What is a "Ladder" diagrams

•Ladder diagrams are specialized schematics commonly

used to document industrial control logic systems.

•They are called "ladder" diagrams because they

resemble a ladder, with two vertical rails (supply power)
and as many "rungs" (horizontal lines) as there are
control circuits to represent.
L1 L2
 Basic Ladder Diagram
If we want to draw a simple ladder diagram showing a lamp
that is controlled by a switch, it would look like this:

•The "L1" and "L2" designations refer to the two poles of a

power supply.

•L1 is the "hot" conductor, and L2 is the grounded("neutral")

conductor.
 Equivalent Electrical Circuit
In reality, the electrical circuit looks something like this:
 Typical Low Voltage
Typically in industrial relay logic circuits,
the operating voltage for the switch
contacts and relay coils will be 24Volts DC.
 Electrical to Digital Logic Circuit

If we use standard binary notation for

the status of the switches and lamp:
0 for un-actuated or de-energized;
1 for actuated or energized,
a truth table can be made to show how
the logic works.
 XIO – Examine If Open

examine the input to see if its physically on

NO – “NORMALLY OPEN” CONTACT.

LD - Also called “LoaD” instruction

This instruction is used when an input signal is

needed to be present for the symbol to turn on.
When the physical input is on we can say that the
instruction is True
 XIC - Examine If Close

Examine the Input to see if its physically closed.

NC – “NORMALLY CLOSE” CONTACT

LDI - Also called “LoaD-Inverse” or “LoaD-Not”

This instruction is used when an input signal does not

need to be present for the symbol to turn on. When
the physical input is off we can say that the
instruction is True.
AND GATE

A.B
OR Gate

A+B
NOT GATE
CR1
NAND GATE
NOR GATE
CR1
XOR – EXCLUSIVE OR Gate
XNOR – EXCLUSIVE NOR Gate
Basic Circuit for Forward/Reverse Starter-1

When M1Contactor
is energized motor
runs in Forward
direction.
When M2 Contactor
is energized motor
runs in reverse
direction because of
phase reversal at A
and B.
Permissive and Interlock circuits-2
Interlocks:
Switch contacts designed to prevent a
control system from taking two
incompatible action at once are called
interlocks.
 Latching
Latches the
“Forward” Circuit
in ON state.

Latches the
“Reverse” Circuit
in ON state.
 STOP

To Stop
the Motor.
 ADDITIONAL SAFETY
Introduction of OFF-Delay
TIMER to prevent Motor to
run in opposite direction for
PREDEFINED TIME after it
has been ordered to stop in
earlier direction. At the same
time it will prevent Other
direction circuit to energize.

1) To prevent accidental start by operator without

ordering STOP.
2) To prevent premature start up in other
direction.

Note: NC contacts of M1 and M2 are now not required.

 Fail Safe Design-1

e.g. FIRE-ALARM SYSTEM

Is it safe enough to have wiring done as shown above?

Fail Safe Design-2
If one of the switch is faulty or wire broken……..
 Fail Safe Design-3

Above circuit is safer than the earlier one. It can still fail (in
the “Silence” mode) if something goes wrong with bottom
rung.
This design of circuit is referred to as FAIL-SAFE due to its
intended design to default to the safest mode in case of
common failure.