JPH0317719B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a refueling device equipped with an alarm that notifies the state of refueling.

The fuel tank is filled with the car's fuel tank.
There is a liquid level sensor that detects the liquid level, and the valve closes automatically when the liquid level sensor detects the liquid level.Insert the refueling nozzle into the fuel filler port of the fuel tank, open the nozzle valve, and then After refueling begins, until the fuel tank is full, the liquid level sensor detects the liquid level, the valve closes, and refueling is complete, workers are responsible for cleaning the car's windows, inspecting the engine, etc. working.

Conventional refueling apparatuses are not equipped with an alarm to notify the refueling status, so the operator may continue doing other work without knowing that refueling has finished, resulting in poor efficiency. Furthermore, since the pump drive motor continued to rotate even after the valve was closed, electricity was wasted and the pump and motor were subject to increased wear and tear.

In addition, multiple refueling devices are installed at the gas station,
It is now possible to refuel multiple vehicles at the same time, and one worker is often in charge of refueling multiple refueling devices. By installing an audible alarm and a visual alarm on the refueling equipment installed at such refueling stations, the refueling status can be heard from a distance, and the refueling status of either refueling equipment can be determined. This makes it possible to visually tell whether the warning is being sent or not, making this a more desirable refueling device.

The present applicant has published Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 58-41095 (Japanese Patent Application No.
No. 56-130237) discloses a method of refueling after a certain period of time (e.g., 3 seconds) has passed since the liquid level sensor first generates a signal, and repeating this process several times to refuel until the so-called "full tank". ing. According to this method, it is possible to prevent the liquid level sensor from being activated due to oil splashing or foaming just before the tank becomes "full" and causing the refueling operation to stop before the tank becomes "full." Very informative. However, there is still a demand for a more detailed understanding of the refueling status immediately before "filling up".

Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 143299/1983 discloses a refueling device in which refueling is completely stopped when the oil level reaches a set level during automatic refueling. However, this refueling device is not provided with a means for informing the worker of the refueling state, and the worker cannot grasp the refueling state in detail before "full tank."

Furthermore, Utility Application No. 120230 (1982)
Microfilm (No. 36395) discloses a device that notifies a worker of the refueling status even if the blinking interval of a lamp and the interval of sounding of a speaker vary depending on the flow rate or flow velocity. but,
In this device, the lamp flashes and the speaker sounds continuously during refueling, so it is often difficult for workers to recognize changes in the flashing and sounds. Furthermore, the blinking of the lamp and the sound of the speaker correspond to changes in the flow rate or flow velocity, not the oil level, so if the flow rate or flow velocity is not properly controlled due to a malfunction of the control mechanism, the intervals between the blinking and the sound of the speaker will be changed to a specified value. Therefore, accurate refueling status corresponding to the reached oil level cannot be communicated to workers. Furthermore, if a refueling mode in which the amount of refueling (flow rate) is always constant is adopted, it is impossible to communicate the refueling status to the worker.

The present invention has been proposed in view of the problems of the prior art described above, and an object of the present invention is to provide a refueling device that can notify a worker of the state of refueling from the refueling device.

The refueling device of the present invention automatically stops refueling when the liquid level sensor installed in the refueling nozzle detects the liquid level in the vehicle's fuel tank, and automatically resumes refueling after a certain period of time until the vehicle's fuel tank is almost full. In the refueling apparatus, which automatically ends refueling when the oil supply is stopped, a refueling status notification means is provided, and a control means is provided for changing the notification means in accordance with the operation of the liquid level sensor.

Here, a refueling stop means is provided in the refueling machine main body,
A liquid level sensor is provided that outputs an output signal based on oil bubbles or oil level supplied to the nozzle valve, and a refueling stop means is controlled according to the output state of the liquid level sensor to refuel.
In a refueling device that is equipped with a control means that automatically repeatedly stops refueling and ends refueling when the tank is full, it is equipped with a notification means that operates every time the liquid level sensor outputs, and the operating state of the notification means is determined by the liquid level sensor. It is preferable to provide a control means for controlling each output of the surface sensor differently.

