JPH10283586A - Gas meter system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To use the line both for a power supply line and an antenna and to simultaneously hold both functions by wiring a drive line from a circuit system including a receiver to a breaker with prescribed length and using full or partial drive line as an antenna. SOLUTION: In a main plug part 40, a breaker circuit 20 drives each measuring instrument. An antenna and drive line 14 drives a 1st breaker 21 that is based on an output of the circuit 20 and works as an antenna which receives radiation radio waves from antenna 6 of a sensor part 10. There, the line 14 is provided with 1st and 2nd coils 12 and 13 which allow direct current or a component that is close to direct current to pass through and also prevents a high frequency like a carrier frequency or an intermediate frequency and a condenser 11 which prevents a direct current component. A receiver 15 receives and detects radiation radio waves from the antenna 6, amplifies it up to a needed level and performs reproduction.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a gas meter
More particularly, the present invention relates to a gas meter system having a device that immediately detects a gas leak and automatically closes a main valve of an incoming gas.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art It is known that a gas meter and a gas leak alarm cooperate with each other, and when the gas leak alarm detects a gas leak, a shutoff valve of a main valve incorporated in the gas meter is shut off by a wireless interlocking system. ing.

[0003] In such a conventional wireless interlocking system, the gas meter is usually located outside the room, and the sensor unit provided with the gas leak alarm is located indoors.
It is impossible to drive this system with only 0V power supply, and it is reasonable to operate one of them with a battery.

An example of such a conventional gas meter system is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 6-139486.
According to the publication, a gas meter having a shutoff valve for controlling the flow of gas, and a gas leak detection means,
Further, in a gas meter system having an alarm device for shutting off a shut-off valve of the gas meter when detecting a gas leak, a wireless receiving unit on the gas meter side and a wireless transmitting unit on the alarm device side are provided, and the gas leak of the alarm device is provided. A signal is transmitted to the gas meter as a wireless signal, and particularly, both or one of the transmission unit and the reception unit is operated by a battery.

However, there is no description as to whether the battery according to the publication is a primary battery, a secondary battery, or a solar battery, it is completely unknown, and there is no mention of wiring.

[0006]

In the present invention, since the wireless receiver on the gas meter side is often installed outdoors, it is preferable to configure a power supply bias of a circuit system in a charging system using a solar cell. Based on this new knowledge.
Since the batteries are consumables, they need to be replaced regularly, which leads to extra maintenance costs. Therefore, it is preferable to use solar energy that flows infinitely. In this case, the circuit breaker of the gas meter and the circuit system are often set apart from each other to some extent. At this time, if the drive line from the circuit breaker to the circuit breaker is also used as an antenna, no complicated configuration is required, and there is no fear of deteriorating the appearance.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a gas meter system based on the above-mentioned new findings. Further, the present invention is to provide a gas meter system which functions as both a power supply line and an antenna and has both functions at the same time.

Further, the present invention provides a gas meter system which solves the problem of mutual interference such as interference when a large number of similar gas meter systems are installed in a small area for wireless communication. It is in.

[0009]

Means for Solving the Problems As shown in FIG. 1, a solution of the first invention is to transmit a gas leak signal from a wireless transmitter installed on a gas leak detector side and receive the signal. In a gas meter system for interrupting inflow gas with a circuit breaker based on a reception signal of a machine, a drive line from a circuit system including the receiver to the circuit breaker is wired with a predetermined length, and all or all of the drive lines are This is a gas meter system characterized in that a part thereof is also used as an antenna.

[0010] According to the first aspect of the present invention, the gas inflow can be immediately cut off when there is a gas leak by using the shared line without using the dedicated line for the antenna or the dedicated line for driving the circuit breaker. Not only that, the structure is simple and the handling is easy without fear of deteriorating the appearance.

As shown in FIG. 2, the solution of the second invention is to transmit a gas leak signal from a wireless transmitter installed in a gas leak detector and receive the signal based on a signal received by a wireless receiver. In a gas meter system for shutting off inflow gas, a solar cell is guided as a power source of the wireless receiver,
A power supply line between the wireless receiver and the solar cell is also used as a wireless receiving antenna.

