Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 15
Claim 1
Independent Claim
214 words
A linking system for a plurality of programmable controllers comprising the steps of: connecting a plurality of programmable controllers (PC1, PC2...PCN) to one master controller (MC); programming sequences of the respective programmable controllers in use of addresses representing optional input/output areas of optional ones of said programmable controllers; automatically allotting inner link elements with respect to addresses of the programmable controllers except for a subject programmable controller in said sequences by means of the respective programmable controllers; preparing link tables containing addresses from which data is transferred and into which data is collected for input sides and output sides of the respective programmable controllers; registering the prepared link tables in said master controller (MC); preparing an editorial link table (2) collecting common addresses into which data is transferred with respect to addresses of said link tables from which data is transferred at a starting time of linking operation by said master controller, preparing a pointer table with respect to said addresses from which data is transferced; providing input side and output side address tables corresponding to said pointer table in said respective programmable controllers; and linking required areas of said master controller (MC) with those of said programmable controllers in accordance with said pointer table and said address tables thereby to transfer the data.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
214 words
A linking system for a plurality of programmable controllers comprising the steps of: connecting a plurality of programmable controllers (PC1, PC2...PCN) to one master controller (MC); programming sequences of the respective programmable controllers in use of addresses representing optional input/output areas of optional ones of said programmable controllers; automatically allotting inner link elements with respect to addresses of the programmable controllers except for a subject programmable controller in said sequences by means of the respective programmable controllers; preparing link tables containing addresses from which data is transferred and into which data is collected for input sides and output sides of the respective programmable controllers; registering the prepared link tables in said master controller (MC); preparing an editorial link table (2) collecting common addresses into which data is transferred with respect to addresses of said link tables from which data is transferred at a starting time of linking operation by said master controller, preparing a pointer table with respect to said addresses from which data is transferced; providing input side and output side address tables corresponding to said pointer table in said respective programmable controllers; and linking required areas of said master controller (MC) with those of said programmable controllers in accordance with said pointer table and said address tables thereby to transfer the data.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
24 words
The linking system according to Claim 1 wherein one of said plurality of programmable controllers (PC1,PC2...PCN) is specifically used as the master controller (MC).
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
18 words
The linking system according to Claim 1 wherein said inner link elements are inner relays for the link.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
23 words
The linking system according to Claim 1 wherein said master controller (MC) and said programmable controllers are operatively connected through optical fibers (1).
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
74 words
The linking system according to Claim 2, wherein said master controller (MC) includes said editorial link table (2), a processing unit (3) which carries out necessary data processing in use of a micro processor and so on, a receiver (4) which receives information from said programmable controller (PC1.PC2...PCN) and inputs into said processing unit (3), and a transmitter (5) which receives information from said processing unit (3) and transmits to said programmable controller (PC1,PC2...PCN).
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
95 words
The linking system according to Claim 2, wherein said a plurality of programmable controllers (PC1,PC2...PCN) respectively includes a processing unit (10) which carries out necessary data processing in use of a micro processor and so on, a switching unit (11) controlled by said processing unit, a receiver (12) which receives information from said master controller (MC) and/or another programmable con- trotter and inputs into said processing unit (10), and a transmitter (13) which receives information from said processing unit (10) and transmits to said master controller (MC) and/or another programmable controller through said switching unit
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
93 words
The linking system according to Claim 6, wherein said processing unit in said respective programmable controllers comprises a first CPU (101) which controls data transfer between said processing unit and said master controller (MC), a second CPU ( 1 02) which controls data transfer between said processing unit (10) and a unit to be controlled, an RAM ( 1 03) connected to said first and second CPUs through a bus line (106), and a sequence memory (104) stored a program with respect to said processing unit (10) and connected said second CPU (102).
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
36 words
The linking system according to Claim 7, wherein said processing unit (10) further includes a buffer memory (105) which transmits and receives data and instructions between said second CPU (102) and said unit to be controlled.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
35 words
The linking system according to Claim 7, wherein said RAM (103) includes an input area for storing information transferred from another programmable controller and an output area for storing information of a subject programmable controller.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
24 words
The linking system according to Claim 1, wherein the preparation of said link tables are performed prior to the starting of said linking operation.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
27 words
The linking system according to Claim 10, wherein said respective link tables has a transfer origin and a transfer destination with respect to input and output sides.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
49 words
The linking system according to Claim 1, wherein said editorial link table (2) is prepared by combining addresses of said programmable controllers to which data are transferred and which are provided with addresses of said programmable controllers as transfer origins commonly in accordance with the order of the addresses.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
42 words
The linking system according to Claim 1, wherein said editorial link table (2) has areas of pointers for designating address of an area into which is stored data to be accessed and a pointer table consisting of on-off information of the pointers.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
33 words
The linking system according to Claim 13, wherein said programmable controllers further have input side and output side address tables in accordance with input and output side pointer table of said master controller.