Based on this configuration, in the present invention, the operating state of the notification means changes depending on the output of the liquid level sensor.
Workers can accurately grasp the refueling status,
In addition, tasks other than quick refueling depending on the refueling state, such as window cleaning, can be performed, improving work efficiency. At the same time, it is possible to reduce the amount of effort that workers spend on refueling work. Even in a refueling mode in which the amount of refueling is constant, the operator can accurately grasp the refueling state.

In carrying out the present invention, it is preferable to use a buzzer as the audible alarm and to use a rotary display as the visual alarm.

For example, the buzzer sounds at 2 second intervals during refueling (1st stage), and at 1 second intervals when refueling after the liquid level sensor first detects the liquid level (2nd stage). After the second time (third stage), it sounds at 0.6 second intervals, and after the third time (fourth stage), it sounds at 0.3 second intervals.
It is preferable that the sound beeps every 0.1 seconds after refueling is complete.

Furthermore, it is preferable to make a continuous sound when a failure or trouble occurs.

By driving the rotation indicator, it is possible to visually know which refueling machine has completed the refueling operation.
Although it is preferable that the amount of oil supplied is decreased sequentially at each stage, depending on the case, the amount of oil supplied may be kept constant. It is preferable that such a refueling mode can be selected arbitrarily.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows an oil supply system embodying the present invention. The oil supply system S has a built-in pump 2 driven by a motor 1, and this pump 2 sucks oil stored in a tank (not shown). It is designed to be sucked up from a pipe 3 and sent to a discharge pipe 4. The discharge pipe 4 is provided with a flow meter 5 for measuring the flow rate and a flow control valve 6 for controlling the flow rate, and the discharge pipe 4 communicates with a refueling nozzle 8 via a refueling hose 7. The flow rate signal from the flowmeter 5 is sent from the transmitter 10 to the control device 11 as a pulse signal. The amount of refueling counted by the control device 11 is sent to the display 12, where it is digitally displayed.

On the other hand, as will be described later, the valve driving device 13 is controlled by a signal from the control device 11 to control the flow rate control valve 6, thereby controlling the amount of oil supplied per unit time. At the tip of the discharge nozzle of the fuel supply nozzle 8, a fuel supply port sensor 17a for detecting that the discharge nozzle is inserted into the fuel supply port of the fuel tank and a liquid level sensor 17b for detecting the liquid level are provided. Further, a nozzle switch 18 is provided which can detect whether the refueling nozzle 8 is hooked or removed from the nozzle hook.

Additionally, the refueling system S has an audible alarm or buzzer 20 activated by the control device 11.
and a visual alarm or rotating indicator 2
1 is provided.

Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the control mechanism applied to the oil supply system of FIG. 1 in terms of hardware. Accordingly, elements in FIG. 2 that are the same as those shown in FIG. 1 are designated by the same reference numerals. The control device 11 includes a central control unit CPU 35 and a read-only memory ROM.
32. Microcontroller and input/output interface (I/O) consisting of random access memory RAM 36
37 and a timer T.
The ROM 32 has a refueling mode storage section 32a that stores refueling modes, a valve opening storage section 32b, and a notification storage section 32c, and the RAM 36 has a count storage section 36a and a temporary storage section 36b that store refueling amounts.

Each component of the refueling device is a pump drive motor 1, a flow rate pulse transmitter 10, a refueling amount indicator 12, a valve drive device 13, a refueling port sensor 17a, a liquid level sensor 17b, a nozzle switch 18, and an alarm 20, 21. is connected to the CPU 35 via an input/output interface 37 and a data bus 38.

Next, the operation will be explained mainly with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.

