JP2018096821A - Gas meter and ball valve - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce occupied volume of fluid or a flow passage without degrading a closing/opening function of the flow passage or a rectification function of the fluid.SOLUTION: A gas meter includes: a pressure sensor; a flow rate sensor; an operation unit for outputting a combustible gas cutoff signal on the basis of a result of detection by at least one of the pressure sensor and the flow rate sensor; and a cutoff valve 110 for cutting off combustible gas according to the cutoff signal. The cutoff valve is a ball valve including: a disc 156 having a flow passage; a body part 150 rotatably holding the disc; a stem 158 for switching the flow passage of the body part between in an open valve state and in a close valve state by rotating the disc; and a rectification mechanism 160 in the flow passage of the disc, the rectification mechanism rectifying the fluid into a direction of the flow passage of the body part when the flow passage is in the open valve state.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a ball valve that opens and closes a flow path by rotation of a disc, and a gas meter including the ball valve.

  As a valve having a movable mechanism for opening and closing a flow path, a ball valve, a ball valve, a partition valve, and the like are provided. For example, in a floating type ball valve, since the disc is not fixed, the disc is pressed against the downstream seat ring by the fluid pressure in the closed state, and it is possible to reliably prevent the fluid from leaking downstream.

  In addition, in a floating ball valve, a technique is also disclosed in which fluid pressure is applied to an upstream seat ring to improve its sealing performance (for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 11-82762 A

  In order to adjust the flow rate of a fluid such as a combustible gas flowing through the flow path, it is conceivable to switch the flow path between the valve open state and the valve closed state with the above-described ball valve while pressure is applied to the fluid. In some cases, a flow straightening mechanism is provided in the flow path to make the fluid flow uniform.

  However, the ball valve and the rectifying mechanism are formed with different structures due to the difference in their functions, and are arranged at different positions in the flow path direction (fluid flow direction). Accordingly, the total occupied volume of both tends to expand in the flow path direction. On the other hand, a gas meter that uses such a ball valve or a rectifying mechanism to adjust the gas flow rate is required to be miniaturized in order to improve the versatility of installation at the customer's home.

  In view of such problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a gas meter and a ball valve capable of reducing the occupied volume without impairing the fluid rectifying function or the flow path opening / closing function.

  In order to solve the above problems, the gas meter of the present invention is a calculation that outputs a combustible gas cutoff signal based on a pressure sensor, a flow sensor, and a detection result of one or both of the pressure sensor and the flow sensor. And a shutoff valve that shuts off flammable gas in response to a shutoff signal. The shutoff valve is configured by rotating a disc with a flow path, a body that rotatably holds the disc, and the disc. A stem that switches the flow path of the main body between the valve open state and the valve closed state; and a rectifying mechanism that is provided in the flow path of the disc and rectifies the combustible gas in the flow direction of the main body in the valve open state. It is a ball valve.

  In order to solve the above problems, a ball valve according to the present invention includes a disk having a flow path, a main body that rotatably holds the disk, and a flow path of the main body by opening the disk. A stem that switches to a valve-closed state; and a rectifying mechanism that is provided in the flow path of the disk and rectifies the fluid in the flow direction of the main body in the valve-open state.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to reduce the occupied volume without impairing the fluid rectifying function or the flow path opening / closing function.

It is the functional block diagram which showed the schematic structure of the gas meter. It is the perspective view which showed the schematic structure of the cutoff valve. It is a cross-sectional view for explaining the operation of the shut-off valve. It is an exploded perspective view of a shut-off valve It is a figure explaining the other variation of a rectification | straightening mechanism.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The dimensions, materials, and other specific numerical values shown in the embodiments are merely examples for facilitating the understanding of the invention, and do not limit the present invention unless otherwise specified. In the present specification and drawings, elements having substantially the same function and configuration are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted, and elements not directly related to the present invention are not illustrated. To do.

(Gas meter 100)
FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the gas meter 100. The gas meter 100 includes a shutoff valve 110, a pressure sensor 112, a flow sensor 114, a display unit 116, and a calculation unit 118.

