JP4677224B2 - Gas meter - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a bottom channel unit that is disposed on a bottom surface of a box-type gas meter and forms a part of a channel through which a gas flows, and a gas meter incorporating the unit, and in particular, a screw flange that protrudes to the front side. The present invention relates to a bottom channel unit having a portion and a gas meter incorporating the same.

  5 and 6 are a schematic configuration diagram and an exploded cross-sectional view showing a gas meter and a flow path unit as a premise of the present invention, respectively. In FIG. 5, the gas meter 2 is an electronic type with a built-in microcomputer, and is connected between an upstream pipe 32 on the gas supply side and a downstream pipe 33 on the gas consumption source side. A gas inlet 22 and a gas outlet 23 provided on the upper surface of the gas meter are connected to the upstream pipe 32 and the downstream pipe 33, respectively.

  The gas flowing in from the gas inlet 22 passes through the flow path unit 20 inside the gas meter and flows out to the gas outlet 23. An ultrasonic sensor S as a flow velocity sensor is attached to a part of the flow path unit 20, and the gas flow velocity here is detected by the ultrasonic sensor S.

  An electric signal corresponding to the gas flow velocity detected by the ultrasonic sensor S is output to the microcomputer, and the CPU 25e in the microcomputer instantaneously flows the gas flowing in the flow path unit 20 based on the electric signal. The flow rate is obtained, and the instantaneous flow rate of the gas flowing through the flow path unit 20 is obtained by multiplying this by the cross-sectional area of the flow path unit 20 and a coefficient depending on the structure. Further, when detecting an abnormal value of the gas pressure or gas flow rate in the flow path, the CPU 25e controls the shut-off valve of the shut-off valve device 26 to shut off the gas flowing through the flow path.

  A plurality of rectifying plates are attached to the bottom surface of the flow path unit 20 to which the ultrasonic sensor S is attached. The rectifying plate is disposed so as to divide the cross-sectional area of the bottom surface portion of the flow path unit 20 in which the ultrasonic sensor S is installed at a predetermined ratio (for example, evenly). The flow of gas in the vicinity of the ultrasonic sensor S is rectified by this rectifying plate, thereby reducing the influence of the ultrasonic sensor S from the upstream side and the downstream side, and the detection accuracy of the ultrasonic sensor S is improved.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the gas meter as a premise of the present invention includes a meter body 21 having a gas inlet 22 and a gas outlet 23 on the top surface and an opening 29 on the bottom surface, and a meter body 21. And a flow path unit 20 accommodated therein. The channel unit 20 communicates with an inlet channel unit 27 that communicates with the gas inlet 22, a bottom channel unit 8 that is provided with an opening (not shown) through which ultrasonic waves from the ultrasonic sensor S pass, and a gas outlet 23. The outlet channel units 28 to be connected are configured in this order. The inlet channel unit 27 and the outlet channel unit 28 may be formed integrally with the meter body 21.

  The bottom channel unit 8 described above is provided with openings 812 and 813 communicating with the openings 272 and 283 provided on the bottom surfaces of the inlet channel unit 27 and the outlet channel unit 28, respectively. When the inlet channel unit 27, the bottom channel unit 8 and the outlet channel unit 28 are connected, the openings 272 and 812 are communicated, the openings 283 and 813 are communicated, and the entire channel unit 20 is Communicated. The inlet channel unit 27 is provided with a shut-off valve device 26 having a shut-off valve that shuts off the channel.

  Moreover, the bottom face flow path unit 8 is carrying out the cylinder shape which wraps up lamination | stacking part B1 in which the several baffle plate was laminated | stacked. In FIG. 6, although not indicated, the unit 8 is configured by combining a cylindrical unit main body portion and a plate-like unit lid portion that coincides with the opening surface of the unit main body portion. After the bottom channel unit 8 is attached to the meter body 21, the bottom cover 24 is attached from below so as to cover the opening 29.

