JP2002093465A - Battery life estimating device for gas meter - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To estimate the remaining capacity of a battery without affecting the life of the battery. SOLUTION: A remaining capacity estimating section 6 stores the average current consumption per unit time consumed by various sections operated by the battery 5 in a stationary state and stores the current consumption for one occurrence of an abnormality. The current consumption in the stationary state is calculated by measuring the operating time, counting the number of occurrences of the abnormality, and multiplying the average current consumption and the measured operating time together. The current consumption in an abnormal state is calculated by multiplying the current consumption for one occurrence of the abnormality and the measured number of occurrences of the abnormality together. The calculated current consumption is subtracted from the initial current capacity of the battery 5.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a battery life estimating apparatus for a gas meter for estimating the life of a battery used for electronic parts of a gas meter.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A gas meter (microcomputer meter) which has already been put to practical use monitors a gas flow rate and the like. When a large amount of gas flows different from normal use, when gas flows continuously for a long time, or when an abnormality such as an earthquake occurs, the microcomputer determines that the microcomputer is in an abnormal state.
The system is designed to stop the gas supply by supplying current to the shut-off valve to prevent accidents in advance. Also, this control
Remote operation can be performed from outside through a telephone line or the like.

[0003] An electric circuit of such a gas meter is supplied with power by a battery. The voltage of the battery is periodically detected by a voltage detector, and when the detected voltage value becomes equal to or less than a specified value, the battery is deemed to have reached the end of its life, and processes such as shutting down and alarming are performed.

[0004]

However, when the voltage of the battery is detected, the voltage is detected by applying a current to the pseudo resistor, and this is repeated in a relatively short cycle. However, there is a problem that the life of the battery is shortened.

[0005] In addition, when the detected voltage value becomes equal to or less than a specified value indicating the life of the battery, a process such as shut-off or an alarm is performed. Prior to this, the remaining capacity of the battery and the remaining usable time could not be known, which was inconvenient.

[0006] The present invention has been made in view of the above, and an object of the present invention is to provide a gas meter battery capable of estimating the remaining capacity and usable time of the battery without affecting the life of the battery. It is to provide a life estimation device.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention according to claim 1 is a battery life estimating apparatus for a gas meter for estimating the life of a battery used in a gas meter. A storage unit for storing a current amount and a current consumption amount per one time when an abnormality occurs; a measuring unit for measuring an elapsed time in a steady state; a counting unit for counting the number of occurrences of an abnormality; A value obtained by multiplying the amount of consumed current by the measured elapsed time;
Estimating means for estimating the remaining capacity of the battery by subtracting a multiplied value of the current consumption per cycle and the counted number of occurrences from the initial current capacity of the battery.

In the present invention, the current consumption in the steady state is calculated by multiplying the average current consumption by the measured elapsed time, and the current consumption per operation is counted. Calculate the current consumption of the battery in the abnormal state by multiplying by the number of occurrences,
Since these are subtracted from the initial current capacity of the battery, it is not necessary to directly detect the battery voltage using a pseudo resistor, so the remaining capacity of the battery must be estimated without affecting the battery life. Can be.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the gas meter battery life estimating apparatus according to the first aspect, a detecting means for detecting a voltage of the battery is provided.

[0010] In the present invention, the provision of the detecting means for detecting the voltage of the battery allows the battery to be supplemented when the remaining capacity of the battery cannot be accurately estimated due to an operation failure such as a short circuit. Can be detected.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a battery life estimating apparatus for a gas meter for estimating the life of a battery used in a gas meter, wherein a storage means for storing a change in voltage of the battery with respect to an elapsed time; Voltage detecting means for detecting the voltage of the battery, slope calculating means for calculating a slope using the previous detected voltage value and the current detected voltage value, and elapsed time corresponding to the calculated slope and the voltage change , And estimating means for estimating the usable time by subtracting the obtained elapsed time from the life time of the battery.

In the present invention, a slope is calculated using the previous detected voltage value and the present detected voltage value, and the elapsed time is obtained by associating the slope with the change in the battery voltage with respect to the elapsed time. By subtracting this elapsed time from the battery life period and estimating the usable time, the number of times of voltage detection can be greatly reduced as compared with the conventional method, and the battery life can be prolonged. it can.

If the data when the open-circuit voltage is detected without using the pseudo resistor is stored as the graph data, it is not necessary to use the pseudo resistor when detecting the voltage. It is possible to estimate the usable time of the battery without affecting it.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the gas meter battery life estimating apparatus of the third aspect, the storage means stores a plurality of graph data when the temperature is changed. It is characterized by having temperature detecting means for detecting, and selecting means for selecting graph data used in the elapsed time calculating means based on the detected temperature.

