JPH087604B2 - Control network structure - Google Patents

Description

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a control network structure as a lower layer structure that integrates a control signal transmission line and a drive energy transmission line and connects a plurality of actuators and their control devices. .

[Prior Art] In order to convert fluid energy into mechanical energy, various actuators have been conventionally adopted and are widely spread. As is well known, actuators can be roughly divided into reciprocating type and rotating type, but each actuator has a pressure supply system for receiving and discharging a fluid pressure and an opening degree adjustment of a valve body or the like. It is common to attach the power supply system of Therefore, the pressure supply system and the power supply system are connected to the respective actuators via the pipe and the conductor.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Therefore, since the control box and the actuator are connected to each other by the pipe and the conductor, the mechanism becomes large and complicated, and the control system including the sequencer cannot be downsized. Inconveniences such as have been confirmed.

For example, FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of an actuator using air pressure according to the prior art. In this conventional example, a pair of conducting wires for sending driving electric signals from the plurality of drivers 4a to 4f constituting the controller 2 to the individual solenoid valves 6a to 6f of the manifold type are connected, Further, the air pressure supply system 8 reaches the air cylinders 10a to 10f via the solenoid valves 6a to 6f. On the other hand, in order to detect the operating position of a piston (not shown) in each of the air cylinders 10a to 10f, a pair of limit switches (not shown) are provided in each of the air cylinders 10a to 10f. In order to feed back the signal to the controller 2, a detection signal transmission wiring is separately provided and is actually connected to the detectors 12a to 12f. That is, the controller 2-solenoid valve 6a to
6f, solenoid valves 6a to 6f-air cylinders 10a to 10f, air cylinders 10a to 10f-a pair of conducting wires or pipes are arranged between the controllers 2, so that the structure is very complicated and downsizing is difficult. In addition, since the connecting conductor and the tube are long, they are easily affected by the external signal system, and it is not uncommon for malfunctions to occur.

Furthermore, the controller 2 or the CPU that controls the controller 2 as a whole cannot promptly give its response or instruction due to an increase in the number of actuators. Therefore, there are inconveniences such as restrictions on the operating time of the actuator.

Furthermore, fields other than the actuators described above, for example,
In a large-scale system using a computer, etc., it has been conventionally practiced to connect each terminal with a network, but there has not been a system in which the actuator itself is networked.

Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a control network structure capable of promptly and surely performing actuator bias control by exchanging control signals between actuators.

Further, according to the present invention, downsizing can be easily achieved and malfunctions can be avoided, and wiring and piping can be simplified, and the actuators can be biased as quickly as possible,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a control network structure capable of being depressed.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the problems described above, the present invention includes a plurality of actuators and a control device that controls each of the actuators. A control network structure that constitutes a lower layer structure of a main control device that is connected and integrated with each other, wherein each control device transmits a control signal between the main control device and a predetermined control device. The control signal transmission line and the drive energy transmission line for supplying the driving energy to each actuator are connected by a control network means, and each control device is connected to the actuator. The same structure for connecting the control signal transmission line and the drive energy transmission line to the block body It characterized by having a Ranaru connection terminal.

[Operation] A plurality of actuators and a plurality of control devices as a lower layer structure controlled by the main control device are mutually connected by a control signal transmission line and a driving energy transmission line, and signals are exchanged between each actuator and each control device. By performing the above, it is possible to quickly control the object and to simplify wiring, piping, and the like.

[Embodiment] Next, a preferred embodiment of the control network structure according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In FIG. 2, reference numerals 20a to 20f indicate actuators arranged in relation to each other, and these actuators 20a to 20f are one shared air supply line,
They are connected to each other by an air supply line 22 which preferably extends in a loop. Air supply sources 24a to 24c are connected to the pipe line 22 at a predetermined distance from each other and are configured to supply pressurized air as a drive source to the individual actuators 20a to 20f at approximately equal pressure.

On the other hand, the actuators 20a to 20f are connected to a conductor wire 26 that connects them in parallel in order to energize a solenoid valve described later, and the conductor wire 26 is connected to a power source 28. Furthermore, the actuators 20a to 20f are provided with a computer.
An optical fiber 32 is connected to receive the address and data signals from 30 serially or in parallel. In this case, the optical fiber 32 can be replaced with a coaxial cable. As a result, noise resistance can be improved.

Next, the internal structure of the actuator configured as described above will be described with reference to FIG.

