JP5204511B2 - Alarm device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention is provided with a gas sensor that detects a detection target gas by supplying power from a power supply unit inside the storage case, and an alarm that forms a ventilation portion that communicates the outside and the inside of the storage case in the storage case Relates to the device.

The alarm device as described above detects and alerts the generation of toxic gas due to, for example, gas leakage or incomplete combustion. In the conventional alarm device, surrounding gas is caused to flow into the storage case from the ventilation portion, and the gas to be detected (toxic gas) is detected from the inflowed gas by a gas sensor (see, for example, Patent Document 1). . In the alarm device described in Patent Document 1, as a gas sensor, a gas leak detection sensor that detects a gas leak from the concentration of gas including city gas and LP gas, and an incomplete combustion detection sensor that detects incomplete combustion from the CO concentration, It has.
In such a conventional alarm device, the driving power of the gas sensor is supplied from an external power source such as a commercial power source (for example, AC 100V). That is, for example, the alarm device is used by connecting the plug of the alarm device to a wall outlet.

JP 2001-307245 A

  In the alarm device as described above, when a person such as a user touches the storage case, static electricity charged on the human body may flow from the touched portion to the alarm device side. At this time, in the structure in which the power source is an external power source such as a commercial power source (for example, AC 100V) as in the conventional alarm device, since it is connected to the ground via the external power source, the static electricity that has flowed to the alarm device side The gas sensor, power supply circuit, and ground wire may flow in this order. When such static electricity flows, current flows through the gas sensor circuit erroneously, which may cause malfunction of the circuit.

As shown in FIG. 7, in the conventional alarm device, the front cover body 106 is provided on the front surface portion of the storage case 101, and the ventilation portion 100 is formed on the upper side of the front cover body 106. The gas sensor 102 is arranged to do this. Since the ventilation unit 100 communicates between the outside and the inside of the storage case 101, there is a possibility that static electricity charged in the human body flows to the gas sensor 102 when a person touches the front cover body 106 in which the ventilation unit 100 is formed. is there. In order to eliminate this possibility, it is necessary to electrically insulate the ventilation part 100 and the gas sensor 102 from each other. As shown in FIG. 8 in which the main part of FIG. 7 is enlarged, the conventional ventilation part 100 is constituted by a plurality of guide passages 103 that guide the gas obliquely downward and flow into the storage case 101, and the front surface. The cover body 106 is formed of an insulator such as an insulating resin. Each of the plurality of guide passages 103 is bent obliquely downward, and the front surface of the gas sensor 102 is covered from the front side with a front cover body 106 formed of an insulator such as an insulating resin. Thereby, the ventilation part 100 and the gas sensor 102 are electrically insulated. Further, the gas sensor 102 is disposed at a distance from the storage case 101, and an air layer can be formed at the distance. Therefore, an air layer can also be interposed between the outer surface portion of the storage case 101 touched by a person and the gas sensor 102, so that the gas sensor 102 is more reliably electrically insulated.
Incidentally, in the alarm device shown in FIG. 7, in addition to the gas sensor 102, the temperature sensor 104 and the flame sensor 105 are also provided in the storage case 101. The occurrence of this is also detected.

  However, in the conventional alarm device, it is difficult for gas to flow into the storage case 101 by the configuration for electrically insulating the gas sensor 102. That is, since the ventilation portion 100 is a plurality of guide passages 103 that are bent obliquely downward, the gas must flow into the storage case 101 while being bent downward, and thus a large resistance is applied. It is difficult for gas to flow into 101. For this reason, it is impossible to quickly supply the gas to the gas sensor 102, and it takes time until the gas sensor 102 takes in the detection target gas through the sensor communication hole 102a. As a result, there is a possibility that the responsiveness of the gas sensor may be lowered, such as the detection of the generation of the detection target gas being delayed.

  The present invention has been made paying attention to such a point, and its object is to detect generation of detection target gas without delay while preventing malfunction of the circuit due to static electricity when a person touches the storage case. The point is to provide an alarm device.

