Printing solution for a Panelview or controllogix 5000

[automation.engineer 0]

I was wondering if there is a printing (perhaps a printer supported) solution for an allen bradley controllogix or a panel view in which you dont have to use a computer interface to print the job this is a requirement for the project since this data should not be stored digitaly. Thanks for the help in advance!

[TimWilborne 108]

What type of printer are you looking for. A regular 8.5 x 11, ribbon, DOT, label, etc?

[BobLfoot 302]

If you are looking to print data generated by a Logix 5000 CPU then I'd recommend looking at serial printers. You can connect to them with a Prosoft Serial Card or a 1734-ASC card and DeviceNet or ControlNet comms to it.

[automation.engineer 0]

Thanks for the quick response guys! Hello TW: A 8.5 X 11 printer would suffice. We will be printing "Pressure Vs Time" and "Temperature Vs Time" graphics at different phases in a process . Hello bob: I was provided with a device net card for the controllogix , let me see if I got this correctly, the 1734-ASC would be a module which would work as an interface between devicenet and the serial printer? thanks again for all the info guys.

[BobLfoot 302]

Yes the 1734-ASC comes in 2 varities an RS-485 and RS-232. You'll most likely use the RS-232 and you would transmit your data for the serial printer out the output buffer of the asc module. It is definitely old school, but proven and works. Come to think of it as I write this a 1756-EWEB and an ethernet printer might work much the same. Haven't used EWEB, but read that with "sockets" it can packet data to just about any Ethernet Device. Other Rockwell techies may have better info.

[wrenchforhire 0]

You can print out a trend chart from a PVP, but you can only use a certain model HP printers.

[Nathan 7]

Please follow up with how it goes. I wouldn't have guessed that you could print a graph from a PLC to a serial printer without a computer in between.

[BobLfoot 302]

SOME KNOWLEDGEBASE EXAMPLES OF CONTROLLOGIX PRINTING Using 1756-EWEB Open Sockets with Ethernet Printers. Sending ASCII commands to an Ethernet printer How do I Interface ControlLogix to Dumb ASCII Devices via Ethernet? Sending ASCII Characters or Strings out EtherNet

[Leadcommander 0]

What type of Panelview do you have? If panelview standard you can print using the serial port If panelview plus you can use a USB print (PCL 3 COMPLIANT)

[automation.engineer 0]

Again thanks for all the replies with useful information guys. BobLfoot: Thanks for all the links that you posted I will sure be reading them soon, I have a question regarding using the 1734232-ASC ( I have no experience in this yet we are learning as we go since this is part of our end of career capstone design project). By using this interface would I be able to take advantage of printing the trend I created in rsview studio or would I have to do a logic to create a trend in ASCI when I output it to the printer? Leadcommander: As far as I know we will be using a panelview 1000 which is a panelview plus. If drivers wouldn't be a problem to print out a displayed trend once a phase is finished on the panelview this would be of great help. Otherwise how hard would it be to implement this solution in your knowledge? wrenchforhire: "You can print out a trend chart from a PVP, but you can only use a certain model HP printers" Could you explain which interface could I use that supports pvp to a printer? I will keep everyone posted and I will be reading the links you sent bob. Edited 7 Oct 2007 by automation.engineer

[Leadcommander 0]

Using a Panelview Plus you have the option of printing a display. With a trend display you could add a button called Print and this would send the Trend image to the printer. PCL is a HP printing protacol that most but not all HP printers support. If you can visit a retailer that has a range of printers this native driver PCL will be displyied on the specifications on the BOX. All PCL drivers are backward compatable so if the printer says PCL 7 then this will work. PCL in a generic HP driver installed in the Windows CE operation system and is also installed in the PVP. To print text only to the printer, use alarm printing and load the information as alarms. These dont need to show on the alarm page. I have used this method to print a batch setpoints and actuals for a six ingredence batching job.

[TConnolly 13]

It could also be automated, so that the trend image is displayed and printed when the PLC sets a bit instead of requiring the operator to press a print button.

[wrenchforhire 0]

I did use a printer on a graphic trend screen to archive data with an automatic daily printout. It was an economical way to have a paper trail to prove compliance. There are some problems though. The PV+ runs in windows CE, and has very limited drivers, there are only 3 models of HP printer that I have heard will work, I did try using another printer that was compatable with PCL3 and it would not recognize the printer when I connected it to the USB port. I will have to look in my notes and find what those model numbers are. Unless Leadcommander has a work around to the print drivers, you may want to look into the ASCII via ethernet option.

[wrenchforhire 0]

When I first set up my data trend, I just tried my desktop HP printer, since HP claimed that all of their drivers are compatable with PCL3. The panelview would recongnized that something was plugged into the port, but it would not accept it as a printer. I tried a bunch of different things and ended up calling tech support. They told me that the problem was in the Windows CE driver data base and that only some printers would work. Per AB tech support the only printers that will work directly with the USB port on a PV+ are: HP 5651 HP 5440 HP 6940 HP 6980 I was lucky and the local computer shop was able to find a refurbished HP 5440 for me, and it was a plug & play operation and has given me no problems.

[TimWilborne 108]

It works with a HP Deskjet 5550 also

[automation.engineer 0]

Thanks alot for the info guys I will let you know how it goes when we are at that stage of implementation.