The combination of multiple pins is called a plug. A pin can either be managed as one function (the combination of male and female pins) or represented separately by two functions (one for the male pin and one for the female pin).
Common management of male and female pins
For common management of male and female pins, the plug is the entire component.
For the pins, connection point 1 is the function of the female connection point, and connection point 2 is the male connection point. (This is determined in the function definition.) In plug diagrams, therefore, male and female pins are printed on separate report pages.
Separate management of male and female pins
When male and female pins are managed separately, the plug normally receives only the male pins. The counterpart (the receptacle or the coupling) contains the female pins.
If male and female pins are represented as two functions, their associations must be determined. Male and female pins are seen as one unit (meaning, together they close the pins), if they have the same device tag and the same pin designation. Connection point designations can also optionally be entered for the pins.
Example: XS1:1 is connected to XS1:1; XS1:2 is connected to XS1:2.
Device plug-in connectors
Plug-in connectors on devices are widely used. For device plug-in connectors, at least one side of the plug-in connector has the DT (A) of a device, while the other has the DT of a plug-in connector (X). Nested plug-in connectors (-A-X) can also be represented and managed in EPLAN.
Different DT for male and female sides of a plug
For separate representation of male and female pins, it is possible for them to have different DTs. Special male and female pin symbols with so-called "Direct connection points" allow the generation of Direct connections within plug-in connectors (between male and female pins). For a symbol with direct connection, the indicated line at connection point 2 is not graphically present.
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Male pin with direct connection |
Female pin with direct connection |
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Direct connection between male pin -X1:1 and female pin -X2:1
Symbols with a direct connection are used for the plug connections of -X2 and-X1. The resulting direct connection is only graphically visible in the schematic as an autoconnect line when the distance between the two symbols is large enough.
For directly connected plugs, multiple plugs can be plugged together with a counterpart. You have free choice as to which DT on the male side is connected to which DT on the female side. The direct connections take precedence over the assignment of male and female pins via identical pin designation.
The common counterpart of the plugs -X8 and -X9 (male pins) is the plug -X10 (female pins). Direct connections exist between the male and female pins.
For unplaced pins you have to create non-placed direct connections in the Interconnect devices dialog. Likewise, if you place the pins on different pages or simply not adjacent to one another, you have to create the direct connections manually. Alternatively, you can connect two pins via interruption points. In this case, the corresponding pin is found via the connection.
Warning:
In order for the separate representation of male and female pins to be properly processed, you must determine the appropriate plug definitions for the male and the female sides.
When separately managing male and female pins in the Edit plug dialog, you can only change the page on which the selected pin is located. This means that you can move the pin from the male pin side to the female pin side and vice-versa.
See also