JP3523323B2 - Gas detection circuit using contact combustion type gas sensor - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a gas detection circuit using a contact fuel type gas sensor used in a gas leak alarm or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Today, factories such as chemical plants, or
A contact combustion gas sensor (for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-140656) is widely used as a gas leak alarm and a carbon monoxide detector for construction sites, households and the like. As shown in FIG. 6, a gas detection circuit using this contact combustion type gas sensor has a detection element 21 that has a resistance value that changes in contact with gas in the atmosphere and a detection element 21 that has the same structure as the detection element 21. twenty one
The first input terminal 11 and the second input terminal 13 are connected in series with a compensating element 23 which has a resistance value close to that of
Insert between the first input terminal 11 and the second input terminal
By applying a predetermined voltage from 13, the gas sensor provided in the detection element 21 reacts with combustible gas in the atmosphere and burns, and the coil resistance value inside the gas sensor changes. Then, the gas is detected.

A bridge circuit is constructed by providing a first fixed resistor 25 and a second fixed resistor 27, which are bridge resistors, in parallel with the sensing element 21 and the compensating element 23 to form a bridge circuit.
And the compensation element 23 are connected to the first output terminal 15, and the sliding terminal of the adjusting resistor 33 inserted between the first fixed resistor 25 and the second fixed resistor 27 is connected to the second output terminal 15. It is connected to the output terminal 17 and detects the presence of carbon monoxide and other combustible gases in the atmosphere based on the potential difference between the first output terminal 15 and the second output terminal 17.

As another circuit configuration of this gas detection circuit, as shown in FIG. 7, a first fixed resistor 25 and a second fixed resistor 27 as bridge resistors are arranged in series,
The first fixed resistor 25 and the second fixed resistor 27 connected in series
An adjustment resistor 35 is provided in parallel with the first fixed resistor 25 and the second fixed resistor 25.
There is also a circuit in which the connection point with the fixed resistor 27 and the sliding terminal of the adjusting resistor 35 are connected to the second output terminal 17, and further, the resistance value of the sensing element 21 and the resistance value of the compensating element 23 are set. For matching, there is one in which a trimming resistor is connected and arranged in parallel with the compensating element 23.

As a method of using the detection circuit using the detection element 21, the adjustment resistors 33 and 35 are adjusted to set between the first output terminal 15 and the second output terminal 17. A detector that adjusts the potential difference to zero and issues a gas leak alarm when the potential difference between the first output terminal 15 and the second output terminal 17 becomes a predetermined value or more, and the adjustment resistors 33, 35.
Is adjusted so that a predetermined potential difference is generated between the first output terminal 15 and the second output terminal 17, and the voltage between the first output terminal 15 and the second output terminal 17 is adjusted. There is a detector that issues a gas leak alarm by detecting the time of zero cross when the potential difference disappears.

[0006]

As described above, as the sensing element and the compensating element, those having similar resistance values are combined,
Although the output of the bridge circuit is set to zero or a small predetermined value by adjusting the adjustment resistor, the potential difference between the first output terminal and the second output terminal may occur due to fluctuations in the power supply voltage or ambient temperature changes. The set potential difference fluctuates and an alarm is issued due to a malfunction, or even if a gas leak occurs, an alarm may not be issued, and an appropriate operating state may not be maintained.

Further, in order to prevent a situation in which an appropriate operating state cannot be maintained due to such voltage fluctuation and temperature change,
The sensing element and the compensating element may not only be combined with those having an approximate resistance value, but may be combined with a sensing element and a compensating element having an approximate temperature characteristic, but the elements to be used are limited, There is a drawback that the mass production of the gas detection circuit and eventually the gas detector is reduced.

[0008]

According to the present invention, a sensing element and a compensating element of a catalytic combustion type gas sensor are arranged in series between two input terminals, and a connection point between the sensing element and the compensating element is a first output terminal. Connected to each other, an adjusting resistor is arranged between the first output terminal and the two input terminals, and a resistor is provided in parallel with each of the sensing element and the compensating element, and the first fixed resistance is provided between the two input terminals. And a second fixed resistor are arranged in series, and a connection point between the first fixed resistor and the second fixed resistor is connected to the second output terminal to form a gas detection circuit.

