JPH0321859B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a water leakage detection device that detects water leakage vibrations in a water pipe using a pressure-to-electrical converter installed in a water meter and centrally manages the vibrations via a telephone line.

A typical underground water leakage detection method that has been in practical use for some time is the method using a listening rod. This means placing a listening rod on the ground where the pipeline is buried, directly contacting the buried pipeline through a bored hole, or exposing it above ground to a fire hydrant, stop hydrant, water meter, etc. The vibration sound transmitted from the listening stick is mechanically amplified by contacting it to the area where the water is leaking, and a person can listen to this and judge whether it is a water leak sound or not.

In addition, an acceleration signal detector that can obtain electrical signals instead of a listening stick can be used in the same way as above, and the electrical signals obtained by contacting the ground, buried pipes, exposed parts of the ground, etc., can be amplified, and the electrical signals can be amplified and transmitted to people through a headphone. heard,
A method is used in which a person determines whether there is a water leak by converting the signal strength into a meter reading.

Furthermore, a method using a pressure-to-electricity converter has been proposed for the purpose of increasing the sensitivity of the detected vibration sound and effectively picking up high-frequency vibrations that are highly attenuated.

However, when performing water leakage detection work, these methods require temporarily removing the fire hydrant outlet or household water meter and installing a pressure-to-electrical converter. Disadvantages include the time-consuming process of attaching and detaching the pipes, hygienic problems due to the risk of contamination with foreign matter during attaching and detaching, and the need to bleed air after restoration due to air getting into the indoor piping. The most fatal drawback is that water is cut off during work.

Furthermore, a method has been proposed in which a watertight box containing a pressure-to-electricity converter is attached to a water faucet, and vibrations are extracted while the box is filled with water. However, this method has the following drawbacks. In other words, installation methods that match the various faucet structural dimensions are required, connections using soft tubes made of rubber or vinyl may attenuate high-frequency components, and faucets that have movable parts such as adjustable faucets In some cases this method cannot be used because pressure cannot be applied.

The present invention provides a rational water leakage detection device that can solve these drawbacks by combining a water leakage detector including a pressure-electrical converter installed in a water meter and a telephone line. It is.

That is, the present invention integrates a pressure-to-electricity converter, a water leakage determination circuit, and a water meter, installs it in place of a conventional water meter, and transmits a water leakage determination output signal to a center using a telephone line. In particular, this aims to solve many of the problems associated with attachment and detachment as pointed out earlier.

Conventionally, it could take, for example, two years to conduct a patrol survey of Quanheng Street, which means that underground water leaks that occur immediately after the survey is completed cannot be discovered until two years later.

According to the method of the present invention, since the output signal of the water leak determination circuit is connected to the telephone line, it is transmitted based on a call from the center, and the inspection period can be arbitrarily shortened.

In addition, the advantage of transmitting water leak detection results to the center via telephone line is that it eliminates the need for manual inspection of each house, which saves labor, and also shortens the period from leak occurrence to discovery and repair. The reduction in water leakage is significant.

Furthermore, since the situation of water leaks throughout the city can be grasped at the same time, effective repair work plans can be drawn up based on the distribution of water leaks. By implementing this in conjunction with telemetering water meter reading operations and telemetering electricity and gas meter reading operations, the benefits of using telephone lines will be realized in the form of improved cost performance due to expanded usage. .

FIG. 1 shows an example of a water meter incorporating a pressure-to-electricity converter used in the present invention, in which A is a side view and B is a plan view.

Reference numeral 1 denotes a display section showing a pointer or a quantized indicated value, and water supplied from a water meter inlet 2 passes through a measuring section 3 and is supplied to a consumer from a water meter outlet 4.

A pressure-to-electricity converter 5 is attached to the water meter inlet 2. 6 is a pressure receiving part; 7 is a water leakage determination circuit that determines water leakage from the output signal of the pressure-electrical converter;
8 is a small long-life battery that serves as a power source for the pressure-electrical converter and the determination circuit, and 9 is a terminal for taking out electrical signals to the outside.

FIG. 2 shows a device 18 that combines a water leakage signal from a water meter incorporating a pressure-electrical converter and a water leakage determination circuit.
This is an embodiment of the present invention that connects to a telephone line via a telephone line.

A water supply pipe 13 is connected from the water pipe 11 to the water supply pipe 12 by means of a water distribution valve 12.
branches, and the water supply pipe is connected to the water meter 1 via the stop valve 14.
Connected to 5. The water meter 15 incorporates a pressure-electrical converter, a small long-life battery, and a water leakage determination circuit.
The signal output from terminal 9 is input to telephone line coupling device 18 via signal line 17.

FIG. 3 shows an embodiment of the water leakage detection and reporting circuit.
In FIG. 3, the output signal of the pressure-electrical converter 5 is passed through the bandpass filter 2
3, and low frequency signals and high frequency signals other than vibration frequencies due to water leakage are excluded.

Next, the peak value discrimination circuit 24 distinguishes only signals having a certain magnitude or more, and the clock pulse generation circuit 24
It is applied to the determination circuit 26 together with the output pulse No. 5.

26, by determining that there is a water leak only when the output from the peak value discrimination circuit occurs continuously for a certain period of time, the sound of running water, the sound of passing cars,
Distinguish it from other intermittent sounds.

27 is a memory circuit that stores the output of the determination circuit 26, and 28 is a display section that displays the output of the memory circuit 27. The display section 28 is composed of a light emitting diode, liquid crystal, etc. that displays the output of the determination circuit. Further, the output of the memory circuit 27 is connected to the telephone line coupling device 18 via the output terminal 9.

As explained above, according to the present invention, a water leakage detector including a pressure-to-electricity converter is provided as an integral structure with a water meter, and its detection signal is connected to a common telephone line via a coupling circuit. As a result, it is possible to obtain a rational water leakage detection method that can centrally manage water leakage in water pipes via a large number of water meters.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 shows an example of a water meter incorporating a water leak detector, and Fig. 2 shows an example of the installation of the water meter, the extraction of electric signals, and the connection with a telephone line coupling device according to the present invention. The layout diagram shown in FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the water leakage detection circuit used in the present invention. 1...Display section, 5...Pressure-electricity converter, 6...
...Pressure receiving part, 7...Water leakage determination circuit, 8...Battery, 9
... Output terminal, 11 ... Water pipe, 13 ... Water supply pipe, 15 ... Water meter, 17 ... Signal line, 18 ...
Telephone line coupling device, 22...Amplification circuit, 23...
Bandpass filter, 24... Peak value discrimination circuit,
25... Clock pulse generation circuit, 26... Judgment circuit, 27... Memory circuit, 28... Display unit.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. Provided integrally with each water meter provided in each water supply pipe branching from a water distribution pipe and supplying water to each consumer, and provided in a water passage section within this water meter. The system has a pressure-to-electrical converter, which detects the magnitude of the output from this pressure-to-electrical converter that exceeds the expected level, calculates the time of occurrence of the detected output from the clock pulse, and determines whether or not there is a water leak from this time of occurrence. A water leak detector has a circuit for determining the water and a coupling device that couples the discrimination result to a water leak detection output and a telephone line, and each water leak detection output transmitted from this coupling device via the telephone line is input. A water leakage detection device comprising: , a centralized detection device that intensively detects which water supply pipe is leaking water;