JP2008304335A - Measurement control system and measuring quantity receiver - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the amount of consumption of memory resources and power consumption related to memory access. <P>SOLUTION: The measurement control system comprises: a flowmeter for measuring the flow rate of fluid to be measured; a measuring quantity receiver for receiving at least one failure detected from a flow rate pulse for every prescribed of time measured by the flowmeter and storing in a storage means; and a control apparatus connected to the measuring quantity receiver via a communication network. The measurement control system also comprises: a control means for setting a flag at a prescribed position of a bit included in the preset number of bytes, based on the type of failure detected by the flowmeter, and storing the flag in the storage means as log data with prescribed time information; and a transmission means for transmitting the prescribed log data in the log data stored in the storage means to the control apparatus by the communication network. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a measurement management system and a measurement amount receiving apparatus, and more particularly to a measurement management system and a measurement amount reception apparatus for reducing power consumption related to memory resource consumption and memory access.

  Conventionally, in a measurement management system that measures and manages a predetermined flow rate such as a gas meter, for example, in addition to the original metering function of measuring the amount of gas used, which is an integrated value of the gas flow rate, the gas usage at regular intervals Some have a load survey function (load measurement function) for sequentially storing a quantity of data using storage means such as a semiconductor memory. Further, in various measurement management systems such as gas usage measurement, it is common to store a log for grasping the operation content, the state of occurrence of an abnormality, and the like. Here, the log indicates various amounts relating to the state of the control target, temporal transition of operation, and the like.

  In addition, when the above-mentioned log data is recorded using a general-purpose computer such as a personal computer, it is very easy to store the event occurrence time at the same time because a clock IC (RTC = real time clock) is present inside the personal computer. It is.

Further, the various data stored in the storage means such as a memory is based on the center side provided with a management device as a host device connected by a communication line such as a telephone line based on a certain period or a data acquisition request. In general, a technique for this purpose is disclosed (for example, see Patent Document 1).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-180084

  By the way, it is necessary to record the log data described above with time. In this case, the measurement amount receiving device such as a microcomputer meter has a clock circuit for measuring date and time, log data with time obtained by the clock circuit, and the like. A memory for storing the information is required. Furthermore, as the amount of data to be stored increases, the memory capacity to be stored must be increased, and the amount of power for storage is also required.

  Here, a battery is generally used as the power source of the measurement amount receiving device, and there is a limit to the amount of power that can be supplied to the measurement amount reception device. Frequently requires replacement of the battery. That is, storing detailed log data using a clock IC or the like in a battery-driven low power consumption device or the like has a problem in terms of power consumption and storage memory size.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a measurement management system and a measurement amount receiving apparatus for reducing the consumption of memory resources and the power consumption related to memory access. .

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention employs means for solving the problems having the following characteristics.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, a flowmeter for measuring the flow velocity of the fluid to be measured, and at least one abnormality detected from a flow rate pulse at a predetermined time measured by the flowmeter are received and stored in the storage means. In a measurement management system comprising a measurement amount receiving device and a management device connected to the measurement amount reception device through a communication network, the number of bytes set in advance is set based on the type of abnormality detected by the flow meter. A control unit that sets a flag at a predetermined position of a bit included therein and stores the flag in the storage unit as log data together with predetermined time information; and the predetermined log data among the log data stored in the storage unit And transmitting means for transmitting to the management device.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, memory resource consumption and power consumption related to memory access are reduced by storing presence / absence of an abnormality detected at a predetermined position of a bit included in a preset number of bytes. can do.

  The invention described in claim 2 is characterized in that the control means stores, in the storage means, an elapsed time after the flowmeter is turned on as the predetermined time information.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, it is possible to reduce the amount of data compared to directly acquiring the date / time information.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, the management device calculates a difference between current date and time information and an elapsed time after power-on acquired from the log data, so that an abnormality occurs in the flow meter. It is characterized by calculating the date and time when it is performed.

  According to the invention described in claim 3, it is possible to acquire an accurate date and time from a small amount of information.

  The invention described in claim 4 is characterized in that the control means stores the log data in the storage means in hexadecimal.

