JP2008059436A - Measurement value remote acquiring device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a measurement value remote acquiring device which increases the communication acquisition probability of a meter measurement value from a remote electronic water meter and can achieve low current consumption of both sides without making a communication interval for acquiring a measurement result long. <P>SOLUTION: The measurement value remote acquiring device 1 for acquiring a meter measurement value from an electronic water meter 2 by communication at each periodically repeated incoming acquiring timing executes a retry while limiting the predetermined number of retry times for an upper limit when the meter measurement value cannot be acquired by communication, and reduces the number of retry times for an upper limit at its subsequent acquiring timing when the meter measurement value cannot be acquired by communication for all that. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a measurement value remote acquisition device, such as a remote counter receiver, which is connected to a meter, particularly a water meter, etc., and is capable of communication acquisition of a pointer value / measurement value of the meter.

JP 2004-240911 A JP 2005-267020 A

  Electronic water meters are often used in cold regions such as Hokkaido, and are installed in the ground at a depth of about 1.5 m to prevent freezing. Also, in cold regions, it is difficult to see the meter readings directly from the underground electronic water meter because it accumulates snow in winter, so a remote measurement receiver such as a remote counter receiver is installed on the ground. Thus, the measurement results and alarm information of the underground electronic water meter are acquired and communicated at every acquisition timing that periodically arrives, and are displayed on the measured value remote acquisition device.

  Also, in apartments, meters are installed in the pipe shafts of each house, but in order to collect these points in one place, remote measurement value acquisition devices may be installed on the first floor.

  Various devices have been proposed for the measurement value remote acquisition device as described above. For example, Patent Literature 1 and Patent Literature 2 exist. Such an electronic water meter and a device for remotely acquiring measured values are provided on the market with no maintenance for 8 years.

  In such a measured value remote acquisition device, there is a possibility that the communication acquisition of the measured value from the electronic water meter may fail due to factors such as noise. Therefore, improvement of the communication acquisition probability is always a problem.

  Moreover, in such a measured value remote acquisition device, since the power source is often a battery, lowering the current consumption has always been a problem. In order to reduce the current consumption, it is conceivable to increase the communication interval for acquiring the measurement results.In this case, however, the measured value on the electronic water meter side and the indicated value on the measured value remote acquisition device side due to the time difference The gap between is large. In addition, since the error display period due to the communication acquisition failure becomes longer as the communication interval for acquiring the measurement result becomes longer, the cause of the error seems to be eliminated at the next acquisition timing such as noise, for example. Even if it is a bad one, the error may be displayed for a long time, which may cause unnecessary distrust to the user.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and increases the probability of communication acquisition of meter measurement values from a remote electronic water meter and reduces both without increasing the communication interval for acquiring measurement results. An object of the present invention is to provide a measured value remote acquisition device capable of realizing current consumption.

Means and actions / effects for solving the problems

In order to solve the above problems, the measured value remote acquisition device of the present invention is:
Meter measurement value acquisition means for communicating and acquiring meter measurement values at every acquisition timing that arrives periodically and repeatedly from an electronic water meter that is capable of outputting meter measurement values to the outside by communication,
An acquisition result determination means for determining an acquisition result of the meter measurement value by the meter measurement value communication acquisition means;
When the acquisition result is unsuccessful, a meter measurement value acquisition retry means for retrying communication acquisition of the meter measurement value through a retry interval shorter than the main interval until the next acquisition timing arrives;
If the meter measurement value acquisition result at a certain acquisition timing fails continuously for a predetermined threshold number of times that gives the upper limit of the number of retries, the upper limit of the number of retries at the subsequent acquisition timing is set to the threshold Retry control means to set less than,
It is characterized by providing.

  According to the configuration of the present invention, when acquiring a measurement value from an electronic water meter at every acquisition timing that comes regularly, even if acquisition fails due to the influence of noise or the like, it can be acquired again by retrying. Therefore, the measurement value acquisition probability is improved. In addition, there is an upper limit for retries, and if acquisition failures are repeated continuously up to the upper limit, the number of subsequent retries will be reduced, so if acquisition failure is a factor that is unlikely to be acquired by retrying The number of retry communications thereafter can be reduced, and the power consumption of both the transmitting side and the receiving side can be reduced.