In order to achieve this object, the characteristic configuration of the alarm device according to the present invention includes a gas sensor that detects a gas to be detected by supplying power from a power supply unit inside the storage case, and the storage case includes the storage case. An alarm device that forms a ventilation portion that communicates between the outside and the inside, wherein the power supply portion includes a built-in battery as a power source, and the ventilation portion is formed by an opening hole that penetrates the storage case. The gas sensor is disposed in contact with the storage case so as to face the ventilation portion, and further includes a sensor element inside a cylindrical sensor housing, the sensor housing A sensor communication hole that communicates the outside and the inside of the sensor housing is formed, and the sensor communication hole is formed to have an opening area that is greater than or equal to the opening area of the ventilation portion. The sensor housing is disposed so as to face the ventilation portion, and the inner space of the sensor housing is partitioned by a partitioning portion into an intermediate chamber and an element chamber in which the sensor element is disposed. An intermediate communication hole that communicates the intermediate chamber and the element chamber is formed in the partition portion, and an opening area of the intermediate communication hole is defined as the sensor communication hole. smaller than the opening area of the the intermediate chamber, gas flowing between said sensor communicating hole intermediate communication hole is transmitted, comprising a transparent suction unit for adsorbing gases other than the detection target gas, the transmission The adsorption unit includes a first permeation adsorption unit that adsorbs a gas other than the detection target gas and a second permeation adsorption unit that adsorbs moisture,
The first permeation adsorption portion is disposed in contact with an inner surface of the sensor housing in which the sensor communication hole is formed,
The second permeation adsorption unit is disposed so as to be adjacent to the first permeation adsorption unit in the flow direction of the gas passing through the sensor communication hole .

According to this configuration, since the power source is a built-in battery, the alarm device does not require a ground wire. Therefore, even if static electricity charged on the human body flows to the alarm device side when a person touches the storage case, there is no ground wire, so static electricity does not flow. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the static electricity from flowing through the gas sensor circuit by mistake and to prevent malfunction of the circuit. Moreover, in this configuration, the gas sensor is disposed so as to face the ventilation portion, and the ventilation portion is a simple opening hole, so that the gas smoothly flows into the storage case without receiving a large resistance at the ventilation portion. To do. Thereby, the gas supply to the gas sensor can be performed quickly, and the gas sensor can take in the detection target gas in a short time.
As a result of having the above configuration, the detection target gas can be detected quickly while preventing malfunction of the circuit due to static electricity when a person touches the storage case, and the responsiveness of the gas sensor can be improved. By increasing the responsiveness of the gas sensor in this way, for example, even if the interval between heating and heating for heating the sensor element of the gas sensor is extended, the reliability as a gas sensor can be maintained as before. it can. As a result, the lifetime of the built-in battery can be extended.

Furthermore, as described above, by using a built-in battery as the power source, it is possible to prevent malfunction of the circuit due to static electricity, so that an interval for forming an air layer between the gas sensor and the storage case is provided as in the conventional alarm device. There is no need to provide it. Therefore, the alarm device can be made compact without disposing the gas sensor in contact with the storage case and providing a useless gap between the gas sensor and the storage case.

In addition , the gas that has flowed into the storage case through the ventilation portion flows into the sensor housing through the sensor communication hole, and the detection target gas is detected by the sensor element. Since the sensor communication hole faces the ventilation portion and has an opening area larger than the opening area of the ventilation portion, the gas flowing into the storage case smoothly flows into the sensor housing as it is. Therefore, the detection target gas can be efficiently supplied to the sensor element, and the response of the gas sensor can be improved.

Further, according to this configuration, the gas that has flowed into the storage case through the ventilation portion flows into the intermediate chamber through the sensor communication hole, and then flows into the element chamber through the intermediate communication hole. When the gas flows between the sensor communication hole and the intermediate communication hole in the intermediate chamber, the gas other than the detection target gas contained in the gas is adsorbed by the permeation adsorption unit. Therefore, gas can be allowed to flow into the element chamber in a state where gas other than the detection target gas is removed, and detection of the detection target gas can be performed with higher accuracy .
A further characteristic configuration of the alarm device according to the present invention is that the sensor housing is formed in a bottomed cylindrical shape, and the sensor element is disposed in contact with a base that seals the opening of the sensor housing. .
A further characteristic configuration of the alarm device according to the present invention is that the detection target gas is methane and carbon monoxide.

