JP2016109544A - Thermal energy meter and thermal energy meter system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To grasp a fluctuation in calorie consumption and extend the life of a battery.SOLUTION: A thermal energy meter 2 driven by electric power supplied from a battery comprises: an integration unit 21 for calculating the thermal value to be measured and integrating the calculated values; an increment determination unit 22 for determining whether or not the integrated value integrated by the integration unit 21 has reached a reference thermal value defined for each of preset increment values; and a transmission unit 23 for transmitting, to a management apparatus 3 by wireless communication, an attainment signal indicating that the integrated value has reached the reference thermal value each time it is determined that the integrated value has reached the reference thermal value. The management apparatus 3 is provided with a reception unit 31 for receiving the attainment signal, a date/time count unit 32 for counting the received date/time of the attainment signal, and a storage unit 33 for storing the reference thermal value. The storage unit 33 stores the received date/time counted by the date/time count unit 32 successively in correlation with the reference thermal value each time the attainment signal is received by the reception unit 31.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an integrated calorimeter and an integrated calorimeter system driven by electric power supplied from a battery.

  Patent Document 1 below discloses a technique for suppressing power consumption when transmitting event information for notifying the occurrence of an event to a control station in a wireless sensor driven by a battery. Patent Document 2 below discloses a flow meter that detects an instantaneous flow rate of tap water at a constant sampling period and transmits the detected instantaneous flow rate to an external device.

JP 2013-09888 A JP 2008-224390 A

  Here, the integrated calorimeter used in a building air conditioning system or the like, like the wireless sensor disclosed in Patent Document 1, has a growing need to be wirelessly driven by a battery. Such an integrated calorimeter is used for building energy management in addition to the usage of charging based on the integrated amount. In building energy management, it is required to be able to grasp a time zone where heat consumption is high or a time zone where heat consumption is low, based on the measurement value of an integrated calorimeter. In order to accurately grasp the fluctuation state of the heat consumption, it is desirable to measure the instantaneous heat amount at a certain sampling period and transmit it to an external device as in the flow meter of Patent Document 2. However, if the measurement value is transmitted at a certain sampling period, the amount of communication with the external device increases, which causes a reduction in battery life.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an integrated calorimeter and an integrated calorimeter system capable of grasping the fluctuation state of heat consumption and extending the life of a battery.

  An integrated calorimeter according to the present invention is an integrated calorimeter that is driven by electric power supplied from a battery, calculates an amount of heat to be measured and integrates, and an integrated value integrated by the integrating unit includes: Increment determining means for determining whether or not a reference heat amount determined for each preset increment value has been reached, and whenever the integrated value is determined to have reached the reference heat amount, the integrated value is set to the reference heat amount. Transmission means for transmitting a reaching signal indicating arrival to an external device by wireless communication.

  The arrival signal has a signal-to-noise ratio smaller than an allowable communication standard, and even when the signal quality is deteriorated due to noise, it is possible to determine that the arrival signal has been received by the external device. As such, the signal may be simply configured.

  The integration calorimeter executes an integration process for integrating the calorie calculated by the integration means for each preset period, and repeats the integration process for a preset number of times. And an average value of the heat quantity integrated in one integration process based on the result of the integration process repeatedly executed by the integration process execution means by the number of times, and the average value is calculated as Incremental value setting means for setting as an incremental value may be further provided.

  Output means for outputting the increment value set by the increment value setting means may be further provided.

  An integrated calorimeter system according to the present invention is an integrated calorimeter system comprising the integrated calorimeter and a management device as the external device, wherein the management device receives the arrival signal. And a date and time measuring means for measuring the reception date and time of the arrival signal, and a storage means for storing the reference heat quantity, the storage means each time the arrival signal is received by the reception means. The reception date and time measured by the measuring means is sequentially stored in association with the reference heat quantity.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the integrated calorimeter and the integrated calorimeter system which can grasp | ascertain the fluctuation condition of heat consumption and can extend the lifetime of a battery can be provided.

It is a figure which illustrates the composition of the total calorimeter system in a 1st embodiment. It is a figure which illustrates the physical structure of an integrating | accumulating calorimeter. It is a figure which illustrates the data structure of the integrating | accumulating calorie | heat amount data of the integrating | accumulating calorimeter managed with a management apparatus. It is a figure which illustrates the structure of the integrating | accumulating calorimeter system in 2nd Embodiment.

