JP4581882B2 - Flow measuring device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a flow rate measuring apparatus that discriminates the type of gas appliance connected to a gas pipe flow path and performs a flow rate measurement for each appliance and a security process for each appliance.

  Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 10, this type of flow rate measuring device includes a gas flow rate measuring unit 1 that measures the flow rate of gas flowing in a gas flow path, and a flow rate increase detecting unit 2 that detects an increase in flow rate from the measurement result. The flow rate increase / decrease detection means 3 for detecting the instantaneous increase / decrease change of the gas flow accompanying the increase of the flow rate, the instrument determination means 4 for determining the start of use of a new gas combustion instrument when the instantaneous increase / decrease change is detected, and the flow rate increase detection means The flow rate registration means 5 for registering the increase in the gas flow rate detected in step 1 as the increase in the gas flow rate associated with the start of use of the new gas combustion appliance (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

With the above configuration, pay attention to the fact that the gas flow rate increases and decreases instantly when it starts to use a new gas combustion device, and it becomes a stable gas flow rate. By determining, the start of use of a new gas combustion appliance can be determined by a simple method, and stop of use can be determined based on a decrease in the flow rate.
JP 2002-174542 A

  However, in the conventional configuration, since the use stop of the new gas combustion appliance is determined based on the decrease change of the gas flow corresponding to the increase in the gas flow accompanying the start of use, the usage flow of the appliance is not When changed, there existed a subject that a stop implement could not be determined.

  In order to solve the above-described conventional problems, the flow measurement device of the present invention includes a flow measurement unit that measures a flow rate of a fluid flowing through a flow path, and an arbitrary flow rate obtained by the flow measurement unit at a predetermined time interval. Based on the specific interval difference flow rate, and a start device discrimination means for discriminating an appliance connected to the flow path, and a stop appliance discrimination means for discriminating a device that has been stopped using based on the specific interval difference flow rate. The stop appliance discriminating means includes an appliance correspondence means for discriminating the stop appliance by selecting from the appliances discriminated to be use start appliances based on the stop discrimination condition and associating the start appliance with the stop appliance. Is.

  As a result, it is possible to discriminate the stopped appliance based on the two pieces of information of the use starting appliance information and the flow rate information. Therefore, it is possible to accurately discriminate the stopped appliance because the range of the appliance to be selected is narrow.

  The flow rate measuring device of the present invention comprises an appliance corresponding means for selecting and discriminating based on a stop discrimination condition from use starting appliances, and associating the start appliance with the stop appliance, thereby using the start appliance information and Since the stopped instrument can be determined based on the two pieces of flow rate information, the range of instruments to be selected is limited, and the stopped instrument can be accurately determined.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a flow rate measuring unit that measures a flow rate of a fluid flowing in a flow channel and an arbitrary specific interval difference flow rate that is obtained from a flow rate value measured at predetermined time intervals by the flow rate measuring unit are provided in the flow channel. A starting instrument discriminating means for discriminating a connected instrument to be used; and a stopping instrument discriminating means for discriminating an instrument that has been stopped using based on the specific interval difference flow rate, wherein the stopping instrument discriminating means is discriminated as a starting instrument. By selecting a stop device based on the stop determination condition and determining a stop device, and having a device corresponding means for associating the start device with the stop device, the use start device information and the flow rate Since the stopped instrument can be discriminated based on the two pieces of information, it is possible to accurately discriminate the stopped instrument because the range of instruments to be selected is narrow.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, a flow rate measuring means for measuring a flow rate of a fluid flowing in the flow path, and an arbitrary specific interval difference flow rate obtained from a flow rate value measured at predetermined time intervals by the flow rate measuring means are applied to the flow path. A start instrument discriminating means for discriminating a connected instrument to be used; and a stop instrument discriminating means for discriminating an instrument whose use has been stopped based on the specific interval difference flow rate, wherein the stop instrument discriminating means is based on a stop discrimination condition. In addition to determining the stop device, the start device corresponding to the stop device is determined according to a predetermined condition, and has a device corresponding means for responding to the device, so that only the start of the device by the start device determination means By detecting and determining the starting instrument after the stop instrument has determined, the instrument discrimination can be performed with higher accuracy.

