JP2002214004A - Flow meter and inner tube leak displaying control method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a flow meter and an inner tube leak displaying control method that can prevent that inner tube leak continues for a long term to improve safety by expecting the occurrence of the inner tube leak in advance. SOLUTION: A gas meter 10 comprises a flow rate detecting part 12 that detects a gas flow rate of a piping 1, a flow rate computing part 21 that computes the flow rate based on a flow rate signal corresponding to the flow rate from the flow rate detecting part 12, a displaying part 14 that displays the flow rate, a memory 24 that memorizes an inner tube leak detecting flow rate value, and a judgment processing part 25. When an average value every prescribed time of flow rates that are computed by the flow rate computing part 21 is larger than the inner tube leak detecting flow rate value that is memorized in the memory 24, the judgment processing part 25 judges the number of continuous days with the average flow rate value larger than the inner tube leak detecting flow rate value to display information corresponding to the number of the continuous days judged.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a flow meter having a function of notifying the occurrence of an inner pipe leak when the inner pipe leaks in a pipe, and a method of controlling the display of the inner pipe leak.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, in addition to a function of measuring a pressure and a flow rate of a fluid such as a gas flowing in a flow path in a pipe as a flow meter, a microcomputer is mounted, and abnormalities such as gas leakage occur in the pipe. A gas meter having a function of displaying information indicating an abnormality when the gas meter is operated has been put to practical use. FIG. 10 is a front view of the appearance of a gas meter having such a function. This gas meter 100
Is a case 101 that houses a pressure sensor, a flow sensor (not shown), a shutoff valve for closing a gas flow path when gas leaks, and a control unit that controls operations of the shutoff valve and the like. And a case 102 for accommodating the same. On the front surface of the case 102, a return button 103 for returning the gas flow path when the gas flow path is closed by the shut-off valve, and, for example, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Displa).
y; a liquid crystal display). The display unit 104 includes flow rate information 104A indicating an integrated flow rate value, and information indicating an abnormality when an abnormality such as gas leakage occurs (for example, “N” indicates inner pipe leakage information indicating an inner pipe leak described later) 104B. Is displayed. A gas introduction pipe 105 for introducing gas and a gas discharge pipe 106 for discharging gas are connected to an upper portion of the case 102.

[0003] By the way, with the recent increase in the number of 24-hour stores and restaurants, the number of consumers who use gas continuously for 24 hours is increasing. In such consumers, gas is always flowing in the piping,
In the above gas meter 100, when the gas flow continues for a predetermined period of time, there is a suspicion of gas leakage on the downstream side, it is determined that the inner pipe is leaking, and the display 104 is displayed without closing the flow path. The above-mentioned inner pipe leakage information (for example, “N”) is displayed to call attention to the outside. Here, the inner pipe leakage means that there is no abnormality in the flow rate and pressure of the gas in the pipe, but it is recognized that the gas is used (flows) continuously for a predetermined period (for example, 30 days). That is the case.

For example, among the gas meters 100 described above, in the case of a fluidic gas meter, the inner pipe leakage information is displayed as follows (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 8-6).
2002 publication). First, for example, the average flow rate of gas for every 120 seconds is calculated, and it is determined whether or not the calculated average flow rate is equal to or more than a predetermined flow rate (for example, 3 liters / hour). If the result of this determination is not less than the predetermined flow rate, it is determined whether or not this predetermined flow rate has continued for, for example, 30 days. as a result,
If it has been continued for 30 days, the internal pipe leakage information ("N") is displayed on the display unit. Here, when the gas meter is connected to the command center through a communication line such as a telephone line, transmission of inner pipe leakage information to the command center is also performed.

[0005]

As described above, the inner pipe leakage information is displayed on the display unit when the gas flow at a flow rate of 3 liters / hour or more continues for 30 days. Therefore, the occurrence of the inner pipe leakage in the pipe cannot be detected until 30 days have elapsed since the start of the gas flow at such a flow rate. Also, in the case of a gas meter that is not connected to the command center through a communication line, the operator checks the information displayed on the display unit at the time of meter reading to check whether there is leakage of the inner pipe,
For example, if the meter reading is performed only once a month, there may be a case where the occurrence of the leak of the inner tube cannot be detected for a maximum of about two months. If the operator has overlooked the inner tube leak information at the time of meter reading, the gas flow will continue for a longer period of time. However, such a gas flow (leakage of the inner pipe) is prolonged (about 2
For more than a month) is not preferable from the viewpoint of safety.