  According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, it is possible to reduce the amount of data to be stored and the amount of data to be transmitted to the management device while maintaining the amount of information. Thereby, it is possible to reduce the consumption of memory resources and the power consumption related to memory access.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the flow rate pulse at a predetermined time is measured by a flow meter that measures the flow velocity of the fluid to be measured, and at least one abnormality detected from the flow rate pulse is stored in the storage unit. In the measurement amount receiving apparatus that notifies the management apparatus connected by the communication network that the abnormality has been detected, based on the type of abnormality detected by the flow meter, the number of bits included in the preset number of bytes A control unit that sets a flag at a predetermined position and stores it in the storage unit as log data together with predetermined time information, and the management device stores predetermined log data among the log data stored in the storage unit by the communication network. And transmitting means for transmitting to.

  According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, memory resource consumption and power consumption related to memory access are reduced by storing presence / absence of an abnormality detected at a predetermined position of a bit included in a preset number of bytes. can do.

  The invention described in claim 6 is characterized in that the control means stores, in the storage means, an elapsed time after the flow meter is turned on as the predetermined time information.

  According to the sixth aspect of the invention, it is possible to acquire an accurate date and time from a small amount of information.

  The invention described in claim 7 is characterized in that the control means stores the log data in the storage means in hexadecimal.

  According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, it is possible to reduce the amount of data to be stored and the amount of data to be transmitted to the management device while maintaining the amount of information. Thereby, it is possible to reduce the consumption of memory resources and the power consumption related to memory access.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to reduce memory resource consumption and power consumption related to memory access.

<Outline of the present invention>
The present invention realizes detailed log storage and management by reducing memory load and power consumption without storing log data in units of date and time using a clock IC or the like. Specifically, for example, when storing various log data in a battery-powered low power consumption device or the like, by storing the elapsed time after power-on and various log data with a minimum amount of information, in terms of power consumption And the load of storage memory size are reduced.

  DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of a measurement management system and a measurement amount receiving apparatus according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the following embodiments, as an example of a measurement management system and a measurement amount receiving device, a measurement management system and a measurement for measuring the integrated flow rate of a gas meter, transmitting it to a management device on the center side, and managing log data on the center side A quantity receiving apparatus will be described.

<Embodiment>
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a measurement management system according to the present invention. A measurement management system 10 shown in FIG. 1 includes a flow meter 11, a measurement amount receiving device 12 that receives a flow rate pulse, an abnormal signal, and the like at predetermined time intervals measured by the flow meter 11 and stores them as a log, and a flow meter 11. And a management device 13 as a higher-level device that manages the flow rate adjustment and the like. The measurement amount receiving device 12 and the management device 13 are connected in a state where various data can be transmitted and received through a communication network 14 typified by the Internet or a telephone line.

  The flow meter 11 includes a measuring unit 21, an amplifier / waveform shaping circuit 22, and a counting unit 23. Further, the measurement amount receiving device 12 is separated from the flow meter 11, and communicates as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 31 and a transmission unit and a reception unit that communicate with the management device 13 on the center side. An interface 32, a display unit 33 typified by an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) display, a memory 34 that manages logs and is controlled by the CPU 31 and stores “log” and the like in a peripheral circuit, and a dry battery And a battery 35 as power supply means represented by the above.

  In the present embodiment, a case where the flow meter 11 and the measured amount receiving device 12 are separated will be described as an example. However, the flow rate measurement management system and the measured amount receiving device in the present invention are not limited to this. For example, the flow meter 11 and the measurement amount receiving device 12 may be integrated.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the configuration in which the CPU 31 and the display unit 33 are provided in the measurement amount receiving device 12 is illustrated, but the CPU 31 and the display unit 33 are provided in the flow meter 11 instead of the counting unit 23. Is also possible.

  Further, the metering unit 21 in the flow meter 11 has a rotor 41 that rotates at a rotational speed proportional to the flow rate (flow velocity) of the fluid to be measured, for example, and the rotation of the rotor 41 is detected by a magnetic sensor (flow rate pulse output device) 42. is doing. The rotor 41 has a pair of magnets 43 embedded therein, and the magnetic sensor 42 magnetically detects a change in magnetic field generated when the magnet 43 rotates together with the rotor 41 to generate a flow rate pulse. The magnet 43 is provided with at least a pair for the A phase and the B phase at a predetermined interval, and is arranged so that each outputs a signal with a predetermined phase difference.

  The amplifier / waveform shaping circuit 22 converts the analog waveform output from the magnetic sensor 42 into a rectangular wave, and outputs A-phase and B-phase flow rate pulses at a timing according to the passage of the pair of magnets 43.

