JP3538237B2 - Gas supply 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 gas supply device, and more particularly to a gas supply device configured to fill a tank to be filled with compressed gas.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For example, as a gas supply apparatus for supplying compressed natural gas (CNG) obtained by compressing natural gas to another tank, there is an apparatus as disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid-Open No. 4-64699. The apparatus of this publication employs a method of rapidly filling the compressed gas, in which the gas pressurized to a predetermined pressure or more by the compressor is temporarily stored in a gas supply tank, and then stored in the gas supply tank. Gas is supplied to a fuel tank (filled tank) of an automobile, and the fuel tank is filled until a predetermined pressure is reached.

The amount of gas supplied to a fuel tank of an automobile is measured by a flow meter provided in a gas supply line, and the filling pressure of the fuel tank can be detected by a pressure transmitter that outputs a signal corresponding to the pressure. . A connecting member (for example, a quick coupler or the like) connected to a connecting portion (for example, a quick coupler or the like) of the fuel tank is provided at a tip of the gas filling hose drawn from the apparatus main body. The connecting member is connected to the fuel tank of the vehicle before gas supply, and is removed from the fuel tank after gas filling is completed.

[0004] However, if the internal pressure of the connecting member is high, the connecting member cannot be removed from the connecting portion of the fuel tank. After closing the on-off valve provided in the passage, the operator switches a manual three-way valve provided in the vicinity of the connection member to release gas remaining in the connection portion of the connection member and the fuel tank to the low-pressure pipe side. Thus, the connection between the connection member and the fuel tank is reduced to the atmospheric pressure.

[0005]

However, in the conventional gas supply apparatus, when the operation of filling the gas in the fuel tank of the automobile is completed, the operator performs the depressurizing operation by degassing as described above. The high-pressure gas remains in the gas-filled hose in order to open the three-way valve provided at the end of the gas filling hose.

Since the gas-filled hose is exposed outside the main body of the apparatus, for example, when exposed to strong sunlight in summer, the temperature of the gas-filled hose becomes abnormally high, and the pressure in the hose decreases to an allowable pressure value. There was a risk of exceeding.

In this case, the pressure in the hose rises,
Rubber or synthetic resin gas-filled hoses may deteriorate, and workers must be careful that the gas-filled hoses are not heated by sunlight. there were. Also, if the gas-filled hose deteriorates, its life will be shortened and the gas-filled hose must be replaced with a new one.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a gas supply device that solves the above-mentioned problems.

[0009]

According to the present invention, there is provided a gas supply tank for storing compressed gas, a gas supply line having one end connected to the gas supply tank, and a gas supply line connected to the other end of the gas supply line. A gas-filled hose that is connected and provided with a connecting member connected to the tank to be filled at a distal end portion, a gas supply opening / closing valve provided in the gas supply pipe, and detecting a pressure of the gas-filled hose. Pressure detection means, a recovery pipe branched from the gas supply pipe so as to communicate with the gas filling hose, valve means disposed in the recovery pipe, and the pressure detection means, Control means for closing the gas supply opening / closing valve and opening the valve means when it is detected that the gas pressure in the gas filling hose has become equal to or higher than the allowable pressure value. I do.

[0010]

According to the present invention, when the pressure detecting means detects that the pressure of the gas filling hose has become equal to or higher than the allowable pressure value, the control means closes the gas supply opening / closing valve and connects the gas supply hose to the recovery line. By opening the disposed valve means, even if the gas filling hose is heated, for example, on a high temperature day in summer, the pressure of the gas filling hose is automatically released to the recovery pipe side and the inside of the gas filling hose is released. The pressure can be reduced.

[0011]

1 to 5 show a first embodiment of a gas supply apparatus according to the present invention.

In FIG. 1, a gas supply device 1 is installed, for example, at a gas supply station for supplying compressed natural gas (CNG) obtained by compressing city gas to a predetermined pressure into a fuel tank (filled tank) 3 of an automobile 2. ing. The above-described compressed natural gas is an example, and the gas handled by the gas supply device 1 is not limited to this, and may include other gases that are used after being compressed in a high pressure range from atmospheric pressure to about 200 atm.

