JPH1078457A - Pointer checking device of meter - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To input the value of a pointer into a portable terminal device without error and to avoid troublesome pointer checking work at the same time. SOLUTION: The pointer checking device of a meter has a meter 1 such as a power meter, a gas meter or the like and a portable terminal device 2. On the side of the portable terminal device 2, a light source 3, which emits optical energy toward the meter 1x is provided. On the side of the meter 1, a solar battery 4, which receives the optical energy emitted from the light source 3 and generates the electric power, is provided. A transmitter 5 is connected to the solar battery 4. The transmitter 5 receives the supply of the power from the solar battery 4 and transmits the intrinsic information of the meter 1 (instrument number or customer number and the like) and the pointer-value information. Furthermore, on the side of the portable terminal device 2, a receiver 6, which receives the intrinsic information and the pointer-value information transmitted from the transmitter 5 and inputs the information into the portable terminal device 2, is provided.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a meter reading device for reading a pointer value of a meter such as a power meter and a gas meter.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, when an electric power company or a gas company, etc. reads meter values of electric power meters, gas meters, etc. at homes, a meter reader directly reads the meter reading values and stores the meter-specific values in a portable terminal. A method of manually inputting information (instrument number or customer number, etc.) and meter reading value information has been adopted.

[0003]

However, according to the conventional method, there is a possibility that an error in reading the pointer value and an error in manual input by the meter reader occur. Also, depending on where the meter is installed, a stepladder or a flashlight may be required, obstacles may need to be removed, or it may be necessary to stretch out or bend down, forcing the meter reading operation to be troublesome. there were.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a meter reading device which can input a pointer value to a portable terminal without error and does not involve a troublesome reading operation.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a meter reading device including a meter and a portable terminal, and an energy generating source for emitting energy toward the meter is provided on the portable terminal. On the meter side, an induction type power supply that generates power by receiving energy emitted from an energy generation source and a transmitter that receives power supply from the induction type power supply and transmits meter-specific information and pointer value information are provided. Further, a receiver for receiving the unique information and the guideline value information transmitted from the transmitter is provided on the portable terminal side.

A meter reading device according to a second aspect of the present invention is the meter reading device according to the first aspect, wherein the energy generating source is a light source, and the induced power source is a solar cell.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the meter reading apparatus of the first aspect, the energy generation source is a transmitter, and the induction type power supply is a resonance type power supply.

[0008] The meter reading device of the fourth aspect is characterized in that:
3. In any one of the meter reading devices of 3, the meter is a power meter.

The meter reading device according to claim 5 is characterized in that:
3. In any one of the meter reading devices, the meter is a gas meter.

[0010]

According to the meter reading device of the first aspect, when a meter reader operates an energy generation source on the portable terminal side to emit energy toward the meter, the induced power supply on the meter side generates the energy. Then, electric power is generated, and the transmitter transmits meter-specific information and pointer value information. These pieces of information are received by the receiver of the portable terminal, and are automatically input to the portable terminal. Therefore, according to the meter reading device of the first aspect, it is not necessary to read and manually input the pointer value by the meter reader, so that the pointer value can be input to the portable terminal without error, and the pointer value can be read by remote operation. Since the reading can be performed, the meter reading operation becomes extremely simple.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a meter reading device according to a first embodiment.

In FIG. 1, the meter reading device includes a meter 1 such as a power meter or a gas meter and a portable terminal 2. An energy generation source 3 that emits energy toward the meter 1 is provided on the portable terminal 2 side. The energy source 3 is a light source. On the meter 1 side, there is provided an induction type power supply 4 which receives light energy emitted from the light source 3 and generates electric power. Inductive power supply 4
Is a solar cell. The transmitter 5 is connected to the solar cell 4. The transmitter 5 receives the supply of power from the solar cell 4 and transmits unique information of the meter 1 (instrument number or customer number, etc.) and pointer value information. Here, the pointer value information is input to the transmitter 5 from a thumbwheel switch, that is, a switch (not shown) having a contact capable of extracting a display position of each character representing the pointer value as a 4-bit digital signal. You. Note that, instead of the thumbwheel switch, the pointer value information may be such that the numerical value indicated by the existing character wheel of the meter 1 is read by the OCR and input to the transmitter 5. Further, the portable terminal 2 is provided with a receiver 6 for receiving the unique information and the pointer value information transmitted from the transmitter 5.