  A further characteristic configuration of the alarm device according to the present invention is that the gas sensor is configured to detect the detection target gas by intermittently supplying driving power from the power supply unit.

For example, the gas sensor supplies the driving power from the power supply unit to heat the sensor element to a predetermined temperature for detection and maintains the heating state to detect the detection target gas, and then the driving power from the power supply unit is detected. Stop supplying. As described above, the gas sensor intermittently supplies driving power from the power supply unit to detect the detection target gas.
As described above, the gas sensor can take in the detection target gas in a short time by disposing the gas sensor so as to be opposed to the ventilation part and making the ventilation part a simple opening hole, so that the drive power to the gas sensor can be reduced. The time from the start of supply until the detection target gas can be detected can be shortened. Therefore, for example, the detection target gas can be detected while suppressing power consumption by increasing the time during which the supply of driving power to the gas sensor is stopped. As a result, it is possible to obtain an effect such as extending the life of the built-in battery as the power supply unit, which is a great advantage.

An embodiment of an alarm device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the alarm device 1 includes a storage case 2 and a gas sensor 3 provided in the storage case 2.
The storage case 2 fits the front surface portion 2a and the rear surface portion 2b to form an internal space, and stores each member in each of a plurality of spaces partitioning the internal space.
In order to allow the gas to be detected by the gas sensor 3 to flow into the storage case 2, a ventilation portion 4 that connects the outside and the inside of the storage case 2 is formed on the front surface of the storage case 2. The ventilation part 4 is disposed on the upper right side of the storage case 2 and is formed by a circular opening hole penetrating the storage case 2. The shape of the opening hole may be any shape as long as it is a through hole. The gas sensor 3 is disposed so as to face the ventilation part 4. In this way, by arranging the gas sensor 3 so as to face the ventilation part 4 and making the ventilation part 4 a simple opening hole, the gas around the alarm device 1 receives a large resistance at the ventilation part 4. Instead, the gas flows into the storage case 2 and the gas is supplied to the gas sensor 3 quickly.

  The gas sensor 3 is configured to detect the detection target gas by supplying power from the power supply unit 5. The detection target gas is, for example, methane gas and CO gas, and the gas sensor 3 detects each of methane gas and CO gas. The power supply unit 5 includes a built-in battery 6 a and a power supply circuit 6 b, and is disposed inside the storage case 2 above the storage case 2 and on the side of the gas sensor 3. Thus, since the power supply unit 5 includes the built-in battery 6a, the alarm device 1 does not require a ground wire. Therefore, when a person such as a user touches the storage case 2, even if static electricity charged on the human body flows from the touched portion to the alarm device 1 side, the static electricity is generated in the order of the gas sensor 3, the power supply circuit 6 b and the ground wire. There is no flow, and internal circuits (a control unit H, a power supply circuit 6b, a notification unit 9 and the like described later) do not malfunction due to static electricity.

  In addition to the gas sensor 3 and the built-in battery 6a, the storage case 2 includes a flame sensor 7 that detects a flame, a temperature sensor 8 that detects a room temperature in which the alarm device 1 is installed, a speaker that transmits a notification sound and a notification message, and the like. A notification unit 9 and the like are provided. The flame sensor 7 is disposed at a substantially central portion of the front surface of the storage case 1. The temperature sensor 8 is provided inside the storage case 2 and is disposed between the gas sensor 3 and the built-in battery 6a. The storage case 2 is formed with a temperature sensor ventilation portion 10 that communicates the outside and the inside of the storage case 2, and the air in the room where the alarm device 1 is installed passes through the temperature sensor ventilation portion 10 and enters the storage case 2. The indoor temperature is detected by the temperature sensor 8.

