JP2019168421A - Micro computer gas meter - Google Patents

Abstract

To actualize a trouble event occurring due to an unpredictable shake in a seismoscopic function using an acceleration sensor and to prompt to deal with the event.SOLUTION: An acceleration measuring unit 101 of a seismoscopic unit is started up and shifts from a standby mode to a measurement mode, and then the situation of a determination operation between an earthquake and noise performed by an earthquake determination unit 104 is monitored with a meter controller 3. When an earthquake determination operation continues for a predetermined time or longer due to a change in acceleration caused by unpredictable minute vibration occurring in an installation environment, the meter controller 3 outputs an abnormality alarm, and thus progress of battery consumption can be actualized.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to a microcomputer type gas meter having a function of detecting earthquakes by acceleration.

  Conventionally, seismic sensors that measure acceleration and detect earthquakes operate by switching between standby mode with reduced power and measurement mode with higher power than standby mode, and standby when acceleration exceeds a predetermined threshold. Switch from mode to measurement mode, filter acceleration, determine whether it is an earthquake based on the result of this filtering (so-called noise determination), and if it is determined that an earthquake has occurred, calculate the index value of the magnitude of the earthquake After that, it shifts to standby mode, and if it is determined that an earthquake has not occurred, it immediately shifts to standby mode, thereby controlling the number of times the acceleration sensor is sampled and the processing capacity of the microcomputer, and the seismic sensor (See, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2017-015604 A

  In this way, the acceleration information detected by the acceleration sensor is not limited to the acceleration pattern due to the occurrence of an earthquake. Especially when applied to the seismic function of a gas meter, the meter is shaken by an impact on the gas pipe or installed outdoors. Therefore, there are many noise factors such as vibration propagation due to passage of cars and trains, and shaking and vibration due to storms.

  For the purpose of noise removal, filtering using a moving average low-pass filter or the like has been proposed, but it is artificial that relies on the program logic of the microcomputer, and the acceleration information generated in the installation environment is not necessarily an earthquake. It is not always possible to distinguish. Whether or not it is an earthquake cannot be determined, and current will be consumed more than expected if the measurement mode continues. Moreover, the factor largely depends on the installation environment and may occur repeatedly.

  Therefore, it becomes a problem related to the life of a microcomputer type gas meter that must operate for a full period (for example, 10 years) with a limited battery power source.

  The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to reveal a malfunction event that occurs due to an unpredictable shaking and to prompt a countermeasure.

  In order to solve such problems, the microcomputer type gas meter of the present invention includes a gas metering unit for metering gas, a gas shut-off valve for shutting off and supplying gas, and a meter control unit for controlling metering and shutting off of gas. And a microcomputer-type gas meter equipped with a battery power source, wherein the meter control unit has a seismic sensing unit that detects an earthquake by measuring acceleration, and the seismic sensing unit comprises a standby mode and standby mode with reduced power. When operating in a measurement mode with higher power than the mode, and the acceleration exceeds a predetermined threshold, the mode is shifted from the standby mode to the measurement mode, and it is determined whether the earthquake is based on the measured acceleration. A control part alert | reports when the condition which cannot determine whether the said seismic sensing part is an earthquake continues for the predetermined time, or the predetermined number of times generate | occur | produces.

  As a result, the meter control unit issues an alarm when the time for determining whether the earthquake is in the seismic section continues or when the situation frequently occurs and the number of operation opportunities in the high power measurement mode increases. I can do it.

  The microcomputer type gas meter of the present invention can monitor a situation in which it is impossible to judge whether it is an earthquake or noise, and can issue an alarm to the outside when the battery is consumed unexpectedly.

