JP2009109391A - Meter and peripheral device of meter - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To understandably give various messages to consumers by using a small sized display without increasing its cost. <P>SOLUTION: An inner condition determining means 11 judges an inner state of a gas meter 10. A retrieving means 16 retrieves inner state information corresponding to the inner state of the gas meter 10 in accordance with the determination result from a memory means 15. A message forming means 12 forms a message corresponding to the inner state of the gas meter 10 in accordance with the inner state information retrieved from the memory means 15 by the retrieving means 16. The formed message is converted to a two-dimensional code by a two-dimensional code forming means to be displayed on a display means 14. A user can allow the message to be displayed such that the user reads the two-dimensional code 17 displayed on the display means 14 of the gas meter 10 by using a two-dimensional code reading device. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a meter and a peripheral device of the meter, and more particularly to a meter and a peripheral device of the meter having a transmission means for transmitting a message according to the state of the meter and the peripheral device to a user.

For example, a so-called microcomputer meter controlled by a microcomputer is known as a meter for measuring a flow rate of a specific medium such as a gas meter or a water meter. The microcomputer meter detects the occurrence of various warning events set in advance, and displays a warning display on the display unit according to the detection result.
For example, various functions of the gas meter include functions for convenience of consumers, functions for improving work efficiency for gas contractors, etc., in addition to shut-off functions important for safety, which are used by users. Necessary functions are appropriately selected and set in accordance with the usage environment of the gas appliance or the like. The setting data at this time is stored in a memory in the microcomputer, and various functions provided in the gas meter are executed according to this setting.

  Among the various functions described above, in the case of a gas meter having a gas supply cutoff function, this occurrence event is displayed on the gas meter display unit in order to indicate to the gas company or gas user what the cutoff has occurred. The display roughly corresponds to. Here, in the gas meter (microcomputer meter) which mounts the present microcomputer, the display content is displayed by ABC display.

  FIG. 18 is a diagram showing a display on the display unit when the gas supply in the conventional gas meter is cut off. In the shut-off matter display process in the conventional gas meter, by judging whether or not the shut-off matter has occurred, the shut-off event is displayed on the display unit if it has occurred, and if it has not occurred, the process is terminated. . For example, if it is any one of the test interruption, the seismic instrument interruption, and the alarm interruption, “B, C, gas stop” is displayed in the ABC display area 101 of the display unit 30 as shown in FIG. Then, “A, gas stop” is displayed in the ABC display area 101 of the display unit 100.

  Regarding the warning display of the gas meter as described above, for example, the gas meter of Patent Document 1 has a warning indicator as warning display means for displaying various information such as a warning display related to safety management. This warning indicator includes a liquid crystal display unit and an LED indicator. The liquid crystal display unit includes various display units including an ABC display unit. For example, the presence / absence of three displays of the ABC display of the liquid crystal display unit and the LED indicator Numerous warnings are displayed by lighting, flashing and non-lighting.

  Further, the automatic meter reading unit of Patent Document 2 is provided on the front panel adjacent to the LCD display unit and the LCD display unit, and prints a plurality of character messages for explaining countermeasures according to the state of the gas meter. And a guidance display unit for displaying. And this automatic meter-reading unit displays on the display screen of the LCD display part an instruction mark that selectively indicates a text message according to the state of the gas meter, thereby guiding what the gas consumer should do. be able to.

In addition, the in-home display systems of Patent Document 3 and Patent Document 4 are systems that display various information from the gas security center in a house that is a gas supply destination, and are provided in each gas supply destination (house). And a security monitoring device that is provided in the gas security center and exchanges information with each of the home display devices. The security monitoring device outputs instruction information corresponding to the notification from the gas supply destination to the home display device via the NCU (Network Control Unit), and the home display device responds to the instruction information when receiving the instruction information. Display information to be displayed on the screen.
JP 2006-17515 A JP 2006-64431 A JP-A-11-230807 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-230808

As described above, in the conventional gas meter, the warning display is performed by the presence / absence of the three ABC display and the lighting, blinking and non-lighting of the LED indicator. There is a problem that it is difficult to understand. The warning display of Patent Document 1 also employs such a display method.
Moreover, in the conventional gas meter, the meaning of the warning display is shown to the gas consumer by printing and describing the meaning of the warning display around the liquid crystal display unit. However, there is a problem that it is difficult to describe the meanings of all warning displays in a limited space.

  Also, since the same warning is often displayed for multiple shutdown events, it is not possible to know the reason for shutdown from the content of the warning display, and if the gas meter shuts down for some reason, it takes time to determine the shutdown factor. Was. As a result, the work efficiency until the valve is opened is deteriorated, the gas cannot be used at the gas consumer's house, and there is a problem that the gas user's house is greatly inconvenienced. In addition, there is a problem that it is not possible to directly instruct the gas user when a warning is displayed.

  Moreover, in the automatic meter-reading unit of patent document 2, since the instruction mark which selectively instruct | indicates a character message according to the state of a gas meter is displayed on the display screen of a LCD display part, the kind of character message is restrict | limited by the space of a front panel. There is a problem that it is difficult to output various messages according to the state of the gas meter.

  Furthermore, in the in-home display systems of Patent Document 3 and Patent Document 4, in order to display information that the gas security center wants to notify the gas user, information that the gas user needs for gas security, or value-added information, There is a problem that a screen that can display various information is required, and the cost is increased.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, so that various messages can be easily communicated to general consumers without significantly increasing the cost by using small-sized display means. An object of the present invention is to provide a meter and a peripheral device for the meter.

  The invention of claim 1 is a meter having a two-dimensional code creating means for creating a two-dimensional code and a display means for displaying the two-dimensional code created by the two-dimensional code creating means. A two-dimensional code representing a message corresponding to the internal state of the meter is created.

  The invention of claim 2 is a meter having a two-dimensional code creating means for creating a two-dimensional code and a display means for displaying the two-dimensional code created by the two-dimensional code creating means and connected to a peripheral device. The two-dimensional code creating means creates a two-dimensional code representing a message corresponding to the internal state of the peripheral device.

