US 2010/0125372 A1 · Apparatus For Fault Tolerant Digital Inputs

Abstract

An input termination board for use with an industrial controller in a safety system is disclosed herein. The industrial controller may be populated with standard input modules according to the application. The termination board, in conjunction with the controller allows the standard input modules to be used as safety inputs. The termination board provides simplified wiring between the input modules and the remote devices by splitting each of the signals generated by the remote device into separate inputs for two different input modules. In addition, a program executing on the controller of the safety system monitors and tests each of the inputs in both input modules to verify proper operation of the inputs. If the program detects a fault in either input module, the safety system may alternately shut down according to a fail-safe procedure or continue operating under a fault-tolerant mode of operation.

Claims20

Dependent claims

An input termination device for use in a safety system having at least one industrial controller, a first input module, a second input module, and an output module comprising:

a circuit board;
a switch arranged on the circuit board to selectively supply a DC voltage to the circuit board according to a signal from the output module;
a field supply connector mounted on the circuit board having at least one terminal connected to the switch and configured to supply the DC voltage to at least one remote device;
a field return connector mounted on the circuit board having at least one terminal configured to accept a DC voltage input signal from the remote device;
a first input module connector mounted on the circuit board configured to transmit each of the signals from the field return connector to the first input module;
and
a second input module connector mounted on the circuit board configured to transmit each of the signals from the field return connector to the second input module.

4 more elements

A safety control system comprising:

a controller;
a first input module in communication with the controller having a plurality of input channels;
a second input module in communication with the controller having a plurality of input channels;
an output module in communication with the controller having at least one output channel;
and
an input termination device further comprising:
a circuit board;
a switch arranged on the circuit board to selectively supply a DC voltage to the circuit board according to one of the output channels on the output module;
a field supply connector mounted on the circuit board having at least one terminal connected to the switch and configured to supply the DC voltage to at least one remote device;
a field return connector mounted on the circuit board having at least one terminal configured to accept a DC voltage input signal from the remote device;
a first input module connector mounted on the circuit board configured to transmit each of the signals from the field return connector to one of the plurality of input channels on the first input module;
and
a second input module connector mounted on the circuit board configured to transmit each of the signals from the field return connector to one of the plurality of input channels on the second input module.

10 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Apparatus For Fault Tolerant Digital Inputs

Life of this patent

Apparatus For Fault Tolerant Digital Inputs

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims20