JP2013195217A - Power consumption monitoring system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce management costs of electric power consumption by retrieving an electricity consumption source without requiring an arrangement limit due to an exclusive line and radio connection environment.SOLUTION: A power consumption monitoring system includes a measuring device 30 and measured devices 40a, 40b connected to terminal devices 20a, 20b via sockets 22a, 22b. Electric power consumption signals transmitted from the terminal device via a power line 12 are sampled by using ADC in a predetermined cycle and are then superposed to create a frequency signal. The measuring device extracts a natural frequency component of the frequency signal for each of the terminal devices and searches for an electricity consumption source on the basis of the terminal device corresponding to each of predetermined natural frequencies or information indicating positions of electric outlet taps 13a, 13b.

Description

  The present invention relates to a power consumption monitoring system that monitors power consumption of a power consumption source connected to a power outlet tap via a terminal device.

  A system that uses a dedicated signal line such as wireless or USB (Universal Serial Bus) to notify the power consumption of a power consumption source connected to an outlet tap is known. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique related to a small and inexpensive power monitoring system that monitors the power usage for each terminal load.

  According to the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, a power measurement sensor is provided on an outlet tap, and the sensing result data is transferred to a PC or server on a dedicated signal line, and is aggregated and consumed for each outlet tap. It identifies power.

JP 2001-83193 A

  However, according to the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, a dedicated signal line or a wireless connection environment is required. For example, if a dedicated signal line such as a USB is used, a cable must be routed. For example, it is necessary to pay attention to securing the lines such as gateways. In other words, the appearance of the cable has deteriorated due to the routing of the cable, or there has been a restriction on the arrangement for maintaining a communicable radio wave environment. For this reason, the management cost of power consumption cannot be ignored.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and searches for a power consumption source without requiring an arrangement restriction due to a dedicated line or a wireless connection environment, thereby reducing a power consumption monitoring system. The purpose is to provide.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention includes an outlet plug that is inserted into an outlet tap and receives power supply, and at least one terminal device that includes a socket that supplies the power to the device under measurement, These terminal devices are power consumption monitoring systems comprising measuring devices connected via power lines, the terminal devices monitoring their own power consumption and generating power consumption signals, An oscillator that generates a frequency signal having a specific frequency assigned to itself, and a frequency signal that is generated by the oscillator when the power consumption monitored by the power consumption monitoring circuit exceeds a threshold value And a terminal control unit that transmits to the measurement device via the power line, and the measurement device is transmitted before being transmitted via the power line. An analog-digital conversion circuit that samples and measures a power consumption signal at a predetermined cycle, and extracts a natural frequency component of the superimposed frequency signal included in the output of the analog-digital conversion circuit. And a device control unit that searches for the operating power consumption source based on information indicating the position of the terminal device or the outlet tap corresponding to each natural frequency.

  According to the present invention, the device control unit extracts the natural frequency component for each terminal device of the frequency signal superimposed by sampling the power consumption signal transmitted from the terminal device via the power line at a predetermined period, A power consumption source is searched based on information indicating the position of the terminal device or the outlet tap corresponding to each specified natural frequency. For this reason, it is possible to easily search for a power consumption source on the distribution board side by using only the power line branched from the distribution board, without requiring an arrangement restriction due to a dedicated line or a wireless connection environment. Therefore, the power consumption of the power consumption source can be individually managed using the existing power line, and the management cost of power consumption can be kept low. In addition, for example, to contribute to the formulation of rational usage methods such as the placement of equipment that is a power consumption source in offices and homes, or confirmation of the achievement rate for the power consumption target value imposed on each terminal device Can do.

  In the present invention, the device control unit measures the power consumption for a time corresponding to the greatest common divisor of the wavelength of the natural frequency assigned to each terminal device, and extracts the maximum power section of the power consumption signal. Identifying the power consumption source including the corresponding terminal device from the identified natural frequency component and sequentially subtracting the power consumption of the identified power consumption source from the summed power consumption, thereby sequentially repeating the power consumption It is characterized by searching for a power consumption source included in the signal. According to the present invention, the power consumption source is identified from the natural frequency component in the maximum power section of the power consumption signal, and the process of subtracting the power consumption of the identified power consumption source from the total power consumption is repeated in a simple manner. An algorithm can be used to search for power consumption sources including terminal devices. For this reason, the load of the apparatus control part concerning the search for a power consumption source is reduced.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a power consumption monitoring system that searches for a power consumption source without requiring an arrangement restriction due to a dedicated line or a wireless connection environment and suppresses the management cost of power consumption.