The gas supply device 1 generally includes a pressure generating unit 4 for increasing the city gas to a predetermined pressure, a dispenser unit 5 for supplying the gas compressed by the pressure generating unit 4 to the fuel tank 3, It comprises a generating unit 4 and a control device 6 for controlling each device of the dispenser unit 5.

The pressure generating unit 4 supplies gas from a medium pressure line (not shown) through which city gas is supplied at a medium pressure (higher than the pressure used at home) via an upstream line 7. It is compressed by a multi-stage compressor 8. The compressor 8 is provided with, for example, a plurality of (three or four) cylinders for compressing gas, and pressurizes the gas compressed by the preceding cylinder to a higher pressure by the next cylinder. , The gas supplied from the medium pressure line is compressed stepwise.

Further, a variable pressure line 9 is connected to the compressor 8.
And high-pressure lines 10 are connected in parallel, and check lines 11 and 12 for preventing the compressed gas from flowing back to the compressor 8 are disposed in the lines 9 and 10. The variable-pressure line 9 and the high-pressure line 10 are respectively connected to the variable-pressure gas accumulator 13,
The high pressure gas accumulator 14 is connected. Note that the variable-pressure gas accumulator 13 and the high-pressure gas accumulator 14 are also generally referred to as gas accumulators in the literature.

In this embodiment, when the maximum pressure of the fuel tank 3 is 200 kgf / cm ² , the maximum pressure of the variable pressure gas accumulator 13 and the high pressure gas accumulator 14 is 250 kgf / cm ^2.
It is set to cm ^2. Therefore, the compressor 8 compresses the city gas (about 5 to 8 kgf / cm ² ) supplied from the medium pressure pipeline, and sets the pressures of the variable pressure gas accumulator 13 and the high pressure gas accumulator 14 to the set pressure.

A discharge pipe 15 for discharging gas from the variable pressure gas accumulator 13 and the high pressure gas accumulator 14,
The valve 16 is provided with on-off valves 17 and 18 formed of solenoid valves. In FIG. 2 and subsequent figures, the on-off valves 17 and 18 are connected to _{VPA1,
Expressed} as V _PA2 .

The discharge lines 15 and 16 communicate with a gas supply line 19, and the variable pressure gas accumulator 13 and the high pressure gas accumulator 14 are connected to the fuel tank 3 via the gas supply line 19. Is done.

In the gas supply line 19, the supply gas pressure supplied from the gas supply opening / closing valve 20, the variable pressure gas accumulator 13, and the high pressure gas accumulator 14 is detected in order from the upstream side. A primary pressure transmitter 21, a mass flow meter 22 for measuring a gas supply amount supplied to the fuel tank 3, a pressure control valve 23 for adjusting a gas pressure supplied to the fuel tank 3 to a predetermined pressure, A secondary pressure transmitter (pressure detecting means) 24 for measuring the pressure of the gas supplied to the tank 3 is provided.

A gas filling hose 26 communicates with the distal end of the gas supply pipe 19, and a manual three-way valve 25 is provided in the gas filling hose 26.

The three-way valve 25 has a, b, and c ports. The a port is connected to a gas filling hose 26 connected to the gas supply pipe 19, and the b port is connected to a connection coupler 28.
Is connected. Further, a low-pressure pipe 27 connected to the low-pressure side is connected to the port c. In addition, the low pressure line 27
Is provided with a check valve 41 for preventing backflow of gas from downstream when a recovery valve 43 described later is opened.

Since the three-way valve 25 is disposed in the vicinity of the connecting coupler 28, which is the tip of the gas filling hose 26, the port b and the port c are connected after the fuel tank 3 is filled with gas.
By communicating with the port, the residual gas downstream of the connection coupler 28 can flow out to the low pressure side via the low pressure line 27.