First, remove the refueling nozzle 8 from the nozzle hook,
The nozzle switch 18 is turned on and the signal is sent to the CPU.
35 (step S ₁ ). The CPU 35 determines the signal as a refueling request signal and sends a reset signal.
The count is sent to the count storage section 36a of the RAM 36, the count value of the previous refueling is reset, and the display meter 12 is returned to zero (step _S2 ). When the refueling nozzle 8 is inserted into the refueling port of the fuel tank of the automobile, a signal from the refueling port sensor 17a is transmitted to the CPU 35 (step S ₃ ). Then, the CPU 35 determines the signal as a refueling preparation completion signal, sends a drive signal to the motor 1, the motor 1 rotates, and the pump 2 is driven. At the same time, a readout signal is sent to the valve opening storage section 32b and the notification storage section 32c of the ROM 32, and the number of valve opening pulses in the valve opening storage section 32b is read out and used to drive the flow rate control valve 6, which is the discharge amount control means. The signal is transmitted to the stepping motor, and the valve opens at a flow rate of 3/min according to the command value (point c in Figure 4). Similarly, the buzzer 20, which is an auditory alarm, is sounded at intervals of 2 seconds, for example, based on the signal read out from the notification storage section 32c (step _S4 ).

The flow rate pulse signal from the pulse transmitter 10 of the flow meter 5 is calculated by the CPU 35 and stored in the count storage section 36.
When the counted value stored in a reaches 50 cc, proceed to the next step (step S ₅ ). In the same manner as described above, the number of valve opening pulses is read from the valve opening degree storage section 32b, the stepping motor is driven, and the valve 6 is fully opened (step S ₆ ). That is, in FIG. 4, the flow rate increases from point d to point e.
The flow rate at that time is, for example, 45/min.

When the refueling operation progresses and a signal is received by the liquid level sensor 17b due to spray or bubbles in the fuel filler port of the fuel tank (step S ₇ , point f in FIG. 4), the CPU 35
is determined to be a refueling stop signal, and a fully close signal for valve 6 is generated.
Valve 6 is closed (point g in Figure 4). At the same time, the buzzer 20
is sounded at intervals of, for example, one second, and timer T is activated (step S ₈ ). This timer T is set to, for example, 3 seconds, which is a sufficient time for the bubbles or droplets to disappear, and a signal is sent to the CPU 35 after 3 seconds. Next, it is determined whether or not a signal indicating that 3 seconds has elapsed has come from timer T. If the signal has come from timer T, the CPU 35 determines that it is a signal to prepare for restarting refueling (step S ₉ , point in FIG. 4). h) Next, it is determined whether there is a signal from the liquid level sensor 17b, that is, whether refueling can be restarted (step _S10 ). FIG. 4 shows the case where there is no signal from the liquid level sensor 17b. In other words, it's still "full"
It is assumed that it has not become. Then, the valve ₆ is opened by the same operation as in step S6 (step _S11 ). In step _S10 , if there is a signal from the liquid level sensor 17b, the CPU 35 determines that this signal is an almost full signal and that integer refueling can be started, and jumps to step _S18 , which will be described later. However, in this second stage, the flow rate is controlled to 30/min (point i in Figure 4). Liquid level sensor 17b again
detects bubbles or droplets at point j in FIG. 4 (step _S12 ), closes the valve 6, sounds the buzzer 20, and activates the timer T as in step _S8 .
(Step S ₁₃ , point k in Figure 4). Note that the interval at which the buzzer 20 sounds at this time is, for example, 0.6 seconds. Next, it is determined whether the set time of the timer T, for example, 3 seconds, has elapsed since the valve 6 was closed (step
S ₁₄ ), after 3 seconds have elapsed (point l in Figure 4), the presence or absence of a signal from the liquid level sensor 17b is determined in the same way as step S ₁₀ (step S ₁₅ ), and the liquid level sensor 17b detects the liquid level. If not, valve 6 opens by the same operation as step S ₆ (step S ₁₆ , point m in the fourth figure).
In this third stage, the flow rate is controlled at 20/min. Next, when the liquid level sensor 17b detects the liquid level (step _S17 ), the CPU 35 determines that this signal is an almost full signal and that it is possible to start integer refueling, and stores the valve opening palace from the valve opening storage unit 32b. read out the number,
The valve 6 is throttled by the signal read out, and the buzzer sounds by the signal read out from the notification storage section 32c. (Step S ₁₈ , point o in Figure 4). This step
_S18 is the process for integer lubrication. In this step _S18 , the valve 6 is controlled to a flow rate of 3/min, and the buzzer 20 sounds at 0.3 second intervals. Next, the CPU calculates 0.01 of the refueling amount counted and stored in the count storage section 36a.
For example, it is determined whether the digit is 0 or not, that is, it is an integer quantity (step _S19 ), and if the digit becomes 0, it is determined that the integer lubrication has ended (point p in Figure 4), and the valve 6 is closed. , the pump drive motor 1 is stopped and the alarm is activated (step S ₂₀ , point q in FIG. 4).