As shown in FIG. 4, in addition to the gas sensor 3, the power supply unit 5 including the internal battery 6a and the power supply circuit 6b includes a control unit H that controls the operation of the flame sensor 7, the temperature sensor 8, and the alarm device 1, and a notification unit. Power is also supplied to 9 etc. The control unit 10 controls the operations of the sensors 3, 7, 8 and the notification unit 9. For example, the control unit 10 controls ON / OFF of driving power to the heater unit provided in the gas sensor 3 so that the gas sensor 3 can detect gas.
The control unit H is configured to detect the occurrence of gas leakage or incomplete combustion based on the detection information of the gas sensor 3 and to detect the occurrence of fire based on the detection information of the flame sensor 7 and the temperature sensor 8. Yes. For example, the control unit H detects the occurrence of gas leakage when the concentration of methane gas detected by the gas sensor 3 is equal to or higher than the set concentration, and when the concentration of CO gas detected by the gas sensor 3 is equal to or higher than the set concentration. Detect the occurrence of incomplete combustion. Further, the control unit H detects the occurrence of a fire when the flame sensor 7 detects a flame or when the indoor temperature detected by the temperature sensor 8 is equal to or higher than a set temperature.
When the control unit H detects any of gas leakage, incomplete combustion, and fire, the control unit H operates the notification unit 9 to notify the occurrence of gas leakage, incomplete combustion, and fire. At this time, for example, the control unit H notifies the gas leak, the incomplete combustion, and the fire in a state of distinguishing each of the gas leak, the incomplete combustion, and the fire by changing the notification sound and the notification message for each of the gas leak, the incomplete combustion, and the fire.

Hereinafter, the configuration of the gas sensor 3 will be described with reference to FIG.
The gas sensor 3 includes a sensor housing 11 formed in a bottomed cylindrical shape, a base 12 that seals an opening of the sensor housing 11, and an internal space of the sensor housing 11 that is formed by the sensor housing 11 and the base 12. And a partition portion 15 for partitioning into the element chamber 14. The element chamber 14 is provided with a thin plate-like sensor element 19 that is sensitive to the gas to be detected, and the sensor element 19 is provided on the base 12.

  In the sensor housing 11, a circular sensor communication hole 16 that communicates the outside of the sensor housing 11 and the intermediate chamber 13 is formed in order to allow the gas flowing into the storage case 2 to flow into the intermediate chamber 13. The sensor communication hole 16 is formed so as to have an opening area equal to or larger than the opening area of the ventilation part 4 and is disposed so as to face the ventilation part 4. In the example shown in FIG. 5, the opening area of the sensor communication hole 16 and the opening area of the ventilation part 4 are substantially the same. As a result, the gas flowing into the storage case 2 through the ventilation portion 4 smoothly flows into the sensor housing 11 as it is, so that the detection target gas can be efficiently supplied to the sensor element 19 and the responsiveness of the gas sensor 3 is achieved. Can be improved.

  An intermediate communication hole 17 that connects the intermediate chamber 13 and the element chamber 14 is formed in the partition portion 15. The intermediate communication hole 17 is formed so as to have an opening area smaller than the opening area of the sensor communication hole 16, and is disposed so as to face the sensor communication hole 16. In the intermediate chamber 13, there is provided a permeation adsorbing portion 18 through which gas flowing between the sensor communication hole 16 and the intermediate communication hole 17 permeates and adsorbs gas other than the detection target gas. By making the opening area of the intermediate communication hole 17 smaller than the opening area of the sensor communication hole 16, it becomes difficult for gas to flow from the intermediate chamber 13 into the element chamber 14, and gas tends to stay in the intermediate chamber 13. Thereby, intrusion of interfering gases other than the detection target gas (for example, alcohol, butane gas, propane) into the element chamber 14 can be suppressed, and adsorption of the gas other than the detection target gas by the permeation adsorption unit 18 can be performed accurately. . As a result, the gas flowing into the element chamber 14 is free of interfering gases other than the detection target gas, and the detection target gas can be accurately detected by the sensor element 19.