  Embodiments according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. However, the embodiment described below is merely an example, and does not exclude application of various modifications and techniques not explicitly described below. That is, the present invention can be implemented with various modifications without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[First embodiment]
With reference to FIG. 1, the structure of the integrating | accumulating calorimeter system in 1st Embodiment is demonstrated. As shown in FIG. 1, the integrated calorimeter system 1 includes an integrated calorimeter 2 that calculates and integrates the amount of heat to be measured, and a management device 3 that manages data related to the amount of heat measured by the integrated calorimeter 2. . The integrating calorimeter 2 is equipped with a battery (not shown) and is driven by electric power supplied from the battery. The integrating calorimeter 2 and the management device 3 have a wireless communication function, and exchange signals that store various data using wireless communication.

  The integrating calorimeter 2 includes, for example, an integrating unit (integrating unit) 21, an increment determining unit (increment determining unit) 22, and a transmitting unit (transmitting unit) 23 as functional configurations.

  The integrating unit 21 calculates the amount of heat to be measured, and integrates the calculated amount of heat. As a measuring object, for example, cold / hot water flowing through a pipe of an air conditioning system corresponds. The integrating unit 21 measures the integrated heat quantity by calculating the instantaneous heat quantity of the cold / hot water flowing through the pipe and integrating the calculated instantaneous heat quantity.

  Here, as a physical configuration corresponding to the integrating unit 21, for example, an ultrasonic integrated calorimeter shown in FIG. 2 can be employed. The integrated calorimeter shown in FIG. 2 includes ultrasonic sensors 211 and 212, temperature sensors 213 and 214, an arithmetic device 215, and a heat exchanger 216. The arithmetic device 215 includes, for example, a CPU as arithmetic processing means, a memory such as ROM and RAM as storage means, a wireless communication interface as communication means, and the like. Illustratively, the arithmetic unit 215 calculates and integrates the amount of heat to be measured as follows.

First, the arithmetic device 215 has a time t ₁ required until the ultrasonic wave transmitted from the ultrasonic sensor 211 located on the upper upstream side of the pipe 4 is received by the ultrasonic sensor 212 located on the lower downstream side. Using the difference from the time t ₂ required until the ultrasonic wave transmitted from the ultrasonic sensor 212 on the lower downstream side is received by the ultrasonic sensor 211 on the upper upstream side, and each propagation angle θ of the ultrasonic wave, The instantaneous flow rate of cold / hot water flowing in the pipe 4 is calculated.

  Subsequently, the arithmetic device 215 uses the difference between the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 213 located on the upstream side of the pipe 4 and the temperature detected by the temperature sensor 214 located on the downstream side, and the instantaneous flow rate. The instantaneous amount of cold / hot water flowing in the pipe 4 is calculated. Subsequently, the arithmetic device 215 measures the integrated heat amount (integrated value) by integrating the instantaneous heat amount.

  The physical configuration corresponding to the integrating unit 21 is not limited to the ultrasonic integrating calorimeter shown in FIG. For example, other types of integrated calorimeters such as an electromagnetic integrated calorimeter may be used.

  The increment determination unit 22 shown in FIG. 1 determines whether or not the integrated heat amount measured by the integrating unit 21 has reached the reference heat amount. The reference heat amount is a heat amount determined for each preset increment value. Specifically, for example, when the increment value is set to 100 kcal, 100 kcal, 200 kcal, 300 kcal, and the like become the reference heat amount. For example, when the increment value is set to 300 kcal, 300 kcal, 600 kcal, 900 kcal, and the like become the reference heat amount. The increment value can be appropriately set by the administrator according to the installation status, the management target, and the like.

  The transmission unit 23 transmits an arrival signal to the management device 3 every time it is determined that the integrated value has reached the reference heat amount. The arrival signal is a signal indicating that the integrated heat amount has reached the reference heat amount. This arrived signal is in a situation where the signal quality deteriorates beyond the acceptable standard due to noise, such as when the S / N ratio (signal-to-noise ratio) is smaller than the acceptable communication standard value. However, a simple signal is used so that the management device 3 can determine that the arrival signal has been received. As a simply configured signal, for example, a signal that fits in one slot among a plurality of slots constituting a frame for wireless communication can be used.

  The management device 3 illustrated in FIG. 1 includes, for example, a reception unit (reception unit) 31, a date / time measurement unit (date / time measurement unit) 32, and a storage unit (storage unit) 33 as functional configurations.

  The receiving unit 31 receives the arrival signal transmitted from the integrating calorimeter 2. The date and time measurement unit 32 measures the reception date and time of the arrival signal.

  The storage unit 33 stores accumulated heat amount data for creating one record for each reference heat amount determined for each preset increment value. The reference heat amount is set by the administrator so as to be the same as the reference heat amount determined based on the increment value set in the integrated calorimeter 2. The storage unit 33 sequentially stores the reception date and time measured by the date and time measurement unit 32 in association with the reference heat amount every time the reception unit 31 receives the arrival signal.

