FR3039892A1 - SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR NON-INTRUSIVE GAUGEING OF A TANK FROM A DRAIN OUTLET OF THE RESERVOIR - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a system for gauging the liquid contained in a tank (10), preferably the fuel contained in a motor vehicle tank (1), from a discharge outlet (101) of the tank, the system comprising a pressure sensor (20) measuring the pressure in the reservoir resulting from the presence of a liquid (100) in the reservoir, the system comprising a housing (2) having: - an inlet (21) capable of being coupled to the drain outlet of the tank; a cavity (22) at least partially including the pressure probe; an outlet (23) communicating with the inlet via the cavity, the outlet being liable to be plugged by a drain plug (102).

Description

System and method for non-intrusive gauging of a tank from a tank drain outlet.

The field of the invention is that of the design and manufacture of motor vehicle equipment.

More specifically, the invention relates to a system and a method of gauging the liquid contained in the fuel tank of a motor vehicle, which are non-intrusive and simple to implement.

In the field of the invention, some motor vehicle fleet managers wish to set up management solutions for the fuel station. These management solutions are more particularly applied to vehicles of the heavy truck type.

In concrete terms, road professionals who have signed commitment charters aimed at reducing CO2 emissions and / or who are keen to optimize the fuel item, need analyzes and information to enable them to carry out optimizations.

Indeed, we can find overconsumption problems due to abnormal behavior of the vehicle or driver of the vehicle, external flight (siphoning, tank drilling), or internal theft (diversion by drivers). These analyzes should thus make it possible to implement corrective actions to achieve a significant reduction in the fuel consumption of the vehicle fleet and also to reduce CO2 emissions.

Solutions are known that use a pressure sensor for detecting a pressure relative to the volume of fuel contained in the reservoir. This pressure reading is then converted into a volume of fuel through a report established during a preliminary calibration, performed after the installation of the pressure sensor. This calibration is more precisely carried out using a flow meter during filling of the tank and a record of pressure variations according to the volumes of fuel added. The pressure sensor used in this solution is in particular coupled to the reservoir via a piercing of the reservoir.

This solution allows to gauge the fuel contained in a tank but nevertheless has drawbacks. Indeed, it is particularly intrusive because of the drilling of the tank. In addition, it requires a calibration step that involves an extension of the intervention to equip the vehicle with the pressure sensor.

There are also known solutions for installing a pressure sensor instead of the tank drain plug.

This type of solution is thus less intrusive because it does not require performing an intervention irreversibly altering the reservoir (piercing). However, it can be noted that the emptying of the tank is thus complicated by the replacement of the drain plug by equipment, which is not so easily removable.

In addition, according to the same drawback presented by the type of solution described above, the calibration of the pressure probe is carried out using a flow meter during filling of the tank and a record of pressure variations. Thus, the installation of the pressure sensor on the tank must also be assisted by an intervention on the vehicle equipped to calibrate the pressure sensor. The invention particularly aims to overcome these disadvantages of the prior art.

More precisely, the purpose of the invention is to propose a solution for gauging the liquid contained in a reservoir that is non-intrusive. The invention also aims to provide such a solution that is simple to implement. The invention also aims to provide such a solution that allows an exhaustive analysis of the fuel station of a vehicle.

These objectives, as well as others that will appear later, are achieved thanks to the invention which relates to a system for gauging the liquid contained in a reservoir, preferably the fuel contained in a motor vehicle tank, from an outlet for emptying the tank, the system comprising a pressure sensor measuring the pressure in the tank resulting from the presence of a liquid in the tank, characterized in that the system comprises a housing having: - an inlet capable of be coupled to the tank drain outlet; a cavity at least partially including the pressure probe; an outlet communicating with the inlet via the cavity, the outlet being capable of being plugged by a drain plug.

A vehicle can thus be equipped with a housing of a gauging system according to the invention which is particularly non-intrusive. Indeed, the housing is simply screwed in place of the drain plug of the tank of a vehicle. It is understood that the system according to the invention does not require to modify structurally and irreversibly the tank. Thus, the housing can be disassembled without leaving traces on the tank. Also, it can be noted that the installation and removal of the housing are simple, fast and easy to implement.