The permeation adsorption unit 18 includes two types of a first permeation adsorption unit 18a and a second permeation adsorption unit 18b. For example, the first permeation adsorption unit 18a is for preventing the intrusion of interference gas, corrosive gas, and poison gas into the element chamber 14, and the second permeation adsorption unit 18b is an entry of moisture into the element chamber 14. It is for preventing.
The first permeation adsorbing portion 18 a is disposed at an inlet portion where the gas flows into the intermediate chamber 13 in contact with the inner surface of the sensor housing 11 in which the sensor communication hole 16 is formed. The first permeation adsorption portion 18 a is provided so as to block the gas inlet portion in the intermediate chamber 13. The second permeation adsorption unit 18b is disposed adjacent to the first permeation adsorption unit 18a in the gas flow direction. The second permeation adsorbing portion 18 b is provided in a cylindrical shape arranged on the left and right with respect to the axis of the sensor communication hole 16 so as to form a gas passage through which gas passes in the central portion of the intermediate chamber 13.

Hereinafter, the structure which detects detection target gas with the gas sensor 3 is demonstrated.
The gas sensor 3 is configured to detect the detection target gas by intermittently supplying driving power from the built-in battery 6a by the control unit H. That is, the gas sensor 3 includes a heating unit such as a heater unit that heats the sensor element 19, and the control unit H starts supplying driving power from the built-in battery 6a to the heating unit to detect the sensor element 19. The detection target gas is detected by heating to a predetermined temperature, and thereafter, a series of operations for stopping the supply of driving power from the built-in battery 6a to the heating unit is repeated.

For example, as shown in FIG. 6, the control unit H starts supplying driving power from the internal battery 6 a to the heating unit, and heats the sensor element 19 to a high temperature (for example, 300 to 450 ° C.) for detecting methane gas. Then, after the heating state is continued for a first time T1 (for example, 0.02 to 0.5 seconds), methane gas is detected (see black dots in the figure). Then, the control part H stops supply of the drive power from the internal battery 6a to the heating part, and continues the drive power stop state for the second time T2 (for example, 0.05 to 250 seconds). Next, the control unit H starts to supply driving power from the internal battery 6a to the heating unit, heats the sensor element 19 to a low temperature for CO gas detection (for example, 60 to 200 ° C.), and the heating state Is continued for a third time T3 (for example, 0.05 to 2 seconds), and then CO gas is detected (see black dots in the figure). Then, the control part H stops supply of the drive power from the internal battery 6a to a heating part, and continues the drive power stop state for the 4th time T4 (for example, 0 to 250 seconds). The control unit H repeatedly performs a series of operations of the first time T1, the second time T2, the third time T3, and the fourth time T4, and the gas sensor 3 detects each of methane gas and CO gas.
Incidentally, the supply of driving power from the internal battery 6a to the heating unit can be continued in the second time T2. In this case, in the second time T2, the state where the sensor element 19 is heated to a temperature lower than a low temperature for CO gas detection (for example, 60 to 200 ° C.) is continued.

  As described above, as shown in FIG. 5, the gas sensor 3 is placed in the sensor housing 11 in a short time by disposing the gas sensor 3 so as to face the ventilation portion 4 and making the ventilation portion 4 a simple opening hole. Since the detection target gas can be taken in, the time until the detection target gas can be detected after the supply of driving power to the heating unit of the gas sensor 3 can be shortened. Therefore, for example, detection is performed while suppressing power consumption by increasing the time during which the supply of drive power to the heating unit of the gas sensor 3 is stopped (for example, by extending the time for about 10 seconds as compared with the conventional alarm device). The target gas can be detected, and the life of the internal battery 6a can be extended.

[Another embodiment]
(1) In the above-described embodiment, the gas sensor 3 is exemplified as one in which each of methane gas and CO gas is a detection target gas, but any gas such as one in which one of methane gas or CO gas is a detection target gas. The number of gases to be detected and the number of types of gases to be detected can be changed as appropriate.

