JP6543846B2 - Propane gas sales management system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a propane gas sales management system which can supply propane gas to consumers inexpensively and can reliably perform replacement of gas cylinders without missing out.

  In the past, between propane gas consumers and propane gas supply companies, contracts have been made individually for propane gas supply, and a gas meter attached to the gas piping of each household by a meter reader who patrols regularly The guideline value was read and reported to the gas supply company, and the usage fee calculated based on the guideline value data was charged. Moreover, the meter reader checked the remaining amount of the gas cylinder when visiting and reported whether it was necessary to replace the gas cylinder.

  However, since it takes time and labor for the meter reading person to go around each home, there is a problem that it takes a long time for the meter reading operation, and there is also a case where a wrong input occurs and a trouble occurs. Furthermore, there is also a problem that labor cost increases due to the need for a large number of meter readers, which contributes to an increase in the charge for using propane gas.

  Therefore, as shown in Patent Literature 1 to Patent Literature 3, a gas meter attached to gas piping of each consumer and a computer of a gas supplier company are connected via a network, and the amount of gas used is detected on the computer side Various gas management systems have been proposed that can detect gas leaks. Moreover, according to these, it is possible to eliminate the erroneous input of the meter reading person, and also to promote the reduction of the meter reading member.

  However, the systems shown in Patent Documents 1 to 3 are all systems for supplying city gas, and a gas supplier company supplies gas to each consumer continuously through gas piping. That is, it was a system which can not be applied to the propane gas which supplies gas batchwise by a gas cylinder. Therefore, even if it is propane gas that supplies gas in batch mode, the gas supply company can accurately detect the amount of gas used, and propane can be performed reliably without overlooking the replacement time of the gas cylinder. There has been a demand for the development of a gas sales management system.

Patent No. 5583830 gazette Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-140397 JP 2002-288279 A

  The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems, and the gas supply company can accurately detect the amount of gas used, and can also reduce the number of meter reading workers, thereby propane gas for consumers It is an object of the present invention to provide a propane gas sales control system which can supply at low cost and can be reliably performed without overlooking replacement of gas cylinders.

The propane gas sales management system of the present invention according to claim 1 made to solve the above problems is a propane gas sales management system constructed between a propane gas consumer and a propane gas supplier. And
A gas meter attached to each consumer's gas pipe and having a unique ID number, and a host computer on the gas supplier side are connected via a network,
The host computer is
Usage data storage unit for storing gas consumption of each consumer;
A database having a unit price data storage unit for storing a gas unit price set for each consumer;
And data of the usage data storage unit, and a charge calculating means for calculating a charge for each consumer from the data of the unit price data storage unit,
The calculation unit has replacement time calculation means for calculating the replacement time of the gas cylinder of each consumer from the amount of gas used ,
Furthermore, the database has a pipe owner data storage unit that stores information on whether the gas supplier purchases gas piping of each consumer, has a long-term use contract, or whether each consumer owns The unit price of the gas is calculated based on the data of the pipe owner data storage unit .

  According to a preferred embodiment, it is preferable that the gas meter be a smart meter, which is an invention according to claim 2.

Further, according to another preferred embodiment, a gas usage charge calculated by a host computer is connected to the network, and a terminal computer of a collection agency company which manages consumers collectively or manages every group, And, it is preferable that the collection agency company collects usage fees from each consumer by acquiring data of gas cylinder replacement time and that gas cylinder replacement is performed, which is the invention according to claim 3 .

In the invention according to claim 1, a gas meter attached to a gas pipe of each consumer and having a unique ID number and a host computer on the gas supplier side are connected via a network, and the host computer is A database comprising a usage amount data storage unit and a unit price data storage unit, a charge calculation unit for calculating a usage charge of each consumer, and a calculation unit having a replacement timing calculation unit for computing the replacement timing of the gas cylinder Thus, the charge for each consumer can be accurately calculated based on the guideline value of the gas meter, and the replacement time of the gas cylinder can be accurately grasped and the replacement operation can proceed with a margin. Furthermore, the database has a pipe owner data storage unit that stores information as to whether the gas supplier purchases gas piping of each consumer, has a long-term use contract, or is owned by each consumer. In the case where the unit price of gas is calculated based on the data of the piping owner data storage unit, the gas supplier promotes purchasing of gas piping and conclusion of a long-term use contract, and The cost burden of gas piping can be greatly reduced.