It is a figure which shows the connection structure of the power consumption monitoring system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the terminal device used in the power consumption monitoring system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the measuring apparatus used in the power consumption monitoring system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a sequence diagram which shows operation | movement of the power consumption search system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is the timing diagram quoted in order to demonstrate the search algorithm of the power consumption search system which concerns on embodiment of this invention.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment for carrying out the present invention (hereinafter simply referred to as the present embodiment) will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

(Configuration of the embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a connection configuration of a power consumption monitoring system according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the power consumption monitoring system 1 according to the present embodiment includes a terminal device 20a, to which each of the devices to be measured 40a, 40b for measuring the power consumption, which includes home appliances such as a dryer and a lamp, is connected. 20b and a measuring device 30 for measuring power consumption. In the following description, for convenience, the terminal devices 20a and 20b and the devices under test 40a and 40b may be referred to as power consumption sources.

  Each of the terminal devices 20a and 20b is supplied with power via the outlet plugs 21a and 21b inserted into the outlet taps 13a and 13b and the outlet plugs 21a and 21b, and the devices under test 40a and 40b are inserted. Sockets 22a and 22b for supplying power. The terminal devices 20 a and 20 b are connected to the measuring device 30 through the power line 12 branched from the main line 11 by the distribution board 10.

  2 shows the internal configuration of the terminal device 20a, and FIG. 3 shows the internal configuration of the measuring device 30. As shown in FIG. 2, the terminal device 20a includes a terminal control unit 21, a power consumption monitoring circuit 22, an oscillator 23, and a transmission unit 24 serving as a control center, and a plurality of lines for address, data, and control. Are connected through an internal bus 25.

  The power consumption monitoring circuit 22 monitors its own power consumption and generates a power consumption signal. Specifically, a power consumption signal is generated by monitoring an output signal of a power measurement sensor (not shown) provided in the outlet tap 13 a and output to the terminal control unit 21 via the internal bus 25. The oscillator 23 generates a frequency signal having a specific frequency assigned to each of the terminal devices 20 a and 20 b and outputs the frequency signal to the terminal control unit 21. When the power consumption monitored by the power consumption monitoring circuit 22 exceeds the threshold, the terminal control unit 21 superimposes the frequency signal generated by the oscillator 23 on the power consumption signal output by the power consumption monitoring circuit 22, The data is transmitted to the measuring device 30 via the transmission unit 24 and the power line 12.

  The transmission unit 24 performs wired communication protocol control when the terminal device 20a and the measurement device 30 communicate via the power line 12. Since the terminal device 20b has the same configuration as the above-described terminal device 20a, the description thereof is omitted to avoid duplication, but only the frequency signal output from the oscillator 23 is different.

  In FIG. 3, a measuring device 30 includes a device control unit 31, an analog / digital conversion circuit 32 (ADC), a storage unit 33, and an external communication unit 35 that serve as a control center, for address, data, and control. A line is connected to an internal bus 34 composed of a plurality of lines.

  The ADC 32 samples the power consumption signal transmitted via the power line 12 at a predetermined period, measures the power consumption, and outputs the measured power consumption signal to the device control unit 31 via the internal bus 34. The device control unit 31 extracts the natural frequency component of the superimposed power consumption signal included in the output of the ADC 32, and the terminal devices 20a and 20b or outlets corresponding to the respective natural frequencies stored in the storage unit 33 in advance. With reference to the information indicating the positions of the taps 13a and 13b, the devices under measurement 40a and 40b (power consumption sources) including the operating terminal device 20a or 20b are searched.

  The device control unit 31 measures the power consumption for a time corresponding to the greatest common divisor of the wavelength of the natural frequency assigned to each of the terminal devices 20a and 20b, and the natural frequency component extracted in the maximum power section of the power consumption signal. Are included in the power consumption signal by sequentially repeating the process of subtracting the power consumption of the identified power consumption source from the summed power consumption by specifying the measured devices 40a and 40b including the corresponding terminal devices 20a and 20b from Terminal devices 20a and 20b and the device under test 40a or 40b to be searched. The external communication unit 35 serves as a communication interface when communicating with an external device (not shown).

