JP2018025514A - Radio for gas meter and wireless communication gas meter - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a radio for a gas meter which can be equipped with the design property being maintained, and a wireless communication gas meter having the radio.SOLUTION: Inclusion of a radio body 32 in a cover part 31 allows the whole radio 3 for a gas meter to be equipped as a cover over a communication terminal part 24. This makes it possible to suppress reduction in the design property caused by equipping the radio 3 to the gas meter 2 and also reduction in the design property of the entire wireless communication gas meter 1.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a gas meter radio that communicates with an external device and a radio communication gas meter including the gas meter.

  Conventionally, a wireless slave device (gas meter wireless device) attached to an existing gas meter has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1). The wireless slave device for a gas meter described in Patent Literature 1 is attached to a protrusion formed on the meter upper surface of the gas meter. That is, the wireless slave unit is disposed above the gas meter.

JP-A-8-178725

  However, in the gas meter (wireless communication gas meter) provided with the wireless slave device as in Patent Document 1, since the wireless slave device is disposed above the gas meter, the wireless slave device is provided as an accessory. As a result, the overall design may be deteriorated.

  The objective of this invention is providing the radio | wireless machine for gas meters which can be attached, suppressing the fall of the designability, and a radio | wireless communication gas meter provided for this gas meter.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems and achieve the object, the invention described in claim 1 is a gas meter radio that is attached to a gas meter having a communication terminal portion on the front side and communicates with an external device, wherein the communication A cover part that is attached to the gas meter so as to cover the terminal part, and a radio main body that is built in the cover part and is connected to the communication terminal part and capable of communicating with the external device. This is a gas meter radio.

  The invention described in claim 2 is characterized in that, in the invention described in claim 1, the radio main body is configured to be communicable with another gas meter radio as the external device. It is.

  A third aspect of the present invention is a wireless communication gas meter comprising the gas meter wireless device according to the first or second aspect and the gas meter.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the third aspect of the present invention, there is provided an attachment member that holds the gas meter radio and can be attached to an attachment object other than the gas meter, and the gas meter and the attachment object. And a connection cable that can be routed therebetween.

  According to the first aspect of the invention, since the radio main body is built in the cover portion, the entire gas meter radio can be attached as a cover that covers the communication terminal portion. Thereby, the fall of the designability by attaching the radio | wireless machine for gas meters to a gas meter can be suppressed.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, the wireless device main body communicates with other wireless devices for gas meter, so that a network can be formed by these wireless devices. Thereby, at least one of the wireless devices forming the network may communicate with the information transmission destination (center).

  According to invention of Claim 3, the fall of the designability by attaching the radio | wireless machine for gas meters to a gas meter as mentioned above can be suppressed, and the fall of the designability of the whole radio | wireless communication gas meter can be suppressed. .

  According to invention of Claim 4, the attachment member holding the radio | wireless machine for gas meters can be attached to a suitable attachment object. Thereby, even when the communication state is not good when the gas meter radio is attached to the gas meter, the gas meter radio can be installed in a place away from the gas meter, and the communication state is made good. be able to.

It is a perspective view which shows the radio | wireless communication gas meter which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a disassembled perspective view which shows the said radio | wireless communication gas meter. It is a block diagram which shows the radio | wireless machine main body of the said radio | wireless machine for gas meters. It is a schematic diagram which shows the network comprised by the radio | wireless machine for gas meters of the said radio | wireless communication gas meter, and another radio | wireless machine for gas meters. It is a figure which shows an example of the directivity and intensity | strength of the radiation electromagnetic wave of the said radio | wireless machine single unit for the said gas meter. It is a figure which shows an example of the directivity and intensity | strength of the radiation electromagnetic waves of the said radio | wireless machine for gas meters attached to the gas meter. It is a perspective view which shows a mode that the said radio | wireless machine for gas meters is installed in the position away from the said gas meter by the attachment member. It is a perspective view which shows a mode that the said radio | wireless machine for gas meters was hold | maintained at the said attachment member.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 1 is a perspective view showing a wireless communication gas meter 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view showing the wireless communication gas meter 1, and FIG. 3 is a wireless device of the wireless device 3 for gas meter. 4 is a block diagram showing the main body 32. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a network constituted by the gas meter radio 3 of the radio communication gas meter 1 and other gas meter radios, and FIG. 5 is a gas meter radio. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of the directivity and intensity of three radiated electromagnetic waves, and FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of the directivity and intensity of the radiated electromagnetic waves of the gas meter wireless device 3 attached to the gas meter 2. 7 is a perspective view showing a state in which the gas meter radio device 3 is installed at a position away from the gas meter 2 by the mounting member 5, and FIG. 8 is a diagram in which the gas meter radio device 3 is held by the mounting member 5. Is a perspective view showing the child.

