JPH0719924A - Gas meter - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Purpose] When the unnecessary gas such as oxygen is mixed into the supply gas at a predetermined concentration or more after the seismic sensor is activated, the gas supply to the gas appliance is shut off and the gas mixture causes Be able to prevent accidents that occur. [Structure] The gas flow path 11 is provided with a gas shutoff valve 12 and a gas flow meter 13, and an oxygen concentration sensor 14 as an oxygen concentration detecting means. Oxygen concentration sensor 14
Detects the concentration of oxygen gas (O ₂ ) mixed in the gas flow path 11. The oxygen concentration sensor 14 is turned on at the same time when the seismoscope 15 senses an earthquake with a predetermined seismic intensity or higher, and is turned off after a predetermined time has elapsed. When oxygen gas having a predetermined concentration or more is detected during operation of the oxygen concentration sensor 14, the gas cutoff valve 12 is closed to shut off the gas flow path 11.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a gas meter for measuring the flow rate of gas supplied upstream of a gas appliance such as a gas stove, and especially when a seismic sensor is built in and the seismic intensity exceeds a predetermined level. The present invention relates to a gas meter having a function of blocking a gas flow path.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, city gas meters have a built-in seismic detector for detecting the presence or absence of an earthquake. When an earthquake with a predetermined seismic intensity or more occurs, the gas shutoff valve is closed to turn off the gas. By shutting off the flow path, gas leakage occurs,
Furthermore, it has a safety mechanism to prevent the occurrence of accidents.
In addition, a return switch is generally attached to this type of gas meter, and even if the safety mechanism is activated and the gas flow path is blocked, the user can return to the original state by turning on the return switch. You can do it.

[0003]

As described above, in the conventional gas meter, even if the safety mechanism is activated and the gas flow path is blocked, the user can restore the original state by turning on the return switch. However, if an abnormality occurs in the supply system such as piping due to an earthquake and unnecessary gas other than the supply gas is mixed in the supply gas, for example, oxygen gas is mixed in a gas meter exclusive for oxygen gas, it is detected. I couldn't.

However, in a gas meter exclusive for oxygen-free gas, if oxygen gas of a certain concentration or more is mixed in the supply gas, the combustion performance of the gas appliance is impaired, and if this state continues for a long time, it becomes a dangerous state. There was a problem of becoming.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a gas appliance when an unnecessary gas such as oxygen is mixed in a supply gas at a predetermined concentration or more after the seismic sensor is activated. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a gas meter with improved safety, which can prevent gas accidents due to gas contamination by cutting off gas supply to the gas meter.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a gas meter which can prevent accidents due to mixing of unnecessary gas, reduce consumption of power source, and have excellent safety and economy.

[0007]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a gas meter having a gas passage through which a supply gas passes, a valve body for shutting off a gas provided in the gas passage, and an earthquake of a predetermined seismic intensity or more. A seismic sensor for detecting the presence or absence, a mixed gas concentration detecting means for detecting the concentration of gas mixed in the gas flow path other than the supply gas, and a detection by the mixed gas concentration detecting means after the seismic sensor is activated. And a gas shut-off means for shutting off the valve body and shutting off the gas passage when the concentration of the mixed gas thus reached reaches a predetermined value.

In this gas meter, when an earthquake of a predetermined seismic intensity or more occurs and the seismoscope senses this, the mixed gas concentration detecting means detects the concentration of the gas mixed in the gas flow path other than the supply gas. . When the concentration of the mixed gas reaches a predetermined value, the gas cutoff means operates to close the valve body and cut off the gas flow path. Therefore, in this gas meter, when the seismic sensor is activated and the gas flow path is blocked, the user returns to the original state or when the seismic sensor is activated but the gas flow path is not blocked. In the above, even if an unnecessary gas such as oxygen is mixed in the supply gas, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of an accident due to that.

According to another aspect of the gas meter of the present invention, a gas passage through which the supply gas passes, a valve body for shutting off the gas provided in the gas passage, and a seismic sensor for detecting the presence or absence of an earthquake with a predetermined seismic intensity or more. And a mixed gas concentration detecting means for detecting the concentration of gas mixed in the gas flow path other than the supply gas, and a driving means for operating the mixed gas concentration detecting means for a predetermined time after the seismic sensor is activated. After the seismic sensor is activated, the valve body is closed when the mixed gas concentration detected by the mixed gas concentration detecting means reaches a predetermined value,
And a gas shut-off means for shutting off the gas flow path.