In addition, the drain plug can be screwed onto the housing outlet. Thus, tank emptying operations can be carried out as conventionally as a draining operation is performed on a tank not equipped with the housing. Indeed, it is sufficient for a mechanic to unscrew the drain plug to proceed with said emptying. It may also be noted that this emptying of the reservoir, carried out in a conventional manner, makes it possible to extract impurities and / or deposits that would have accumulated in the cavity.

Also, as can be understood, the gauging system according to the invention can be implemented in any type of tank requiring a measurement of its capacity. Thus, the invention can find applications in various fields, for example in the field of agriculture, construction, fluvial, and even for generating sets.

According to a preferred characteristic, the gauging system comprises recording means coupled to the pressure sensor, recording the pressure variations.

Thanks to these recording means, the housing has a particularly interesting autonomy to make timely records of events that he recorded and / or that would not have been transmitted for analysis.

Advantageously, the housing comprises an electronic card having the recording means.

According to a preferred solution, the gauging system comprises geolocation means coupled to the recording means.

The geolocation means participate in the completeness of the data that can be analyzed to thereby detect and identify causes of overconsumption and / or abnormal fuel losses.

Ideally, the geolocation means are a GPS navigation device. In this case, the geolocation means may integrate an accelerometer.

The GPS navigation device may in particular be of the type permanently installed in a motorized vehicle or nomadic type.

Advantageously, the housing comprises means of communication with the GPS navigation device. These communication means may be of the wired type or the wireless type. For example, these communication means may consist of an electronic module implementing a radio wave communication protocol (Bluetooth, RFID, Wi-Fi, etc.). The accelerometer makes it possible in particular to enrich the data collected and to refine the analysis allowed by the system according to the invention.

According to a preferred embodiment, the gauging system comprises processing means coupled to the recording means and / or the geolocation means, the processing means being parameterized by at least one conversion algorithm designed to calculate a volume of liquid. present in the tank from a measured pressure, and the processing means include at least a 3D representation of the tank for calibrating the conversion algorithm.

Through these processing means, the calibration of the system does not require immobilization of the vehicle after it has been equipped with the housing unlike the prior art. Indeed, the calibration of the system according to the invention consists in establishing a conversion algorithm from a three-dimensional digitized reservoir model. Thus, the system does not need to be calibrated physically and the vehicle equipped with the housing can be used normally when it has been equipped with the housing.

In addition, if an entire fleet of vehicles is equipped with gauging system housings according to the invention, a significant time saving in implementation is achieved due to the lack of physical calibration to be performed on each tank of the vehicles. equipped.

Advantageously, the gauging system comprises a remote server presenting the processing means.

In this case, the system comprises means of wireless connection to the remote server. These means of wireless connection to the remote server may for example be presented by the housing or by the GPS navigation device, and be of the type according to a GSM-GPRS standard.

According to an advantageous solution, the gauging system comprises at least one display device coupled to the processing means.

The display devices may in particular be a smartphone, an electronic tablet or a computer. Alerts can thus be programmed to warn a user of the gauging system of the occurrence of particular events, desirable (lower average consumption, lower CO2 emissions, etc.) or undesirable events (abnormal fuel loss, overconsumption, ...).

According to a particular embodiment, the gauging system comprises a housing offset pipe, the offset pipe having at one end a connector having: - a non-remote inlet capable of being coupled to the discharge outlet of the tank; - A non-remote output may be blocked by a drain plug, and the offset pipe has at a second end a remote output may be coupled with the housing inlet.

The housing can thus be deported so as to simplify its integration on a particular tank. For example, if the case is too exposed if it is simply coupled to the tank drain outlet due to a lack of height between the tank and the road, the offset pipe then makes it possible to secure the installation of the housing . It may be noted that this offset pipe also has an outlet, which is not remote, may be blocked by the original drain plug of the tank. The subject of the invention is also a method for gauging the liquid contained in a tank implementing the gauging system described above, characterized in that it comprises: a step of recording the pressure by means of the means registration; a step of processing the recorded pressure, via the processing means, to calculate the volume of liquid present in the reservoir via the conversion algorithm; a preliminary step of calibrating the conversion algorithm from a 3D representation of the reservoir.