  The counting unit 23 divides the flow rate pulses Pa and Pb output from the magnetic sensor 42 into a fraction of the relation between the rotation unit 51 and the calculation unit 51 that counts the A-phase and B-phase flow rate pulses. A flow rate pulse conversion unit 52 for converting the flow rate pulses Pa ′ and Pb ′ to the circumference, and an abnormality detection unit 53 for determining an abnormality from the change in the output pattern of the A-phase and B-phase flow rate pulses when the flow rate is equal to or higher than a predetermined flow rate. Have.

  If there is an abnormality in the output pattern of the A-phase and B-phase flow rate pulses, the abnormality detection unit 53 sets a monitoring time according to the interval (cycle) of the flow rate pulses, and the abnormality is detected while this monitoring time elapses. When the number of pulses reaches a predetermined number or more, an abnormal signal is output.

  The CPU 31 of the measurement amount receiving device 12 counts the flow rate pulse output from the counting unit 23 to calculate the flow rate (instantaneous flow rate and integrated flow rate) and display it on the display unit 33, and an abnormality signal is output from the abnormality detection unit 53. When output, the abnormality detection is displayed on the display unit 33 and an abnormality signal is also output to the management device 13.

  In addition, the CPU 31 accumulates abnormal signals in the memory 34. Further, the CPU 31 copies the corresponding log data onto a transmittable communication message based on a certain period or a log data acquisition request from the management device 13 and transmits it to the management device 13 via the communication interface 32. To do. Here, when an abnormality signal from the abnormality detection unit 53 included in the log data is output to the management device 13, the management device 13 is arranged to replace the flow meter 11. Then, a service person in charge or the like acquires the information, acquires an abnormal state, and adjusts the flow rate. Each processing such as writing (storage, registration), reading, and analysis of log data in the CPU 31 of the measurement amount receiving device 12 will be described later.

  Further, the power of each component in the measurement amount receiving device 12 is supplied by the battery 35. That is, the battery 35 performs data writing to the memory 34 and data reading from the CPU 31. Therefore, if the amount of data written to and read from the memory 34 can be reduced, the system can be operated for a longer period.

  In the present embodiment, both the counting unit 23 and the CPU 31 perform flow rate calculation processing. However, the counting unit 23 integrates the flow rate pulses Pa and Pb output from the magnetic sensor 42 to obtain an instantaneous flow rate and an integrated flow rate. The CPU 31 integrates the flow rate pulses Pa ′ and Pb ′ obtained by dividing the flow rate pulses Pa and Pb by a fraction in the counting unit 23 to calculate the instantaneous flow rate and the integrated flow rate.

  With the above-described configuration, the measurement amount receiving device 12 manages the log described above under the control of the CPU 31, and is connected to the management device 13 via the display unit 33, the memory 34 for registering a log or the like in the peripheral circuit, and the communication network 14. The communication interface 32, the management device 13 as an external device that is a log transmission destination, and the like are driven by the battery 35 for a long period of time such as about seven years or more.

<Signal Pa ′, Pb ′, and Pc from Flow Meter 11>
Here, a time-series output pattern of the A-phase and B-phase flow rate pulses will be described. When the A-phase flow rate pulse Pa and the B-phase flow rate pulse Pb are alternately and periodically output, normal flow rate measurement is performed and no abnormal signal is output.

  However, for example, when a short circuit occurs in the transmission path between the A-phase flow rate pulse Pa and the B-phase flow rate pulse Pb, and the A-phase and B-phase flow rate pulses Pa and Pb are output simultaneously, an abnormal state is indicated. ing. Accordingly, the abnormality detection is performed after the A-phase and B-phase flow rate pulses Pa and Pb are output at the same time until the next normal flow rate pulse Pa is output.

  In this abnormality detection section, since the existence of the flow rate pulse is unclear, the flow meter abnormality signal Pc is output from the counting unit 23 and the integration process of the flow rate pulse is not performed. Further, the flow meter 11 displays a message or the like indicating a flow meter abnormality on the display unit 33 while the flow meter abnormality signal Pc is output from the measurement amount receiving device 12. Further, the specific contents of the abnormal signal at this time are stored in the memory 34. Thereafter, the integration process is resumed after the output patterns of the flow rate pulses Pa and Pb become normal.

  Further, as another abnormality detection pattern, for example, an output pattern in which the flow pulse Pb of the A phase is normal and the flow pulse Pb is missing due to the disconnection of the B phase. In this case, the section in which the A-phase flow rate pulse Pa is continuously output is abnormal detection.

