JP4844005B2 - Flow measuring device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a flow rate measuring device provided with a device discriminating means for discriminating a device connected to a flow path and measuring a used flow rate for each device.

  Conventionally, as shown in FIG. 6, 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 deciding, it is possible to determine the start of use of a new gas combustion appliance by a simple method, register the amount of gas increase due to the use of a new gas combustion appliance, and stop using it based on the decrease in flow rate Judgment.
JP 2002-174542 A

  However, in the conventional configuration, only the start and stop of use of one instrument can be determined, and the gas flow rate used by the instrument cannot be measured. When two instruments are used, the determination is made. However, there is a problem that the flow rate of each instrument cannot be measured at all.

In order to solve the conventional problem, the flow measurement device of the present invention includes a flow measurement unit that measures a flow rate of a fluid flowing in a flow path, and at least one of a flow rate value and time information measured by the flow measurement unit. a flow rate information storage means for storing as the storage information, and the appliance discriminating means for discriminating the flow rate information connected instrument downstream flow path of the flow rate measuring means based on the storage information stored in the storage means, the instrument a fluid flow instrument discriminating means has discriminated used, and a device-specific flow rate measuring means for calculating based on the storage information stored in the flow information storage unit, the instrument-specific flow rate measuring means, the appliance discriminating The appliance-specific flow rate is calculated using the average value of the flow rate value at the start of use and the flow rate value at the time of stoppage of use of the appliance determined to be used by the means .

  This makes it possible to determine the appliance used based on the stored flow rate value and time information and to calculate the flow rate used by the appliance.

  The flow rate measuring device of the present invention uses an instrument discriminating unit that discriminates an instrument connected to a downstream flow path of the flow rate measuring unit based on storage information of the flow rate information storing unit, and an instrument discriminated by the instrument discriminating unit. A flow rate measuring unit for each instrument that calculates the flow rate of the fluid based on the storage information of the flow rate information storage unit, thereby determining the instrument used based on the stored flow rate value and time information and using the instrument Thus, the flow rate can be calculated and the flow rate can be integrated for each instrument.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a flow rate measuring unit for measuring a flow rate of a fluid flowing in a flow path, a flow rate information storage unit for storing at least one of a flow rate value measured by the flow rate measuring unit and time information as storage information, Based on the stored information stored in the flow rate information storage unit , an instrument discriminating unit that discriminates an instrument connected to the downstream flow path of the flow rate measuring unit, and a fluid flow rate used by the instrument discriminated by the instrument discriminating unit. A flow rate measurement unit for each instrument that calculates based on the stored information stored in the flow rate information storage unit , and the flow rate measurement unit for each instrument uses a device that has been determined to be used by the device determination unit. By calculating the flow rate by device using the average value of the flow rate value at the start and the flow rate value at the time of suspension of use , the device used is determined based on the stored flow rate value and time information, and during use Flow rate Measured flow rate value changed or when other devices are used in that it is possible to estimate calculate the flow rate even if ambiguous.

The second invention, by the appliance discriminating unit is configured to determine the usage condition of the start and stop using a particular and the instrument of the instrument based on information stored in the flow information storage unit, for example using The device can be identified from the usage state of the flow rate value at the start and the flow rate value at the end of use, or from the usage state of the flow value difference before and after that, and the flow rate for each device is calculated from the respective flow rate value and the time of the usage state be able to.

The third invention is to a device registering means for registering the device information of the device, a structure in which a device determining means for determining a usage state of the device based on the stored information and the device information, e.g. It is possible to determine the appliance from the flow rate value information registered for the appliance, and to calculate the use flow rate from the registered average flow rate.

A fourth invention, the appliance discriminating unit, by the formation of integrating the flow rate used in the total accumulated flow with many instruments, as much as possible the measurement accuracy of the instrument-specific flow rate value if ambiguous in proportionally small Can do.