  According to the third aspect of the invention, in particular, the stop determination condition of the flow rate measuring devices of the first and second inventions is determined as a stop determination condition for specifying the appliance by the absolute value of the differential flow rate, so that the gas water heater is used. Instruments that have significantly different gas flow rates than other instruments can be quickly identified by the absolute value of the differential flow rate, and can be separated from other low-flow instruments and improve the accuracy of low-flow instruments. Can do.

  In the fourth invention, in particular, the stop instrument discriminating means of the flow rate measuring devices of the first and second inventions discriminates as a stop discriminating condition for identifying the instrument by the measured flow rate value after the stop, so that only the differential flow rate is used. Even if it is difficult to distinguish, by identifying the instrument that is operating from the measured flow rate value that remains after the instrument has stopped and estimating the instrument that stopped first, the instrument can be identified even if it is not known by the differential flow rate be able to.

  In the fifth aspect of the invention, in particular, when the stop instrument discriminating means of the flow measuring devices of the first, third and fourth inventions discriminates the instrument stop and there is no start instrument, it is determined as an unknown instrument. In addition, it is possible to determine the appliance when a plurality of units are started to be used at the same time.

  In the sixth aspect of the invention, in particular, the stop instrument discriminating means of the flow rate measuring devices of the first and second aspects of the present invention, when the measured flow rate value has become zero, but there remains a use start instrument, at the time when it has become zero. By determining that the starting device has stopped, it is possible to determine the stopping device when a plurality of devices are stopped simultaneously.

  According to the seventh aspect of the invention, in particular, the high flow rate instrument is operating by changing the stop determination condition by the use start instrument determined by the start instrument determination means of the flow rate measuring device according to the first to sixth aspects of the invention. In addition, it is possible to divide the determination conditions depending on whether the low flow rate device is operating, and it is possible to improve the determination accuracy while the low flow rate device is operating.

  In the eighth invention, in particular, the flow rate measuring device according to the first to eighth inventions uses an ultrasonic flowmeter that is an instantaneous flow rate measuring unit as a flow rate measuring unit, so that a short time interval is obtained. In addition, since the flow rate can be measured at predetermined time intervals, it is possible to perform highly accurate device discrimination and device-specific flow rate calculation.

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

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a gas meter as a flow rate measuring apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

  In FIG. 1, the gas meter is based on an ultrasonic flow meter 7 as a flow measuring means for measuring a flow rate flowing in the flow path 6 and a specific interval differential flow rate of flow values measured by the ultrasonic flow meter 7 at predetermined time intervals. A starting instrument discriminating means for discriminating an instrument to be used by being connected to a flow path; and a stopping instrument discriminating means for discriminating an instrument that has been stopped from use based on the specific interval differential flow rate. Is provided with an appliance handling means 10 that selects and discriminates among the use start appliances based on the stop discrimination condition and associates the start appliance with the stop appliance. And it was set as the structure provided with the flow rate calculation means 11 classified by instrument which calculates the flow value of the instrument matched by the said instrument corresponding | compatible means 10. FIG. Here, 12 is the flow rate information such as the instantaneous flow rate and the differential flow rate of the ultrasonic flow meter 7 and the time information such as the generation time (start time and stop time) or the duration, and the instrument start determination condition and stop determination condition. A storage memory for storing discriminating condition information such as, 13 is a gas pipe, 14 is a gas meter as a flow rate measuring device, 15 is a flow path shut-off valve that shuts off the flow path 6 when it is desired to stop the gas, 16 is an operation unit, Reference numeral 17 denotes a display unit for displaying a flow rate value, 18 denotes a microcomputer for performing respective operation control and calculation, 19 denotes a battery, and 20 to 23 denote gas appliances connected to gas pipelines.

  About the gas meter comprised as mentioned above, the operation | movement and an effect | action are demonstrated below.

  First, using FIG. 2 to FIG. 9, the operation and method of start instrument discrimination and stop instrument discrimination will be described.

  The determination by the start instrument discriminating means 8 and the stop instrument discriminating means 9 is performed using the differential flow rate of the instantaneous flow rate value measured at intervals of 2 seconds as the predetermined time interval. Here, the differential flow rate uses twice the predetermined time interval as the specific interval, and uses a flow rate difference of 4 seconds as the specific interval differential flow rate. This differential flow rate is referred to as a 4-second differential flow rate.

