JP2008261826A - Electric quantity monitoring device and electric quantity monitoring system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To allow individual or integrated monitoring of electric quantities of a plurality of electric appliances while dispensing with wiring working with the plurality of electric appliances, and to allow the monitoring from a remote place and change of the monitoring conditions. <P>SOLUTION: An electric quantity monitoring device 11 includes a table tap structure having an outlet for the plurality of electric appliances, and individually or integrally monitors the electric quantities such as voltages, currents, amounts of power consumption, and so forth of the plurality of electric appliances by a built-in microcomputer. Further, the monitoring information is transmitted to a server device 14 of a higher-level system or a general-purpose personal computer 13 via Web transmission by LAN connection so that the individual or integrated monitoring of the multitude of electric appliances by the server device of the higher-level system or the general-purpose personal computer is allowed and the monitoring conditions are changed via Web transmission from the server device of the higher-level system or the general-purpose personal computer to the electric quantity monitoring device. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an electrical quantity monitoring device that monitors the amount of power consumed by electrical equipment connected to a power outlet in a house or factory, and the electrical quantity that centrally monitors the monitoring information of this monitoring device using a higher-level server device. It relates to the monitoring system.

  When measuring the power consumption, current and voltage of general home appliances operating at AC 100 V, or investigating harmonic currents generated from such devices, usually, as shown in FIG. It is a general method to insert a measuring instrument such as the wattmeter 3 between the two to measure during operation. In this method, in order to connect a measuring instrument such as a wattmeter, complicated work such as processing of wiring around the outlet is required, and simple measurement is somewhat impossible.

  Recently, an electrical quantity monitoring device as shown in FIGS. 13A and 13B has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1). This device inserts the male side of the electrical quantity monitoring device 5 into the female side of the indoor power outlet 4, and detects the current and voltage of the connecting conductor between the male outlet 5A and the female power outlet 5B in the monitoring device 5. Transformers 5C and 5D, a microcomputer 5E that monitors the amount of electricity (voltage, current, power consumption, etc.) from the current and voltage that flows through the electrical equipment with the power plug inserted into the power outlet 5B, and displays the monitoring results A display 5F is provided. The microcomputer 5E obtains a control power supply from a 100V power supply by a power supply unit. The microcomputer 5E enables serial transmission of monitoring information to an external personal computer via the transmission unit.

  The monitoring device configured as described above has a module configuration that can easily measure the current / voltage and power consumption of the device without performing wiring processing for connecting the measuring instrument. In addition, by providing a transmission unit in the apparatus, the measurement signal is connected to a personal computer or the like with a serial cable, thereby enabling monitoring on the personal computer side.

  However, one module can only measure the amount of electricity such as voltage and current for one device, and periodically change factors (eg, electricity charges per kWh) It cannot cope with the measurement of items that are expected to change.

That is, even if power consumption and power consumption can be measured and displayed, it is not possible to display the electricity bill for that. Even if an arbitrary numerical value is set as the electric charge per kWh in order to display the electric charge, this value changes periodically, so it must be changed in some form. In the above-mentioned patent document 1, the response to such a setting change is not considered.
JP 2003-149272 A

  As described above, in the measurement apparatus as shown in FIG. 12, complicated work such as wiring processing occurs in the installation, and simple measurement cannot be performed.

  In addition, even when an electric quantity monitoring device as shown in FIG. 13 is used, only one device can measure the amount of electricity for one device, and the number of devices for measuring the amount of electricity of a plurality of devices can be measured. Need to prepare.

  Furthermore, the electricity amount monitoring apparatus shown in FIG. 13 does not include a measurement function using a variable conversion value, and cannot support, for example, the display of electricity charges for the amount of power used. In order to display the electricity rate for the amount of power used, it is necessary to store a conversion factor of “Electricity rate per kWh” in the device, and this factor is a value that is reviewed on a yearly basis. Therefore, it is necessary to consider it as a variable value, but the concept of setting a variable value coefficient does not exist in the electrical quantity monitoring device shown in FIG.

