JP3221606U - Cylinder remaining amount alarm device - Google Patents

Abstract

[PROBLEMS] To provide a remaining amount alarm device for a cylinder, which has an alarm sound and an alarm light to notify an alarm, is excellent in versatility, and suppresses power consumption. SOLUTION: A cylinder connection port 24 to which a gas cylinder can be connected, a flow rate controller connection port 12 to which a gas flow rate regulator can be connected, and a communication for connecting the cylinder connection port 24 and the flow rate controller connection port 12 A sound generation unit and alarm light that are connected to the chamber 11, a Bourdon tube that detects the pressure in the communication chamber 11, a micro switch that is turned on and off by the pressure detected by the Bourdon tube, and a micro switch And a dry battery for supplying a voltage to the sound generation unit and the light emission unit 41 via the micro switch, and the dry battery via the micro switch when the pressure detected by the Bourdon tube is equal to or less than a predetermined value The voltage from is supplied to cause the sound generator to sound and the light emitter 41 to emit light. [Selected figure] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to an alarm device for detecting and alerting the remaining amount of a gas cylinder, and more particularly to a cylinder residual amount alerting device excellent in versatility as well as notifying an alarm with an alarm sound and an alarm light.

  In a hospital etc., for patients who need oxygen supply, oxygen guided from the oxygen supply room installed in the hospital to the oxygen supply port installed in the vicinity of the bed is always supplied to the patient side via piping. An oxygen supply system has been established. On the other hand, at the time of movement of the patient by surgery etc., it was carried out that an oxygen cylinder was carried and oxygen was supplied to the patient from the cylinder.

Patent Document 1 describes the importance of using a small, portable oxygen gas or other gas cylinder for home oxygen therapy, and for users to know the remaining usable time, while attaching it to the gas cylinder for remaining use. A configuration of a gas residual gauge for calculating and displaying time is disclosed.
This gas level gauge has a circuit that performs liquid crystal display, calculation of pressure drop of cylinder internal pressure, etc. and calculation of remaining usable time etc. Digital display of the remaining time itself is possible, and the power supply of the circuit is battery It is configured to be driven by the

JP-A-9-166469

  According to the above-described gas remaining amount meter, the voltage from the battery is constantly supplied to the circuit and the liquid crystal display for performing each process, and the liquid crystal display is displayed. Therefore, there is a problem that the battery is easily exhausted. Do.

  The present invention has been proposed in view of the above situation, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a remaining amount alarm device of a configuration that is alerted by an alarm sound and an alarm light, has excellent versatility, and suppresses power consumption. And

In order to achieve the above object, the cylinder residual quantity alarm device according to claim 1 is
A cylinder port (24) to which gas cylinders can be connected;
A flow regulator connection port (12) that allows connection of a gas flow regulator;
A communication chamber (11) communicating the cylinder connection port (24) with the flow rate regulator connection port (12);
A Bourdon tube (33) for detecting the pressure of the communication chamber (11);
A micro switch (32) which is turned on / off by the pressure detected by the Bourdon tube (33);
A sound generation unit (42) connected to the micro switch (32) for generating an alarm sound and a light emission unit (41) for emitting alarm light;
A power supply (50) for supplying a voltage to the sound generation unit (42) and the light emission unit (41) via the micro switch (32);
When the pressure detected by the Bourdon tube (33) is equal to or less than a predetermined value, a voltage from the power supply (50) is supplied via the micro switch (32), and the sound generator (42) generates a sound. The light emitting section (41) emits light.

A second aspect of the present invention is the cylinder residual quantity alarm device according to the first aspect, wherein
The sound producing unit (42) and the light emitting unit (41) are provided with a power switch for supplying a voltage from the power supply (50),
When the power switch is on,
The light emitting unit (41) is turned off when the pressure detected by the Bourdon tube (33) exceeds a predetermined value, and the light emitting unit (41) is turned on when the pressure is less than the predetermined value. There is.

A third aspect of the present invention is the cylinder residual quantity alarm device according to the first or second aspect, wherein
The power supply (50) is characterized in that a battery is mounted.

A fourth aspect of the present invention is the cylinder residual quantity alarm device according to the first or second aspect, wherein
The sound generator (42) is characterized in that the size of the alarm sound can be selected.

A fifth aspect of the present invention is the cylinder residual quantity alarm device according to the third aspect, wherein
The light emitting unit (41) includes a red LED and a yellow LED, and the red LED emits light when the micro switch (32) is turned on.
A control circuit (40) is provided to control the yellow LED to emit light when the voltage of the battery drops below a predetermined voltage.

  According to the cylinder residual quantity alarm device of the present invention, the pressure drop in the gas cylinder is detected by the Bourdon tube (33), and when the pressure becomes lower than a predetermined value, the micro switch (32) is turned on and the sound is generated Since the light emitting part (41) emits light while the part (42) generates a sound, it can be notified that the remaining amount of gas in the gas cylinder is reduced.

  The cylinder connection port (24) and the flow rate regulator connection port (12) can be used by being interposed between the gas cylinder and the flow rate regulator, so a cylinder level alarm device excellent in versatility is provided. be able to.

