Programming apparatus for an industrial controller using two-dimensional graphic behavior profiles

An apparatus for programming a programmable controller which includes a processor module that executes a sequencer program to control operation of a machine to move a member into a plurality of positions along a linear axis;

• the apparatus comprising:
• a monitor for displaying information;
• a first means for a user of the programmable controller to create, on said monitor, a two dimensional graph of a behavior profile depicting the operation of the machine when the member is in each of the plurality of positions;
• a second means for the user to create, on said monitor, a designation of actuators on the machine and whether each actuator is to be activated when the member is located at each of the plurality of positions;
• a third means for the user to create, on said monitor, a symbolic representation of input devices on the machine and of a status of each input device when the member is located at each of the plurality of positions;
• a fourth means for the user to create, on said monitor, a symbolic representation of an output of the programmable controller and a symbolic indication of one of the plurality of positions of the member at which the programmable controller is to send a signal to the output;
• a compiler that responds to information created by all aforementioned means by producing a file of data for the sequencer program, the file defining a plurality of operational states for the machine and is subdivided into a plurality of sub-files, each sub-file corresponding to one of the plurality of operational states and containing data specifying an expected status of at least some of the input devices, statuses for the output and each actuator, and an input device which is to change status when a transition should occur to another one of the plurality of operational states;
• and
• a device for transferring the file of data produced by the compiler to the programmable controller.