  The invention of claim 3 has a two-dimensional code creating means for creating a two-dimensional code and a display means for displaying the two-dimensional code created by the two-dimensional code creating means, and is connected to a host device via a peripheral device. The two-dimensional code creating means creates a two-dimensional code representing a message corresponding to the internal state of the host device.

  The invention of claim 4 is a peripheral device having a two-dimensional code creating means for creating a two-dimensional code and a display means for displaying the two-dimensional code created by the two-dimensional code creating means and connected to a meter. The two-dimensional code creating means creates a two-dimensional code representing a message corresponding to the internal state of the peripheral device.

  The invention of claim 5 is a peripheral device having a two-dimensional code creating means for creating a two-dimensional code and a display means for displaying the two-dimensional code created by the two-dimensional code creating means and connected to a meter. The two-dimensional code creating means creates a two-dimensional code representing a message corresponding to the internal state of the meter.

  The invention of claim 6 has a two-dimensional code creating means for creating a two-dimensional code and a display means for displaying the two-dimensional code created by the two-dimensional code creating means, and is connected to other peripheral devices via a meter. A peripheral device to be connected, wherein the two-dimensional code creating means creates a two-dimensional code representing a message according to an internal state of another peripheral device.

  The invention of claim 7 includes a two-dimensional code creating means for creating a two-dimensional code, and a display means for displaying the two-dimensional code created by the two-dimensional code creating means, and a peripheral connected to another peripheral device The apparatus is characterized in that the two-dimensional code creating means creates a two-dimensional code representing a message according to an internal state of another peripheral device.

  The invention of claim 8 has a two-dimensional code creating means for creating a two-dimensional code and a display means for displaying the two-dimensional code created by the two-dimensional code creating means, and is connected to a meter and via a network. The two-dimensional code creating means creates a two-dimensional code representing a message according to the internal state of the host device.

  According to the present invention, there are provided a meter and a peripheral device of the meter that can transmit various messages in a manner that is easy to understand to general consumers without significantly increasing the cost by using a display means having a small size. be able to.

  Embodiments according to the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following embodiments, an example in which a gas meter is applied as a meter according to the present invention will be described. However, the meter of the present invention is not limited to a gas meter, and includes a water meter, a power meter, a hot water meter, a kerosene meter, a sewage meter, and the like. It can be applied to various meters.

<Embodiment 1>
FIG. 1 is a block diagram for explaining the function of a gas meter according to an embodiment of the present invention. The gas meter 10 includes an internal state determination unit 11, a message creation unit 12, a two-dimensional code creation unit 13, a display unit 14, a storage unit 15, and a search unit 16.
The internal state determination unit 11, the message creation unit 12, the two-dimensional code creation unit 13, and the search unit 16 are realized by a calculation process of a microcomputer. The storage means 15 is a memory for holding a program and data for realizing the function of the gas meter, and the display means 14 is an LCD (liquid crystal display) for displaying data processed by the microcomputer in accordance with a predetermined program or an external command. In addition, other electronic paper can be applied.

  The internal state determination unit 11 determines the internal state of the gas meter 10. Internal conditions include the occurrence of warning events (for example, flow rate micro-leakage warning, pressure-type microleakage warning, adjustment pressure abnormality warning, blockage pressure abnormality warning, etc.), and the occurrence of interruption events (for example, total flow rate interruption, increased flow rate interruption) , Use time shut-off, return safety check leakage leak, gas leak alarm interlock shut-off, seismic device operation shut-off, pressure drop shut-off, etc.), function processing status (for example, remaining amount management, learning, fire registration, road survey, etc.) Is given. These warning events are disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-17508, and the interruption event is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-17515.

The search unit 16 searches the storage unit 15 for internal state information corresponding to the internal state of the gas meter 10 according to the determination result by the internal state determination unit 11. The message creation unit 12 creates a message corresponding to the internal state of the gas meter 10 according to the internal state information searched by the search unit 16 from the storage unit 15.
Examples of messages to be created include character messages composed of kanji, hiragana, katakana, alphabet, numbers, and symbols. For example, text messages such as “I shut off the gas because I forgot to turn it off” and “Please call the gas company. 0000-0000-0000” can be given.
The created message is converted into a two-dimensional code by the two-dimensional code creating means 13. The converted two-dimensional code is displayed on the display means 14.

FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing an apparatus configuration used when a message is displayed by reading a two-dimensional code displayed on the gas meter. FIG. 2A is a diagram showing an appearance of the gas meter, and FIG. Is an external view of the front side of the two-dimensional code reader, and FIG. 2C is a rear external view of the two-dimensional code reader.
As described above, the gas meter 10 displays the two-dimensional code 17 corresponding to the internal state on the display unit 14. Here, the gas consumer reads the two-dimensional code 17 displayed on the display unit 14 of the gas meter 10 using the two-dimensional code reader 20.

  The two-dimensional code reading device 20 includes an imaging unit 21 and a display unit 22. The two-dimensional code reader 20 has a function of converting (decoding) the two-dimensional code 17 imaged by the imaging unit 21 into a message and displaying the converted message on the display unit 22. The two-dimensional code reader 20 has a function of accessing a Web site indicated by the URL and displaying the Web page when the URL is included in the message obtained by converting the captured two-dimensional code 17. An example of such a two-dimensional code reader 20 is a camera-equipped mobile phone. In particular, a camera-equipped mobile phone having a QR code (registered trademark) reading function is preferable. The same applies to the following embodiments.

  A QR code can be used as the two-dimensional code. The QR code is a kind of matrix type two-dimensional code, and represents information in a white and black lattice pattern. FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically illustrating an example of a QR code. The two-dimensional code has a different pattern depending on the content of the message. For example, FIG. 3A shows a two-dimensional code representing the message A, and FIG. 3B shows a two-dimensional code representing the message B. Thus, the pattern of the two-dimensional code changes depending on the content of the encoded information. The content of the encoded information can be known by reading this two-dimensional code and decoding (converting) the encoded information.