  FIG. 3 illustrates the integrated heat amount data stored in the storage unit 33. The integrated heat quantity data shown in FIG. 3 is an example of data stored when the increment value is set to 100 kcal. Specifically, in the first record, the reception date and time of the first arrival signal transmitted from the integrated calorimeter 2 when the integrated calorie reaches “100” kcal is “2014/03/12 08:29: 34 ".

  Similarly, in the second record, the reception date and time of the second arrival signal transmitted from the integrated calorimeter 2 when the integrated calorie reaches “200” kcal is “2014/03/12 13:15:56”. ". In the third record, the reception date and time of the third arrival signal transmitted from the integrated calorimeter 2 when the integrated calorie reaches “300” kcal is “2014/03/12 22:48:08”. It is shown that.

  As described above, according to the integrated calorimeter system 1 in the first embodiment, the integrated calorimeter 2 includes the integrating unit 21, whereby the amount of heat of cold / hot water flowing through the pipe can be calculated and integrated. Since the integrated calorimeter 2 includes the increment determining unit 22, it can be determined whether or not the measured integrated calorie has reached the reference calorific value. The integrated calorimeter 2 includes the transmitting unit 23, so that the integrated calorific value is obtained. Can be transmitted to the management device 3 each time it is determined that has reached the reference heat quantity.

  Here, since the heat quantity of the cold / hot water flowing through the pipe is controlled to become the target heat quantity, it is assumed that the integrated heat quantity increases monotonously with respect to the elapsed time. Therefore, every time the integrated heat amount reaches the reference heat amount determined for each preset increment value, an arrival signal indicating that fact is transmitted to the management device 3, so that the management device 3 side is based on the arrival signal. Thus, it becomes possible to grasp the fluctuation state of the heat consumption.

  In addition, since the arrival signal is simply configured so that the management device 3 can discriminate even when the S / N ratio is smaller than the allowable communication standard, even in a poor communication environment, the communication retry can be performed. Occurrence can be suppressed and power consumption required for communication can be minimized. Therefore, the battery life can be improved.

  In addition, the management device 3 includes the reception unit 31, so that the arrival signal transmitted from the integrating calorimeter 2 can be received. The management device 3 includes the date / time measurement unit 32, thereby determining the reception date and time of the arrival signal. Since the management device 3 includes the storage unit 33, the reception date and time can be sequentially associated with the reference heat amount and stored each time the arrival signal is received.

  As a result, the management device 3 side can accurately grasp a time zone with a large amount of heat consumption or a time zone with a small amount of heat consumption based on the stored reception date and time and the reference heat amount.

  Therefore, according to the integrated calorimeter system 1 in the first embodiment, it is possible to grasp the fluctuation state of the heat consumption and to extend the life of the battery.

[Second Embodiment]
The installation environment and use environment of the integrated calorimeter 2 constituting the integrated calorimeter system 1 are diverse. Therefore, it is difficult to set an increment value that determines the timing for transmitting the arrival signal to the management device 3 at the time of shipment or installation of the integrating calorimeter 2. On the other hand, in order to appropriately grasp the time zone in which the heat consumption is high or the time zone in which the heat consumption is low, it is necessary to set an optimum increment value according to the installation environment and the use environment. Therefore, in the integrated calorimeter system according to the second embodiment, an incremental value is calculated and set based on the actually measured integrated heat quantity. The integrated calorimeter system in the second embodiment will be described below.

  The difference between the integrated calorimeter system in the second embodiment shown in FIG. 4 and the integrated calorimeter system in the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1 is that an incremental value is calculated in the integrated calorimeter 2 in the second embodiment. This is a feature that has been added. About another structure, it is the same as that of the structure of the integrating | accumulating calorimeter system in 1st Embodiment. Therefore, the same reference numerals are given to the respective components, and the description thereof is omitted. In the following, differences from the first embodiment will be mainly described.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the integrated calorimeter 2 includes, for example, an integration process execution unit (integration process execution means) 24 and an increment value setting unit (increment) in addition to the functional configuration of the integration calorimeter 2 in the first embodiment. A value setting unit) 25 and an output unit (output unit) 26.

  The integration process execution unit 24 executes an integration process for integrating the amount of heat calculated by the integration unit 21 for each preset period. The period to be set in advance is an interval for transmitting the heat amount integrated in the integration process to the management device 3, and can be appropriately set by an administrator according to a target transmission interval such as 4 hours, 6 hours, and the like.

  The integration process execution unit 24 repeats the execution of the integration process for a preset number of times. The number of times to be set in advance can be set as appropriate by the administrator by comparing and balancing the accuracy of calculating the increment value, which will be described later, and the time required to calculate the increment value, such as once or 20 times, for example.