The mass flow meter 22 is a vibratory mass flow meter that vibrates a sensor tube through which gas passes and outputs a measurement signal to the control device 6 in accordance with the phase difference between the inflow side and the outflow side due to Coriolis force. It has a pressure-resistant structure so that the flow rate of a relatively high-pressure gas can be accurately measured.

The pipe 29 drawn out of the fuel tank 3 has a connection coupler 30 as a connection portion to which the connection coupler 28 is connected, and a manual open / close valve 31 for opening or closing the pipe 29. And a check valve 32 for preventing the gas filled in the fuel tank 3 from flowing out.

Each of the connection couplers 28 and 30 has a built-in check valve therein, and when both couplers 28 and 30 are connected, the check valve is switched to an open state, and both couplers 28 and 3 are opened.
In a state where 0 is separated, the check valve is in a closed state to prevent outflow of gas.

The three-way valve 25 communicates between the port a and the port b in the gas filling mode by the switching operation of the operator, and communicates with the port b and the port c in the gas outflow mode after the gas filling is completed. Switch to

The three-way valve 25 is switched after completion of gas filling to release the residual gas pressure in the connection couplers 28 and 30 to the low-pressure line 27 to reduce the pressure in the connection couplers 28 and 30. As a result, the pressure in the connection couplers 28 and 30 decreases to such a degree that the disconnection operation can be performed.
8 and the connection coupler 30 can be easily released.

A recovery pipe 42 branches off from the gas supply pipe 19 downstream of the secondary pressure transmitter 24. Then, the recovery pipe 42 in the vicinity branched off from the gas supply pipe 19.
Is provided with a collection valve 43 and a check valve 44, each of which is an electromagnetic valve. Then, the recovery line 4 downstream of the check valve 44
2 is connected so that the above-mentioned low-pressure pipeline 27 joins. Therefore, the residual gas recovered by the switching operation of the three-way valve 25 and the opening of the recovery valve 43 is supplied to the low-pressure line 27.
And, it is collected in the low pressure tank 45 on the low pressure side via the collection pipe 42.

As will be described later, the recovery valve 43 abnormally increases the pressure detection value detected by the secondary pressure transmitter 24 between the end of the previous gas filling and the start of the next gas filling operation. A predetermined value or more (for example, 250
(kgf / cm ² or more), the valve is opened by a command from the control device 6.

Since the gas filling hose 26 is exposed to the outside of the apparatus main body of the dispenser unit 5, the temperature of the gas filling hose 26 becomes abnormal when it is exposed to intense sunlight in summer, for example, when the gas filling operation is not being performed. And the pressure in the gas filling hose 26 may exceed the allowable pressure value.

In this case, as the pressure inside the gas filling hose 26 rises, the gas filling hose 26 made of rubber or synthetic resin is used.
The gas filling hose 26 itself deteriorates due to thermal expansion, and the worker had to be careful not to heat the gas filling hose 26 by sunlight. However, when the pressure in the gas filling hose 26 abnormally increased, Since the recovery valve 43 opens automatically, the pressure in the gas filling hose 26 is reduced to a value equal to or lower than the allowable pressure value at that time.

Therefore, in the gas supply device 1, the residual gas pressure in the connection couplers 28 and 30 is recovered to the low-pressure tank 45 by switching the three-way valve 25 after the gas charging is completed, and the recovery is performed except for the gas charging operation. By opening the valve 43, the residual gas pressure in the gas filling hose 26 can be automatically collected in the low pressure tank 45.

The control device 6 is connected to the above-mentioned respective devices, and is connected to a start button 33, a display 34, an alarm device 35, a filling display lamp 36, and a gas release lamp 37. The memory 38 of the control device 6 stores a gas filling work program and a manual opening / closing valve 31 of the fuel tank 3 after the gas filling is completed. The degassing operation program for releasing the residual gas of the above, and the recovery valve 43 is opened and depressurized when the residual gas pressure in the gas supply pipe line 19 and the gas filling hose 26 is abnormally increased by the secondary pressure transmitter 24. A program for performing an operation is stored.