  With the above configuration, when the gas consumer reads the two-dimensional code 17 displayed on the display means 14 of the gas meter 10 with the two-dimensional code reader 20, the two-dimensional code reader 20 uses the two-dimensional code as a message. Since it converts and displays on the display means 22, the gas consumer can read the message corresponding to the state inside a gas meter. As a result, it is possible to convey a variety of messages in a way that is easy to understand for general consumers. Further, since the two-dimensional code is displayed on the display unit 14 of the gas meter 10, the size of the display unit 14 can be reduced as compared with the case where characters are directly displayed, and the configuration of the present embodiment is realized without significantly increasing the cost. it can.

<Embodiment 2>
FIG. 4 is a block diagram for explaining the function of a gas meter according to another embodiment of the present invention. The gas meter 10 of the present embodiment is connected to the peripheral device 30 and communicates with the peripheral device 30. Examples of the peripheral device 30 connected to the gas meter 10 include a remote display device, an alarm device, a centralized meter reading device, an NCU (Network Control Unit), a wireless communication device, and a router. The NCU controls the telephone exchange network such as making a call with the gas meter 10, sending a selection signal, and disconnecting.

  The peripheral device 30 includes an internal state determination unit 31, a message creation unit 32, a communication unit 33, a storage unit 34, and a search unit 35. The gas meter 10 that communicates with the peripheral device 30 includes a communication unit 18, a two-dimensional code creation unit 13, and a display unit 14. The two-dimensional code creation means 13 and the display means 14 have the same function as the gas meter 10 of the first embodiment.

The internal state determination unit 31 of the peripheral device 30 determines the internal state of the peripheral device 30. Examples of the internal state of the peripheral device 30 include a function processing state (for example, communication, automatic meter reading, etc.).
Then, the search unit 35 of the peripheral device 30 searches the storage unit 34 for internal state information corresponding to the internal state of the peripheral device 30 according to the determination result by the internal state determination unit 31. The message creation unit 32 creates a message corresponding to the internal state of the peripheral device 30 according to the internal state information searched by the search unit 35. Examples of messages to be created include character messages composed of kanji, hiragana, katakana, alphabet, numbers, and symbols. For example, a text message such as “communication completed successfully” is given.

  The message created by the message creation unit 32 is transmitted to the gas meter 10 by the communication unit 33. The communication means 18 of the gas meter 10 receives a message transmitted from the peripheral device 30. Examples of a communication method realized by the communication unit 33 of the peripheral device 30 and the communication unit 18 of the gas meter 10 include wired communication and wireless communication.

  The two-dimensional code creating means 13 of the gas meter 10 converts the message received by the communication means 18 into a two-dimensional code. The converted two-dimensional code is displayed on the display means 14. That is, here, a two-dimensional code indicating a message corresponding to the internal state of the peripheral device 30 is displayed on the display means 14 of the gas meter 10.

  2, the gas consumer reads the displayed two-dimensional code by the two-dimensional code reader 20. The two-dimensional code reader 20 reads the two-dimensional code by the imaging unit, converts (decodes) the two-dimensional code into a message, and displays the message. If the message converted from the two-dimensional code includes a URL, the Web page indicated by the URL is accessed and a Web page is displayed.

  With the above configuration, when the gas consumer reads the two-dimensional code 17 displayed on the display means 14 of the gas meter 10 with the two-dimensional code reader 20, the two-dimensional code reader 20 uses the two-dimensional code as a message. Since it is converted and displayed on the display means 22, the gas consumer can read a message corresponding to the internal state of the peripheral device 30. This makes it easy for general consumers to communicate various messages. Further, since the two-dimensional code is displayed on the display unit 14 of the gas meter 10, the size of the display unit can be reduced as compared with the case where characters are directly displayed, and the configuration of the present embodiment can be realized without significantly increasing the cost.

<Embodiment 3>
FIG. 5 is a block diagram for explaining the function of a gas meter according to still another embodiment of the present invention. The present embodiment realizes the same function as that of the second embodiment, but unlike the configuration of the second embodiment, the peripheral device 30 includes an internal state determination unit 31 and a communication unit 33, and the gas meter 10 communicates. Means 18, message creation means 12, two-dimensional code creation means 13, display means 14, storage means 15, and search means 16 are provided.

That is, in this embodiment, the internal state determination unit 31 of the peripheral device 30 determines the internal state of the peripheral device 30 and sends the determination result to the gas meter 10 via the communication unit 33.
In the gas meter 10, the communication unit 18 receives the determination result of the internal state of the peripheral device 30, and the search unit 16 stores the internal state information corresponding to the internal state of the peripheral device 30 according to the determination result of the internal state. Search from. The message creation unit 12 of the meter 10 creates a message corresponding to the internal state of the peripheral device 30 in accordance with the internal state information searched by the search unit 16 from the storage unit 15. The created message is converted into a two-dimensional code by the two-dimensional code creating means 13 and displayed by the display means 14. After that, as in the above example, the two-dimensional code displayed on the gas meter 10 is read by the two-dimensional code reader 20, the read two-dimensional code is converted into a message, and the message is converted to the two-dimensional code reader 20. It is displayed on the display means 22.

<Embodiment 4>
FIG. 6 is a block diagram for explaining the function of a gas meter according to still another embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, the gas meter 10 is connected to the peripheral device 30, and the peripheral device 30 is further connected to the host device 40 via the network 50.
The host device 40 includes an internal state determination unit 41, a message creation unit 42, a communication unit 43, a search unit 45, and a storage unit 44. The host device 40 is installed in a gas security center, for example, and exchanges information with the meter 10 and the peripheral device 30 of the meter via the network 50. Examples of the internal state of the host device 40 include a function processing state (for example, instruction information distribution, additional information distribution, etc.).

