Programmable controller with input/output signal converting circuit for variably setting a number of inputs and/or outputs
AssigneeFuji Electric Co., Ltd.
InventorsJun Hasegawa, Yutaka Aoyama, Yasushi Ishii
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A programmable controller with an I/O signal converting circuit having an input element and an output element, comprises a signal I/O unit having a plurality of element sockets capable of replaceably accommodating both the input element and the output element; a selecting unit for selecting the type of the accommodated element; and a signal storing and sending unit. Each element socket may accommodate the input and output elements. Therefore, the space required to install the I/O circuits is reduced, and the number of input and output elements can be arbitrarily set.
Claims13
An input/output unit for a programmable controller, the programmable controller having a central processing unit and controlling an external device, the input/output unit comprising:
- at least one input element for converting information signals received from the external device into input control signals compatible with the central processing unit;
- at least one output element for converting output control signals received from the central processing unit into information signals to be sent to the external device;
- wherein the at least one input element and the at least one output element have substantially similar external shapes and an identical connection pin layout;
- and,
- a plurality of element sockets, each one of the plurality of element sockets including means for replaceably attaching one of the at least one input element and the at least one output element.
A programmable controller having a central processing unit and controlling an external device comprising:
- at least one input element for converting information signals received from the external device into input control signals compatible with the central processing unit;
- at least one output element for converting output control signals received from the central processing unit into information signals to be sent to the external device;
- wherein the at least one input element and the at least one output element have substantially similar external shapes and an identical connection pin layout;
- and,
- signal input/output means having a plurality of element sockets, each one of the plurality of element sockets including means for replaceably attaching one of the at least one input element and the at least one output element;
- means, responsive to the central processing unit, for selecting an element attached to each one of the plurality of element sockets;
- signal storage means, responsive to the selecting means, for storing input and output control signals.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.