JP2010175440A - Gas meter - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a gas meter which allowa prevention of water immersion, and to employ an easy-to-work structure for attaching a connector. <P>SOLUTION: A seal member 63 is engaged and contained in a dimple 21b, under the condition where a substrate-side connector 21c and a lead-side connector 61 are connected, a part of the lead-side connector 61 is contained in a connector containing portion 63c, and a part of a lead wire 62 is contained in a lead wire containing portion 63a. A fixture member 65 is fixed to an electronic control portion 21, under the condition of sandwiching a packing 64 and pressing the seal member 63 contained in the dimple 21b to the back side. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a gas meter having a built-in board on which a microcomputer (microcomputer) for controlling a shutoff valve, a flow rate sensor and the like is mounted.

  Since the gas meter is installed outdoors, it usually has a waterproof structure at various places. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a lead wire drawing structure for a gas meter that leads a lead wire connected to an internal unit provided in a meter case to the outside through the meter case.

  This lead wire lead-out structure hermetically closes the first connector that is fixed to the inner unit case that houses the inner unit and aggregates the wiring in the gas meter, and the through hole formed at a position corresponding to the first connector. And a third connector fixed at a position corresponding to the second connector of the cover covering the meter case and connected to an external lead wire, and fixing the cover to the meter case By doing so, the first, second, and third connectors are concentrically connected, and the second connector is hermetically pressed against the meter case via the third connector.

  As described above, the structure described in Patent Document 1 maintains the airtight state by dividing the connector part into three parts, each being on the same line of the core of the connector, and arranging the sealing material between the three parts. ing. This connector structure is a structure for drawing out a lead wire from the airtight portion to the atmosphere opening side.

  FIG. 5 is an assembly configuration diagram showing an electronic control unit case and a connector portion in a conventional membrane gas meter, and FIG. 6 is an enlarged front view of the connector portion of FIG. In the gas meter shown in FIG. 5, the electronic control unit case 71 is disposed so as to cover the substrate on which the microcomputer is mounted.

  The electronic control unit case 71 has a recess 71b for housing the lead-side connector 81 and the lead wire packing 83, and a fixing portion for fixing the board-side connector 71c to the back side of the recess 71b. The recess 71 b has a fitting portion for fitting with the outer shape of the lead wire packing 83. The lead wire packing 83 is a packing for sealing the lead side connector 81 and is formed of an elastic body. The lead wire packing 83 includes a lead wire storage portion 83a that bundles the lead wires 82 drawn from the lead side connector 81 and stores a part of the lead wire 82 along the length direction. The lead wire storage portion 83a is a hole for allowing the lead wire 82 to pass therethrough. The waterproof structure also includes a fixing member 85 for fixing the lead wire packing 83 to the electronic control unit case 71. The fixing member 85 is usually formed of an insulator and is also called an insulating cover.

  This waterproof structure has the above-described configuration. With the lead-side connector 81 mounted on the lead wire packing 83, the lead-side connector 81 is attached to the board-side connector 71c and the lead wire packing 83 is fitted into the fitting portion. The lead-side connector 81 and the lead wire packing 83 are inserted and attached to the recess 71b so as to be matched. And the fixing member 85 is fixed to the electronic control part case 71 in the state which pressed the lead wire packing 83 accommodated in the recessed part 71b (the back | inner side).

  By attaching in this way, the front surface 71d of the recess 71b and the front surface of the lead wire packing 83 form a seal surface indicated by diagonal lines in FIG. The front side surface of the lead wire packing 83 is flush with the front side surface 71d of the recess 71b when the fixing member 85 is attached. In the example of FIG. 5, the fixing member 85 is fixed to the electronic control unit case 71 with the packing 84 formed of an elastic material for the fixing member 85 sandwiched between the seal surface and the fixing member 85. Yes.

  As described above, the waterproof structure of the connector portion in the conventional membrane gas meter is formed by a part of the lead wire packing 83 (front surface at the time of installation) and a part of the electronic control unit case 71 (surface 71d). With the sealing surface as the contact surface, the packing 84 for the fixing member 85 seals to make the connector waterproof. In this waterproof structure, the lead wire 82 is led out from the hole 83 a in the lead wire packing 83.

  However, in the shape of the conventional lead wire packing 83 as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the lead wire packing 83 and the lead-side connector 81 are sandwiched by hand through the lead wire 82 from the cut portion (hole 83a). The lead wire packing 83 may be distorted because it is attached to the recess 71b of the electronic control unit case 71. In particular, the lead wire packing 83 must be installed together with the lead-side connector 81 in the recess 71b, and inevitably has a thin shape.

