JP2002197582A - Log terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To construct a system at a lower cost by which a phenomenon or a state to be measured is automatically recorded or monitored. SOLUTION: A log terminal 10 is provided with a measuring part 34 for measuring a signal from a sensor at sampling intervals and obtaining measurement data, a recording part 34 for recording the measurement data in a memory 34a at recording interval, a monitor part 36 for comparing measurement data with an upper limit value or a lower limit value, a report part 37 for outputting a report and an output part 38 for receiving a command which indicates the transmission of recording data to the telephone number of the log terminal, performing a report via a modem 12 which specifies the telephone number by a reception destination and outputting recording data which is recorded in the memory to the prescribed reception destination. Since the log terminal 10 is the terminal where functions required for automatic measurement such as measuring, recording, monitoring, reporting and communicating are packed in one body, a data logger system is constructed only by connecting the sensor.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a signal for detecting the state of various measuring objects such as temperature, humidity, rainfall, pressure, quantity, etc. The present invention relates to a data logger system capable of receiving a signal from a measuring device that outputs a signal and recording data relating to the signal.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Systems for recording measurements are used in various fields. For example, in a system for measuring weather conditions, phenomena or physical quantities of a measurement target such as temperature, humidity, rainfall, and atmospheric pressure are measured and recorded.
In addition, if it is a system for pollution investigation, in addition to the above,
Nitrogen gas concentration, carbon dioxide gas concentration, noise, etc. are measured. Furthermore, in the case of an industrial measurement system, in addition to the measurement target such as temperature and humidity related to the manufacturing environment, various phenomena or physical quantities are measured in order to grasp the state of the product and the shipping status, and these are measured. The measured data is recorded.

In these measuring systems or measuring systems, a sensor for outputting a signal corresponding to the state of each measuring object is installed so as to capture the state of the corresponding measuring object, and a signal from the sensor is output. Alternatively, a digital signal or an analog signal obtained by appropriately processing a signal from the sensor is output as a measurement signal. Then, the measurement signal is recorded on a suitable recording medium such as a recording paper or a magnetic tape. Thereafter, a task of periodically analyzing the data collected from the recording medium and recorded is performed.

[0004]

2. Description of the Related Art A data logger system is known in which sensors are arranged at a large number of measurement points, and the state of an object to be measured at those points is monitored and recorded. The signals are collected in a wired or wireless manner at a computer that is to be a host terminal. In addition, in the case of a measurement system installed in an area where ordinary access is difficult such as a remote place, a method of automatically transmitting recorded data wirelessly may be adopted.

In these automated recording and monitoring systems such as data logger systems, for example, if the measurement or monitoring area is limited, the sensor and the host terminal are connected by dedicated wiring or a dedicated wireless system. Necessary. Also, if the measurement area is a distributed system, a device that records data for automatic transmission,
A device that monitors data, a device that wirelessly transmits recorded data and alarms from the monitoring device, and a computer that controls them are required. Therefore, building a recording and monitoring system requires a large number of devices, the cost of purchasing them, the cost of designing systems using them, and the space for installing those devices. Costs are required,
The cost of actually running the measurement system is very high.

[0006] Due to these factors, users who can use the conventional recording and monitoring system can bear high installation costs, and use a dedicated communication system to obtain data from the sensors via a dedicated communication system. It is limited to special users who can clear conditions such as the need for permission to use the system. For this reason, it is impossible for a general user who cannot satisfy these conditions to use the automated measurement system as described above. For example, it is not practically possible to construct a system that allows a home user to monitor the temperature, humidity, and the presence or absence of rain inside and outside the home while going out.

Therefore, in the present invention, at low cost,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a data logger system that can automatically record and monitor the above-described state and phenomenon of a measurement target easily and easily.

[0008]

For this reason, in the present invention, functions required for automatic measurement or measurement such as measurement, recording, monitoring, reporting, and communication are packaged in one and a public telephone is provided. A log terminal capable of transmitting reported or recorded data using a communication infrastructure that has already been established, such as a network or the Internet, is provided. A log terminal according to the present invention is a measuring unit that outputs a signal corresponding to a state of a measurement target, measures a signal from a measurement device including a sensor or the like at a first time interval, and is capable of acquiring measurement data. Second data
Recording means that can be recorded in the memory at the time intervals described above, monitoring means that can compare the measured data with the upper limit value and / or lower limit value, and can output a report when the measured data exceeds the upper limit value or the lower limit value Reporting means, and output means capable of outputting the report data recorded in the memory and / or the memory to a predetermined receiving destination via communication means capable of specifying the address of the log terminal at the receiving destination. Further, it is desirable that a command instructing transmission of the recording data to the address given to the log terminal can be received so that the recording data can be instructed from the receiving side.

In the log terminal of the present invention, when a signal from a measuring device, for example, a signal from a sensor is taken in as measurement data by a measuring means at a first time interval which is a sampling interval, the data is taken by a recording means. Desired second
The monitoring means and the notifying means can monitor the measurement data and output a notification when the measured data exceeds the upper limit or the lower limit. Therefore, one log terminal of the present invention can cover functions required as an automatic recording and monitoring system such as recording, monitoring, and report output, that is, a terminal of a data logger system. Since the measurement data is used as recording data and monitoring data, a function of converting the data, for example, if the signal from the sensor is an analog signal, a common A / D conversion mechanism. Thereby, the configuration required for automatic measurement can be simplified.
In addition, since monitoring data to be notified or alarmed and data to be recorded are common to measurement data, there is a merit that it is easy to analyze a state when a notification is output.

[0010] When a digital signal corresponding to the state of the object to be measured is input, the recording means of the log terminal records the time at which the digital signal changes in a memory, so that the time at which an event occurs can be determined. Can be recorded. For example, by recording the relative number of seconds from the start of recording when the edge specified by signal synchronization is detected,
The occurrence of an event that causes a specified edge can be recorded.

Further, the log terminal according to the present invention includes means for receiving communication addressed to the address of the log terminal, and outputting means for reporting and recording data by means of communication means capable of communicating with the receiver while the address is known. Have. For example, if the address is a telephone number, the communication means can be a modem that communicates via a public telephone line, and the address is an IP address.
If it is an address, the communication means can employ a network interface that communicates via the Internet. If these communication means, the telephone number of the caller or IP
The address is determined according to a standard function or protocol. Therefore, by simply outputting a report (alarm) from the log terminal, the receiving side can determine which log terminal is the report from the address obtained by the communication means, and the address is related to the installation position. And output a notification. Therefore, the telephone number or I
The log terminal can be identified only with the P address, which is an address necessary for using the communication means, without adding an extra address. Since these addresses are general-purpose addresses, the log terminal of the present invention can be used with various software or applications. Therefore, it is possible to construct a data logger system at low cost.

For example, according to the present invention, a signal from a measuring device that outputs a signal corresponding to a state of a measurement object is measured, and the measured data is recorded and monitored. When the measured data exceeds an upper limit value or a lower limit value, Receiving a report from a log terminal that outputs a report to a predetermined destination by communication means having a standard function such as a protocol that allows the source address to be specified at the destination; and a source obtained by the communication. And a computer-readable recording medium having a computer-readable program capable of executing a step of specifying the installation position of the log terminal from the address of the log terminal and outputting a notification in association with the specified installation position. To be provided in the form of media or embedded in a medium transmitted by communication between computers such as the Internet. It is a function. And by installing this program on the host computer,
Measure the signal from the measuring device that outputs the signal corresponding to the state of the measurement target, record and monitor the measurement data, and when the measurement data exceeds the upper limit or lower limit,
A log terminal that outputs a report to a predetermined destination by communication means of a protocol whose source address can be specified by the destination, and when a report is received from the log terminal, the log terminal is installed from the source address obtained by the communication. It is possible to construct a data logger system (recording and monitoring system) including a host terminal that specifies a position and outputs a report in association with the specified installation position.

For example, if a user's mobile phone is used as a host terminal, a modem of a log terminal is connected to a telephone line at home, and a rain gauge or a thermometer is connected to the log terminal,
It is possible to easily construct a system for notifying the mobile phone of a user who is out of the office that the rain has fallen or for notifying the user of the mobile phone that the temperature has become abnormal and there is a possibility of fire. Furthermore, if the program has an instruction that can further execute the step of acquiring the data recorded in the log terminal by the communication means by specifying the address of the log terminal,
The data recorded in the log terminal can be acquired from the host terminal by specifying the address of the log terminal and communicating means. Therefore, the user who has received the notification can obtain and check the data recorded in the log terminal from the mobile phone, and can check the status of the notification. Further, since the log terminal of the present invention uses a communication infrastructure open to the public such as a public telephone network or the Internet, the data logger system as described above can be constructed simply by installing a log terminal and a sensor. It is not necessary to perform new communication wiring or request permission to use it. Since the address of the log terminal is an address managed by the public communication network, there is no need to manage the address, and anyone can use it. Therefore, even a general user can easily construct a system for automatically recording and monitoring the state of the measurement target for various purposes.

Further, the recording means of the log terminal according to the present invention comprises:
When the main power supply fails, a first time at which the main power supply has failed due to the sub power supply and a second time at which the main power supply has recovered from the failure are recorded in the memory, and the output means stores the first and second data in the recorded data.
Output including the time. By making the power outage time a part of the recording data, the presence or absence of the power outage can be determined only by transmitting the recording data. Since the truth of the data is uncertain between the first and second times, no signal is measured during that time, and the measurement data is not recorded to prevent consumption of a sub power source such as a battery. Further, it is possible to prevent the memory from being wasted.

The log terminal according to the present invention has an input / output interface to which another log terminal can be added, and synchronization means for outputting a synchronization signal to another log terminal via the input / output interface. Outputs the recording data of the other log terminal following the recording data when another log terminal is connected. Therefore, the log terminal of the present invention can increase the number of inputs by adding log terminals when input from the sensor is insufficient with one log terminal. By synchronizing, measurement data can be acquired based on the same time, and the data can be recorded. For this reason, it is possible to capture the recording data of the added log terminal as the recording data of one log terminal.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will be further described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a data logger system (instrumentation logger system) 1 using a log terminal 10 according to the present invention. Log terminal 10 of this example
Performs recording and alarm monitoring of four channels of analog signals and four channels of contact signals (DC signals or digital signals) output from various measuring devices 2 such as an electronic measuring device and an industrial site measuring device. The data and alarm recorded via the PC can be transmitted to a host system centering on a personal computer 4a serving as a host terminal, an information processing device such as a mobile phone 5 or a pager (registered trademark). Further, the log terminal 10a can be added using the additional cable 11.

In this data logger system 1,
The host system 4 includes a personal computer 4a,
And a modem 4b, and is connected to the public telephone network 3 through a telephone terminal 4c. Computer 4a has C
The dedicated communication software 9 stored in an appropriate recording medium readable by the computer 4a such as a D-ROM 4d is installed, and the log terminal 1
Download various settings and recorded data of
Processing based on the data downloaded in a can be performed. The alarm transmitted from the log terminal 10 is received by the computer 4a through the telephone line 3, and the log terminal 10 is identified from the telephone number notified at that time, and the dedicated communication software 9 specifies the alarm and the output location. Can be identified. Further, it is possible to set a report destination in the log terminal 10 in addition to the modem 4b of the computer 4a. For example, it is possible to report to the mobile phone 5 by setting the station number of the mobile phone 5. is there. further,
In this example, the log terminal 10 is connected to the public telephone network by wire, but can be connected to the public telephone network via a wireless communication such as a mobile phone or PHS.

FIG. 2 shows the appearance of the log terminal 10 of the present embodiment. FIG. 2A is a front view of the log terminal 10,
2B is a side view, FIG. 2C is a bottom view, and FIG.
FIG. 2D is a rear view of the log terminal 10. On the front face 10b of the log terminal 10, there is provided an LCD 13 for monitoring the setting contents, the operation state and the measurement data, and the display output as shown in FIG. 3 is prepared. And
By operating the display changeover switch 14 located below the LCD 13, display contents can be controlled.

That is, the LCD 13 displays a battery life warning display 13a and a measurement state display 1 from the upper left side.
3b, a monitor result display 13c, and a telephone line use state display 13d are arranged. On the lower left side, a display 13f indicating that recording is in progress and a display 13g indicating the channel of the displayed measurement value are arranged vertically. On the right side, a display 13 indicating that communication is being performed using a communication cable is displayed vertically.
h, a display 13i indicating a communication error, and on the left side thereof,
A display 13j indicating that an external device is being connected is arranged. The area below the center of the LCD 13 is a region 13k for displaying measured values, that is, measured data obtained from the channels shown in the display 13g. On the left side of the measurement data display area 13k, a display 13m indicating the unit of the measurement data being displayed is prepared. The measurement data displayed in this area 13k is
With the display changeover switch 14, switching can be performed for each channel (1 to 8 channels), and a mode for switching each channel at intervals of about 1 second is also provided.

The measurement state display 13b is provided with 0-20mV and 0-5V indicating an analog input and ON / OFF display indicating a digital input. The measurement data displayed below is displayed. The type of the input signal can be understood. Further, the display 13c of the monitoring result indicating that the measurement data has deviated from the upper limit value or the lower limit value and the measurement data has become abnormal is provided with two displays in the vertical direction. You can judge whether it is out of the range.

As for these displays, first, during recording, a display 13f indicating that recording is in progress is turned on, and the display 13f blinks during standby for reservation before starting recording. During communication, the start and communication of the communication can be recognized by blinking and lighting of the telephone line display 13d or the serial communication display 13h. Then, a communication error is displayed in combination with the error display 13i.

Returning to FIG. 2, on the side surface 10c of the log terminal 10 shown in FIG.
5 and a serial interface 16 directly connectable to a computer 4a such as RS-232C or USB.
And a connector (jack) 17 for receiving power from an AC adapter serving as a main power supply. Although not shown in the figure, it is also possible to provide a connector for alarm output, so that a contact output linked to the alarm can be obtained and connected to an external device capable of outputting an alarm by sound or display. be able to.

On the bottom surface 10d of the log terminal 10 shown in FIG.
And a common ground terminal 19 for these analog input terminals.
In addition, a digital input terminal 20 for four channels and a ground terminal 21 common to these digital input terminals are arranged, and an analog input changeover switch 22 is arranged between them. Analog input terminal 1 for 4 channels
The digital input terminals 20 for 8 and 4 channels can be respectively connected to different sensors, that is, the measuring device 2. The log terminal 10 of this example has a total of 8 analog and 4 digital terminals. Measurement data from the sensor 2 can be received. The analog signal that can be input by the analog input switch 22 is 0-
It is possible to select either the current detection of 20 mV or the voltage detection of 0-5 V. Therefore,
The log terminal 10 of the present example has a highly versatile specification that allows output signals from almost all commercially available sensors to be directly input to the analog input terminal 18 or the digital input terminal 20.

The back surface 10 of the log terminal 10 shown in FIG.
e, a battery box 23 in which a lithium battery 25 serving as a sub power supply can be installed, and a card slot 24 in which the modem card 12 can be inserted are prepared.
3 can also be covered. Although the modem function can be built in the main body of the log terminal 10, the log terminal 10 of this example can improve the data transmission speed or use a higher quality transmission method by using a modem card. It has a flexible configuration so that a PHS modem card or a mobile phone modem card can be inserted and wirelessly connected to a public telephone network. When exchanging a modem card, it is necessary to initialize the log terminal (modem logger) 10, but that information can be transferred from the host computer 4a. Many modem cards 12 can receive data using the same protocol, so that data for initialization can be transferred over a telephone line.
Can be used.

Also, instead of the modem card 12, a LAN
By installing the card, it is possible to communicate via a computer network such as a LAN or the Internet instead of the public telephone network 3. Further, a recording device such as a CD-RAM may be connected to the card interface (card slot) 24. As described above, the log terminal 10 of the present embodiment does not have a built-in communication interface, but has a card type and is detachable. By making it possible, a flexible configuration can be accommodated.

FIG. 4 shows a schematic configuration of the log terminal 10. The log terminal 10 includes an analog input measurement unit 31 that measures a signal from a sensor connected to the analog input terminal 18 and a contact signal input unit 32 that measures a signal from a sensor connected to the digital input terminal 20. I have.
The analog input measuring unit 31 is capable of processing input signals of four channels. For each channel, a short-circuit FET switch 31a and an amplifier (voltage follower)
31b, a multiplexer 31c for switching and measuring these four channels, and an A / D converter 31d for converting an analog signal into a digital signal. In the analog signal input measurement unit 31 of the present example, switching to each channel is performed every 25 ms, and a signal input to each channel is measured at a sampling cycle (sampling interval, first time interval) of 100 ms to become measurement data. . In the log terminal of this example, an average of 10 samplings, that is, an average value of the measured value for one second is taken and output as measurement data.

The contact signal input section 32 measures ON / OFF of a contact by a power supply 32b isolated from an analog input, and outputs the measured signal via a photocoupler 32a. In the contact signal input unit 32, the edge sampling cycle can be selected from 10 ms or 30 ms. Furthermore, the event time resolution is set to 100 ms, and the measurement data is output as measurement data with almost the same accuracy as the analog signal input.

The input units 31 and 32 are controlled by a microcomputer (CPU) 33, and the measurement data is supplied to a recording unit 34 via the CPU 33 and recorded. The measurement data is also displayed on the LCD display 13 by the CPU 33. Furthermore, CPU3
3 determines whether the analog input signal is a voltage input or a current input for each channel by setting the changeover switch 22, and performs processing in accordance with the determination.

The recording unit 34 includes a data memory 34a in which the measurement data is recorded at a set time (a second time interval or a recording interval), and a non-volatile memory that protects the data set in the log terminal 10. 34b. The data memory 34a is also protected by the backup battery 25 even when the power supplied from the A / C adapter as the main power supply via the A / C connector 17 is stopped. In the recording section 34 of this example, an endless method of overwriting from the beginning when the recording area is full and a one-time method of stopping recording when the recording area is full can be adopted depending on the setting. Can be recorded as recording data. The recording interval can be set from 1 to 60 seconds in units of 1 second and from 1 to 60 minutes in units of 1 minute for both analog and digital signals. For analog signals, a method of recording without averaging the measurement data at each recording interval, a method of recording the average value of the measurement data at the recording interval, a method of recording the peak value (maximum value or minimum value) of the measurement data at the recording interval. (Selectable) recording method can be selected and set.

In the contact signal (digital signal), the number of pulses at the recording interval and the sum of the high and low levels of the recording interval can be selected and recorded. For digital signals, 4 inputs (4 channels)
, Two types of recording methods, a fixed interval and a signal period, can be selected. At regular intervals, the number of pulses or the sum of time is recorded at predetermined intervals as in the case of analog signals. In the signal synchronization, the polarity change of the measurement data is checked every second, and if there is a change in the polarity, the data is recorded at a time (resolution 1 second) from the start of recording. The polarity can be selected from three types: change to ON, change to OFF, and change to ON / OFF.

Further, the recording section 34 has a function as a power failure monitor. When the main power supply (A / C supply) is powered down, the CPU is operated by the backup power supply 25,
The power outage time is counted, and acquisition and recording of measurement data during that time stop. After the recovery, the power failure time is recorded, that is, the power failure start time and the power failure recovery time are recorded in the data memory 34a. Therefore, the data memory 3
When the recording data recorded in 4a is supplied to the host system 4, the host computer 4a can know whether or not there is a power failure during recording, and can perform an appropriate process on the power failure.

Further, an upper limit value and a lower limit value for each channel are recorded in the memory 34b.
Has a function as a monitoring unit that monitors measurement data supplied from the analog signal input measurement unit 31 and the contact signal input unit 32 for each channel. In the log terminal 10 of the present example, the upper limit value and the lower limit value for an analog signal can be set for each channel as a percentage of the full scale. For the digital signal, the upper limit value and the lower limit value for the number of pulses are set for each channel. it can.

Further, the CPU 33 also functions as an output unit for outputting data via the notification unit and the communication unit.
In the log terminal 10 of this example, an interface 16 controlled by an RS-232C controller 39 and a modem card 12 are prepared as communication means.

Further description will be made based on the block diagram shown in FIG. First, in the measuring section 31, an analog signal input from the analog input terminal 18 is sampled at a sampling interval of 100 ms by the analog signal measuring section 31 and further averaged every second. In practice, an added value of the measurement data sampled every second and a minimum value or a maximum value are created. On the other hand, a digital signal from the digital input terminal 20 is sampled at the contact signal input unit 32 at 10 ms, and changes in polarity and on / off polarity are detected to obtain measurement data. When noise (chattering) elimination is specified, if the polarity has not changed in three samplings, the polarity is made valid, the polarity is changed and the on / off polarity is detected for that polarity, and measurement is performed. Data. Then, measurement data of the number of pulses or the sum of the times of the designated polarity (resolution 100 ms) is created.