  The shut-off valve 110 is formed of a floating ball valve, and controls the supply of combustible gas by switching the gas flow path 130 between the open state and the closed state through an electromagnetic valve using a solenoid or a stepping motor. The specific structure of the shutoff valve 110 will be described in detail later.

  The pressure sensor 112 is provided downstream from the shutoff valve 110 and detects the pressure of the combustible gas. The flow rate sensor 114 is disposed at predetermined positions on the upstream side surface and the downstream side surface of the gas flow path 130, and is an ultrasonic transducer that functions as an ultrasonic wave transmission unit or reception unit that is a sound wave of, for example, 20 kHz or higher. 114a, 114b, and a propagation speed deriving unit 114c for detecting the propagation time of the ultrasonic wave propagating between the ultrasonic vibrators 114a, 114b via the combustible gas and deriving the flow rate of the combustible gas based on the propagation time, Consists of.

  The display unit 116 includes a liquid crystal display, an organic EL (Electro Luminescence) display, and the like, and is used for notifying an abnormality such as an integrated value of the supply amount (use amount) of the combustible gas and a leak of the combustible gas. .

  The calculation unit 118 manages and controls the entire gas meter 100 by a semiconductor integrated circuit including a central processing unit (CPU), a ROM storing programs, a RAM as a work area, and the like. Then, based on the detection result of one or both of the pressure sensor 112 and the flow sensor 114, the calculation unit 118 detects, for example, the abnormal value of the pressure of the combustible gas or the flow sensor 114 When it is detected that the combustible gas continuously flows over a predetermined flow rate for a predetermined period, a cutoff signal is output to the cutoff valve 110. Then, the shutoff valve 110 switches from the valve open state to the valve close state in response to the shutoff signal, and shuts off the combustible gas.

  FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a schematic configuration of the shut-off valve 110, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view for explaining the operation of the shut-off valve 110. As shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the main body (body) 150 of the shut-off valve 110 has a spherical disc (ball) via an upstream (primary) seat ring 152 and a downstream (secondary) seat ring 154. ) 156 is rotatably held. Further, by rotating the stem 158 connected to the top of the disk 156 and protruding from the main body 150, the disk 156 can be rotated with the longitudinal direction of the stem 158 as the rotation axis.

  The disk 156 is formed with a disk flow path (flow path) 156a which is a through-hole penetrating the disk 156 itself, and a cross-sectional shape and a cross-sectional area (cross-sectional diameter) perpendicular to the flow path direction of the disk flow path 156a are It is equal to the main body flow path 150a of the main body 150 (full bore). Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3A, when the stem 158 is rotated to open the shut-off valve 110, that is, the flow path direction of the disk flow path 156a and the flow path direction of the main body flow path 150a are matched. The disc flow path 156a forms a series of flow paths together with the main body flow path 150a, and the combustible gas passes from the upstream side to the downstream side.

  On the other hand, when the stem 158 is turned 90 degrees from the opened state of FIG. 3A via FIG. 3B and the shutoff valve 110 is closed as shown in FIG. When the flow path direction of the disk flow path 156a is made 90 degrees different from the flow path direction of the main body flow path 150a and the main body flow path 150a is blocked by the outer wall of the disk 156, the flow of combustible gas from the upstream stops.

  Further, in such a closed valve state, the disc 156 is pressed against the downstream seat ring 154 due to the pressure of the combustible gas, so that the sealing performance is enhanced, and the leakage of the combustible gas downstream can be surely prevented. it can. Further, for example, by adopting a technique or the like that causes the pressure of the combustible gas to act on the upstream side seat ring 152 and presses the upstream side seat ring 152 against the disc 156 as shown in JP-A-11-82762. The sealing performance can be further enhanced.

  As described above, the shutoff valve 110 can be switched between the valve open state and the valve closed state by simply rotating the stem 158 by 90 degrees, and the cross-sectional shapes and the cutouts of the disc flow path 156a and the main body flow path 150a. By equalizing the area, pressure loss can be minimized.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the disk flow path 156a is provided with a rectifying mechanism 160 that rectifies combustible gas in the flow path direction of the main body flow path 150a in the valve open state.

  FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the shutoff valve 110. As shown in FIG. 4, the rectifying mechanism 160 divides the disk flow path 156a into a plurality of spaces in the flow path direction by a plurality of rectifying plates 160a extending in the flow path direction. Here, the rectifying plate 160a has a honeycomb structure, and the cross section thereof has a shape in which a plurality of regular hexagons are arranged without gaps in the cross section direction. Therefore, the space divided by the current plate 160a is a regular hexagonal column. However, the thickness of the rectifying plate 160a is suppressed to a minimum so that the rectifying plate 160a itself does not become a pressure loss.

  By providing such a rectifying mechanism 160, when the shutoff valve 110 is opened, the combustible gas flowing through the disk flow path 156a can be rectified, and the flow can be made uniform.

  Further, by providing the rectifying mechanism 160 in the disk flow path 156a, the rectifying mechanism 160 is not exposed to the upstream combustible gas having a high pressure in the valve closed state.

  Furthermore, by providing the rectifying mechanism 160 in the disk flow path 156a that was merely a through hole, it is not necessary to provide the rectifying mechanism 160 again, and without compromising the rectifying function of the combustible gas and the opening / closing function of the main body flow path 150a. The occupied volume can be reduced. Further, by integrally forming the shutoff valve 110 and the rectifying mechanism 160, it is possible to reduce the number of parts and to reduce the manufacturing cost.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 3B, the rectifying plate 160a of the rectifying mechanism 160 has an angle with respect to the combustible gas during the transition from the valve open state to the valve closed state. Loss occurs and effectively contributes to a quick stop of the combustible gas.

  As mentioned above, although preferred embodiment of this invention was described referring an accompanying drawing, it cannot be overemphasized that this invention is not limited to this embodiment. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made within the scope of the claims, and these are naturally within the technical scope of the present invention. Understood.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, the rectifying mechanism 160 has been described with an example in which the cross section has a honeycomb structure. However, a mesh structure as illustrated in FIG. 5A or a circle as illustrated in FIG. Overlapping structures can also be applied.

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, the example in which the disk flow path 156a is linear has been described. However, the present invention can be applied to a case with a curvature, for example, an L port. It is sufficient to arrange the rectifying plate 160a along the curvature.

  In the above-described embodiment, the flammable gas has been described as the fluid. However, various fluids including gas and liquid can be applied as long as the fluid passes through the ball valve.

  In the above-described embodiment, an example in which a ball valve is used as the shut-off valve 110 has been described. However, as long as the rectifying mechanism 160 is provided in the disk flow path 156a, not only the shut-off valve 110 but also various types. Can be used as a valve.

  In the above-described embodiment, the ball valve is used as the shutoff valve 110 in the gas meter 100. However, the application is not limited to the gas meter, and can be applied to various devices.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be used for a ball valve that opens and closes a flow path by turning a disk and a gas meter including the ball valve.

100 Gas meter 110 Shut-off valve 112 Pressure sensor 114 Flow rate sensor 118 Calculation unit 150 Main body 150a Main body flow path 152 Upstream seat ring 154 Downstream seat ring 156 Disc 156a Disc flow path 158 Stem 160 Rectification mechanism

Claims (2)

A pressure sensor;
A flow sensor,
Based on the detection result of either one or both of the pressure sensor and the flow rate sensor, an arithmetic unit that outputs a flammable gas cutoff signal;
A shutoff valve that shuts off the combustible gas in response to the shutoff signal;
With
The shut-off valve is
A disc having a flow path;
A main body that rotatably holds the disc;
A stem that rotates the disk to switch the flow path of the main body between a valve open state and a valve closed state;
A rectifying mechanism that is provided in a flow path of the disc and rectifies the combustible gas in a flow direction of the main body in the valve-open state;
A gas meter which is a ball valve having A disc having a flow path;
A main body that rotatably holds the disc;
A stem that rotates the disk to switch the flow path of the main body between a valve open state and a valve closed state;
A rectifying mechanism that is provided in a flow path of the disc and rectifies a fluid in a flow direction of the main body in the valve open state;
Ball valve equipped with.

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