Patent ID: 7734716

Claim:
A web-enabled automation control module (ACM) comprising: an ACM central processing unit (CPU); an ACM CPU system memory electrically connected to said ACM CPU; and a web and file transfer system directly electrically connected, without using a backplane, to said ACM CPU, said web and file transfer system embedded within said ACM, said web and file transfer system comprising a web server, a file transfer server, and a database, said web and file transfer system configured to: receive from a network a plurality of user-defined web page files, at least one of the plurality of user-defined web page files comprising at least one ACM tag function that facilitates an exchange of ACM data between said web server and said ACM CPU system memory; store the plurality of user-defined web page files in said database; receive, from the network, a hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) request to send a first user-defined web page file of the plurality of user-defined web page files to the network; process the HTTP request; access the first user-defined web page file referenced in the HTTP request; parse the first user-defined web page file for the at least one ACM tag function; execute the at least one ACM tag function using form data from the HTTP request to transmit ACM data to said ACM CPU to control operation of said ACM; enable a user to configure at least one web and file transfer connection of a plurality of web and file transfer connections; and disable the plurality of web and file transfer connections when the user does not configure the at least one web and file transfer connection; wherein said ACM is one of a programmable logic controller (PLC), a computer numeric control (CNC), and a motion control product.