By means of this gauging method implementing the previously described system, a recorded pressure can be processed by means of an algorithm calibrated numerically from a 3D representation of the reservoir. Thus, the calculation of the volume in the tank is not dependent on a calibration which required a physical intervention, constraining, on the tank equipped with the housing of the system according to the invention.

Preferentially, the preliminary calibration step consists of: discretizing the 3D representation of the reservoir into a plurality of cells; measuring the evolution of a pressure during a simulated filling of the reservoir by each cell; determining the algorithm for converting a measured pressure into a volume of liquid contained in the reservoir.

The discretization of the 3D representation of the reservoir corresponds in particular to a voxelisation of the reservoir making it possible to construct 3D pixels (voxels) simulating the volume of the reservoir.

This method makes it possible to improve the accuracy of the calibration with respect to what is permitted by the physical calibration methods used in the solutions proposed by the prior art. This method also makes it possible to generate significant savings compared to the methods of the prior art in which calibration is performed at the installation site of the pressure probe. Other features and advantages of the invention will appear more clearly on reading the following description of various preferred embodiments of the invention, given by way of illustrative and non-limiting examples, and the appended drawings among which: Figure 1 is a schematic representation of the gauging system according to the invention; FIG. 2 is a schematic representation of a tank equipped with a housing of the gauging system according to the invention; FIG. 3 is a partial schematic representation of a tank equipped with a remote housing of the gauging system according to the invention; FIGS. 4 and 5 are diagrammatic representations of an exploded view and a perspective view of a housing of the gauging system according to the invention; FIG. 6 is a representation of the gauging method according to the invention.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the gauging system according to the invention makes it possible to gauge the quantity of liquid 100, and more specifically fuel, contained in the tank 10 of motorized vehicles 1, and more particularly in tanks of weights heavy.

According to the principle of the invention, a housing 2 comprising a pressure sensor 20 is coupled to a drain outlet 101 of the tank 10. This pressure sensor makes it possible to measure the pressure resulting from the volume of liquid present in the tank. A drain plug 102, able to plug the drain outlet 101, is coupled to the housing 2.

To analyze the circumstances of the variations of this pressure, the gauging system according to the invention comprises: recording means 240 recording in particular pressure variations; - Geolocation means 3 coupled to the recording means; means 40 for processing collected information; at least one display device 5 coupled to the processing means.

According to the present embodiment, the geolocation means 3 are in particular constituted by a GPS navigation device comprising an accelerometer 30 (for example a GPS navigation device located in a driving cab of the vehicle).

As for him, the housing 2 incorporates more precisely an electronic card 24 presenting the recording means 240, communication means 241 with the GPS navigation device and connection means 242 with the processing means 40 which are located on a remote server 4. This electronic card may include a backup power supply battery so as to ensure the operation of the housing in the event of a power failure of a main power supply of the housing and the electronic card. Thus, in this case, the box can continue to record data and ensure their transmission to the processing means.

The housing can also incorporate a temperature probe, an inclinometer, and / or a gyroscope. These components make it possible in particular to enrich the data collected and to improve the accuracy of the measurement of the fuel contained in the tank. Indeed, the temperature sensor makes it possible to take into account the difference in fuel density with respect to the temperature, the rininometer makes it possible to capture an angular position along one, two or three axes, and the gyroscope makes it possible to measure the inertia of the accelerations and braking.

Finally, the case can still incorporate a siren. This siren makes it possible to send an audible signal when detecting an "external" flight of the fuel contained in the tank equipped with the case according to the invention.

This remote server 4 thus allows the remote processing of the data collected by the system according to the invention. According to the present embodiment, the remote server also makes it possible to carry out a calibration. Indeed, the processing means 40 include at least a 3D representation 42 of the reservoir 10 which makes it possible to calibrate a conversion algorithm 41. The conversion algorithm then parameterizes the processing means so that the latter can calculate volumes of liquid. present in the tank from pressures measured by the pressure sensor.

As can be seen in Figure 2, according to one embodiment of the invention, the housing 2 can be directly installed on a drain outlet 101 of the tank 10. The housing 2 and the pressure sensor 20 are then located directly below the tank.