Next, the operation of the meter reading device will be described.

In reading the meter, the meter reader operates the light source 3 on the portable terminal 2 to emit light energy toward the meter 1. The solar cell 4 of the meter 1 receives this light energy and generates electric power, and the transmitter 5 transmits the unique information of the meter 1 and the pointer value information. These pieces of information are received by the receiver 6 of the portable terminal 2 and are automatically input to the portable terminal 2.

As described above, according to the meter reading device of the first embodiment, it is not necessary for the meter reader to read and manually input the pointer value, so that the pointer value can be input to the portable terminal 2 without error. In addition, since the pointer value can be read by remote control, the meter reading operation becomes extremely simple.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a meter reading device according to a second embodiment.

In FIG. 2, the meter reading device includes a meter 1 such as a power meter or a gas meter and a portable terminal 2. An energy generation source 3 that emits energy toward the meter 1 is provided on the portable terminal 2 side. The energy source 3 is a transmitter. On the meter 1 side, there is provided an induction type power supply 4 which receives the electromagnetic energy emitted from the transmitter 3 and generates electric power. The induction type power supply 4 is a resonance type power supply. A transmitter 5 is connected to the resonance type power supply 4. The transmitter 5 receives the supply of power from the resonance type power supply 4 and transmits unique information of the meter 1 (instrument number or customer number, etc.) and guideline value information. Here, the pointer value information is a thumbwheel switch, that is, a switch (not shown) having a contact capable of extracting a display position of each character representing the pointer value as a 4-bit digital signal,
Is input to the transmitter 5. Note that, instead of the thumbwheel switch, the pointer value information may be such that the numerical value indicated by the existing character wheel of the meter 1 is read by the OCR and input to the transmitter 5. Further, the portable terminal 2 is provided with a receiver 6 for receiving the unique information and the pointer value information transmitted from the transmitter 5.

Next, the operation of the meter reading device will be described.

At the time of meter reading, the meter reader operates the transmitter 3 of the portable terminal 2 to emit electromagnetic energy toward the meter 1. The resonance type power supply 4 of the meter 1 receives this electromagnetic energy and generates electric power, and the transmitter 5 transmits the unique information of the meter 1 and the guide value information. These pieces of information are received by the receiver 6 of the portable terminal 2 and are automatically input to the portable terminal 2.

As described above, according to the meter reading device of the second embodiment, it is not necessary for the meter reader to read and manually input the pointer value, so that the pointer value can be input to the portable terminal 2 without error. In addition, since the pointer value can be read by remote control, the meter reading operation becomes extremely simple.

The present invention does not exclude the meter reading device of the water meter.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a meter reading device according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a meter reading device according to a second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 meter (power meter or gas meter, etc.) 2 portable terminal 3 energy source (light source or transmitter) 4 induction type power source (solar cell or resonance type power source) 5 transmitter 6 receiver

Claims (5)

[Claims] An energy source for emitting energy toward the meter is provided on the portable terminal side, and an energy source is emitted on the meter side from the energy source. An inductive power supply that generates power by receiving the supplied energy, and a transmitter that receives power supply from the inductive power supply and transmits unique information and guide value information of the meter, and further includes the portable terminal. A meter reading device, wherein a receiver for receiving the unique information and the guideline value information transmitted from the transmitter is provided on a device side. 2. The meter reading device according to claim 1, wherein the energy generating source is a light source, and the induced power source is a solar cell. 3. The energy source is a transmitter,
The meter reading device according to claim 1, wherein the induction-type power supply is a resonance-type power supply. 4. The meter reading device according to claim 1, wherein the meter is a power meter. 5. The meter reading device according to claim 1, wherein the meter is a gas meter.