The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to prevent the inner pipe leakage from continuing for a long period of time by predicting the occurrence of the inner pipe leakage in advance, thereby improving safety. It is an object of the present invention to provide a flow meter and an inner pipe leakage display control method capable of improving the flow rate.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A flow meter according to the present invention comprises:
Measuring means for measuring the flow rate of the fluid flowing in the pipe, display means for displaying the flow rate, and determining whether or not the flow rate of the fluid is equal to or higher than a predetermined flow rate based on the measurement result of the measuring means, And a determination processing means for displaying, on the display means, information indicating the duration of the flow of the fluid at or above the predetermined flow rate until the inner pipe leaks when the flow rate is equal to or more than the predetermined flow rate.

An inner pipe leakage display control method according to the present invention is performed by a flow meter provided with a display unit for displaying a flow rate. The flow rate of a fluid flowing in a pipe is measured, and the fluid is measured based on the measurement result. Determines whether the flow rate of the fluid is equal to or greater than a predetermined flow rate, and, when the flow rate of the fluid is equal to or greater than the predetermined flow rate, displays information indicating a duration of the fluid flow of the predetermined flow rate or more until the inner pipe leakage occurs. This is to be displayed in the section.

In this flow meter or the inner pipe leakage display control method, the flow rate of the fluid flowing through the pipe is measured, and it is determined based on the measurement result whether the flow rate of the fluid is equal to or more than a predetermined flow rate. Then, when the flow rate of the fluid is equal to or more than the predetermined flow rate, information indicating the duration of the flow of the fluid having the predetermined flow rate or more until the inner pipe leakage occurs is displayed on the display unit. Thereby, the occurrence of the inner pipe leakage is predicted in advance.

In this flow meter, the determination processing means may calculate an average flow rate within a predetermined time as the flow rate of the fluid, and determine whether the average flow rate is equal to or more than the predetermined flow rate.

In this flow meter, the determination processing means includes:
Preferably, the predetermined flow rate is 3 liters / hour, and it is preferable to determine whether the fluid flow rate is 3 liters / hour or more.

In this flow meter, it is preferable that the display means comprises a liquid crystal display.

In this inner pipe leak display control method, the average flow rate within a predetermined time may be used as the fluid flow rate.

Further, in this inner pipe leakage display control method, the predetermined flow rate is preferably 3 liter / hour.

[0015]

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

FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of a gas meter as a flow meter according to an embodiment of the present invention, together with a configuration of a peripheral portion thereof. The gas meter 10 measures the flow rate of gas flowing through a flow path in a pipe, and displays inner pipe leak information when an inner pipe leak occurs. Note that the inner pipe leak display control method according to the present embodiment is embodied by the operation of the gas meter 10, and will be described below together.

The gas meter 10 includes a shut-off valve 11, a flow detecting unit 12, a pressure sensor 13, a display unit 14, and a control unit 15.
It has. The shut-off valve 11, the flow detection unit 12, and the pressure sensor 13 are provided in the pipe 1, respectively. Piping 1
The gas appliance 3 is provided on the downstream side of the gas meter 10 via the appliance plug 2. Gas is measured by gas meter 10
From the upstream side toward the instrument plug 2 side.

The shutoff valve 11 is electrically openable and closable, and opens or closes a gas flow path. The flow rate detection unit 12 is configured by, for example, a fluidic flow meter, detects the flow rate of gas flowing downstream of the shutoff valve 11 in the pipe 1, and outputs a flow rate signal corresponding to the detected flow rate to the control unit 15. Has become. The pressure sensor 13 detects the pressure of the gas flowing on the downstream side of the shut-off valve 11 and outputs a pressure signal indicating the detected pressure to the control circuit 1.
5 is output. The display unit 14 is, for example, an LCD
The integrated flow rate and inner pipe leak information, which will be described later, are displayed.