[0012] According to the second aspect of the present invention, the use of the dual-purpose line without using a dedicated line for the antenna or a dedicated line for the power supply of the solar cell can immediately cut off the gas inflow when there is gas leakage. Not only that, the structure is simple, and handling is easy.

Further, according to the second aspect of the invention, there is no mutual interference between the gas meter systems, and the main plug of the house is not shut off due to gas leak of the neighbor.

[0014]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to the block diagram of FIG. 1 showing an embodiment of the first invention, a gas meter system according to this embodiment has a plurality of sensor units (only one sensor unit is shown, and (A common sensor part is not shown) 10 and only one main plug part 40 is provided.

The sensor unit 10 is located in a place where there is a risk of gas leakage, for example, in the case of city gas, which is lighter than air. Therefore, in the case of LP (Liquid Propane) gas,
Since it is heavier than air, it generates a signal indicating a unique discrimination code for identifying the sensor unit 10 in addition to the gas leak alarm 3 installed on the floor or the wall, and an alarm signal indicating gas leak. Data control unit 4
And an oscillator 5 for superimposing these signals on an oscillation frequency serving as a carrier frequency, an antenna 6 for wireless transmission, and a gas leak alarm device 3, a data control unit 4, and an oscillator 5 for supplying necessary voltages. Power supply 2. The gas leak alarm 3, the data control unit 4, and the oscillator 5 constitute the transmitter 1.

Here, the signal indicating the discrimination code differs for each sensor unit 10. The oscillator 5 is amplitude-modulated by the data control unit 4 when the AM modulation system is adopted, and frequency-modulated or phase-modulated by the data control unit 4 when the FM or PM modulation system is adopted. The modulation data is output from the antenna 6 to the series. Before the antenna 6, the carrier is amplified to a required output level (not shown) and then transmitted.

The only main plug 40 is placed in an area where the receiver 15 can detect the incident electromagnetic wave from the antenna 6. The main plug unit 40 is provided with a circuit breaker and a meter corresponding to the number of the sensor units 10. In this embodiment, the first, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth circuit breakers 21, 22,
It comprises a total of six pairs of meters consisting of 23, 24, 25, 26 and first, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth meters 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36.

In addition to the above, the main plug unit 40 further includes a shutoff circuit 20 for driving each meter, a first breaker 21 driven by the output of the shutoff circuit 20, and a side emission radio wave from the antenna 6. An antenna / drive line 14 also serving as an antenna for receiving, a drive line 42 from the cutoff circuit 20 to the second circuit breaker 22, and a third, fourth, fifth, and sixth from the cutoff circuit 20.
Drive lines 4 up to circuit breakers 23, 24, 25, 26
A receiver 15 for receiving and detecting the secondary radio waves from the antennas 3, 44, 45, 46 and the antenna 6, amplifying it to a required level, and performing reproduction, and a corresponding circuit breaker based on the block signal. Control unit 1 that generates a signal to close the valve
6, an interruption circuit 20 for outputting a signal for driving a driving device (for example, a servo motor or the like is used, but not shown) for amplifying to a required level to determine a corresponding circuit breaker and closing the circuit breaker. First and second coils 12 and 13 for passing a DC component or a component close to the DC component and blocking a high frequency or a medium frequency component such as a carrier frequency; and for passing a carrier frequency and blocking a DC component. And a capacitor 11.

The main plug 40 is used as a power supply bias, and a rechargeable so-called secondary battery 17 is used, particularly for night use or for rain clouds. When daytime solar energy can be obtained, the rechargeable solar cell 19
And a charging circuit 18 for charging the secondary battery 17 by the electromotive force of the solar battery 19.

When a commercial power supply is available, a power supply 8 and an AC-DC adapter 9 are interposed as shown by a solid line or a provisional line in FIG.

Since the main stopper 40 is usually installed outdoors, the use of the solar cell 19 is simple. On the other hand, since the sensor unit 10 is installed indoors, commercial power can be used immediately. The main feature is that a driving voltage necessary for driving the first circuit breaker 21 is also applied to the antenna / drive line 14 for receiving the secondary radiation from the antenna 6. Since they can be used simultaneously and can be used at the same time, there is no need to worry about complicating the wiring and further impairing the appearance.

