JP2713835B2 - Shut-off valve abnormality judgment device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a shutoff valve abnormality judging device capable of shutting off gas flow due to an abnormal gas flow rate or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, in a gas meter having a built-in microcomputer, that is, a microcomputer meter, as shown in FIG. Close and display 7
And a function to notify a gas management company or the like through the communication interface 9 to prevent an accident from occurring. After the shut-off valve 5 is closed, in order to make the gas usable again, the shut-off valve 5 is mechanically opened by the return button 11 attached to the microcomputer meter, and the gas flow rate is monitored for a predetermined time, for example, 2 minutes. It is supposed to do. After the flow rate monitoring, if there is no abnormality, the gas can be used. If there is an abnormality, the shutoff valve 5 is closed again.

In a microcomputer meter provided with a shut-off valve using an electromagnetic on-off valve, an opening operation after shutting off is performed by an opening switch attached to the microcomputer meter or a remote opening switch installed at a position remote from the microcomputer meter. The operation is performed electrically.

[0004]

However, in such a conventional microcomputer meter, the shut-off valve in the closed state is
If the valve does not open normally due to malfunction or signal line abnormality, the user will not be able to grasp the malfunction of the shut-off valve, and the user who opened it will immediately understand why the gas cannot be used. Not possible, causing inconvenience.

[0005] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to make it possible to judge an abnormal operation of a shutoff valve.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1, an open signal for opening a shut-off valve which is shut off due to an abnormal gas flow rate is set to an open state. Signal output means 19, 21 for outputting a signal, and gas flow monitoring means 2 for monitoring the gas flow rate for a first predetermined time in response to the input of the open signal output from the open signal output means 19, 21.
3, the gas flow monitoring means 23 does not detect any gas flow abnormality, and the open signal output means 1
Abnormality judging means 25 for judging that the operation of the shut-off valve is abnormal when an open signal is input from 9, 21.

[0007]

According to the shut-off valve abnormality judging device having such a configuration, when the open signal output means 19 and 21 output an open signal to open the shut-off valve 17 in the shut-off state, the gas flow rate is received. The monitoring means monitors the gas flow rate for a first predetermined time. When the gas flow monitoring means 23 does not detect a gas flow abnormality, the abnormality determination means 25 operates the shutoff valve 17 when an open signal is input from the open signal output means 19, 21 within a second predetermined time thereafter. Judge as abnormal.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a control block diagram of a microcomputer meter showing one embodiment of the present invention. Flow pulse detector 1
Reference numeral 3 denotes a flow transmitter including a reed switch that can be turned on and off, and a pulse signal output from the flow transmitter is input to a control unit 15 including a microcomputer. The control unit 15 compares the input flow rate pulse signal with a set value stored in the memory in advance to determine whether the gas flow rate is abnormal. Outputs a close signal. The shut-off valve 17 is a so-called bidirectional shut-off valve of a bidirectional electromagnetic solenoid type that opens and closes a gas inlet port of the microcomputer meter according to the direction of a current supplied to the solenoid coil and maintains the state.

The open switch unit 19 is attached to the microcomputer meter, and outputs an open signal to the control unit 15 to open the shut-off valve 17 to use gas when the shut-off valve 17 is closed. . The remote opening command section 21 is installed in, for example, a room remote from the microcomputer meter, and an opening signal of this command signal is input to the control section 15 similarly to the output signal of the opening switch section 19. The open switch unit 19 and the remote open command unit 21 constitute an open signal output unit.

The control unit 15 includes a return safety confirming unit 23 as a gas flow monitoring unit, and an operation detecting unit 25 as an abnormality determining unit that detects the operation of the open switch unit 19 and the remote opening command unit 21. I have. The return safety confirmation unit 23
After receiving the input of the opening signal from the opening switch unit 19 or the remote opening command unit 21 via the operation detecting unit 25, the built-in
A 1 minute return safety check is performed by the Ima function, and this time
If no flow pulse is input during this time, gas usage is permitted.
At the same time, the timer incorporated in the operation detection unit 25 is started.