The block diagram which shows an example of a structure of the microcomputer type gas meter in embodiment of this invention The block diagram which shows an example of the function of the seismic sensing part in embodiment of this invention (1) A flowchart showing an example of the seismic processing in the embodiment of the present invention, (2) a flowchart showing an example of the alarm processing in the present embodiment. The chart figure which shows the acceleration and threshold value which are measured with the form of execution of this invention

  A first invention is a microcomputer gas meter provided with a gas metering unit for metering a gas, a gas shut-off valve for shutting off and supplying the gas, a meter control unit for controlling the metering and shutting off of the gas, and a battery power source. The meter control unit has a seismic unit that detects acceleration by measuring acceleration, and the seismic unit operates in a standby mode in which power is suppressed and a measurement mode in which power is higher than the standby mode, When the acceleration exceeds a predetermined threshold, the mode shifts from the standby mode to the measurement mode, and determines whether the earthquake is based on the measured acceleration, and the meter control unit determines whether the seismic part is an earthquake. Even if a situation where it is impossible to determine whether it is an earthquake or not in a measurement mode with high power by notifying when a situation where it cannot be determined continues for a predetermined time or occurs a predetermined number of times, The generation time and frequency of, since the meter controller outputs an alarm, meter is obvious that is installed in an abnormal environment, it is possible to prevent excessive power dissipation unexpected by maintenance treatment.

  According to a second aspect of the invention, in particular, in the first aspect of the invention, the meter control unit causes the gas shut-off valve to perform a gas operation when a situation in which the seismic sensing unit cannot determine whether or not the seismic sensing unit is an earthquake has continued for a predetermined time or has occurred a predetermined number of times. By shutting off the gas and shutting off the power supply to the seismic part, it is possible to stop the operation of the seismic part after shutting off the gas and ensuring safety and prevent excessive power consumption autonomously. .

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments.

(Embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a microcomputer type gas meter according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of functions of a seismic sensing unit, and FIG. 3 shows an example of seismic processing and alarm processing. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing acceleration and threshold values.

  In FIG. 1, a microcomputer type gas meter includes a gas metering unit 1 that measures a flow rate of a passing gas by measuring a propagation speed of ultrasonic waves in the passing gas and measures a gas flow rate, a gas shut-off valve 2 that shuts off or supplies gas, and a gas meter. It has a meter controller 3 that controls the function, a battery power source 4 that supplies power to the entire electrical system, and a pressure sensor 5 that monitors the pressure in the gas supply path.

  The battery power source 4 is configured by connecting a plurality of lithium primary batteries in parallel, and has a battery capacity corresponding to the current capacity consumed by the electric system during the certification expiration period (for example, 10 years).

  In addition, the gas metering unit 1 may be of a thermal flow sensor type or a type (film type) of detecting a change in a magnetic field with a magnetic switch by rotating a magnet in conjunction with the movement of a metering film having a predetermined volume. The gas shut-off valve 2 may be driven by a stepping motor or may be driven using the repulsive force of a solenoid. The pressure sensor 5 includes one that monitors the pressure on the gas inflow side of the gas meter and one that monitors the pressure on the gas outflow side.

  The meter controller 3 has a meter microcomputer 30. The meter microcomputer 30 receives an acceleration sensor 31 that detects an earthquake shake as an acceleration, a data memory 301 that stores various information, and a signal from the gas metering unit 1. Measuring circuit 32 for turning on, shut-off valve driving circuit 33 for driving gas shut-off valve 2, pressure detection circuit 34 for taking in signal from pressure sensor 5, and detecting a decrease in battery voltage while passing current corresponding to the load on gas shut-off valve 2 A voltage detection circuit 35, an alarm circuit 36 for capturing a gas leak alarm signal, a communication circuit 37 for exchanging wired communication telegrams of a predetermined signal system by a bus method, an integrated value of measured gas usage, and the like are displayed. The display unit 38 and an operation unit 39 including a contact switch and a magnetic switch for receiving various operations are connected.

  The alarm circuit 36 and the communication circuit 37 are connected to the external terminal 6 so that an external device such as an alarm can be connected.

  Here, the seismic sensing unit 100 is realized by executing software processing of the acceleration sensor 31, the data memory 301, and the meter microcomputer 30.