In the present invention, by selecting appropriate graph data based on the detected temperature,
An accurate usable time corresponding to the temperature fluctuation can be estimated.

[0016]

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

[First Embodiment] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a gas meter according to an embodiment and a battery life estimating apparatus used for the gas meter. In the gas meter of FIG. 1, a measuring unit 1, a driving circuit 3, an earthquake detecting unit 8, a pressure detecting unit 9, and a communication interface (I / F) unit 10 are connected to an arithmetic control unit 2, respectively. Has a blocking unit 4 and a display unit 1
1 is a connected configuration.

Power is supplied from a battery 5 to the measuring unit 1, the arithmetic and control unit 2, the earthquake detecting unit 8, the pressure detecting unit 9, and the communication I / F unit 10 which operate in a steady state and consume relatively little power. The drive circuit 3 and the shut-off unit 4, which operate to close the shut-off valve when an abnormality occurs, consume relatively large power and are supplied with power by the battery 12.

In the battery life estimating apparatus shown in FIG. 1, the remaining capacity estimating unit 6 is connected to the arithmetic and control unit 2, and the voltage detecting unit 7 is connected to the battery 5
And the arithmetic control circuit 2.

The metering section 1 has a flow rate sensor for detecting the gas flow rate, and notifies the arithmetic and control section 2 of the gas flow rate. As the flow sensor, for example, a semiconductor flow sensor is used.

The earthquake detector 8 has a seismic sensor for detecting an earthquake, and sends an earthquake detection signal from the seismic sensor to the arithmetic and control unit 2.

The pressure detector 9 has a pressure sensor for detecting the pressure of the gas, and sends a gas pressure signal to the arithmetic and control unit 2.

The arithmetic control unit 2 includes a CPU (not shown),
It has a configuration including a ROM, a RAM, a timer, a nonvolatile memory, etc., reads a gas flow signal from the metering unit 1 every predetermined cycle, and performs an abnormality determination of a gas use state from the gas flow signal. Outputs alarm / shutdown signal. In addition, the occurrence of an earthquake is determined based on the earthquake detection signal from the earthquake detection unit 8 and the abnormality of the gas pressure is determined based on the gas pressure signal from the pressure detection unit 9. Output a signal. The alarm / shutdown occurrence history and the like are stored in a nonvolatile memory.

The drive circuit 3 outputs an alarm from the arithmetic and control unit 2.
A drive signal is output according to the cutoff signal.

The shutoff section 4 cuts off the gas flow path in response to a drive signal from the drive circuit 3.

The display section 11 receives the drive signal from the drive circuit 3 and displays on the LCD that the alarm / shutdown mode has been set.

The communication interface (I / F) unit 10
This is an input / output circuit for communicating the alarm / shutdown occurrence history and the like stored in the arithmetic and control unit 2 to the outside and communicating with an external setting device.

As the battery 5, for example, a lithium battery is used, and its initial current capacity is 6000 [mAH].
Degree. Similarly, a lithium battery or the like is used for the battery 12, and its initial current capacity is 2000 [mAH].
It is about. The reason why the capacity of the battery 12 is smaller than that of the battery 5 is that the amount of current consumed by the cutoff unit 4 and the drive circuit 3 is larger than that consumed by the arithmetic control unit 2 and the like.
This is due to the fact that the shut-off portion 4 and the like hardly operate throughout the year.

The remaining capacity estimating section 6 has its own calculating section, storage section, timer, count counter, etc., and calculates the amount of current consumed by each section by grasping the operation state of the arithmetic control circuit 2. Thus, the remaining capacity of the battery 5 is estimated. Details of this estimation processing will be described later.

The voltage detector 7 includes a voltage detector for detecting the voltage of the battery 5 and assists when an estimated value cannot be accurately calculated by the remaining capacity estimator 6 due to a malfunction such as a short circuit. The voltage of the battery 5 is detected.

Next, the estimation processing in the remaining capacity estimation section 6 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2A shows the state of the current consumed by the arithmetic and control unit 2, and FIG. 2B shows the state of the current consumed by the interruption unit 4.

In the steady state, the arithmetic and control unit 2 operates periodically, so that the units such as the metering unit 1 and the pressure detecting unit 9 controlled by the arithmetic and control unit 2 also operate periodically. However, in an abnormal state such as when the flow rate of the gas increases, the drive circuit 3 and the shutoff unit 4 which are not normally used are operated in the alarm / shutoff mode, so that the current consumption of the arithmetic and control unit 2 increases.