Fifth aspect of the present invention, by the appliance determination means has a structure intends rows particular instrument using the difference flow rate before and after the flow rate measurement of each specific time interval, calculates the flow rate used for identification and use instruments use instrument be able to.

A sixth invention is the flow rate measuring means, by a configuration using an ultrasonic flowmeter as instantaneous flow rate measurement means, at short time intervals, and it is possible to measure the flow rate at predetermined time intervals, It is possible to perform highly accurate appliance discrimination and appliance-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 present 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 flow rate measuring device includes an ultrasonic flow meter 7 as a flow rate measuring means for measuring an instantaneous flow rate flowing in the flow path 6, flow rate information such as an instantaneous flow rate value and a differential flow rate of the ultrasonic flow meter 7, and its start. Storage information 8 as flow rate information storage means for storing at least one of time information such as time, stop time or duration as storage information, and appliance information of gas appliances 9 to 11 connected downstream of the flow path 6 It was set as the structure provided with the appliance registration means 12 which registers. Then, the flow rate information and time information measured by the ultrasonic flowmeter 7 are used to search for a device that matches the flow rate information of the registered device information and discriminate it as a predetermined device. A device-specific flow rate calculation means 14 for integrating the flow rate values of devices used based on information and time information is provided. Here, 15 is a gas pipe line, 16 is a gas meter as a flow rate measuring device, 17 is a flow path shut-off valve, 18 is an operation unit, and 19 is a display unit for switching and displaying an instantaneous flow rate value, an integrated flow rate value, and the like.

  The operation and action of the flow rate measuring apparatus configured as described above will be described below.

  First, the operation | movement of the instrument discrimination | determination of the gas instrument 9 and the flow measurement according to instrument are demonstrated using FIG.

  Judgment of the operation start or operation stop of the instrument is performed using the differential flow rate before and after the instantaneous flow rate value measured at intervals of 2 seconds. When the differential flow rate value is larger than the predetermined flow rate value and a positive value, it is determined that some device starts operating, and when the differential flow rate is larger than the predetermined flow rate value and a negative value, the device is determined to stop operating. When the differential flow rate is equal to or corresponds to the registered flow rate value, the appliance is identified by specifying the appliance a from the differential flow value. In addition, it is possible to perform discrimination with higher accuracy by discriminating the appliance while referring to not only the differential flow rate around 2 seconds but also the absolute flow rate used by the appliance.

  For example, it is possible to specify a hot water heater if a large flow rate of 1000 L or more is used, and a heating appliance if it is between 200L and 400L. In addition, by using a difference of 4 seconds or a difference of 6 seconds instead of a difference of 2 seconds, it is possible to apply a method of making the difference flow rate larger and facilitating the discrimination. . Furthermore, it is also possible to discriminate the appliance while using the differential flow rate and absolute flow rate parameters of 2 seconds, 4 seconds, and 6 seconds as necessary. In use, when there is no matching flow rate, the parameters are sequentially changed and the applied flow rate value is searched to determine the appliance.

  Here, the appliance registering means is for registering the used flow rate value and the appliance name of the connected gas appliance, and is data for use in appliance discrimination as described above. For example, the usage flow value information is an operation start flow value when the gas appliance 9 is ignited and an average flow rate value when the appliance is used. By registering them, it becomes possible to discriminate the appliance by referring to the measured flow rate value at the start of use and the flow rate value at the time of ignition, and the used flow rate can be estimated and calculated from the average flow rate value.

  And the flow rate calculation means according to appliance calculates | requires a usage flow rate by multiplying the average usage flow value registered as the information of the discriminate | determined, and the time when the appliance was used, ie, the time slot | zone of T2-T1. Can do. As shown in FIG. 2, even if the flow rate value changes in the middle, the total integrated value can be estimated and calculated without a large error by using the registered average value.

  In addition to the registered average flow rate, the use flow rate can also be calculated by multiplying the use time by using the average flow rate of two flow rate values of the flow rate Q1 at the start of operation and the flow rate Q4 at the time of operation stop. When only one device is used, it is natural that the total flow rate is set as the used flow rate of the determined device.