FIG. 2 shows the schematic configuration of the control unit 15 together with the configuration of its peripheral parts. The control unit 15 is configured by a microcomputer, for example, and monitors the presence or absence of leakage of the inner pipe in the pipe 1. The control unit 15 includes a flow rate calculation unit 21, a flow rate integration unit 22, a shutoff valve driving circuit 23, a memory 24, The determination unit 25 is provided.
The flow rate calculation section 21 calculates the gas flow rate based on the flow rate signal output from the flow rate detection section 12 and outputs the calculation result to the flow rate integration section 22 and the determination processing section 25, respectively. The flow rate accumulating unit 22 includes
The integrated flow rate is output to the display unit 14. The shut-off valve drive circuit 23
Under the control of the determination processing unit 25, the shutoff valve 11 is opened and closed. The memory 24 stores an upper limit value and a lower limit value of a predetermined pressure range in the pipe 1, an inner pipe leak detection flow rate value, and the like. This inner pipe leakage detection flow rate value is a reference flow rate (for example, 3 liters / liter) for detecting inner pipe leakage.
Time). Here, the “measurement unit” of the present invention is constituted by the flow rate detection unit 12 and the flow rate calculation unit 21.

Based on the pressure detected by the pressure sensor 13 and the flow rate calculated by the flow rate calculating section 21, the determination processing section 25 controls the display of the inner pipe leak on the display section 14 and shuts off the shutoff valve 11 for opening and closing. It controls the operation of the valve drive circuit 23 and has a timer 24A. The timer 24A measures time from a predetermined time.

Next, the operation of the gas meter 10 configured as described above will be described.

FIG. 3 shows the flow of the inner pipe leakage display control processing by the determination processing section 25. The determination processing unit 25
For example, an average value of the flow rate calculated by the flow rate calculation unit 21 for every predetermined time (for example, 120 seconds) is calculated, and the calculated average flow rate value is the inner pipe leak detection flow rate value (3 liter / hour) stored in the memory 24. ) It is determined whether or not it is above (step S1). When the average flow rate value is equal to or greater than the leak detection flow rate value (Y), the determination processing section 25 causes the timer 25A to start measuring time from the time of this determination. Then, the determination processing unit 25 determines the number of continuous days of the average flow rate equal to or more than the inner pipe leak detection flow rate based on the measurement result by the timer 25A (Step S2).

As a result of this determination, if the number of continuation days is, for example, 5 days or less, as shown in FIG. 4, the integrated flow value ("123456") 31A is displayed on the display screen 30 of the display unit 14.
Only display. For example, when the continuation days are within 6 to 15 days, as shown in FIG.
Information 32A indicating that the number of continuous days is within 6 to 15 days is displayed together with the integrated flow rate value ("123556") 31B (step S3). For example, 16 days to 2 days
If it is within nine days, as shown in FIG. 6, information 32B indicating that the number of continuous days is within 16 to 29 days is displayed on the display screen 30 together with the integrated flow rate value (“123656”) 31C. (Step S4). If the continuation period is, for example, 30 days or more, the integrated flow value (“123756”) 31D is displayed on the display screen 30 as shown in FIG.
And information 3 indicating that the number of continuation days is 30 days or more.
2C is displayed (step S5). This information 32C corresponds to the above-mentioned inner pipe leakage information. In the information 32A, 32B, and 32C shown in FIGS. 5, 6, and 7,
The solid line portion is displayed on the display unit 14, whereas the broken line portion is shown for convenience of explanation, and
Are not displayed on the screen.

If the average flow rate value is smaller than the inner pipe leak detection flow rate value during the above described inner pipe leak display control processing, the timer 25A stops measuring the time and resets the timer 25A. Thereafter, when the average flow rate value becomes equal to or more than the inner pipe leak detection flow rate value, the determination processing unit 25 sets the timer 25A.
The measurement of the time is started again, the above-described number of days is determined, and information indicating the number of days is displayed on the display unit 14.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the piping 1
When the flow rate of the gas flowing through the inner pipe is equal to or more than the inner pipe leak detection flow rate, the display unit 14 displays information indicating the duration of the fluid flow equal to or more than the inner pipe leak detection flow rate until the inner pipe leak occurs. I have to. Therefore, it is possible to quickly find the pipe 1 in which there is a possibility of leakage of the inner pipe, and to monitor such a pipe 1 suspected of leaking the inner pipe from an early stage. Further, it is possible to confirm a period until the inner pipe leakage occurs. As a result, it is possible to quickly detect the leakage of the inner pipe, and it is possible to improve safety.

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications are possible. For example, in the above embodiment, the period (30 days) until the inner pipe leak occurs is set to 4 days.
And the information corresponding to the number of continuous days is displayed on the display unit (note that the information is not displayed when the number of continuous days is 5 days or less). Finally, the inner pipe leakage information (“N”) is displayed. Although it is displayed, as shown in FIG. 8, a number ("5") 33 directly representing the number of continuous days may be displayed on the display screen 30 of the display unit 14 together with the integrated flow rate value 31A. Good. Here, “5” means that the number of continuous days is five days.