Next, a description will be given of a process executed by the control device 6 together with a gas filling operation in the gas supply device 1 having the above configuration.

FIGS. 2 to 4 are main flowcharts executed during the gas filling operation.

The operator connects the connecting coupler 28 provided at the tip of the gas supply pipe 19 to the connecting coupler 30 of the fuel tank 3.
The manual opening / closing valve 31 is then opened.
The three-way valve 25 is normally set in a state in which the port a and the port b are communicated. Then, the operator confirms the connection work and the valve operation and turns on the start button 33.

In FIG. 3, the controller 6 reads the pressure value from the secondary pressure transmitter 24 in step S1 (hereinafter, "step" is omitted), and the connection coupler 28
Make sure you are connected to That is, connection coupler 2
When the valves 8 and 30 are normally connected and the manual on-off valve 31 is open, the residual pressure in the fuel tank 6 is detected. If the connection couplers 28 and 30 are not properly connected, air is introduced from the connection coupler 28 and the atmospheric pressure is detected.
A further alarm is issued, and a message such as, for example, "coupler connection failure" is displayed on the display 28 to stop the apparatus.

Next, all the solenoid valves, that is, the on-off valves 17, 1
8, gas supply opening / closing valve 20, pressure control valve 23, recovery valve 43
Is in the initial state in which the valve is closed (S2),
The on-off valve 17 is opened (S3). As a result, the gas stored in the variable-pressure gas accumulator 13 is supplied to the gas supply pipe 19 via the pipe 15.

[0039] In S4, 1 primary supply pressure detected by the pressure transmitter 21 P _in a filling pressure P _out of the fuel tank 3 detected by the secondary pressure transmitter 24 (The filling pressure P _out is the fuel tank 3 the difference between the pressure is considered equivalent to) the (P _in -
It is checked whether P _out ) is equal to or greater than a predetermined value.

That is, when P _in -P _out is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, it is determined that charging is possible because the pressure in the fuel tank 3 is low.

Therefore, in S4, P _in -P _out
Is greater than or equal to the preset specified value, the process proceeds to S5, in which the filling indicator lamp 36 is turned on to inform the operator that filling is possible. Subsequently, the gas supply on-off valve 19 is opened (S6), and the pressure control valve 23 is opened (S6).
7). Thus, gas filling of the fuel tank 3 is started.

In the above S4, if P _in -P _out is less than a predetermined value, then S5 to S10
The processing of step S11 is omitted, and the process proceeds to S11 described later.

In the next step S8, the valve opening of the pressure control valve 23 is controlled to perform constant pressure increase control. Then, in S9, the charging pressure P _out detected by the secondary pressure transmitter 24 becomes 2
Check to see if it has reached 00 kgf / cm ² . if,
If the filling pressure P _out of 200 kgf / cm ² or less, the process proceeds to S10, to check whether the differential pressure P _in -P _out is preset specified value or more.

In step S9, the secondary pressure transmitter 2
When the filling pressure P _out detected to be 0 reaches 200 kgf / cm ² , the gas filling is completed, the process proceeds to S11, and the gas supply opening / closing valve 16 is closed. Further, in S12, the pressure control valve 1
After closing the valve 9, the on / off valve 13 on the variable pressure side is closed in S13. After that, the processing shifts to S24 to be described later and the processing after S24 is executed.

If it is determined _{in step} S10 that P _in -P _out ≥ the specified value, the process returns to step S8 and the processes in steps S8 to S10 are repeated. However, if it is determined _in S10 that P _in -P _out <the specified value, the process proceeds to S14, where the on-off valve 17 is closed, and S
At 15, the high pressure side on-off valve 18 is opened. This allows
The high-pressure gas stored in the high-pressure gas accumulator 14 is supplied to the gas supply line 19 via the line 16.