The measurement data φ1 is supplied to the recording unit 34 and the monitoring unit 36. In the recording unit 34,
By the method described above, data processed at each recording interval is recorded in the memory 34a as recording data. On the other hand, the monitoring unit 36, which is a function of the CPU 33, compares the upper limit value and the lower limit value. For analog signals, the upper limit, lower limit, and duration can be set in units of 1 second for each of the four channels.
When the measured data exceeds the upper limit value or the lower limit value and the state exceeds the duration, the notification function 37 is activated.

The digital signal can be monitored for a change in the number of pulses or a change in polarity. When the number of pulses is set as the monitoring condition, the monitoring interval can be set in addition to the upper and lower limits. For each monitoring interval, the upper limit and lower limit are compared with the number of pulses between the monitoring intervals, and the comparison result is displayed. Is greater than the set value, the notification function 37 is activated.
When a change in polarity is specified as the monitoring condition, the changed polarity and the duration of the changed polarity can be set for each of the specified inputs, and the polarity changes and the set duration after the change every second. The notification function 37 is activated when the comparison result exceeds the set duration.

The reporting function 37 of the log terminal 10 of this example is a CP
The notification output can be set independently for each of the four analog channels and the four digital channels. The types of notification are: a first method of outputting a fixed message to the external contact 15, a second method of outputting a fixed message to the serial interface 39, a third method of outputting a fixed message to a computer connected by a telephone line, and There is a fourth method of outputting an arbitrary message to a mobile phone or pager by a tone signal, and any of these methods can be selected. However, the output destinations are common to the eight channels, and the third method has one output destination, and the fourth method can have two output destinations. Therefore, when the notification is issued, the CPU 33 functioning as the output unit 38 of the log terminal 10 sends a notification message from the modem 12 or the RS232C interface 16 according to the condition set for the channel.

Therefore, the log terminal 10 of the present embodiment outputs a report from the modem 12 via the public telephone line 3 when there is an abnormality in the measurement data, thereby transmitting the report via the already established communication infrastructure. Can be transmitted to the computer 4a or the mobile phone 5 serving as the host terminal. In the computer 4a or the mobile phone 5, the telephone number transmitted by the log terminal 10 can be known by the telephone number notification provided by the management company of the public telephone network. For this reason, the log terminal 10 of the report source can be specified from the telephone number, and a report can be output in relation to the installation position. For example, if a mobile phone of an out-of-home user receives a notification from the home telephone number of a certain phenomenon, for example, that it has rained or that the room temperature has become abnormally high, it can be dealt with.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart summarizing the processing in the log terminal 10 described above. First, when the log terminal 10 operates, in step 61, when the sampling interval is reached, in step 62, the measurement unit 31 acquires measurement data by the method described above. If the measurement data is an analog signal, it is further processed at intervals of one second and treated as measurement data φ1. Next, for each channel, when the recording interval is reached in step 63, the recording unit 34 in step 64 causes the measurement data φ1
Is recorded in the memory 34a. At the same time, measurement data φ1
Is monitored by the monitoring unit 36 in step 65, reaches the upper limit value or the lower limit value, and when the condition for issuing an alarm in consideration of the condition such as the duration or the monitoring interval is established,
In step 66, a report is issued from the report section 37 and output via the output section 38. If the alarm is output via the telephone line, the notification can be output to the user's mobile phone or the like at this time.

On the other hand, when a command to download recording data is received from the host system 4 through the telephone line 3 in step 67, the recording data φ2 recorded in the memory 34a by the output unit 38 is transmitted to the modem 12 in step 68.
Is output through At this time, if the additional log terminal 10a is connected to the log terminal 10, the recording data φ2 recorded in the memory 34a of the additional log terminal 10a
Is output to the host system 4. The additional log terminal 10a is a serial interface RS232.
The C interface 16 is connected using the additional cable 11. Further, the log terminal 10
A synchronization signal is output to the added log terminal 10a,
RT for controlling the time at which data is recorded by the recording unit 34
A synchronization processing unit 10 for matching C (real time clock) 51 is provided.

If the log terminal 10 serving as the master unit and the log terminal 10a serving as the extension unit operate only with separate clocks, it is difficult to prevent an error of about 10 seconds to 1 minute in one month. . Therefore, if the time is different in each device, the timing of the data to be recorded will be shifted, and the time of the data recorded by the log terminal installed in the same place will be different. When such recording data is collected by the host system, data processing becomes troublesome, and also causes a processing result in which inconsistency occurs. On the other hand, the operation of the log terminal 10a on the extension side is
The above problem can be solved by collectively managing the RTC 51 on the 0 side, but the log terminal 10a on the extension side
When the time is different from the own RTC, the time of the recorded data may be discontinuous or the time may be inconsistent. On the other hand, as in this example, the RTC
Is synchronized, the measurement can be continued at the same time after the separation, so that no inconsistency occurs. Instead of incorporating the RTC 51, the time can be calculated by counting the internal clock of the CPU 33. However, in this case, if the internal clock of the CPU 33 is not synchronized, the same problem as described above may occur. On the other hand, the same problem can be solved by providing the synchronization processing unit 50.