According to another embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3, the housing 2 can be offset by means of an offset pipe 25. The offset pipe 25 comprises at a first end a coupling intended to be coupled to the outlet of draining 101 of the tank 10. The connection thus has on this first end a non-remote entry 250 capable of being coupled to the emptying outlet of the tank and a non-remote outlet 251 on which is fixed a drain plug 102. Has a second end of the offset pipe 25, the latter has a remote output 252 on which is coupled the inlet 21 of the housing 2 and a second remote outlet 253 emptying. The housing is closed by a first plug 103 and the second remote output is closed by a second remote plug 104.

It can be seen that the housing is oriented upwards in the same horizontal plane as a lower part of the tank. It is thus understood that the offset pipe allows to position the housing in a potentially more secure location (in the case where the tank is close to the ground, the housing has less risk of tearing).

As illustrated by FIGS. 4 and 5, the housing 2 has, according to the principle of the invention: an inlet 21; a cavity 22; - an exit 23.

The outlet 23 communicates with the inlet 21 (intended to be coupled to the discharge outlet of a tank) via the cavity 22. This cavity includes the pressure probe 20 which then makes it possible to measure the pressure at the outlet. inside the cavity. Thus, since the drain outlet is expected to be at the lowest point of a tank, the pressure sensor can measure a pressure resulting from the entire volume of liquid filling the tank.

More specifically, the housing 2 comprises: a body 200 having: the cavity 22; the inlet 21 on which is fixed an adapter 210 intended to establish a connection between the inlet and the discharge outlet of a tank, the adapter having seals 211 and being fixed to the housing by the intermediate of an orientation nut 212; - A borehole 201 communicating with the cavity 22, the pressure sensor 20 being intended to be coupled to the borehole; a compartment 243 reserved for the electronic card 24; a connecting hole 244 communicating with the compartment 243, a connecting element 245 being coupled to this connection hole, the connecting element making it possible, for example, to establish a wire connection with the electronic card (for example for a power supply, for a wired link with a GPS navigation device, etc.); - A cover 26 closing the body 200 and having the outlet 23, the cover being coupled to the body by means of screws 261 and a seal of the cover 260.

The gauging method according to the invention, illustrated in FIG. 6, comprises the following steps: - 60: preliminary calibration of the conversion algorithm from a 3D representation of the reservoir, the preliminary calibration step comprising the sub-stages next steps: 600: discretization of the 3D representation of the reservoir into a plurality of cells; - 601: measurement of the evolution of a pressure during a simulated filling of the reservoir by each cell; 602: determination of the algorithm for converting a measured pressure into a volume of liquid contained in the reservoir; recording of the pressure via the recording means; - 62: treatment of the recorded pressure, through the processing means, to calculate the volume of liquid in the reservoir through the conversion algorithm; - 63: analysis of the data collected by the gauging system (volume of liquid in the tank, geolocation of measurements, recorded accelerations, measurement times, etc.).

More precisely and according to another formulation, the preliminary calibration of the conversion algorithm is carried out as follows: - recovery of the 3D model of the manufacturer tank (conversion of the original format (STIL, etc.) to the OBJ format: - voxelisation of the reservoir (discretization: an on-line software makes it possible to transform an OBJ model into a "voxelized" object .. 3D pixels (voxels) are built in place of the segments and the faces of the object An XML version of the model is produced where each voxel has its own coordinate) - transformation of the XML object into flat coordinates (A converter-type JAVA program transforms XML data into flat data, understandable by the NetLogo multi-agent software); model in a NetLogo 3D type of processing software (The "agents" model is built using voxel coordinates) - simulation of voxel filling and evolution ution of the pressure measured from the coordinates corresponding to the location of the drain outlet; - generation of the conversion algorithm (for example by using correspondence tables between measured pressures and volumes of liquid).

According to the embodiment of the system illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the mounting of the housing and the implementation of the system can take place in the manner described hereinafter.

First, the tank 10 of the motor vehicle 1 is drained by unscrewing the drain plug 102 of the drain outlet 101.

The housing 2 is then equipped with an adapter 210 adapted to the drain outlet (provided depending on the model and the brand of the tank).

Then, the housing 2 is screwed in place of the drain plug on the drain outlet. As for him, the drain plug 102 is screwed on the outlet 23 of the casing 2 (the drain function is thus preserved, and the maintenance as well as the extraction of the impurities and / or deposit which will be deposited over time in the housing 2 are thus realized at the same time as the emptying of the tank).