  In this abnormality detection section, since the existence of the flow rate pulse is unclear, as described above, the flow meter abnormality signal Pc is output from the counting unit 23 and the flow rate pulse integration processing is not performed. Further, the flow meter 11 displays a message or the like indicating a flow meter abnormality on the display unit 33 while the flow meter abnormality signal Pc is output from the measurement amount receiving device 12. Then, after the output patterns of the flow rate pulses Pa and Pb become normal, the message display indicating the abnormality is cleared and the integration process is resumed.

  Contrary to the above, for example, in the case of an output pattern in which the B-phase flow rate pulse Pb is normal and the A-phase is disconnected and the flow rate pulse Pa is missing, the B-phase flow rate pulse Pb is continuously output. Is an anomaly detection.

  In this abnormality detection section, since the existence of the flow rate pulse is unclear, the flow meter abnormality signal Pc is output from the counting unit 23 and the integration process of the flow rate pulse is not performed. Further, the flow meter 11 displays a message or the like indicating a flow meter abnormality on the display unit 33 while the flow meter abnormality signal Pc is output from the measurement amount receiving device 12. Then, after the output patterns of the flow rate pulses Pa and Pb become normal, the message display indicating the abnormality is cleared and the integration process is resumed.

  Further, as another abnormality detection pattern, for example, when the B-phase flow rate pulse Pb is normal and the A-phase intermittently outputs a flow rate pulse with a short cycle, the abnormal retention monitoring time T2 for the previous pulse cycle T1 is set. When the abnormal pulse Pd (when the A-phase or B-phase pulse continues two or more times) is detected at a predetermined number or more during this abnormality holding monitoring time T2 (for example, the second rising edge is detected) Anomaly detection is output at the time.

  In this abnormality detection section, the existence of the flow rate pulse is unclear, so the flow rate pulse integration process is not performed. Further, the flow meter 11 displays a message or the like indicating a flow meter abnormality on the display unit 33 while the flow meter abnormality signal Pc is output from the measurement amount receiving device 12. Then, after the abnormality holding monitoring time T2 has elapsed and the A-phase flow pulse Pa is normally output, the message display indicating the abnormality is cleared and the integration process is resumed.

  Furthermore, as another abnormality detection pattern, in a state where the flow rate is less than a predetermined flow rate or almost zero, the B-phase flow rate pulse Pb is normal and the A-phase pulse cycle is output intermittently. However, in this case, there is a high possibility that the rotor 41 alternately repeats forward rotation and reverse rotation due to pressure fluctuations in the piping accompanying a temperature rise. In this case, abnormality detection is not performed.

  In the above-described pattern, when the flow rate pulse Pb of the B phase is normal and the flow rate pulse of the A phase is intermittently output in a state where the flow rate is equal to or higher than a predetermined value, an abnormality with respect to the previous pulse cycle T1 When the holding monitoring time T2 is set, and the abnormal holding monitoring time T2, for example, when an A-phase pulse or a B-phase pulse continues, it is recognized as an abnormal signal, and a predetermined number or more of the flow meter abnormal signal Pc is detected. Anomaly detection is output when

  In addition, the number of determinations (threshold value) of ON / OFF of the flow meter abnormality signal Pc can be arbitrarily set. For example, when the signal is noisy, the predetermined number is set to 5 to 8. As a result, erroneous determination due to noise can be avoided.

  Here, in the counting unit 23, for example, the case where the A-phase flow rate pulse Pa and the B-phase flow rate pulse Pb are normally input alternately one by one is defined as one cycle. Elapsed time T1 is measured. In this elapsed time T1, when the flow rate is extremely low as in the flow rate measurement stopped state or the minute flow rate measurement state of the flow meter 20, the rotor 41 repeats forward rotation and reverse rotation due to pressure fluctuations in the pipe. Since it is known, a phenomenon occurs in which the flow rate pulse Pa is intermittently output during the abnormality holding monitoring time T2.

  Then, when the elapsed time T1 is equal to or shorter than a predetermined flow rate that is set in advance based on the specification of the measuring unit 21, the abnormality detection unit 53 performs abnormality detection as described later in the abnormality holding monitoring time T2. Do.

  In addition, the abnormality detection unit 53 executes a function such as proportional calculation based on the elapsed time T1 to calculate the abnormality holding monitoring time T2. The abnormality holding monitoring time T2 may be calculated by calculation, or a correspondence data table between the pulse period T1 and the abnormality holding monitoring time T2 is created in advance, and the pulse period T1 is calculated using the created data table. It is also possible to extract the corresponding abnormality retention monitoring time T2. If a predetermined number or more of the flow meter abnormality signal Pc is detected in the state where the abnormality holding monitoring time T2 is set, abnormality detection is output.