(Operation of the embodiment)
Hereinafter, the operation of the power consumption search system 1 according to the present embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 will be described in detail with reference to the operation sequence diagram shown in FIG. 4.

  First, the outlet plugs 21a. Assume that 21b is inserted into the outlet taps 13a and 13b, and the devices under test 40a and 40b are inserted into the sockets 22a and 22b. In FIG. 4, the measurement device 30 transmits a power consumption measurement command to the terminal devices 20a and 20b via the power line 12 to start searching for a power consumption source described below (step S101). When the terminal device 20a receives this power consumption measurement command, the power consumption monitoring circuit 22 monitors the power consumption by the device under test 40a inserted into the socket 22a including the terminal device 20a and takes it in from a sensor (not shown) (step). S102).

  As a result of monitoring the power consumption of the socket 22 by the power consumption monitoring circuit 22, if the combined power consumption α exceeds the threshold value β (step S103 “YES”), the terminal control unit 21 is connected to the power consumption monitoring circuit by the terminal controller 20a. The terminal-specific frequency signal generated by the oscillator 23 is superimposed on the power consumption signal generated at 22 (step S104) and responds via the transmission unit 24 (step S105). If the threshold value β is not exceeded (step S103 “NO”), only the power consumption signal generated by the power consumption monitoring circuit 22 is responded. Here, the threshold value is a power amount set in advance in order to separate the power consumption sources in consideration of the case where there are two or more operating power consumption sources.

  Next, the measuring apparatus 30 that has received the power consumption signal via the power line 12 (step S106) starts measuring the power consumption by the ADC 32 (step S107). For example, if the threshold is 50 W, the natural frequency is 10 Hz, the power consumption is 10 W, and ON / OFF is repeated with the frequency signal superimposed on the power consumption signal, the device control unit 31 obtains the sampling result from the ADC 32 and is unique. Fluctuation measurement of minute power consumption using frequency is performed (step S108). Then, the device control unit 31 searches for an operating power consumption source based on the search algorithm (step S109).

The detailed procedure of steps S108 and S109 described above will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 (a), 5 (b), and 5 (c). FIGS. 5A, 5B, and 5C are waveform diagrams showing the power consumption signal measured by the ADC 32 on the time axis. For example, if an ADC32 with a 20-bit output and a transfer rate of 1 Mbps is used, if the contract current in a general home is 50 A, the current equivalent to 1 bit is 50 ÷ 2 ¹⁰ and a high resolution of 0.0477 mA / bit is achieved. Have. Therefore, the power consumption of 10 W and the frequency fluctuation can be sufficiently followed. Such an ADC 32 is distributed in the market and is easily available.

  Here, as a device under test 40a, for example, a 100 W lamp is inserted into the socket 22a of the terminal device 20a to which a natural frequency of 15 Hz is assigned, and the measurement result when only the terminal device 20a is operating is shown in FIG. FIG. 5B shows the measurement result when the electric lamp is turned on at the same time. In the case of FIG. 5A, the frequency signal on which the power consumption signal is superimposed can be easily discriminated. On the other hand, in the case shown in FIG. 5 (b), since the value obtained by subtracting the minimum value from the maximum value is 20 W in the total value a of the power consumption signal, there are two power consumption sources in operation. Becomes clear. It is also found that the total power consumption value of the two power consumption sources is 120W.

  If the device control unit 31 analyzes this on the time axis, the maximum frequency of the time (maximum power section Max) indicating the maximum power consumption value 140W is equivalent to 15 Hz, so the lamp as the device under test 40a is turned on. It turns out that. This maximum power section may be monitored for a time corresponding to the greatest common divisor of the wavelengths of the natural frequencies individually assigned to the terminal devices 20a and 20b connected to the power line 12. If the frequency signal component of 15 W of 100 W is subtracted in this section, it can be seen that a 10 Hz signal of 20 W appears and the terminal device 20 a is operating as shown in FIG.

  For this reason, it is necessary to associate the natural frequency assigned to each of the terminal devices 20a and 20b with the positions of the devices to be measured 40a and 40b or the outlet taps 13a and 13b, and the power consumption monitoring system 1 according to the present embodiment. Then, the correspondence is stored in advance in the storage unit 33 built in the measuring device 30 that searches for the power consumption source.