  The internal state determination unit 41 of the host device 40 determines the internal state of the host device 40. The search unit 45 searches the storage unit 44 for internal state information corresponding to the internal state of the host device 40 according to the determination result by the internal state determination unit 41. The message creation unit 42 creates a message corresponding to the internal state of the host device 40 in accordance with the internal state information searched by the search unit 45. Examples of the message include character messages composed of kanji, hiragana, katakana, alphabets, numbers, and symbols, and examples include character messages such as a shut-off valve return method.

  The message created by the message creation means 42 of the host device 40 is transmitted to the peripheral device 30 via the network 50 by the communication means 43. Examples of the communication method realized by the communication unit 43 include wired communication and wireless communication. The peripheral device 30 includes a communication unit 33, receives a message from the host device 40 through the communication unit 33, and transfers the message to the gas meter 10.

  The gas meter 10 includes a communication unit 18, a two-dimensional code creation unit 13, and a display unit 14. The gas meter 10 receives the message transferred from the peripheral device 30 by the communication unit 18, converts the message into a two-dimensional code by the two-dimensional code creation unit 13, and displays the converted two-dimensional code on the display unit 14. . As a result, a two-dimensional code corresponding to the internal state of the host device 40 is displayed on the display means 14 of the gas meter 10.

  As in the above embodiments, the gas consumer reads the displayed two-dimensional code by the two-dimensional code reader 20. The two-dimensional code reading device 20 includes an imaging unit 21 and a display unit 22, reads the two-dimensional code by the imaging unit 21, converts (decodes) the two-dimensional code into a message, and displays the message. If the message converted from the two-dimensional code includes a URL, the Web page indicated by the URL is accessed and a Web page is displayed.

  With the above configuration, when the gas consumer reads the two-dimensional code 17 displayed on the display means 14 of the gas meter 10 with the two-dimensional code reader 20, the two-dimensional code reader 20 uses the two-dimensional code as a message. Since it is converted and displayed on the display means 22, the gas consumer can read a message corresponding to the internal state of the host device 40. This makes it easy for the general consumer to communicate various messages. Further, since the two-dimensional code is displayed on the display unit 14 of the gas meter 10, the size of the display unit 14 can be reduced as compared with the case where characters are directly displayed, and the configuration of the present embodiment can be realized without significantly increasing the cost.

<Embodiment 5>
FIG. 7 is a block diagram for explaining functions of a gas meter according to still another embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment realizes the same function as that of the fourth embodiment, but unlike the configuration of the fourth embodiment, the host device 40 includes an internal state determination unit 41 and a communication unit 43, and the gas meter 10 communicates. Means 18, message creation means 12, two-dimensional code creation means 13, display means 14, storage means 15, and search means 16 are provided.

  That is, in this embodiment, the internal state determination unit 41 of the host device 40 determines the internal state of the host device 40 and sends the determination result to the peripheral device 30 via the network 50 using the communication unit 43. The peripheral device 30 receives the message from the host device 40 through the communication means 33 and transfers it to the gas meter 10.

  In the gas meter 10, the communication unit 18 receives the determination result of the internal state of the host device 40, and the search unit 16 stores the internal state information corresponding to the internal state of the host device 40 according to the determination result of the internal state. Search from. The message creation unit 12 of the gas meter 10 creates a message corresponding to the internal state of the host device 40 in accordance with the internal state information retrieved from the storage unit 15 by the retrieval unit 16. The created message is converted into a two-dimensional code by the two-dimensional code creating means 13 and displayed by the display means 14. After that, similarly to the above example, the two-dimensional code displayed on the gas meter 10 is read by the two-dimensional code reader 20, the read two-dimensional code is converted into a message, and the message is read by the two-dimensional code reader 20. It is displayed on the display means 22.

<Embodiment 6>
FIG. 8 is a block diagram for explaining functions of the peripheral device according to the embodiment of the present invention. The peripheral device 30 is connected to a gas meter, for example, and includes a gas meter remote display device, an alarm device, a centralized meter reading device, an NCU, a wireless communication device, and a router.

  The peripheral device 30 includes an internal state determination unit 31, a message creation unit 32, a two-dimensional code creation unit 36, a display unit 37, a storage unit 34, and a search unit 35. The internal state determination unit 31 of the peripheral device 30 determines the internal state of the peripheral device 30. Examples of the internal state of the peripheral device 30 include a function processing state (for example, communication, automatic meter reading, etc.).

  Then, the search unit 35 of the peripheral device 30 searches the storage unit 34 for internal state information corresponding to the internal state of the peripheral device 30 according to the determination result by the internal state determination unit 31. The message creation unit 32 creates a message corresponding to the internal state of the peripheral device 30 according to the internal state information searched by the search unit 35. Examples of messages to be created include character messages composed of kanji, hiragana, katakana, alphabet, numbers, and symbols. For example, a text message such as “communication completed successfully” is given.

  The two-dimensional code creation means 36 converts the message created by the message creation means 32 into a two-dimensional code. The converted two-dimensional code is displayed on the display means 37. That is, here, a two-dimensional code indicating a message corresponding to the internal state of the peripheral device 30 is displayed on the display means 37 of the peripheral device 30.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram schematically illustrating a device configuration used when a message is displayed by reading a two-dimensional code displayed on the peripheral device. FIG. 9A is a diagram illustrating an appearance of the peripheral device. FIG. 9B is an external view of the front side of the two-dimensional code reader, and FIG. 9C is a rear external view of the two-dimensional code reader. As described above, the peripheral device 30 displays the two-dimensional code 17 corresponding to the internal state on the display unit 37. Here, the gas consumer reads the two-dimensional code 17 displayed on the display means 37 of the peripheral device 30 using the two-dimensional code reader 20.

  The two-dimensional code reading device 20 includes an imaging unit 21 and a display unit 22. The two-dimensional code reading device 20 converts (decodes) the two-dimensional code 17 imaged by the imaging unit 21 into a message and displays the converted message on the display unit 22. Further, when the URL is included in the message obtained by converting the captured two-dimensional code 17, the two-dimensional code reading device 20 accesses the Web site indicated by the URL and displays the Web page.