Each of the actuators 20a to 20f basically includes a cylinder portion 34 and a control portion 36. The cylinder portion 34 has a piston 40 movably arranged inside a cylinder 38, and one end portion of a piston rod 42 connected to the piston 40 extends outside the cylinder 38 to reciprocate the piston 40. It is transmitted to another device (not shown). A first port 44 and a second port 46 for supplying and discharging air are formed at both ends of the cylinder 38, and the position, velocity, acceleration, fluid in the cylinder 40 of the piston 40 are formed in the cylinder 38. A sensor 48 that detects pressure or the like is attached.

Next, the control unit 36 will be described. The control unit 36 has a housing 50 connected to the cylinder 38, and includes a valve mechanism 52, an input / output circuit 54, a detecting device 56, a driving device 58, and a computing device 60 in the housing 50. The valve mechanism 52 includes a solenoid valve (not shown), and the air supply pipeline 62, while adjusting the opening degree of the solenoid valve,
The air having a predetermined pressure is supplied to the first port 44 and the second port 46 via 64. The conduit 22 is a valve mechanism 52.
Connected to.

The input / output circuit 54 includes, on the one hand, the sensor 48 and the conductors 66, 68.
On the other hand, it is connected to the arithmetic unit 60 via the bus line 70 (see FIG. 4).

The detection device 56 detects the speed and acceleration of the piston 40, the fluid pressure in the cylinder portion 34, and the like through the sensor 48, and the result is the arithmetic device through the input / output circuit 54.
Supplied to 60. That is, the arithmetic unit 60 includes a storage memory 72, a CPU 74 and a communication interface 75 therein. Communication interface
The 75 captures the data signal of the communication module or the like sent from the optical fiber 32 based on the address it has and sends it to the CPU 74 built in itself. In addition, a data signal relating to the operation of the actuator 20a to 20f is sent to the computer 30 together with an address signal, or one object is associated with the other actuators 20a to 20f in a correlated manner. When the force is controlled, it is possible to transmit the control signals of the other actuators 20a to 20f. In this case, the input / output circuit 54 takes in the control data signal sent from the other actuators 20a to 20f based on its own address signal and uses it as the control signal for the actuators 20a to 20f, and also the other actuators 20a. The control signals for .about.20f are retrieved from the storage memory 72 and sent.

Therefore, a specific connection method by the network bus bundle 100 including the optical fiber 32, the air supply conduit 22 and the conductor 26, which are connected to the individual actuators 20a to 20f configured as described above in a loop, is shown in FIG. It is shown in FIG. That is, the first socket 76 and the second socket 78 are arranged on the upper surface of the housing 50, and the air supply tube pipe fittings 80a and 80b and the exhaust tube pipe joint are provided in the respective sockets 76 and 78.
82a, 82b, connectors 84a, 84b, 86a, 86b for the conductor 26 and a pair of optical fiber connectors 88a, 88b, 90a, 90b are formed. Air supply tube fitting 80a as indicated by the broken line
Is a tube fitting 80b for air supply of the second socket 78 and the housing 5
0 is connected inside, the exhaust tube pipe joint 82a is also pipe joint
It is connected in the same way as 82b. Conductor connector 84
a, 84b, 86a, 86b and fiber optic connectors 88a, 88
The same applies to b, 90a, and 90b. With this configuration, each control unit 36 is looped as a lower layer network structure substantially through the drive energy transmission line and the control signal transmission line.

Next, the operation and effect of the actuator configured as described above will be described.

When air having a predetermined pressure is supplied from the air supply sources 24a to 24c through the air supply line 22, the air is supplied to the actuator.
The air is introduced into the valve mechanism 52 via the pipe joint 80a of the 20a, while the air reaches the next stage actuator 20b at the same pressure via the pipe joint 80b as described above. Actuator 20a to
Since 20f is connected in parallel, it is supplied at the same pressure one after another and reaches the final pipe joints 82a, 82b, and this time, it is returned to the air supply source via the exhaust tube pipe joints 82a, 82b. It When the power supply 28 is energized, the predetermined voltage and current supplied from the power supply 28 are sent via the lead wire 26 and supplied to the drive device 58 and the like via the connectors 84a and 84b of the individual actuators 20a to 20f. It

On the other hand, the address signals and data signals of the individual optical actuators 20a to 20f sent from the optical fiber 32 reach the communication interface 75 of the control unit 36 via the connectors 88a and 88b, and the specific address thereof. Only the data signal related to the signal is introduced into the predetermined arithmetic unit 60. These signals are transmitted through optical fiber 32, connectors 90a, 9
Return to computer 30 via 0b.