  Moreover, in the apparatus shown in FIG. 12 or FIG. 13, the monitoring position is limited to a general home or a factory where an electrical device is installed, and cannot cope with monitoring of the amount of electricity from a remote place.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an electric quantity monitoring device and an electric device that can perform monitoring in which individual electric charges are individually or aggregated without wiring processing with a plurality of electric devices, and can be monitored from a remote location and monitoring conditions can be changed. It is to provide a quantity monitoring system.

  The present invention uses a table tap structure electrical quantity monitoring device having power outlets for a plurality of electrical equipments to individually or aggregate the electrical quantities such as voltage, current, and power consumption by the electrical equipments. By transmitting these monitoring information via LAN connection to a higher-level server device or a general-purpose personal computer, the higher-level server device or general-purpose personal computer can individually or aggregately monitor a large number of electrical devices. The monitoring conditions can be changed by Web transmission from a device or a general-purpose personal computer to an electricity quantity monitoring device, and the following electricity quantity monitoring device and system are characterized.

(1) An electric quantity monitoring device that monitors the power consumption of electrical equipment connected to a power outlet in a house or factory,
A table tap provided with a plurality of power outlets that can connect power plugs of a plurality of electrical devices to a power outlet in a house or factory,
A current transformer that individually detects a current flowing through each electrical device that is built in the table tap and is connected to the power outlet via the power outlet, and a voltage transformer that commonly detects a voltage;
Built in the table tap, monitors the detected current, voltage, and electricity such as power consumption calculated based on the detected current, voltage, and sends the monitoring information to a higher-level server device or general-purpose personal computer via a LAN connection. A microcomputer capable of transmission control is provided.

  (2) The microcomputer includes means for performing an abnormality monitoring process such as occurrence of an overload based on the amount of electricity such as current, voltage, power consumption and the like of each electric device.

  (3) The microcomputer includes means for changing and monitoring the condition according to the monitoring condition transmitted from the server device or the general-purpose personal computer by Web.

  (4) The microcomputer includes means for transmitting an alarm mail in real time to a portable terminal or a management personal computer of a device manager when an abnormality such as an overload occurs in the electrical device. To do.

(5) An electric quantity monitoring system that monitors the amount of power consumed by electrical equipment connected to a power outlet in a house or factory,
The electrical quantity monitoring device provided on the installation side of the electrical equipment, and the electrical quantity monitoring device comprises a host system server device connected to the LAN and a general-purpose personal computer,
The electrical quantity monitoring device is:
A table tap provided with a plurality of power outlets that can connect power plugs of a plurality of electrical devices to a power outlet in a house or factory,
A current transformer that individually detects a current flowing through each electrical device that is built in the table tap and is connected to the power outlet via the power outlet, and a voltage transformer that commonly detects a voltage;
Built in the table tap, monitors the detected current, voltage, and electricity such as power consumption calculated based on the detected current, voltage, and sends the monitoring information to a higher-level server device or general-purpose personal computer via a LAN connection. It has a microcomputer that can control transmission,
The server device or the general-purpose personal computer includes processing means for acquiring / monitoring the amount of electricity such as current, voltage, power consumption, and the like of each electrical device measured by the microcomputer by Web transmission.

  (6) The server device or the general-purpose personal computer includes means for acquiring abnormal monitoring information such as occurrence of overload based on the amount of electricity such as current, voltage, power consumption, etc. of each electric device by Web transmission. It is characterized by that.

  (7) The server device or the general-purpose personal computer is provided with means for changing the condition by transmitting the monitoring condition in the microcomputer by Web.

  (8) The server device or the general-purpose personal computer includes means for receiving an alarm mail in real time when the microcomputer detects an abnormality such as an overload on the electrical device.

  As described above, according to the present invention, the amount of electricity such as voltage, current, power consumption, etc. by the plurality of electrical devices is individually determined by the table tap structure electricity monitoring device having the power outlet plugs of the plurality of electrical devices. Can be monitored in a centralized manner.