In this abnormality detection section, since the existence of the flow rate pulse is unclear, the integration process of the flow rate pulse is not performed. Next, after the abnormality monitoring cycle T2 has elapsed and the A-phase flow pulse Pa is normally output, the message display indicating abnormality is cleared and the integration process is resumed. That is, when the abnormality holding monitoring time T2 corresponding to the pulse period T1 is set, the flow rate pulse counting (counting and integration) is prohibited until the abnormality holding monitoring time T2 elapses.

  As described above, when it is difficult to determine whether the above pattern is abnormal or normal, the flow meter abnormality signal Pc is turned on / off more than a predetermined number in the abnormality holding monitoring time T2 set by a predetermined method. By determining an abnormality on the condition that it has occurred, it is possible to determine an abnormality in an ambiguous area.

  Therefore, when there is an abnormality in the output pattern of the A-phase or B-phase flow rate pulses Pa and Pb, the pulse period T1 of the A-phase and B-phase flow rate pulses Pa and Pb detected immediately before that is obtained. Since the abnormality holding monitoring time T2 corresponding to the pulse period T1 is calculated and the accumulation of the flow rate pulses is prohibited until the abnormality holding monitoring time T2 elapses, for example, even when noise occurs in the flow rate pulses Pa and Pb Can be prevented from being counted as a flow rate pulse, and the reliability of flow rate measurement can be further enhanced.

<How to store (write) logs>
Next, a log storage method according to this embodiment will be described. The CPU 31 in the measurement amount receiving device 12 manages the “elapsed time after power-on” value by adding a counter, for example, every minute from the time of power-on as reference data for performing date / time discrimination at the time of log storage. is doing. Note that the elapsed time after power-on to acquire the event occurrence date and time is connected to a signal, for example, every 1 second or every hour depending on the time resolution required as a log function.

  The flow meter 11 described above generates various signals such as an A-phase pulse Pa, a B-phase pulse Pb, and a flow meter abnormality signal Pc, and outputs them to the measurement amount receiving device 12. Further, when an event such as an abnormality has occurred in the A-phase pulse Pa, the B-phase pulse Pb, the flow meter abnormality signal Pc, etc., the CPU 31 detects this and stores the log in the memory 34.

  Here, as an example, with respect to an operation in which events of “flow rate pulse abnormality (E01)” and “flow meter abnormality signal ON (E02)” occur simultaneously and the contents are stored (registered) in a memory as a log, Differences between the present invention and the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the stored contents of “log” in the prior art. In FIG. 2, the event code is represented by three digits as an example. For example, Exx indicates that an event code abnormality indicated by the last two digits has occurred, and Rxx indicates that the event code abnormality indicated by the last two digits is cleared. X01 indicates that a pulse input abnormality from the flowmeter has been detected by the measurement amount receiving device, and x02 indicates a “flowmeter abnormality” status signal output by the flowmeter.

  The CPU 31 obtains the current date and time from the clock IC (RTC = real time clock) that always measures the date and time, and is assigned to each event (“flow pulse abnormality”, “flow meter abnormality signal ON”). Along with the code (“E01”, “E02”), the memory No. 1 and No. 2 to register the log data individually. In addition, No. 1 and No. The order of entering 2 may or may not be limited.

  If the abnormality is cleared thereafter, the date and time when the abnormality is cleared is acquired from the “clock IC” and the event code (“R01”, “R02”) indicating that the abnormality has been cleared is also used. No. of the memory 34 3 stores “flow rate pulse abnormality reset (R01)”. 4 stores “flow meter abnormality signal OFF (R02)”. Therefore, the memory resource usage in the above example is 52 digits.

  That is, in the example of the log shown in FIG. 2, in the case of log registration at the time of abnormality in the flow meter, date / time data registered in the format of “YYMMDDhhmm” (year / month / day / hour / minute) and each factor such as abnormality occurrence / abnormality reset The “event code” assigned to and other accompanying data are registered in the memory as one record. However, in the above-described example, even if only the event occurrence date and time portion is stored, if it is registered with one digit / one byte, a total storage capacity of 10 bytes is consumed.

