read Only Memory), tape, disk, card, semiconductor memory, programmable logic circuit, etc. The device may also include a RAM (Random Access Memory) that expands the program. The program may be supplied to the computer via any transmission medium (such as a communication network or broadcast waves) that can transmit the program. One aspect of the present invention can also be realized in the form of a data signal embedded in a carrier wave, in which the program is embodied by electronic transmission.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the claims. The technical scope of the present invention also includes embodiments obtained by appropriately combining the technical means disclosed in different embodiments.

1. PLC
REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 10 Auxiliary device 12 Power supply unit 14 CPU unit 16 I/O control unit 18 Configuration unit 20 End cover 22 First connection portion 24 Second connection portion 26 Third connection portion 28 Fourth connection portion 30 Fifth connection portion 44 Power supply monitoring portion

Claims (5)

A programmable logic controller is configured by connecting a plurality of units, and the auxiliary device as the unit comprises:
a first connection portion for transmitting power between the auxiliary device and a first unit, the first unit being a separate unit, when the auxiliary device is connected to the separate unit;
a second connection part electrically connected to the first connection part of the device itself, the second connection part transmitting power between the auxiliary device and the second unit when the auxiliary device is connected to a second unit;
and a third connection portion for receiving electric power from the outside, the third connection portion being capable of supplying the received electric power to the first connection portion and the second connection portion. 2. The auxiliary device of claim 1, further comprising a power monitor configured to monitor the quality of the power received from the third connection. the first unit is a CPU unit,
3. An auxiliary device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the second unit is an I/O control unit. the first unit is a first constituent unit,
3. An auxiliary device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the second unit is a second component unit. A programmable logic controller is configured by connecting a plurality of units, and the auxiliary device as the unit comprises:
a first connection portion for transmitting power between the auxiliary device and a first unit, the first unit being a separate unit, when the auxiliary device is connected to the separate unit;
a second connection portion electrically connected to the first connection portion, and configured to transmit power between the auxiliary device and a second unit that is a further separate unit when the auxiliary device is connected to the second unit;
a third connection portion for receiving electric power from an outside, the third connection portion being capable of supplying the received electric power to the first connection portion and the second connection portion;
An auxiliary device comprising: a fourth connection portion for transmitting and receiving signals with the first unit and a fifth connection portion for transmitting and receiving signals with the second unit when the auxiliary device is connected to the first unit and the second unit, and which mediates the transmission of signals between the first unit and the second unit.

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