ON/OFF CONTROL- RELAY LOGIC

ON/OFF CONTROL

ON/OFF control is a type of control which depends on discrete input signals to produce discrete output. Discrete signals are
normally associated with binary numbers 1 or 0 (i.e. ON or OFF).

INPUT ELEMENT input output ACTUATORS

(example: switches, ON/OFF signal (example:
signal
push buttons, CONTROLLER solenoids, motors,
sensors etc..) light indicators,
alarms etc.)

INPUT SIGNAL LOGIC

TRUTH TABLE TRUTH TABLE

I O I I O
I N/O N/C

O O
ON/OFF CONTROL- RELAY LOGIC

TRUTH TABLE

I1 I2 O
N/O N/O
0 0
I1 I2 1 0
0 1
1 1
O

TRUTH TABLE
I1 N/O I1 I2 O
0 0
1 0
I2 N/O 0 1
1 1

O
ON/OFF CONTROL- RELAY LOGIC

BASIC ELECTRO-PNEUMATICS

Electro-pneumatics actuators are very popular and widely used in automated industries. Some basic electro-pneumatics
arrangements are shown below.
24Vdc

single acting cylinder

(spring return) S

3/2-way single solenoid Y

Y valve (spring return)
0V

24Vdc
double acting cylinder
S

5/2-way single solenoid

Y valve (spring return) Y

0V
ON/OFF CONTROL- RELAY LOGIC

24Vdc
double acting cylinder
S1 S2

Y1 Y2 5/2-way double solenoid Y1 Y2

valve
0V

RELAY : a relay is an electro-mechanical device which allows single input signal controlling multiple outputs.

N/O N/C N/O N/C N/O N/C N/O N/C

24V/240V

Relay (R)

0V
R1 R2 R3 R4

N/O - normally open

N/C - normally closed
LOGIC CONTROL

ON/OFF control can be divided into two types:

i.
ii.

LOGIC CONTROL

In logic control the system output/s is controlled based on the pre-determined input logics.

Example I

A system consists of two indicator lights (L1 and L2) and an alarm. The system is controlled by a switch (S1). Initially
indicator L2 is on. Build a control circuit as such when S1 switch is pressed indicator L1 will on, the alarm will trigger and
indicator L2 will off.
LOGIC CONTROL

Example II

A system consists of three indicators (L1, L2 and L3), an alarm and a double-acting cylinder. The system is controlled by
two switches (S1 and S2). Initially L3 is on. Build a control circuit as such when S1 is pressed L1 will on, the alarm will
trigger and the cylinder extends. If S2 is pressed L2 will on, L3 will off, the alarm will trigger and the cylinder retracts.

Y1 Y2
LOGIC CONTROL

Exercise I

A system consists of three indicator lights (L1, L2 and L3), an alarm, two double-acting cylinders, and one single acting
cylinder (refer to the Figure below). The system is controlled by four switches namely S1, S2, S3 and S4. Initially indicator
L3 is on. Build a relay logic control circuit based on the following conditions:

If S1 is pressed L1 will on, cylinder A and cylinder B extends

Cylinder A will only retracts if S2 is pressed
Cylinder B will only retracts if both S2 and S4 is pressed
Light L2 will on to indicates either cylinder A or cylinder B has been retracted
Cylinder C will extend if S1 is pressed together with S3 or S4.
If cylinder C extends L3 should go off and the alarm should trigger.

Cylinder A Cylinder B Cylinder C

Y1 Y2 Y3 Y4 Y5
LOGIC CONTROL

Exercise I (ANSWER)
SELF-HOLDING CIRCUIT: CONTINUOUS START- STOP BUTTON

- in the previous examples, all operations are directly controlled by the input signals. However, it is normal to have two
switches to control an operation of a system. One switch is used to start the system meanwhile the other is used to
switch off the system.
- the circuit shown below can be used to let a system operates continuously until a stop switch (STOP) is pressed.
- such circuit is known as self-holding circuit
SELF-HOLDING CIRCUIT: CONTINUOUS START- STOP BUTTON

Example III

Build a control circuit such that the pneumatic cylinder shown below operates continuously when the START button is
pressed and stops when the STOP button is pressed.

a0 a1

a0 and a1 are limit

Y1 Y2 switch
SELF-HOLDING CIRCUIT: SINGLE SOLENOID VALVE

- the self holding circuit is also required when a single solenoid (spring return) valve is used.

