Allen-bradley Company, LLC

James D Coburn

Marvin J Schwenke

Steven M Zink

Arthur P Pietrzyk

David R Killian

A programmable controller for sensing the status of input devices and controlling the state of operating devices in accordance with a stored ladder logic control program includes a step sequencer. A memory is provided for storing data regarding each step of the sequence. This data defines the operating device states for each step, and the legitimate transitions from that step to other selected steps in the sequence, along with the input status conditions which trigger a step transition. A processor responds to a ladder logic instruction by comparing the status of the input devices to the stored input status conditions for the current step to detect if a step transition should occur. Upon such a detection the sequencer advances to the step associated with the detected input status condition. Should an illegal transition from one step to another occur, an error message is generated. A step timer is also incorporated to force a transition when the sequencer remains at the same step longer than a defined period of time.

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Cleveland Heights, OH, United States of America

James D Coburn