In this gas meter, similarly to the gas meter according to the first aspect, the valve is operated when the mixed gas concentration detected by the mixed gas concentration detecting means reaches a predetermined value after the seismic sensor is activated. The body is closed and the gas flow path is cut off, but the mixed gas concentration detection means is
Operates for a specified time. Therefore, in addition to the effect of the gas meter according to the first aspect, there is an effect that the consumption of the power source such as the battery for driving the mixed gas concentration detecting means can be suppressed.

[0011]

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

FIG. 1 shows a schematic structure of a gas meter 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. This gas meter 10
A gas flow port 17 for allowing a gas 20 such as city gas containing no oxygen to flow in and a gas flow for causing the gas 20 to flow to a gas appliance such as a gas stove (not shown) through a pipe (not shown). A gas flow path 11 having an outlet 18 is provided. In the gas flow path 11, in order from the gas inlet 17 side, the gas flow path 1 is
An oxygen concentration sensor 14 as an oxygen concentration detecting means is provided together with a gas shutoff valve 12 for shutting off the gas flow rate No. 1 and a gas flow meter 13 for measuring the gas flow rate. The oxygen concentration sensor 14 detects the concentration of oxygen gas (O ₂ ) mixed in the gas flow path 11 and converts it into an electric signal (voltage), and the detection signal is output to the control unit 16. Has become. The oxygen concentration sensor 14 is controlled by the control unit 16 so that it is turned on at the same time when the seismograph 15 senses an earthquake having a predetermined seismic intensity or higher, and is turned off after a predetermined time elapses. As the oxygen concentration sensor 14, various types such as a galvanic cell type and a semiconductor type are used. In addition, this gas meter 10
Has a built-in seismic sensor 15 to detect the occurrence of an earthquake.

FIG. 2 shows a specific configuration of the control unit 16 in the gas meter 10 of this embodiment. The control unit 16 includes a CPU (central processing unit) 30. The CPU 30 is connected to each unit of the device via a bus. Of these, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 31 stores a control program for preventing accidents due to the mixing of oxygen gas as shown in a flowchart (FIG. 3) described later. A RAM (Random Access Memory) 32 stores predetermined oxygen gas concentration data serving as a gas shutoff standard, and temporarily stores detection data from the oxygen concentration sensor 14 and the like. ing. The input / output port 33 outputs the output signals of the gas flow meter 13, the oxygen concentration sensor 14 and the seismic sensor 15 to the CPU 3
It is an interface for sending an ON / OFF control signal output from the CPU 30 to the oxygen concentration sensor 14 as well as sending it to 0. The CPU 30 outputs a valve shutoff signal when an amount of gas above a certain amount is detected by the output signal of the gas flow meter 13 and when the seismoscope 15 detects an earthquake above a predetermined seismic intensity, and the oxygen concentration sensor. Upon receiving the output signal of 14, the concentration of oxygen gas mixed in the gas 20 is monitored, and when the oxygen gas concentration exceeds a certain value, a valve shutoff signal is also output. Timer 36
Indicates that the seismoscope 15 detects an earthquake with a predetermined seismic intensity or more and a predetermined time elapses after the oxygen concentration sensor 14 starts to operate. The output port 34 is the CPU 30
This is an interface for sending the valve shutoff signal sent from the drive circuit 35 to the drive circuit 35. The drive circuit 35 which receives the valve cutoff signal sent from the CPU 30 closes the gas cutoff valve 12 to cut off the gas flow path 11.

Next, the operation of the gas meter of this embodiment is shown in FIG.
A description will be given along the flow chart shown in FIG.

First, the CPU 30 monitors the detection signal of the seismic sensor 15 to determine whether or not an earthquake with a predetermined seismic intensity or more has occurred (step S300), and an earthquake with a predetermined seismic intensity or more has occurred (Y). At the same time, the oxygen concentration sensor 14 is turned on (step S301). And this oxygen concentration sensor 14
Is monitored to determine whether or not oxygen gas having a predetermined concentration is detected within a predetermined time after the oxygen concentration sensor 14 is turned on (step S30).
2) If oxygen of a predetermined concentration is detected (Y),
The CPU 30 closes the gas cutoff valve 12, and the gas flow path 11
Is shut off (step S303) and the oxygen concentration sensor 14 is turned off (step S304).