  With the above configuration, when the gas consumer reads the two-dimensional code 17 displayed on the display means 37 of the peripheral device 30 by the two-dimensional code reader 20, the two-dimensional code reader 20 sends the two-dimensional code to the message. Is displayed on the display means 22 so that the gas consumer can read a message corresponding to the state inside the peripheral device. This makes it easy for the general consumer to communicate various messages. Further, since the two-dimensional code is displayed on the display unit 37 of the peripheral device 30, the size of the display unit 37 can be reduced as compared with the case of directly displaying characters, and the configuration of the present embodiment can be realized without significantly increasing the cost. .

<Embodiment 7>
FIG. 10 is a block diagram for explaining functions of a peripheral device according to another embodiment of the present invention. The peripheral device 30 of the present embodiment is connected to the gas meter 10 and communicates with the gas meter 10. Examples of the peripheral device 30 connected to the gas meter 10 include a remote display device, an alarm device, a centralized meter reading device, an NCU, a wireless communication device, and a router.

The gas meter 10 includes an internal state determination unit 11, a message creation unit 12, a communication unit 19, a storage unit 15, and a search unit 16. The peripheral device 30 that communicates with the gas meter 10 includes a communication unit 33, a two-dimensional code creation unit 36, and a display unit 37.
The internal state determination unit 11 of the gas meter 10 determines the internal state of the gas meter 10. The search unit 16 of the gas meter 10 searches the storage unit 15 for internal state information corresponding to the internal state of the gas meter 10 according to the determination result by the internal state determination unit 11. The message creation unit 12 creates a message corresponding to the internal state of the gas meter 10 according to the internal state information searched by the search unit 16. Examples of messages to be created include character messages composed of kanji, hiragana, katakana, alphabet, numbers, and symbols.

  The message created by the message creation unit 12 is transmitted to the peripheral device 30 by the communication unit 19. The communication means 33 of the peripheral device 30 receives the message transmitted from the gas meter 10. Examples of a communication method realized by the communication unit 19 of the gas meter 10 and the communication unit 33 of the peripheral device 30 include wired communication and wireless communication.

  The two-dimensional code creation means 36 of the peripheral device 30 converts the message received by the communication means 33 into a two-dimensional code. The converted two-dimensional code is displayed on the display means 37. That is, here, a two-dimensional code indicating a message corresponding to the internal state of the gas meter 10 is displayed on the display means 37 of the peripheral device 30.

  And like each said embodiment, a gas consumer reads the displayed two-dimensional code by the two-dimensional code reader 20 here. The two-dimensional code reading device 20 reads the two-dimensional code by the imaging means 21, converts (decodes) the two-dimensional code into a message, and displays the message. If the message converted from the two-dimensional code includes a URL, the Web page indicated by the URL is accessed and a Web page is displayed.

  With the above configuration, when the gas consumer reads the two-dimensional code 17 displayed on the display means 37 of the peripheral device 30 by the two-dimensional code reader 20, the two-dimensional code reader 20 sends the two-dimensional code to the message. Is displayed on the display means 22 so that the gas consumer can read a message corresponding to the internal state of the gas meter 10. This makes it easy for the general consumer to communicate various messages. Further, since the two-dimensional code is displayed on the display unit 37 of the peripheral device 30, the size of the display unit 37 can be reduced as compared with the case of directly displaying characters, and the configuration of the present embodiment can be realized without significantly increasing the cost. .

<Eighth embodiment>
FIG. 11 is a block diagram for explaining functions of a peripheral device according to still another embodiment of the present invention. The present embodiment realizes the same function as that of the seventh embodiment. However, unlike the configuration of the seventh embodiment, the gas meter 10 includes an internal state determination unit 11 and a communication unit 19, and the peripheral device 30 communicates. Means 33, message creation means 32, two-dimensional code creation means 36, display means 37, storage means 34, and search means 35 are provided.

That is, in this embodiment, the internal state determination unit 11 of the gas meter 10 determines the internal state of the gas meter 10 and sends the determination result to the peripheral device 30 via the communication unit 19.
In the peripheral device 30, the communication unit 33 receives the determination result of the internal state of the gas meter 10, and the search unit 35 stores the internal state information corresponding to the internal state of the gas meter 10 from the storage unit 34 according to the internal state determination result. Search for. The message creation means 32 of the peripheral device 30 creates a message corresponding to the internal state of the gas meter 10 according to the internal state information searched by the search means 35 from the storage means 34. The created message is converted into a two-dimensional code by the two-dimensional code creation means 36 and displayed by the display means 37. Thereafter, as in the above example, the two-dimensional code displayed on the peripheral device 30 is read by the two-dimensional code reader 20, the read two-dimensional code is converted into a message, and the message is converted into the two-dimensional code reader 20. Are displayed on the display means 22.

<Ninth Embodiment>
FIG. 12 is a block diagram for explaining functions of a peripheral device according to still another embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, the peripheral device 30 is connected to the gas meter 10, and the gas meter 10 is further connected to the second peripheral device 60. The second peripheral device 60 corresponds to another peripheral device of the present invention. The second peripheral device 60 includes a remote display device, an alarm device, a centralized meter reading device, an NCU, a wireless communication device, a router, and the like, like the peripheral device 30.

  The second peripheral device 60 includes an internal state determination unit 61, a message creation unit 62, a communication unit 63, a search unit 65, and a storage unit 64. The internal state determination unit 61 of the second peripheral device 60 determines the internal state of the second peripheral device 60. The search unit 65 searches the storage unit 64 for internal state information corresponding to the internal state of the second peripheral device 60 according to the determination result by the internal state determination unit 61. The message creation unit 62 creates a message corresponding to the internal state of the second peripheral device 60 according to the internal state information searched by the search unit 65. Examples of the message include character messages composed of kanji, hiragana, katakana, alphabets, numbers, and symbols, and examples include character messages such as a shut-off valve return method.