  Based on such a configuration, the configuration of a conventional gas meter and bottom channel unit and its problems will be described with reference to FIGS. FIGS. 7A, 7B, and 7C are a top view, a side view, and a front view, respectively, of a conventional bottom channel unit. FIG. 8 is a view when the bottom channel unit of FIG. 7 is attached to the gas meter. 9A and 9B are views when a substrate is attached to the front surface of FIG.

  As shown in FIGS. 7 (A) to 7 (C), the conventional bottom channel unit 9 is an upper lid type. The bottom channel unit 9 forms part of a channel through which gas flows. The unit main body 91 has an elongated box shape that accommodates the laminated portion B1 in which a plurality of rectifying plates are laminated, but the upper surface is open. The unit lid portion 92 has a plate shape and coincides with the opened upper surface of the unit main body portion 91. The unit lid 92 has openings 922 and 923 for communicating with the inlet channel unit 27 and the outlet channel unit 28, respectively. From the positions corresponding to the uppermost side surface of the unit main body 91 and the side surface of the unit lid portion 92, a plurality of pairs of screw flange portions 911 and 921 protrude to screw the unit main body portion 91 and the unit lid portion 92 with screws. It is installed.

  In such a configuration, when the bottom surface flow path unit 9 is assembled, the laminated portion B1 is mounted from the opened upper surface of the unit main body portion 91, and the unit lid portion 92 is aligned with the upper surface, so that the screwed flange portions 911, 921 are mounted. The unit body 91 and the unit lid 92 are fixed by passing a screw D1 (see FIG. 8). At this time, since the screwing flange portions 911 and 921 protrude, there is an advantage that alignment and screwing work are facilitated.

  When assembling such a bottom channel unit 9 to the meter body 21 of the gas meter 2, first, the inlet channel unit 27 and the outlet channel unit 28 are assembled (not shown in FIG. 8), and then as shown in FIG. Further, the openings 922 and 923 are aligned with the openings 272 and 283 of the inlet channel unit 27 and the outlet channel unit 28, so that the bottom channel unit 9 is connected to the inlet channel unit 27 and the outlet channel unit 28. Unite. Then, the bottom cover 24 is covered from below.

  Thus, when the bottom face flow path unit 9 is assembled | attached to the meter body 21, as shown to FIG. 9 (A), board | substrate 25 'will be attached to the front. The substrate 25 'is attached so as to be in close contact with the surfaces of the inlet channel unit and the outlet channel unit in order to suppress the thickness of the gas meter as much as possible. Accordingly, the maximum width W ′ of the substrate 25 ′ restricted by the screw flange portions 911 and 921 is determined so that the substrate 25 ′ does not interfere with the protruding screw flange portions 911 and 921. Alternatively, in addition to the maximum width W ′, a part of the substrate 25 ′ is extended downward using the gap between the plurality of pairs of screw flange portions 911 and 921.

The above prior art has been filed in Patent Document 1 below, but is not known at the time of this application.
Japanese Patent Application No. 2003-193484

  By the way, in recent years, electronic gas meters have been developed to be multifunctional and highly functional. That is, electronic parts to be mounted in the gas meter are remarkably increased along with high-precision measurement processing and security processing, an increase in the size of a display unit accompanying an increase in display information, a communication function with external devices, and the like. In addition to the electronic components described above, basically necessary electronic components such as a shut-off valve device 26 (see FIG. 6) and a battery BT (see FIG. 6) are mounted on this type of gas meter. These basic electronic components are mainly arranged by utilizing the empty space in the gas meter, and as a result, the empty space is almost almost full. As a result, the electronic components that are increasing tend to be mounted on the substrate, and eventually the substrate itself needs to be widened in order to mount many electronic components.

  Therefore, when the substrate itself is enlarged, it is conceivable to extend it in the horizontal direction or the vertical direction. However, in the expansion in the horizontal direction, the flow velocity measurement unit extending in the horizontal direction (as viewed from the front surface) is already long enough. Therefore, further expansion is not preferable. Then, it is expanded in the vertical direction (when viewed from the front surface). Among them, it is particularly appropriate to expand the front surface of the gas meter on which the LCD is disposed in the vertical direction. That is, in order to cope with an increase in electronic components in recent years, it is most convenient to arrange a substrate that is spread in the vertical direction on the front surface of the gas meter.