  Further, in the invention according to claim 2, since the gas meter is a smart meter, it is possible to reduce the meter-reading operation by the patrol of the meter reader, and it becomes possible to supply the propane gas to the consumer at low cost.

In the invention according to claim 3 , a terminal charge of a collection agency company which manages consumers collectively or manages every group is connected to a network, and a gas usage charge calculated by a host computer, and a gas cylinder If the collection agency company collects usage fees from each consumer and obtains gas cylinder replacement by obtaining data on the replacement time of the gas supplier, the gas supplier contracts with each consumer individually. Instead, it is possible to reduce the cost of purchasing gas and reduce the basic charge and the unit price of gas by making a large contract with a collection agency.

It is a figure showing the system configuration concerning one embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows one configuration of a propane gas sales management system of the present invention. In the figure, 1 is a gas meter attached to a gas pipe of a propane gas consumer, 2 is a host computer on the gas supplier side, 3 is a network comprising an internet circuit or a telephone circuit connecting the gas meter 1 and the host computer 2 It is.

  The gas meter 1 may be a conventional analog type in which a reading person reads a guideline value and reports it to a gas supply company, but uses a smart meter having a function of measuring the amount of gas used digitally and automatically communicating the signal. It is more preferable from the point of the reduction of a meter reading person and the prevention of an incorrect input. The gas meter 1 has a unique ID number of each consumer.

The gas meter 1 and a host computer 2 on the gas supplier side are connected via a network 3. The host computer 2 is configured to include a database 4 and an operation unit 5.
The database 4 includes a usage data storage unit 4a for storing the usage of gas of each consumer managed by the unique ID number, and a unit price data storage unit for storing the gas unit price set for each consumer. It has 4b. The usage data storage unit 4a stores gas usage data represented by the difference between the current month's index value of the gas meter 1 and the last month's index value, and the unit price data storage section 4b stores each consumption This unit is a part that stores unit price data such as gas unit prices and basic usage charges set based on the contents of individual contract with the person.

  In addition, the database 4 includes a pipe owner data storage unit 4c. The pipe owner data storage unit 4c is a part for storing information as to whether the gas supplier purchases the gas pipe of each consumer, has a long-term use contract, or is owned by each consumer. As will be described later, the unit price of gas of each consumer can be calculated finely, in consideration of the data of the pipe owner data storage unit 4c.

The calculation unit 5, the data of the usage data storage unit 4a, a charge calculating unit 5a for calculating a charge for each consumer from the data of the unit price data storage unit 4b, of each consumer from the use of the gas It has the exchange time calculation means 5b which calculates the exchange time of a gas cylinder.
The charge calculation means 5a calculates the gas usage charge for this month by multiplying the gas usage amount for this month obtained from the meter reading of the gas meter 1 by the unit price data set for each consumer in principle. Further, the replacement timing calculation means 5b predicts and calculates the next gas cylinder replacement timing from the average gas usage data of each consumer, the remaining data of gas cylinders, and the like.
The value calculated by the calculation unit 5 is also stored in the storage unit (not shown) in the database 4 as gas charge data and gas cylinder replacement time data for each consumer.

  In such a configuration, the pointer value of the gas meter 1 attached to the gas pipe of each consumer and having a unique ID number is read by the periodically-read meter, and the data is transmitted through the network 3 It is sent to the host computer 2 on the supplier side. When the gas meter 1 is a smart meter, the pointer value or the amount of used gas is automatically transmitted to the host computer 2.

Next, the gas consumption of each consumer is calculated based on the transmitted pointer data, and the data is stored in the usage data storage unit 4a. On the other hand, the database 4 has a unit price data storage unit 4b for storing a gas unit price set for each consumer, and a charge is calculated from the data of the usage data storage unit 4a and the data of the unit price data storage unit 4b. The charge for each consumer is calculated by the calculation means 5a.

