JP5522609B2 - Gas shut-off device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention monitors the usage time and gas usage of a gas appliance as a gas supply destination, and based on the fact that a preset cutoff condition is achieved, the gas stop that shuts off the gas supply by closing the cutoff valve The present invention relates to a gas shut-off device provided with a control means.

  In recent years, in gas gas and LP gas supply systems, a gas meter (main house) uses a microcomputer meter mainly composed of a microcomputer, and gas that has started to be used based on the detected gas flow rate, gas pressure, etc. A device is specified, it is determined whether it is a new device, or the use state is monitored (for example, refer to Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent No. 3490064

  However, even if it can discriminate | determine the gas appliance in use like the invention of the said patent document 1, it cannot be said that the efficient gas management is performed using the apparatus information effectively. For example, in households with small instantaneous water heaters such as No. 4 or No. 5, it is necessary for the gas company to confirm the installation and manually limit the cut-off time from 160 minutes to 20 minutes with a setting device etc. When gas baths belonging to the same flow rate category are installed, it is often used beyond the upper limit of 20 minutes, which is the upper limit use time of a small instantaneous water heater, and it is difficult to limit the time There are many. In such a case, if the usage time can be flexibly managed for each operating gas appliance, the danger of using a small instantaneous water heater is avoided and the convenience of gas use is not impaired.

  Furthermore, in households that have installed a household fuel cell cogeneration system such as ENE-FARM (registered trademark), since gas is frequently used for power generation, it is usually set as the number of days for determining minor leaks. On the 15th, an appropriate determination cannot be made, and there is a possibility that an erroneous determination of gas leakage is made.

  In recent years, microcomputer meters that adjust the upper limit of the amount of gas used and the amount of increase to the optimum values by the learning function have become popular, but the gas shut-off device built into the microcomputer meter is used for the learning function. May malfunction. For example, if the season changes from summer, when gas usage is low, to autumn / winter, and the temperature suddenly gets cold, the gas usage will increase rapidly. Does not function effectively and the gas is shut off. After the gas is shut off, it is necessary for the gas sales company or the like to change the set value to the upper limit value so that the gas shut-off does not occur, and the gas dealer or the like is forced to perform complicated work.

  In addition, in the invention described in Patent Document 1, since the gas appliance in use can be specified, if one gas appliance is used and CO is generated (the gas leak / CO alarm alarm is provided). However, if it is estimated that the gas appliance is the cause, but CO is generated when a plurality of gas appliances are in use, the cause device cannot be specified.

  The present invention has been proposed in view of the above, and a gas shut-off device that prevents dangerous continuous use of a gas appliance, effectively avoids gas shut-off due to misjudgment, and does not impair the convenience of using the gas appliance. The purpose is to provide.

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 monitors the usage time and gas usage of the gas appliance of the gas supply destination, and shuts off based on the fact that a preset cutoff condition is achieved. In a gas shut-off device comprising a gas stop control means for shutting off the gas supply by closing the valve, a gas flow rate detecting means for detecting a gas flow rate supplied to the gas appliance, and a flow rate change for determining a change mode of the gas flow rate A flow rate change mode calculated by the mode calculation unit, a device characteristic storage unit that stores in advance a specific flow rate change that appears for each gas device to which gas is supplied as a characteristic of the gas device, and the flow rate change mode calculation unit And the gas appliance discriminating means for discriminating the gas appliance being used based on the appliance characteristics stored in the appliance characteristic storage means, and the gas appliance discriminating means. Based on the type of scan instrument sets the use condition to continue using the gas appliance, and use conditions change control means for changing the cut-off condition in which the gas stop control means used, is determined by the gas appliance determination unit When the operation history for each gas appliance is individually monitored and the amount of CO generated from the gas leak / CO alarm installed in the house reaches the precautionary standard area, which is the stage before reaching the predetermined danger area The preventive alarm control that informs that it is in the previous stage of the dangerous state is performed, and the gas appliance that has been operating when the CO generation amount reaches the preventive reference area from the operation history when the preventive alarm control is performed. And operating equipment monitoring means for leaving an occurrence factor history indicating that the identified gas appliance is suspected of being a risk factor device .