  In the above configuration, the retry count can be reduced as follows. The first method is that the retry control means determines that the upper limit value of the number of retries is at least the threshold number of times at the next acquisition timing when the acquisition result of the meter measurement value at a certain acquisition timing fails continuously for the threshold number of times. Is also set to reduce. When the acquisition result of the meter measurement value fails continuously for the threshold number of times, the possibility that the meter measurement value can be acquired at the next acquisition timing is often higher than the acquisition timings that arrive thereafter. Therefore, the power consumption can be reduced more appropriately by adopting this method.

  In the second method, the retry control means uniformly sets the upper limit value of the number of retries at the next and subsequent acquisition timings when the acquisition result of the meter measurement value at a certain acquisition timing fails continuously for the threshold number of times. It is set by subtracting from the threshold number. When the acquisition result of the meter measurement value fails continuously for the threshold number of times, it is unlikely that the meter measurement value can be acquired at any subsequent acquisition timing unless some measure is taken. Therefore, the power consumption can be appropriately reduced by adopting this method.

  In the third method, the retry control means determines that the last one of the acquisition timings when the acquisition result of the meter measurement value fails continuously for all of a plurality of acquisition timings that successively arrive. At the next acquisition timing, the upper limit value of the number of retries is set to be smaller than the threshold number. Even if the acquisition result of the meter measurement value fails continuously for the threshold number of times, it is unlikely that the meter measurement value can be acquired at the next acquisition timing, but there is also a slight possibility of acquisition. According to this method, the number of retries is reduced at the next acquisition timing only when the acquisition result of the meter measurement value fails continuously for both consecutive acquisition timings. Power consumption can be achieved. Note that the number of retries may be uniformly reduced not only at the next acquisition timing but also at subsequent acquisition timings.

  Further, the retry control means in the present invention, when the acquisition result of the meter measurement value by the acquisition result determination means is successful at a certain acquisition timing in a state where the upper limit value of the retry count is set to be less than the threshold count, It is possible to set the retry by returning the upper limit value of the number of retries at the acquisition timing that arrives thereafter to the threshold number. Thereby, when the factor that hinders the acquisition of the meter measurement value is removed, the retry setting can be automatically restored thereafter.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of an electronic water meter system. The electronic water meter system 100 of FIG. 1 is configured by communicably connecting an electronic water meter and a remote counter receiver constituting the measurement value remote acquisition device of the present invention. Note that the remote counter receiver of the present invention can be connected to a meter other than a water meter, and at least the object to be measured (flow rate and flow velocity of other types of fluids, other physical quantities not related to fluid measurement) Etc.), and any meter that can output the measured value via communication can be applied. The remote counter receiver 1 in FIG. 1 is communicably connected to an electronic water meter 2, and the measurement value (meter measurement value: for example, instantaneous flow rate or integrated flow rate) measured by the electronic water meter 2 is previously stored. Communication is acquired at every acquisition timing that arrives at predetermined time intervals (main intervals), and the acquired measurement values are displayed on the display device 20 provided in the communication device.

  The electronic water meter 2 has a well-known configuration and is installed in the ground at a predetermined depth (for example, about 1.5 m) from the ground surface 4 to prevent freezing, and relates to the flow rate of water flowing through the water pipe. Measure the value. Specifically, the electronic water meter 2 connects a fluid passage portion (not shown) provided in itself to the water pipe to be measured, and the blade rotates according to the flow rate of water flowing through the fluid passage portion. The number of rotations of the car is detected by a detector (not shown). The detection result is a pulse signal in which forward / reverse rotation of the impeller is distinguished, and is counted as an instantaneous flow rate or an integrated flow rate of the fluid flowing through the water pipe in an electronic control unit (not shown) provided in itself. It is displayed (instructed) on its own meter display (not shown). Moreover, the electronic water meter 2 is configured to be able to output the meter measurement value to the outside by communication, and the forward / reverse flow rate pulse signal reflecting the measured water flow rate is transmitted from the output unit of the transmission meter 3. To the remote counter receiver 1. The transmission cord 3 is a cord attached to an electronic water meter, extends to the ground through a hole 5 dug in the ground, and is connected to the remote counter receiver 1 so as to be capable of wired communication. The communication between the electronic water meter 2 and the remote counter receiver 1 is not limited to wired communication as in this embodiment, and may be performed by wireless communication.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the remote counter receiver 1. The total remote counter receiver 1 controls the operation of the remote counter receiver 1, and is configured by a known microcomputer (hereinafter referred to as a microcomputer). The control unit 10 includes a CPU 11, a RAM 12 having a work memory 12 a, a ROM 13 for storing various programs, an input / output unit (hereinafter referred to as I / O) 15, a timer 16, and a meter for communicating with the electronic water meter 2. A communication interface (hereinafter referred to as meter communication I / F) 18 and a bus line 14 for connecting them are configured. The I / O 15 is connected to the reed switch 30. The ROM 13 stores a communication program for performing communication control with the electronic water meter 2, a display program for performing display control of the display device 20, and the like. These programs are executed by the CPU 11 using a predetermined area of the work area 12a of the RAM 12.