  Therefore, if the 4-second differential flow rate is greater than the predetermined flow rate value and a positive value, it is determined that some device has started to operate. If the 4-second differential flow rate is greater than the predetermined flow rate value and a negative value, it is determined that some device has stopped operating. judge.

  Note that the measurement at intervals of 2 seconds and the use of a 4-second differential flow rate are one example, and depending on the case, other times may be used. However, in a gas meter using ultrasonic waves driven by a battery as in this embodiment, it is suitable to use a 4-second differential flow rate by 2-second interval measurement from the viewpoint of low power consumption and measurement accuracy. That is, with the difference of 4 seconds, the operation flow rate of the instrument can be detected without missing the operation of the instrument.

  If the 4-second differential flow rate is equal to the flow rate value registered as the determination condition, or falls within the flow range, the predetermined flow rate value is determined as a predetermined device, and start device determination or stop device determination is performed. To do.

  For example, when the flow rate used is in a low flow rate range, there are many gas appliances. Therefore, it is difficult to discriminate only by the differential flow rate, and the discrimination is made by looking at the behavior of the differential flow rate. In the case of the flow rate change characteristic diagram of FIG. 2, the use of the gas fan heater as the gas appliance 20 is started at time T1, and then the use of the gas stove as the gas appliance 21 is started at time T2. At time T3, the heating power of the gas stove is adjusted to the low flow rate side, the gas fan heater is stopped at time T4, and the gas stove is stopped at time T5.

  In the case of such a characteristic, from the flow rate change characteristic of the 4-second differential flow rate shown in FIG. 3, at time T1, the differential flow rate is larger than the flow rate value Qs of the starting instrument determination condition, and the rise of the differential flow rate is gradual. Utilizing this, it is determined that the starting instrument determining means 8 is a gas fan heater.

  At time T2, the differential flow rate is larger than the flow rate value Qs of the start appliance discrimination condition, and the rise of the differential flow rate is abrupt, so that the gas stove and the start fixture discrimination means 8 discriminate in conformity with the start discrimination condition of the gas stove. These conditions are conditions previously stored in the storage memory, and the gradual rise and fall of the rise is set numerically. These conditions are rewritten and changed to appropriate conditions in each home.

  Moreover, although it is detected that the differential flow rate falls at time T3, since the absolute value of the differential flow rate is smaller than the flow rate value Qe of the appliance stop determination condition, the differential flow rate is not determined.

  At time T4, since the absolute value of the differential flow rate exceeds the predetermined threshold value Qe, it is determined that some device has stopped. Here, it is determined which device has stopped from the gas fan heater and the gas stove, which are the use starting devices that have been determined to be used first.

  Here, since the heating power of the gas stove is adjusted in the middle, it is very difficult to determine which instrument is based only on the differential flow rate at the fall. Therefore, when the flow rate value measured at the next measurement time is determined, it can be seen that the absolute flow rate is flowing at a very low flow rate of Q4.

  Since this flow rate is a small flow rate that is generated only when the heating power of the gas stove is reduced (this value is also set as a determination condition), it can be seen that the gas stove is used between times T4 and T5.

  Therefore, the appliance stopped at the time T4 is found to be a gas fan heater by removing the gas stove that has been moved from the appliance determined to start to the end.

  Moreover, although the differential flow rate falls small at time T5, the threshold value Qb is not exceeded, so that it is not determined as a stop device. However, since the measured flow rate after this is zero, the stop appliance discriminating means 9 discriminates that all appliances that have started operation have stopped. Then, it is determined from the remaining starter that the gas stove has stopped at time T5.

  As described above, the stop instrument discriminating means can identify the instrument by the measured flow rate value after the stop, and can discriminate the stop instrument by selecting from the use start instruments.

  Moreover, the appliance corresponding means 10 can identify how each appliance is used by comparing the determination result of the start appliance discrimination means with the discrimination result of the stop appliance discrimination means. In this example, the appliance correspondence means 10 associates that the time period from time T1 to time T4 is the usage time zone of the gas fan heater and that the time period from time T2 to time T5 is the usage time zone of the gas stove.