  The message created by the message creation means 62 of the second peripheral device 60 is transmitted to the gas meter 10 by the communication means 63. Examples of the communication method realized by the communication unit 63 include wired communication and wireless communication. The gas meter 10 includes a communication unit 18, receives a message from the second peripheral device 60 through the communication unit 18, and transfers the message to the peripheral device 30.

  The peripheral device 30 includes a communication unit 33, a two-dimensional code creation unit 36, and a display unit 37. The peripheral device 30 receives the message transferred from the gas meter 10 by the communication unit 33, converts the message into a two-dimensional code by the two-dimensional code creation unit 36, and displays the converted two-dimensional code on the display unit 37. . As a result, a two-dimensional code corresponding to the internal state of the second peripheral device 60 is displayed on the display means 37 of the peripheral device 30.

  As in the above embodiments, the gas consumer reads the displayed two-dimensional code by the two-dimensional code reader 20. The two-dimensional code reading device 20 includes an imaging unit 21 and a display unit 22, reads the two-dimensional code by the imaging unit 21, converts (decodes) the two-dimensional code into a message, and displays the converted message. If the message converted from the two-dimensional code includes a URL, the Web page indicated by the URL is accessed and a Web page is displayed.

  With the above configuration, when the gas consumer reads the two-dimensional code 17 displayed on the display means 37 of the peripheral device 30 by the two-dimensional code reader 20, the two-dimensional code reader 20 sends the two-dimensional code to the message. Since it is converted into and displayed on the display means 22, the gas consumer can read a message corresponding to the internal state of the second peripheral device 60. This makes it easy for the general consumer to communicate various messages. Further, since the two-dimensional code is displayed on the display unit 37 of the peripheral device 30, the size of the display unit 37 can be reduced as compared with the case of directly displaying characters, and the configuration of the present embodiment can be realized without significantly increasing the cost. .

<Embodiment 10>
FIG. 13 is a block diagram for explaining functions of a peripheral device according to still another embodiment of the present invention. The present embodiment realizes the same function as that of the ninth embodiment, but unlike the configuration of the ninth embodiment, the second peripheral device 60 includes an internal state determination unit 61 and a communication unit 63, The apparatus 30 includes a communication unit 33, a message creation unit 32, a two-dimensional code creation unit 36, a display unit 37, a storage unit 34, and a search unit 35.

  That is, in this embodiment, the internal state determination unit 61 of the second peripheral device 60 determines the internal state of the second peripheral device 60 and sends the determination result to the gas meter 10 using the communication unit 63. The gas meter 10 receives a message from the second peripheral device 60 through the communication means 18 and transfers the message to the peripheral device 30.

In the peripheral device 30, the communication unit 33 receives the determination result of the internal state of the second peripheral device 60, and the search unit 35 corresponds to the internal state of the second peripheral device 60 according to the determination result of the internal state. Internal state information is retrieved from the storage means 34. Then, the message creation means 32 of the peripheral device 30 follows the internal state information searched from the storage means 34 by the search means 35.
A message corresponding to the internal state of the second peripheral device 60 is created. The created message is converted into a two-dimensional code by the two-dimensional code creation means 36 and displayed by the display means 37. After that, as in the above example, the two-dimensional code displayed on the peripheral device 30 is read by the two-dimensional code reader 20, the read two-dimensional code is converted into a message, and the message is converted into the two-dimensional code reader 20. Are displayed on the display means 22.

<Embodiment 11>
FIG. 14 is a block diagram for explaining functions of a peripheral device according to still another embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, the peripheral device 30 is connected to the second peripheral device 60. The second peripheral device 60 corresponds to another peripheral device of the present invention.

  The second peripheral device 60 includes an internal state determination unit 61, a message creation unit 62, a communication unit 63, a search unit 65, and a storage unit 64. The internal state determination unit 61 of the second peripheral device 60 determines the internal state of the second peripheral device 60. The search unit 65 searches the storage unit 64 for internal state information corresponding to the internal state of the second peripheral device 60 according to the determination result by the internal state determination unit 61. The message creation unit 62 creates a message corresponding to the internal state of the second peripheral device 60 according to the internal state information searched by the search unit 65. Examples of the message include character messages composed of kanji, hiragana, katakana, alphabets, numbers, and symbols, and examples include character messages such as a shut-off valve return method.

The message created by the message creation means 62 of the second peripheral device 60 is transmitted to the peripheral device 30 by the communication means 63. Examples of the communication method realized by the communication unit 63 include wired communication and wireless communication.
The peripheral device 30 includes a communication unit 33, a two-dimensional code creation unit 36, and a display unit 37. The peripheral device 30 receives the message transmitted from the second peripheral device 60 by the communication means 33, converts the message into a two-dimensional code by the two-dimensional code creation means 36, and displays the converted two-dimensional code as display means. 37. As a result, a two-dimensional code corresponding to the internal state of the second peripheral device 60 is displayed on the display means 37 of the peripheral device 30.

  As in the above embodiments, the gas consumer reads the displayed two-dimensional code by the two-dimensional code reader 20. The two-dimensional code reading device 20 includes an imaging unit 21 and a display unit 22, reads the two-dimensional code by the imaging unit 21, converts (decodes) the two-dimensional code into a message, and displays the converted message. If the message converted from the two-dimensional code includes a URL, the Web page indicated by the URL is accessed and a Web page is displayed. Examples of the two-dimensional code reading means include a camera-equipped mobile phone, and in particular, it is preferable to apply a camera-equipped mobile phone having a QR code reading function.

  With the above configuration, when the gas consumer reads the two-dimensional code 17 displayed on the display means 37 of the peripheral device 30 by the two-dimensional code reader 20, the two-dimensional code reader 20 sends the two-dimensional code to the message. Since it is converted into and displayed on the display means 22, the gas consumer can read a message corresponding to the internal state of the second peripheral device 60. This makes it easy for the general consumer to communicate various messages. Further, since the two-dimensional code is displayed on the display unit 37 of the peripheral device 30, the size of the display unit 37 can be reduced as compared with the case of directly displaying characters, and the configuration of the present embodiment can be realized without significantly increasing the cost. .