  However, as described above, in the conventional gas meter having the upper lid type bottom surface flow path unit, if the size of the gas meter is constant due to the presence of the screw flange portions 911 and 921 protruding to the front surface, the vertical direction is It is regulated to the maximum width W ′. On the other hand, there is an increasing demand for downsizing of the gas meter, and it is not preferable to easily enlarge the substrate as the number of electronic components increases, resulting in an increase in size of the gas meter.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 9A, in order to avoid an increase in the size of the gas meter and to avoid interference with the screw flange portions 911 and 921, the substrate 25 'is restricted to the maximum width W'. However, it is necessary to mount an LCD 25a, a reset switch 25b, a terminal block 25c serving as an interface with the outside, chips 25e (CPU) such as a microcomputer, 25f and 25g, an internal terminal block 25d, and the like on the substrate 25 '. . Then, for example, the chips 25e, 25f, and 25g and the LCD 25a have to be mounted in a three-dimensional manner because they overlap each other due to a lack of a planar space on the substrate. For this reason, the LCD 25a protrudes forward, and the thickness of the gas meter increases accordingly. Further, the terminal block 25c must be mounted after a part of the board 25 'is extended downward using the gap between the plurality of pairs of screw flange portions 911, 921.

  In order to avoid the overlap such as the chips 25e, 25f, 25g and the LCD 25a, for example, as shown by 25 ″ in FIG. 9B, the gap portions of the screw flange portions 911, 921 are narrowed. In addition, it is necessary to devise measures such as widening the lower part again to secure the board space, etc. Then, the shape of the board becomes distorted, and a large number of man-hours are required for the molding, and the distorted board The mounting work of each part on the board becomes difficult.

  Therefore, in view of the present situation described above, the present invention creates a wide plane space for arranging the substrate upward from the bottom surface portion of the front surface of the gas meter by devising the arrangement of the screw flange portions attached to the bottom surface flow path unit. An object of the present invention is to provide a bottom flow path unit and a gas meter incorporating the same.

The gas meter according to claim 1, which has been made to solve the above-described problem, includes a box-shaped unit main body having an open bottom surface, a unit lid that closes the open lower surface of the unit main body, the unit main body, A bottom surface flow path unit having a screw flange portion projecting forward from a corresponding position on a lowermost side surface of the unit main body portion and a side surface of the unit lid portion for screwing the unit lid portion; A box-shaped meter body having a gas inlet and a gas outlet on the upper surface and an opening for assembling the bottom channel unit on the bottom surface, and the meter body A cylindrical inlet channel unit having one end connected to the unit main body and the other end connected to the inlet of the channel unit; A cylindrical outlet channel unit having one end connected to the unit body in the body and the other end connected to the outlet of the channel unit, and the inlet channel unit and the outlet channel unit. A board mounted with electronic parts according to a gas meter, which is attached to the front surface and above the screw flange part, and the lower side of the board is adjacent to the screw flange part of the bottom channel unit The maximum width in the vertical direction of the substrate is extended .

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the lower surface of the unit main body is closed by the plate-shaped unit lid. Then, the unit main body and the unit cover are fixed via screw flange portions protruding forward from the corresponding positions of the lowermost side surface of the unit main body and the side surface of the unit cover. In addition, after screwing, a wide planar space for placing a board that is not subject to the restriction of the protruding flange part above the screwing flange part protruding forward, that is, above the bottom surface part of the front surface of the gas meter. Is created. In addition, the bottom channel unit is assembled to the bottom surface of the meter body by being connected to the inlet channel unit and the outlet channel unit in the meter body. A substrate on which electronic components related to the gas meter are mounted is attached to the front surface of the inlet channel unit and the outlet channel unit and above the screwed flange portion, and the lower side of the substrate is the bottom channel unit. The maximum width in the vertical direction of the substrate is extended so as to be adjacent to the screwed flange portion.