  And the flow rate calculation means 11 by appliance used the flow rate used by the associated appliance, the differential flow rate Q1 at the start time, the average flow value of the differential flow rate at the time of stop (Q3-Q4), and the appliance. By multiplying the time, that is, the time of T4-T1, it is possible to approximately obtain the use flow rate of the gas fan heater. That is, the use flow rate Q of the gas fan heater is obtained from Q = (Q1 + Q3-Q4) / 2 * (T4-T1) * 3600.

  Moreover, in the case of a gas stove, it can obtain | require by the value which deducted the flow value of the gas fan heater from the total integrated flow from the condition that the flow volume is changing in the middle and that two gas appliances were operating. .

  As described above, by clarifying the usage time of each appliance by the appliance handling means 10, the gas flow rate used by each appliance can be calculated individually.

  Next, the case where the gas water heater as the gas appliance 22 which uses a large flow rate is used like the change of the differential flow rate shown in FIG. 4 will be described. Here, it is assumed that the differential flow rates Qs and Qs ′ of the starting instrument discrimination condition are set to 100 L or more and 400 L or more, respectively. Similarly, on the negative side, Qe and Qe 'are set to -100L or less and -400L or less, respectively.

  When a gas water heater is used, a large flow rate of 4 seconds differential flow rate is detected, which meets the condition of 400 L or more of the 4 second differential flow rate, which is the starting appliance discrimination condition of the gas water heater. Therefore, the starting appliance discriminating means 8 can specify that the appliance whose use has started is a gas water heater. Similarly, in the reverse stop device determination, since a large differential flow rate is detected, it is determined that the gas water heater has stopped.

  As described above, it is possible to specify the appliance by the absolute value of the differential flow rate in the case of a large flow rate appliance such as a gas water heater.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the start instrument discriminating means 8 discriminates the start of use of the instrument at ΔQ1 and ΔQ2, but the stop instrument discriminating means 9 discriminates that the instrument has stopped at ΔQ3 and ΔQ4. Then, after that, at ΔQ5, it is determined that the other instrument has stopped. This is a pattern that occurs when two devices are used at the same time in ΔQ2. As described above, when two instruments are used at the same time, it is difficult to determine only from the differential flow rate.

  Therefore, when a stop device is determined at ΔQ5, two stop devices have already been determined at this point, and there is no remaining start device, so that it is determined as an unknown device. However, although it is an unknown instrument at this time, when the total flow rate becomes zero, the past flow rate difference data is searched again. Then, it is detected that the difference data at the time of ΔQ2 is large, and at this time, it is determined that the operation of the two instruments is started at the same time, thereby correcting the result determined as the unknown instrument and associating it with the starting instrument. Can do it. For example, the instrument is determined to be a gas stove from the differential flow rate.

Further, in the case of the characteristics as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the start instrument discrimination is determined for two instruments, whereas the stop instrument discrimination is for one stop instrument (the difference flow rate detects one peak). Therefore, it is determined that it is one). Then, it was detected that the measured flow rate was zero and there was no instrument operating.
In such a case, it was determined that all the instruments were stopped, and it was determined that the two instruments started at the time T3 were stopped. By discriminating in this way, it is possible to make it possible to discriminate a stop device when a plurality of units are stopped simultaneously.

Further, in the cases as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, a large fluctuation occurs in the flow rate value measured in a state where the instrument is used. In such a case, as shown in FIG. 9, it is very difficult to discriminate by detecting many peaks in the differential flow rate. Therefore, when an instrument having a large flow rate variation is used, the accuracy of discrimination is ensured by changing the instrument discrimination condition to reduce the influence of the flow rate variation. More specifically, by making the absolute value larger, such as Qs ′ and Qe ′, than the threshold values Qs and Qe of the conventional discrimination condition, erroneous discrimination due to flow rate fluctuation can be reduced.

  An appliance having a large flow rate variation is an appliance such as a gas water heater. When such a device is operated, by changing the stop determination condition as described above, the determination condition can be divided between a large flow device being operated and a low flow device being operated, The discrimination accuracy during operation of the low flow rate device can be improved.

  Although the description has been given with an emphasis on discriminating the stop device from the start devices, the stop device discriminating means determines the stop device based on the stop discriminating condition, and then associates the start device with the stop device. When performing, it can also respond | correspond with an instrument by discriminate | determining a starting instrument centering on the information of a stop instrument by the instrument corresponding means 10. FIG.

