GB2613167A

GB2613167A - A valve sensor for a subterranean water pipe valve operated by a key

Info

Publication number: GB2613167A
Application number: GB2116989.1A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Sinnett Joanna
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2021-11-25
Filing date: 2021-11-25
Publication date: 2023-05-31
Anticipated expiration: 2041-11-25
Also published as: GB202116989D0; GB2613167B

Abstract

A valve sensor 10 for a subterranean water pipe valve operated by a key. The sensor includes a body with a recess or aperture for receiving a key engaging protrusion of the valve. Within the body the sensor includes a power source 26 and a rotational movement sensor that generates rotational movement data which is transmitted by a transmitter 30. The sensor may be a gyro-sensor for detecting rotational movement. There may also be a vibration sensor for detecting movement of the valve sensor. The rotational movement sensor requires a greater amount of power to operate than the vibration sensor and the vibration sensor is always on but the rotational movement sensor only operates when the vibration sensor has detected movement. A later embodiment relates to a method of determining the open or closed status pf a subterranean water pipe valve using said valve sensor.

Description

A Valve Sensor for a Subterranean Water Pipe Valve Operated by a Key The present invention relates to a valve sensor for a subterranean water pipe valve operated by a key and to a method of operating such a valve and relates particularly, but not exclusively, to a sensor for use on a boundary valve used between two areas in a water distribution network.

Boundary valves are commonly used on water supply networks to separate, but allow water transfer between, different areas of a supply pipe network. For example, area A is supplied with water from reservoir A while area B is supplied from reservoir B. Because areas A and B are adjacent to one another additional pipes connect the two areas. On each of these connecting pipes is a boundary valve which is generally closed in order to separate the flow of water around the respective areas. However, there are circumstances where it is necessary to open the boundary valves including, for example, where the supply from one reservoir is temporarily not available and both area A and B must be supplied from the same reservoir. The boundary valves create discrete areas on the water distribution network for measuring and monitoring purposes called District Metered Areas (DMA). These DMA's allows the water company to know exactly what flow and pressure is going into the area and what is coming 25 out through the district meter for that DMA.

In order to prevent a breach from one area to another it is important that these valves are closed again once the reason for opening them has been resolved. A particular problem with these valves is that they are very infrequently used and as a result if one or more valves are accidentally left open they are likely to remain in this state for significant periods of time. Monitoring and logging of the valve status is particularly important. If a boundary valve is open, the measurements and -2 -monitoring will not be accurate through the meter as the DMA will no longer be discrete from its neighbours and will therefore become breached. Such a breached DMA results in inaccurate information through the district meter as it will now be measuring water from an additional DMA. Information such as leakage monitoring will be inaccurate and non-accounted for water (where the number of properties and the flow going into that DMA do not add up). Furthermore, leakage reporting will not be accurate so finding leakage will be harder.

Beyond DMA monitoring it is also important to know-the exact status of the boundary valves on the water network. This is particularly important when an event / incident happens where a large area will be without supply of water due to a burst main for example. Identifying which valves need to be opened or shut is carried out as quickly as possible to restore supply to customers. Sometimes these network changes do not work as valves are not in the correct position (open/closed) that operators think they are. Without knowing the status of the boundary valves, restoring supply then takes longer as technicians have 20 to investigate which valves are in the wrong position in order to restore supply. This has a huge impact on supply interruptions and guaranteed standard of supply for water companies, resulting in penalties and fines from regulatory authorities such as Ofwat.

Another important reason these valves need to be managed and monitored are due to the significant impact on the network they can have when opened, such as burst mains due to higher pressure one side than the other and water quality issues. For example, if different DMA's typically operate at very different pressures the opening of a boundary valve must be undertaken very carefully in order to ensure that the higher pressure water from one DMA does not cause a burst main in the adjacent lower pressure DMA. -3 -

Preferred embodiments of the present invention seek to overcome or alleviate the above described disadvantages of the prior art.