In this embodiment, only when there is gas leakage, the antenna / drive line 14 receives the signal and drives only the corresponding circuit breaker. A confirmation signal indicating that there is no alarm is always output from the sensor unit 10 intermittently, while the main stopper unit 40 uses a lamp or a light emitting diode to indicate that a warning from the corresponding sensor unit can be received,
The configuration may be such that the confirmation signal is received at all times. Since transmission and reception are performed intermittently, there is an advantage that consumption of the secondary battery is reduced. In this case, each time an intermittent confirmation signal is received, the power supply bias or a part thereof is energized to be operable.

The interrupting circuit 20 and the circuit system shown on the left side of the circuit include first, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth interrupters 21, 2
Y = 50 cm above 2, 23, 24, 25, 26
The antenna and driving line 14 can be provided with a required length as an antenna. This differs depending on the frequency band of the carrier frequency.

The first, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth circuit breakers 2
1, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26 are the first, second,
3, 4, 5, 6 meters 31, 32, 33, 34, 3
It is often installed near 5, 36.

In this embodiment, the antenna / drive line 1
Although only four are used, four other antennas and drive lines may be used in other embodiments. In this case, a coil common to the two coils 12, 13 is used for each wire.

The polarization plane of the antenna / drive line 14 is common to the polarization plane of the antenna 6.

Here, the circuit breaker corresponding to the sensor unit 10 is to be interrupted. For this reason, the shutoff circuit 20 must also load a discrimination code specific to the transmission wave from which sensor unit the alarm signal is from.

It is preferable that the gas leak alarm 3 generates a gas leak alarm signal and emits an alarm sound to call attention or turn on a display. Although not shown, each circuit breaker requires a driving means such as a servomotor for closing the stopper.

The circuit of the radio receiver 15 detects the signal so as to remove the radio frequency which is a carrier wave and obtain a necessary signal. After the detection, the signal is amplified to a required level by an amplifier circuit, and then, when the signal is a signal indicating gas leakage, the above-described servo motor is driven to close the circuit breaker. Therefore, the city gas or the LP gas will not be supplied to the room soon, and the worst situation such as explosion, fire, and personal injury is avoided.

When the leaked gas disappears, the signal indicating the gas leak disappears, but the servo motor does not automatically open, but returns by manually opening the main plug separately. However, when the leaked gas is present again, the gas is automatically closed again. When the gas is no longer leaked, the gas is not closed unless manually operated.

When the antenna / drive line 14 is used as an antenna, the number of radio frequencies is equal to or higher than KHZ, and the drive voltage from the cutoff circuit 20 is an on / off DC level. It is easy.

In preparation for the case where the amount of power generated from the solar cell 19 is small, it is preferable that the circuit system using this power supply be operated constantly, and also be operated intermittently at regular intervals.

According to this embodiment, there is also an advantage that it can be used even in an unmanned factory at night where the alarm from the alarm 3 cannot be heard, in the absence of a manager, or in the case of a hearing-impaired person.

The receiver, the control section, the charging circuit, the shutoff circuit, etc. are sealed in a waterproof housing by arranging only one printed wiring board, two printed wiring boards, or three or more printed wiring boards. You.

The gas meter according to the second embodiment of the present invention
Referring to the block diagram of FIG. 2 showing the system, the system includes a sensor unit 10 installed at one or more locations in a room where gas leakage is concerned, and a single main plug unit 40 normally installed outside the room. Prepare. Usually 1 for home kitchen
In a restaurant, a factory, or the like, a sensor unit 10 common to a plurality of locations is prepared.

The sensor unit 10 includes a gas leak detection circuit 52 capable of detecting a leaked gas 51 and an alarm 53 provided with a buzzer, an audio alarm, and the like. Amplifying circuit 54 amplifies the signal to a required level, and further includes a wireless transmitting circuit 55 for transmitting the amplified detection signal by superimposing the amplified detection signal on a wireless frequency. Transmit on wavefront.

