JP2005061773A - Battery voltage detecting method of flowmeter - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To accurately detect a voltage drop in a battery power source, without being influenced by the environmental temperature, in a microcomputer gas meter having a stepping motor type cutoff valve. <P>SOLUTION: A battery voltage detecting device 1 periodically makes a driving pulse signal flow to driving coils 4a and 4b of the stepping motor type cutoff valve 4 under the control of a controller 2; sends out a signal for expressing the effect from an element 6, when generating driving coil voltage becomes a predetermined value or less of the voltage detecting element 6; detects reduction in battery voltage by inputting this signal to the controller 2; and can accurately detect reduction in the battery voltage, without being influenced by a change in driving coil resistance caused by a change in the environmental temperature, and a fluctuation in the respective driving coil resistances. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a battery voltage detection method capable of accurately detecting a decrease in battery voltage in a flow meter such as a gas meter equipped with a controller comprising a microcomputer and a battery power supply or a fluid passage blocking system.

  As a flow meter, for example, a gas meter, a so-called microcomputer gas meter having a built-in controller composed of a microcomputer is known. The microcomputer gas meter is configured to forcibly cut off the gas supply by closing the shut-off valve when the controller detects an abnormality based on outputs from a seismic instrument, a pressure sensor, or the like. As the shutoff valve, an electromagnetic actuator shutoff valve such as a stepping motor shutoff valve is employed.

  Here, a battery power source is generally employed as a power source for the microcomputer gas meter. Since normal operation cannot be guaranteed if the battery runs out, etc., the battery power supply voltage is periodically detected. If the battery voltage drops below the specified value, a warning display is basically displayed for 40 days and then shut off. I try to let them. In addition, there are those that only display warnings and those that shut off immediately.

  A conventional voltage detection method for a battery power source in a microcomputer gas meter equipped with an electromagnetic actuator type shut-off valve uses a pseudo resistance. That is, a pseudo resistor corresponding to the drive coil of the shut-off valve that consumes the largest current in the microcomputer gas meter is arranged, a pulse current is periodically passed through the pseudo resistor, and the battery voltage is detected based on the voltage at both ends.

  FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a battery voltage detection circuit mounted on the microcomputer gas meter. As shown in this figure, the battery voltage detection circuit 100 is configured around a controller 102 of a microcomputer gas meter. A motor valve drive circuit 103 is connected to the output side of the controller 102 and is shut off by the motor valve drive circuit 103. The valve 104 is driven to open and close. The shutoff valve 104 is an electromagnetic actuator shutoff valve, for example, a stepping motor shutoff valve. By supplying a driving pulse current to the drive coils 105a and 105b of the stepping motor 105, the shutoff valve 104 is opened and Switching control to the closed position is possible. Electric power is supplied to the controller 102 and the stepping motor type shut-off valve 104 by a battery power source 106.

  A pseudo resistor 107 is connected to the battery power source 106, and power can be supplied to the pseudo resistor 107 from the battery power source 106 side through a switching transistor 108 that is on / off controlled by the controller 102. The voltage generated in the pseudo resistor 107 during power feeding can be detected by the voltage detection circuit 109 and taken into the controller 102. The controller 102 periodically turns on the switching transistor 108 to supply power to the pseudo resistor 107 and obtains the generated voltage via the voltage detection circuit 109. The acquired voltage value is compared with a predetermined voltage value, and if it is lower than that, it is determined that the battery voltage has decreased, and a warning display or the like is displayed.

  Here, the installation environment of the gas meter is −30 ° C. to 60 ° C. When the electromagnetic actuator type shut-off valve is used, the resistance value of the drive coil varies according to the environmental temperature. FIG. 6 is a graph showing an example of the temperature characteristic of the coil resistance. As can be seen from this graph, the coil resistance has a characteristic of increasing with temperature. In the conventional battery voltage detection method, even if the drive coil resistance of the electromagnetic actuator type shut-off valve fluctuates according to the installation environment temperature of the gas meter, the battery voltage drop is detected by always passing a current through a pseudo resistance of a constant value. ing. For this reason, in order to detect a voltage drop state such as battery exhaustion with high accuracy, it is necessary to consider the coil resistance change caused by the installation temperature of the gas meter. Further, since the coil resistance in the electromagnetic actuator type shut-off valve varies from coil to coil, it is necessary to determine a discrimination value as a discrimination criterion for battery voltage drop in consideration of such individual differences.