As shown in FIG. 9, alphabetic characters are assigned according to the number of continuous days, and an alphabetical character (“G”) 34 indicating the number of continuous days is displayed on the display unit 14 together with the integrated flow rate value 31A. It can be displayed on the screen 30. Here, “A” is 1 day, “B” is 2
Day, "Z" is 26 days, "a" is 27 days, "b" is 2
On the 8th, “c” means 29th, and “*” means 30th. Therefore, the character ("G") 34 shown in FIG.
Indicates that the elapsed days are 7 days.

[0028]

As described above, according to the flow meter or the inner pipe leak display control method of the present invention, the flow rate of the fluid flowing through the pipe is measured, and the flow rate of the fluid is set to a predetermined flow rate based on the measurement result. It is determined whether or not the above is the case, and when the flow rate of the fluid is equal to or more than the predetermined flow rate, information indicating the duration of the fluid flow of the predetermined flow rate or more until the inner pipe leakage occurs is displayed on the display unit. Therefore, it is possible to predict in advance the occurrence of inner pipe leakage.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a gas meter as a flow meter according to an embodiment of the present invention, together with a configuration of a peripheral portion thereof.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a control unit of the gas meter shown in FIG. 1 together with a configuration of a peripheral portion thereof.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a flow of an inner pipe leakage display control process performed by a determination processing unit illustrated in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a display example on a display unit according to an inner pipe leakage display control process illustrated in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a display example on a display unit according to an inner pipe leakage display control process illustrated in FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a display example on a display unit according to an inner pipe leakage display control process illustrated in FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a display example on a display unit by the inner pipe leakage display control process illustrated in FIG. 3;

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a display example on a display unit according to another inner pipe leakage display control process.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a display example on a display unit according to another inner pipe leakage display control process.

FIG. 10 is a front view of the appearance of a conventional gas meter.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Piping, 2 ... Instrument plug, 3 ... Gas appliance, 10 ... Gas meter, 11 ... Shut-off valve, 12 ... Flow detecting part, 13 ... Pressure sensor, 14 ... Display part, 15 ... Control part, 21 ... Flow rate calculating part,
22: flow rate integrating unit, 23: shutoff valve drive circuit, 24: memory, 25: determination processing unit, 25A: timer.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) G01F 15/06 G01F 15/06 G01M 3/28 G01M 3/28 A F-term (Reference) 2F030 CB02 CC13 CE02 CE22 CE25 CE27 CF05 CF11 CF20 2F031 AA01 AB01 AF04 AF10 2G067 AA11 BB12 DD04 EE09 EE11 3J071 AA02 BB11 BB14 CC11 DD30 EE07 EE18 EE24 EE25 EE38 FF03

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A measuring means for measuring a flow rate of a fluid flowing in a pipe, a display means for displaying a flow rate, and whether or not the flow rate of the fluid is equal to or more than a predetermined flow rate based on a measurement result of the measuring means. Determining, when the flow rate of the fluid is equal to or more than a predetermined flow rate, determining processing means for displaying, on the display means, information indicating a duration of a flow of the fluid having a predetermined flow rate or more until an inner pipe leak occurs. Flowmeter characterized by the above-mentioned. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the determination processing means calculates an average flow rate within a predetermined time as the flow rate of the fluid, and determines whether the average flow rate is equal to or more than a predetermined flow rate. Flow meter. 3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the determination processing means sets the predetermined flow rate to 3
The flowmeter according to claim 1, wherein the flow rate is set to 1 liter / hour, and it is determined whether or not the flow rate of the fluid is 3 liter / hour or more. 4. The flowmeter according to claim 1, wherein said display means comprises a liquid crystal display. 5. An inner pipe leak display control method using a flow meter having a display unit for displaying a flow rate, wherein a flow rate of a fluid flowing in the pipe is measured, and the flow rate of the fluid is determined based on a result of the measurement. It is determined whether or not the flow rate is equal to or more than a predetermined flow rate.If the flow rate of the fluid is equal to or more than the predetermined flow rate, the display unit displays information indicating a duration of the flow of the fluid having the predetermined flow rate or more until the inner pipe leakage occurs. An internal pipe leakage display control method characterized in that the display is performed on a display. 6. The method according to claim 5, wherein an average flow rate within a predetermined time is used as the flow rate of the fluid. 7. The method according to claim 5, wherein the predetermined flow rate is 3 liters / hour.