  The meter communication I / F 18 is an interface for performing communication between the remote counter receiver 1 and the electronic water meter 2, for example, a data request signal or a control signal to the electronic water meter 2, Receives measurement values (instantaneous flow rate and integrated flow rate) and alarm information.

  The display device 20 displays the measurement value and alarm information of the electronic water meter 2. The display device 20 in the present embodiment employs a known liquid crystal display and includes an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) 21 that forms a display screen and an LCD control circuit 22 that is a driver circuit for the LCD 21. . The LCD control circuit 22 drives the LCD 21 based on a display command and display screen data transmitted from the control unit 10. The display device 20 is not only an organic EL (ElectroLuminescence) display, an inorganic EL display, and an electronic display of measurement values (indicated values of an electronic water meter). May be displayed.

  The reed switch 30 functions as an operation unit for controlling the electronic water meter 2 or the remote counter receiver 1 from the outside. Specifically, it is provided inside a recess provided in the case of the remote counter receiver 1, and a switch operation is performed by a magnetic field change accompanying insertion of a lead bar such as a magnet. In the present embodiment, alarm information is displayed on the LCD 21 of the remote counter receiver 1 by a switch operation on the reed switch 30.

  In the remote counter receiver 1 of the present invention having the above-described configuration, acquisition of measurement values from the electronic water meter 2 is repeated periodically (for example, every 10 minutes) as shown in FIG. Run every time. However, since acquisition of the measurement value by the remote counter receiver 1 is performed by communication with the remote electronic water meter 2, the measurement value may not be acquired due to, for example, noise or some factor. If the cause is instantaneous or short-term such as noise, there is a possibility that it can be acquired by retry. Therefore, the remote counter receiver 1 of the present invention is configured such that, when the measurement value cannot be acquired at a certain acquisition timing, the control unit 10 performs a retry before the next acquisition timing arrives. . Thereby, the frequency | count of a communication error can be reduced and a measured value can be displayed on the display apparatus 20 of the remote counter receiver 1 accurately. However, a predetermined threshold number for giving an upper limit value of the number of retries is set, and further retries are prohibited when the retry number is normally set. In the present embodiment, at the time of normal setting, the upper limit number of retries is set to 2 (threshold number), that is, the maximum acquisition communication number of meter measurement values within the main interval is set to 3 times.

  On the other hand, there may be cases where the measurement value cannot be acquired due to disconnection of the wiring or failure of the remote counter receiver 1. In this case, there is almost no possibility of acquisition of the measurement value by retry, and the retry executed thereafter is It simply consumes current and is wasteful. If useless retries are repeated, the battery of the remote counter receiver 1 may run out before the expected battery life. Therefore, in the remote counter receiver 1 of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 4, the retry is executed until the upper limit number of times is reached, and when the measurement value cannot be obtained by all the retries, the control unit 10 The upper limit number of retries at an acquisition timing that arrives thereafter is set to be less than a predetermined threshold number. In the present embodiment, the upper limit number of retries at the time of normal setting is two predetermined threshold times, whereas the upper limit number of retries at the time of reduction setting is set to zero. That is, at the time of the decrease setting, retry is prohibited, and the maximum number of acquisition communication times of the meter measurement value within the main interval is set to one.

  In the state where the upper limit number of retries is set to be reduced, when the communication error is resolved by repair or the like and the measurement value can be acquired from the electronic water meter 2 at a certain acquisition timing, the control unit 10 Return the upper limit number of times to the state before the reduction setting. As a result, the retry is executed again, and the state returns to a state where the number of communication errors can be reduced.

  In addition, when a measured value can be acquired from the electronic water meter 2 by retry, the setting of the upper limit number of retries is not changed as shown in FIG.

  Further, in the present embodiment, it is determined that an alarm is not displayed when communication is successful due to a retry, and an alarm is displayed as a communication error when a measured value cannot be acquired even after a retry. If the measured value can be obtained by retrying, it is considered that it is affected by noise, etc., so it is highly possible that it is not a failure that requires repair, etc. Prevent many alarms from being displayed.