  Also, if “event code” registration is performed for each event occurrence, if multiple events occur at the same time, it is necessary to register the log for multiple (two or more times), and for “memory access time + processing time” Power consumption increases, power consumption increases and the load on memory resource consumption is large. Therefore, the load of power consumption and memory resource consumption is reduced by applying the embodiment of the present invention described below.

  Here, FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of an identification table for storing a log in the present invention. In the example shown in FIG. 3, a total of 8-bit signals constituting one byte as a predetermined number of bytes have a meaning, and are expressed as “1 (ON, abnormal)” and “0 (OFF, no abnormal)”. "Is used to record information as a flag.

In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, as an example, 2 ⁰ flag indicates whether flow pulse abnormality, 2 ¹ flag indicates whether flow meter abnormal signal, 2 ^second flag indicates whether the battery abnormality , 2 ³ flag indicates whether the memory abnormality, 2 ⁴ flag indicates whether the display unit abnormality, 2 ⁵ flag indicates whether a communication interface (I / F) abnormalities, 2 ⁶ flag whether the CPU abnormality shows, 2 ⁷ flag indicates preliminary.

  As described above, by setting in advance for each bit, which abnormality is stored in each bit, a plurality of pieces of information can be stored in one byte. Note that when identifying eight or more types of abnormalities, one byte cannot be used. For example, a predetermined number of bytes, such as 2 bytes or 3 bytes, is used to set the flag type corresponding to each bit.

  Further, as described above, the log data in which a flag is set for each bit can be stored as a hexadecimal data format. Specifically, in the example of FIG. 3, “00” is stored when there is no abnormality, “01” when there is a flow rate pulse abnormality, and “03” when there is a flow rate pulse abnormality and a flow meter abnormality. For example, “H” in “00H” shown in FIG. 3 indicates that the numerical value on the left side is a hexadecimal number.

  Thus, by storing the log data as hexadecimal numbers, it is possible to reduce the amount of data to be stored and the amount of data to be transmitted to the management device while maintaining the amount of information. Thereby, it is possible to reduce the consumption of memory resources and the power consumption related to memory access. Note that the log data stored in hexadecimal may include not only the abnormality flag but also the date and time of event occurrence and other accompanying data. Thereby, it is possible to further reduce the consumption of memory resources and the power consumption related to memory access.

  Here, FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a log to which the present invention is applied. As shown in FIG. 4, the CPU 31 combines the “elapsed time after power-on” for acquiring the event occurrence date and time with the “event flag” indicating the content of the occurrence of the abnormality. 1. Logs are stored in batch. If the abnormality is subsequently cleared, the “elapsed time after power-on” at the time of clearing the abnormality and the “event flag” indicating the cleared content of the abnormality are also combined. 2. Logs are stored in batch.

  In the example shown in FIG. 4, “Elapsed time after power-on” and “Event flag” are stored in hexadecimal numbers for two abnormality occurrence contents of “flow rate pulse abnormality detection” and “flow meter abnormality signal”. ing. As a result, the memory resource usage in the present invention is 14 digits.

Here, in order to obtain the detailed date and time of occurrence of the event from the log data stored with the above-described contents, for example, the following operations (1) to (3) are required on the log reading side of the management device 13 or the like. It is.
(1) The management device 13 acquires the current “elapsed time after power-on” on the measurement amount receiving device 12 side via the communication network 14 at the time of communication connection.
(2) Next, the CPU 31 sequentially reads the log of the measurement amount receiving device 12 and the “elapsed time after power-on” in the log information and the current “elapsed time after power-on” previously acquired. The difference is calculated.
(3) Here, the difference is calculated by using the current “calendar date and time” that the management apparatus 13 has, whereby the detailed date and time when the log event occurs can be obtained with a small data capacity. .

  Therefore, the present invention eliminates the need for a clock IC, and by acquiring the current “elapsed time after power-on” before reading “log”, the detailed date and time of occurrence of the event of “log” can be acquired. Can do.

  Here, as an example using FIG. 4, for example, the management apparatus 13 will describe a recording method of event occurrence date and time when log acquisition is performed on “September 7, 2006, 10:30”. Note that the “elapsed time after power-on” of the measurement amount receiving device in the received message is 5256000 (min) (= 10 years). As shown in FIG. 4, since the time stored in the first log (No. 1) of the memory 34 is 50332E (hexadecimal), 5255982 (min) is transmitted from the measurement amount receiving apparatus 12.