(Effect of embodiment)
As described above, according to the power consumption monitoring system 1 according to the present embodiment, the device control unit 31 of the measurement device 30 transmits a power consumption signal transmitted from the terminal devices 20a and 20b via the power line 12 in a predetermined cycle. Based on the information indicating the positions of the terminal devices 20a and 20b or the outlet taps 13a and 13b corresponding to the respective natural frequencies defined in advance, the natural frequency components of the frequency signals sampled and superimposed in FIG. The power consumption sources including the terminal devices 20a and 20b and the devices under test 40a and 40b are searched. For this reason, it is possible to easily search for a power consumption source on the distribution board 10 side by using only the power line 12 branched from the distribution board 10, without requiring an arrangement restriction due to a dedicated line or a wireless connection environment.

  Therefore, the power consumption of the power consumption source can be managed individually using the existing power line 12, and the management cost of power consumption can be kept low. In addition, for example, it contributes to the formulation of rational usage methods, such as the arrangement of equipment that is a power consumption source in offices and homes, or confirmation of the achievement rate for the power consumption target value imposed on each terminal device. be able to.

  Further, according to the power consumption monitoring system 1 according to the present embodiment, the device control unit 31 of the measurement device 30 identifies a power consumption source from the natural frequency component in the maximum power section of the power consumption signal, and the identified power A device under test inserted into the sockets 22a and 22b of each of the terminal devices 20a and 20b and the terminal devices 20a and 20b using a simple algorithm that sequentially repeats the process of subtracting the power consumption of the consumption sources from the combined power consumption. The power consumption source including the devices 40a and 40b can be searched. For this reason, the load of the apparatus control part 31 concerning the search for a power consumption source is reduced. Furthermore, it is possible to remotely monitor data by using the external communication unit 35.

  As mentioned above, although preferred embodiment of this invention was explained in full detail, it cannot be overemphasized that the technical scope of this invention is not limited to the range as described in the said embodiment. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications or improvements can be added to the above-described embodiments. Further, it is apparent from the scope of the claims that the embodiments added with such changes or improvements can be included in the technical scope of the present invention.

  1 .... Power consumption monitoring system, 10 .... Distribution panel, 11 .... Main line, 12 .... Power line, 13a, 13b ... Outlet tap, 20a, 20b ... Terminal device, 21a, 21b ... Outlet plug, 22a 22b ... Socket 30 ... Measurement device 40a 40b Device under test 21 ... Terminal control unit 22 ... Power consumption monitoring circuit 23 ... Oscillator 24 ... Transmission unit 25 ... Internal bus 31 ... Device control unit 32 ... Analog / digital conversion circuit (ADC) 33 ... Storage unit 34 ... Internal bus 35 ... External communication unit

Claims (2)

One or more terminal devices having an outlet plug that is inserted into an outlet tap and receives power supply, a socket that supplies the power to the device to be inserted, and these terminal devices are connected via a power line. A power consumption monitoring system comprising a measuring device,
The terminal device
A power consumption monitoring circuit that monitors power consumption of a power consumption source of the device under test including itself and generates a power consumption signal;
An oscillator that generates a frequency signal having a specific frequency assigned to itself;
A terminal control unit that, when the power consumption monitored by the power consumption monitoring circuit exceeds a threshold, superimposes a frequency signal generated by the oscillator on the power consumption signal and transmits the signal to the measurement device via the power line. And comprising
The measuring device is
An analog / digital conversion circuit that samples and measures the power consumption signal transmitted through the power line at a predetermined period;
Extracting the natural frequency component of the superimposed frequency signal included in the output of the analog-digital conversion circuit, based on the information indicating the position of the terminal device or the outlet tap corresponding to each pre-defined natural frequency And an apparatus control unit that searches for the power consumption source in operation. The device controller is
The power consumption is measured for a time corresponding to the greatest common divisor of the wavelength of the natural frequency assigned to each terminal device, and the power corresponding to the natural frequency component extracted in the maximum power section of the power consumption signal A power consumption source included in the power consumption signal is searched by sequentially repeating a process of identifying a power consumption source and subtracting the power consumption of the identified power consumption source from the total power consumption. The power consumption monitoring system according to claim 1.

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