The gas meter according to claim 2, which has been made to solve the above-mentioned problem, is the gas meter according to claim 1 , wherein the unit main body portion accommodates a laminated portion in which a plurality of rectifying plates are laminated, and the laminated portion. It is characterized by having a box shape that wraps from above.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, at the time of assembling the bottom surface flow path unit, the laminated portion is mounted from the lower surface of the unit main body portion, the unit lid portion is aligned with the lower surface, and the unit main body is interposed via the screwed flange portion. It is only necessary to fix the unit and the unit lid.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the lower surface of the unit main body is closed by the plate-shaped unit lid. Then, the unit main body and the unit cover are fixed via screw flange portions protruding forward from the corresponding positions of the lowermost side surface of the unit main body and the side surface of the unit cover. In addition, after screwing, a wide planar space for placing a board that is not subject to the restriction of the protruding flange part above the screwing flange part protruding forward, that is, above the bottom surface part of the front surface of the gas meter. Is created. Therefore, it is possible to attach a substrate on which many electronic components such as an LCD are mounted on the front surface of the gas meter without increasing the thickness of the gas meter. Moreover, it becomes possible to arrange | position freely, without receiving the restriction | limiting of the protruding flange part from the bottom face part of a gas meter. In other words, it can be said that it is possible to dispose a wide substrate with a straight shape upward from the bottom surface of the gas meter. Further, since the substrate is arranged above the screwed flange portion without overlapping, the gas meter does not become thicker than necessary.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, at the time of assembling the bottom surface flow path unit, the laminated portion is mounted from the lower surface of the unit main body portion, the unit lid portion is aligned with the lower surface, and the unit main body is interposed via the screwed flange portion. Since it is only necessary to fix the part and the unit cover part, the assembling work is easy and the effects as described above can be obtained.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. 1A, 1B, and 1C are a top view, a side view, and a front view, respectively, of a bottom channel unit according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is an exploded cross-sectional view of the bottom channel unit according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a view when the bottom channel unit of FIG. 1 is attached to a gas meter. FIG. 4 is a view when a substrate is attached to the front surface of FIG.

  The bottom channel unit according to this embodiment is also based on the configuration shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, but as shown in FIGS. 1A to 1C, the bottom channel unit of this embodiment is used. 1 is a lower lid type. The bottom channel unit 1 is composed of a unit main body 11 and a unit lid 12 and forms part of a channel through which gas flows. The unit main body 11 has an elongated box shape that accommodates a laminated portion B1 (see FIG. 2) in which a plurality of rectifying plates are laminated, but the lower surface is open. The unit lid portion 12 has a plate shape and matches the opened lower surface of the unit main body portion 11. On the upper surface of the unit main body 11, openings 112 and 113 are formed so as to communicate with the inlet channel unit 27 and the outlet channel unit 28 shown in FIG. From the corresponding positions of the lowermost side surface of the unit main body 11 and the side surface of the unit lid 12, a plurality of pairs of screw flange portions 111 and 121 protrude to screw the unit main body 11 and the unit lid 12. It is installed.

  In such a configuration, as shown in FIG. 2, when assembling the bottom surface flow path unit 1, the laminated portion B <b> 1 is mounted from the opened lower surface of the unit body portion 11, and the unit lid portion 12 is aligned with the lower surface, The unit body 11 and the unit lid 12 are fixed by allowing the screw D1 to pass through the screw flange portions 111 and 121. At this time, since the screwing flange portions 111 and 121 protrude, there is an advantage that alignment and screwing work are facilitated.

  When assembling such a bottom channel unit 1 to the meter body 21 of the gas meter 2, first, the inlet channel unit 27 and the outlet channel unit 28 as shown in FIG. 6 are assembled (omitted in FIG. 3). 3, the inlet channel unit 27 and the outlet channel unit are arranged such that the openings 112 and 113 coincide with the openings 272 and 283 of the inlet channel unit 27 and the outlet channel unit 28, respectively. The bottom channel unit 1 is combined with the unit 28. Then, the bottom cover 24 is covered from below.