At step _S20 , the buzzer 20 sounds at 0.1 second intervals and at the same time the rotation indicator 21 is driven. Then, it is determined whether the nozzle is hooked to the nozzle hook and a signal from the nozzle switch 18 is coming, and if the signal is not coming (step _S21 ),
The CPU 35 determines that refueling is complete, and the alarms 20 and 2
1 is stopped (step _S22 ), and all steps of refueling are completed. That is, the worker visually recognizes the refueling device that has finished refueling on the rotary indicator 21, and hooks the refueling nozzle 8 of the refueling device to the nozzle hook to complete refueling.

As described above, the worker can work while listening to the sound of the buzzer 20, and since the sound of the buzzer changes depending on the refueling state, the time for work can be allocated appropriately. Also, the buzzer 20 and rotation indicator 21 indicate the end of refueling.
Since the system is notified by the following, even if multiple refueling devices are refueling at the same time, it is immediately known which refueling device has finished refueling.

FIG. 5 shows a preferred embodiment of the rotation indicator 21 implemented in the present invention. In the figure, an explosion-proof case 30 housing a motor 31 is attached to the inside of a case D of a refueling device S, and an electric wire 32 is It is connected to the motor 31. Output shaft 33 of motor 31
is connected to a rotating shaft 35 via a connector 34. This rotating shaft 35 extends outward through the case D, and a display member 36 is attached to the rotating shaft. The display member 36 may be a plate colored in a primary color, for example, a conspicuous color such as red, or may be a plate that emits light like a lamp. And transparent case 3
Covered with 7. By housing the motor 31 in the explosion-proof case 30 in this manner, it becomes an explosion-proof motor and safety can be improved.

As described above, according to the present invention, an audible alarm and an audible alarm are provided, and the sounding time interval of the audible alarm is changed according to the refueling state. work can be done quickly, improving work efficiency. Furthermore, even if a small number of workers manage a plurality of refueling devices, it is possible to know which refueling device has completed its refueling operation, and therefore the labor of the workers can be reduced.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing a refueling device implementing the present invention, Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the invention, Fig. 3 is a flowchart of an embodiment of the invention, and Fig. 4 is a diagram showing the present invention. A graph showing an example of a refueling mode for carrying out the invention, and FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing a preferred embodiment of the rotation indicator. S...Lubrication device, 1...Motor, 6...Valve, 8
... Refueling nozzle, 11 ... Control device, 12 ... Display meter, 20 ... Buzzer, 21 ... Rotation indicator.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 A liquid level sensor installed in the refueling nozzle detects the liquid level in the car's fuel tank, automatically stops refueling, automatically resumes refueling after a certain period of time, and automatically restarts refueling when the car's fuel tank is almost full. What is claimed is: 1. A refueling system that is to be terminated, comprising a refueling status notification means and a control means for changing the notification means in accordance with the operation of a liquid level sensor.