  When the pressure in the gas cylinder maintains a value exceeding a predetermined value, the micro switch (32) is turned off and the light emitting unit (41) is turned off, so that the power consumption can be suppressed.

It is front explanatory drawing which shows a partial cross section of the cylinder residual amount warning apparatus based on embodiment of this invention. It is side explanatory drawing which shows a partial cross section of the cylinder residual amount warning device based on embodiment of this invention. It is an external appearance explanatory view showing the on / off state of the micro switch by the Bourdon tube of the pressure gauge with a micro switch, (a) being an on state, (b) being an off state.

An example of the embodiment of the cylinder residual quantity alarm device of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 3.
The cylinder remaining amount alarm device 1 detects the remaining amount of the gas cylinder and notifies the gas cylinder replacement time by interposing between the gas cylinder filled with oxygen etc. and the flow rate regulator for adjusting the gas flow rate. .

  The cylinder residual amount alarm device 1 includes a main body 10 having a communication chamber 11 formed by a vertical hole space, and a cover member 2 which forms an inner space above the main body 10 and covers the inner space. A flow rate regulator connection port 12 is formed at the lower end of the communication chamber 11. Further, a horizontal hole 13 is formed in the communication chamber 11, and a cylinder mounting joint 20 for gas cylinder connection is connected to the horizontal hole 13.

  The cover member 2 is composed of a front cover 2a and a back cover 2b. A pressure gauge 30 with a micro switch for detecting the pressure of the communication chamber 11 in the inner space of the cover member 2; An electronic control substrate 40 for controlling light emission and a dry battery (power supply) 50 serving as a power supply for supplying a voltage to the electronic control substrate 40 are accommodated. The dry cell 50 is connected to the electronic control board 40 via a power switch (not shown) that can be operated from the outside of the cover member 2.

The power switch is formed of a slide switch facing outward from the opening of the cover member 2 and can select three modes of "OFF", "ON (low volume)", and "ON (high volume)". The magnitude of the volume is the volume of the volume emitted by the cylinder remaining amount alarm device 1 and can be selected according to the use environment and the like.
Further, the electronic control board 40 is configured to include a voltage detection circuit that detects a case where the voltage of the dry cell 50 drops below a predetermined voltage.

  A communication hole 21 communicating with the horizontal hole 13 of the main body 10 is formed in the cylinder mounting joint 20, and a filter 22 is attached to the gas inlet side. The cylinder mounting nut 23 is attached to the outer peripheral end of the gas inlet side of the cylinder mounting joint 20, and the cylinder connection port 24 to be a recess of the cylinder mounting nut 23 is connected to the outlet of the gas cylinder (not shown). The cylinder residual quantity alarm device 1 and the gas cylinder are configured to be connectable.

The pressure gauge 30 with a micro switch has a base 31 provided with a measurement chamber communicating with the communication chamber 11, a micro switch 32 mounted on the base 31, and a Bourdon tube made of a flexible material having a hollow inside. And 33.
The Bourdon tube 33 is provided with one turn 33a in the tube portion and one end thereof is communicated with the measurement chamber of the base 31, so that gas pressure supplied when gas from the measurement chamber is supplied into the tube The tube shape is adapted to be deformed according to That is, when the supplied gas pressure becomes high, as shown in FIGS. 3 (a) and 3 (b), the tube at the tip of the winding portion 33a moves upward so as to be deformed. .

  The micro switch 32 includes a contact portion 34 which operates by deformation of the Bourdon tube 33, a plate-like member 35 whose one end is pushed by position fluctuation of the contact portion 34, and a contact 36 which forms a switch between the plate-like member 35. , And the Bourdon tube 33 is deformed according to the pressure change in the measurement chamber, and the on / off operation of the micro switch 32 is performed. The micro switch 32 is connected to the electronic control board 40 via the connector 37.

The electronic control board 40 includes a light emitting unit 41 having an LED light source 41a and a lens body (diffuse lens) 41b, a sound emitting unit 42 for generating an alarm sound, and a press switch 43 serving as an alarm confirmation button. ing.
The LED light source 41a is composed of a red LED and a yellow LED, and when the voltage detection circuit detects a voltage drop of the dry cell 50, the yellow LED blinks and the red LED is turned on by the on operation of the micro switch 32 and the pressing operation of the pressing switch 43. The circuit of the electronic control board 40 is configured to blink.

  In the front cover 2a, holes 3, 4 and 5 corresponding to the light emitting portion 41, the sound emitting portion 42 and the pressing switch 43 are respectively formed, and it is possible to easily confirm or confirm light emission and sounding from the outside. Can be operated from the outside of the cover member 2.

Subsequently, the installation procedure and operation of the above-described cylinder remaining amount alarm device 1 will be described.
The cylinder mounting joint 20 of the cylinder remaining amount alarm device 1 is connected to the outlet of the gas cylinder by the cylinder mounting nut 23. A flow rate regulator (not shown) is connected to the flow rate regulator connection port 12 of the cylinder remaining amount alarm device 1, and the container valve of the gas cylinder is opened.
Turn on the power switch of the cylinder remaining amount alarm device 1. At this time, the volume of the alarm sound is selected depending on the use environment. For example, the volume of the alarm sound can be switched between day and night.