  The appliance discriminating means discriminates as an ambiguous operation when the identification of the appliance or the usage status is ambiguous, and the appliance-specific flow measurement means uses the appliance with a large total accumulated flow rate as the operating flow rate of the appliance with the ambiguous operation. By adopting a configuration in which the used flow rate is integrated, the measurement accuracy of the flow rate value for each appliance in the case of vagueness can be reduced as much as possible. A device having a large total flow rate is a device having a momentarily high flow rate, and is usually a water heater.

  In this way, it is possible to discriminate the appliance from the usage state of the flow value at the start of use and the flow value at the end of use, or the usage state of the flow value difference before and after that. Can be calculated. As a result, customer services such as appliance charges can be realized.

(Embodiment 2)
FIG. 3 to FIG. 6 are characteristic diagrams of flow rate patterns for explaining appliance discrimination and appliance-specific flow rate measuring means according to the second embodiment of the present invention. Differences from the first embodiment will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 3, in the case of a flow rate pattern when two appliances are used at the same time from the middle, the appliance discriminating means stores the time when the flow rate greatly changes in the positive direction as the use start time T1 of the appliance, The first instrument is discriminated by referring to the specific instrument a using the differential flow rate or the absolute flow rate measured from the flow rate information of the registered instrument. Then, when there is a large flow rate change in the positive direction again at time T2, the appliance discrimination operation is performed again, and the second appliance discrimination is performed using the difference flow rate between the immediately preceding flow rate Q1 and the immediately following flow rate Q2. That is, it is determined by the differential flow rate what kind of appliance the second appliance b is. Needless to say, the determination is made with reference to the absolute flow rate.

  Furthermore, a large flow rate change occurs again at time T3. In this case as well, the appliance is determined using the differential flow rate before and after the change. In this case, since the differential flow rate decreases to a negative value, it is determined that the instrument is stopped. And it is discriminate | determined which of the apparatus a or the apparatus b stopped from the difference flow volume. Here, an example is shown in which the appliance b has stopped due to a large change in the differential flow rate. Then, an event occurs in which the flow rate becomes zero again at time T4, and at this time, it is determined which instrument has stopped. Here, since the appliance b is already stopped, only the appliance a is operating, so it is determined that the appliance a is stopped, but the differential flow rate at that time does not match the flow rate value of the appliance a. Can review the determination retroactively to the stop determination of the appliance b determined previously.

  Even when a time zone in which two devices are used at the same time is generated in this way, the device that has been operated by using the differential flow rate values and absolute flow values before and after each time, that is, the measured flow rate value of the instantaneous flow meter Although there is a slight time delay, it is possible to distinguish the instrument when it is almost in use. Accordingly, it is possible to realize security for each appliance that manages the flow rate used and the usage time for each appliance.

  The appliance-specific flow rate calculation means calculates the flow rate by dividing the flow rate region of the flow rate pattern shown in FIG. 3 into four regions. For region 1, the flow rate is from time T1 to time T2, and is added to the flow rate of the appliance a with an integrated flow rate from T1 to T2.

  The region 2 is calculated using the instantaneous flow rate value Q2 measured immediately before time T2 and the instantaneous flow rate value Q3 measured immediately after time T3. That is, (Q2 + Q3) / 2 * (T3-T2) * 3600 is added to the flow rate of the appliance a as an integrated flow rate.

  For region 3, the integrated flow rate from time T3 to time T4 is added to the flow rate of appliance a as it is as the flow rate value of appliance a.

  The flow rate in the region 4 is determined by subtracting the integrated flow rate of the appliance a from the total integrated flow rate Qt of the gas meter.

  In this way, each flow rate region can be obtained individually to obtain a flow rate for each instrument. Moreover, although the flow rate patterns other than the flow rate pattern as shown in FIG. 3 are shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, the flow rate of each region can be similarly obtained by the same principle, and can be obtained as the flow rate for each specific instrument.

