An Example of Ladder Diagram

As an example, a ladder diagram for a elevator control system is discussed. In Fig. 4, left, the the physical
description of the elevator system is presented. The global objective is that when the UP button is
pushed, the platform carries something to the UP position, and when the DOWN button is pushed, the
platform carries something to the DOWN position.

The following hardware specifications define the equipment used in the elevator:

Output Elements

Ml = Motor to drive the platform UP

M2  = Motor to drive the platform DOWN

Input Elements

LS1 = NC limit switch to indicate UP position

LS2  = NC limit switch to indicate DOWN position

START = NO push-button for START

STOP = NO push-button for STOP

UP = NO push-button for UP command

DOWN = NO push-button for DOWN command

The ladder diagram in Fig. 4, on the right describes the following sequence of events required for the
elevator System:

1. When the START button is pushed, the platform is driven to the DOWN position.

2. When the STOP button is pushed, the platform is halted at whatever position it occupies at that time.

3. When the UP button is pushed, the platform, if it is not in DOWN motion, is driven to the UP position.

4. When the DOWN button is pushed, the platform, if it is not in UP motion, is driven to the DOWN
position.

Prepare a ladder diagram to implement this control function.

  

Fig. 4: An elevator system (left) and a ladder diagram (right) for the system

Normally for a given problem, there are various ways to construct ladder diagram. Reference [1]
presented two different ladder diagrams for the above mentioned elevator problem. The diagram shown
here is the simpler one. Just like an practice to solve any problem, we should always try to build a clear
and simple ladder diagram for a given problem.

The interlock contacts installed in the previous section's motor control circuit work fine, but
the motor will run only as long as each pushbutton switch is held down. If we wanted to
keep the motor running even after the operator takes his or her hand off
the control switch(es), we could change the circuit in a couple of different ways: we could
replace the pushbutton switches with toggle switches, or we could add some more relay
logic to "latch" the control circuit with a single, momentary actuation of either switch. Let's
see how the second approach is implemented, since it is commonly used in industry:
When the "Forward" pushbutton is actuated, M1 will energize, closing the normally-open
auxiliary contact in parallel with that switch. When the pushbutton is released, the closed
M1 auxiliary contact will maintain current to the coil of M1, thus latching the "Forward" circuit
in the "on" state. The same sort of thing will happen when the "Reverse" pushbutton is
pressed. These parallel auxiliary contacts are sometimes referred to as seal-in contacts, the
word "seal" meaning essentially the same thing as the word latch.
However, this creates a new problem: how to stop the motor! As the circuit exists right
now, the motor will run either forward or backward once the corresponding pushbutton
switch is pressed, and will continue to run as long as there is power. To stop either circuit
(forward or backward), we require some means for the operator to interrupt power to
the motor contactors. We'll call this new switch, Stop:
Now, if either forward or reverse circuits are latched, they may be "unlatched" by
momentarily pressing the "Stop" pushbutton, which will open either forward or reverse
circuit, de-energizing the energized contactor, and returning the seal-in contact to its
normal (open) state. The "Stop" switch, having normally-closed contacts, will conduct power
to either forward or reverse circuits when released.

So far, so good. Let's consider another practical aspect of our motor control scheme before

we quit adding to it. If our hypothetical motor turned a mechanical load with a lot of
momentum, such as a large air fan, the motor might continue to coast for a substantial
amount of time after the stop button had been pressed. This could be problematic if an
operator were to try to reverse the motor direction without waiting for the fan to stop
turning. If the fan was still coasting forward and the "Reverse" pushbutton was pressed,
the motor would struggle to overcome that inertia of the large fan as it tried to begin
turning in reverse, drawing excessive current and potentially reducing the life of the motor,
drive mechanisms, and fan. What we might like to have is some kind of a time-delay
function in this motor control system to prevent such a premature startup from happening.
Let's begin by adding a couple of time-delay relay coils, one in parallel with
each motor contactor coil. If we use contacts that delay returning to their normal state,
these relays will provide us a "memory" of which direction the motor was last powered to
turn. What we want each time-delay contact to do is to open the starting-switch leg of the
opposite rotation circuit for several seconds, while the fan coasts to a halt.
If the motor has been running in the forward direction, both M1 and TD1 will have been
energized. This being the case, the normally-closed, timed-closed contact of TD1 between
wires 8 and 5 will have immediately opened the moment TD1 was energized. When the stop
button is pressed, contact TD1 waits for the specified amount of time before returning to its
normally-closed state, thus holding the reverse pushbutton circuit open for the duration so
M2 can't be energized. When TD1 times out, the contact will close and the circuit will allow
M2 to be energized, if the reverse pushbutton is pressed. In like manner, TD2 will prevent
the "Forward" pushbutton from energizing M1 until the prescribed time delay after M2 (and
TD2) have been de-energized.
The careful observer will notice that the time-interlocking functions of TD1 and TD2 render
the M1 and M2 interlocking contacts redundant. We can get rid of auxiliary contacts M1 and
M2 for interlocks and just use TD1 and TD2's contacts, since they immediately open when
their respective relay coils are energized, thus "locking out" one contactor if the other is
energized. Each time delay relay will serve a dual purpose: preventing the other contactor
from energizing while the motor is running, and preventing the same contactor from
energizing until a prescribed time after motor shutdown. The resulting circuit has the
advantage of being simpler than the previous example:
  REVIEW:
 Motor contactor (or "starter") coils are typically designated by the letter "M"
in ladder logic diagrams.
 Continuous motor operation with a momentary "start" switch is possible if a
normally-open "seal-in" contact from the contactor is connected in parallel with the
start switch, so that once the contactor is energized it maintains power to itself and
keeps itself "latched" on.
 Time delay relays are commonly used in lar