According to an aspect of the present invention there is provided a valve sensor for a subterranean water pipe valve operated by a key, the sensor comprising a body having a recess or aperture for engaging a key engaging protrusion on a subterranean water pipe valve, wherein said body contains and said sensor further comprises: at least one power source; at least one rotational movement sensor for detecting a rotational movement of the valve sensor and generating data relating to that rotational movement; and at least one transmitter for transmitting said data.

By providing a valve sensor of the type set out above, the advantage is provided that boundary valves on water distribution networks can be easily monitored and their status logged to ensure that the networks are operating correctly and not risking breaches between areas of the network. This therefore allows more accurate monitoring of water usage within the network and improve monitoring of leakage within a DMA. Furthermore, the sensors are able to monitor any movement and can therefore also identify any tampering action happening to the valve. For example, if a hatch to the valve is opened and the valve turned at a time that is not expected this will be detected by the sensor. Likewise, if the sensor is removed this movement will not be consistent with rotation of the valve and can be identified as anomalous and therefore requiring investigation.

The valve sensor may further comprise a vibration sensor 30 for detecting movement of the valve sensor wherein operation of said rotational movement sensor requires a first amount of power -4 -and operation of said vibration sensor requires a second amount of power which is less than said first amount of power.

By having a low-power vibration sensor as well as a higher power consumption rotational movement sensor (such as a gyro 5 sensor) the advantage is provided that the battery life of the sensor is significantly increased. The low-power vibration sensor operating all of the time consumes significantly less power than the gyro sensor. The nature of boundary valves is that they are very infrequently used and inspected and therefore it is important that the valve sensor is able to operate in its subterranean setting for long periods of time without the need for maintenance such as being recharged.

In a preferred embodiment the body is substantially annular and in use extends around said key engaging protrusion.

The apparatus may further comprise a key engaging extension.

Including a key engaging extension provides the advantage that the sensor can be used in more situations. Not all of the valves have sufficient collar around the key engaging protrusion to receive the casing of the sensor. Because the boundary valves are typically located a reasonable distance below ground level under a cover, there is generally sufficient space for an extension to be added to the valve to accommodate the sensor.

In a preferred embodiment the key engaging extension 25 includes said recess and a duplicate key engaging portion.

In another preferred embodiment the rotational movement sensors comprises a gyro-sensor.

According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of determining the open or closed status 30 of a subterranean water pipe valve operated by a key, comprising the steps: -s -attaching a sensor according to any of claims 2 to 6 to a key engaging protrusion on a subterranean water pipe valve; changing the valve from one of an open or closed status to the other of an open or closed status; recording data received from the valve sensor; calibrating the valve sensor based on the received data; periodically monitoring for vibration; in the event of the vibration monitoring step detecting a movement of the valve sensor, activating the rotational movement 10 sensor and checking for rotational movement, in the event of the rotational movement sensing step detecting rotational movement, sending data relating to the rotational movement; and comparing the data relating to the rotational movement to the 15 calibrated data to determine the valve status.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, and not in any limitative sense with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:-Figures 1 and 2 are isometric views of a sensor apparatus of the 20 present invention; Figure 3 is a sectional view of the apparatus of figure 1; Figure 4 is a schematic representation of the apparatus of figure 1; Figure 5 is a photograph of the apparatus of figure 1 in use; 25 and Figure 6 is a sequence diagram of the operation of the apparatus of figure 1.

Referring initially to figures 1 to 4, a valve sensor 10 is provided for use on a subterranean water pipe valve which is 30 operated by using a key. The key used to control this type of -6 -valve is not illustrated in the figures but is familiar to persons skilled in the art and is typically formed from a rod of at least lm length which has a T shaped bar at the top and a recess to engage a protrusion of the valve which is connected 5 to a spindle which when rotated opens and closes the valve. The sensor 10 has a body in the form of a casing 12 which contains the electronic components of the sensor and is waterproof to prevent the components from becoming damaged by water ingress. The casing 12 is formed in two halves, indicated at 14 and 16, 10 and a seal is provided at the junction 18 therebetween. The case and seal provides a waterproof rating to at least IP68.

Other externally visible components are an illuminated button 20 with an externally visible LED 22 and a sealed power input socket 24. Both the button 20 and socket 24 are similarly IF rated so that the sensor is able to operate in a completely submerged state if necessary.