  The increment value setting unit 25 calculates an average value of the amount of heat integrated in one integration process based on the result of the integration process repeatedly executed by the integration process execution unit 24 for the set number of times. The increment value setting unit 25 sets the calculated average value to an increment value used when determining the reference heat amount.

  Here, for example, when 6 hours is set as the period and 20 times is set as the number of times, the integration process execution unit 24 executes one integration process for 6 hours and repeats the integration process 20 times. Become. In this case, the increment value setting unit 25 calculates an average value of the integrated heat quantity for 20 times, and sets the average value as an increment value.

  The integration process may be executed only during the initial operation of the integration calorimeter 2, or may be executed periodically as part of regular maintenance. Moreover, it is preferable to set a provisional value as an incremental value to be set in the integrated calorimeter 2 and the management device 3 during initial operation.

  Further, the increment value setting unit 25 may perform fraction processing of the calculated average value. As a result, the increment value can be adjusted to a good value. In the rounding process, a preset lower number of digits can be rounded down or rounded off. For example, in the case of performing rounding processing to round down the last digit, when the average values are “2618”, “2748”, “2878”, “3008”, “2610”, “2740”, “2870”, respectively. , “3000” is adjusted.

  The output unit 26 outputs the increment value set by the increment value setting unit 25. As an output form, for example, the increment value may be displayed on a display device such as a display, the increment value may be output from a speaker, or the increment value may be transmitted to the outside as message data. Also good. The administrator confirms the increment value output from the output unit 26 and sets the same value as the confirmed increment value as the increment value of the management device 3.

  As described above, according to the integrated calorimeter system 1 in the second embodiment, the following effects can be obtained in addition to the effects exhibited by the integrated calorimeter system 1 in the first embodiment.

  According to the integrated calorimeter system 1 in the second embodiment, the integrated calorimeter 2 includes the integration process execution unit 24, so that one integration process can be executed for a predetermined time and the integration process can be repeated a predetermined number of times. Since the integrated calorimeter 2 includes the increment value setting unit 25, the average value of the amount of heat integrated in one integration process is calculated based on the result of the integration process, and the average value is set as the increment value. Since the integrated calorimeter 2 includes the output unit 26, the set increment value can be output.

  As a result, it is possible to set an optimum increment value according to the installation environment and the use environment, and the timing for transmitting the arrival signal to the management device 3 can be determined based on the increment value. It becomes possible to grasp more accurately the time zone with a large amount of time and the amount of heat consumption.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Integrated calorimeter system 2 ... Integrated calorimeter 3 ... Management apparatus 21 ... Integration part 22 ... Increment determination part 23 ... Transmission part 24 ... Integration process execution part 25 ... Increment value setting part 26 ... Output part 31 ... Reception part 32 ... Date and time measurement unit 33 ... storage units 211 and 212 ... ultrasonic sensors 213 and 214 ... temperature sensor 215 ... arithmetic device 216 ... heat exchanger

Claims (5)

An integrated calorimeter driven by electric power supplied from a battery,
An integration means for calculating and integrating the amount of heat to be measured;
An increment determining means for determining whether or not the integrated value integrated by the integrating means has reached a reference heat amount determined for each preset increment value;
Each time it is determined that the integrated value has reached the reference heat amount, a transmission means for transmitting an arrival signal indicating that the integrated value has reached the reference heat amount to an external device by wireless communication;
An integrated calorimeter characterized by comprising:   The arrival signal has a signal-to-noise ratio smaller than an allowable communication reference value, and even when the signal quality deteriorates due to noise, it can be determined that the arrival signal has been received by the external device. The integrated calorimeter according to claim 1, wherein the signal is a simply configured signal. For each preset period, an integration process for integrating the amount of heat calculated by the integration unit is executed, and an integration process execution unit that repeats the execution of the integration process for a preset number of times;
Based on the result of the integration process repeatedly executed the number of times by the integration process execution means, an average value of the heat amount integrated in one integration process is calculated, and the average value is used as the increment value. Increment value setting means to be set;
The integrated calorimeter according to claim 1, further comprising:   4. The integrated calorimeter according to claim 3, further comprising output means for outputting the increment value set by the increment value setting means. The integrated calorimeter according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
A management calorimeter system comprising the management device as the external device,
The management device is:
Receiving means for receiving the arrival signal;
Date and time measuring means for measuring the reception date and time of the arrival signal;
Storage means for storing the reference heat amount,
The storage means stores the reception date and time measured by the date and time measurement means in association with the reference heat quantity each time the arrival signal is received by the reception means. Integrated calorimeter system.

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