  In addition, the database has a pipe owner data storage unit 4c that stores information on whether the gas supplier purchases gas piping of each consumer, has a long-term use contract, or holds each consumer. In the case where the gas piping is purchased, for example, the condition that the unit price is low is taken into consideration, and the gas unit price for each consumer is calculated based on the data of the piping owner data storage unit 4c. The Rukoto. Thereby, the gas unit price of each consumer can be calculated finely. Furthermore, the gas supplier promotes purchase of gas piping and the conclusion of a long-term use contract to reduce the cost burden of gas piping for each consumer, and the gas unit price is reduced by centralized management of gas piping by the gas supplier. Can be promoted.

  At the same time, the gas remaining amount of the gas cylinder is calculated from the gas used amount of each consumer, and the next gas cylinder replacement time is predicted and calculated from the remaining amount data of this gas cylinder and the average gas used amount data of each consumer. Ru. Since the gas supplier can grasp the gas cylinder replacement time of each consumer in advance based on the data of the gas cylinder replacement time, the gas cylinder replacement work can be performed systematically.

The gas supplier charges the gas usage charge to each consumer based on the calculation result of the host computer 2 and performs a gas cylinder replacement operation.
Further, it is possible to connect to the network 3 a terminal computer 6 of a collection agency company which manages consumers collectively, or to connect a terminal computer 6 of a collection agency company which manages each group for each area. In this case, after the collection agency company obtains from the network 3 the data on the gas usage fee calculated by the host computer 2 and the replacement time of the gas cylinder, the collection agency company collects and collects usage fees from each consumer. The amount may be paid to the gas supplier and the gas cylinder may be replaced.
Thereby, the gas supplier can stop the individual contract with each consumer, and can make it a large contract with the collection agency company, reduce the gas basic charge and the gas unit price, and supply the propane gas to the consumer. Can be done cheaply.

As apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, the gas meter attached to the gas pipe of each consumer and the host computer on the gas supplier side are connected via the network, and the host computer is a gas A database having a usage data storage unit for storing usage amounts of gas, a unit price data storage unit for storing gas unit prices, charge calculation means for calculating usage charges for each consumer, and replacement time for calculating replacement time of gas cylinders Since this system is a propane gas sales control system provided with a calculation unit having calculation means, the gas supply company side can accurately detect the amount of gas used even if it is propane gas that performs replacement work of gas cylinders batchwise. In addition, it can be done reliably without overlooking the replacement time of the gas cylinder.
Therefore, as providing a new propane gas sales management system, it contributes greatly to the development of the industry.

Reference Signs List 1 gas meter 2 host computer 3 network 4 database 4a usage amount data storage unit 4b unit price data storage unit 4c piping owner data 5 calculation unit 5a charge calculation unit 5b replacement time calculation unit 6 terminal computer

Claims (3)

What is claimed is: 1. A sales management system for propane gas constructed between a propane gas consumer and a propane gas supplier,
A gas meter attached to each consumer's gas pipe and having a unique ID number, and a host computer on the gas supplier side are connected via a network,
The host computer is
Usage data storage unit for storing gas consumption of each consumer;
A database having a unit price data storage unit for storing a gas unit price set for each consumer;
And data of the usage data storage unit, and a charge calculating means for calculating a charge for each consumer from the data of the unit price data storage unit,
The calculation unit has replacement time calculation means for calculating the replacement time of the gas cylinder of each consumer from the amount of gas used ,
Furthermore, the database has a pipe owner data storage unit that stores information on whether the gas supplier purchases gas piping of each consumer, has a long-term use contract, or whether each consumer owns A propane gas sales management system characterized in that the unit price of gas is calculated based on the data of the piping owner data storage unit .   The propane gas sales management system according to claim 1, wherein the gas meter is a smart meter.   Connect a terminal computer of a collection agency company that manages consumers collectively or group by group to the network, and obtain data on gas usage rates calculated by the host computer and gas cylinder replacement time, The propane gas sales management system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the collection agent company collects usage charges from each consumer and performs replacement of gas cylinders.

Images