JPH08240318A - Liquid level detector - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To permit the detection of a liquid level as well as the inclination of a tank at the same time a method wherein at least two guide means are provided in a tank for such as a kerosene stove or the like in up-and-down direction while a float, floating on a liquid surface in the tank, is attached movably to the guide means to detect the position of the float by a sensor. CONSTITUTION: When a kerosene stove is installed normally, a tank main body 52 is retained in a normal posture and a liquid surface 40 in the tank main body 52 is kept orthogonally to guide grooves 11 substantially, all magnets 17 of a liquid surface detecting unit 12 are detected by Hall elements 18c, opposed to the magnets 17, and the outputs of the elements are transmitted to a control unit. Then, the heights of the liquid surface 40 at the positions of the floats 16 are judged to indicate them in an indicating unit. On the other hand, when the kerosene stove is inclined due to some reason, the address of the Hall element 18b, detecting the maximum height of the liquid surface 40, is different from the address of the Hall element 18e, detecting the minimum height, whereby the liquid surface 110 is judged that it is inclined and the angle of inclination is indicated in the indicating unit.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a liquid level detecting device suitable for use in petroleum stoves and the like. More specifically, the present invention relates to a liquid level detecting device that detects the liquid level and the inclination at the same time by detecting the liquid level in the tank at a plurality of positions.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, an oil tank of an oil stove is usually provided with a level gauge. Further, the oil stove is designed to automatically detect and detect when the oil stove is tilted at a predetermined angle or more due to an earthquake or the like.

[0003]

By the way, in the conventional petroleum stove, for example, when the petroleum stove is tilted for some reason, the liquid level cannot be accurately detected. Further, in order to detect the tilt of the oil stove, for example, by detecting the four feet of the oil stove, a tilt detecting means is provided separately from the liquid level gauge, which causes a problem that the configuration becomes complicated. .

Therefore, the present invention solves the above-mentioned problems, and proposes a liquid level detecting device capable of simultaneously and accurately detecting the liquid level and the inclination even when the tank is inclined. It is a thing.

[0005]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, in the liquid level detecting device of the present invention, at least two guide means are vertically provided in the tank, and the liquid level in the tank is A float that floats above is movably attached to the guide means, and a sensor that continuously or intermittently detects the position of the float is provided, and the height and inclination of the liquid surface with respect to the tank from the output of the sensor. It is characterized in that a control means for judging is provided.

[0006]

In the present invention, at least two floats float above the liquid surface in the tank, and the sensor provided on each float detects the height of the liquid surface at the position where the float exists. When the tank maintains a normal posture, all sensors have the same value. By analyzing this value by the control means, the height of the liquid surface can be determined.
In addition, when the tank is tilted, the liquid surface is tilted relative to the tank, so that the outputs of the respective sensors have different values.
From these values, the control means obtains the height of the liquid surface at a certain position of each sensor, and the inclination of the liquid surface is judged from the difference between these heights.

[0007]

Next, one embodiment of the liquid level detecting device according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the structure of a liquid level detecting device 1 according to the present invention. As shown in FIG.
For example, it is applied to the oil tank 51 for the oil stove 5 (FIG. 3). The oil tank 51 is a cylindrical tank body 52.
And an upper lid 54 that is detachably attached to the opening 53 of the tank body 52.
It consists of and. The upper lid 54 is attached to the tank main body 52 by appropriate sealing means and locking means (not shown).

On the inner surface of the tank body 52, at least 2
The guide groove 11 in the form of a dovetail, which is four guide means in this example, is continuously provided from the bottom surface 55 of the tank body 52 to the opening 53. As shown in FIG. 2, the guide grooves 11 are arranged concentrically with the inner surface of the tank body 52 and at positions 90 degrees apart from each other. A liquid level detection unit 12 is slidably inserted into the guide groove 11 in order to detect the height and inclination of the liquid level 40 (FIG. 4) of the liquid in the tank body 52.

The liquid level detector 12 is provided with a slide portion 13 which is slidably inserted into the guide groove 11. The slide portion 13 has a spherical bottom surface and can be rotated within the guide groove 11 by a predetermined angle with respect to all directions. The slide portion 13 is provided with a pedestal 14 protruding from the opening of the guide groove 11, and the pedestal 14 is provided with a rotating shaft 15 having a head. A flat rectangular float 16 is rotatably attached to the rotary shaft 15. Further, the magnet 17 is provided on the bottom surface of the slide portion 13.
Is provided.