  In addition, by transmitting the monitoring information from the electricity monitoring device to a higher-level server device or general-purpose personal computer via a LAN connection, a large number of electrical devices can be individually or collectively monitored by the higher-level server device or general-purpose personal computer. Furthermore, the monitoring conditions can be changed by Web transmission from a higher-level server device or a general-purpose personal computer to the electricity monitoring device.

  FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of an electrical quantity monitoring system showing the present embodiment. The electric quantity monitoring device 11 has a table tap structure provided with a plurality of power outlet plugs that can connect power plugs of a plurality of electric devices to a power outlet in a house or factory. In the case of the illustration, four female outlets 11A to 11D are provided as power supply plug insertion ports of electrical equipment, and these outlets 11A to 11D are connected in parallel by internal conductors and are connected to one male outlet (plug). ) It is connected to 11E. The outlet 11E is connected to a power outlet installed on an indoor wall surface or the like, and draws AC 100V power into the outlets 11A to 11D.

  In addition, the electrical quantity monitoring device 11 has a function of monitoring electrical quantities such as voltage, current, and power consumption by each electrical device, and transmitting the monitoring information to a higher-level server device or a general-purpose personal computer via a LAN connection. . As shown in FIG. 2, the internal block configuration for this purpose includes current transformers 11F to 11I that individually detect the currents of the connecting conductors between the outlet 11E and the outlets 11A to 11D, and a voltage transformer that detects a common voltage. 11J, a microcomputer 11K that monitors the amount of electricity (voltage, current, power consumption, etc.) from these detected currents and voltages, and an indicator 11L that displays the on / off state of the AC100V power supply and whether there is an abnormality .

  The microcomputer 11K obtains a control power supply from a 100V power supply by a power supply unit. Further, the microcomputer can be connected to a LAN cable via the transmission unit and the connector 11M, and monitoring information can be transmitted by LAN connection with the system. Furthermore, the microcomputer 11K can accept a reset operation and a set value clear operation by the reset button 11N.

  The microcomputer 11K includes an A / D converter that takes the detection signals from the current transformers and the voltage transformer in a time-sharing manner and converts them into digital values, and current, voltage, power, etc. based on these detection data. It is equipped with a calculation unit that performs measurement processing and abnormal monitoring processing for overload occurrence and the software.

  The electric quantity monitoring device 11 incorporating these table taps and a transformer and a microcomputer in the table tap is provided when a plurality of power plugs are installed indoors or in a factory and each of the electric devices connected to the power supply is monitored. Installed separately for the power plug.

  Returning to FIG. 1, the hub 12 has a LAN connection between the electrical quantity monitoring device 11 and the general-purpose personal computer 13, for example, Ethernet (registered trademark) connection, and monitoring information between the electrical quantity monitoring device 11 and the state confirmation personal computer 13. Switch transmission for the Web transmission of the monitoring information and the Web transmission of the monitoring information with the server device 14 is performed.

  With the above system configuration, in the present embodiment, wiring processing with a plurality of electrical devices is not required, and monitoring of individual or aggregated amounts of their electricity is possible, and monitoring from remote locations and monitoring conditions can be changed. These specific monitoring examples will be described below.

(Specific example 1)
The electrical quantity monitoring device 11 is connected to a power outlet in the house or factory where the electrical equipment to be monitored is installed, so that the voltage of the electrical equipment is up to 4 according to the number of outlets installed (up to 4 in the figure).・ Electricity such as current and power can be measured individually or in aggregate. In addition, since all the measurement circuits are housed inside the table tap, it is possible to perform simple measurement without requiring complicated work such as wiring processing during measurement.

(Specific example 2)
It is possible to monitor from a remote place by transmitting the amount of electricity such as voltage, current and power of the electrical equipment measured by the electricity monitoring device 11 to the server device 14 and the general-purpose personal computer 13 via the Web.