Although the transmitted wave is received by the main plug 40, in this embodiment, the antenna and power line 83 installed outside the room is used.
Is used. The antenna / power line 83 is used as a transmitting / receiving antenna, and
It is characterized by being used as a pair of power lines,
In order to receive the sunlight, it is separated from the gas meter 77 to some extent, and its polarization plane is common to the antenna 6. Immediately before introduction into a power supply circuit 71 for securing a predetermined voltage level and supplying it to each unit, a capacitor 82 for cutting a radio frequency component and passing a power supply bias of DC or a component close to DC is connected to a pair of power supplies. Connected between lines 83.

On the other hand, a transmission wave from the antenna 6 is received by the antenna / power supply line 83 and a capacitor 80 for cutting a direct current or a component close to the direct current from the solar cell 19.
After that, it is introduced into the wireless receiving circuit 72.

In the radio receiving circuit 72, the signal is detected in order to remove a radio frequency as a carrier wave and obtain a necessary signal. After the detection, the signal is amplified to a required level by the amplifier circuit 73, and then, when the signal is a signal indicating gas leakage, the shut-off valve operating device 74 is driven to close the shut-off valve 75. Therefore, the city gas or the LP gas will not be supplied to the room soon, and the worst situation such as explosion, fire, and personal injury is avoided.

Here, the reception signal from the antenna 6 must be from the sensor unit 10 of the house, and the reception signal of the sensor unit 10 installed in the neighbor's house must not be received and malfunction should not occur. For this reason, the wireless transmission circuit 55 drives the main plug unit 40 of the own house and superimposes a unique determination signal indicating that it is the sensor unit 10 of the home so that the main plug unit of another house is not driven. The wireless receiving circuit 72 detects that the signal is a self-determination signal and generates a drive signal, and when the signal is not a self-determination signal, does not drive the shut-off valve operating device 74.

In order to perform the above operation, the radio transmitting circuit 55 applies a discrimination code of several bits to the radio frequency. The wireless receiving circuit 72 has a function of identifying this unique identification code of several bits. For example, if you prepare about 1000 unique identification codes,
It can be considered that the influence of mutual interference between the systems is substantially eliminated. In this case, ten thumb feel switches indicating two states are prepared.

The confirmation signal generation circuit 76 confirms that the transmission signal from the antenna 6 is received at predetermined time intervals, thereby confirming that the system is in a state where the leaked gas 51 can be detected. . If the sensor unit 10 is in a state that can be confirmed, a green or blue lamp or a light emitting diode may be displayed.

On the other hand, the confirmation signal generated by the confirmation signal generation circuit 76 is amplified to a required level by the amplifier circuit 78, and then the radio frequency is superimposed on the confirmation signal from the antenna / power supply line 83 to the antenna 6 of the sensor unit 10. Will be sent back. Here, the capacitor 81 is used to cut the power supply bias.
Is used. The wave received by the antenna 6 is input to the wireless receiving circuit 59 via the circulator 60. The input received wave is reproduced and, after judging that it is a received wave from the main plug unit 40 of the house, through the amplifier circuit 58,
The confirmation indicator 7 displays a green or blue lamp or a light emitting diode. If it is lit in green or blue, it is immediately determined that the main stopper 40 is in a state where it can receive the transmission signal from the sensor 10.

When the power supply circuit 71 does not supply a bias sufficient for driving, or when the power supply line
2, amplification circuit 73, confirmation signal generation circuit 76, amplification circuit 7
8. When the wireless transmission circuit 79 or the like does not operate normally due to some kind of failure, or when there is a distance or an obstacle such that the transmission signal from the antenna 6 of the sensor unit 10 cannot be received, the confirmation indicator 57 emits light. No, or red or yellow lights.

In particular, when a large obstacle is present inside and outside the room, the system may not operate even if the distance is short, and it is necessary to confirm that the system is operating at least at a constant sampling interval. It is important.