  The power supply terminal of the acceleration sensor 31 is connected to the battery power supply 4 via a switching element (not shown) such as an FET, and the switching element is turned on / off by the meter microcomputer 30 to control the power supply of the acceleration sensor 31. .

  In addition, since the processing for calculating seismic index values such as measured seismic intensity and SI value is heavy, a seismic microcomputer (not shown) dedicated to seismic processing is provided to transmit signals between the meter microcomputer 30 and the terminals. The seismic part can also be configured. However, performing seismic processing by the meter microcomputer 30 can reduce the device current that always flows regardless of the software processing load of the microcomputer provided for seismic sensing, and is effective in suppressing current consumption in the seismic section. It becomes a means.

  The data memory 301 is a RAM, a nonvolatile memory, or the like that stores acceleration and reference values, and this can also be realized by a flash memory prepared in the meter microcomputer 30.

  In the block diagram of the seismic sensing unit 100 shown in FIG. 2, the seismic sensing unit functions as an acceleration measuring unit 101 configured by the acceleration sensor 31, an acceleration storage unit 102 incorporated in the data memory 301, and the meter microcomputer 30. The activation determination unit 103, the earthquake determination unit 104, the offset adjustment unit 105, the earthquake index value calculation unit 106, the erroneous vibration determination unit 107, the interruption determination unit 108, and the output unit 109 are realized.

  The acceleration measuring unit 101 measures acceleration at a set cycle. Normally, when waiting for an earthquake, measurement of acceleration is repeated at a relatively low speed (that is, a relatively large cycle) (referred to as low-speed sampling). At this time, the meter microcomputer 30 operates at a low speed. A state in which low-speed processing is performed by low-speed sampling and power consumption is suppressed is referred to as “standby mode”. Further, when the acceleration measuring unit 101 detects an acceleration larger than a preset threshold value, the acceleration measuring unit 101 repeats the measurement of acceleration at a higher speed than the “standby mode” (that is, a relatively small cycle) (referred to as high-speed sampling). Thus, at the time of high-speed sampling, the meter microcomputer 30 operates in either a low speed operation or a high speed operation.

  In addition, when the earthquake determination unit 104, the earthquake index value calculation unit 106, and the erroneous vibration determination unit 107 perform processing to be described later, the processing operation is performed at high speed. Such a high-speed sampling state is referred to as a “measurement mode”. The “measurement mode” improves the acceleration detection accuracy than the “standby mode”, but increases the power consumption. The transition of the operation state from the “standby mode” to the “measurement mode” is referred to as “startup”.

  The acceleration storage unit 102 holds the acceleration value measured by the acceleration measurement unit 101. The activation determination unit 103 compares the acceleration value measured by the acceleration measurement unit 101 with an activation threshold value, which is a value for determining whether to activate or not, held in a reference value storage unit (not shown). When the acceleration value exceeds the activation threshold, the apparatus is activated from the standby mode to the measurement mode. In addition, the earthquake determination unit 104 uses the acceleration measured by the acceleration measurement unit 101 in the measurement mode and a noise determination threshold set in advance in a reference value storage unit (not shown) to determine whether the measured acceleration indicates an earthquake. It is determined whether it is.

  When the earthquake determination unit 104 determines that there is noise, the offset adjustment unit 105 performs so-called offset adjustment on the acceleration value. On the other hand, when the earthquake determination unit 104 determines that the event is an earthquake, the earthquake index value calculation unit 106 calculates an index value indicating the magnitude of the earthquake and outputs the index value to the output unit 109. For example, the index value is a calculated seismic intensity or SI value. In addition, the erroneous vibration determination unit 107 determines whether there is an erroneous vibration from the tendency of analyzing the acceleration measured by the acceleration measurement unit 101.

  Then, the shutoff determination unit 108 outputs a signal to shut off the gas shutoff valve 2 to the output unit 109 when the erroneous vibration determination unit 107 determines that there is no false vibration and the earthquake index value is equal to or greater than a predetermined value. The output unit 109 can be realized by setting data in the RAM of the meter microcomputer 30.