Contained within the casing 12 is a power source, in the form of battery 26 which can be recharged via the socket 24. Also contained within the casing 12 is a rotational movement sensor in the form of a gyro sensor 28 which detects any rotational movement of the valve sensor 10 and generates data relating to that rotational movement. A transmitter 30 is a further component contained within the casing 12. This transmitter can be any suitable wireless transmitter for 25 transferring data from the valve sensor 10 to a receiver (not shown). For example, the transmitter 30 can be a mobile telephone type transmitter including a SIM card for sending signals over the GSM network.

In addition to the gyro sensor 28, a vibration sensor 32 is also provided. The vibration sensor 32 has a lower power requirement to operate compared with that of the gyro sensor 28. Although this requires additional components to be provided in the limited space of the casing 28, this vibration sensor enables the battery life of the sensor 10 to be significantly greater than if this component were not included. A processor 34 controls the operation of the electronic components contained within the casing 12.

There are typically two different ways in which a valve sensor 10 may be used in conjunction with a valve. The sensor 10, and in particular the casing 12, may he engaged directly into contact with the key engaging portion of the valve or via an extension portion 34. The key engaging portion of a valve is directly connected to the spindle of the valve and rotation of the key engaging portion causes the opening and shutting of the valve. A sectional view of such an extension portion 34 is shown in figure 3. The extension portion 34 contains a recess 36 which in use engages the key engaging portion of a valve and has its own key engaging portion 38 which extends above the casing 12 so that the valve can still be operated using the key (not shown) which operates the valve. Typically, the key engaging portion on a valve as a substantially square cross-section and tapers slightly inwards in order to allow easy engagement and release of the key from the valve. The recess 36 and key engaging portion 38 are preferably complimentary.

The casing 12 is shaped to be approximately circular in cross-section, when viewed from above, allowing it to rotate within the confines of the space in which it is contained. The casing also has a central aperture 40 extending therethrough which allows engagement with the key engaging portion 38 of the extension portion 34 or the key engaging portion of the valve. The aperture 40 is square to complement the cross-sectional shape of the key engaging portion and to ensure that the valve sensor 10 rotates along with the rotation of the valve spindle (connected to the key engaging portion) thereby matching the rotation of the valve spindle. -8 -

With particular reference to figure 3, the connection between the aperture 40 and the key engaging portion 38 will now be described in more detail. The aperture 40 can be divided into two portions, an upper portion 42 which engages the key 5 engaging portion 38 and a lower portion 44 which extends around the lower part of the extension 34 which contains the recess 36. The upper portion 42 has a protrusion engaging portion 46 which engages the key engaging protrusion 38 and is shaped, in this example square, to match the shape of the protrusion 38. An 10 annular recess 48 extends between the protrusion engaging portion 46 and the remainder of the casing 12 and allows slight flexion of the protrusion engaging portion 46 to ensure a snug fit between the protrusion engaging portion 46 and the key engaging protrusion 38.

Operation of the valve sensor will now be described with additional reference to figure 6. The first stage of operation of the valve sensor of the present invention is installation. This requires the opening of an access hatch to a valve chamber (indicated at 50 in figure 5) which is typically located below 20 a pavement surface. Where the structure of the valve allows the casing 12 can be placed into direct contact with the key engaging protrusion on the valve. The determining factor for this is whether the shape of the aperture 40 in the lower portion 44 can freely rotate around the valve when the sensor is in position.

However, if the shape of the valve will not accommodate the casing 12, the protrusion extension 34 is used with the recess 36 engaging the protrusion on the valve and the casing 12 of the sensor 10 engaging the key engaging protrusion 36.

With the physical installation completed the next stage is calibration. In order to do this the button 20 is pressed (step Si) to initially turn on the power and to enter the calibration mode. The valve starts from a fully closed position and once the sensor 10 is turned on an initial data reading is made. The -9 -valve is then opened to a fully open condition and further data readings made. During the calibration mode the operator uses an application on a mobile computing device to indicate that the data received on a server via the transmitter 30 is calibration data. The number of rotations required to move from fully closed to fully open is recorded and from this it can be calculated the degree to which the valve is open as a percentage based on the number of turns undertaken.

