JPH0644478A - Gas leak alarm device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] When the backup battery reaches the end of its life,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a gas leak warning device having a function of notifying it and forcibly stopping the operation of the device body. In a gas leak alarm device including a microprocessor 1 and a backup battery 4 for storing the data stored in the microprocessor 1 during a power failure, the voltage of the backup battery 4 is compared with a predetermined discharge end voltage. A voltage detector 7 and a function stopping means for stopping the function of the life warning means and / or the gas alarm device, which operates when the life of the backup battery 4 is judged by the voltage detector 7, are provided.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a gas leak alarm device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, among gas leak alarm devices, those equipped with a microprocessor (hereinafter referred to as CPU) have been commercialized. If the CPU is built in, in addition to the original gas leak warning function, more advanced functions such as life management of the gas detection element can be added. In such a gas leak alarm device with a built-in CPU, a backup battery is generally provided in order to prevent the stored data inside from being lost at the time of a power failure.

[0003]

However, there is a problem that the backup battery as described above has a certain life, and if a power failure occurs after the end of the life, the internal data is lost and the subsequent operation is not guaranteed. It was Specifically, in the gas leak warning device that manages the life of the device body,
There was a problem that the total number of days used until then disappeared and the number of days started from the first day was restarted. But,
The life of the backup battery cannot be judged from the external appearance of the device, and it also appears to operate normally at first glance if there is no power outage. There was a problem that it was often done.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and when the backup battery has reached the end of its life, the gas leak alarm device has a function of notifying it and forcibly stopping the operation of the main body of the device. Is intended to provide.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, in a gas leak alarm device of the present invention, a gas provided with a microprocessor and a backup battery for storing the data stored in the microprocessor during a power failure. In the leak alarm device, a comparing means for comparing the voltage of the backup battery with a predetermined discharge end voltage, and a function of a life notifying means and / or a gas alarm device which operates when the discharge end voltage is detected by the comparing means. It was decided to provide a function stopping means for stopping the.

[0006]

In the gas leak alarm device of the present invention having the above-described structure, when the backup battery discharges and the battery voltage drops to a predetermined discharge end voltage, the life notification means is activated to notify the user of the life. At the same time, the function stopping means is activated to forcibly stop the operation of the alarm device body.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT An embodiment of a gas leak alarm device according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram of a gas leak alarm device. In the figure, a CPU 1 is a so-called one-chip microcomputer, and in addition to ROM, RAM, functions such as an interval timer are contained in one chip. The CPU 1 is provided with ports P1 to P6 for inputting / outputting with the outside. P1 to P3 are input ports, and P4 to P6 are output ports. Next, a circuit connected to each port will be described.

The port P1 is an input port for receiving a gas leak warning signal. That is, the detection signal from the gas detection element 2 and the voltage corresponding to the predetermined alarm concentration are compared by the comparator 3, and as a result of the comparison, when the detected concentration of the gas detection element 2 is higher than the predetermined alarm concentration. An H level signal is input to the port P1.

Next, the port P2 is an input port for managing the life of the backup battery 4. Here, the backup battery 4 is a long-life lithium battery, and is for storing the data stored in the internal RAM of the CPU 1 during a commercial AC power failure. Further, the diode 5 is for preventing the current from the backup battery 4 from flowing back to the power supply circuit side during a power failure, and the diode 6 allows the current in the charging direction from the power supply circuit to the backup battery 4 at times other than the power failure. It is to prevent it from flowing. A Schottky diode is used as the diode 6 to suppress a decrease in the backup voltage applied to the CPU 1.

Next, the voltage across the backup battery 4 is applied across the voltage detector 7 to determine the life. That is, this voltage detector 7 is a well-known voltage detector IC, and when the voltage applied to both ends falls below a predetermined internal set voltage, an output terminal (terminal connected to the port P2).
The L level signal is output to. The internal set voltage at this time is set to 2.2 V, which corresponds to the final discharge voltage of the backup battery 4. Therefore, the end of the life of the backup battery 4 is notified to the CPU 1 via the port P2.