  Due to such distortion, the contact surface with the fixing member packing 84 becomes only a part of the front side surface of the lead wire packing 83 and the surface 71d of the concave portion 71b, which decreases, and there is a risk of flooding. There is.

  Further, even if there is no such distortion, the conventional lead wire packing 83 has the shape of the contact surface of the electronic control unit case 71 (the front side surface of the lead wire packing 83 and the surface 71d of the recess 71b) in terms of component layout. There is a risk of flooding because it cannot be removed widely.

  On the other hand, if the contact surface of the electronic control unit case 71 is as wide as possible, the gap between the lead-side connector 81 and the recess 71b of the electronic control unit case 71 (the gap W in the width direction and the height direction in FIG. 6). There is a problem that the assembling work is difficult.

  This invention is made | formed in view of the above actual conditions, and it aims at providing the gas meter which can employ | adopt the structure which prevents flooding and can perform the attachment operation | work of a connector easily. .

  In order to solve the above-described problem, a first technical means of the present invention includes a board on which a microcomputer is mounted, a board-side connector connected to the board, and a lead wire that is connected to the board-side connector. A gas meter having a lead-side connector and a front case disposed so as to cover the substrate, the gas meter being made of an elastic material larger than the lead-side connector for sealing the lead-side connector A seal member; and a fixing member for fixing the seal member to the front case. The seal member is pulled out from the lead-side connector and a connector housing portion that houses a part of the lead-side connector. The lead wire is bundled and stored in a direction along the length direction of the lead wire in a state bent in a direction different from the lead wire pull-out direction. The front case has a recess for storing the lead-side connector and the seal member, and a fixing portion for fixing the board-side connector to the back side of the recess, The concave portion has a fitting portion for fitting with the outer shape of the seal member or for fitting in a state where the outer shape of the seal member is deformed. A lead-side connector is connected, and a part of the lead-side connector is housed in the connector housing portion and a part of the lead wire is housed in the lead wire housing portion, and is fitted into the fitting portion. The fixing member is fixed to the front case in a state where the sealing member stored in the recess is pressed.

  The second technical means is the first technical means, wherein when the board-side connector and the lead-side connector are connected, a surface parallel to the direction of the connection in the lead-side connector; A space is formed between the two.

  According to the gas meter of the present invention, it is possible to employ a structure that prevents flooding and facilitates the connector mounting operation.

1 is an external view showing an example of a membrane gas meter according to the present invention. It is an external view which shows a mode that the counter case was removed and the inside of the counter display part was exposed in the film | membrane type gas meter of FIG. It is an assembly block diagram which shows an example of the electronic control part case and connector part in the film | membrane type gas meter of FIG.1 and FIG.2. It is the front view which expanded the connector part of FIG. It is an assembly block diagram which shows the electronic control part case and connector part in the conventional film | membrane type gas meter. It is the front view which expanded the connector part of FIG.

  FIG. 1 is an external view showing an example of a membrane gas meter according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is an external view showing a state in which the counter case is removed and the inside of the counter display unit is exposed in the membrane gas meter of FIG. .

  As shown in FIG. 1, the membrane gas meter 1 includes a measuring unit including a rear upper case 30 and a rear lower case 40, a counter display unit 10, and an electronic control unit 20. The rear lower case 40 is mainly provided with a measuring chamber, and the rear upper case 30 is mainly provided with a pressure sensor and a shut-off valve.

  The electronic control unit 20 includes an electronic control unit case (electronic unit case) 21 and an electronic control unit having a substrate on which a microcomputer is mounted. Here, an electronic control unit is provided on the front surface of the rear lower case 40, and an electronic control unit case 21 is further provided so as to cover them. In addition, a terminal block is connected to the electronic control unit described above, and this terminal block is covered with a terminal block cover 21a so as to be flat with the electronic control unit case 21, and the electronic control unit or the rear lower part is covered with screws 50b. It is attached to the side case 40.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the counter display unit 10 includes a counter housing 12, a glass 13, and a counter case 11. The counter housing 12 is made of rigid aluminum die casting and surrounds a counter cylinder provided inside. The counter cylinder is a number wheel that counts and displays the integrated value of the gas flow rate. Since the counter housing 12 is required to be airtight and to be able to visually recognize the integrated flow rate value indicated by the counter cylinder, an opening is provided in the front, and the opening is closed by adhering glass 13 to the opening. It is peeling off. The counter display unit 10 is provided with a counter case 11 having a portion formed by adhering the glass 13 to the counter casing 12 in the front surface of the rear upper case 30 and further having an opening 14 so as to cover them. And is attached to the rear upper case 30 with screws 50a.