On the other hand, in step S302, when oxygen gas of a predetermined concentration is not detected within a predetermined time after the oxygen concentration sensor 14 is turned on (step S302;
In N), it is determined that there is no supply failure due to an accident such as an earthquake in that area, and the oxygen concentration sensor 14 is turned off to prevent battery consumption (step S304).

As described above, in the gas meter 10 of this embodiment, the oxygen concentration sensor 14 is built in together with the seismograph 15, and the oxygen concentration sensor 14 detects the concentration of the oxygen gas mixed in the gas 20. When the concentration becomes equal to or higher than a predetermined value, the gas flow path 11 is automatically shut off, so that unnecessary oxygen gas is prevented from flowing into a gas instrument (not shown), and thus an accident caused by mixing of oxygen gas is caused. To be prevented. .

When the oxygen concentration sensor 14 does not detect the oxygen gas having a predetermined concentration within a predetermined time after turning on, the oxygen concentration sensor 14 is automatically turned off and the oxygen concentration detecting operation is stopped. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the consumption of the battery that occurs when the oxygen concentration sensor 14 is permanently operated.

The present invention has been described with reference to the examples.
The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, but can be variously modified without changing the gist thereof. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the gas mixed with the gas other than the supply gas is oxygen gas, and the oxygen concentration sensor 14 is built in. A sensor may be built in.

[0020]

As described above, according to the gas meter of the first aspect, when an earthquake with a predetermined seismic intensity or more occurs, and the seismoscope senses this, a gas other than the supply gas is detected by the mixed gas concentration detecting means. Detects the concentration of gas mixed in the flow path,
When the concentration of this mixed gas reaches a predetermined value, the gas flow path is cut off, so after the seismic sensor is activated and the gas flow path is cut off, the user returns to the original state. Even if the seismic shock absorber operates or the gas flow path is not blocked, it is possible to prevent accidents due to the mixing of unnecessary gas such as oxygen in the supply gas. This has the effect of improving safety.

Further, according to the gas meter of the second aspect, when the mixed gas concentration detecting means detects a gas concentration higher than a predetermined concentration, the gas flow path is shut off, and
Since the mixed gas concentration detecting means is configured to be operated only for a predetermined time after the seismic sensor is activated, in addition to the effect of the gas meter according to claim 1, consumption of a power source such as a battery for driving the mixed gas concentration detecting means is reduced. The effect is that it can be suppressed and economic efficiency is improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a gas meter according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a control unit of the gas meter shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the gas meter of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Gas Meter 11 Gas Flow Path 12 Gas Cutoff Valve (Valve Disc) 13 Gas Flow Meter 14 Oxygen Concentration Sensor 15 Seismic Sensor 16 Control Section 20 Gas

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A gas flow path through which a supply gas passes, a valve body for gas cutoff provided in this gas flow path, a seismoscope for detecting the presence or absence of an earthquake with a predetermined seismic intensity, and other than the supply gas. The mixed gas concentration detecting means for detecting the concentration of the gas mixed in the gas flow path, and the mixed gas concentration detected by the mixed gas concentration detecting means becomes a predetermined value after the seismic sensor is activated. A gas meter, comprising: a gas shut-off means for shutting off the valve body and shutting off the gas flow passage when the gas flow reaches. 2. A gas passage through which the supply gas passes, a valve body for gas cutoff provided in the gas passage, a seismoscope for detecting the presence or absence of an earthquake with a predetermined seismic intensity, and other than the supply gas. The mixed gas concentration detecting means for detecting the concentration of the gas mixed in the gas flow path, the driving means for operating the mixed gas concentration detecting means for a predetermined time after the seismic sensor is activated, and the seismic sensor After the operation, when the mixed gas concentration detected by the mixed gas concentration detecting means reaches a predetermined value, the valve body is closed, and a gas shutoff means for shutting off the gas flow path is provided. Characteristic gas meter.