  The invention according to claim 2 is the gas shut-off device according to claim 1, wherein the use condition change control means is such that the gas appliance determined by the gas appliance determination means is a small instantaneous water heater. In this case, the continuous use time is changed to a danger avoidance time set shorter than a normal upper limit time.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the gas shut-off device according to the first or second aspect, the use condition change control means is configured such that the gas appliance discriminated by the gas appliance discriminating means is a household fuel. In the case of a battery cogeneration system, the number of days for determining minor leakage is changed to the number of days for preventing erroneous determination that is set longer than the normal upper limit days.

  The invention according to claim 4 is the gas shutoff device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the use condition change control means is a gas appliance discriminated by the gas appliance discriminating means. In the case of a seasonal gas consuming device that has not been used for a long time, both the currently set upper limit value of gas use and upper limit value of gas increase are returned to the original upper limit value.

Further, the invention according to claim 5 is the gas shut-off device according to claim 4, wherein the use condition change control means monitors the use status of the newly detected seasonal gas consuming equipment, and averages the results. By learning the typical gas usage and increase amount, the gas usage upper limit value and gas increase upper limit value that are changed to the maximum upper limit value corresponding to the seasonal gas consuming equipment can be changed according to the original usage situation. It is characterized in that it is changed from time to time .

According to the gas cutoff apparatus according to claim 1, it becomes the changes flexible use conditions is performed according to the gas appliance being used, while preventing hazardous continued use of the gas appliance, the gas by misjudgment The blockage is effectively avoided and the convenience of using the gas appliance is not impaired. In addition, it is possible to alert gas appliance users, etc., before the CO generation situation becomes dangerous, and the gas that is always in operation when the CO generation amount reaches the preventive reference range By confirming the appliance from the generation factor history, the gas appliance that is the CO generation source can be easily identified.

Further, according to the gas cutoff apparatus according to claim 2, by gas appliances that use is if a small instantaneous water heaters, it changes the setting to the optimal use time, with improper use state A small instantaneous water heater in which a CO accident is a concern can be used safely.

Further, according to the gas cutoff apparatus according to claim 3, in households with access to the fuel cell cogeneration system for household, often small leakage is erroneously detected, bothered gas sales company or the like is released work Can be suppressed.

Further, according to the gas cutoff apparatus according to claim 4, effectively avoid erroneous interruption at the start of use of seasonal gas consuming device occurs.

Further, according to the gas cutoff apparatus according to claim 5, it can be realized safe management in accordance with the use of seasonal gas consuming device.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a gas supply system to which a gas cutoff device according to the present invention is applied. It is a functional block diagram showing an embodiment of a gas shut-off device concerning the present invention.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a gas supply system to which a gas shutoff device according to the present invention can be applied. In FIG. 1, a gas supply system to which the present invention is applied is provided in the middle of a gas pipe 20, a gas supply destination 30 to which gas is supplied by the gas pipe 20, and before the gas supply destination 30. The microcomputer meter 1 is provided. The gas supply destination 30 is, for example, a general house or an apartment house.

  The gas pipe 20 is branched to various gas appliances used at the gas supply destination 30. For example, the gas pipe 20 is branched and connected to a household fuel cell cogeneration system 31 installed outdoors, a small instantaneous water heater 32, a gas stove 33, and a gas fan heater 34 installed indoors.

  The microcomputer meter 1 is a device that manages the gas usage state at the gas supply destination 30 based on the detected gas flow rate and the like, and includes a control unit 10, a flow rate sensor 2, a shutoff valve 3, and an LCD display unit 4. Yes. With this microcomputer meter 1, the gas cutoff device according to the present invention is realized.

  The microcomputer meter 1 is provided for each gas supply destination 30, and each microcomputer meter 1 is connected to the central monitoring center 5 via a telephone line or the like. The information is transmitted to the monitoring center 5, and the centralized monitoring center 5 performs an appropriate response to the gas supply destination 30 based on the information.

  The control unit 10 is configured with a microcomputer as the center, and uses the gas at the gas supply destination 30 based on the gas flow rate detected by the flow rate sensor 2 and the gas pressure detected by the pressure sensor (not shown). The state is estimated, and it is determined whether or not the gas is properly used at the gas supply destination 30.