In S16 shown in FIG. 3, the primary pressure transmitter 2
The difference between the filling pressure P _out of the fuel tank 3 detected by the supply pressure P _in the secondary pressure transmitter 24, which is detected by 1 (P
It is checked whether or not ( _in- P _out ) is equal to or larger than a predetermined value. That is, as in the case of S4 described above, when P _in -P _out is equal to or more than the preset specified value, the pressure of the fuel tank 3 is low and it is determined that the fuel tank 3 can be filled.

Therefore, in S16, P _in -P
_{If out} is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, S1
Proceeding to 7, the constant pressure rise control is performed by controlling the valve opening of the pressure control valve 23. In S16, P _in -P _out
If it is the specified value, the gas supply pressure from the high-pressure gas accumulator 14 is close to the filling pressure P _out of the fuel tank 3 which has been completely charged by the variable-pressure gas accumulator 13, so that it is determined that charging is not possible. Then, the process proceeds to S21 described later.

[0048] Then, in S18, it is checked whether the differential pressure of P _in -P _out is preset greater than or equal to a prescribed value. If P _in -P _out ≧ specified value,
Proceeding to S19, it is checked whether the charging pressure P _out detected by the secondary pressure transmitter 24 has reached 200 kgf / cm ² .

In S19, the filling pressure P _out is 200 kg
If f / cm ² or less, the process returns to S17 and the processes of S17 to S19 are repeated. However, in S19, the filling pressure P _out
If ≧ 200 kgf / cm ² , it is determined that the pressure of the fuel tank 3 has reached the target 200 kgf / cm ² , and S20
Then, the gas supply on-off valve 20 is closed.

In S18, P _in -P _out <
When the pressure is the specified value, the gas supply pressure from the high-pressure gas accumulator 14 is close to the filling pressure P _out of the fuel tank 3 that has been completely filled by the variable-pressure gas accumulator 13. Since it is determined that the pressure is greatly reduced, the process proceeds to S21, where an alarm is issued from the alarm device 35 and a message such as "abnormality in the high-pressure gas accumulator" is displayed on the display 34.

Further, after the pressure control valve 23 is closed in S22, the high pressure side on-off valve 18 is closed in S23. Thereafter, the filling display lamp 36 is turned off to inform the operator that the filling of the fuel tank 3 with the gas has been completed (S2).
4). This completes a series of gas filling processes.

When the filling indicator lamp 36 is turned off after the filling of the fuel tank 3 with the gas is completed, the operator operates the b
The port and the c port are switched so that they can communicate with each other. Thereby, the residual gas in the connection couplers 28 and 30 is collected in the low-pressure tank 45 through the low-pressure pipe 27, and the pressure in the connection couplers 28 and 30 is reduced to substantially the atmospheric pressure. Therefore, the pressure in the connection couplers 28 and 30 is reduced to such an extent that the disconnection operation can be performed, so that the operator can easily release the connection between the connection coupler 28 and the connection coupler 30.

Next, the pressure abnormality processing shown in FIG. 4 will be described.

In FIG. 4, the controller 6 determines that the pressure detection value detected by the secondary pressure transmitter 24 abnormally rises until the next gas filling operation is started in S31 and the predetermined value Pa is set in advance. It is checked whether it has risen above (for example, 250 kgf / cm ² or more). As described above, the gas filling hose 26 is exposed outside the apparatus main body of the dispenser unit 5, so that the gas filling hose 26 is
For example, gas-filled hose 2 when exposed to strong summer sunlight
6 may become abnormally high, and the pressure in the gas filling hose 26 may exceed the allowable pressure value.

Therefore, if it is detected in S31 that the pressure in the gas supply pipe 19 and the gas filling hose 26 has risen to a predetermined value Pa or more (for example, 250 kgf / cm ² or more), the flow proceeds to S32 and the gas supply is started. A valve closing signal is output to the on-off valve 20 to confirm that the gas supply on-off valve 20 is closed. If the gas supply on / off valve 20 is open, the gas supply on / off valve 20 is switched to the closed state by the supply of the valve closing signal.