  Even if three or four devices are used at the same time, the difference flow rate when the flow rate value changes greatly, for example, the difference flow rate QS at the start of operation and the difference flow rate QT at the time of operation stop. It is possible to calculate by dividing into each region using the average flow rate, and it can be obtained from a calculation formula such as (QS + QT) / 2 * use time. In addition, in order to improve the measurement accuracy of the flow rate for each instrument, the key is how to correctly measure the flow rate of QS and QT, but not only the value of the 2-second differential flow rate or the 4-second differential flow rate itself, but 2 When the second difference flow rate becomes zero and the absolute flow rate is stabilized, the average flow rate can be used.

  In this way, by identifying the gas appliances that are operating by appliance discrimination and specifying the flow rate at which the gas is used by each appliance, which appliances are used and how much gas is consumed. It becomes possible, and it is possible to construct a fee system such as a fee for each appliance. Further, the flow rate for each device can be calculated in a time zone close to the use timing of the device, and the security for each device can be performed in a timely manner, which can be used to enhance the safety function.

  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 intervals regardless of the flow rate, so that it is possible to discriminate the device at any timing with any flow rate. Moreover, although demonstrated with the gas meter, it can use for the discrimination of the instrument used connected to the downstream of a flow measuring device, and the security of an instrument similarly in an industrial flowmeter and a water meter.

  As described above, the flow rate measuring device according to the present invention includes a device discriminating unit that discriminates a device connected to the downstream flow path of the flow rate measuring unit based on the storage information of the flow rate information storing unit, and the device discriminating unit. Provided with the flow rate measuring means for each instrument that calculates the fluid flow rate used by the instrument determined based on the storage information of the flow rate information storage means, so that the instrument used based on the stored flow rate value and time information is provided. In addition, the flow rate used by the instrument can be calculated and the flow rate can be integrated for each instrument.

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 Flow pattern diagram measured by flow measurement device in embodiment 2 of the present invention Other flow patterns measured with the same flow measuring device Other flow patterns measured with the same flow measuring device Other flow patterns measured with the same flow measuring device Block diagram of a conventional flow measurement device

Explanation of symbols

6 Channel 7 Ultrasonic flow meter 8 Memory 9 Gas appliance a
10 Gas appliance b
12 appliance registration means 13 appliance discriminating means 14 flow rate measuring means for each appliance 16 gas meter (flow rate measuring device)

Claims (6)

A flow rate measuring means for measuring the flow rate of the fluid flowing in the flow path;
A flow rate information storage unit for storing at least one of a flow rate value and time information measured by the flow rate measurement unit as storage information;
Instrument discriminating means for discriminating an instrument connected to the downstream flow path of the flow rate measuring means based on the stored information stored in the flow rate information storing means;
The fluid flow device in which the appliance determination unit has determined is used, and a device-specific flow rate measuring means for calculating based on the storage information stored in the flow information storage unit,
The flow rate measuring unit for each appliance calculates the flow rate for each appliance using the average value of the flow rate value at the start of use and the flow rate value at the time of stop of use of the appliance determined to be used by the appliance discriminating unit. . The appliance discriminating means is
Flow rate measuring device according to claim 1 for determining the use condition of the start and stop using a particular and the instrument of the instrument based on information stored in the flow information storage unit. An instrument registration means for registering the device information of the device,
Flow rate measuring apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a device discriminating means for discriminating a use state of the device based on the stored information and the device information. The flow rate measuring device according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein the appliance discriminating unit integrates the used flow rate into an appliance having a large total accumulated flow rate. The appliance determination unit flow rate measuring device according to any one of the three specific instrument claims 1 intends line using the difference flow rate before and after the flow rate measurement of each specific time interval. The flow rate measuring device according to any one of claims 1 to 5 , wherein the flow rate measuring unit uses an ultrasonic flowmeter as an instantaneous flow rate measuring unit.

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