  Next, 18 (min) is obtained by calculation of 5256000-5255982, and “September 7, 2006, 10:30” −18 minutes is calculated as “September 7, 2006, 10:12”. You can see that it is the date and time when it occurred. Thus, an accurate date and time can be acquired from a small amount of information.

  As a disadvantage of the date and time acquisition method described above, processing such as leap years is performed by the difference between the current “elapsed time after power-on” read in advance and the “elapsed time after power-on” at the time of the event of the log data. Including calendar calculation processing on the log reception side may be required. However, a general-purpose device such as a personal computer is usually used as the receiving device, and since these devices are highly functional and have no restrictions on power consumption reduction, there is no particular problem.

  Next, a data modification example when storing the log data described above in the memory will be described.

<Modification 1>
In the present embodiment described above, it is assumed that the “elapsed time after power-on” is counted and used in units of 1 second, 1 minute, 1 hour or the like in the memory inside the CPU 31, but a counter IC or the like is used as a peripheral circuit. By installing it, it is possible to count at regular time intervals outside the control of the CPU 31, and to read and use the count value when necessary. However, in such a case, the power consumption of the counter IC is separately generated, so that the merit of low power consumption may be reduced.

<Modification 2>
In the above-described embodiment, it is assumed that the date and time is managed by “elapsed time after power-on”. However, if management is performed using a counter that is reset at the time of meter reading every month, for example, the log data receiving side Thus, processing such as calendar calculation including processing such as leap years becomes unnecessary, and the number of digits of the log elapsed time counter can be reduced.

<Modification 3>
In the embodiment described above, it is assumed that “elapsed time after power-on” is registered in hexadecimal as shown in FIG. 4, but registration in other representation formats such as decimal is also possible.

<Modification 4>
In the above-described embodiment, at what timing the “elapsed time after power-on” stored in the memory 34 in hexadecimal when reading the log is corrected to decimal, for example, the measurement amount receiving device 12 or the management device 13 It is possible to easily process on either of the reading sides. For example, when considering the reduction of the message size, the management apparatus 13 is preferable.

  Therefore, since the amount of data at the time of log writing can be reduced, the consumption of memory resources can be reduced. In addition, power consumption related to memory access can be reduced. Furthermore, since a clock IC is not required for log date and time management, power consumption and component costs can be reduced.

<Processing procedure in CPU 31>
Next, log data storage (writing) processing, reading processing, and analysis processing in the CPU 31 described above will be described below.

<Log storage (write) processing>
FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the log storage process. As shown in FIG. 5, in the log storage process, first, an elapsed time after power-on is loaded (S01). The data format at this time is a hexadecimal number as shown in FIG. Next, when an abnormal status flag exists (an abnormality occurs), the flag is loaded (S02).

  Next, address information (storage address) for storing a log on the memory 34 of the measurement amount receiving apparatus 12 is acquired (S03). Thereafter, the log is written in the memory 34 and the process is terminated (S04).

<Log read processing>
FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the log reading process. As shown in FIG. 6, in the log reading process, first, the storage address of the log requested from the reading side is acquired (S11). Next, based on the storage address acquired by the process of S11, a log is read from a memory (S12), and the read log is copied on a communication message (S13). Further, the log message obtained by the process of S13 is output to the management device 13 or the like (S14). Thereby, low-byte log data having a data format such as a hexadecimal number in the embodiment can be easily transmitted to the management apparatus 13 via the communication network 14 or the like.

<Log analysis processing>
FIG. 7 is a flowchart of an example for explaining the log analysis processing. As shown in FIG. 7, in the log analysis process, first, communication connection with the measurement amount receiving device 12 is performed (S21), and the elapsed time after the current measurement amount receiving device 12 is turned on is acquired (S22).

  Next, a required log to be acquired is specified and requested to the measured amount receiving device 12 (S23). Here, it is determined whether or not the response to the log acquisition request of the measurement amount receiving device 12 is OK (here, OK indicates that a log corresponding to the request has been obtained) (S24). If the response to is not OK (NO in S24), a request is made again specifying another log. Note that the processing may be terminated as it is without requesting another log again.

  If the response is OK in the process of S24 (YES in S24), the elapsed time and event flag after power-on as shown in FIG. 4 are extracted from the log message returned as a response. (S25).

  Next, the elapsed time after power feeding extracted from the log message obtained by the processing of S25 is subtracted from the current elapsed time after turning on the power obtained by the processing of S22 ((acquired earlier). The current elapsed time after power-on) − (elapsed time after power feeding extracted from the log message) is calculated to obtain the difference (S26). Further, the date and time of the event occurrence in the log is calculated by subtracting the previous difference (time) from the current date and time (S27). Further, the date and time of event occurrence and the contents of the “event flag” are displayed / printed (S28).