Subsequently, in S33, the recovery valve 43 is opened. Thereby, the pressure control valve 2 is opened by opening the recovery valve 43.
The residual gas in the gas supply line 19 between the three-way valve 25 and the gas filling hose 26 is automatically removed from the low-pressure tank 45.
Can be recovered. Therefore, the pressure in the gas filling hose 26 is reduced by opening the recovery valve 43.

In the next step S34, it is checked whether or not the detected pressure value detected by the secondary pressure transmitter 24 has decreased to a predetermined value Pb or less (for example, 200 kgf / cm ² or less).

When the pressure in the gas supply line 19 and the gas filling hose 26 between the pressure control valve 23 and the three-way valve 25 becomes equal to or less than the predetermined value Pb, the process proceeds to S35 and the recovery valve 43 is closed. Let it. By opening the recovery valve 43 until the pressure in the gas filling hose 26 becomes equal to or less than the predetermined value Pb in this manner, the pressure in the gas filling hose 26 can be reduced to the allowable pressure value or less.
Degradation can be prevented.

Further, the pressure in the gas supply pipe 19 and the gas filling hose 26 is not reduced to the atmospheric pressure, but is reduced to a predetermined value P.
b, the pressure in the gas filling hose 26 is increased from the atmospheric pressure to a predetermined pressure P when performing the next gas filling operation.
b does not need to be increased, and the flow rate measurement error of the gas charged into the fuel tank 3 is reduced accordingly.

FIG. 5 shows a second embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 5, the same parts as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted.

In the figure, a gas supply device 51 is connected to a gas supply line 19 downstream of the secondary pressure transmitter 25 by a pressure switch 5.
2 are provided. The pressure switch 52 switches from off to on when the pressure in the gas supply pipe line 19 reaches a preset threshold value, that is, a predetermined pressure Pa, and outputs a detection signal.

Accordingly, in this embodiment, since the gas filling hose 26 is exposed outside the main body of the dispenser unit 5 as described above, the gas filling hose 26 is exposed to, for example, strong sunlight in summer except during the gas filling operation. If the temperature of the gas-filled hose 26 becomes abnormally high when exposed, and the pressure in the gas-filled hose 26 exceeds an allowable pressure value, it can be detected by the secondary pressure transmitter 25 and the pressure switch 52. it can.

Therefore, even if one of the secondary pressure transmitter 25 and the pressure switch 52 fails, the fact that the pressure in the gas filling hose 26 has risen to a predetermined pressure Pa or more is considered.
The detection signal is obtained from the other one of the next pressure transmitter 25 and the pressure switch 52, and the recovery valve 43 is opened to reliably reduce the pressure in the gas filling hose 26.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of the pressure abnormality process according to the second embodiment.

In FIG. 6, the control device 6 determines that the pressure detection value detected by the secondary pressure transmitter 24 abnormally rises until the next gas filling operation is started in S41 and the predetermined value Pa is set in advance. It is checked whether it has risen above (for example, 250 kgf / cm ² or more).

Therefore, if it is not detected in S41 that the pressure in the gas supply line 19 and the gas filling hose 26 has risen to a predetermined value Pa or more (for example, 250 kgf / cm ² or more), the flow proceeds to S42, It is checked whether the switch 52 has been turned on.

If the pressure switch 52 is
Remains off, the process returns to S41 again. Therefore, if the pressures in the gas supply line 19 and the gas filling hose 26 are less than the predetermined value Pa, the processes of S41 and S42 are repeated.

However, in S41, the gas supply line 19
If it is detected that the pressure in the gas filling hose 26 has risen to a predetermined value Pa or more (for example, 250 kgf / cm ² or more), or if the pressure switch 52 has been turned off in S42, the process proceeds to S43. Then, a valve closing signal is output to the gas supply opening / closing valve 20 to confirm that the gas supply opening / closing valve 20 is closed. If the gas supply on / off valve 20 is open, the gas supply on / off valve 20 is switched to the closed state by the supply of the valve closing signal.

