JP2000155044A - Gas safety device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To lower the operation number of an ultrasonic sensor so as to reduce electricity consumption a size of a battery and a size of a device by arranging a measurement interval setting means changing an interval for actuating the ultrasonic sensor. SOLUTION: An actuating signal is fed from a control circuit 1 to an ultrasonic sensor driving circuit 2 so as to actuate an ultrasonic sensor 3, and an instantaneous flow rate of gas flowing through a flow passage 4 is measured. Then, integrated gas consumption is measured on the basis of the instantaneous flow rate data returned from the driving circuit 2. If the measured gas consumption is an abnormal one, an actuating signal is transmitted to a shutoff valve driving circuit 5 so as to close a shutoff valve 6 for stopping gas supply. A measurement interval setting means 8 optionally changing a flow rate measurement interval by the ultrasonic sensor 3 is arranged. Therefore, a measurement interval can be prolonged when gas is not used or when a using flow rate is not changed. In this way, the operation number of the ultrasonic sensor 3 is reduced, and the size of a battery 7 can be reduced.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention measures a gas flow rate and shuts off a gas passage when an abnormal flow rate is measured.
The present invention relates to a gas safety device for ensuring safety in using gas.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, when a gas meter for measuring the amount of gas used has measured a large amount of flow or has been used for an unusually long time, it is determined that an abnormality has occurred and the gas passage is determined. The one with a built-in security device that shuts off and ensures safety is widely used.

[0003] In this type of flow rate measurement system for a gas safety device, a membrane-type meter that measures the flow rate from the volume that has passed through the meter within a predetermined time, and an ultrasonic sensor that operates at a predetermined time interval to measure the instantaneous flow rate. Meters for measuring are common.

A conventional gas safety device using an ultrasonic sensor will be described with reference to FIG. When measuring the normal gas consumption, an operation signal is sent from the control circuit 1 to the ultrasonic sensor drive circuit 2 at a predetermined time interval, and the ultrasonic sensor 3 is operated so that the instantaneous flow rate of the gas flowing through the flow path 4 is measured. Is measured.
Then, the integrated gas usage is measured based on the instantaneous flow rate data returned from the ultrasonic sensor drive circuit 2. Also,
The control circuit 1 determines whether or not the measured gas usage is abnormal. If the measured usage is abnormal, an operation signal is transmitted to the shut-off valve drive circuit 5 to close the shut-off valve 6 and stop the gas. In general, such a gas shut-off device uses a battery 7 as a power source because the installation place is outdoors and the installation is convenient.

[0005]

However, with the diversification of the installation environment of the gas security device, it has been necessary to reduce the size of the gas security device itself.

[0006]

In the gas safety device of the present invention, a flow path for flowing gas, an ultrasonic sensor for measuring the flow rate of gas, and an ultrasonic sensor driving circuit for driving the ultrasonic sensor A measurement interval setting unit that can arbitrarily change an interval at which the ultrasonic sensor is operated, a shutoff valve that shuts off a gas passage when an abnormality occurs, a shutoff valve driving circuit for operating the shutoff valve, and the shutoff valve. A control circuit for controlling the ultrasonic sensor, and a battery for supplying a current to the shutoff valve, the ultrasonic sensor, and the control circuit are provided.

According to the present invention, since the measurement interval of the instantaneous flow rate by the ultrasonic sensor can be changed in accordance with the frequency of use of the gas and environmental changes, the number of operations of the ultrasonic sensor is reduced, the current consumption is reduced, and the battery is operated. By reducing the size of the gas security device, the size of the gas security device can be reduced.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The gas safety device according to the first means of the present invention can change the measurement interval of the flow rate by the ultrasonic sensor. By reducing the current consumption of the battery and downsizing the battery, the downsizing of the gas safety device is realized.

The gas safety device according to the second means of the present invention is a cutoff level learning means for setting a predetermined period after the installation as a learning period, and setting a cutoff level when the gas is abnormally used based on the actual use of the gas; During the learning period, by providing a measurement interval setting unit that improves the measurement accuracy by reducing the measurement interval of the flow rate by the ultrasonic sensor, data with high accuracy can be obtained during learning, so the measurement interval is extended after learning is completed. This does not compromise safety. Therefore, the measurement interval in normal use is lengthened, the current consumption of the ultrasonic sensor is reduced,
By reducing the size of the battery, the size of the gas safety device was reduced.

[0010] The gas safety device according to the third means of the present invention is a cutoff level learning means for setting a cutoff level at the time of abnormal use of gas based on the actual use of gas, with a predetermined period as a learning period after installation, In the first half of the learning period, the measurement interval of the flow rate by the ultrasonic sensor is made finer to improve the measurement accuracy, and in the second half of the learning period, the measurement is performed when the gas is not used or when the gas using the same pattern as the gas usage pattern learned once is used. The size of the gas safety device is reduced by further reducing the current consumption during learning by the measurement interval setting means for increasing the interval and reducing the size of the battery as compared with the second means of the present invention.

