Control and data transmission installation and a process for the transmission of safety-related data
AssigneePhoenix Contact GmbH & Co. KG
InventorsThorsten Behr, Karsten Meyer-Gräfe
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A control and data transmission installation and a process for transmission of safely-related data in a control and data transmission installation. In accordance with the invention, safety procedures of existing field bus systems, particularly the interbus, are improved in such a way that there is no need either for additional lines for the transmission of control signals or redundant, safety-related units. In the inventive control and data installation, a master control device and a number of bus subscribers each include respective safety-related devices for carrying out predetermined safety functions. The safety-related devices can communicate with each other by way of a field bus.
Claims11
A control and data transmission installation, including:
- a serial field bus;
- and
- a master control device and a plurality of bus subscribers connected to the serial field bus, wherein
- the master control device includes one of a set of safety-related devices, each of the bus subscribers includes an other one of the set of safety-related devices and the safety-related devices are configured to carry out predetermined safety functions and to communicate with each other via the serial field bus;
- wherein each of the bus subscribers is connected to the serial filed bus by a bus connecting device configured to implement a data transmission protocol;
- wherein the bus connecting devices transmit safety-related data which are to be exchanged between the safety-related devices and which represent the safety condition of the respective bus subscribers, in accordance with the data transmission protocol, via the serial field bus in useful data fields of predetermined data frames;
- wherein said one of the safety-related devices included in the master control device has a receiving device for receiving the safety-related data of each of the bus subscribers, an evaluation device for evaluating the received safety-related data and a device which, in response to the evaluated data, produces new safety-related data, which are intended for the respective bus subscriber and which correspond to a predetermined safety function;
- wherein each of the bus subscribers and/or the master control device has at least one output connected to a device to be safe guarded.
A process for transmission of safety-related data in a control and data transmission installation, wherein the control and data transmission installation includes a serial field bus and bus subscribers and a master control device connected to the serial field bus, wherein the process includes the steps of:
- (a) implementing a data transmission protocol and a safety protocol for carrying out predetermined, installation-specific safety functions in each of the bus subscribers and in the master control device;
- (b) wherein the safety protocol produces, in response to output signals of a monitoring device associated with each of the bus subscribers, safety-related data which reflect the condition of the respective bus subscriber and transmits the same to a bus connecting device configured to implement the data transmission protocol;
- (c) wherein the bus connecting device transmits the safety-related data of the respective bus subscriber, in accordance with the data transmission protocol, in a useful data field of at least one predetermined data frame via the serial field bus to the master control device;
- (d) wherein, in implementing the safety protocol, the master control device receives the safety-related data from the bus subscriber, produces in dependence thereon new safety-related data which correspond to a predetermined safety function, and transmits the new safety-related data in a useful field of a data frame back to the corresponding bus subscriber;
- and
- (e) wherein, in implementing the safety protocol, in response to the new safety-related data, the bus subscriber performs the predetermined safety function.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.