Next, the port P3 is an input port for receiving a signal from an external microcomputer gas meter, and the port P4 is an output port for outputting a signal to the same microcomputer gas meter. As will be described later, these are used for the purpose of controlling the gas meter outside the room to shut off the gas when a gas leak is detected, or for reporting a gas leak to a security company or the like. The port P5 is an output port for turning on the LED 8 for display provided in the housing of the gas leak alarm device, and the port P6 is an output port for ringing the alarm buzzer 9.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the gas leak warning device, and FIG. 3 is a timing chart showing the operation of the gas leak warning device. In the figure, Steps S1 to S3 are processing units for detecting gas leaks and alarm control, and Steps S4 to S8 are processing units for integrating the total number of days of use of the gas leak warning device and managing a predetermined expiration date, Step S9. S11 is a processing unit that manages the life of the backup battery 4.

First, in step S1, the above-mentioned port P
The input signal 1 is checked to determine whether a gas leak has occurred.
If a gas leak is detected, the process proceeds to step S2 and an alarm is issued. Specifically, as indicated by T2 in FIG.
And the buzzer 9 to operate intermittently, ports P5 and P6
Control. When the gas leak detection state continues for a certain time or longer, a command is issued to the outdoor microcomputer gas meter via the port P4 to shut off the gas (T3 to T in FIG. 3).
4). On the other hand, if no gas leak is detected in step S1, the standby state is set in step S3 and the process proceeds to step S4.

Next, in step S4, the interval timer in the CPU 1 is used to determine the time for updating the number of days every 24 hours. If 24 hours or more have passed from the previous updating of the number of days, the process proceeds to step S5, where 1 is added to the integrated value of the number of days of use stored in the RAM, and the interval timer is reset to prepare for the next updating of the number of days. And
In step S6, the cumulative number of days is compared with a predetermined number of life days. Since the gas leak warning device of this embodiment has a validity period of 5 years, the above-mentioned cumulative number of days is 5 × 36.
When 5 days = 1825 days are exceeded, the process proceeds to step S7.

Then, in step S7, the life of the gas leak warning device is notified. Specifically, as indicated by T6 in FIG. 3, the LED 8 and the buzzer 9 are intermittently operated to notify the user of the end of life. The intermittent interval at this time is different from that at the time of the gas leak alarm described above, and the user can distinguish it. Then, a command is also issued to an external microcomputer gas meter to notify the end of the life of the gas leak alarm device. As a result, the microcomputer gas meter displays a predetermined display, so that the gas meter reader can prompt the user to replace the gas leak warning device. On the other hand, the main body of the gas leak alarm device stops its operation in step S8 to prevent the device whose life has expired from being continuously used.

If it is determined in step S6 that the number of days of use of the gas leak warning device is within the valid period, the process proceeds to step S9. In step S9, the input signal from the voltage detector 7 is checked to determine the life of the backup battery 4. When it is determined that the voltage of the backup battery 4 has dropped and it has reached the end of its life, the process proceeds to step S10. Step S10
Then, like T8 in FIG. 3, the LED 8 and the buzzer 9 are intermittently operated to notify the user of the end of life. The intermittent interval at this time is different from the above-mentioned gas leak alarm,
The user can distinguish it. Then, a command is also issued to the external microcomputer gas meter to notify the end of the life of the backup battery 4. As a result, the microcomputer gas meter displays a predetermined display, so that the gas meter reader can prompt the user to replace the gas leak warning device. On the other hand, the main body of the gas leak alarm device is step S8.
The operation is stopped at and the continuous use of the device which has reached the end of its life is prevented.

[0017]

As described above, according to the gas leak alarm device of the present invention, when the backup battery has reached the end of its life, it is informed of that and the operation of the device main body is forcibly stopped. Since it is provided, it is possible to completely prevent the occurrence of an operational abnormality due to the loss of stored data inside the device, and promote the replacement of the device.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram of a gas leak alarm device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operation of the gas leak alarm system of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a timing chart showing the operation of the gas leak warning device of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 P1 to P3 input port P4 to P6 output port 1 CPU 2 gas detection element 3 comparator 4 backup battery 5,6 diode 7 voltage detector 8 LED 9 buzzer

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A gas leak alarm device comprising a microprocessor and a backup battery for storing data stored in the microprocessor during a power failure, comparing the voltage of the backup battery with a predetermined discharge end voltage. A gas leak warning device comprising: means and a function stop means for stopping the function of the life warning means and / or the gas warning device, which operates when the discharge end voltage is detected by the comparing means.