Rockwell Automation Technologies Incorporated

Allen-bradley Company, LLC

Cisco Technology, Inc.

Steven P Blech

John Patrick Caspers

Gregory A Majcher

Wayne H Wielebski

Gregory J Svetina

Kerry Van De Steeg

Paul Jeffrey Stager

Gerald S Pepera

A method and control system are provided for controlling a modular conveyor system, which may be networked together with other such systems in order to implement a control strategy for a modular conveyor system. The control system comprises a communications port for interconnection of the control system with a network for sending outgoing addressed data to other devices on the address-based network and for receiving incoming addressed data from other devices. The control system further comprises a logic system, which may receive a signal from an object sensor and provide a control signal or output adapted to control activation of a motorized roller assembly, based on an input signal from the object sensor or the communications port. The logic system may provide for single step operation whereby system troubleshooting may be facilitated, and in addition may provide situation aware and output value source selection functionality.

Driver board control system for modular conveyor with address-based network for inter-conveyer communication

A method and apparatus are provided which allow a user to define an output device behavior in a variety of status and/or event circumstances via creating a binding or logical connection between a logic function and one or more status/event indicators. The method provides for user-defined output behavior through linking a logical function with system and module status/event indicators, whereby the output value may be determined according to the status/event indicators and user-defined function blocks. Also disclosed is an output device with an output providing an output signal according to an output value, a communication interface adapted to receive messages from a network, an indicator adapted to receive message information from a network and providing indicator data, and a logic unit which receives message information from the network, indicator data from the indicator, and which performs a logic function. The logic unit selectively provides the output value to the output according to one of the message information and the logic function.

Situational aware output configuration and execution

A small number of transmissions are performed at a sufficient number of frequencies and power levels so that a correlation between frequency, measured power, and detector values is established. Once a correlation is established, the wireless transmitter employs the measured data and calculates target detector values for all supported frequencies and at all supported power levels, eliminating the need for one frequency and one power level at a time iterations with a host device. Using the calculated target detector values and closed loop transmissions, the radio self-calibrates. Once employed in the field, the wireless transmitter can utilize measured changes in signal strength to determine when to re-calibrate, and using measured values from other network components, can employ the methodology of the present invention to self-calibrate, eliminating the need for field re-calibrations.

Method and system for self-calibrating transmit power

An electrical communications architecture for implementation in a conveyor system, and a method of communicating information among components of a conveyor system, are disclosed. The electrical communications architecture includes a central control device, first and second conveyor modules, and an address-based network. The conveyor modules respectively support first and second control devices and associated first and second sensors. The network couples all of the control devices, and each control device has a respective address on the network. Information is communicated between the associated sensors and control devices by way of respective dedicated connections, and information is communicated among the control devices by way of the network. The first control device operates based upon a program including instructions from the central control device indicative of the address of the second control device with which the second sensor is associated, from which the first control device is to receive sensor information.

Electrical communications architecture

A method and system are provided for executing a control function or program which minimizes or overcomes the shortcomings of conventional systems. The invention allows a user of a distributed control system to place one or more control devices into a step mode, wherein the devices will execute a specified number of iterations of their internal logic or control programs, or execute such programs for a specified time period, and then stop or suspend execution. The user may then perform system diagnostics, for example, by interrogating certain modules to obtain output and input values, etc. The system may then be further iterated and the method repeated, so as to enable the identification of logic programming and/or hardware problems in a system.

Strobed synchronization providing diagnostics in a distributed system

Driver board control system for modular conveyer with address-based network for inter-conveyor communication

A method and system for selecting an output value source for an industrial control device are disclosed. The invention avoids the problems associated with conventional output devices by allowing a user to define one or more attributes associated with the output device, as well as defining a binding to local logic. The user may thereby determine or select the output value source which will be used by the output device under a variety of system conditions, depending on configuration of the output device or module, the current state of the module, and the state of a network. The method provides associating the output device with a logic function, providing the output value according to the logic function, ignoring explicit messages from the network, ignoring value messages from the network, selectively ignoring fault messages according to an override attribute, and selectively ignoring idle messages according to the override attribute. In addition, a system is provided for implementing the output value source selection for an output device, and an output module is provided which allow a user to define the source of the output value.

Method and system for selecting controller output value source

Driver board control system for modular conveyor with address-based network for inter-conveyor communication

An industrial controller Input/Output module includes on-board processing circuitry in the form of a microprocessor and associated memory, a first programmable logic circuit and a second programmable logic circuit connected through an isolation interface. The isolation interface is comprised of optical coupling circuits. The programmable logic circuits are programmed to provide circuitry for parallel-to-serial data conversion of 24 bits of system Input/Output data on each side of the isolation interface. The data is then transferred as serial data in both directions at once in response to a shift clock signal. The data signals and the shift clock signal utilize three one-bit optical coupling devices in the isolation interface. After transfer across the isolation interface, the system Input/Output data is converted to parallel data for further processing.

Method for synchronously transferring serial data to and from an

An industrial controller I/O module includes on-board programming circuitry in the form of a microprocessor and associated memory, a first programmable logic circuit and a second programmable logic circuit connected through an isolation interface. The programmable logic circuits are programmed by the microprocessor on power up by reading configuration data from the PROM and writing it to the logic circuits to define their I/O circuit functions in controlling the I/O drives on a controlled machine or process.

Growing community of inventors

Twinsburg, OH, United States of America

Steven P Blech