LADDER LOGIC

At the March SRS meeting the subject of ladder logic or relay logic came up and there seemed to
be some interest in what it is. I’ve been using this since 1975 when I started working as an
electrical draftsman. This was “B.C.” (before computers) and I first learned to use it designing
motor circuits and then entire relay panels. The reason it’s called ladder logic is the program is
drawn pictorially and looks like a ladder, unlike a program listing you may be familiar with like
basic or C++ which use alpha numeric characters.

Ladder diagrams are used to describe the logic of electrical control systems. There are differences
in the way ladder logic was implemented in computerized form as compared to hard wired so I will
be talking about the old way first. The basic component of the control system is the control relay
which is a solenoid that operates a number of switches or contacts. The contacts come normally
open and normally closed, normal being when the relay is not energized. Relays come in various
breeds like time delay and latching types. Other components of the control system are the field
devices such as push buttons, limit switches, lights, and controlled devices like motor starters and
solenoid operated valves. As I said, ladder diagrams show the logic of the controls but they are not
used to build the system, a wiring diagram is used for that. But the wiring diagram wouldn’t be
used to trouble shoot with or show functionality, that’s where the ladder is most useful.

Fig. 1 Standard motor control circuit.

When viewing the pictorial version of the controls as in Figure 1, one can see that the devices on a
rung of the ladder are in series reading horizontally and in parallel reading vertically. Control
voltage is supplied to the vertical rails, L1 being hot and L2 being common or ground. In industry
it is common to see 120vac control and 480vac power circuits. Anything less than 600 volts is
considered low voltage and virtually everything will have an insulation rating of 600 volts. (My
robot uses 5vdc control and 28vdc power circuits.) In Figure 1 we see a normally closed (N.C.)
stop button and a normally open (N.O.) start button and a motor starter. The circle with the M
represents the coil of a relay, not the actual motor. The M contact is physically part of the starter
and actuates with the coil. The contact labeled O.L. (over load) is also part of the starter and is a
circuit breaker tripped by over current in the motor legs. The M contact is called the seal contact.
Without it, the motor would run as long as someone held down the start button and would stop
when released. With it, the power is allowed to flow through the start button to energize the coil,
which closes the M contact, maintaining the complete circuit when the start button is released. To
stop the motor, any element in series with the coil can break the circuit, in this case the stop button.
True, this was a long winded explanation but you now have the critical pieces, how to turn
something on, make it stay on, and how to shut it off. It’s a truth table in disguise, ANDs and ORs,
ONs and OFFs.
Figure 1 is about as simple as it gets so lets build it up. Sometimes
we want to jog or creep the motor. In figure 2 the jog button is added
which closes on the very bottom rung and opens on the middle rung
when pushed.

Figure 2, motor circuit with jog.

Easy? How about a light or two to tell us if the motor has been
energized or not?
 Figure 3, motor circuit with indicator lights.
By now you may be seeing more of a ladder in the pictures. If we wanted to start more than one
motor with one set of buttons we could use a control relay in place of, or in parallel with, the M
coil and use the contacts of the CR to start the other motors. We could use time delay relays (TDR)
with different settings to cascade the starting of the motors. That method is used with conveyor
systems for example.
A few last points about hard wired circuits are in order here. First, notice that the controlled
devices like the motors and valve operators are drawn on the far right next to the rail. There are
safety reasons for this even though it is appealing aesthetically. Imagine the motor on the left side
with the switches following to the right. A short in the circuit could run the motor with no way to
turn it off other than killing all the power! Another point may be insignificant but here it is: the
system is always powered up to some logical state, it’s always solved. When a field device changes
state, that is what initiates a change of state of the system. I make this point because it’s different in
computerized systems.
Figure 5
Figure 4
Combination wiring and ladder diagram for PLC
system. Input divices are on the left and output
Ladder diagrm for hard wired system.
devices are on the right. The program for the PLC
is in the center.