  In a conventional battery voltage detection method for a flow meter such as a gas meter, a decrease in battery voltage is detected by always passing a current through a pseudo-resistance having a constant value. Therefore, in a flowmeter having an electromagnetic actuator type shut-off valve having a drive coil such as a stepping motor type shut-off valve, the battery is accurately caused by variations in temperature characteristics and drive coil resistance of the drive coil. It is difficult to detect a voltage drop.

  An object of the present invention is to propose a battery voltage detection method capable of accurately detecting a decrease in battery voltage with a simple configuration in a flow meter such as a microcomputer gas meter equipped with an electromagnetic actuator type shut-off valve and other passage shut-off systems. It is in.

In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention includes a fluid passage such as gas and water, an electromagnetic actuator shut-off valve for shutting off the fluid passage, and a microcomputer for driving and controlling the electromagnetic actuator shut-off valve. A battery voltage detection method for a flow meter having a controller and a battery power source,
A drive current is passed through the drive coil of the electromagnetic actuator,
Detecting a drive voltage generated in the drive coil;
When the detected driving voltage is equal to or lower than a predetermined value, it is determined that the battery voltage has decreased.

  In the method of the present invention, a current is actually passed through the drive coil of the electromagnetic actuator type shut-off valve to detect the drive coil voltage. Therefore, it is possible to detect a decrease in battery voltage with high accuracy without being affected by environmental temperature changes and variations in drive coil resistance.

  Here, in order to prevent the electromagnetic actuator type shut-off valve from being unnecessarily driven when determining the voltage drop of the battery power supply, it is detected whether the electromagnetic actuator type shut-off valve is in an open state or a closed state, In the open state, a driving current in the opening direction may be supplied to the driving coil, and in the closed state, a driving current in the closing direction may be supplied to the driving coil. When the drive current is passed in this way, the electromagnetic actuator type shut-off valve is maintained in that state and is not driven unnecessarily.

  Further, when the drive coil is energized, an output signal for driving is supplied from the controller to the drive circuit of the electromagnetic actuator type shut-off valve, so that the controller drive voltage can be detected by detecting the voltage of the output signal.

  Next, a stepping motor type cutoff valve can be used as the electromagnetic actuator type cutoff valve.

  On the other hand, if the detection of the drive voltage generated in the drive coil is performed at the time of the fall of the drive pulse voltage generated in the drive coil, the voltage can be detected with high accuracy.

  Here, the present invention is not limited to a passage blocking system incorporated in a flow meter such as a gas meter or a water meter, but can be used as a battery voltage detection method for other passage blocking systems. That is, the present invention comprises a fluid passage through which a fluid such as gas or water flows, an electromagnetic actuator type shut-off valve for shutting off the fluid passage, and a controller comprising a microcomputer for driving and controlling the electromagnetic actuator type shut-off valve, A battery voltage detecting method for a passage blocking system having a battery power source, wherein a driving current is supplied to a driving coil of the electromagnetic actuator, a driving voltage generated in the driving coil is detected, and the detected driving voltage is equal to or less than a predetermined value. In this case, it is determined that the battery voltage has decreased.

  In the battery voltage detection method of the flow meter and the passage cutoff system of the present invention, current is actually passed through the drive coil of the electromagnetic actuator type cutoff valve, the generated drive coil voltage is detected, and the detected voltage value is compared with a predetermined value. Thus, it is determined whether or not the battery voltage has decreased. Therefore, unlike the conventional method in which a current is passed through a pseudo-resistor corresponding to an electromagnetic actuator to determine a decrease in battery voltage, according to the present invention, the temperature characteristics of the drive coil resistance and variations in the drive coil resistance are affected. Therefore, it is possible to accurately determine whether or not the battery voltage has decreased.

  Hereinafter, a battery voltage detection method for a microcomputer gas meter to which the present invention is applied will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a battery voltage detection device for a microcomputer gas meter to which the present invention is applied. The battery voltage detection device 1 is configured around a controller 2 of a microcomputer gas meter. A motor valve drive circuit 3 is connected to the output side of the controller 2, and a drive pulse current is supplied from the motor valve drive circuit 3 to the drive coils 4 a and 4 b of the two-phase stepping motor type shut-off valve 4. FIG. 2 shows an example of voltage waveforms of drive pulses that appear in the drive coils 4a and 4b of the two-phase stepping motor.