Therefore, the signal fetched by the control unit 36 is supplied to the arithmetic unit 60.
Data processing is performed together with the data of the position, speed, acceleration, fluid pressure, etc. of the piston 40 stored in the storage memory 72, and the processed signal is sent to the drive device 58 to output the valve mechanism. Energize 52, etc., control the demise. Detector 56
Sends a piston position signal or the like detected by the sensor 48 or the like to the input / output circuit 54, which again sends it to the arithmetic unit 60, stores it in the storage memory 72 as the latest data, and communicates with the communication interface 75. To the computer 30 via. In this control system, the individual actuators 20a to 20f are controlled respectively.

Incidentally, in the case where the plurality of actuators 20a to 20f are biased to be controlled in a correlated manner, as described above, the address signal and the data signal of the other actuators 20a to 20f are sent from the arithmetic unit 60, Based on this, it becomes possible to control the actuators 20a to 20f. That is, the control 20 can communicate with each other among the actuators 20a to 20f, and a quicker and more reliable correlation operation than the centralized control performed by the CPU 74 can be achieved.

FIG. 7 shows another embodiment of the actuator control apparatus according to the present invention.

In this case, the control system consisting of the optical fiber 32 or coaxial cable is looped and the individual actuators are
For the optical fibers 20a to 20f, the optical fiber 32 is provided with a branching device 88 for deriving a signal by the address of each actuator 20a to 20f. The optical fiber 32 and the computer 30 are connected via another connecting device 90.

[Effects of the Invention] According to the present invention, since the control signals are transmitted and received between the actuators, it is possible to extremely quickly perform the energization and deenergization control even if there are a large number of actuators. Therefore, it is also possible to control the actuators in relation to each other.

Furthermore, according to the present invention, as described above, a calculation device or the like is incorporated in each actuator and a fluid supply system,
Since the electric system and the control system are shared, the wiring for each actuator is not required, and the sequencer manifold is also unnecessary. Moreover, if the fluid supply system, the electric system, and the control system are formed into a loop, the expansion and contraction of the actuator can be left unchanged. As a result, the actuator wiring and piping system can be simplified and the actuator can be operated reliably, and the area occupied by wiring is reduced, which promotes structural downsizing and reduces the cost and reliability of the overall equipment. Various effects such as improvement are achieved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 shows an actuator according to the prior art, a piping system,
An explanatory view showing a connection relationship with a control system, FIG. 2 and subsequent figures relate to the present invention, and FIG. 2 shows actuators arranged side by side and a looped fluid pressure supply system interconnecting them. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the internal structure of the actuator, FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the actuator control unit, and FIG. 5 is an actuator control unit. Is an explanatory view of a state in which a fluid pressure supply system, an electric system, and a control system are connected to each other, and FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a state in which the fluid pressure supply system, the electric system, and the control system in which actuators are connected in a loop are integrated. FIG. 7 and FIG. 7 are explanatory views of an actuator connected to a loop-shaped control system via a branching device. 2 ... Controller 4a-4f ... Driver 6a-6f ... Solenoid valve 8 ... Air pressure supply system 10a-10f ... Air cylinder 20a-20f ... Actuator 22 ... Air supply pipeline 24a-24c ... Air supply source 26 ... Conductor 28 ... Power supply 30 … Computer 32… Optical fiber 34… Cylinder part 36… Control part 38… Cylinder 40… Piston 42… Piston rod 44… First port 46… Second port 48… Sensor 50… Housing 52… Valve mechanism 54… Input / output circuit 56 ... Detecting device 58 ... Driving device 60 ... Arithmetic device 62, 64 ... Air supply pipeline 66, 68 ... Conductor 70 ... Bus wire 72 ... Storage memory 74 ... CPU 75 ... Communication interface 76 ... First socket 78 ... Second socket 80a, 80b, 82a, 82b ... Pipe fittings 84a, 84b, 86a, 86b ... Connector 88 ... Branch device 90 ... Connection device

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A control that has a plurality of actuators and a control device that controls each of the actuators, and that configures a lower layer structure of a main control device that connects the actuators and the control devices and integrates them. And a control signal transmission line for transmitting control signals to and from a main control device or a predetermined control device, and an energy for driving each actuator. And a drive energy transmission line for supplying the drive energy are integrally connected to each other by the control network means, and each of the control devices is provided in a block body attached to the actuator, and the control signal transmission line and the drive A control network having a connection terminal of the same structure for connecting an energy transmission line. Network structure. 2. The structure according to claim 1, wherein the actuator is feedback-controlled based on a speed control signal.