The storage unit of the remaining capacity estimating unit 6 stores the average amount of current per unit time consumed by each unit operated by the battery 5 in the steady state. In addition, the amount of current consumption (multiplied value of the consumed current value and the driving time) consumed by each unit operated by the battery 5 each time an abnormality occurs is also stored in advance.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure in the remaining capacity estimating unit 6.

First, in Step 1, the number of occurrences of an abnormal state is counted. This counting may be performed by counting the number of times when a large current flows through the arithmetic and control unit 2 or by counting the number of times that the drive circuit 3 and the cutoff unit 4 are operated.

In Step 2, the amount of current consumed by each unit operated by the battery 5 in the abnormal state is calculated. This calculation is performed by multiplying the counted number of occurrences of the abnormal state by a previously stored current consumption per one time.

In Step 3, the amount of current consumed by each unit operated by the battery 5 in the steady state is calculated. This calculation is performed by measuring the operation time of the arithmetic control unit 2 and multiplying the operation time by an average current value stored in advance.

At Step 4, the remaining capacity of the battery 5 is estimated. This estimation is based on the initial current capacity of the battery 5 in Step 2
This is performed by subtracting the current consumption in the abnormal state calculated in Step 3 from the current consumption in the normal state calculated in Step 3.

Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the remaining capacity estimating section 6 calculates the current consumption in the steady state by multiplying the average current consumption by the measured operation time, and generates an abnormality. By multiplying the current consumption per operation by the number of occurrences counted, the current consumption in the abnormal state is calculated, and these are subtracted from the initial current capacity of the battery 5.
Since it is not necessary to directly detect the voltage of the battery 5 using the pseudo resistor, the remaining capacity of the battery 5 can be estimated without affecting the life of the battery 5.

Further, by using the voltage detecting section 7 together, when the operation failure such as a short circuit occurs and the remaining capacity of the battery 5 cannot be accurately estimated, the voltage of the battery 5 can be detected auxiliary. .

The remaining capacity of the battery 12 that supplies power to the drive circuit 3 and the cutoff unit 4 may be estimated. In this case, as shown in FIG. 4, the remaining capacity estimating unit 15 is connected to the cutoff unit 4 and the arithmetic control unit, and the voltage detecting unit 14 is connected to the battery 12 and the arithmetic control unit 2.

The remaining capacity estimating unit 15 stores the amount of current consumption per operation when the drive circuit 3 and the cutoff unit 4 are operated, and counts the number of times the drive circuit 3 and the cutoff unit 4 are operated. . Then, the remaining capacity of the battery 12 is estimated by subtracting the product of the current consumption per operation and the number of operations from the initial current capacity of the battery 12 in accordance with an instruction from the arithmetic control unit 2.

[Second Embodiment] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration of a gas meter according to an embodiment and a battery life estimating apparatus used for the gas meter. The battery life estimating device shown in FIG. 6 is replaced with a usable time estimating unit 1 instead of the remaining capacity estimating unit 6 in FIG.
6, the usable time estimating unit 16 is connected to the voltage detecting unit 1
7 and the arithmetic control unit 2. The basic configuration of the voltage detector 17 is the same as that of the voltage detector 7.
The usable time estimating unit 16 stores graph data indicating a change in battery voltage with respect to the elapsed time as shown in FIG. In addition, the same components as those in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted here.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure in the usable time estimating unit 16.

In Step 11, the difference between the previous detected voltage value and the current detected voltage value is used as a numerator using the voltage of the battery 5 detected by the voltage detecting unit 17, and from the previous voltage detection to the present voltage detection. The slope is calculated using the elapsed time of as a denominator.

At Step 12, the elapsed time is obtained by associating the inclination with the graph data.

In Step 13, the remaining usable time is estimated by subtracting this elapsed time from the battery life period.

Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the available time estimating unit 16 calculates a gradient using the difference between the previous detected voltage value and the current detected voltage value, and calculates the gradient and the graph data. The elapsed time is determined in correspondence with the elapsed time, and the elapsed time is subtracted from the life period of the battery 5, so that the number of times of voltage detection can be greatly reduced as compared with the related art, and the life of the battery is extended. be able to.

If the data when the open circuit voltage is detected without using the pseudo resistor is stored as the graph data, it is not necessary to use the pseudo resistor when detecting the voltage. Can be estimated without affecting the battery life.

When estimating the usable time, the temperature may be corrected. In this case, the plurality of graph data obtained when the temperature is changed is used as the usable time estimation unit 16.
And a temperature sensor is provided, and appropriate graph data is selected based on the temperature detected by the temperature sensor.