  Here, the voltage of the control signal 3 </ b> S supplied from the controller 2 to the motor valve drive circuit 3 can be detected by the voltage detection element 5. Further, when the coil voltage generated in the drive coil 4a of one phase becomes equal to or lower than the voltage value of the predetermined voltage detection element, a signal indicating that the battery voltage has dropped is sent to the controller 2. To do.

  The operation of the battery voltage detection device 1 having this configuration will be described. The controller 2 periodically executes a battery voltage detection control program stored in the ROM or the like to determine whether or not the battery voltage has dropped. First, as shown in FIG. 3A, it is assumed that the stepping motor type shut-off valve 4 of the microcomputer gas meter is in an open state (normal state). In this open state, the valve body 13 of the shutoff valve 4 is located away from the valve seat 12 formed in the gas passage 11 of the microcomputer gas meter. The controller 2 outputs a control signal 3S to the motor valve drive circuit 3. Upon receiving the control signal 3S, the motor valve drive circuit 3 supplies the same drive pulse current as the actual drive pulse current shown in FIG. 2 to the drive coils 4a and 4b of the stepping motor type shut-off valve 4. Thus, the shutoff valve 4 is driven only for a short time. Here, the controller 2 stores and holds the state of the stepping motor type shut-off valve 4. Now, since the shutoff valve 4 is in the open state as shown in FIG. 3A, a drive pulse current for driving the shutoff valve 4 in the opening direction is generated. Since the stepping motor type shut-off valve 4 does not move any more in the opening direction, the stepping motor is in a step-out state. Therefore, the state of the shutoff valve 4 does not change.

  When the drive pulse current is supplied, for example, a pulsed drive voltage waveform as shown in FIG. 4A is generated in the drive coils 4a and 4b. When the generated drive coil voltage becomes a value equal to or lower than a predetermined value of the voltage detection element 6, a signal indicating that the battery voltage has decreased is sent to the controller 2. When this signal is input to the controller 2, it is determined that a voltage drop has occurred. Thereby, the battery voltage of the drive voltage of the stepping motor type shut-off valve 4 is monitored.

  At the same time, the voltage value of the control signal 3S supplied from the controller 2 to the motor valve drive circuit 3 is input to the voltage detection element 5. When the voltage value is equal to or lower than a predetermined value of the voltage detection element 5, a signal indicating that the battery voltage has decreased is sent to the controller 2. When this signal is input to the controller 2, it is determined that a voltage drop has occurred. Thereby, the battery voltage of the control voltage of the controller 2 is monitored.

  When it is detected that the battery voltage has dropped, the controller 2 displays a warning to that effect via a liquid crystal display (not shown) and forcibly shuts off the stepping motor type shut-off valve 4. That is, as shown in FIG. 3B, the stepping motor type shut-off valve 4 is driven in the closing direction, and the valve body 13 is pressed against the valve seat 12 of the gas passage 11 so that the gas passage 11 is shut off. Switch.

  On the other hand, when the voltage of the battery power source is detected in the closed state shown in FIG. 3B when the stepping motor type shutoff valve 4 is in the closed state, a shutoff valve is provided for the drive coils 4a and 4b of the stepping motor type shutoff valve 4. A drive pulse current is supplied in the closing direction.

  Note that, as the drive current supplied to the drive coils 4a and 4b in the battery voltage detection operation, a pseudo drive pulse current may be supplied instead of the drive pulse current used during actual driving. For example, a drive pulse voltage having an on period longer than the actual drive pulse current may be supplied to generate a drive coil voltage as shown in FIG. In any case, it is desirable to perform voltage detection at a point where the generated drive coil voltage value is stabilized, for example, at the falling timing of the drive coil voltage.

  In the above example, a decrease in battery voltage is detected using the voltage detection elements 5 and 6. Instead of this, it is also possible to detect a decrease in battery voltage using the AD conversion function of the microcomputer controller.

  According to the battery voltage detection method of the present invention, a drive current is actually supplied to the drive coil of the electromagnetic actuator type shut-off valve, the drive voltage actually generated in the drive coil is detected, and the battery voltage drop is determined based on this. doing. Therefore, the battery voltage can be accurately detected without being affected by the temperature characteristics of the drive coils and the variations in the resistance values of the individual drive coils, so that a decrease in the battery voltage can be accurately determined.