  In addition, by applying a Web display method in which the measurement value can be confirmed on the browser, the measurement value can be easily confirmed without depending on the OS of the personal computer. For example, on the screen as shown in FIG. 3 or FIG. 4, it is possible to check the current measurement value and display the trend of the measurement value for the past several hours.

(Specific example 3)
When the above-described Web display method is developed, it is possible to input / change setting values such as the name of the electrical device connected to the electricity monitoring device 11 and the coefficient of the electricity charge for the amount of power used.

  For example, in the measurement value display screen example shown in FIG. 3, specific device names such as “desktop personal computer” and “color copier” are displayed. This is because the connected device setting screen shown in FIG. By having it combined with the display method, the connected device name displayed on the measurement display screen can be arbitrarily changed.

  It is easier for the monitor to display a specific device name such as “desktop personal computer” than to display the items “device 1” and “device 2” as fixed information, and misunderstandings can be reduced.

  Furthermore, by making it possible to set a charge coefficient such as “electric charge per kWh” as shown in FIG. 6, it is also possible to display the electricity charge for the amount of power used as shown in FIG. 7. Since the coefficient at this time is reviewed at any time by an electric power company or the like, if the ROM included in the microcomputer in the electric quantity monitoring device 11 is given as a fixed value, the actual electric charge will be developed with the passage of time. However, it is possible to eliminate errors in the calculation and display of measured values and electricity charges displayed on the screen by always setting the latest coefficient.

  FIG. 8 shows a calculation processing example (flowchart) until the electricity charge is displayed on the measurement screen of FIG. 7 using the charge coefficient set in FIG. First, the power P, the power amount WH, and the electricity charge C are initially set to “0” (S1), and when there is a reset input from the Web, the power amount WH = 0 is reset (S2, S3). Next, the current power P is calculated (S4), the power amount WH is calculated from the power P and the measurement period t set on the Web (S5), and the power amount WH and the charge coefficient k set on the Web are calculated. An electricity bill C corresponding to the amount of power is calculated (S6), and the power P, the amount of power WH, and the electricity bill C are displayed on the Web (S7). These processes (S2 to S7) are repeated every time the measurement cycle t elapses.

(Specific example 4)
As shown in FIG. 1, in the environment where the electricity monitoring device 11 is directly connected to the LAN, not only measurement display and setting by Web but also an information transmission function using mail can be realized. By applying this, it is possible to prevent accidents due to overload as shown below.

  FIG. 9 shows a process (flow chart) until an alarm mail is transmitted when an overload occurs. When the measurement cycle t set on the Web is reached, the current measured power P is calculated (S11), the power P exceeds the rated power (tap capacity) of the electricity monitoring device 11, and an overload alarm is issued. When the e-mail has not been sent, an overload warning e-mail is sent to the destination address set on the Web (S12 to S14), and the power P, the power amount WH, and the electricity rate C at this time are displayed on the Web. (S15). These processes (S11 to S15) are repeated every time the measurement cycle t elapses.

  For example, when the maximum load of the electrical equipment that can be connected to the electrical quantity monitoring device 11 is 3 kW, if the total power consumption of the connected electrical equipment is less than 3 kW, monitoring is continued without doing anything, If it exceeds 3 kW, an alarm mail as shown in FIG. 10 is transmitted to the server device 14 or the general-purpose personal computer 13 in real time, or is transmitted to another system administrator's portable terminal or management personal computer in real time. As shown in FIG. 11, the mail address of the administrator or the like is performed using the setting change function on the browser described in Example 3, and shows a case where alarm mails can be simultaneously transmitted to a maximum of five addresses.

  Since the electric quantity monitoring device 11 sends an alarm mail simultaneously with the occurrence of an overload, it is possible to notify the device manager stationed at a location away from the site of the danger without causing a time delay. . Therefore, it is possible to respond quickly by reducing the time required from the occurrence of overload to the completion of countermeasures.