With this configuration, an accurate usable time corresponding to the temperature fluctuation can be estimated.

Of course, in addition to the temperature, graph data obtained when the type of battery, the connection method in series or parallel, the number of batteries, and the like are held, and when these are changed, it is possible to make appropriate corrections. Good.

[0053]

As described above, according to the gas meter battery life estimating apparatus of the present invention, the amount of current consumption of the battery in the steady state and the abnormal state is calculated, and these are subtracted from the initial current capacity of the battery. By doing so, it is not necessary to directly detect the voltage of the battery using the pseudo resistor, so that the remaining capacity of the battery can be estimated without affecting the life of the battery.

Further, according to the battery life estimating apparatus for a gas meter of the present invention, a gradient is calculated using the previous detected voltage value and the present detected voltage value, and the gradient and the change in the battery voltage with respect to the elapsed time are calculated. By calculating the elapsed time in association with the battery, the elapsed time is subtracted from the life time of the battery to estimate the usable time, so that the number of times of voltage detection can be significantly reduced as compared with the conventional method. The effect on the life of the battery can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a gas meter according to a first embodiment and a battery life estimating device used for the gas meter.

2A is a diagram illustrating a state of a current consumed by an arithmetic and control unit 2, and FIG. 2B is a diagram illustrating a state of a current consumed by a cutoff unit 4.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for a remaining capacity estimation value 6;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing another configuration example of the battery life estimation device.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a gas meter and a battery life estimation device according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure for a remaining capacity estimation value 16;

FIG. 7 is a graph showing a change in voltage of a battery with respect to an elapsed time.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Measurement part 2 ... Calculation control part 3 ... Drive circuit 4 ... Interruption part 5,12 ... Battery 6,15 ... Remaining capacity estimation part 7,14,17 ... Voltage detection part 8 ... Earthquake detection part 9 ... Pressure detection part 10 ... Communication I / F unit 11 ... Display unit 16 ... Usable time estimation unit

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Mamoru Suzuki 1-5-20 Kaigan, Minato-ku, Tokyo Tokyo Gas Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Mitsunori Komaki 1-5-20 Kaigan, Minato-ku, Tokyo Tokyo Gas (72) Inventor Ken Tashiro 1-5-20 Kaigan, Minato-ku, Tokyo Tokyo Gas Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Imao 70 Yanagicho, Sachi-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa Pref. Inventor Hiroto Uyama 70 Yanagimachi, Yuki-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa Pref., In the Toshiba Yanagicho Works Co., Ltd. 70, Yanagicho, Sachi-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture Inside the Toshiba Yanagicho Plant (72) Inventor Go Tsuyoshi Morinaga 70, Yanagicho, Sachi-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa Toshiba Corporation Town business-house F-term (reference) 2G016 CB12 CB21 CC01 CC03 CC06 CC10 CC12 CC21 CC27 CC28 CD02 CD03 CD14 CE03 CF06 5H025 AA00 CC38 MM01 5H030 AS11 BB21 FF22 FF44 FF52

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A gas meter battery life estimating apparatus for estimating the life of a battery used in a gas meter, wherein the average current consumption in a steady state and the current consumption per one time when an abnormality occurs are stored. Storage means, measuring means for measuring the elapsed time in a steady state, counting means for counting the number of times of occurrence of an abnormality, a multiplication value of the average current consumption and the measured elapsed time, and the consumption per one time. Estimating means for estimating the remaining capacity of the battery by subtracting a multiplied value of the amount of current and the counted number of occurrences from the initial current capacity of the battery, and a battery life estimating device for a gas meter. . 2. The battery life estimating apparatus for a gas meter according to claim 1, further comprising detecting means for detecting a voltage of the battery. 3. A gas meter battery life estimating apparatus for estimating the life of a battery used in a gas meter, a storage means for storing a change in voltage of the battery with respect to an elapsed time, and a voltage for detecting a voltage of the battery. Detecting means; slope calculating means for calculating a slope using a previous detected voltage value and a current detected voltage value; and elapsed time calculating means for calculating an elapsed time by associating the calculated slope with the voltage change. And estimating means for estimating the usable time by subtracting the obtained elapsed time from the life time of the battery, and a battery life estimating device for a gas meter. 4. The storage means stores a plurality of graph data when the temperature is changed, wherein the temperature detection means detects a temperature, and the elapsed time calculation means based on the detected temperature. 4. The battery life estimating apparatus for a gas meter according to claim 3, further comprising: selecting means for selecting graph data to be used.