  Thus, when the bottom face flow path unit 1 is assembled | attached to the meter body 21, as shown in FIG. 4, the board | substrate 25 is attached to the front. In order to suppress the thickness of the gas meter as much as possible, the substrate 25 is attached in close contact with the surfaces of the inlet channel unit and the outlet channel unit. For this reason, the inlet channel unit and the outlet channel unit may be provided with screw holes for fixing the substrate. Since the substrate 25 is fixed so as to be in close contact with the surface of each unit, the lower side of the substrate 25 is restricted by the screw flange portions 111 and 121, and the maximum width W of the substrate 25 is determined. However, as is clear from the comparison with the maximum width W ′ of FIG. In addition to this maximum width W, it is also possible to provide a space for the terminal block 25c using the gaps between the plurality of pairs of screw flange portions 111 and 121. Then, a front cover (not shown) is attached so as to cover the substrate 25.

  As described above, according to the embodiment of the present invention, the screw flange portions 111 and 121 are attached to the lower lid 12, and the maximum width W of the substrate 25 can be expanded even if an equivalent gas meter is used. can do. Therefore, the electronic component is not arranged three-dimensionally as in the prior art (see FIG. 9A), and the substrate is not formed into an irregular shape (see FIG. 9B). It becomes possible to attach a substrate having a width that can sufficiently withstand the gas metering to the front surface of the gas meter. As a result, the degree of freedom in various designs can be increased in the electronic gas meter.

  In the embodiment, the bottom surface channel unit is described as including a laminated portion. However, the bottom surface channel unit of the present invention includes one that does not include a stacked portion.

1A, 1B, and 1C are a top view, a side view, and a front view, respectively, of a bottom channel unit according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a disassembled sectional view of the bottom face channel unit concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure when the bottom face channel unit of Drawing 1 is attached to a gas meter. It is a figure when a board | substrate is attached to the front surface of FIG. It is a schematic block diagram which shows the gas meter and flow path unit used as the premise of this invention. It is a disassembled sectional view which shows the gas meter and flow path unit used as the premise of this invention. FIGS. 7A, 7B, and 7C are a top view, a side view, and a front view, respectively, of a conventional bottom channel unit. It is a figure when the bottom face channel unit of Drawing 7 is attached to a gas meter. 9A and 9B are views when a substrate is attached to the front surface of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Bottom flow path unit 11 Unit main-body part 12 Unit cover part 111,121 Screw stop flange part 112,113 Opening part 2 Gas meter 21 Meter body

Claims (2)

A box-shaped unit main body having an open bottom surface, a unit lid for closing the open lower surface of the unit main body, and a lowermost side surface of the unit main body for screwing the unit main body and the unit lid And a gas meter incorporating a bottom channel unit having a screw flange portion projecting forward from a corresponding position on each of the side surfaces of the unit lid portion,
A box-shaped meter body provided with a gas inlet and a gas outlet on the top surface and provided with an opening for assembling the bottom surface flow path unit on the bottom surface;
A cylindrical inlet flow path unit having one end connected to the unit main body in the meter body and the other end connected to the inlet of the flow path unit;
A cylindrical outlet flow path unit having one end connected to the unit main body in the meter body and the other end connected to the outlet of the flow path unit;
A board on which electronic components related to a gas meter are mounted, which is attached to the front surface of the inlet channel unit and the outlet channel unit, and above the screw flange portion;
The gas meter is characterized in that the maximum width in the vertical direction of the substrate is expanded so that the lower side of the substrate is adjacent to the screw flange portion of the bottom channel unit. The gas meter according to claim 1, wherein
The unit main body is
Accommodates a laminated part in which a plurality of current plates are laminated,
It has a box shape that wraps the laminated part from above.
A gas meter characterized by that.

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