  The counter case 11 is preferably made of resin in terms of cost, and the opening 14 is provided so as to match the position where the glass 13 is disposed. When the counter case 11 is attached, the packing 15 is pressed, and the glass 13 bonded to the counter housing 12 is further pressed by the packing 16 attached around the opening 14 of the counter case 11 to externally Prevents intrusion of rain and other water.

  Further, when the counter case 11 is attached to the rear upper case 30 side, the convex portion formed in the counter case 11 enters between the concave portions formed in the electronic control unit case 21, and the counter case 11 and the electronic control unit case Intrusion of water from the gap with 21 is prevented. By narrowing the gap between the convex portion and the concave portion and further increasing the concave and convex portions, the waterproof effect can be further increased.

  Further, in the membrane gas meter 1, the case provided on the front surface such as the counter case 11 and the electronic control unit case 21 is divided into two, but this is because the resin having difficulty in rigidity is used as the material of the front case. This is to reduce the impact on waterproofness. By dividing the case into two cases, the amount of deformation for each case can be reduced, and as a result, water can hardly enter. The joint between the counter case 11 and the electronic control unit case 21 is also waterproofed.

  The main feature of the present invention resides in the waterproof structure (also referred to as rainproof structure or dripproof structure) of the connector portion in the membrane gas meter 1. Hereinafter, this connector part and its waterproof structure will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 3 is an assembly configuration diagram illustrating an example of an electronic control unit case and a connector portion in the membrane gas meter of FIGS. 1 and 2.

  As described above, the membrane gas meter 1 includes a substrate on which a microcomputer is mounted and a front case disposed so as to cover the substrate. Hereinafter, as described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, the front case includes an electronic control unit case 21 disposed so as to cover the substrate, and a counter case 11 disposed above the electronic control unit case 21. An example composed of

  The membrane gas meter 1 further includes a board-side connector 21c connected to the board and a lead-side connector 61 to which a lead wire 62 is connected. The board-side connector 21c may be directly attached to the board, or may be connected to the board by a lead wire. The lead-side connector 61 is a connector for connecting to the board-side connector 21c. The shape of both connectors 61 and 21c may be any as long as they can be electrically connected. In addition, the lead wire 62 drawn out from the lead-side connector 61 is connected to each functional component of the membrane gas meter 1 (an electronic component other than that mounted on the substrate, such as a pressure sensor or a shut-off valve). Moreover, you may comprise the lead wire 62 so that it may be used in order to connect with external apparatuses, such as a message | telegram setting device and an alarm device.

  The membrane gas meter 1 includes a seal member 63 for sealing the lead side connector 61. The seal member 63 is made of an elastic material, and the size thereof is larger than that of the lead side connector 61.

  The seal member 63 includes a connector storage portion 63c and a lead wire storage portion 63a. The connector storage portion 63c stores a part (or all) of the lead-side connector 61. When a part of the lead side connector 61 is housed in the connector housing part 63c, the other part of the lead side connector 61 is a part necessary for connection to the board side connector 21c. The seal member 63 is provided with a hole for allowing the lead-side connector 61 to pass from the front side at the time of installation. This hole is smaller than the outer shape of the lead-side connector 61, and the lead is formed by deforming the seal member 63. It is preferable that the side connector 61 be sized. Of course, it may be a hole of a size that allows the lead-side connector 61 to pass through without deformation. The lead wire accommodating portion 63a bundles the lead wires 62 drawn out from the lead-side connector 61 and is bent along a length direction of the lead wires 62 in a state bent in a direction different from the lead-out direction of the lead wires 62 (see FIG. 3 is stored in the lead wire storage portion 63a. Since the lead wire accommodating portion 63a does not need to be formed as a hole, the lead wire 62 can be easily attached and detached. The lead wire storage part 63a may be shaped like a U-shaped tube, for example.

  As described above, the seal member 63 functions as a lead wire drawing packing for drawing the lead wire 62 from the lead side connector 61. Further, since the seal member 63 is an elastic body but has a thick shape, the seal member 63 is not distorted unlike the related art described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6. In particular, the seal member 63 can be formed thick by forming a small hole in the connector housing 63c.

