Patent ID: 7973562

Claim:
An I/O module for an industrial controller providing digital control signals for controlling application of electrical power to actuators on a controlled machine during a true state of the digital control signals, the I/O module comprising: an electrical connector for releasably attaching the I/O module to the industrial controller for communication of the digital control signals therebetween; and for a given digital control signal, (1) a releasable terminal providing a connection to the actuator for a provision of electrical power to the actuator in accordance with the state of the given digital control signal; (2) a first transistor device connected between the releasable terminal and a terminal receiving a first DC voltage to provide a current flow from the first DC voltage to the releasable terminal when the first transistor device is turned on; (3) a second transistor device connected between the releasable terminal and a terminal receiving a second DC voltage to provide a current flow from the releasable terminal to the second DC voltage source when the second transistor is turned on; (4) a logic circuit providing transistor control signals to the first and second transistor and receiving the given digital control signal and a direction signal indicating whether the releasable terminal should operate as a sourcing DC output or a sinking DC input and (a) when the direction signal indicates that the releasable terminal should operate as a sourcing DC output, providing: (i) a transistor control signal to the first transistor turning the first transistor on only when the given digital control signal is true and otherwise turning the first transistor off, (ii) a transistor control signal to the second transistor turning the second transistor off both when the given digital control signal is true and otherwise; and (b) when the direction signal indicates that the releasable terminal should operate as a sinking DC output, providing: (i) a transistor control signal to the second transistor turning the second transistor on only when the given digital control signal is true and otherwise turning the second transistor off, (ii) a transistor control signal to the first transistor turning the first transistor off both when the given digital control signal is true and otherwise.