Data processing: generic control systems or specific application – Specific application – apparatus or process – Product assembly or manufacturing
Reexamination Certificate
1998-06-04
2001-09-04
Hjerpe, Richard (Department: 2774)
Data processing: generic control systems or specific application
Specific application, apparatus or process
Product assembly or manufacturing
C700S180000, C700S184000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06285915
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a numerical control device, and more particularly, to a screen display and data input/output method for a numerical control device.
DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
Generally, a numerical control device comprises a control section and a drive section, and the control section can be divided further into a section for controlling data input operations, and a section for generating machine control information in real time on the basis of input information and transferring commands to the drive section.
Usually, the control section is provided with a dedicated computer and software for control purposes, and the drive section comprises a servo motor or main axis motor, or a servo amplifier for driving a motor of this kind. In order to carry out machining using a machine tool controlled by a numerical control device, in general, a processing program is previously created or input by the input operation control section in the control section of the numerical control device, and processing commands are output to the drive section in accordance with this processing program, thereby controlling the driving mechanism of the machine tool.
The aforementioned numerical control device is also provided with a display device, which displays various information, such as the input data, control status, etc., and is used in input operations and control.
FIG. 4
is a block circuit diagram for describing an outline of the display function of a conventional numerical control device. In
FIG. 4
, parts of the composition other than the display function of the numerical control device are omitted. In the diagram, a body (hereinafter, referred to as CNC body,)
1
, comprising a control section and a drive section of a numerical control device, is connected via a bus
3
to a display circuit (hereinafter, referred to as CNC display circuit)
5
, which drives a display device
4
. The CNC body
1
is also connected via the bus
3
to input means
1
a
, such as a keyboard and a pointing device, such as a mouse and the like, and input data A is stored in a data RAM
1
c.
In performing the display operation in the numerical control device, bit map data or graphics commands (B
1
) generated on the basis of the data stored in the aforementioned RAM
1
c
or the data in the CNC body
1
is transferred via the bus
3
to CNC display circuit
5
, which generates a video signal B
2
by means of analytical software stored in an internal RAM
5
b
, and provides required display on the display device
4
.
Reference numeral
21
denotes a data input/output circuit comprising an interface conforming to standards such as RS
232
C, PCMCIA, or the like, and is designed for data input/output between the body
1
and an external CNC input/output device
22
for CNC.
By connecting a numerical control device of this kind to a personal computer which can easily be extended and adapted, the functions of an existing numerical control device can be modified or extended in accordance with the operator's needs or convenience.
FIG. 5
is a block diagram for describing an outline of a display function of a numerical control device incorporating a personal computer. In the composition shown in
FIG. 5
, a personal computer
2
is connected via a bus
3
to the numerical control device having the composition illustrated in
FIG. 4
above, and both the CNC display circuit
5
and a display circuit
2
a
of the personal computer
2
are designed to be connectable to a common display device
4
by means of a switching circuit
6
. When the CNC body
1
is to provide a display, it does so by transmitting a video signal B
2
to the display device
4
by means of the CNC display circuit
5
. On the other hand, when the personal computer
2
is to provide a display, it does so by transmitting a video signal C to the display device
4
by means of a display circuit
2
a
. In this method, a switching circuit
6
is provided among the CNC display circuit
5
, personal computer
2
and the display device
4
in order that data from both the CNC body and the personal computer can selectively be displayed using the common display device
4
by operating the switching circuit
6
for selecting either video signal B
2
or Video signal C, thereby transmitting one of the video signals to the display device
4
. The memory means
2
b
is for storing software for controlling the personal computer, and data input/output between the personal computer and an external input/output device
24
for the personal computer is made by means of a data input/output circuit
23
conforming to standards such as RS
232
C, PCMCIA or the like.
Therefore, with a conventional numerical control device incorporating a personal computer, it is not only necessary to provide a display circuit for both the CNC body and the personal computer but also necessary to provide a switching circuit for selecting the video signal by its source, that is, the two display circuits, to transfer the selected signal to the display device. Furthermore, in the case of the conventional numerical control device, for data input/output, a separate data input/output interface for the personal computer (data input/output circuit
23
), and a separate CNC data input/output interface (data input/output circuit
21
) are required.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In a numerical control device incorporating a personal computer, and a screen display and data input/output method for a numerical control device, it is an object of the present invention to conduct screen display and data input/output without using a CNC display circuit and a switching circuit.
In order to achieve the aforementioned object, the screen display and data input/output method according to the present invention comprise steps of: transferring display commands generated by a numerical control device to a personal computer incorporated in the numerical control device, emulating a display circuit function of the numerical control device to convert the display commands into a video signal and transmitting the converted video signal to display means, and displaying display contents from the numerical control device on a screen of the display means using the video signal. Further, it is preferable for the present invention to have an external input/output device connected to the computer, and comprise the steps of: transferring data from the numerical control device to the personal computer and, through which, outputting the data to the external input/output device, when the display contents from the numerical control device is displayed on a screen of the display means, and transferring numerical control data input from the external input/output device to the numerical control device.
Furthermore, in the numerical control device according to the present invention, a personal computer is connected via a bus to a numerical control device body, and a converting means for emulating a function for displaying display commands generated by the numerical control device body is added to the circuitry of the personal computer so that display command generated by the numerical control device body can be converted into a video signal by the converting means and displayed.
Preferably, the converting means comprises data storing means for storing display command, and conversion control means for converting display command into a video signal and controlling output thereof.
More preferably, the conversion control means comprises software storing means, the software storing means being designed for storing analytical software for analyzing and converting display command into a video signal, and drivers for controlling output of the video signal.
Even more preferably, the personal computer comprises data transfer means for transferring data between the personal computer and the numerical control device, and data input/output means for data input/output between the personal computer and the external input/output device.
According to the present invention, in a numerical control device incorporating a per
Inoue Hideaki
Miura Kazuhiko
Murata Koichi
Noda Hiroshi
Dinh Duc Q.
Fanuc Ltd.
Hjerpe Richard
Staas & Halsey , LLP
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