Input-output unit

• US 5,483,229 A
• Filed: 01/03/1994
• Issued: 01/09/1996
• Est. Priority Date: 02/18/1993
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Yokogawa Electric Corporation
• Original Assignee: Yokogawa Electric Corporation
• Inventors: Kamata, Yoshiyuki, Tamura, Hiroshi, Fujimori, Mitsuaki
• Primary Examiner(s): Peng, John K.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Lee, Benjamin C.
• Application Number:
  US08/176,923
• Time in Patent Office: 736 Days
• Field of Search: 340/584, 340/654, 340/517, 340/825.49, 340/825.52, 361/785, 361/788, 307/151, 439/61, 439/709, 439/631, 395/325, 395/275, 395/399
• US Class Current: 340/691.7
• CPC Class Codes: H05K 7/1468 Mechanical features of input/output (I/O) modules

Abstract

An input-output unit for communicating between an industrial control equipment and field devices controlled thereby, comprising a card accommodating chamber, provided with a row of slots which accommodate input-output cards which convert signals handled by the industrial control equipment and the signals handled by the field devices; a terminal block provided with two or three terminals per slot, to which signal wires connected to the field devices are connected and a case, on the front of which the card accommodating chamber and the terminal block are mounted in correspondence with the terminals and slots, whereby a compact input-output unit is realized with good heat dissipation, easy to assemble, and with increased density of mounting.

Claims

1. An input-output unit for communicating between an industrial control equipment and field devices controlled thereby, said unit comprising:

a card accommodating chamber (10) connected to said industrial control equipment and provided with a row of slots (12) which receives input-output cards (50) which perform conversion between signals handled by the industrial control equipment and signals handle by the field devices, wherein each slot comprises an upper groove and a lower groove, and wherein each of said input-output cards is held by a corresponding pair of upper groove and lower groove;

a terminal block (20), provided with at least two terminals per slot;

said terminal to which respective signal wires connected to the field devices are connected and to which are respective connected said input-output cards; and

a case (30) comprising a front face on which the card accommodating chamber is exposed and the terminal block is mounted with the terminals and slots mounted in direct correspondence.

2. The unit of claim 1, wherein the card accommodating chamber comprises:

a back board (14), mounted at the back of the card accommodating chamber and connected by a bus to the industrial control equipment, and connectors (16), mounted on the back board of each slot, to which the input-output cards loaded into the slots, are connected, and wherein the terminal block has a terminal board (28) which is connected to the terminals of the terminal block and which is mounted on the case opposite the back board, and wherein the back board and the terminal board and signal wires for connecting the two are all integrally constructed of a printed circuit board (46) having a bendable rigidity.

3. An input-output unit for communicating between an industrial control equipment and field devices controlled thereby, said unit comprising:

a card accommodating chamber connected to said industrial control equipment and provided with a row of slots which receives input-output cards which perform conversion between signals handled by the industrial control equpment and signals handled by the field devices;

a terminal block, provided with at least two terminals per slot to which signal wires connected to the field devices are connected and to which are connected said input-output cards;

a case comprising a front face on which the card accommodating chamber and terminal block are mounted in correspondence with the terminals and slots;

a terminal cover, which covers the terminals, fitted to the terminal block;

a slot indicating sheet, which, when the terminal cover is closed, indicates the numbers and tags of the slots of the card accommodating chamber; and

a terminal indicating sheet, which, when the terminal cover is open, indicates the numbers and tags of the terminals.

4. An input-output unit for communicating between an industrial control equipment and field devices controlled thereby, said unit comprising:

a card accommodating chamber connected to said industrial control equipment and provided with a row of slots which receives input-output cards which perform conversion between signals handled by the industrial control equipment and signals handled by the field devices;

a terminal block, provided with at least two terminals per slot, to which signal wires connected to the field devices are connected and to which are connected said input-output cards; and

a case comprising a front face on which the card accommodating chamber and terminal block are mounted in correspondence with the terminals and slots;

wherein the input-output cards each comprises;

a printed circuit board, on which electronic components are mounted;

a case part, to which the printed circuit board is fitted in such a manner that the case part covers one side of the printed circuit board;

a fan part, for air cooling, mounted on a front part of the case part;

an ejector part, fitted to an end of the front of the case part, for ejecting the card from the card accommodating chamber; and

a cover part, mounted on the case part in such a manner that the cover part covers the other side of the printed circuit board.

5. An input-output unit for communicating between an industrial control equipment and field devices controlled thereby, said unit comprising:

an input-output nest, connected by a bus to the industrial control equipment;

an input-output printed circuit board, which is accommodated in the input-output nest and converts signals handled by the industrial control equipment and signals handled by the field devices; and

a terminal block, to which signal wires connected to the field devices are connected and which electrically connect these signal wires to the input-output printed circuit board;

wherein a plurality of terminals to which signal wires are connected are disposed in rows in the terminal block, and the terminal block has a back board, mounted on the bottom surface of the terminal block, which has a pattern which is connected to the terminals;

wherein the terminal block has a ready indicator chamber and a circuit board accommodating chamber disposed in the row direction in which the terminals are disposed;

wherein a light emitting device is mounted on the back board and emits light for indicating the operating state of the terminal block, said light being guided through the ready indicator chamber to the upper surface of the terminal block;

wherein an indicator circuit board on which light emitting device, which are turned ON and OFF according to the signal states of the terminals, is accommodated in the circuit board accommodating chamber; and

wherein a partitioned light guide which is on the upper surface of the terminal block and which, in the direction in which the terminal are lined up separately, displays the light emitted by each of the light emitting device, which is mounted in the circuit board accommodating chamber.

6. An input-output unit for communicating between an industrial control equipment and field devices controlled thereby, said unit comprising:

an input-output nest, connected by a bus to the industrial control equipment;

an input-output printed circuit board, which is accommodated in the input-output nest and converts signals handled by the industrial control equipment and signals handled by the field devices; and

a terminal block, to which signal wires connected to the field devices are connected and which electrically connect these signal wires to the input-output printed circuit board;

wherein a plurality of terminals to which signal wires are connected are disposed in rows and in the terminal block, and the terminal block has a back board, mounted on the bottom surface of the terminal block, which as a pattern which is connected to the terminals,

wherein the terminal block has a ready indicator chamber and a circuit board accommodating chamber disposed in a row direction in which the terminals are disposed;

wherein a light emitting device is mounted on the back board and emits a light for indicating the operating state of the terminal block, said light being guided through the ready indicator chamber to the upper surface of the terminal block; and

wherein a temperature compensation unit, which makes thermal contact with a terminal to which a thermocouple is connected and measures the temperature thereof, is mounted in the circuit board accommodating chamber.

7. An input-output unit for communicating between an industrial control equipment and field devices controlled thereby, said unit comprising:

an input-output nest, connected by a bus to the industrial control equipment;

an input-output printed circuit board, which is accommodated in the input-output nest and converts signals handled by the industrial control equipment and signals handled by the field devices; and

an interface section, to which signal wires to the field devices are connected and which electrically connect these signal wires to the input-output printed circuit board;

wherein the interface section comprises;

a printed circuit board,

an indicator circuit board which has light emitting device mounted thereon and which is connected to the printed circuit board through a cable,

a case whose side surface is larger than the printed circuit board and which accommodates the indicator circuit board behind an indicator window provided in a front of the case, and

a cover which is fitted to a back of the case; and

wherein the indicator circuit board is provided with holding holes and wherein the indicator window is provided with holding projections which project from a back surface of a display window and engage the holding holes and the indicator circuit board is held by the holding projections and an edge portion of the printed circuit board.