Subsequently, at S44, the recovery valve 43 is opened. Thereby, the pressure control valve 2 is opened by opening the recovery valve 43.
The residual gas in the gas supply line 19 between the three-way valve 25 and the gas filling hose 26 is automatically removed from the low-pressure tank 45.
Can be recovered. Therefore, the pressure in the gas filling hose 26 is reduced by opening the recovery valve 43.

In the next step S45, it is checked whether or not the detected pressure value detected by the secondary pressure transmitter 24 has decreased to a value less than a predetermined value Pa.

If the pressure in the gas supply pipe line 19 and the gas filling hose 26 between the pressure control valve 23 and the three-way valve 25 has not been reduced to a value less than the predetermined value Pa, S4
Proceed to 6 to check whether the pressure switch 52 has been switched off. Therefore, until the pressure in the gas-filled hose 26 is reduced to less than the predetermined value Pa, the above-described S45 and S45
Repeat 46.

However, in S45, when the pressure in the gas filling hose 26 is reduced to less than the predetermined value Pa, the pressure in the gas filling hose 26 is reduced by the secondary pressure transmitter 24 to less than the predetermined value Pa. If detected, the process proceeds to S47. Alternatively, the pressure switch 52 is turned off in S46, and the process proceeds to S47.

Then, in S47, the recovery valve 43 is closed.

As described above, when the secondary pressure transmitter 24 or the pressure switch 52 detects that the pressure in the gas filling hose 26 has risen to a predetermined value Pa or more, the recovery valve 43
By opening the valve, the pressure in the gas filling hose 26 can be reduced to an allowable pressure value or less.
6 can be prevented from deteriorating.

The pressure in the gas supply pipe line 19 and the gas filling hose 26 is not reduced to the atmospheric pressure, but is reduced to a predetermined value P.
a, the pressure in the gas filling hose 26 is increased from the atmospheric pressure to a predetermined pressure P when the next gas filling operation is performed.
It is not necessary to increase the flow rate to a, and the flow rate measurement error of the gas charged into the fuel tank 3 is reduced accordingly.

In addition, even if one of the secondary pressure transmitter 24 or the pressure switch 52 fails, the recovery valve 43 can be reliably opened by a signal from the other, so that the pressure in the gas filling hose 26 rises abnormally. The reliability of the depressurizing operation at the time is further improved.

FIG. 7 shows a modification of the second embodiment.

In the figure, the control device 6 has the secondary pressure transmitter 2
A CPU 53 to which the detection signal output from 4 is input;
It has a NAND circuit 55 to which a signal from the CPU 53 and a signal from the normally closed pressure switch 54 are input. Since the NAND circuit 55 is low active, the pressure in the gas filling hose 26 is set to a predetermined value P by the secondary pressure transmitter 24.
a when a low level signal is input from the CPU 53 and the pressure switch 5
2 detects a predetermined value Pa or more and switches off to output a high-level signal to the recovery valve 43 when a low-level signal is input.

Therefore, the recovery valve 43 is connected to the gas filling hose 2 by the secondary pressure transmitter 24 or the pressure switch 54.
When a high-level signal is input from the NAND circuit 55 when it is detected that the pressure in the tube 6 has risen to a predetermined value Pa or more, the valve is opened and the residual gas in the gas filling hose 26 is collected in the low-pressure tank 45. .

As described above, when the circuit configuration in the control unit 6 is configured as shown in FIG. 7, the depressurizing operation at the time of abnormal pressure rise can be performed automatically, and the secondary pressure transmitter 24 or the pressure switch Even if one of the 54 fails, the recovery valve 43 can be reliably opened by a signal from the other.
Therefore, the reliability of the depressurizing operation when the pressure inside the gas filling hose 26 abnormally rises is further improved.

In the above-described embodiment, the case where compressed natural gas (CNG) obtained by compressing city gas is supplied as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, gas such as butane and propane may be supplied. Of course, it can be applied.

