Plug and play motor control system

• US 9,696,704 B2
• Filed: 04/27/2012
• Issued: 07/04/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 04/29/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies Incorporated (Allen-Bradley Co., Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Rockwell Automation Technologies Incorporated (Allen-Bradley Co., Inc.)
• Inventors: Brandt, David D., Jensen, David Lee, Xu, Dayin, Zhang, Goulin, Lee, Ping S., Wielebski, Wayne H.
• Primary Examiner(s): Everett, Christopher E
• Application Number:
  US13/458,720
• Publication Number:
  US 20130178984A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,894 Days
• Field of Search: 700 17, 700 19, 700 83, 700275
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/00 Programme-control systems
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/4185 characterised by the network communication
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/31131 Field device with gateway functions for communication with pc and other field devices
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/31348 Gateway

Abstract

A motor control system is provided that includes a communication gateway that facilitates connection of components, such as a motor starter, an operator interface, and a terminal block, through a digital communication link. The communication gateway includes control logic designed to discover interface and operational components connected to the digital communication link upon start-up of the motor control system. The control logic may then set up an operational profile for the motor control system based on the discovered components. For example, the control logic may retrieve and load an operational profile that corresponds to the set of discovered components from a storage of the communication gateway. The operational profile can then be used during operation of the motor control system to govern the functionality of the motor control system.

Claims

1. A load control system, comprising:

a load controller configured to control an operation of a motor;

a plurality of interface components configured to communicate data to the load controller;

an operator interface configured to receive the plurality of interface components;

a communication gateway component configured to communicatively couple to the load controller and the operator interface through a digital communication link, wherein the communication gateway component comprises;

a controller configured to;

automatically discover an identity of each of the plurality of interface components via the communication gateway upon startup;

identify an operational profile of the load control system from a plurality of operational profiles stored in a storage based on a combination of the identity of each of the plurality of interface components discovered by the controller;

load the operational profile of the load control system from the storage; and

operate the load control system based on the operational profile.

2. The load control system of claim 1, wherein the load controller comprises a motor starter comprising a circuit breaker, a contactor, and a relay.

3. The load control system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of interface components comprise one or more push buttons, selector switches, or pilot lamps, or a combination thereof.

4. The load control system of claim 1, wherein the communication gateway component is an integral part of the load controller.

5. The load control system of claim 1, wherein the controller is disposed within the communication gateway component.

6. The load control system of claim 1, wherein the digital communication link comprises a multiple point-to-point communication link, a multi-drop communication network, or a daisy-chain communication network, or a combination thereof.

7. The load control system of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to:

retrieve logic that corresponds to the identity of each of the plurality of interface components; and

write the logic, via the digital communication link, to the plurality of interface components, the operator interface, or a combination thereof.

8. The load control system of claim 1, wherein the load controller comprises a motor starter, and comprising an enclosure accessible by a door, wherein the motor starter and the communication gateway component are disposed within the enclosure, and wherein the operator interface is disposed within the door.

9. The load control system of claim 1, comprising a terminal block configured to connect to one or more operational components of the load control system, wherein the controller is configured to:

automatically discover one or more identities of the one or more operational components via the communication gateway component; and

set up the operational profile based on the one or more identities of the one or more operational components.

10. The load control system of claim 9, wherein the one or more operational components comprise one or more circuit breakers, one or more drives, one or more relays, or a combination thereof.

11. The load control system of claim 1, comprising a motor control system, and wherein the communication gateway component is configured to facilitate peer-to-peer communication between the motor control system and one or more additional motor control systems.

12. The load control system of claim 1, comprising a motor control system, wherein the communication gateway component is configured to communicatively couple to a remote programmable logic controller for controlling multiple motor control systems, and wherein the operational profile facilitates control of the motor control system by the remote programmable logic controller.

13. A method comprising:

automatically discovering, via a processor, each of a plurality of identities of a plurality of interface components connected to a load controller through a digital communication link of a load control system upon startup of the load control system, wherein the plurality of interface components is configured to couple to an operator interface for sending data to the load controller, and wherein the load controller is configured to control an operation of a motor control system;

retrieving, via the processor, an operational profile of the motor control system from a storage based on a combination of the each of the plurality of identities of the plurality of interface components discovered by the processor; and

operating, via the processor, the motor control system based on the operational profile.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the load controller comprises a motor starter and wherein the load control system comprises a motor control system.

15. The method of claim 13, comprising loading, via the processor, the operational profile for execution during operation of the load control system.

16. The method of claim 13, comprising validating the load control system to ensure that the combination of the identify of each of the plurality of interface components identities correspond to a stored operational profile.

17. The method of claim 13, comprising retrieving, via the processor, logic that corresponds to the operational profile and writing the logic to the plurality of interface components via the digital communication link.

18. The method of claim 13, comprising:

assigning, via the processor, a system configuration identifier representative of the identity of each of the plurality of interface components to the load control system; and

initiating, via the processor, a safe mode of operation for the load control system in response to detecting a new identity of the one of the plurality of interface components that does not correspond to the system configuration identifier.

19. The method of claim 18, comprising re-discovering, via the processor, the identity of each of the plurality of interface components in response to receiving a user input indicative of a function change.

20. The method of claim 13, comprising setting up, via the processor, a user interface for monitoring the load control system based on the identify of each of the plurality of interface components.

21. Non-transitory computer-readable storage media comprising instructions stored thereon, wherein the instructions are configured to:

automatically discover a plurality of identities of a plurality of interface components configured to connect to an operator interface for controlling a motor starter through a digital communication link of a motor control system upon startup of the motor control system;

select an operational profile of the motor control system based on a combination of the plurality of identities; and

load the operational profile for execution during operation of the motor control system.

22. The non-transitory computer-readable storage media of claim 21, comprising instructions configured to retrieve logic that corresponds to the plurality of identities and write the logic to the one or more interface components via the digital communication link.

23. The non-transitory computer-readable storage media of claim 21, comprising instructions configured to:

discover one or more identities of one or more operational components connected to a motor starter through the digital communication link of the motor control system; and

select the operational profile of the motor control system based on the one or more identities of the one or more operational components.