EIP protocol converter system for laser for dot peen marking systems
First Claim
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1. An EtherNet/IP Industrial Protocol (EIP) protocol converter system that enables programmable logic controller (PLC) control of marking systems comprising:
- a marking controller comprising a marking system utilized by a specific manufacturer;
a PLC generating an object model the object model being a compound data structure representing a virtual marking system corresponding to the marking system of the marking controller;
the object model comprised of information expressed as a table incorporating tags, the tags representing values corresponding to functions that are recognized by the marking controller;
said functions comprising commands, marking data, and setpoints;
an EIP controller receiving the object model as an EIP packet sent from the PLC via an Ethernet data link;
the EIP controller exposing the object model in the EIP protocol, extracting the information, executing one or more finite state machine programs whereby the information is translated into a sequence of proprietary API commands that is recognized by the marking controller, communicating the proprietary API commands to the marking controller, which is in constant loop communication with the one or more finite state machines, thereby supervising the functions of the marking controller to complete a marking job.
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Abstract
The EIP Protocol Converter System is a system that facilitates integration of laser or dot peer marking systems into factory automation networks using the standard EtherNet/lP (EIP) protocol. Built-in support for the EIP protocol greatly simplifies the PLC programming task, and lowers the cost of integrating the marking system into factory operations.
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10 Claims
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1. An EtherNet/IP Industrial Protocol (EIP) protocol converter system that enables programmable logic controller (PLC) control of marking systems comprising:
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a marking controller comprising a marking system utilized by a specific manufacturer; a PLC generating an object model the object model being a compound data structure representing a virtual marking system corresponding to the marking system of the marking controller;
the object model comprised of information expressed as a table incorporating tags, the tags representing values corresponding to functions that are recognized by the marking controller;
said functions comprising commands, marking data, and setpoints;an EIP controller receiving the object model as an EIP packet sent from the PLC via an Ethernet data link; the EIP controller exposing the object model in the EIP protocol, extracting the information, executing one or more finite state machine programs whereby the information is translated into a sequence of proprietary API commands that is recognized by the marking controller, communicating the proprietary API commands to the marking controller, which is in constant loop communication with the one or more finite state machines, thereby supervising the functions of the marking controller to complete a marking job. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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Specification