Each circuit to the above-mentioned sensor unit 10 has:
A bias voltage is supplied from the power supply circuit 56. Since the power supply applied to the power supply circuit 56 is indoors,
The 0 V commercial power supply terminal 72 can be used immediately. The power supply circuit 56 of the sensor unit 10 can also obtain power from a solar cell, similarly to the main plug unit 40. Main stopper 4
0 power circuit 71 is installed outside the solar cell 1
9 are available.

A gas meter 77 is also provided near the shutoff valve 75. The gas meter 77 integrates the flow rate of the supplied gas, and records or stores the integrated flow rate.

In the case where the transmission / reception circuit of the sensor unit 10 has an abnormality and does not operate normally, it can be similarly identified on the display 57.

When the transmitting and receiving operations are performed by different antennas, the circulator 60 is unnecessary, and different antennas are used.

A plurality of sensor units 10 are provided,
If there is only one, the wireless receiving circuit 72 must identify a plurality of determination codes of each sensor unit 10.

When the antenna / power supply line 83 is used as an antenna, the frequency is higher than the radio frequency KHz, and the power supply voltage from the solar cell 19 is direct current. is there.

In the above-described embodiment of the present invention, a system is provided in which it is possible to check in advance from the sensor unit to the main plug unit whether the gas main plug can be stopped or not. When such a pre-check system is not used, the circulator 60, the wireless receiving circuit 59, the amplifying circuit 58, the confirmation display 57, the amplifying circuit 78, the wireless transmitting circuit 79, the capacitor 81, and the like are not used.

[0053]

According to the present invention, since the receiving antenna and the driving line are configured so as to be used simultaneously and can be used at the same time, the structure becomes simple, the appearance is not spoiled, and the structure becomes complicated. The effect of disappearing is obtained. In addition, it is possible to determine whether the gas meter system is installed in a state where it can operate normally, and it is also possible to determine whether the circuit system is malfunctioning and operating normally,
It provides a highly reliable system and eliminates interference from neighbors, providing an extremely safe gas meter system that will not malfunction if many similar systems are adopted. The effect that it can be obtained is obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a gas meter according to an embodiment of the first invention.
It is a block diagram showing a system.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a gas meter system according to an embodiment of the second invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Transmitter 2 Power supply 3 Gas leak alarm 4 Data control part 5 Oscillator 6 Antenna 7 Receiver 8 Power supply 9 AC-DC adapter 10 Sensor part 11 Capacitor 12 First coil 13 Second coil 14 Antenna and drive line 15 Receiver 16 Control unit 17 Secondary battery 18 Charging circuit 19 Solar cell 20 Shutoff circuit 21 to 26 Circuit breaker 31 to 36 Meter 40 Main plug 41 to 46 Drive line 51 Leaked gas 52 Gas leak detection circuit 53 Alarm 54 Amplification circuit 55 Wireless transmission circuit 56 Power supply circuit 57 Confirmation display 58 Amplification circuit 59 Wireless reception circuit 60 Circulator 71 Power supply circuit 72 Wireless reception circuit 73 Amplification circuit 74 Shut-off valve operating device 75 Shut-off valve 76 Confirmation signal generation circuit 77 Gas meter 80.81.82 Capacitor 83 Antenna Power supply line Y interval

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Mutsumi Habara 1122-1 Tsuda, Saiki-cho, Saiki-gun, Hiroshima Prefecture (72) Tetsuaki Nagoshi 149 Moriyama Higashi, Sakuki-mura, Futami-gun, Hiroshima Prefecture

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A gas meter system for transmitting a gas leak signal from a wireless transmitter installed on a gas leak detector side and shutting off incoming gas with a circuit breaker based on a reception signal of a wireless receiver for receiving the signal. And a drive line from the circuit system including the receiver to the circuit breaker is wired with a predetermined length, and all or a part of the drive line is used as an antenna. 2. A gas meter for transmitting a gas leak signal from a wireless transmitter installed in a gas leak detector and shutting off inflow gas based on a received signal of a wireless receiver for receiving the gas leak signal.
In the system, a solar battery is guided as a power source of the wireless receiver, and a power supply line between the wireless receiver and the solar battery is also used as a wireless receiving antenna. Gas meter system.