When connecting a resistor in parallel with each of the sensing element and the compensating element, the connection point between the sensing element and the compensating element is connected to the intermediate sliding terminal of the regulating resistor to partially connect the regulating resistor. An adjusting resistor may be provided in parallel with the sensing element and in parallel with the compensating element such that another part of the adjusting resistor is in parallel with the sensing element and the compensating element.

[0010]

[Operation] The present invention forms a bridge circuit by providing a sensing element and a compensating element in series between two input terminals, and two fixed resistors in series between these input terminals. Since the connection point between the resistors, which is the middle point of the fixed resistor, is the second output terminal, it is necessary to detect the change in the output voltage due to the change in the resistance value of the sensing element with reference to the output voltage of the second output terminal. Thus, the generation of gas can be detected.

Further, since the adjusting resistors are arranged between the first output terminal and the two input terminals which are connected to the connection point between the sensing element and the compensating element, the adjusting resistors are adjusted. Thus, the output voltage of the first output terminal can be set and adjusted. If the connection point between the sensing element and the compensating element is connected to the sliding terminal of the adjusting resistor, the sliding contact of the adjusting resistor is moved to adjust the output voltage of the first output terminal. It can be done easily.

[0012]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The embodiment of the present invention is, as shown in FIG.
A first fixed resistor 25 and a second fixed resistor 27 having the same resistance value are arranged in series between the input terminal 11 and the second input terminal 13, and the first fixed resistor 25 and the second fixed resistor 27 are arranged. Second connection point with
A detection element 21 as a contact combustion type gas sensor connected to the output terminal 17 and between the first input terminal 11 and the second input terminal 13.
Also, the sensing element 21 and the compensating element 23 having an approximate resistance value are connected in series, and the connection point between the sensing element 21 and the compensating element 23 is connected to the first output terminal 15 and the first input terminal.
The adjustment resistor 31 of 2 KΩ is inserted between the 11 and the second input terminal 13, and the intermediate sliding terminal of the adjustment resistor 31 is also connected to the first output terminal 15 to form a circuit. The potential of the first output terminal 15 is set to be slightly lower than the potential of the second output terminal 17 by adjusting the moving contact position. When gas is generated in the air, the resistance value of the detection element 21 becomes The gas detection circuit of the gas leak alarm device is configured to issue an alarm when the potential of the first output terminal 15 increases and the potential of the first output terminal 15 becomes equal to the potential of the second output terminal 17.

Thus, in this embodiment, the adjustment resistor 31
Since the intermediate sliding terminal of is connected to the first output terminal 15, a part of the adjusting resistor 31 is connected in parallel with the sensing element 21 and a part of the adjusting resistor 31 is connected in parallel with the compensating element 23. Will be done,
By adjusting the sliding contact position of the adjusting resistor 31,
It is possible to easily adjust the potential of the output terminal 15, and since a resistor is inserted in parallel with the sensing element 21 and the compensating element 23, the resistance values of the sensing element 21 and the compensating element 23 change depending on the ambient temperature. In this case, the change in the combined resistance value can be reduced to reduce the output fluctuation.

If the resistance value of the adjusting resistor 31 is set to several tens of times the resistance value of the sensing element 21 and the compensating element 23, the sensing element 21 reacts with gas and the resistance value of the sensing element 21 changes. When this happens, the potential of the first output terminal 15 rises, so it was connected to the connection point of both resistors, which is the middle point of the fixed resistor composed of the first fixed resistor 25 and the second fixed resistor 27. By setting the electric potential of the first output terminal 15 slightly lower than the electric potential of the second output terminal 17 so that the electric potential of the second output terminal 17 becomes equal to the predetermined gas concentration, the gas concentration becomes a predetermined value. When it reaches, the first output terminal 15 and the second output terminal 17 can be set to the same potential.

