PLC cards are usually mounted on a rack or adjoined at a head station. Such a rack is configured as a PLC box in EPLAN. A head station is the first PLC card of a station (also "field bus station") and includes the bus ports. Additional PLC cards can both be adjoined next to the head station, placed on the head station or integrated into it.
With the new version the management of the racks was extended, so that PLC cards which are placed on a head station are differentiated from those adjoined next to the head station.
Benefit:
Because of the extended configuration possibilities you can now configure PLC cards which are placed on a head station or integrated into it.
New property "PLC card is placed on head station"
To determine that a PLC card is placed on a head station, the new property PLC card is placed on head station (ID 20444) is available in the property dialog of PLC boxes in the PLC structure data tab.
- Activate this check box for PLC cards that are directly placed on the head station or integrated into it. You enter the corresponding position on the head station in the Position (slot / module) property.
- For PLC cards that are adjoined next to the head station the check box remains deactivated. You enter the corresponding position next to the head station in the Position (slot / module) property.
This property is also available in the PLC navigator as a filter criterion and for the configuration of the list view as well as for external editing of tabular editing and in reports, etc.
In the Properties tab of the parts management the new PLC card is placed on head station (ID 22290) property is available for the parts from the generic product groups "Electrical engineering", "Fluid power" and "Process engineering". For a part selection / device selection the setting specified there is transferred to the PLC card.
Renamed property "Bus coupler"
The Bus coupler property is used to identify a bus coupler or a head station. To make this clearer the property has been renamed.
|
Old designation |
New designation |
|---|---|
|
Bus coupler |
Bus coupler / head station |
Note:
A head station is identified by being a rack and either has the Bus coupler / head station check box or the CPU check box selected.
Display in PLC Navigator
In the rack-oriented view of the PLC navigator PLC cards that are placed on a head station are marked by the following new icons:
|
Icon |
Meaning |
|---|---|
|
|
PLC card is placed on a head station or integrated into it |
|
|
PLC card is placed on a head station and is a rack |
PLC cards that are adjoined next to the head station are marked with the icon 
. A head station is also always a rack and is therefore marked with the preceding icon 
. Below a rack first the PLC cards placed on the head station are shown, followed by all further PLC cards.
See also