JPH09226899A - System for coordinating stock at gas station - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent oil from overflowing by controlling a stock sensor, a solenoid valve and a pump at the time of transferring the oil. SOLUTION: Solenoid valves 11, 12 for opening/closing oil feed are connected to a base end of feed pipes 9, 10, and a feed pump to be driven by a motor 13 is provided between solenoid valves 7, 8 for opening/closing suction and the solenoid valves 11, 12. Oil level sensors 1a, 2a for sensing a stock quantity are provided respectively on underground tanks 1, 2, and a digital indicator 15 for receiving sensing signals from the sensors and a solenoid valve controller 16 for receiving an output signal from the indicator 15 are provided. When a difference between the underground tanks 1, 2 is at a specified value or more, the solenoid valve controller 16 is used to issue an instruction for opening the solenoid valve 8 for opening/closing suction and the solenoid valve 11 for opening/closing oil feed, and the oil feed pump 14 is activated at the same time. Thus oil in the underground tank 2 is fed into the underground tank 1, thereby bringing stock quantities in the underground tanks 1, 2 to approximately balanced values.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a system for adjusting the inventory quantity of each tank in a gas station equipped with a plurality of tanks for storing the same type of fuel.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a gas station having a plurality of tanks for storing the same type of fuel, the stock quantity of each tank varies from tank to tank due to variations in the frequency of use and the amount of refueling. If you continue to refuel, the stock will run out while the other tanks have sufficient stock, and you will have to move the vehicle to be refueled to another tank. It causes a decrease in work efficiency of the gas station.

As a countermeasure for this, an oil level gauge for observing the stock amount is arranged in each tank, and a pipeline for transferring the stock oil from each tank to another tank is provided via a switching valve. There is a gas station that is piped and operates a switching valve in response to an inventory level detection signal from an oil level gauge to transfer inventory fuel between tanks.

For example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 7-37280,
Japanese Patent Publication No. 7-80519 and Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 7-80520 disclose improved piping for that purpose.

[0005]

However, if the oil level gauge, which emits a signal for the transfer of fuel between the respective tanks, fails for some reason, the remaining amount between the tanks will be reduced. The transfer is carried out regardless of the balance, and finally, in one tank, not only the gasoline is wasted due to the fuel overflowing from the oil inlet and the vent, but also various risks such as fire and explosion occur.

The problem to be solved by the present invention is as follows.
An object of the present invention is to obtain an effective means for preventing overflow when the transfer of fuel between a plurality of tanks storing the same type of fuel becomes uncontrollable.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to an inventory amount detecting device for detecting an inventory amount in each tank and issuing the detected inventory amount as a signal, and a signal received from the inventory amount detecting means. Forcibly transfer inventory oil from one tank to another tank through a pipe provided with a solenoid valve for transferring oil from one tank to another tank and the pipe in response to a signal from the inventory amount detecting means. In a gas station consisting of a plurality of tanks for storing the same type of oil having a pump, the inventory amount detection device, the solenoid valve and the pump are prevented from overflowing from a flow passage system connected to the tank when the oil is transferred. It is characterized by being controlled by the control means configured to.

[0008]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION When transferring oil between tanks, the oil can be transferred to a target tank by operating a pump and a solenoid valve. It is possible to constantly detect and control the control means to transfer the oil between the tanks.

Further, the control means controls the inventory detecting device, the electromagnetic valve and the pump so as to prevent the overflow, so that the occurrence of the overflow can be eliminated from the start to the end of the oil transfer. For example, as such control, it is possible to detect the amount of oil in the tank, detect the transfer amount, and stop the pump when the oil to the transfer destination does not exceed the tank capacity.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is an outline of the equipment of a gas station equipped with an overflow prevention device of the present invention.

In the figure, two for storing similar oils
Book underground tanks 1 and 2 are buried, and rising pipes 3 and 4 are connected to these underground tanks 1 and 2, and adapters 3a and 4a is attached. Rise pipe 3,4
The suction pipes 5 and 6 are inserted into the
Plumb until it sticks out to 2.

On the ground side, suction opening / closing solenoid valves 7 and 8 connected to the suction pipes 5 and 6 are connected, while on the other hand, the adapters 3a and 4a are connected to the inside of the rising pipes 3 and 4, respectively.
Is inserted. Then, oil supply opening / closing solenoid valves 11 and 12 are connected to the base ends of these oil supply pipes 9 and 10, and a motor is provided between the suction opening / closing solenoid valves 7 and 8 and the oil supply opening / closing solenoid valves 11 and 12. An oil supply pump 14 driven by 13 is provided.