That is, as this gas detection circuit, a detection element
21 and the compensating element 23 are elements having a resistance value of about 40 Ω, and the sensing element 21 and the compensating element 23 are combined appropriately.
A sample is formed by combining 0 sets of elements having relatively large element resistance values, an adjusting resistor 31 is connected in parallel with the sensing element 21 and the compensating element 23, and a voltage of 2.4 V is applied between the input terminals. As shown in the table in Figure 2,
The potential of the output terminal 15 is about 15 more than the potential of the second output terminal 17.
The adjustment resistor 31 is adjusted so as to be lowered by about mV to 17 mV, and then, when the temperature difference is set to −10 ° C. and the potential difference between the first output terminal 15 and the second output terminal 17 by each sample is detected, each sample is 25 ° C. 1mV to 3 compared to
When the potential difference between the first output terminal 15 and the second output terminal 17 of each sample is detected when the temperature fluctuates at about 50 ° C. and the potential changes about 1 mV, it is 1 mV to 2 m compared with the case of 25 ° C.
V potential fluctuation occurs, and within 0.1 mV to 0.2 mV
In some samples, the combination was not affected by the degree and the ambient temperature.

When this detection circuit for each sample is placed in a zero atmosphere of carbon monoxide of 1000 ppm at 25 ° C., the potential of the first output terminal 15 rises by about 17 mV to 19 mV and is less than 1000 ppm of carbon monoxide. It could be a gas detection circuit capable of issuing an alarm depending on the concentration. Also, using the combination of the sensing element 21 and the compensating element 23 as each sample, a conventional gas sensing circuit in which the sliding terminal of the adjusting resistor 31 is connected to the second output terminal 17 as shown in FIG. 7,
Adjust the potential of the second output terminal 17 slightly higher than the potential of the first output terminal 15 so that the set potential difference between the first output terminal 15 and the second output terminal 17 is about 15 mV to 17 mV. Similarly, when the potential difference between the first output terminal 15 and the second output terminal 17 in each sample was similarly measured at an air temperature of −10 ° C. or 50 ° C., as shown in FIG.
Then, the potential of the first output terminal 15 is 3 compared to that at 25 ° C.
mV to 10 mV, and a change of about 2 mV to 6 mV occurred at 50 ° C. as compared with the case of 25 ° C.

At this time, the first output terminal when the carbon monoxide concentration at 25 ° C. is 1000 ppm and the atmosphere is zero
The voltage rise of 15 was about 18 mV to 19 mV.
That is, a sensing element 21 and a compensating element 23 having a resistance value of about 40Ω are provided in parallel with the sensing element 21 and the compensating element 23, respectively, with resistors of several hundred Ω to several hundreds of Ω so that the total is 2 KΩ. When the potential of the first output terminal 15 is set slightly lower than half of the input voltage, the gas detection sensitivity is several% as compared with the case where no resistor is provided in parallel with the detection element 21 or the compensation element 23.
Although it decreases to some extent, the drift due to temperature change is 30 to 4
It could be reduced to about 0%.

A voltage fluctuation test of ± 10% was performed on the first sample to the tenth sample of the above 20 sets of samples, and in the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 4, when the applied voltage is reduced to 2.16V, the potential difference between the first output terminal 15 and the second output terminal 17 is 1
It becomes 2.5 mV to 14.5 mV, which is smaller than the potential difference when 2.4 V is applied to the input terminal by 2 mV to 3 mV, and the first when 2.64 V is applied to the input terminal.
The potential difference between the output terminal 15 and the second output terminal 17 was about 17 mV to 19 mV, and the potential difference increased by about 2 mV to 3 mV.

On the other hand, the temperature of the temperature of 25 ° C. and the applied voltage of 2.4 V are adjusted by using these 10 sets of samples, and the second output terminal 17 is adjusted to be higher than the first output terminal 15 by about 15 mV to 17 mV. In the conventional circuit, as shown in FIG. 5, when the applied voltage drops to 2.16V, the first output terminal 15
And the potential difference between the second output terminal 17 is about 10 mV to 13.5 m
V, a potential difference fluctuation of about 2.5 mV to 6 mV occurs, and when the applied voltage is 2.64 V, the potential difference is about 17
It becomes as large as mV to 21 mV, and the potential difference fluctuation is about 2.5.
It became close to 6 mV from mV.