  In order to execute measurement value acquisition from the electronic water meter 2 in the above-described manner, the ROM 13 of the remote counter receiver 1 is acquired from the electronic water meter 2 via the meter communication I / F 18. A measurement value communication acquisition program 13a for acquiring communication of measurement values (instantaneous flow rate and integrated flow rate) is stored. The measurement value communication acquisition program 13a is executed by the CPU 11, and functions as a meter measurement value acquisition unit, an acquisition result determination unit, a meter measurement value acquisition retry unit, and a retry control unit of the present invention. Hereinafter, the flow of the measured value communication acquisition program 13a will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  In the control unit 10, the timer 16 counts the time. When the predetermined time interval (main interval) elapses from the previous acquisition timing and the acquisition timing comes, the CPU 11 starts the measurement value communication acquisition program 13a. To do. The measured value communication acquisition program 13a is executed once in the main interval.

  In the measurement value communication acquisition program 13a, first, in S1, the control unit 10 attempts to acquire communication of measurement values from the electronic water meter 2. Specifically, the control unit 10 transmits the measured value (indicated value) displayed (indicated) on the display unit of the electronic water meter 2 to the electronic water meter 2 via the meter communication I / F 18. A transmission request signal is transmitted, and a reception standby state is entered in order to receive the requested measurement value. The reception standby state is continued for a predetermined reception standby time (determined to be shorter than the main interval). The RAM 12 is provided with an acquisition communication number counter that stores the number of acquisition communications within the main interval. The acquisition communication number counter increments the count value every time acquisition communication is executed within the main interval. is doing. Here, it is assumed that the acquired communication number counter is incremented by 1 with the transmission of the transmission request signal. After the transmission request, when the reception waiting time elapses (or a response signal is received), the process proceeds to S2.

  In S2, it is determined whether or not the control unit 10 has received the measurement value within the reception standby time. If received, it is determined that the measurement value acquisition communication in the current main interval is successful, and the process proceeds to S6. In S6, the fact that the measurement value acquisition communication in the current main interval has been completed normally is stored in the RAM 12. The RAM 12 is provided with an acquisition result storage flag for storing the communication result (measurement value acquisition result) of the previous main interval. When the measurement value is acquired in the previous main interval, the acquisition result storage is stored. When the flag is set to “0” and the measurement value cannot be acquired in the previous main interval, the acquisition result storage flag is set to “1”. In S6, “0” is set to the acquisition result storage flag.

  In S6, the upper limit number of retries is reset. Specifically, if the upper limit number is set to decrease at this stage, resetting is performed to return it to the original normal setting. The RAM 12 is provided with a retry upper limit number storage unit for storing the upper limit number. In S6, the value stored in the retry upper limit number storage unit is set to a value at the time of normal setting. In the present embodiment, the value in the retry upper limit number storage unit is overwritten with “2”. Further, in S6, an acquisition number counter, which will be described later, is also reset. When S6 ends, the program ends.

  In S2, if the control unit 10 does not receive the measurement value within the reception standby time, it is determined that the measurement value acquisition communication in the current main interval has failed, and the process proceeds to S3. In S3, it is determined whether or not the control unit 10 has received a measurement value in the previous main interval. This determination is performed in such a manner that the CPU 11 of the control unit 10 refers to the value of the acquisition result storage flag. At this time, if the acquisition result storage flag is “1”, it is determined that the measurement value cannot be acquired in the previous main interval, and the process proceeds to S5. When the acquisition result storage flag is “0”, it is determined that the measurement value can be acquired in the previous main interval, and the process proceeds to S4.

  In S4, it is determined whether or not the acquisition communication of the measurement value from the electronic water meter 2 has failed by the maximum number of acquisition communication times (specified number in the figure) in the main interval in the current main interval. In other words, in this main interval, it is determined whether or not the measurement value acquisition communication by the retry except the first time has failed continuously for the upper limit number of the currently set retry times. . In the present embodiment, since the upper limit value of the number of retries at the time of normal setting is 2 (threshold number), the acquisition communication can be performed up to 3 times. Therefore, the acquisition communication can fail up to 3 times. Therefore, when the count value of the acquisition communication number counter in the RAM 12 is “3”, the process proceeds to S5. On the other hand, when the count value is “1” or “2”, the process proceeds to S7, and returns to S1 after a predetermined time interval (retry interval) in S7.