  The membrane gas meter 1 also includes a fixing member 65 for fixing the seal member 63 to the front case (in this example, the electronic control unit case 21). The fixing member 65 is usually formed of an insulator and is also called an insulating cover.

  Further, the front case (in this example, the electronic control unit case 21) includes a recess 21b for housing the lead-side connector 61 and the seal member 63, and a fixing portion for fixing the board-side connector 21c to the back side of the recess 21b. Have. Moreover, the recessed part 21b has a fitting part. The fitting portion is provided for fitting with the outer shape of the seal member 63 or for fitting with the outer shape of the seal member 63 being deformed.

  4 is an enlarged front view of the connector portion of FIG. 3, FIG. 4 (A) is a front view of the electronic control unit case before the lead side connector and the seal member are attached, and FIG. 4 (B) is the lead side connector. It is a front view of the electronic control part case after attaching a seal member.

  The membrane gas meter 1 has the above-described configuration, and the lead-side connector 61 and the seal member 63 are attached to the recess 21b as follows. The sealing member 63 is connected to the board-side connector 21c and the lead-side connector 61. A part of the lead-side connector 61 is stored in the connector storage part 63c and a part of the lead wire 62 is stored in the lead-line storage part 63a. In the state, it is fitted into the fitting portion and stored in the recess 21b.

  More specifically, the seal member 63 is deformed, the lead side connector 61 is passed through the hole of the seal member 63, and the lead side connector 61 is connected to the board side connector 21c. At this time, the lead wire 62 drawn out from the lead-side connector 61 via the hole is bent, a part thereof is housed in the lead wire housing portion 63a, the lead wire 62 is pulled upward to remove slack, and the seal member The seal member 63 is fitted into the fitting portion of the recess 21b while the lead-side connector 61 is partly housed in the 63 connector housing portion 63c. Here, in order to make it easy to pull out the lead wire 62 from the horizontal direction to the vertical direction, the lead wire storage portion 63a is preferably provided with a curved shape (R shape) that curves from the horizontal direction to the vertical direction.

  When the seal member 63 is fitted in the fitting portion and stored in the recess 21b, the seal member 63 is deformed to a small size so as to match the cross-sectional shape of the recess 21b (the cross-sectional shape perpendicular to the insertion direction of the seal member 63). The sealing member 63 may be fitted in the recess 21b. As a result, the state shown in FIG. 4A is changed to the state shown in FIG. 4B. If the outer shape of the seal member 63 and the fitting portion adopt a shape that fits without deforming the seal member 63, the fitting may be performed as it is.

  In FIG. 4B, the lead-side connector 61 and the lead wire 62 are not shown for easy understanding. Further, when the lead wire 62 is for attaching an external device, the lead-side connector 61 and the lead wire 62 do not normally need to be installed in the membrane gas meter 1 (except when the external device is attached). Therefore, in such a case, the state where the seal member 63 is attached to the recess 21b is the state itself shown in FIG.

  The fixing member 65 is fixed to the front case (in this example, the electronic control unit case 21) in a state where the sealing member 63 housed in the recess 21b is pressed (to the back side). The front surface 21d of the recess 21b and the front surface of the seal member 63 form a seal surface indicated by diagonal lines in FIG. 4B. The front surface of the seal member 63 is a fixing member. What is necessary is just to make it become the same surface as the surface 21d of the front side of the recessed part 21b by attachment of 65. In the example of FIG. 3, the fixing member 65 is fixed to the electronic control unit case 21 with the packing 64 formed of an elastic material for the fixing member 65 sandwiched between the sealing surface and the fixing member 65. Yes.

  As described above, in the membrane gas meter 1 having the waterproof structure of the present invention, the seal member 63 larger than the lead-side connector 61 is used, so that the seal member 63 is not distorted and has a large seal surface (this example). Then, the sealing surface of the packing 64 can be obtained, the waterproof effect is sufficiently exhibited, and the flooding can be prevented.

  And since it is a structure which can prevent inundation more, it is not necessary to make the area of the surface 21d of the front side of the recessed part 21b wide, trying to take the contact surface (seal surface) of the electronic control part case 21 as much as possible It is not necessary to form a small gap between the lead side connector 61 and the recess 21b. That is, by using the sealing member 63 described above, the mounting shape of the electronic control unit case 21 (the shape of the recess 21b) is the contact surface of the packing 64 for the fixing member 65 (the surface 21d on the front side of the recess 21b). ) Can be made small, so that the gap with the lead-side connector 61 can be made large. And it becomes easy to perform the assembly | attachment operation | work of the lead side connector 61 by taking many clearance gaps.