<Twelfth embodiment>
FIG. 15 is a block diagram for explaining functions of a peripheral device according to still another embodiment of the present invention. The present embodiment realizes the same function as that of the eleventh embodiment, but unlike the configuration of the eleventh embodiment, the second peripheral device 60 includes an internal state determination unit 61 and a communication unit 63, and the peripheral The apparatus 30 includes a communication unit 33, a message creation unit 32, a two-dimensional code creation unit 36, a display unit 37, a storage unit 34, and a search unit 35.

  That is, in this embodiment, the internal state determination unit 61 of the second peripheral device 60 determines the internal state of the second peripheral device 60 and sends the determination result to the peripheral device 30 using the communication unit 63. . In the peripheral device 30, the communication unit 33 receives the determination result of the internal state of the second peripheral device 60, and the search unit 35 corresponds to the internal state of the second peripheral device 60 according to the determination result of the internal state. Internal state information is retrieved from the storage means 34. Then, the message creation unit 32 of the peripheral device 30 creates a message corresponding to the internal state of the second peripheral device 60 according to the internal state information searched by the search unit 35 from the storage unit 34. The created message is converted into a two-dimensional code by the two-dimensional code creation means 36 and displayed by the display means 37. After that, as in the above example, the two-dimensional code displayed on the peripheral device 30 is read by the two-dimensional code reader 20, the read two-dimensional code is converted into a message, and the message is converted into the two-dimensional code reader 20. Are displayed on the display means 22.

<Embodiment 13>
FIG. 16 is a block diagram for explaining functions of a peripheral device according to still another embodiment of the present invention. In the present embodiment, the peripheral device 30 is connected to the host device 40 via the network 50. The host device 40 includes an internal state determination unit 41, a message creation unit 42, a communication unit 43, a search unit 45, and a storage unit 44. Examples of the internal state of the host device 40 include a function processing state (for example, instruction information distribution, additional information distribution, etc.).

  The internal state determination unit 41 of the host device 40 determines the internal state of the host device 40. The search unit 45 searches the storage unit 44 for internal state information corresponding to the internal state of the host device 40 according to the determination result by the internal state determination unit 41. The message creation unit 42 creates a message corresponding to the internal state of the host device 40 in accordance with the internal state information searched by the search unit. Examples of the message include character messages composed of kanji, hiragana, katakana, alphabets, numbers, and symbols, and examples include character messages such as a shut-off valve return method.

The message created by the message creation means 42 of the host device 40 is transmitted to the peripheral device 30 via the network 50 by the communication means 43. Examples of the communication method realized by the communication unit 43 include wired communication and wireless communication.
The peripheral device 30 includes a communication unit 33, a two-dimensional code creation unit 36, and a display unit 37. The peripheral device 30 receives the message transferred from the host device 40 by the communication unit 33, converts the message into a two-dimensional code by the two-dimensional code creation unit 36, and displays the converted two-dimensional code on the display unit 37. To do. As a result, a two-dimensional code corresponding to the internal state of the host device 40 is displayed on the display means 37 of the peripheral device 30.

  As in the above embodiments, the gas consumer reads the displayed two-dimensional code by the two-dimensional code reader 20. The two-dimensional code reading device 20 includes an imaging unit 21 and a display unit 22, reads the two-dimensional code by the imaging unit 21, converts (decodes) the two-dimensional code into a message, and displays the converted message. If the message converted from the two-dimensional code includes a URL, the Web page indicated by the URL is accessed and a Web page is displayed.

  With the above configuration, when the gas consumer reads the two-dimensional code 17 displayed on the display means 14 of the gas meter 10 with the two-dimensional code reader 20, the two-dimensional code reader 20 uses the two-dimensional code as a message. Since it is converted and displayed on the display means 22, the gas consumer can read a message corresponding to the internal state of the host device 40. This makes it easy for the general consumer to communicate various messages. Further, since the two-dimensional code is displayed on the display unit 37 of the peripheral device 30, the size of the display unit 37 can be reduced as compared with the case of directly displaying characters, and the configuration of the present embodiment can be realized without significantly increasing the cost. .

<Embodiment 14>
FIG. 17 is a block diagram for explaining functions of a gas meter according to still another embodiment of the present invention. The present embodiment realizes the same function as that of the thirteenth embodiment, but unlike the configuration of the thirteenth embodiment, the host device 40 includes an internal state determination unit 41 and a communication unit 43, and the peripheral device 30 Communication means 33, message creation means 32, two-dimensional code creation means 36, display means 37, storage means 34, and search means 35 are provided.

  That is, in this embodiment, the internal state determination unit 41 of the host device 40 determines the internal state of the host device 40 and sends the determination result to the peripheral device 30 via the network 50 using the communication unit 43. In the peripheral device 30, the communication unit 33 receives the determination result of the internal state of the host device 40, and the search unit 35 stores internal state information corresponding to the internal state of the host device 40 according to the determination result of the internal state. Search from 34.

  Then, the message creation unit 32 of the peripheral device 30 creates a message corresponding to the internal state of the host device 40 in accordance with the internal state information searched by the search unit 35 from the storage unit 34. The created message is converted into a two-dimensional code by the two-dimensional code creation means 36 and displayed by the display means 37. After that, as in the above example, the two-dimensional code displayed on the peripheral device 30 is read by the two-dimensional code reader 20, the read two-dimensional code is converted into a message, and the message is converted into the two-dimensional code reader 20. Are displayed on the display means 22.

<Example of message>
An example of a message created in each of the above embodiments is shown below.
As an example of the message, for example, a message related to meter security information, instruction information, operation state information, operation explanation information, contact information, URL information, additional information, meter specification information, operation log information, etc. may be created. it can.