  In addition, when configured with an earthquake-sensitive microcomputer (not shown), the output unit 109 is realized by outputting an earthquake index value, an interruption signal, and an earthquake determination signal to the microcomputer terminal (serial communication terminal, digital output terminal). it can.

  Next, the process in this Embodiment is demonstrated using the flowchart of FIG.

  FIG. 3 (1) is a process flow of the seismic process of the seismic part. First, the acceleration measuring unit 101 measures acceleration in the standby mode (S1). In the standby mode, the acceleration measuring unit 101 performs low-speed sampling. In addition, the activation determination unit 103 determines whether to activate (that is, shift to the measurement mode) (S2). In this step, when the acceleration measured in the process S1 is equal to or less than the activation threshold (the threshold 1 shown in FIG. 4, for example, 50 gal) (NO in S2), the process proceeds to the process S1 and the standby mode is continued. On the other hand, when the acceleration measured in process S1 is larger than the activation threshold (YES in S2), the acceleration measurement unit 101 shifts to the measurement mode and performs high-speed sampling (S3).

  In addition, the earthquake determination unit 104 performs earthquake determination (in other words, noise determination) (S4, S5). In this step, it is determined whether the detected vibration is caused by an earthquake or noise. For example, if the vibration does not last for a predetermined time or more, it is determined as noise (YES in S4). Then, offset adjustment is performed (S7), and it is cleared that the earthquake determination is “during determination” (S9).

On the other hand, if it cannot be determined as noise (NO in S4), it is determined whether or not it is an earthquake (S5). For example, after analyzing vibrations for a predetermined time, if the acceleration is greater than a threshold value (threshold value 2 shown in FIG. 4, for example, 100 gal) greater than the activation threshold value, an earthquake is determined (YES in S5). An index value is calculated (S8), and it is cleared that the earthquake determination is “during determination” (S9). If it cannot be determined as an earthquake (NO in S5), it is neither a noise nor an earthquake, and the earthquake determination is “determined” (S6), and the earthquake determination is continued in the measurement mode. That is, when neither noise nor earthquake can be determined, processing S3 → processing S4 → processing S5 → processing S6 → processing S3 is repeated.

  In the chart of FIG. 4 (1), the acceleration exceeds the threshold 1 which is the activation threshold, the measurement mode is activated, and then it is determined that the earthquake exceeds the threshold 2 for performing earthquake determination (processing S5 in FIG. 3 (1)). Shows acceleration change in the case of YES.

  The chart of FIG. 4 (2) shows that after the acceleration exceeds the threshold 1 which is the activation threshold and the measurement mode is activated, the acceleration exceeding the threshold 2 for performing the earthquake determination does not appear and is relatively small (between 50 gal and 100 gal). ) Indicates an acceleration change in a state where the acceleration change continues. It is neither noise nor an earthquake (NO in step S5 in FIG. 3A), and the earthquake determination unit 104 continues the earthquake determination.

  This state can be assumed to be the case where the meter housing slightly vibrates via the gas pipe. If it occurs continuously or intermittently during the usage period of the meter, the earthquake will remain in the measurement mode with relatively high power consumption. The determination is continued, and there is a possibility that power exceeding the battery capacity assumed in advance is consumed.

  The role of the seismic sensing unit 100 in the microcomputer type gas meter is to wait for an earthquake that does not know when it occurs, and if there is a change in acceleration, the acceleration must be measured and the determination continued. For example, when the earthquake determination is continued, that is, when the process S3 → the process S4 → the process S5 → the process S6 → the process S3 is repeated in FIG. 3 (1), it is intentionally terminated and the standby mode (the process S1 in FIG. 3 (1)). ), If there is a factor that causes an acceleration change between the threshold value 1 and the threshold value 2 in FIG. 4, the activation determination is again made (step S2 in FIG. 3 (1)), and the measurement mode (FIG. 3) is determined. (1) S3) will be reached.

  Therefore, in this embodiment, a warning can be issued when the earthquake determination is continued by the process shown in the flowchart of FIG.