In the log terminal 10 of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 7, the 25 ms timer interrupt of the CPU 33 is used for the synchronization process, and the 50 ms is used for the 25 ms timer interrupt φr.
The synchronization signal φs of s is generated and exchanged between the base unit 10 and the extension unit 10a, and the value of the 2-bit internal counter φc of the CPU of the extension unit 10a is made equal to the value of the internal counter φc of the base unit. That is, as shown in FIG. 8, in the interrupt processing of 25 ms, the value of the internal counter φc is advanced in steps 71 and 72 and every 100 ms when the counter φc becomes 0,
A 100 ms process (step 73) such as a 0.1 second timer, a 1 second timer, and a calendar timer is performed.
On the other hand, in steps 74, 75 and 76, a synchronizing signal φs which is inverted in 50 ms is generated. Step 7
7, when the value of the internal counter φc is advanced, the synchronization signal of the master unit is read in step 78, and if an edge is detected in step 79, the internal counter φc is detected in step 80.
Is forcibly set to 2 and the internal counter φc
Aligned to. On the other hand, if no edge is detected in step 79, the value of the internal counter φc of the extension machine advances as it is, and a unique clock advances. In addition, the master unit can also detect the synchronization signal φs of the extension unit, and can determine whether the extension unit is connected by detecting the presence or absence of an edge of the synchronization signal φs. And
When the extension device 10a is connected, the data recorded in the memory of the extension device 10a is also transmitted to the host system 4 as described above.

Returning to FIG. 6, the log terminal 1 of this example is further described.
0, if a power failure is detected in step 69,
0 performs power failure processing. In the power failure process, as described above,
The recording unit 34 records the time (first time) when the power failure occurred in the memory 34a and the time (second time) when the power was restored. At the same time, the functions of the measuring unit 35, the recording unit 34, the monitoring unit 36, the notification unit 37, and the like are all stopped, and the CPU 33 performs the intermittent operation with the backup lithium battery 25. During this time, 1
It updates the elapsed time from the start of recording at intervals of seconds and monitors the recovery from power failure. Further, the synchronization process is not performed because power consumption increases. Therefore, the clocks of the master unit and the extension unit operate independently during the power failure, and there is a possibility that a time difference occurs. However, there is almost no effect when considering that the chance of the power failure occurring is short. On the other hand, by recording the time of the power failure in the memory 34a, the host system 4 can recognize that the power failure has occurred during that period by merely outputting the recording data φ2 to the host system 4,
The processing corresponding thereto can be performed. Therefore, in the log terminal 10, there is no need to record unstable data during a power failure, so that it is possible to prevent wasting the area of the memory 34a and wasting the output of the backup battery 25.

FIG. 9 shows the initial setting of the log terminal 10,
An outline of the processing of the dedicated communication program 9 for controlling the log terminal 10 from the host system 4 is shown in a flowchart. First, in step 91, the log terminal 10 is connected to the host computer 4a using the serial interface 16 or is connected via the telephone line 3 using the modem card 24 to perform initialization. Initial settings include the process of registering the installation location (name and telephone line station number) to which the log terminal (hereafter, modem logger) is connected, and the process of recording signals from the sensor on each channel (recording Setting) and the process of setting a report (report setting)
And a process of setting for automatically downloading recorded data (download setting).

The registration of the setting position is a registration process of the modem logger, and includes the telephone number assigned to the modem logger,
An installation position or a name by which the installation position can be identified is assigned to each modem logger, and the modem logger is registered in the communication program 9.

The recording setting is a process for setting the recording of each channel according to the input device 2 connected to the modem logger 10. When the check box of each channel displayed in the initial setting is checked, it can be set assuming that the device is connected. Also, once the recording settings are made, all the recorded data in the modem logger will be discarded,
A new recording is started. Items that can be set for each channel in the recording settings include a recording interval (second time interval), a line disconnection time, and a recording method. The circuit disconnection time defines the time until the modem logger 10 ends the communication without data transmission / reception. As a recording method,
As described above, for each channel of the analog signal input, any one of the sample value of the measurement data at each recording interval (unprocessed data), the average value of the measurement data within the recording interval, and the peak value of the measurement data within the recording interval Can be selected. Also, the value of the full scale (upper limit and lower limit) is set. As for the contact signal (digital signal), a full scale value and a unit can be set for recording the number of pulses. Also,
The alarm setting can also be set by the scale value set by the user.
In addition, for each contact signal input channel, a method of counting and recording the number of pulses within the recording interval, a method of recording the sum of time at the level specified within the recording interval, and detecting the edge specified by signal synchronization One of the methods of recording the relative number of seconds from the start of the recording can be selected. Further, conditions for identifying digital signals such as a value of one pulse, a unit of one pulse, and a detection level (edge) can be input.

The report setting is a process for setting monitoring contents to the modem logger 10 so that a report can be transmitted to a personal computer / mobile phone / pager. Items that can be set for each channel are an upper limit value and a lower limit value for monitoring, and a value larger than the lower limit value for monitoring within the full scale range input in the recording setting is input. At this time, if it is the same as the full scale upper limit value, no monitoring is performed. Similarly, the monitoring lower limit value is smaller than the monitoring upper limit value within the range of the full scale. If the monitoring lower limit value is the same as the full scale lower limit value, the monitoring is not performed. further,
A character string indicating an upper limit value and a lower limit value can be set so that the content of the alarm can be easily understood when the alarm from the modem logger 10 is displayed by a communication program or the like. Also, the modem logger 10 of the present embodiment always records 0 to 4095 as full scale, so that the host computer 4
In a, the full scale value for replacing the recording data with the actual scale is recorded in the modem logger 10. Similarly, record the full scale units.