Subsequently, the housing is synchronized, by sending a signal, with the GPS navigation device (geolocation means 3) located in a driving cab of the vehicle.

Finally, the installation is completed by means of a synchronization between the housing and / or the GPS navigation device with the remote server. The remote server will then use the characteristics of the reservoir (3D representation of the reservoir) to calibrate / calibrate remotely a conversion algorithm for calculating the capacity of the reservoir from the collected data (and in particular from the pressure detected by the probe pressure).

According to the example detailed above, the motorized vehicle has only one tank. In another example in which a vehicle comprises several tanks, housings can then be coupled to each of these tanks. Preferably, these boxes are then connected together, for example by a wire connection via the connecting elements of each housing. Also, only a first housing then comprises an electronic card, the other housings each having a pressure sensor whose data are collected by the electronic card of the first housing.

When using the system, the processing of the collected data is done continuously (once the system has been synchronized) and information (analyzed data) can be transmitted to a display device of the driver or operator in the form SMS, calls, emails, PUSH notifications or a complete interface monitoring the fuel station of the truck equipped with the box.

It is thus understood that an entire fleet of motorized vehicles can be quickly equipped with the gauging system according to the invention allowing an operator to effectively track the fuel station of the entire vehicle fleet and thus allow substantial savings and a reduction CO2 emissions.

Thus, this operator can for example have exhaustive information (average consumption, consumption variations over periods of time, differences in consumption between several vehicles for the same journey, etc.) in various forms (graphics, pictograms, figures). keys, ...) that will enable him to make improvements to his fleet of motorized vehicles.

Claims (10)

1. System for gauging the liquid contained in a tank (10), preferably the fuel contained in a motor vehicle tank (1), from a discharge outlet (101) of the tank, the system comprising a pressure probe (20) measuring the pressure in the reservoir resulting from the presence of a liquid (100) in the reservoir, characterized in that the system comprises a housing (2) having: - an inlet (21) capable of being coupled to the drain outlet of the tank; a cavity (22) at least partially including the pressure probe; an outlet (23) communicating with the inlet via the cavity, the outlet being liable to be plugged by a drain plug (102). 2. Gauging system according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises recording means (240) coupled to the pressure sensor (20), recording the pressure variations. 3. Gauging system according to claim 2, characterized in that the housing (2) comprises an electronic card (24) having the recording means (240). 4. Gauging system according to any one of claims 2 or 3, characterized in that it comprises geolocation means (3) coupled to the recording means (240). 5. gauging system according to claim 4, characterized in that it comprises processing means (40) coupled to the recording means (240) and / or the geolocation means (3), the processing means being parameterized by at least one conversion algorithm (41) designed to calculate a volume of liquid (100) present in the reservoir (10) from a measured pressure, and in that the processing means include at least one 3D representation ( 42) of the reservoir for calibrating the conversion algorithm. 6. Gauging system according to claim 5, characterized in that it comprises a remote server (4) having the processing means (40). 7. gauging system according to any one of claims 5 or 6, characterized in that it comprises at least one display device (5) coupled to the processing means (40). 8. gauging system according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises an offset pipe (25) of the housing (2), the offset pipe having at one end a connector having: - an inlet non-remote (250) capable of being coupled to the emptying outlet (101) of the tank (10); a non-remote outlet (251) capable of being plugged by a drain plug (102), and in that the offset pipe has at a second end a remote outlet (252) capable of being coupled with the inlet (21) of the housing. 9. A method of gauging the liquid contained in a tank implementing the gauging system according to any one of claims 5 to 8, characterized in that it comprises: - a step of recording (61) the pressure by via the recording means (240); a step of treating (62) the recorded pressure, via the processing means (40), to calculate the volume of liquid (100) present in the reservoir (10) via the algorithm of conversion (41); a preliminary calibration step (60) of the conversion algorithm (41) from a 3D representation (42) of the reservoir. 10. Gauging method according to claim 9, characterized in that the preliminary calibration step comprises: - discretizing (600) the 3D representation (42) of the reservoir (10) into a plurality of cells; measuring (601) the evolution of a pressure during a simulated filling of the reservoir by each cell; determining (602) the conversion algorithm (41) of a measured pressure into a volume of liquid (100) contained in the reservoir (10).