[0082] Further, in the above embodiment, the valve opening gas flowing out into the recovery pipe 42 by the recovery valve 43 and recovered into the low-pressure tank 45 is not limited to this, for example, the downstream end of the low pressure conduit 27 The gas by the above depressurizing operation may be released to the atmosphere by opening to the atmosphere at a place sufficiently separated from the dispenser 5.

In the above-described embodiment, the case where the compressed gas is filled in the fuel tank 3 of the vehicle 2 has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the apparatus for supplying the compressed gas to another container or the like is not limited to this. Of course, the present invention can also be applied to an apparatus configured to be installed in the middle of a pipeline for feeding compressed gas to another place.

In the above embodiment, the city gas is compressed from the medium pressure pipeline before branching to the home. However, the present invention is not limited to this. The gas may be taken out of the pipeline.

[0085]

As described above, according to the present invention, when the pressure detecting means detects that the pressure of the gas filling hose has become equal to or higher than the allowable pressure value, the control means closes the gas supply opening / closing valve. At the same time, in order to open the valve means arranged in the recovery pipe , even if the gas charging hose is heated on a hot day in summer, for example, the pressure of the gas charging hose is automatically released to the recovery pipe side. The pressure inside the gas-filled hose can be reduced. Therefore, the gas-filled hose can be prevented from being deteriorated due to thermal expansion, and the operator does not have to use nerves to raise the temperature of the gas-filled hose, so that the efficiency of the gas filling operation can be further improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a first embodiment of a gas supply device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a process executed by a control device during a gas filling operation.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a process executed after the process of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a pressure abnormality process.

FIG. 5 is a schematic configuration diagram of a second embodiment of the gas supply device according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a pressure abnormality process executed by the control device of the second embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a circuit configuration diagram of a modification of the second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Gas supply device 3 Fuel tank 4 Pressure generating unit 5 Dispenser unit 6 Control device 13 Variable pressure gas accumulator 14 High pressure gas accumulators 17, 18 On-off valve 19 Gas supply line 20 Gas supply on-off valve 21 Primary pressure transmitter 22 Mass flow meter 23 Pressure control valve 24 Secondary pressure transmitter 25 Three-way valve 26 Gas filling hose 28, 30 Connection coupler 31 Manual on-off valve 27 Low pressure line 42 Recovery line 43 Recovery valve 45 Low pressure tank 52, 54 Pressure switch

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (73) Patent holder 000110099 Tokiko Techno Co., Ltd. 3-9-27, Tsurumichuo, Tsurumi-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa (72) Inventor Kazuo Kanai 6-9-6 Sodegaura, Narashino-shi, Chiba (72) Inventor Akifumi Kobayashi 4-1-2, Hirano-cho, Chuo-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka Inside Osaka Gas Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor: Manabu Hattori Male 1-17-1, Chiyo, Hakata-ku, Fukuoka, Japan (72) Inventor, Shinji Kumagai Shinji Kumagai 1-3-6, Fujimi, Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture Tokiko Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor, Kazuto Ohara Hiro 1-6-3 Fujimi, Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture Tokiko Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Takuya Matsumoto 1-6-1, Fujimi, Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki-ku, Kanagawa Prefecture No. 1 Tokiko Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Kenichi Abe 1-3-6 Fujimi, Kawasaki-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture Tokiko Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-63-2119995 (JP, A) 159595 (JP, A) Fully open sho 59-151435 (JP, U) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) F17C 5/00-5/06 F17C 13/00-13/04 B60S 5/02

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] A gas supply tank for storing compressed gas; a gas supply pipe having one end connected to the gas supply tank; a gas supply pipe connected to the other end of the gas supply pipe; A gas filling hose provided with a connecting member connected to a filling tank; a gas supply opening / closing valve arranged in the gas supply pipe; a pressure detecting means for detecting a pressure of the gas filling hose; A recovery pipe branched from the gas supply pipe so as to communicate with a hose, valve means disposed in the recovery pipe, and a gas pressure in the gas filling hose by the pressure detection means. And a control means for closing the gas supply on-off valve and opening the valve means when it is detected that the pressure has become equal to or more than the allowable pressure value.