Once calibration is complete the standard operating mode 10 of the sensor 10 is entered. At step Sl, the standard low-power monitoring of the sensor is undertaken. At this time, the vibration sensor 32 is being periodically monitored to check for any movement of the sensor. Where this type of sensor is used on a boundary valve it is expected that the sensor will be running in this mode for the majority of the time since boundary valves are very rarely opened. In the event that movement is detected at step 53, the sensor exits low-power mode step 54 and begins monitoring the rotation of the sensor using the gyro sensor 28. At step SS the sensor is able to determine the amount or angle of rotation which has happened. When the apparatus exits the low-power mode the LED 22 on switch 20 lights up which is used to indicate to a person operating the valve that the valve sensor 10 is functioning correctly and is transmitting data relating to the valve status to the cloud.

Once the rotational movement has ceased step 56 the processor 34 instructs the transmitter 30 to transmit the angle through which the sensor has rotated (step 57) together with the battery status (step 58) and this data is stored in the cloud. The rotation sensor 10 is then able to return to the low-power mode and continues the periodic checking for movement of step S2. As part of the low-power mode, the battery status is also being checked and when the charge in the battery reduces below a predetermined value the status is transmitted indicating that -10 -a sensor battery recharge is required. The recharge is achieved using the power socket 24 using standard battery charging techniques.

The sensor 10 is also able to operate as an anti-tamper sensor. When movement is detected and the sensor exits the low-power mode it is expecting to detect rotation about an axis corresponding to the centre of the aperture 40. If t-ne movement detected is not consistent with that rotation, as detected by the gyro sensor and the movement sensor, this indicates a risk that the valve is being tampered with. This event can be compared to a schedule of anticipated works and an alert can be sent to an operator to investigate if necessary.

When multiple sensors are used on a network of boundary valves it is possible to produce real time boundary valve status data for valves between the DMA's in the network. As a result, in the event of out of the ordinary incidents it is straightforward for operators to confidently direct technicians to the boundary valves which need to be opened or closed in order to maintain the water supply to customers.

It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the above embodiments have been described by way of example only and not in any limitative sense, and that various alterations and modifications are possible without departure from the scope of the protection which is defined by the appended claims. For example, if the extension and casing formed as one component and then the recess becomes equivalent to the aperture.

Claims

Claims 1. A valve sensor for a subterranean water pipe valve operated by a key, the sensor comprising a body having a recess or aperture for engaging a key engaging protrusion on a subterranean water pipe valve, wherein said body contains and said sensor further comprises: at least one power source; at least one rotational movement sensor for detecting a rotational movement of the valve sensor and generating data 10 relating to that rotational movement; and at least one transmitter for transmitting said data.
2. A valve sensor according to claim 1, further comprising a vibration sensor for detecting movement of the valve sensor wherein operation of said rotational movement sensor requires a first amount of power and operation of said vibration sensor requires a second amount of power which is less than said first amount of power.
3. A valve sensor according to claim 1 or 2, wherein said body is substantially annular and in use extends around said key 20 engaging protrusion.
4. A valve sensor according to any of the preceding claims, further comprising a key engaging extension.
5. A valve sensor according to claim 4, wherein said key engaging extension includes said recess and a duplicate key 25 engaging portion.
6. A valve sensor according to any of the preceding claims, wherein said rotational movement sensors comprises a gyro-sensor.
7. A method of determining the open or closed status of a subterranean water pipe valve operated by a key, comprising the steps: -12 -attaching a sensor according to any of claims 2 to 6 to a key engaging protrusion on a subterranean water pipe valve; changing the valve from one of an open or closed status to the other of an open or closed status; recording data received from the valve sensor; calibrating the valve sensor based on the received data; periodically monitoring for vibration; in the event of the vibration monitoring step detecting a movement of the valve sensor, activating the rotational movement 10 sensor and checking for rotational movement, in the event of the rotational movement sensing step detecting rotational movement, sending data relating to the rotational movement; and comparing the data relating to the rotational movement to the 15 calibrated data to determine the valve status.