( 2 ) In the above embodiment, for example, both the shape of the opening hole of the ventilation portion 4 and the shape of the sensor communication hole 16 of the gas sensor 3 can be rectangular. The shape of the ventilation part 4 and the sensor communication hole 16 can be appropriately changed. Incidentally, although the shape of the opening hole of the ventilation part 4 and the shape of the sensor communication hole 16 of the gas sensor 3 can be different, the gas that has flowed into the storage case 2 is allowed to flow into the sensor housing 11 by using the same shape. Easy to flow into.

( 3 ) In the above embodiment, for example, the sensor element 19 can be formed in an elliptical shape and disposed in the center of the element chamber 14. The shape of the sensor element 19 and the position of the sensor element 19 in the element chamber 14 can be appropriately changed.

( 4 ) In the above embodiment, the storage case 2 can be implemented without the flame sensor 7 and the temperature sensor 8.

  The present invention includes a gas sensor that detects a gas to be detected by power supply from a power supply unit inside the storage case, and forms a ventilation part in the storage case that communicates the outside and the inside of the storage case. It can be applied to various alarm devices that can detect the generation of the detection target gas without delay while preventing malfunction of the circuit due to static electricity when touching the storage case.

Front view of alarm device II-II sectional view of FIG. III-III sectional view of FIG. Control block diagram of alarm device Cross section of gas sensor Timing chart showing power supply status in gas sensor Front view and sectional view of a conventional alarm device FIG. 7 is an enlarged view of the main part of the cross-sectional view

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 2 Storage case 3 Gas sensor 4 Ventilation part 5 Power supply part 6 Built-in battery 11 Sensor housing 13 Intermediate chamber 14 Element room 15 Partition part 16 Sensor communication hole 17 Intermediate communication hole 18 Permeation adsorption part 19 Sensor element

Claims (4)

An alarm device comprising a gas sensor for detecting a gas to be detected by supplying power from a power supply unit inside a storage case, and forming a ventilation part in the storage case for communicating between the outside and the inside of the storage case. ,
The power supply unit includes a built-in battery as a power supply,
The ventilation part is formed by an opening hole penetrating the storage case,
The gas sensor is disposed in contact with the storage case so as to face the ventilation portion,
Furthermore, a sensor element is provided inside the cylindrical sensor housing, and a sensor communication hole is formed in the sensor housing to communicate the outside and the inside of the sensor housing.
The sensor communication hole is formed so as to have an opening area equal to or larger than the opening area of the ventilation portion, and is disposed so as to face the ventilation portion.
Partitioning the internal space of the sensor housing into an intermediate chamber and an element chamber in which the sensor element is disposed by a partition;
The sensor communication hole is provided to communicate between the outside of the sensor housing and the intermediate chamber,
Forming an intermediate communication hole for communicating the intermediate chamber and the element chamber in the partition;
The opening area of the intermediate communication hole is smaller than the opening area of the sensor communication hole,
The intermediate chamber includes a permeation adsorbing portion that allows gas flowing between the sensor communication hole and the intermediate communication hole to pass therethrough and adsorbs gas other than the detection target gas ,
The permeation adsorption unit includes a first permeation adsorption unit that adsorbs a gas other than the detection target gas and a second permeation adsorption unit that adsorbs moisture,
The first permeation adsorption portion is disposed in contact with an inner surface of the sensor housing in which the sensor communication hole is formed,
The second permeation adsorption unit is an alarm device arranged to be adjacent to the first permeation adsorption unit in the flow direction of the gas that has passed through the sensor communication hole . The alarm device according to claim 1, wherein the sensor housing is formed in a bottomed cylindrical shape, and the sensor element is disposed in contact with a base that seals an opening of the sensor housing. The detection target gas alarm device according to claim 1 or 2, methane and carbon monoxide. The gas sensor alarm device according to any one of the detection target gas claim wherein are configured to detect the 1-3 by intermittently supplying the drive power from the power supply unit.

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