That is, in the embodiment of the present invention, the change in the potential difference due to the change in the power supply voltage can be reduced to 60%, and the resistance value of the adjusting resistor 31 inserted in parallel with the detecting element 21 and the compensating element 23 is detected. By setting the resistance value of the element 21 and the compensating element 23 to several tens of times or more, it is possible to significantly reduce the drift due to the temperature change and the output fluctuation due to the fluctuation of the power supply voltage without significantly lowering the gas detection sensitivity. is there.

As described above, in this embodiment, the adjusting resistor 31 is provided in parallel with the sensing element 21 and the compensating element 23 so that the potential at the connection point between the sensing element 21 and the compensating element 23 can be adjusted, and the sensing element
Since it is a bridge circuit in which two fixed resistors having the same resistance value are provided in series in parallel with 21 and the compensating element 23, the drift due to the temperature change is reduced and the change in the output potential difference due to the voltage change is also reduced. Therefore, it is possible to provide a gas detection circuit of a detector that can give a correct alarm without causing a malfunction even at a low gas concentration by adjusting and setting the set potential difference to be small. is there.

The adjusting resistor 31, the sensing element 21 and the compensating element
The connection with 23 is, for example, 1 KΩ to 2 in parallel with the compensating element 23.
It is also possible to provide a fixed resistor having a fixed resistance value of about KΩ and connect a variable resistor as an adjusting resistor in parallel with the sensing element 21.

[0023]

The present invention is a gas detection circuit of a catalytic combustion type gas sensor in which adjusting resistors are inserted in parallel with the sensing element and the compensating element, respectively. Therefore, the resistance value of the adjusting resistor is adjusted to be provided in series. The potential of the sensing element can be adjusted and set with respect to the intermediate potential of each fixed resistor, and the adjusting resistor is arranged in parallel with the sensing element and the compensating element. It is a gas detection circuit that can perform accurate gas detection by reducing this drift even when it changes due to factors such as, etc. Even if the characteristics of the detection element and the compensation element are slightly different, accurate gas detection is possible. Is what you can do.

It should be noted that the gas detection circuit for connecting the intermediate sliding terminal to the connection point between the detection element and the compensation element while using a single resistor as the adjustment resistor connected in parallel with the detection element and the compensation element, The output can be easily adjusted while simplifying the circuit configuration.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a circuit example of a gas detection circuit according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a table showing temperature change characteristics in a circuit example of a gas detection circuit according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a table showing temperature change characteristics in a conventional gas detection circuit.

FIG. 4 is a table showing voltage change characteristics in a circuit example of a gas detection circuit according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a table showing voltage change characteristics in a conventional gas detection circuit.

FIG. 6 is a circuit diagram showing an example of a conventional gas detection circuit.

FIG. 7 is a circuit diagram showing another example of a conventional gas detection circuit.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 First Input Terminal 13 Second Input Terminal 15 First Output Terminal 17 Second Output Terminal 21 Sensing Element 23 Compensating Element 25 First Fixed Resistor 27 Second Fixed Resistor 31, 33, 35 Adjusting Resistor

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A sensing resistor and a compensating element of a catalytic combustion type gas sensor are connected in parallel with adjusting resistors respectively to connect the sensing element and the compensating element in series, and a fixed resistor is provided in parallel with the sensing element and the compensating element. A gas detection circuit using a catalytic combustion type gas sensor, characterized in that a middle point of a fixed resistor and a connection point between a detection element and a compensation element are used as output terminals. 2. An adjusting resistor is provided in parallel with the detecting element and the compensating element by connecting both ends of one adjusting resistor to one end of the detecting element and one end of the compensating element, and an intermediate sliding terminal of the adjusting resistor is provided. The gas detection circuit using the catalytic combustion gas sensor according to claim 1, wherein the gas detection circuit is connected to a connection point between the detection element and the compensation element.