  The wireless communication gas meter 1 of the present embodiment measures, for example, the amount of gas used such as city gas and transmits / receives information about the amount of use, and as shown in FIGS. Wireless device 3.

  The gas meter 2 is formed in a box shape as a whole and has a pair of gas pipe connection ports 21 projecting upward on both sides in the width direction, a flow rate display unit 22 provided on the front surface, and a flow rate display unit 22 below the flow rate display unit 22. It has the formed concave terminal accommodating part 23, the communication terminal part 24 accommodated in the terminal accommodating part 23, and the frame-shaped cover attaching part 25 formed in the outer side of the terminal accommodating part 23. FIG.

  That is, the gas meter 2 measures the flow rate (usage amount) of the gas passing through the pipe connected to the gas pipe connection port 21 and displays the usage amount on the flow rate display unit 22. The information of is output. The communication terminal unit 24 is configured so that one end of the connection wiring 4 is connected, and is connected to a wireless device main body 32 (described later) of the gas meter wireless device 3.

  The gas meter wireless device 3 is a multistage relay wireless device, and includes a cover portion 31 and a wireless device main body 32. The cover part 31 has a recess 311 for accommodating the radio device main body 32, and is formed in a box shape with one surface opened. Moreover, the cover part 31 is attached to the cover attaching part 25 of the gas meter 2 so as to cover the communication terminal part 24 in the terminal accommodating part 23. At this time, the cover part 31 should just be attached by fixing members, such as a screw. Moreover, the cover part 31 should just be comprised with a suitable metal, a resin member, etc. so that the outer surface may have the external appearance (color, glossiness, texture, etc.) similar to the outer surface of the gas meter 2. FIG. Further, an appropriate coating may be applied so that the outer surface of the cover portion 31 has the same appearance as the outer surface of the gas meter 2.

  The wireless device main body 32 receives information from the gas meter 2 by connecting the other end of the connection wiring 4 connected to the communication terminal unit 24. As shown in FIG. 3, the radio main unit 32 includes an inverted-F antenna 321 for transmitting and receiving signals, a transmitting unit 322A for modulating and amplifying transmitted radio waves, and a receiving unit 322B for amplifying and demodulating received radio waves. A wireless unit 322, a control unit 323 that controls the wireless unit 322, a storage unit 324 that stores various programs, setting values, and the like, and a communication interface 325 for communicating with the gas meter 2 are included.

  Here, the radio | wireless automatic meter-reading system 100 provided with the above radio | wireless machines 3 for gas meters is demonstrated based on FIG. A plurality of gas meter radios used by each consumer are connected to each other by a multistage relay radio 200. The plurality of gas meter radios connected in this way include at least one gateway radio 30 in addition to the gas meter radio 20 similar to the gas meter radio 3. That is, the radio main body 32 of the gas meter radio 3 communicates with another gas meter radio as an external device. The gas meter radio 3 may be a gateway radio.

  The gateway radio 30 not only communicates with other gas meter radios by the multistage relay radio 200, but also has a wide area radio 30A, and a center 40 having the wide area radio 40A via the wide area communication line 300. connect. As described above, the wireless automatic meter reading system 100 is configured in which the center 40 communicates with the gateway radio 30 and can communicate with other gas meter radios via the gateway radio 30.

  In such a wireless automatic meter reading system 100, when the center 40 requests information on the amount of gas used by each consumer, information on the amount of gas used is transmitted as a signal from each gas meter radio. Further, in the wireless automatic meter reading system 100, the gas meter wireless devices of each consumer are connected only by wireless communication, and wiring work for communication becomes extremely easy.

  Examples of experimental results regarding the directivity and intensity of the radiated electromagnetic waves of the gas meter radio 3 are shown in FIGS. 5 corresponds to a state in which the gas meter wireless device 3 is not attached to the gas meter 2 (wireless unit alone), and FIG. 6 corresponds to a state in which the gas meter wireless device 3 is attached to the gas meter 2 (meter integrated). In this experiment, the maximum radio field intensity MAX (dBm), the minimum radio field intensity MIN (dBm), and the average radio field intensity AVE (when the radio wave radiated from the gas meter radio 3 is received by the dipole receiving antenna in the anechoic chamber. dBm) was measured. At this time, in order to independently evaluate horizontal polarization and vertical polarization, dipole antennas corresponding to the respective polarizations were independently installed.

  In this experimental example, MAX / MIN indicating the directivity of radiated electromagnetic waves (directivity is better as it is closer to 1) hardly deteriorated except for a part even when the gas meter radio 3 was attached to the gas meter 2. Further, even when the gas meter radio 3 was attached to the gas meter 2, the average radio wave intensity AVE (the higher the intensity) AVE indicating the intensity of the radiated electromagnetic wave was not significantly reduced. That is, in this experimental example, the directivity and strength of the radiated electromagnetic waves of the gas meter radio 3 were good even when the meter was integrated (that is, even when the gas meter radio 3 was attached to the gas meter 2 as shown in FIG. 1). .

