Printing from a PLC

ABTech · Nov 1, 2006

Hi. I have been presented with the task of finding out a way to print from a PLC. We use Siemens PLC but as yet have not picked a PLC to use as we are still in the discussion stage of what to use. Does anyone have any experiance of printing from a PLC or is it eaiser to use a HMI and then print the screen. All help on this one would be appreciated as I have no knowledge of this application at all. Also what type of printer would be needed for this application.

Regards

Jonathan Davies

TimWilborne · Nov 1, 2006

Some HMIs have USB ports that will plug right into a printer
On Ethernet look for something that can do a socket connection
For serial look at POS(Point of Service) printers

dchartier · Nov 1, 2006

Hello ABTech;

If you are using S7-300/400 PLCs, you can set up a CP340/441 to connect to a serial RS-232 printer. Special blocks come with the parametrization software to enable connection and to set up print jobs. I remember we did it with a old dot-matrix Okidata printer; someone else I worked with told me recently he did it with a serial ink-jet printer, from HP I believe. In both cases the print jobs are triggered by PLC logic; quite starightforward, actually.

Hope this helps,
Daniel Chartier

svn · Nov 2, 2006

I have done printing many times with Omron PLCs. It can be done using the built-in RS232C port in the CPU or the Serial Communication Units. You need to set proper communication parameters and use the TXD instruction or Protocol Macros. The applications were mainly Event Printing and Batch reports.

I mainly used Epson dot matrix printers (LX800, LX300 and UM series POS printers) with serial port. Their ESC/P commands can be used for text formatting like making the text bold or underligned or changing the color etc.

With the CS/CJ/CP series of PLCs it is easier because of the ASCII string processing instructions.
SVN

Binaural · Nov 2, 2006

Setting up a Siemens touchscreen to print is a bit tricky but do-able. In my current application I use a CP-340 serial card and a S7-300 processor to print weights and suchlike during production. If your client wants a continuous paper record during production then the serial printer is definitely the way to go. If you want to print a large amount of stuff that can be consolidated onto a screen then using the touchscreen should do the job for you with minimal fuss with no coding required.

Regarding printers, I am using my card to log directly to a PC but we sometimes use a receipt printer. Most of these come with a documented interface (using ASCII characters) that is straighforward to use.

nguyenkuong · Nov 2, 2006

Hi all,
To print from PLC S7/300 using CP340, can we print according the available form?. Is the program writing on PLC too difficult?

dchartier · Nov 2, 2006

Hello nguyenkuong;

You define the structure of the strings and variables of your print job in a DB. Here is what it looks like:

This is extracted from the manual "CP340 printer driver" that you can find here:

http://support.automation.siemens.com/WW/llisapi.dll?query=CP340+printing&func=cslib.cssearch&content=skm%2Fmain.asp&lang=en&siteid=cseus&objaction=cssearch&searchinprim=0&nodeid0=4000024

So basically, no, it is not difficult, in Siemens terms.

Hope this helps,
Daniel Chartier

Hundikoer · Nov 2, 2006

Bit OT but as I remeber Mitsubishi had a function, where you can connect transistor outputs to printer port. I tested it once with relay output which looked/sound really weird

D Connaughty · Mar 31, 2011

Hello there everyone,

I have been trying to get a cp340 to send data to a hp 810c printer...with no success.. This printer has a parallel port (36 pin). Does anyone know if it is at all possible to send serial data to this printer? Can the pin connections be changed on the 9 pin at the cp340 to the 36 pin connector at the printer side? Or do I need to buy a printer which specifically has a serial com port?

My data has been successfully sent to hyperterminal and so I feel confident my program is correct.

Thanks in advance.

David

KalleOlsen · Mar 31, 2011

d connaughty said:
hello there everyone,
or do i need to buy a printer which specifically has a serial com port?
David

Ja, si, da, oui, yes

D Connaughty · Apr 1, 2011

Thank you KalleOlsen,

I thought so to... your also a talented linguist I see.

D Connaughty · Apr 1, 2011

Can I ask why you think it is not possible? Is it still not possible even with switching over the pinouts?

Thanks

David

BryanG · Apr 1, 2011

See here for the pin out for Serial RS232:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_port

See here for the pin out for Parallel (Centronics):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallel_port

Serial has one transmit and one receive channel, parallel has 8 data channels. So you cannot connect serial direct to parallel... but.... you may be able to use a serial to parallel converter. Epson used to do an add on module for a lot of their printers, you would have to check if HP do something similar. Otherwise you can have a look at these:
http://www.bb-europe.com/product.asp?SKU=232SPS2

D Connaughty · Apr 1, 2011

Hello BryanG thanks for your reply, I seen something to that effect online - a serial to parallel convertor. So I'll try and dig deeper.

MikeW · Apr 1, 2011

It's an apples to bananas sort of thing ...

The problem is you need to convert from parallel to a serial format: parallel typically changes all the bits of at the same time on 9 wires while serial basically sends one bit at a time on two wires. You can google for converters that can accomplish this, I have not personally tried this.

Opps, Bryan's a faster typist.

Printing from a PLC

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