Further, all the parameters necessary for starting the above-mentioned notification, such as the duration from the upper and lower limit values to the notification, are set. It is also possible to set, for each channel, whether to monitor the upper limit value and whether to monitor the lower limit value. Whether to enable the external output (contact output) when it deviates from the monitoring range (upper / lower limit) as an external output, and when the output deviates from the monitoring range (upper / lower limit) or when there is a level change Whether or not to report can also be set.

Furthermore, it is possible to set whether or not to notify when the backup battery has reached the end of its life and whether to notify when returning from a power failure. The same setting applies to the extension machine 1
When 0a is connected, it can be performed also for an extension machine.

Next, a report destination is set. The report destination can be selected from the host computer 4a, the mobile phone 5, or a pager, and a report message can be set for each channel. Therefore, the telephone number and message of the destination (PC / mobile phone / pager) to which the modem logger 10 reports are registered. If you call your mobile phone directly,
The number of the mobile phone that is to receive the report message sent by the modem logger 10 is set. When the mobile phone is called via the mail center, the telephone number and connection number of the mail center are set.

The siphoning setting sets a process of siphoning recording data from the modem logger 10 at a regular interval or at a designated time according to an instruction from the host computer 4a. As a sucking method, you can suck at a regular time every day, or
Downloading can be selected at regular intervals, and can be set for each channel you want to download. The same applies to additional machines.

When these settings are completed, a communication test is further performed. The host computer 4a instructs the modem logger 10 to call back the host 4a. If there is a call from the modem logger 10 within the specified time, the operating environment is determined to be good. When the initial setting is completed by the processing described above, the modem logger 10 starts operating and records and monitors data from the sensor 2.

When the measurement data obtained from the sensor 2 matches the conditions for outputting a message, a message is output in step 92. Upon receiving a report (alarm) from the modem logger 10 of the present embodiment, the communication program 9 obtains the address of the modem logger 10 included in the communication for transmitting the report in step 93, in this case, a telephone number notification. Recognize the modem logger 10 that is outputting the message. Then, in step 94, the channel on which the notification of the modem logger 10 has occurred becomes an active display, and a message character is displayed. The contents to be displayed include the installation location name of the modem logger 10, the channel number, the measurement value serving as the source of the report, the lower and upper monitoring limit values, the date and time of occurrence, and the like. In the case of a battery life warning, a message to that effect and the date and time of occurrence are displayed, and in the case of recovery from a power failure, a message to that effect and the date and time of occurrence are displayed. The same applies to the case where a notification is displayed on the mobile phone 5.

During the recording of the measurement data, step 9
When an instruction to download data recorded in the modem logger 10 to the host computer 4a is issued to the host computer 4a in units of channels at 5 or when the timing set for automatic copying is reached at step 96, processing to download recorded data is performed at step 97. Is performed. When a manual download instruction is issued, the modem logger 1 displayed as an icon on the main screen of the communication program 9 or the like is used.
By selecting 0 or its installation location, the recorded data can be downloaded from the modem logger 10. A mode is also provided in which a data request is made at a period of about one second during line connection, and the current data of each channel is acquired and displayed. Furthermore, in the modem logger 10,
There is a case where data cannot be prepared immediately even if there is a request for data at present. For example, it is impossible to send back data in real time because the result is obtained after counting the pulses for a certain period of time. Therefore, a specification for returning the newest data among the recorded data is also prepared.

The recorded analog signal recorded data is converted to the actual full scale on the host computer (personal computer) side. When the recording data is downloaded, the full scale value and the full scale unit set at the time of the recording setting are returned to the information frame, so that the scale conversion can be performed based on these values. Further, the power failure data included in the recording data is written to the recording data file as it is and analyzed later. When the number of pulses is recorded, the value of the recording data of the contact signal is converted into an actual physical quantity on the personal computer side. When the print data is downloaded, one pulse value and one pulse unit set at the time of the print setting are returned in the information frame, so that the physical quantity conversion can be performed based on this. When the recorded data that records the total time of the specified level is downloaded, it is converted into a numerical value such as seconds on the personal computer side.

The date and time when the recording was started is calculated by the following equation, and the date and time when the individual recording data was recorded is specified.

Recording start date and time = personal computer date and time− (number of data−1) × recording interval−time elapsed since last recording (1) The log terminal 10 of the present embodiment is obtained by using such a communication program 9.
Can be initialized, a notification can be displayed on the personal computer 4a, and data recorded by the log terminal 10 can be analyzed by downloading recorded data from the log terminal 10. The communication program 9 is a program having instructions capable of executing the above-described processing, and can be provided by being recorded on a suitable recording medium such as the CD-ROM 4d, as described above.

In the above example, the log terminal 10 is connected to the public telephone network 3, but it can also be connected to a computer network open to the public such as the Internet. In the Internet, an IP address for identifying a device connected to the Internet is assigned to each log terminal 1 like a telephone number.
It can be used to identify 0. And
Since the source IP address is always included in the IP header of the communication packet and arrives at the destination, each log terminal 10 can be identified by the protocol for communicating via the Internet. In particular, the range in which an IP address can be allocated by IPv6 increases, so that each log terminal 10 can have an IP address.

[0059]

As described above, the log terminal of the present invention is a terminal in which functions required for automatic measurement such as measurement, recording, monitoring, reporting, and communication are packaged into one. By simply connecting a measuring device provided with a sensor to the log terminal of the present invention, it is possible to download recorded data via a public telephone line or the Internet, and to receive an alarm. Therefore, a data logger system (recording, monitoring, and alarm system) that measures various physical quantities to be measured such as temperature, humidity, and rainfall, and records and reports abnormalities should be constructed with a very simple configuration and at low cost. Can be.