  That is, there is a case where the flow rate immediately after the start of use of the instrument is unstable and uncertain as information for specifying the instrument. In such a case, it is possible to identify the appliance with high accuracy by specifying the starting appliance using the result of the stop appliance discriminating means.

  In addition, depending on the flow rate fluctuation state, it is possible to use more accurately by combining the case where the association is performed centering on the result of the start device discrimination means and the case where the association of the device is performed centering on the result of the stop device. High instrument discrimination is possible.

  In this way, it is possible to discriminate the appliance from the usage state of the use start device and the use stop device, or the use state of the flow value difference before and after that, and calculate the flow rate for each device from the respective flow value and the time of the use state. can do. As a result, customer services such as appliance charges can be realized.

  Although the above description has been given of the case where an ultrasonic flowmeter is used, it is obvious that the same effect can be obtained with other instantaneous flow rate measuring means. And by using an instantaneous flow meter, the measurement timing can be set at equal time intervals regardless of the flow rate, so that it is possible to discriminate the device at any flow rate with good timing. Moreover, although it demonstrated with the gas meter, it can be used also for an industrial flow meter and a water meter for the discrimination | determination of the instrument used connected to the downstream of a flow measuring device, the measurement of the flow volume used according to an instrument, and the security of an instrument. it can.

  As described above, the flow rate measuring device according to the present invention includes a flow rate measuring unit that measures the flow rate of the fluid flowing in the flow path, and any specific interval difference obtained from the flow rate value measured at predetermined time intervals by the flow rate measuring unit. A starting instrument discriminating means for discriminating an instrument to be used connected to a flow path on the basis of a flow rate; and a stopping instrument discriminating means for discriminating an instrument that has stopped using based on the specific interval difference flow rate. The discriminating means is selected based on the stop discriminating condition from the appliances that are discriminated as starting appliances, discriminates the stopping appliances, and is provided with appliance handling means for associating the starting appliances with the stopping appliances. Since the stopped instrument can be determined based on the two pieces of information of the instrument information and the flow rate information, it is possible to accurately determine the stopped instrument because the selected instrument range is narrow.

The block diagram of the flow measuring device in Embodiment 1 of the present invention. Flow pattern diagram measured with the same flow measuring device Differential flow pattern diagram measured by the same flow measurement device Other differential flow pattern diagram measured by the same flow measuring device Other differential flow pattern diagram measured by the same flow measuring device Other flow patterns measured with the same flow measuring device Other differential flow pattern diagram measured by the same flow measuring device Other flow patterns measured with the same flow measuring device Differential flow pattern diagram measured by the same flow measurement device Block diagram of a conventional flow measurement device

Explanation of symbols

6 Flow path 7 Ultrasonic flow meter 8 Starting instrument discriminating means 9 Stop instrument discriminating means 10 Instrument handling means 11 Instrument-specific flow rate calculating means 12 Storage memory 13 Gas pipe line 14 Gas meter 15 Channel shut-off valve

Claims (3)

A flow rate measuring means for measuring the flow rate of the fluid flowing in the flow path;
Storage means for storing a specific interval differential flow rate obtained from a flow rate value measured at predetermined time intervals by the flow rate measurement unit;
Based on any specific interval differential flow obtained from the flow rate value measured at predetermined time intervals by the flow rate measurement means, a start instrument discriminating means for discriminating an instrument that is connected to the flow path and started to use,
A stop appliance discriminating means for identifying an appliance that has been stopped from use based on a stop discrimination condition among the appliances discriminated by the start appliance discriminating means ;
The flow rate measuring means is after the appliance that cannot be identified by the stop appliance discriminating means because the number of appliances discriminated by the start appliance discriminating means and the number of appliances specified by the stop appliance discriminating means do not coincide with each other, and the flow rate measuring means After measuring the flow rate zero, the flow rate provided with the appliance corresponding means for specifying the unknown appliance when it can be determined that a plurality of appliances started to operate simultaneously based on the specific interval difference flow rate stored in the storage means Measuring device. The flow rate measuring device according to claim 1 , wherein the stop determination condition is changed by the use starting device determined by the starting device determining means. The flow rate measuring device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the flow rate measuring means uses an ultrasonic flowmeter as an instantaneous flow rate measuring means.

Images