“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.

If we wanted to draw a simple ladder diagram showing a lamp that is controlled by a

hand switch, it would look like this:

The “L1” and “L2” designations refer to the two poles of a 120 VAC supply unless
otherwise noted. L1 is the “hot” conductor, and L2 is the grounded (“neutral”)
conductor.
The “L1” and “L2” designations
have nothing to do with inductors,
just to make things confusing. The
actual transformer or generator
supplying power to this circuit is
omitted for simplicity. In reality, the
circuit looks something like this:

Typically in industrial relay logic circuits, but not always, the operating voltage for the
switch contacts and relay coils will be 120 volts AC.
Lower voltage AC and even DC systems are sometimes built and documented
according to “ladder” diagrams:

So long as the switch contacts and relay coils are all adequately rated, it really
doesn’t matter what level of voltage is chosen for the system to operate with.
Importance of Wire Numbers in a Circuit
In the diagram from the previous slide, note the number “1” on the wire between the switch and the lamp. In the real world, that wire would be
labeled with that number, using heat-shrink or adhesive tags, wherever it was convenient to identify.

Wires leading to the switch would be labeled “L1” and “1,” respectively. Wires leading to the lamp would be labeled “1” and “L2,” respectively.
These wire numbers make assembly and maintenance very easy. Each conductor has its own unique wire number for the control system that its
used in.

Wire numbers do not change at any junction or node, even if wire size, color, or length changes going into or out of a connection point.
Of course, it is preferable to maintain consistent wire colors, but this is not always practical. What matters is that any one, electrically continuous
point in a control circuit possesses the same wire number.

Take this circuit section, for example, with wire #25 as a single, electrically continuous point threading to many different devices:
 Appropriate Elements’ Location in a Ladder
Diagram
In ladder diagrams, the load device (lamp, relay coil, solenoid coil, etc.) is almost always drawn at the right-hand
side of the rung.
While it doesn’t matter electrically where the relay coil is located within the rung, it does matter which end of the
ladder’s power supply is grounded, for reliable operation.
Take for instance this circuit:

Here, the lamp (load) is located on the right-hand

side of the rung, and so is the ground connection
for the power source.
This is no accident or coincidence; rather, it is a
purposeful element of good design practice.
Suppose that wire #1 were to accidentally come in contact with ground, the insulation of that wire having been
rubbed off so that the bare conductor came in contact with grounded, metal conduit.
Our circuit would now function like this:

With both sides of the lamp connected to

ground, the lamp will be “shorted out” and
unable to receive power to light up.
If the switch were to close, there would be a
short-circuit, immediately blowing the fuse.

It is much safer to have a system that blows a

fuse in the event of a ground fault than to have
a system that uncontrollably energizes lamps,
relays, or solenoids in the event of the same
fault.

For this reason, the load(s) must always be

located nearest the grounded power conductor
in the ladder diagram.
Relay Logic Circuits - Schematic/Symbols
1. NO contact The given symbol indicates a Normally Open contact. If the
contact is Normally open, it would not allow any current to
pass through it and hence there will be an Open circuit at
this contact.

This symbol is used to indicate Normally Close contact.

2. NC contact This allows the current to pass through it and acts as a
short circuit.

3. Push Button This push button allows current to flow through it to the rest of
the circuit as long as it is pressed. If we release the push button, it
(ON) becomes OFF and no longer allows the current to flow. This
means in order to carry the current the push button has to
remain in the pressed state.
 The OFF push button indicates an open circuit i.e. it
4. Push Button does not allow the flow of current through it. If the
(OFF) push button is not pressed, it stays in OFF state. It
can transit into ON state to carry the current through
it once it is pressed.

The relay coil symbol is used to indicate control relay

5. Relay coil or motor starter and sometimes even contactor or
timer.

The given symbol denotes Pilot Lamp or simply a

6. Pilot Lamp bulb. They indicate the machine operation.
Relay Logic Circuit – Examples and Working
This figure shows a basic relay logic circuit. In this circuit,

Rung 1 contains one Push button (initially OFF) and one

control relay.

Rung 2 contains one Push button (initially ON) and one Pilot
lamp.

Rung 3 contains one NO contact and one Pilot lamp.

Rung 4 contains one NC contact and one pilot lamp.

Rung 5 contains one NO contact, one pilot lamp and a sub-

rung with one NC contact.
To understand the working of the given relay logic circuit, consider below
figure

In rung 1, the push button is Off and hence it does not allow the
current to pass through it. Therefore, there is no output through
rung 1.
In rung 2, the push button is On and therefore, current passes
from the high voltage rail to the low voltage rail and the Pilot
Lamp 1 glows.
In rung 3, the contact is Normally Open, therefore Pilot lamp 2
remains Off and there is no flow of current or output through the
rung.
In rung 4, the contact is normally Close, thereby allowing the
current to pass through it and giving an output to the low voltage
rung.
In rung 5, no current flows through the main rung as the contact is
normally Open but due to the presence of the sub-rung, which
contains a normally close contact, there is a flow of current and
hence the pilot lamp 4 glows.
 Basic Logic Gates Using Relay Logic
1. OR Gate – Truth table for OR gate is as shown –
This table is realised using the relay logic circuit in
the following manner –
A B O/P

0 0 0

0 1 1

1 0 1

1 1 1

In this, the Pilot lamp will turn On whenever any one of the
inputs becomes one which makes the contact associated
with that input as normally close. Otherwise, the contact
remains Normally open.
2. AND Gate – Truth table for AND gate is given as –

A B O/P Relay logic realisation of AND gate is given by –

0 0 0

0 1 0

1 0 0

1 1 1

The contacts are connected in series for AND gate.

This means that the pilot lamp will turn ON if and only
if both the contacts are Normally close i.e. when both
the inputs are 1.
3. NOT Gate – Truth table for NOT gate is given by –

A O/P The equivalent relay logic circuit for the given NOT
gate truth table is as follows –
0 1

1 0

The pilot lamp lights up when the input is 0 so that the

contact remains normally close. As the input changes to 1,
the contact changes to normally Open and hence the pilot
lamp doesn’t light up giving the output as 0.
 4. NAND Gate – The NAND gate truth table is as follows –

A B O/P The relay logic circuit as realised for the given truth
table is as –
0 0 1

0 1 1

1 0 1

1 1 0

As two Normally close contacts are connected in

parallel, the pilot lamp lights up when one or both
the inputs are 0. However, if both the inputs
become 1, both the contacts become Normally
Open and hence the output becomes 0 i.e. the pilot
lamp doesn’t light up.
5. NOR Gate – The truth table for NOR gate is given by the following
table –

The given truth table can be implemented using

A B O/P the relay logic as follows –
0 0 1

0 1 0

1 0 0

1 1 0

Here, two normally close contacts are connected in

series which means the pilot lamp will light up only
if both the inputs are 0. If any one of the input
becomes 1, that contact changes to normally open
and hence the flow of current is interrupted,
thereby causing the pilot lamp not to light up,
indicating 0 output.
REVIEW:

• Ladder diagrams (sometimes called “ladder logic”) are a type of electrical notation and symbology
frequently used to illustrate how electromechanical switches and relays are interconnected.
• The two vertical lines are called “rails” and attach to opposite poles of a power supply, usually 120 volts AC.
L1 designates the “hot” AC wire and L2 the “neutral” (grounded) conductor.
• Horizontal lines in a ladder diagram are called “rungs,” each one representing a unique parallel circuit
branch between the poles of the power supply.
• Typically, wires in control systems are marked with numbers and/or letters for identification. The rule is, all
permanently connected (electrically common) points must bear the same label.