  Power is supplied to the electronic control board 40 by pressing the press switch 43 serving as an alarm confirmation switch, and the sound generation of the alarm sound from the sound generation unit 42 and the red LED of the light emission unit 41 blink to operate normally. You can make sure. Thereafter, the flow rate regulator is opened to start gas supply.

A gas such as oxygen flowing out of the gas cylinder flows from the communication hole 21 to the communication chamber 11 through the lateral hole 13 and then flows from the flow controller connection port 12 to a flow controller (not shown).
At this time, the gas also flows from the communication chamber 11 into the Bourdon tube 31 of the pressure gauge 30 with a micro switch. By filling the Bourdon tube 31 with the gas of the supply source, the pressure becomes equal to the gas pressure of the gas cylinder. When the gas pressure exceeds 3 MPa, as shown in FIG. 3 (b), the Bourdon tube 33 deforms in the direction in which the tip expands, so that the plate-like body 35 is in the normal position away from the contact 36 and the microswitch 32 is off. Maintain.
When the gas pressure in the gas cylinder is reduced to 3 Mpa or less, as shown in FIG. 3A, the pressure in the Bourdon tube 33 is also reduced, so that the shape returns to the original state (normal state before deformation) Therefore, when the tip 34 of the Bourdon tube 33 pushes the plate 35 and the other end of the plate 35 abuts on the contact 36, the micro switch 32 is turned on.

When the micro switch 32 is turned on, the red LED of the light emitting unit 41 blinks and the sound generating unit 42 generates an alarm sound by the voltage supply from the dry battery (power supply) 50 according to the circuit configuration of the electronic control board 40 Call up.
That is, when the power switch for supplying voltage from the dry cell 50 to the sound generating unit 42 and the light emitting unit 41 is in the on state, the light emitting unit 41 maintains the light off state when the pressure detected by the Bourdon tube 33 exceeds a predetermined value. When it is less than a predetermined value, the light emitting unit (red LED) 41 operates to blink in red.
If there is an alarm sound and flashing red, the power switch is turned "off" to shut off the voltage supply to the sound producing unit 42 and the light emitting unit 41, and the gas cylinder is removed from the cylinder residual amount alarm device 1 and replaced with a new gas cylinder.

  Moreover, when the voltage by the dry cell 50 falls below the predetermined voltage, the voltage detection circuit of the electronic control board 40 detects and the yellow LED blinks, so that it is possible to indicate the replacement time of the dry cell 50. .

  In the above-described cylinder remaining amount alarm device 1, the cylinder mounting nut 23 is provided and the screw type is used to connect with the gas cylinder, but it may be configured as a yoke type.

  According to the above-described configuration of the cylinder residual amount alarm device, even when the power switch is turned on, power is not consumed in a normal state in which the gas pressure in the gas cylinder maintains a predetermined pressure or more. The power generation unit 42 and the light emission unit 41 perform sounding and light emission only when operating the pressing switch 43 for operation confirmation and operation, and power is consumed. be able to.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Cylinder remaining amount alarm device 10 ... Main body 11 ... Communication room 12 ... Flow regulator connection port 20 ... Cylinder attachment joint 21 ... Communication hole 24 ... Cylinder connection port 30 ... Pressure gauge with micro switch 32 ... Micro switch 33 ... Bourdon pipe 33a ... winding portion 40 ... electronic control board (control circuit)
41 ... light emitting unit 42 ... sounding unit 50 ... dry battery (power supply)

Claims (5)

With a cylinder port that can connect gas cylinders,
Flow regulator connection port that enables connection of gas flow regulator,
A communication chamber communicating the cylinder connection port and the flow rate controller connection port;
A Bourdon tube for detecting the pressure in the communication chamber;
A micro switch which is turned on / off by the pressure detected by the Bourdon tube;
A sound generation unit connected to the micro switch and generating an alarm sound and a light emission unit emitting an alarm light;
A power supply that supplies a voltage to the sound generation unit and the light emission unit via the micro switch;
When the pressure detected by the Bourdon tube is equal to or less than a predetermined value, a voltage from the power supply is supplied through the microswitch, and the sound emitting unit generates sound and the light emitting unit emits light. Quantity alarm device. A power switch for supplying a voltage from the power supply to the sound generator and the light emitter;
When the power switch is on,
The cylinder residual amount alarm device according to claim 1, wherein the light emitting unit is turned off when the pressure detected by the Bourdon tube exceeds a predetermined value, and the light emitting unit is turned on when the pressure is equal to or less than the predetermined value.   The remaining charge alarm device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the power supply is configured by attaching a battery.   The cylinder sound level alarm device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the sound generation unit can select the magnitude of the alarm sound. The light emitting unit includes a red LED and a yellow LED, and the red LED emits light when the micro switch is on;
The cylinder residual quantity alarm device according to claim 3, further comprising a control circuit that controls the yellow LED to emit light when the voltage of the battery falls below a predetermined voltage.

Images