Further, since publicly available lines or infrastructures such as public telephone lines or the Internet are used as means for outputting the recorded data and the report by communication, no special equipment or permission is required. By employing the log terminal of the present invention, a data logger system can be constructed very easily. Further, in order to use a telephone number or an IP address used for specifying a transmission destination in such a communication infrastructure open to the public as information for identifying a log terminal, a telephone number notification or an Internet protocol is used. The originating log terminal can be identified by the established general-purpose service or protocol. In this respect, a highly reliable and economical data logger system can be provided by the present invention.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of a data logger system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an outline of a log terminal (modem logger) according to the present invention, wherein FIG. 2 (a) is a front view, FIG. 2 (b) is a side view, and FIG. 2 (c) is a bottom view. 2D is a rear view.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a display of the log terminal shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration inside a log terminal shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of a log terminal illustrated in FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a process in the log terminal shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an outline of a method of synchronizing when an additional device is connected to a log terminal.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a synchronization process.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an outline of processing of a communication program installed on the host side.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Instrumentation logger system (data logger system) 2 Measuring equipment (sensor) 3 Public telephone network 4 Host system, 4a Host computer (PC) 5 Mobile phone 10 Log terminal (base unit), 10a Log terminal for extension (extension unit) 12) Modem card 13 LCD 18 Analog signal input terminal 20 Digital signal input terminal (contact signal input terminal) 31 Analog signal input measurement section 32 Digital signal input measurement section 34 Recording section, 34a memory 35 Measurement section 36 Monitoring section 37 Notification section 38 Output unit 50 Synchronous processing unit

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2F070 AA01 CC06 CC08 CC11 DD09 DD14 FF04 FF12 GG07 HH07 HH08 2F073 AA23 AB01 AB02 BB09 BB20 BC01 CC03 CC09 CC10 CC12 CC14 DD02 DE07 DE13 EE11 EF07 FF16 FG01 GG02 GG04 GG04 GG09

Claims (15)

[Claims] 1. A measuring means capable of measuring a signal from at least one measuring device that outputs a signal corresponding to a state of a measurement target at a first time interval and acquiring measurement data; Recording means capable of recording in a memory at time intervals; monitoring means capable of comparing the measurement data with an upper limit value and / or a lower limit value; and outputting a report when the measurement data exceeds the upper limit value or the lower limit value. A log terminal having a notifying unit that outputs the notifying and / or recording data recorded in the memory to a predetermined receiving destination via a communication unit that can specify the address of the log terminal at the receiving destination. A log terminal further comprising means. 2. The log terminal according to claim 1, wherein said recording means is capable of recording, when a digital signal corresponding to the state of said measurement target is input, a time at which said digital signal has changed in said memory. 3. The log terminal according to claim 1, further comprising a unit capable of receiving a command instructing transmission of said recording data addressed to an address assigned to said log terminal. 4. The log terminal according to claim 1, wherein said address is a telephone number, and said communication means is a modem communicating via a public telephone line. 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the address is an IP address.
A log terminal which is an address and wherein said communication means is a network interface for communicating via the Internet. 6. The memory according to claim 1, wherein the recording means stores a first time at which the main power supply is interrupted by a sub power supply when the main power supply is interrupted, and a second time at which the power supply of the main power supply is restored. And the output means outputs the recorded data including the first and second times. 7. The output unit according to claim 1, further comprising: an input / output interface capable of adding another log terminal; and a synchronization unit for outputting a synchronization signal to the other log terminal via the input / output interface. Is a log terminal that outputs the recorded data of the other log terminal following the recorded data when the other log terminal is connected. 8. A signal from a measuring device that outputs a signal corresponding to a state of a measurement target is measured, the measured data is recorded and monitored, and when the measured data exceeds an upper limit value or a lower limit value, a source A log terminal that outputs a report to a predetermined destination by a communication means whose address can be specified by a destination; and when the report is received from the log terminal, the log terminal is installed from the source address obtained by the communication. A data logger system comprising: a host terminal that specifies a position and outputs the notification in association with the specified installation position. 9. The data logger system according to claim 8, wherein said host terminal can specify the address of said log terminal and acquire data recorded in said log terminal by said communication means. 10. The data logger system according to claim 8, wherein said address is a telephone number, and said log terminal communicates with said host terminal via a public telephone network. 11. The method according to claim 8, wherein the address is I
A data logger system which is a P address, and wherein the log terminal communicates with the host terminal via the Internet. 12. A signal from a measuring device that outputs a signal corresponding to a state of a measurement target is measured, the measured data is recorded and monitored, and when the measured data exceeds an upper limit value or a lower limit value, a source Receiving a report from a log terminal that outputs a report to a predetermined destination by communication means that can specify the address of the log terminal, and specifying the installation position of the log terminal from the source address obtained by the communication And outputting the notification in association with the specified installation position. 13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according to claim 12, further comprising an instruction for designating an address of the log terminal and obtaining the data recorded in the log terminal by the communication unit. 14. The program according to claim 12, wherein the address is a telephone number, and communicates with the log terminal via a public telephone network. 15. The program according to claim 12, wherein the address is an IP address, and communicates with the log terminal via the Internet.