  However, depending on the installation environment of the wireless communication gas meter 1, the directivity and intensity of the radiated electromagnetic wave may be affected, and may also be affected by environmental changes after installation. Thereby, the communication state in the multistage relay radio 200 of the gas meter radio device 3 may not be good.

  In such a case, as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the wireless communication gas meter 1 may further include an attachment member 5 and a connection cable 6. In other words, the gas meter radio 3 may be installed at a position away from the gas meter 2 by the mounting member 5.

  The attachment member 5 includes a plate-like base portion 51, a frame portion 52 erected from the periphery of the base portion 51, and an attachment portion 53 formed outside the frame portion 52. 3 and can be attached to an appropriate attachment object other than the gas meter.

  The base portion 51 and the frame portion 52 form a recess 54 that can accommodate the wireless device main body 32. The frame portion 52 has the same shape as the cover attachment portion 25 of the gas meter 2, and the cover portion 31 of the gas meter radio device 3 can be attached thereto. That is, as shown in FIG. 8, the radio unit main body 32 is accommodated in a space formed between the attachment member 5 and the cover part 31 by attaching the cover part 31 to the frame part 52.

  The wireless device main body 32 accommodated in this way is connected to the communication terminal unit 24 by the connection cable 6. The connection cable 6 may be any cable that has a length that allows the gas meter radio 3 to be installed at an appropriate distance from the gas meter 2 and can be routed. An insertion hole 521 through which the connection cable 6 is inserted is formed in the frame portion 52, and the connection cable 6 is connected to the radio device body 32 in the recess 54.

  The attachment portion 53 is formed with an insertion hole 531 through which a fixing member such as a screw is inserted, and is attached to an inner wall of a building, for example. The position of the inner wall to be attached may be a position where the communication state of the gas meter radio 3 in the multistage relay radio 200 is good, may be determined by surrounding installations, or temporarily installed and in a communication state After confirming, you may install this in an appropriate position.

  According to this embodiment, there are the following effects. That is, since the radio device main body 32 is built in the cover portion 31, the entire gas meter radio device 3 can be attached as a cover that covers the communication terminal portion 24. Thereby, the fall of the designability by attaching the radio | wireless machine 3 for gas meters to the gas meter 2 can be suppressed, and the fall of the designability of the radio | wireless communication gas meter 1 whole can be suppressed.

  Further, by attaching the mounting member 5 holding the gas meter radio 3 to an appropriate mounting target, the gas meter radio 3 can be installed at a location away from the gas meter 2 and the communication state is good. can do.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, Including other structures etc. which can achieve the objective of this invention, the deformation | transformation etc. which are shown below are also contained in this invention.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, the wireless device main body 32 of the gas meter wireless device 3 is configured to be able to communicate with other gas meter wireless devices as an external device. However, the wireless device main body is connected via multistage relay wireless communication. Instead, it may communicate directly with a center as an external device.

  In the above embodiment, the gas meter radio 3 can be installed at an appropriate position by the attachment member 5. However, the gas meter radio 3 may be always attached to the gas meter 2.

  In addition, the best configuration, method and the like for carrying out the present invention have been disclosed in the above description, but the present invention is not limited to this. That is, the invention has been illustrated and described primarily with respect to particular embodiments, but may be configured for the above-described embodiments without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Various modifications can be made by those skilled in the art in terms of materials, quantity, and other detailed configurations. Therefore, the description limiting the shape, material, etc. disclosed above is an example for easy understanding of the present invention, and does not limit the present invention. The description by the name of the member which remove | excluded the limitation of one part or all of such is included in this invention.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Wireless communication gas meter 2 Gas meter 24 Communication terminal part 3 Gas meter radio | wireless machine 31 Cover part 32 Radio | wireless machine main body 5 Mounting member 6 Connection cable 20 Other radio | wireless machines for gas meters (external device)
30 Gateway radio (external device)

Claims (4)

A gas meter radio that is attached to a gas meter having a communication terminal on the front side and communicates with an external device,
A cover part attached to the gas meter so as to cover the communication terminal part;
A radio for a gas meter, comprising: a radio main body that is built in the cover portion and is connected to the communication terminal portion and capable of communicating with the external device.   2. The gas meter radio according to claim 1, wherein the radio main body is configured to be able to communicate with another gas meter radio as the external device.   A wireless communication gas meter, comprising: the gas meter wireless device according to claim 1; and the gas meter. An attachment member that holds the gas meter radio and can be attached to an attachment object other than the gas meter;
The wireless communication gas meter according to claim 3, further comprising a connection cable that can be routed between the gas meter and the attachment target.

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