  For example, the control unit 10 uses the flow sensor 2 to detect the flow rate of a gas such as city gas or LPG that passes through the gas pipe 20 in the microcomputer meter 1. Here, the flow sensor 2 is composed of, for example, an ultrasonic sensor installed in a gas pipe 20 that penetrates the microcomputer meter 1, and a first transmitter / receiver that transmits or receives ultrasonic waves and a second transmitter / receiver that receives or transmits ultrasonic waves. Are arranged in opposition to the flow direction, and transmit ultrasonic signals from upstream to downstream and from downstream to upstream at predetermined intervals, and the control unit 10 receives the signals and measures the propagation time. Then, the instantaneous flow rate value is obtained from the ultrasonic wave propagation time difference between the first transmitter / receiver and the second transmitter / receiver in consideration of the cross-sectional area of the flow path and the fluid flow state, and the integrated flow rate value is obtained.

  Further, the control unit 10 estimates the gas usage state at the gas supply destination 30 and outputs a control signal to the shut-off valve 3 when it is determined that an abnormality such as gas leakage has occurred at the gas supply destination 30. The shutoff valve 3 is closed to shut off the gas supply.

  The LCD display unit 4 displays the integrated value of the gas flow rate obtained by the control unit 10, displays various determination results made by the control unit 10, and notifies the gas user.

  The gas shut-off device of the present invention is configured around a microcomputer of the control unit 10 and includes a software function that operates the CPU in accordance with a program according to the present invention stored in a ROM.

  FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing an embodiment of the gas cutoff device according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, the gas shut-off device 100 operates the shut-off valve 3 in response to the occurrence of gas leakage, CO generation, etc., and stops the gas supply. Means 12, gas appliance discrimination means 13, appliance characteristic storage means 14, appliance information input means 14a, usage condition change control means 15, operating appliance monitoring means 16, gas stop control means 17, usage flow rate monitoring means 18, and notification communication means 19.

  When the gas appliance at the gas supply destination 30 is ignited and the use thereof is started, the gas flow rate detection means 11 determines the flow rate of the gas supplied to the gas appliance based on the signal from the flow sensor 2. To detect.

  The flow rate change mode calculation means 12 is supplied to the gas appliance that has started to be used this time, and obtains the flow rate change mode of the supplied gas from the gas flow rate detected by the gas flow rate detection means 11. Since this flow rate change mode exhibits unique characteristics for each gas appliance, the gas appliance discriminating means 13 stores in advance the inherent flow rate change that appears for each gas appliance as the characteristics of the gas appliance. The gas appliance characteristics are read from the storage means 14, the matching between the change pattern and the change pattern supplied from the flow rate change mode calculation means 12 is determined, and the type of the gas appliance that has started to be used this time is specified.

  In addition, when there is no appliance corresponding to the flow rate change pattern stored in advance in the appliance identification storage means 14, it may be registered as a new gas appliance and learned. If it is possible to identify an unknown gas appliance by accessing an external database, the safe use conditions of the new gas appliance can be quickly identified. Reliability can be increased.

  Further, the gas shut-off device 100 shown in FIG. 2 is provided with instrument information input means 14a capable of inputting gas instrument information by a simple method such as barcode reading, and the instrument information input from the instrument information input means 14a is instrumented. Since it can be stored in the characteristic storage means 14, when a gas appliance is newly introduced, if the appliance information is always input using the appliance information input means 14a, a specific manufacturer name of the gas appliance・ Model number, use start date, etc. can be managed by the instrument characteristic storage means 14, and even when multiple gas instruments of the same type are used at the gas supply destination 30, the malfunctioning gas instrument is identified. It is easy to use, and it can also be used for prior confirmation of dangerous gas appliances that have been used beyond their useful lives and for searching for products to be recalled.

  As described above, the information on the gas appliance discriminated by the gas appliance discriminating unit 13 is supplied to the use condition change control unit 15 and the operating appliance monitoring unit 16.

  First, in the use condition change control means 15, based on the type of gas appliance discriminated by the gas appliance discriminating means 13, a use condition for continuously using the gas appliance is set and used by the gas stop control means 17. Change the blocking condition. Therefore, in the gas shut-off device 100, flexible use conditions are changed according to the gas appliance being used, and effective gas shut-off due to misjudgment is prevented while preventing dangerous continued use of the gas appliance. Therefore, the convenience of using the gas appliance is not impaired.