  As described above, by using the log according to the present invention for log registration, reading, and analysis, it is possible to reduce memory resource consumption and power consumption related to memory access.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to reduce memory resource consumption and power consumption related to memory access. Specifically, since the amount of data at the time of log storage can be reduced, the consumption of memory resources can be reduced. In addition, power consumption related to memory access can be reduced.

  Furthermore, since a clock IC is not required for log date and time management, power consumption and component costs can be reduced. In addition, the “elapsed time after power-on”, which is the standard for log date and time management, can be realized only by adding a counter at intervals of 1 second, 1 minute, 1 hour, etc., so when creating a corresponding program , Can reduce the cost of creation.

  In the present invention, a counter circuit is provided in the microcomputer meter in place of the clock circuit, the measurement value measured by the counter circuit and information such as the amount of gas used are recorded, and there is a transmission request from a management device such as a center. In this case, the count value information in the memory and the current count value are transmitted to the requested management device, and the management device has a clock circuit, and the count value transmitted from the microcomputer meter and the current count value are transmitted. The time when the information is stored is calculated from the difference from the value. Thus, the microcomputer meter need only be provided with a counter, and information may be written in the memory in accordance with the count value. For this reason, the storage capacity for one piece of information can be reduced, and the power consumption for storage can be reduced, so that the battery replacement interval can be lengthened.

  The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, but the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments, and various modifications, within the scope of the gist of the present invention described in the claims, It can be changed.

It is a figure which shows one structural example of the measurement management system in this invention. It is a figure of an example for demonstrating the memory content of the log in a prior art. It is a figure which shows an example of the identification table for memorize | storing the log in this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the log to which this invention is applied. It is a flowchart of an example for demonstrating log storage processing. It is a flowchart of an example for demonstrating a log read-out process. It is a flowchart of an example for demonstrating log analysis processing.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Measurement management system 11 Flowmeter 12 Measurement quantity receiver 13 Management apparatus 14 Communication network 21 Weighing part 22 Amplifier and waveform shaping circuit 23 Counting part 31 CPU
32 Communication interface 33 Display (display)
34 Memory 35 Battery 41 Rotor 42 Magnetic sensor (flow rate pulse output device)
43 Magnet 51 Calculation unit 52 Flow rate pulse conversion unit 53 Abnormality detection unit

Claims (7)

A flow meter for measuring a flow velocity of the fluid to be measured, a measurement amount receiving device for receiving at least one abnormality detected from a flow rate pulse measured every predetermined time measured by the flow meter and storing the abnormality in a storage unit; and the measurement amount In a measurement management system comprising a receiving device and a management device connected by a communication network,
Control means for setting a flag at a predetermined position of a bit included in a predetermined number of bytes based on the type of abnormality detected by the flow meter, and storing it in the storage means as log data together with predetermined time information When,
A measurement management system comprising: transmission means for transmitting predetermined log data among the log data stored in the storage means to the management device via the communication network. The control means includes
The measurement management system according to claim 1, wherein an elapsed time after the flowmeter is turned on is stored in the storage unit as the predetermined time information. The management device
The date and time when an abnormality occurred in the flowmeter is calculated by calculating a difference between current date and time information and an elapsed time after power-on acquired from the log data. Measurement management system described in 1. The control means includes
The measurement management system according to claim 1, wherein the log data is stored in the storage unit in hexadecimal. The flow rate pulse at a predetermined time is measured by a flow meter that measures the flow velocity of the fluid to be measured, and at least one abnormality detected from the flow rate pulse is stored in a storage unit, and the management device connected by a communication network In the measurement amount receiving apparatus that notifies that an abnormality has been detected,
Control means for setting a flag at a predetermined position of a bit included in a preset number of bytes based on the type of abnormality detected by the flow meter, and storing it in the storage means as log data together with predetermined time information When,
A measurement amount receiving apparatus, comprising: a transmission unit configured to transmit predetermined log data among the log data stored in the storage unit to the management apparatus via the communication network. The control means includes
The measurement amount receiving apparatus according to claim 5, wherein an elapsed time after the flowmeter is turned on is stored in the storage unit as the predetermined time information. The control means includes
The measurement amount receiving apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the log data is stored in the storage unit in hexadecimal.

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