  In addition, since the drive voltage is actually supplied to the electromagnetic actuator type shut-off valve to detect the battery voltage, the shut-off valve within the operating voltage characteristics can be used with the same controller even if it is a shut-off valve of other models. Battery voltage detection can be performed.

  Furthermore, since the voltage of the drive coil of the electromagnetic actuator type shut-off valve is actually detected, the battery voltage can be accurately detected without being affected by the electronic components arranged in the vicinity thereof.

It is a schematic block diagram of the battery voltage detection apparatus to which this invention is applied. It is a signal waveform diagram which shows the example of the drive pulse current supplied to the drive coil of the stepping motor type shut-off valve of FIG. (A) is a waveform diagram showing a drive coil voltage obtained when an actual drive pulse current is passed through the drive coil, and (b) is a drive coil voltage obtained when a pseudo drive pulse current is passed through the drive coil. FIG. (A) is explanatory drawing which shows the open state of a stepping motor type shut-off valve, (b) is explanatory drawing which shows the closed state. It is a schematic block diagram which shows the example of the conventional battery voltage detection apparatus. It is a graph which shows the temperature characteristic of the drive coil resistance in a stepping motor type shut-off valve.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Battery voltage detection apparatus 2 Controller 3 Motor valve drive circuit 4 Stepping motor type shut-off valve 4a, 4b Drive coil 5, 6 Voltage detection element 11 Gas passage 12 Valve seat 13 Valve body

Claims (10)

A battery of a flow meter having a fluid passage through which gas or water flows, an electromagnetic actuator type shut-off valve for shutting off the fluid passage, a controller comprising a microcomputer for driving and controlling the electromagnetic actuator type shut-off valve, and a battery power source A voltage detection method comprising:
A drive current is passed through the drive coil of the electromagnetic actuator,
Detecting a drive voltage generated in the drive coil;
A battery voltage detection method for a flow meter that determines that the battery voltage has dropped when the detected drive voltage is a predetermined value or less. In claim 1,
Detecting whether the electromagnetic actuator type shut-off valve is in an open state or a closed state;
A battery voltage detection method for a flowmeter in which an open direction drive current is supplied to the drive coil in the open state and a closed direction drive current is supplied to the drive coil in the closed state. In claim 1 or 2,
At the time of detecting the drive voltage generated in the drive coil, the output voltage output from the controller to the drive circuit of the electromagnetic actuator type shut-off valve is detected,
A battery voltage detection method for a flow meter that determines that the battery voltage has dropped when the detected output voltage is less than or equal to a predetermined value. In claim 1, 2 or 3,
The method for detecting a battery voltage of a flow meter, wherein the electromagnetic actuator type cutoff valve is a stepping motor type cutoff valve. In any one of claims 1 to 4,
The drive current supplied to the drive coil is a pulse current,
A method for detecting a battery voltage of a flow meter, wherein the detection of the drive voltage generated in the drive coil is performed at the time of the fall of the drive pulse voltage generated in the drive coil. A passage having a fluid passage through which a fluid such as gas or water flows, an electromagnetic actuator type shut-off valve for shutting off the fluid passage, a controller comprising a microcomputer for driving and controlling the electromagnetic actuator type shut-off valve, and a battery power source A battery voltage detection method for a shutoff system, comprising:
A drive current is passed through the drive coil of the electromagnetic actuator,
Detecting a drive voltage generated in the drive coil;
A battery voltage detection method for a passage blocking system that determines that the battery voltage has dropped when the detected drive voltage is less than or equal to a predetermined value. In claim 6,
Detecting whether the electromagnetic actuator type shut-off valve is in an open state or a closed state;
A battery voltage detection method for a passage blocking system in which a driving current in an opening direction is supplied to the driving coil in an open state and a driving current in a closing direction is supplied to the driving coil in a closed state. In claim 6 or 7,
At the time of detecting the drive voltage generated in the drive coil, the output voltage output from the controller to the drive circuit of the electromagnetic actuator type shut-off valve is detected,
A battery voltage detection method for a passage blocking system that determines that the battery voltage has decreased when the detected output voltage is equal to or lower than a predetermined value. In claim 6, 7 or 8,
The electromagnetic actuator type shut-off valve is a stepping motor type shut-off valve. In any one of claims 6 to 9,
The drive current supplied to the drive coil is a pulse current,
A battery voltage detection method for a passage blocking system, wherein the detection of the drive voltage generated in the drive coil is performed at the time of the fall of the drive pulse voltage generated in the drive coil.

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