  Since it is not necessary to form a small gap as described above, it is preferable to adopt a structure in which a gap is actually formed in the waterproof structure described above. That is, in the waterproof structure of the present invention, when the board-side connector 21c and the lead-side connector 61 are connected, the surface parallel to the connection direction of the lead-side connector 61 (the insertion direction of the lead-side connector 61) and the recess 21b. It is preferable to adopt a structure in which a gap is formed between the two. More specifically, when the lead-side connector 61 is attached to the recess 21b, the shape of the recess 21b is determined and generated so that a gap (space) is formed between the lead-side connector 61 and the recess 21b. Good. For that purpose, it is only necessary that the shape of the recess 21 b is not made to fit around the lead-side connector 61. 4A, the gap in the width direction is indicated by W and the gap in the height direction is indicated by H, and it can be seen that the gap is larger than those in FIG.

  Thus, by forming a gap (space) between the recessed portion 21b of the electronic control unit case 21 and the installed lead-side connector 61, the lead-side connector 61 can be removed by hand, Workability is improved as compared with the case where the connector cannot be held by hand as in the prior art described with reference to FIGS. Further, it is not necessary to pull the lead wire 62 so as to make the contact with the lead-side connector 61 poor. Moreover, the said clearance gap should just be formed in the state which removed the sealing member 63 from the recessed part 21b, and removed the lead side connector 61 from the sealing member 63. FIG. That is, when not only the lead-side connector 61 but also the seal member 63 is attached to the recess 21b, the gap may be filled with the seal member 63.

  1 to 4, the structure in which the counter case 11 is overlapped with the portion where the lead-side connector 61 and the like of the electronic control unit case 21 are installed has been described. Therefore, in FIGS. 2 and 3, the fixing member 65 has a hole. Although an example in which it is perforated is shown, when such a case structure is not adopted, it is not necessary to provide a hole in the fixing member 65 for waterproofing.

  As described above, the gas meter according to the present invention has been described by taking the membrane gas meter as an example. However, the waterproof structure of the present invention can be similarly applied to gas meters of other measurement methods.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Membrane gas meter, 10 ... Counter display part, 11 ... Counter case, 12 ... Counter housing, 13 ... Glass, 14 ... Opening part, 15, 16 ... Packing, 20 ... Electronic control part, 21 ... Electronic control part case 21a ... Terminal block cover, 21b ... Recess, 21c ... Board-side connector, 21d ... Surface, 30 ... Rear upper case, 40 ... Rear lower case, 50a, 50b ... Screw, 61 ... Lead-side connector, 62 ... Lead wire 63 ... Seal member, 63a ... Lead wire storage part, 63c ... Connector storage part, 64 ... Packing for fixing member, 65 ... Fixing member.

No. 8-9613

Claims (2)

A board on which a microcomputer is mounted, a board-side connector connected to the board, a lead-side connector to which a lead wire is connected and connected to the board-side connector, and a front surface disposed so as to cover the board A gas meter with a case,
A seal member made of an elastic material larger than the lead side connector for sealing the lead side connector, and a fixing member for fixing the seal member to the front case,
The seal member bundles a connector housing portion that houses a part of the lead-side connector and the lead wire pulled out from the lead-side connector, and is bent in a direction different from the lead-out direction of the lead wire, A lead wire storage portion for storing a part along the length direction of the lead wire,
The front case has a recess for storing the lead-side connector and the seal member, and a fixing portion for fixing the board-side connector to the back side of the recess, and the recess has an outer shape of the seal member. And a fitting portion for fitting in a state where the outer shape of the seal member is deformed,
The seal member is connected to the board-side connector and the lead-side connector, and stores a part of the lead-side connector in the connector storage part and a part of the lead wire in the lead-line storage part. In the state, it is fitted in the fitting portion and stored in the recess,
The gas meter according to claim 1, wherein the fixing member is fixed to the front case in a state where the sealing member stored in the recess is pressed.   When the board-side connector and the lead-side connector are connected, a space is formed between a surface of the lead-side connector parallel to the connection direction and the recess. The gas meter according to claim 1.

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