Each of the underground tanks 1 and 2 is equipped with oil level sensors 1a and 2a for detecting the stock level. As a control system, a digital indicator 15 that receives detection signals from the oil level sensors 1a and 2a and an electromagnetic valve control device 16 to which an output signal from the digital indicator 15 is input are provided.

In such a tank facility, for example, when the difference between underground tanks exceeds a certain value, the solenoid valve control device 16 issues a command to open the suction opening / closing solenoid valve 8 and the lubrication opening / closing solenoid valve 11. At the same time, refueling pump 1
Activate 4 As a result, the oil in the underground tank 2 is supplied to the adapter 3a via the suction pipe 6, and the rising pipe 3
When the oil is replenished through the underground tank 1 through the tank, and the stock amount in the underground tanks 1 and 2 becomes approximately the equilibrium value, the operation of the refueling pump 14 is stopped and at the same time the suction opening / closing solenoid valve 8 and the lubricating opening / closing valve are opened. The solenoid valve 11 is closed.

When oil is exchanged between the underground tank 1 and the underground tank 1 as described above, for example, the oil level sensor 1a fails, and the inventory quantity in the underground tank 1 remains undetectable. If the 1a and 2a malfunction at the same time, an overflow may occur on the side of the underground tank to be replenished.

Therefore, the present invention is intended to prevent the occurrence of such an overflow by executing the control flow as shown in FIG. 2. In this control flow, the automatic mode and the manual mode are used. There are two possibilities.

In the manual mode, when the refueling pump 14 is manually started, the refueling pump 14 is forcibly stopped under the condition that the refueling pump 14 is operated again without being manually stopped within a certain fixed time. The control is as follows. That is, the fuel pump 14 is manually operated.
And each of the solenoid valves are operated such that one of them is a supply side and the other is a receiving side to transfer oil between the underground tanks 1 and 2, and then manually operated again to refuel pump 14
The oil transfer is continued unless the solenoid valve is stopped and each solenoid valve is closed. In such a transfer, for example, the amount of refueling to the receiving side underground tank needs to be excessive and overflow must occur, so after the start of the manual operation, the refueling pump 14 is stopped and the solenoid valve is stopped at a certain time. The control for automatically closing the valve prevents the overflow at the time of oil transfer.

In the automatic mode, the underground tanks 1 and 2 are
The control is executed based on the amount of oil inside, the change in the amount of oil at the time of transferring the oil from one tank to the other tank, and the count of the operating time of the oil supply pump 14.

That is, in the control based on the amount of oil in the underground tanks 1 and 2, when the oil level sensors 1a and 2a detect that the respective oil levels of the underground tanks 1 and 2 are abnormal values, The operation of the oil supply pump 14 is stopped to immediately stop the oil transfer. In this case, the setting of the oil level as an abnormal value can be made, for example, when it exceeds the permissible storage amount of the underground tanks 1 and 2 or when it is almost empty, and a situation that cannot occur in normal operation. Should be equivalent to.

In the case of using the respective oil amounts of the underground tanks 1 and 2 as a reference, for example, when the oil is transferred from the underground tank 1 to the underground tank 2, the oil amount value is abnormal on the underground tank 1 side. Whether the oil level is too low or the amount of oil on the side of the underground tank 2 is excessively large is detected by the oil level sensors 1a and 1b, and when these abnormalities are detected first, the refueling pump 14 is stopped and at the same time each solenoid valve is stopped. Close the valve. With this operation, after the oil transfer is started, only the oil transfer between the underground tanks 1 and 2 is performed within a range where the overflow does not occur, so that the overflow can be reliably prevented.

Further, in the operation in the automatic mode, when the oil supply pump 14 is operated and the associated solenoid valve is opened to transfer the oil between the underground tanks 1 and 2, the oil supply pump 14 is constantly operated after the operation. When the oil level sensors 1a and 1b detect that there is no change in the oil level of the underground tanks 1 and 2 over time, it is determined that the system is abnormal and the refueling pump 14 is immediately stopped and the operation is performed simultaneously. Close each solenoid valve involved.