The gas safety device according to the fourth aspect of the present invention calculates the daily gas usage frequency for each time period during the learning period, and measures the flow rate measurement by the ultrasonic sensor in accordance with the gas usage frequency. By providing a measurement interval setting unit that changes the time, the measurement interval in the time when gas is hardly used is extended, the current consumption of the ultrasonic sensor is reduced, and the size of the battery is reduced, thereby realizing a smaller gas safety device. It was done.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a gas safety device according to the first means of the present invention. The basic configuration is the same as that of the conventional example. The difference between the present embodiment and the conventional example is that a measurement interval setting means 8 capable of changing the flow rate measurement interval by the ultrasonic sensor to an arbitrary interval is added. The measurement interval setting means of the present invention can lengthen the measurement interval when the measurement accuracy is not very necessary, for example, when no gas is used or when the used flow rate does not change. As a result, the number of operations of the ultrasonic sensor 3 is reduced, and the current consumption is reduced, so that the size of the battery 7 can be reduced.

(Embodiment 2) FIG. 2 is a structural view showing a gas safety apparatus according to the second means of the present invention. The basic configuration is the same as that of the description of the conventional example. The difference between this embodiment and the conventional example is that the measurement interval setting means 8 that can change the flow measurement interval by the ultrasonic sensor to an arbitrary interval, That is, an interruption level learning means 9 for setting an interruption level is added. The cutoff level learning means 9 is a means that has been frequently used. The novelty of the present invention is to change the measurement interval of the flow rate by the ultrasonic sensor during and after learning. FIG. 3 shows the operation intervals of the ultrasonic sensor for measuring the gas flow rate according to the second means of the present invention.
In the learning period for setting the cutoff level as shown in the figure, the measurement interval is made fine, and the measurement accuracy is improved. After the learning is completed, the measurement interval can be increased as shown in the figure, the number of times of operation of the ultrasonic sensor can be reduced, and the current consumption can be reduced.

(Embodiment 3) FIG. 4 shows operation intervals of an ultrasonic sensor for measuring a gas flow rate according to the third means of the present invention. In this means, the learning period shown in the second means is divided into two, as shown in the figure, in the first half, the measurement interval is made finer as in the second means, and in the latter half, the same as when the gas is not used or the gas use pattern once learned is used. By increasing the measurement interval at the time of the pattern, the current consumption can be reduced as compared with the second means.

(Embodiment 4) FIG. 5 shows operation intervals of an ultrasonic sensor for measuring a gas flow rate according to the fourth means of the present invention. In this means, during the learning period, the usage frequency of the gas as shown in the figure is calculated for each time zone and recorded as gas usage frequency data. Then, based on the data, a time other than a time zone in which a margin is added before and after a time zone in which gas may be used is set as a gas unused time zone. This is the portion indicated by the hatched portions in the figure. The current consumption can be reduced by increasing the measurement interval in the hatched time zone and reducing the number of times the ultrasonic sensor operates.

[0017]

As described above, according to the gas safety device according to the first means of the present invention, the number of times of operation of the ultrasonic sensor can be reduced, so that the current consumption is reduced and the size of the battery is reduced. In addition, the size of the gas security device can be reduced.

According to the gas safety device according to the second means of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the first means, by shortening the measurement interval during the learning period, the accuracy of the shutoff level at the time of abnormal use of gas is improved. Can be improved, and safety is improved.

According to the gas safety device of the third means of the present invention, in addition to the effect of the second means, the current consumption can be further reduced and the battery can be downsized.

According to the gas safety device of the fourth means of the present invention, the number of times of operation of the ultrasonic sensor can be reduced in accordance with the daily gas usage pattern, so that the same effect as the first means is obtained. Can be

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram illustrating a gas security device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram illustrating a gas safety device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing operation intervals of an ultrasonic sensor of the apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing operation intervals of an ultrasonic sensor of a gas security device according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing operation intervals of an ultrasonic sensor of a gas security device according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram showing a conventional gas safety device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Control circuit 2 Ultrasonic sensor drive circuit 3 Ultrasonic sensor 4 Flow path 5 Shutoff valve drive circuit 6 Shutoff valve 7 Battery 8 Measurement interval setting means 9 Shutdown level learning means

Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Norio Shinmura 1006 Kazuma Kadoma, Kadoma-shi, Osaka Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. F-term (reference) 2F035 AA06 DA14

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A flow path for flowing a gas, an ultrasonic sensor for measuring a flow rate of a gas, an ultrasonic sensor driving circuit for driving the ultrasonic sensor, and an interval for operating the ultrasonic sensor. A changeable measurement interval setting means, a shutoff valve for shutting off a gas passage when an abnormality occurs, a shutoff valve driving circuit for operating the shutoff valve, a control circuit for controlling the shutoff valve and the ultrasonic sensor, and the shutoff A gas safety device comprising a valve, a battery for supplying current to the ultrasonic sensor and the control circuit. 2. An interruption level learning means for setting an interruption level at the time of abnormal use of gas based on the actual use of gas, and a predetermined period as a learning period. 2. The gas safety device according to claim 1, further comprising a measurement interval setting means for making the measurement accuracy fine. 3. An interruption level learning means for setting an interruption level at the time of abnormal use of gas based on the actual use of gas, and a predetermined period as a learning period, wherein the first half of the learning period measures the flow rate by an ultrasonic sensor. A measurement interval setting means for improving the measurement accuracy by reducing the interval and increasing the measurement interval in the latter half of the learning period when the gas is not used or when using the same pattern as the gas usage pattern learned once. 2. The gas safety device according to 1. 4. A measuring interval setting means for calculating a daily gas usage frequency for each time zone during a learning period and changing a flow rate measuring interval in accordance with a time zone in which gas is unlikely to be used. The gas safety device according to claim 1.