  Safety information is related to the safety function of the meter. In the case of a gas meter, total flow shutoff, increased flow shutoff, usage time shutoff, leak shutoff during return safety confirmation, gas leak alarm interlock shutoff, seismic device shutoff, pressure Examples include drop-off, flow-type micro-leakage warning, pressure-type micro-leakage warning, adjustment pressure abnormality warning, blockage pressure abnormality warning, flaming registration, test interruption, and remaining amount management. In the case of a water meter, information on water leakage warning, excessive flow warning, reverse flow warning, zero flow warning, and the like can be given. Messages regarding these information can be displayed.

The instruction information is information for guiding what the consumer (customer) should do, and for example, a message for prompting contact with the gas company can be displayed.
The operation state information is information related to the functional operation of the apparatus, and in the case of a gas meter, information such as remaining amount management, learning, flaming registration, load survey, current flow rate classification value, and the like can be given.
The setting state information is information related to the setting of the apparatus, and in the case of a gas meter, information such as during a leak inspection and during application of the extension 2 can be given.
The operation explanation information is information related to the operation method of the apparatus, and includes information such as a gas meter shutoff valve return method.

  The contact information is information such as a store number, a security center telephone number, and an e-mail address. The URL information is information such as a URL of a Web site that explains the operation method of the apparatus in detail. The additional information is information such as a daily usage amount, a daily fee, and an integrated value for each flow rate category. Further, the meter specification information is information such as the presence / absence of a specific function. The operation log information includes cutoff / return history information.

It is a block diagram for demonstrating the function of the gas meter which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows roughly the apparatus structure used when reading the two-dimensional code displayed on the gas meter and displaying a message. It is a figure which shows the example of a QR code typically. It is a block diagram for demonstrating the function of the gas meter which concerns on other embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram for demonstrating the function of the gas meter which concerns on further another embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram for demonstrating the function of the gas meter which concerns on further another embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram for demonstrating the function of the gas meter which concerns on further another embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram for demonstrating the function of the peripheral device which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows roughly the apparatus structure used when reading the two-dimensional code displayed on the peripheral device and displaying a message. It is a block diagram for demonstrating the function of the peripheral device which concerns on other embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram for demonstrating the function of the peripheral device which concerns on further another embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram for demonstrating the function of the peripheral device which concerns on further another embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram for demonstrating the function of the peripheral device which concerns on further another embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram for demonstrating the function of the peripheral device which concerns on further another embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram for demonstrating the function of the peripheral device which concerns on further another embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram for demonstrating the function of the peripheral device which concerns on further another embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram for demonstrating the function of the gas meter which concerns on further another embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the display in the display part at the time of the gas supply interruption | blocking in the gas meter of a prior art.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Gas meter, 11 ... Internal state determination means, 12 ... Message preparation means, 13 ... Two-dimensional code preparation means, 14 ... Display means, 15 ... Storage means, 16 ... Search means, 17 ... Dimension code, 18 ... Communication means, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 19 ... Communication means, 21 ... Imaging means, 22 ... Display means, 30 ... Peripheral device, 31 ... Internal state determination means, 32 ... Message preparation means, 33 ... Communication means, 34 ... Storage means, 35 ... Search means, 36 ... Two-dimensional code creation means 37 ... display means 40 ... host device 41 ... internal state determination means 42 ... message creation means 43 ... communication means 44 ... storage means 45 ... search means 50 ... network 60 ... Peripheral device 61 ... Internal state determination means 62 ... Message creation means 63 ... Communication means 64 ... Storage means 65 ... Search means 100 ... Display section 101 ... ABC table Area.

Claims (8)

  A meter having two-dimensional code creating means for creating a two-dimensional code and display means for displaying the two-dimensional code created by the two-dimensional code creating means, wherein the two-dimensional code creating means A meter that creates a two-dimensional code representing a message according to a state.   A meter having a two-dimensional code creating means for creating a two-dimensional code and a display means for displaying the two-dimensional code created by the two-dimensional code creating means, the meter being connected to a peripheral device, the two-dimensional code The creating means creates a two-dimensional code representing a message corresponding to an internal state of the peripheral device.   A meter having two-dimensional code creating means for creating a two-dimensional code and display means for displaying the two-dimensional code created by the two-dimensional code creating means, and connected to a host device via a peripheral device. The two-dimensional code creating means creates a two-dimensional code representing a message corresponding to an internal state of the host device.   A two-dimensional code creating means for creating a two-dimensional code, and a display means for displaying the two-dimensional code created by the two-dimensional code creating means, and a peripheral device connected to a meter, the two-dimensional code The creating device creates a two-dimensional code representing a message corresponding to an internal state of the peripheral device.   A two-dimensional code creating means for creating a two-dimensional code, and a display means for displaying the two-dimensional code created by the two-dimensional code creating means, and a peripheral device connected to a meter, the two-dimensional code The peripheral device characterized in that the creating means creates a two-dimensional code representing a message corresponding to the internal state of the meter.   A peripheral device having a two-dimensional code generating means for generating a two-dimensional code and a display means for displaying the two-dimensional code generated by the two-dimensional code generating means, and connected to another peripheral device via a meter The two-dimensional code creating means creates a two-dimensional code representing a message corresponding to an internal state of the other peripheral device.   A peripheral device having a two-dimensional code creating means for creating a two-dimensional code and a display means for displaying the two-dimensional code created by the two-dimensional code creating means, the peripheral device being connected to another peripheral device, The two-dimensional code creating means creates a two-dimensional code representing a message according to an internal state of the other peripheral device.   A two-dimensional code creating means for creating a two-dimensional code; and a display means for displaying the two-dimensional code created by the two-dimensional code creating means, connected to a meter and connected to a host device via a network The peripheral device, wherein the two-dimensional code creating means creates a two-dimensional code representing a message according to an internal state of the host device.

Images