  In S5, since the measurement value acquisition communication in the current main interval is unsuccessful, the acquisition result storage flag of the RAM 12 is set to “1”, and the value of the acquisition number counter is reset to “0”. Further, the value stored in the retry upper limit number storage section of the RAM 12 is set to the value at the time of reduction setting. In the present embodiment, the value of the retry upper limit number storage unit is overwritten with “0”. Further, a communication error alarm is displayed on the display device 20 of the remote counter receiver 1. In S5, after executing these processes, this program is terminated.

  As mentioned above, although one Embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, A various deformation | transformation is possible in the range which does not deviate from the main point of this invention.

  For example, the modification which performs acquisition of the measured value of the electronic water meter 2 by the remote counter receiver 1 in the form as shown in FIG. 7 can be illustrated. In the case of FIG. 6, when the acquisition result of the meter measurement value fails continuously for the threshold number of times at all of the plurality of acquisition timings that arrive continuously, the acquisition timing that comes next to the last of the acquisition timings At least, the upper limit value of the number of retries is reduced from the threshold number (2 times), and further, a reduction setting is made so as to be uniformly reduced from the threshold number in subsequent acquisition timings.

  Moreover, the measured value remote acquisition device (remote counter receiver) of the present invention is not limited to a device connected to the meter on a one-to-one basis, and is installed in, for example, a housing complex and connected to a large number of water meters. The present invention can be similarly applied to a configuration in which a plurality of meters are connected to one measurement value remote acquisition device (remote counter receiver) such as a centralized meter reading board.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Schematic for demonstrating the measured value remote acquisition apparatus which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention, and the electronic water meter system comprised using it. The block diagram of the measured value remote acquisition apparatus of FIG. The 1st explanatory view explaining communication acquisition of the measured value from an electronic water meter. 2nd explanatory drawing explaining communication acquisition of the measured value from an electronic water meter. 3rd explanatory drawing explaining communication acquisition of the measured value from an electronic water meter. The flowchart which shows the flow of a process of a measured value communication acquisition program. Explanatory drawing explaining communication acquisition of the measured value different from FIGS.

Explanation of symbols

100 Electronic water meter system 1 Remote counter receiver (Measurement value remote acquisition device)
10 control unit 20 display device 2 electronic water meter

Claims (5)

Meter measurement value acquisition means for communication acquisition of the meter measurement value at every acquisition timing that is periodically repeated and arrived from an electronic water meter that is capable of outputting the meter measurement value to the outside by communication,
An acquisition result determination means for determining an acquisition result of the meter measurement value by the meter measurement value communication acquisition means;
When the acquisition result is unsuccessful, a meter measurement value acquisition retry means for retrying communication acquisition of the meter measurement value through a retry interval shorter than the main interval until the next acquisition timing arrives;
When the acquisition result of the meter measurement value at a certain acquisition timing fails continuously for a predetermined threshold number of times that gives an upper limit value for the number of retries, an upper limit value for the number of retries at the subsequent acquisition timing is set. Retry control means for setting the threshold number less than the threshold number,
A measurement value remote acquisition device comprising:   When the acquisition result of the meter measurement value at a certain acquisition timing fails continuously for the threshold number of times, the retry control means sets the upper limit value of the retry number at least at the next acquisition timing to be greater than the threshold number of times. The measured value remote acquisition device according to claim 1, wherein the measured value remote acquisition device is set by subtracting.   When the acquisition result of the meter measurement value at a certain acquisition timing fails continuously for the threshold number of times, the retry control unit uniformly sets the upper limit value of the retry number at the next and subsequent acquisition timings. The measured value remote acquisition device according to claim 1, wherein the measured value remote acquisition device is set to be less than a threshold number.   The retry control means, when the acquisition result of the meter measurement value fails continuously for the threshold number of times at all of the plurality of acquisition timings that arrive successively, next to the last of the acquisition timings. The measured value remote acquisition device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein at least the upper limit value of the number of retries is set to be less than the threshold number at the arrival acquisition timing.   The retry control means, when the acquisition result of the meter measurement value by the acquisition result determination means is successful at a certain acquisition timing in a state where the upper limit value of the retry count is set to be smaller than the threshold count. The measured value remote acquisition device according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the retry value is set by returning the upper limit value of the number of retries at the acquisition timing that arrives thereafter to the threshold number.

Images