On the other hand, on the outer peripheral surface of the tank body 52, as shown in FIG.
As also shown, a plurality of Hall elements 18 are provided along the slide groove 11, and an address is set in each Hall element 18. As a result, the position of the magnet 17 and thus the float 16, that is, the height of the liquid surface is detected. That is, the magnet 17 and the hall element 18
The liquid level detecting means is constituted by. The output of the hall element 18 is supplied to, for example, a control unit 60 which is a control means provided in the oil stove 5 (FIG. 3).

As shown in FIG. 1, a screw portion 56 for fixing to the oil stove 5 is provided at the lower end of the tank main body 52, and a valve 57 is provided at the oil discharge hole. The valve 57 is automatically closed when the oil tank 51 is removed from the oil stove 5. Then, when the oil tank 51 is attached to the oil stove 5, the valve 57 is opened by the releasing means (not shown) of the oil stove 5. The oil tank 51 is attached to the tank storage portion 58 of the oil stove 5 as shown in FIG. At this time, the hall element 18 is connected to the control unit 60 provided in the oil tank 51.

Now, when the oil stove 5 is normally placed, as shown in FIG. 4, the tank main body 52 is held in a normal posture, and the liquid surface 40 in the tank main body 52 is guided by the guide groove 11. Is almost right angle. In this case, the magnets 17 of all the liquid surface detection units 12 are detected by, for example, the third Hall element 18c corresponding thereto, and this output is sent to the control unit 60. In the control unit 60, from the addresses of all the Hall elements 18c, the magnets 17,
Therefore, the height of the liquid surface 40 at the position where the float 16 is present is determined. In this case, since the addresses of all the Hall elements 18c are the same, it is determined that the tank body 52 is in a normal posture, and the height of the liquid level 40 is displayed on the display unit 61 (FIG. 3).

On the other hand, when the petroleum stove 5 is tilted for some reason, the liquid level 40 is changed to the guide groove 1 as shown in FIG.
It is inclined at an angle θ with respect to 1. In this case, the Hall element 18b that detects the maximum height of the liquid level 40 shown on the left side of the drawing
Then, since the address of the hall element 18e that has detected the minimum height shown on the right side is different, it is determined that the liquid surface 40 is inclined, and the inclination angle θ is displayed on the display unit 61, for example. When the oil stove 5 is tilted by a predetermined angle or more, for example, an alarm is sounded and the fire is extinguished automatically.

When the liquid surface 40 is inclined in this way, buoyancy acts to make the float 16 parallel to the liquid surface 40. In this example, since the slide portion 13 is rotatable in all directions, the float 16 becomes parallel to the liquid surface 40 even in this case, and the liquid surface 40 can be accurately detected.

In the above embodiment, the oil tank 51
The case where the hall element 18 is provided in the tank main body 52 has been described, but the hall element 18 may be provided on the tank storage portion 58 side of the oil stove 5. Further, in this example, the liquid level detection unit 12 and the Hall element 18 are arranged on the circumference of 90 degrees.
Although the case where four sets are provided at positions apart from each other has been described, when the tank main body 52 tilts only in one direction, two sets are provided along the direction in which the liquid level detection unit 12 and the Hall element 18 are tilted. For example, it is possible to detect both the height and the inclination of the liquid surface 40. As means for detecting the liquid level 40,
An appropriate sensor can be used in addition to the magnet 17 and the Hall element 18, and a sensor capable of continuously detecting the liquid level 40 can also be used.

[0017]

As described above, in the liquid level detecting device of the present invention, at least two guide means are vertically provided in the tank, and the float that floats above the liquid level in the tank is the above. A sensor that is movably attached to the guide means and that detects the position of the float continuously or intermittently is provided, and a control means that determines the height and inclination of the liquid surface with respect to the tank from the output of the sensor is provided. It has been done.

Therefore, according to the present invention, even when the tank is tilted, the liquid level and the tilt can be simultaneously and accurately detected.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an oil tank 51 to which a liquid level detection device 1 according to the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a view on arrow A in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing an example of an oil stove 5.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along line BB of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing a state where the tank main body 52 is tilted.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Liquid Level Detector 11 Guide Groove 12 Liquid Level Detector 13 Slide 16 Float 17 Magnet 18 Hall Element 52 Tank Main Body 60 Control

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. At least two guide means are provided vertically in a tank, and a float floating above the liquid level in the tank is movably attached to the guide means, and the position of the float is continuous. A liquid level detection device comprising: a sensor that detects statically or intermittently; and a control unit that determines the height and inclination of the liquid level with respect to the tank from the output of the sensor. 2. The liquid level detection device according to claim 1, wherein the sensor is provided on the storage means side of the tank. 3. The liquid level detecting device according to claim 1, wherein at least two of the sensors are provided along a direction in which the tank is tilted.