1 is an overall configuration diagram of an electric quantity monitoring system showing an embodiment of the present invention. The internal block block diagram of an electric quantity monitoring apparatus. Example of measurement display on a general-purpose personal computer (current value display). Example of measurement display on a general-purpose personal computer (trend display). Setting screen example on a general-purpose computer (connected device display setting). Example of setting screen on general-purpose personal computer (charge coefficient setting). Measurement value display example on a general-purpose personal computer (electric energy display and electricity charge display). Display processing of electricity charges for the amount of power used. Overload warning mail transmission processing. Example of overload warning mail. Example screen for setting the destination address for overload warning mail. Electricity measurement method for electrical equipment (conventional). External structure (a) and internal structure (b) of the electric quantity monitoring device.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Electric quantity monitoring apparatus 11A-11D Power plug insertion port 11K Microcomputer 11L Display part 12 Hub 13 General-purpose personal computer 14 Server apparatus

Claims (8)

An electrical quantity monitoring device that monitors the power consumption of electrical equipment connected to a power outlet in a house or factory,
A table tap provided with a plurality of power outlets that can connect power plugs of a plurality of electrical devices to a power outlet in a house or factory,
A current transformer that individually detects a current flowing through each electrical device that is built in the table tap and is connected to the power outlet via the power outlet, and a voltage transformer that commonly detects a voltage;
Built in the table tap, monitors the detected current, voltage, and electricity such as power consumption calculated based on the detected current, voltage, and sends the monitoring information to a higher-level server device or general-purpose personal computer via a LAN connection. An electrical quantity monitoring device comprising a microcomputer capable of controlling transmission.   2. The electricity according to claim 1, wherein the microcomputer includes means for performing an abnormality monitoring process such as occurrence of an overload based on an amount of electricity such as a current, a voltage, and power consumption of each electric device. Quantity monitoring device.   2. The electric quantity monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein the microcomputer includes means for changing and monitoring the condition according to a monitoring condition transmitted from the server device or a general-purpose personal computer by Web.   The microcomputer includes means for transmitting an alarm mail in real time to a portable terminal or a management personal computer of a device manager when an abnormality such as an overload occurs in the electrical device. The electrical quantity monitoring device according to 1. An electrical quantity monitoring system that monitors the power consumption of electrical equipment connected to a power outlet in a house or factory,
The electrical quantity monitoring device provided on the installation side of the electrical equipment, and the electrical quantity monitoring device comprises a host system server device connected to the LAN and a general-purpose personal computer,
The electrical quantity monitoring device is:
A table tap provided with a plurality of power outlets that can connect power plugs of a plurality of electrical devices to a power outlet in a house or factory,
A current transformer that individually detects a current flowing through each electrical device that is built in the table tap and is connected to the power outlet via the power outlet, and a voltage transformer that commonly detects a voltage;
Built in the table tap, monitors the detected current, voltage, and electricity such as power consumption calculated based on the detected current, voltage, and sends the monitoring information to a higher-level server device or general-purpose personal computer via a LAN connection. It has a microcomputer that can control transmission,
The server apparatus or the general-purpose personal computer is provided with processing means for acquiring / monitoring the electric quantity such as current, voltage, power consumption, etc. of each electric device measured by the microcomputer by Web transmission. .   The server device or the general-purpose personal computer includes means for acquiring abnormal monitoring information such as occurrence of overload based on the amount of electricity such as current, voltage, power consumption, etc. of each electrical device by Web transmission. The electrical quantity monitoring system according to claim 5, wherein   6. The electricity quantity monitoring system according to claim 5, wherein the server device or the general-purpose personal computer includes means for changing the condition by transmitting the monitoring condition in the microcomputer by Web.   The said server apparatus or general purpose personal computer is provided with the means to receive an alarm mail in real time, when the said microcomputer detects abnormality generation | occurrence | production, such as an overload, to the said electric equipment. Electric quantity monitoring system.

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