Field bus arrangement

Details Field bus arrangement Field bus arrangement

2000-03-20

2001-10-16

Ray, Gopal C. (Department: 2181)

Electrical computers and digital processing systems: support

Computer power control

C307S038000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06304977

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a field bus arrangement comprising at least one field bus station adapted to be connected with a serial field bus and at least one load adapted to be controlled by way of a control output of the field bus station.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Field bus arrangements for the serial control of spatially separate loads and load arrangements via field bus stations from a central control unit have been proposed in many different designs and variations, see for example the German patent publication 4,226,682 A, the German patent publication 3,631,477 A, the British patent publication 2,123,589 B or the periodical Elektronik 11, 3.6.1983, “Das lokale SP-Netzwerk”, pages 73 through 78. In th case of the known arrangements in each case several field bus stations (or field bus nodes) are connected with the field bus consisting of customarily two or three lines by way of a central control unit. The same transmits serial data telegrams along the field bus and communicates via an address comprised in the data telegram with the field bus station assigned in the data telegram. In accordance with the control commands received such field bus station then directly controls, by way of control outputs, one or more of the connected loads. By way of the field bus there is then a transmission both of the control signals and also of the necessary electrical power for the supply of the field bus stations and for direct control of the loads. This means that there is on the one hand the need for elaborate and expensive field bus stations and on the other hand there is the danger of spurious activation of loads owing to defective data telegrams in the field bus, something which is unacceptable for many applications having high requirements as regards safety standards.
OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
One object of the invention is accordingly to create field bus arrangements with simpler and less expensive field bus stations, in the case of which the possibility of complete decoupling of the power circuits exists.
In order to achieve these and/or other objects appearing from the present specification, claims and drawings, in the present invention the at least one load is connected by way of a controlled switch with a power supply line provided in addition to the lines of the field bus and the controlled switch is able to be operated by the control output of the field bus station.
In the design in accordance with the invention the lines of the field bus serve exclusively for data transmission, and in the field bus station itself no device for decoupling the power supply and data information is required. This leads to the desired simple and inexpensive field bus stations. In this respect for the field bus station itself it is irrelevant how large the current or voltage requirement of the load is. The power circuits are completely decoupled, that is to say for example that the load may be switched off both by way of the field bus station itself as well as by switching off the power supply line. This means that there is an inexpensive and reliable design. A further advantage is that the different loads may be connected with their own respective power supply lines and nevertheless may be controlled by way of a common field bus station.
The features recited in the dependent claims relate to advantageous further developments of and improvements in the field bus arrangement as claimed in claim
1
.
It is preferred for a plurality of loads to be controlled via a corresponding number of control outputs of the field bus station, in which respect more particularly several power supply lines, which are able to be supplied with power independently from each other, are connected with the controlled switches. This leads to a complete decoupling of the loads from one another and from the field bus station. The power supply may be switched off independently from the field bus station, there being the advantageous possibility that a plurality of power supply lines may be switched off independently from each other so that for instance one load may not be switched on by switching off the corresponding power supply line even in the event of there being a spurious signal from the field bus station. The field bus structure is completely separated or isolated from the power supply side for the loads. This also provides the advantage that a plurality of loads, which require different power supply voltages, may be controlled by one field bus station.
The at least one power supply line is conveniently extended by way of a releasable plug connection with the loads so that by this provision as well a simple interruption, as for example a safety interruption, the supply voltage may be reached in order to switch off the load with a particularly high degree of reliability.
The at least one controlled switch is preferably designed in the form of a relay and more especially a reed relay, or as an opto-coupler switch.
By integration of the at least one controlled switch in the housing of the field bus station the amount of space required is kept extremely low. Nevertheless adaption to an extremely wide range of customer requirements is possible.
The field bus arrangement in accordance with the invention is more particularly suitable for the control of a plurality of pneumatic valves.
One embodiment of the invention is represented in the drawing and will be described in the following specification.


REFERENCES:
patent: 4027208 (1977-05-01), Look
patent: 4055772 (1977-10-01), Leung
patent: 4312035 (1982-01-01), Greene
patent: 4574355 (1986-03-01), Beatty et al.
patent: 4604557 (1986-08-01), Cowles
patent: 4760276 (1988-07-01), Lethellier
patent: 4837455 (1989-06-01), Sleator
patent: 4902901 (1990-02-01), Pernyeszi
patent: 5467241 (1995-11-01), Sugitani et al.
patent: 5519636 (1996-05-01), Stoll et al.
patent: 5696695 (1997-12-01), Ehlers et al.
patent: 5699830 (1997-12-01), Hayashi et al.
patent: 5915666 (1999-06-01), Hayashi et al.
patent: 5918629 (1999-07-01), Hayashi et al.
patent: 6041415 (2000-03-01), Forster et al.
patent: 3631477 A1 (1986-09-01), None
patent: 42266882 A1 (1992-08-01), None
patent: 2 123 589 B (1983-06-01), None
patent: HEI 4-346534 (1992-12-01), None
patent: HEI 5-211683 (1993-08-01), None
SEMI S2-93A, “Safety Guidelines for Semiconductor Manufacturing Equipment”, SEMI (1991).
SEMI E24-92, “Cluster Tool Module Interface: Isolation Valve Interlocks Standard”, SEMI (1992).
Gebaudesystemtechnik mit instabus EIB Katalog I 2.44, Siemens, (1994).
Neuheiten zu Teilkatalog II Interbus, Phoenix Contact, Apr. 1994.
Gebaudesystemtechnik mitinstabusEIB Katalog I 2.44, Siemens, (1995).
Hubert Eing, M.S., Dipl.-Ing., et al.IDas lokale SP-Netzwerk, Elektronik, vol. 11, Jun. 3, 1983, at 73, 73-78.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

Rating

Field bus arrangement does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.

If you have personal experience with Field bus arrangement, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Field bus arrangement will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2557341