When an open signal from the open switch section 19 or the remote open command section 21 is input within 5 minutes, for example, by a built-in timer function, the operation detecting section 25 determines that the gas cannot be used and operates again. It is determined that the shut-off valve 17 has malfunctioned on the display unit 27, and the malfunction of the shut-off valve 17 is notified to the gas management company via the communication interface 29.

Next, the operation of the abnormality determination device for the shut-off valve configured as described above will be described with reference to FIG.
A description will be given based on the flowchart of FIG.

First, the gas flow rate is detected by the flow rate pulse detector 13 (step 101), and it is determined whether or not there is a flow rate abnormality (step 103). If a flow rate abnormality has occurred, a close signal is output to the shutoff valve 17 to close the shutoff valve 17 (step 105). Thereafter, it is determined whether there is an input of an open signal from the open switch unit 19 or the remote open command unit 21 (step 107), and if so, an open signal is output to the shut-off valve 17 (step 1).
09).

At the same time, the return safety confirmation unit 23
1 based on the flow pulse signal from the flow pulse detector 13
The flow rate is monitored for a minute (step 111). Here, it is determined whether or not there is a flow rate abnormality (step 113).
A close signal is output to close. If no flow rate abnormality is recognized, it is determined whether or not this state has continued for one minute (step 115). If the state has continued for one minute, the timer of the operation detecting unit 25 is started (step 117).

Next, after the timer of the operation detecting section 25 is started, it is determined again whether an open signal is input from the open switch section 19 or the remote open command section 21 (step 11).
9). Here, if there is an open signal input, it is determined that the user has operated the open switch unit 19 or the remote open command unit 21 again because the gas cannot be used, and the display unit 27 indicates that the shut-off valve 17 has malfunctioned. In addition to displaying the occurrence (Step 121), it notifies the gas management company of the malfunction of the shut-off valve 17 (Step 123). Further, after the operation detecting unit 25 is started, the open switch unit 19 or the remote open
If there is no open signal input from 1, it is determined whether 5 minutes have elapsed since the start (step 125), and if there is no open signal input for 5 minutes, the open switch unit 19 or the remote open command unit 21 The gas can be used by the first return operation, and it can be determined that the shut-off valve 17 has been normally opened. Therefore, the detection operation of the operation detection unit 25 is stopped (step 127).

As described above, when the user does not normally open when the user performs the return operation of the shut-off valve 17 to use gas after the shut-off valve 17 is closed, that is, the shut-off valve 17 malfunctions. Is displayed on the display unit 27, the user can immediately judge the reason why the gas cannot be used, and there is no need to repeatedly perform the return operation unnecessarily. Since the malfunction is reported to the gas management company via the communication interface 29,
The gas management company can quickly respond to the malfunction of the shut-off valve 17, which is preferable in terms of safety.

[0018]

As described above, according to the present invention, after an open signal is input to a shutoff valve in a shutoff state,
Since the gas flow rate is monitored for a predetermined time, and if an abnormal gas flow rate does not occur in this monitoring operation, when an open signal is input again within a predetermined time, it is determined that the shut-off valve is operating abnormally. The user can grasp the abnormality of the operation of the shut-off valve by re-inputting the open signal to the shut-off valve.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram corresponding to claims of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a control block diagram of a microcomputer meter showing one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a control operation by a control unit in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a control block diagram of a microcomputer meter showing a conventional example.

[Explanation of symbols]

 17 shut-off valve 19 open switch unit (open signal output unit) 21 remote open command unit (open signal output unit) 23 return safety confirmation unit (gas flow monitoring unit) 25 operation detection unit (abnormality judgment unit)

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] An open signal output means for outputting an open signal to open a shutoff valve which is in an interrupted state due to an abnormal gas flow rate, and receives an open signal output from the open signal output means. Gas flow rate monitoring means for monitoring the gas flow rate for a first predetermined time, and the gas flow rate monitoring means does not detect a gas flow rate abnormality, and thereafter, an open signal is input from the open signal output means within a second predetermined time. Abnormality determining means for determining that the operation of the shut-off valve is abnormal when the operation of the shut-off valve is abnormal.