  The gas stop control means 17 that performs control for closing the shutoff valve 3 when a predetermined shutoff condition is satisfied is supplied with information such as a total gas flow rate and an increased flow rate from the use flow rate monitoring means 18. Based on this information, the gas stop control means 17 autonomously determines the success or failure of all the set cutoff conditions, and the use condition change control means 15 is used only by the gas stop control means 17. It is intended to change part or all of the use conditions of the gas appliances that are in the cutoff condition.

  More specifically, when the gas appliance discriminated by the gas appliance discriminating means 13 is a small instantaneous water heater 32 such as No. 4 or No. 5, the continuous use time is set to a normal upper limit time (for example, 160 minutes). The gas stop control means 17 is instructed to change to a danger avoidance time (for example, 20 minutes) that is shorter than (). As a result, if the gas appliance being used is a small instantaneous water heater 32, the setting is changed to an optimum use time, and monitoring by the gas stop control means 17 (the continuous use time of the small instantaneous water heater 32 is Monitoring), the small instantaneous water heater 32 that is concerned about the occurrence of a CO accident in an inappropriate use state can be used safely. In addition, when the gas stop control means 17 closes the shut-off valve 3 based on the establishment of the shut-off condition, the gas shut-off is generated to the display in the house via the notification communication means 19 that the gas shut-off has occurred. Display or notify the distant centralized monitoring center 5 of the occurrence of gas interruption.

  If the gas appliance discriminated by the gas appliance discriminating means 13 is the household fuel cell cogeneration system 31, the misjudgment in which the minute leakage judgment days are set longer than the normal upper limit days (for example, 15 days). The gas stop control means 17 is instructed to change to the prevention days (for example, 30 days). As a result, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of frequent misdetection of micro-leakage in a household using the household fuel cell cogeneration system 31 and the trouble of the gas sales business operator in the release operation.

  Further, when the gas appliance discriminated by the gas appliance discriminating means 13 is the gas fan heater 34 which is a seasonal gas consuming device that has not been used for a long time, the currently set gas use upper limit value (the upper limit of the total flow rate) Value) and the gas increase upper limit value (upper limit value of the increased flow rate) are instructed to the gas stop control means 17 to return to the original maximum limit value. Thereby, when the gas fan heater 34 is started to be used after a non-use period of about six months, it is possible to effectively avoid a situation in which the shutoff valve 3 is closed due to an erroneous shutoff.

  In addition, when the gas fan heater 34 is started to be used, when the total flow rate value and the increased flow rate value of the shut-off conditions used by the gas stop control unit 17 are changed to the upper limit, the appropriate gas fan heater 34 is used. It is not preferable for the safety management of the gas to continue the judgment of the cutoff condition with the upper limit value exceeding the gas consumption, so that the use condition change control means 15 has the learning function adopted by the existing microcomputer meter. Anyway. For example, by monitoring the usage status of the gas fan heater 34 detected as a new gas appliance and learning the average gas usage and increase amount, the total flow rate and increase corresponding to the gas fan heater 34 are learned. An increase / decrease value of the flow rate is newly set, and this is instructed to the gas stop control means 17. Thereby, since it can change at any time to each upper limit according to the actual use situation of gas fan heater 34, safe management according to use of seasonal gas consumption equipment, such as gas fan heater 34, is realizable. Such a learning function may be provided to the gas stop control means 17.

  On the other hand, the operating equipment monitoring means 16 to which the information of the gas equipment discriminated by the gas equipment discriminating means 13 is supplied individually monitors the operation history for each gas equipment, and the CO generation amount at the gas supply destination 30 is determined in advance. When a dangerous area (for example, 250 to 550 ppm) is reached, a notification signal is output to the communication means 19 for notification in order to notify the dangerous state, and a display for prompting ventilation is given on the in-home display or a warning sound is generated. In addition, to the communication means 19 for alerting in order to call attention also when the prevention reference | standard area | region (for example, arbitrary numerical values of 30-249 ppm) before the amount of CO generation reaches a dangerous area is reached. A notification signal is output and preventive notification is performed by a home indicator. Therefore, it is possible to alert a gas appliance user or the like before the CO generation state becomes a dangerous state.