Example IV

Build a circuit which can operates a cylinder in and out continuously when the START button is pressed. The cylinder is
controlled using a single solenoid valve and will only stops its operation when the STOP button is pressed.
a0 a1

Y1
SENSORS

- there is a lot type of sensors. Sensor which does not need power supply has two wires and operates similar to
switches or contacts.

- Sensor which need power supply has three wires. Two of the wires which are normally red/brown (+ve) and blue (-
ve) are connected to the power supply which is needed by the sensor circuitry. The third wire (which is normally
black colour) provides the sensors high/low signal. The Figure below shows how three-wire sensors can be
connected to replace the limit switches for the control circuit in Example III.
TIMER: DELAY ON

- timer is a device which can be used to control a system operation within a certain preset time. There are two types of
timer; delay ON and delay OFF.

Delay ON timer: when triggering rung goes on, the timer delays the output from switching on until the preset delay has
been timed out.

device symbol : contact symbol:

Example V : Delay ON

24Vdc

S1 t 12
t 11

t1
5sec

0V
TIMER: DELAY OFF

Delay Off timer: when the triggering rung goes true, the timer immediately turns the output on, and doesn't turn the output
off until the preset delay has timed out.

device symbol : contact symbol :

Example VI : Delay OFF

5 sec
24Vdc
I
switch S1

S1 0
t 11 t 12
I
t1 alarm
5sec 0

I
light
0V
0
COUNTER

There are two basic counter types: count-up and count-down. When the input to a count-up counter goes true the
accumulator value will increase by 1 (no matter how long the input is true.) If the accumulator value reaches the preset
value of the counter, the output will be set. A count-down counter will decrease the accumulator value until the preset value
is reached.

device symbol : count up contact symbol :

count down

Example VII : Count UP counter

24Vdc

S1
C 11 C 12
C1
3 10 RESET

0V 0V
TIMER & COUNTER EXERCISES

Exercise I

Repeat Example III. Instead the cylinder operates continuously, it stops after 20 seconds

Exercise II

Repeat Example III but the system stops after 20 strokes.

SEQUENCE CONTROL

Sequence control is used to control the operation of a system which has a series of sequence to be followed. There are
several design techniques or methods which can be used to provide a sequence control to a sequential operation. One of the
most popular techniques is the Shift Register technique.

In this technique each operation output/s is control by an individual power line. The power lines are arranged according to
the sequence of the system operation. All the power lines has to be linked to form a sequence controller. A general form of
the power line is shown below.
SQUENCE CONTROL EXAMPLE

Example I

A system consists of two cylinders A and B has a series of sequence shown below. Build a control circuit for the system.

a0 a1 b0 b1

a0 and a1 are limit b0 and b1 are limit

Y1 Y2 switches Y3 Y4 switches

CYLINDER A CYLINDER B

SYSTEM SQUENCE

STEP 1
When the START switch is pressed and a0 is ON then cylinder extend A

STEP 2
When a1 is ON extend cylinder B

STEP 3
When b1 is ON retract cylinder B

STEP 4
When b0 is ON retract cylinder A
SQUENCE CONTROL EXAMPLE
SQUENCE CONTROL EXERCISE

Exercise I

Build the control circuit for a process consist of three cylinders with the following sequence.

CYLINDER A CYLINDER B
a0 a1 b0 b1

Y1 Y2 Y3 Y4

CYLINDER C

c0 c1

Y5 Y6
SQUENCE CONTROL EXERCISE

PROCESS SQUENCE

STEP 1
When the START switch is pressed and c0 is ON retract cylinder A

STEP 2
When a0 is ON extend cylinder B

STEP 3
When b1 is ON retract cylinder B

** REPEAT STEP 2 AND STEP 3 FOR 20 COUNTS **

STEP 4
When b0 is ON extend cylinder A

STEP 5
When a1 is ON extend cylinder C

STEP 6
When c1 is ON and approximately 30 seconds has elapsed retract cylinder C

** THE PROCESS CONTINUES UNTIL THE STOP SWITCH IS PRESSED **