For example, from underground tank 1 to underground tank 2
When the oil is transferred to the oil tank, the oil level does not decrease in the underground tank 1 and the oil level increases in the underground tank 2 even though the solenoid valve is opened to operate the oil supply pump 14. When is not detected, the refueling pump 14 is stopped and the solenoid valve is closed at the same time. That is, if there is no change in the oil level even when the fuel pump 14 or the like is operated, abnormalities in the piping between the underground tanks 1 and 2 and electromagnetic valves are predicted. You can

Further, after a certain period of time elapses after the operation of the oil supply pump 14 is started, the operation of the oil supply pump 14 is temporarily stopped because it is completely irrelevant to the abnormality of other systems. Then, after this stop, the oil supply pump 14 is restarted to continue the oil transfer, and also in the process of this continuation, the oil supply pump 14 is temporarily stopped in the same manner if a certain predetermined time has elapsed. .

By repeating the temporary stop of the oil supply pump 14 as described above, the load of the motor 13 for driving the oil supply pump 14 is also reduced and the life thereof is improved.

In each of the above-mentioned controls, for example, when the change in the oil level in the underground tanks 1 and 2 is not detected despite the operation of the refueling pump 14, it is judged to be abnormal. It is, of course, possible to give a warning by issuing a warning. For example, if a system that obtains a buzzer sound or a warning lamp lights up or blinks when an abnormality is detected, the occurrence of the abnormality can be dealt with immediately.

In the example of FIG. 3, the oiling pipes 9 and 10 are communicatively connected by the overflow pipe 17 in the equipment in which the same control as the above example is executed. The overflow pipe 17 is located near the ground level and connects the oiling pipes 9 and 10.

If such an overflow pipe 17 is provided, for example, when transferring oil from the underground tank 1 to the underground tank 2, even if the amount of oil transferred to the underground tank 2 becomes excessive, The ascending oil flows into the oil supply pipe 9 side of the underground tank 1 side from the overflow pipe 17. Therefore, the excess oil is collected again toward the underground tank 1 to prevent the oil from overflowing. When the refueling pump 14 continues to operate, it is possible to circulate between the underground tanks 1 and 2 via the overflow pipe 17 as described above, and an abnormality in the electric system may occur. Also, it is possible to prevent overflow during oil transfer without requiring any special operation.

FIG. 4 shows an example in which an overflow pipe 20 is connected between the ventilation pipes 18 and 19 which are respectively connected to the underground tanks 1 and 2 and are raised to the ground side. Even in this case, for example, when oil is transferred from the underground tank 1 to the underground tank 2, even if the oil to the underground tank 2 side becomes excessive, if each solenoid valve is closed, the oil rising in the ventilation pipe 19 Flows from the overflow pipe 20 to the ventilation pipe 18 side and is collected in the underground tank 1 to prevent the occurrence of overflow on the underground tank 2 side.

[0029]

According to the present invention, in addition to the operation of transferring oil between tanks, an overflow which is expected to occur during the transfer is detected as inventory level detecting means such as an oil level sensor, a pump and a solenoid valve. Since it is prevented by the control means for controlling each of the above, there is no risk of overflow even in the equipment which is not only for inventory management of oil but also for automatic transfer operation, and can be used safely.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of a gas station equipped with an inventory adjustment system of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a flow of control for preventing overflow.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing an example in which oil injection pipes of two tanks are connected by an overflow pipe.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing an example in which vent pipes of two tanks are connected by an overflow pipe.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1: underground tank 1a: oil level sensor 2: underground tank 2a: oil level sensor 3: rising pipe 4: rising pipe 5: suction pipe 6: suction pipe 7: suction opening / closing solenoid valve 8: suction opening / closing solenoid valve 9: Oil supply pipe 10: Oil supply pipe 11: Oil supply opening / closing solenoid valve 12: Oil supply opening / closing solenoid valve 13: Motor 14: Oil supply pump 15: Digital indicator 16: Solenoid valve control device 17: Overflow pipe 18: Vent pipe 19: Vent pipe 20: Overflow pipe

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An inventory amount detecting device for detecting an inventory amount in each tank and issuing the detected inventory amount as a signal, and an oil from one tank to another tank upon receiving a signal from the inventory amount detecting means. Storing the same kind of oil having a pipe provided with an electromagnetic valve for transferring the oil and a pump for receiving the signal from the inventory amount detecting means and forcibly transferring the stock oil from the one tank to another tank through the pipe In a gas station consisting of a plurality of tanks, the inventory amount detection device, the solenoid valve, and the pump are controlled by a control unit configured to prevent overflow from a flow passage system connected to the tank when the oil is transferred. Inventory control system at a gas station.