  Further, the operating equipment monitoring means 16 is a risk factor that is a cause of gas or CO with respect to the gas equipment that has been operating when receiving an alarm signal from the gas leak / CO alarm device 35 disposed in the house. Since the generation factor history indicating that the device is suspected is left, it is possible to easily identify the gas leak or CO gas source gas appliance from the generation factor history. In addition, when the CO generation amount reaches the prevention reference area by keeping the generation factor history for the gas appliances that were operating when the CO generation amount at the gas supply destination 30 reached the prevention reference area By confirming the gas appliance that is always in operation from the generation factor history, the gas appliance that is the CO generation source can be easily identified. The alarm from the gas leak / CO alarm device 35 is also supplied to the gas stop control means 17 via the operating equipment monitoring means 16, and the gas stop control means 17 that has received this closes the shut-off valve 3, Cut off the leak immediately.

  As mentioned above, although the gas interruption | blocking apparatus of this invention was demonstrated based on embodiment, the inclusion range of this invention is not limited to this embodiment, Even if it implement | achieves by diverting a well-known existing method suitably. I do not care.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Microcomputer meter 2 Flow sensor 3 Shut-off valve 4 LCD display part 5 Centralized monitoring center 10 Control part 11 Gas flow rate detection means 12 Flow rate change mode calculation means 13 Gas appliance discrimination means 14 Appliance characteristic storage means 14a Appliance information input means 15 Usage condition change Control means 16 Operating equipment monitoring means 17 Gas stop control means 18 Used flow rate monitoring means 19 Notification communication means 20 Gas piping 30 Gas supply destination 31 Domestic fuel cell cogeneration system 32 Small instantaneous water heater 33 Gas stove 34 Gas fan heater 35 Gas leak / CO alarm

Claims (5)

Gas stop control means for closing the shutoff valve and shutting off the gas supply based on monitoring the usage time and gas usage of the gas appliance at the gas supply destination and achieving a preset shutoff condition In the gas shut-off device
A gas flow rate detection means for detecting a gas flow rate supplied to the gas appliance;
A flow rate change mode calculating means for obtaining a change mode of the gas flow rate;
Instrument characteristic storage means for storing in advance the inherent flow rate change that appears for each gas instrument to which gas is supplied, as the characteristics of the gas instrument;
A gas appliance discriminating means for discriminating a gas appliance being used based on the flow rate change mode calculated by the flow rate change mode calculating means and the appliance characteristics stored in the appliance characteristic storage means;
Based on the type of gas appliance discriminated by the gas appliance discriminating means, use condition change control means for setting a use condition for continuous use of the gas appliance and changing the cutoff condition used by the gas stop control means; ,
The operation history of each gas appliance discriminated by the gas appliance discriminating means is individually monitored, and in a stage before the amount of CO generated supplied from the gas leak / CO alarm set in the home reaches a predetermined danger area When a certain preventive reference area is reached, preventive alarm control is performed to report that it is in the previous stage of a dangerous state, and when the CO generation amount reaches the preventive reference area from the operation history when the preventive alarm control is performed A working appliance monitoring means for identifying a gas appliance that has been in operation and leaving an occurrence factor history indicating that the identified gas appliance is suspected of being a risk factor device,
A gas shut-off device comprising:   When the gas appliance discriminated by the gas appliance discriminating means is a small instantaneous water heater, the use condition change control means changes the continuous use time to a danger avoidance time set shorter than a normal upper limit time. The gas shut-off device according to claim 1, wherein   When the gas appliance discriminated by the gas appliance discriminating means is a household fuel cell cogeneration system, the use condition change control means is configured to prevent misjudgment days by setting the minute leakage judgment days longer than the normal upper limit days. The gas shut-off device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the gas shut-off device is changed to.   When the gas appliance discriminated by the gas appliance discriminating means is a seasonal gas consuming appliance that has not been used for a long time, the use condition change control means is configured to use a gas use upper limit value and a gas increase upper limit value that are currently set. The gas shut-off device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein both are returned to their original upper limit values. The above usage condition change control means monitors the usage status of newly detected seasonal gas consuming equipment, and learns the average gas usage and increase amount to cope with the seasonal gas consuming equipment. The gas shutoff device according to claim 4, wherein the gas use upper limit value and the gas increase upper limit value that are changed to the maximum upper limit value are changed to the respective upper limit values according to the original use situation at any time .

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