  FIG. 3B is a processing flow of alarm processing for monitoring the situation of earthquake determination in seismic processing. If the earthquake determination is “during determination” (YES in S10), the time during which the state continues is determined (S11). If a predetermined time (for example, 1 hour) elapses (YES in S11), an abnormality alarm is output (S12). For example, a warning symbol is displayed on the display unit 38 of the microcomputer type gas meter. Alternatively, a warning message can be transmitted to the management center (not shown) by a wireless device (not shown) connected to the external terminal 6 using the communication function of the microcomputer type gas meter. Alternatively, the abnormality alarm data may be left in the data memory 301 without actively displaying or transmitting, and the abnormality alarm may be transmitted when requested by the management center.

  The determination condition for outputting an abnormality alarm in step S12 may be a time when a time shorter than the predetermined time (for example, 10 minutes) occurs a predetermined number of times (for example, 10 times). It can be easily realized by changing

  Further, a counter that counts that an abnormality alarm has been output is added (S13), and it is determined whether the counter has reached a predetermined number of times (S14). If the predetermined number of times (for example, 100 times) is reached (S14), it can be determined that the earthquake determination operation has continued abnormally for a long time or has occurred frequently, and the gas shutoff valve 2 is shut off (S15), and the acceleration The power supply to the sensor 31 is stopped (S16).

In the microcomputer-type gas meter configured as described above, even if the seismic sensing unit 100 continues to make an earthquake determination, such as being installed in an environment that receives continuous or intermittent micro vibrations, the meter controller 3 Can monitor the status of the earthquake determination, and when the earthquake determination operation occurs continuously or intermittently for a predetermined time, the display unit 38 or the communication circuit 37 can notify the user.

  Further, when the situation of the earthquake determination operation continues further and the abnormal alarm is generated continuously and intermittently, the gas is shut off and the power supply to the acceleration sensor 31 is stopped.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the meter controller 3 monitors the status of the earthquake determination (noise determination) operation in the measurement mode that requires the electric power of the seismic sensing unit 100, thereby informing when the earthquake determination continues. Can reveal that battery consumption is advancing, leading to maintenance activities such as improved installation conditions.

  Further, when the earthquake determination further continues, when the continuous earthquake determination repeatedly occurs, the gas is shut off and the function of the seismic sensing unit 100 is stopped, so that the progress of battery consumption can be prevented.

  As described above, the microcomputer-type gas meter according to the present invention makes it possible to reveal and prevent the progress of battery consumption, so that it can be used for battery equipment equipped with a seismic device using an acceleration sensor such as a water meter. Applicable.

1 Gas metering section 2 Gas shut-off valve 3 Meter controller 4 Battery power supply 30 Meter microcomputer (seismic section)
31 Accelerometer (seismic part)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Seismic sensing part 101 Acceleration measuring part 102 Acceleration memory | storage part 103 Start determination part 104 Earthquake judgment part 301 Data memory (seismic part)

Claims (2)

A gas metering unit for metering gas, a gas shutoff valve for shutting off and supplying gas, a meter control unit for controlling metering and shutting off of gas, and a microcomputer type gas meter equipped with a battery power source,
The meter control unit has an earthquake sensing unit that detects an earthquake by measuring acceleration,
The seismic sensor operates in a standby mode with reduced power and a measurement mode in which the power is higher than that in the standby mode, and when acceleration exceeds a predetermined threshold, the standby mode shifts to the measurement mode and the measured acceleration To judge whether it is an earthquake from
The said meter control part alert | reports when the condition which cannot judge whether the said seismic sensing part is an earthquake continues for the predetermined time, or the predetermined number of times generate | occur | produces. The meter control unit shuts off the gas by the gas shut-off valve and stops power supply to the seismic sensing unit when a situation in which the seismic sensing unit cannot determine whether it is an earthquake has continued for a predetermined time or has occurred a predetermined number of times. The microcomputer type gas meter according to claim 1 characterized by things.