JP7178589B2 - Gas meter management system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a gas meter management system comprising a gas meter, a terminal device and a center device.

Gas meters in recent years have a function of shutting off gas to prevent gas leakage or the like when it is determined that the measured flow rate is abnormal or when an earthquake exceeding a predetermined level is detected. Then, by performing a predetermined operation with a return operation switch provided in the gas meter, the cutoff is canceled and the use of gas can be resumed.

In addition, depending on the reason for the shutdown, the user can perform a restoration operation to restore the shutdown. By displaying the restoration procedure on the in-home display device, the number of inquiries to the operator can be reduced. is proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Furthermore, it has been proposed to display the shutdown event and the restoration procedure on a portable terminal such as a smart phone without having to operate the restoration operation switch of the gas meter, and to perform shutdown restoration by operating the restoration button of the portable terminal. (See, for example, Patent Document 2).

JP-A-11-230807 JP 2014-149279 A

However, there are various factors that cause the disconnection, and there may be situations where it is not desirable for the user to perform the return operation without knowing the factors leading to the disconnection. Therefore, if the cause of the disconnection cannot be identified from the disconnection information from the gas meter alone, it may not be possible to respond by simply displaying the recovery procedure on the communication terminal according to the predetermined conditions, as in the conventional method. had to respond by telephone, etc.

In addition, even if the user knows how to perform the recovery operation, they may be worried about whether there is a gas leak, etc., and may contact the business operator. was not effective.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is intended to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and aims to provide a gas meter management system that can reduce the need for business operators to respond by telephone, etc., by assisting the user's shut-off and return operation with a terminal device. aim.

In order to solve the above conventional problems, the gas meter management system of the present invention comprises a gas meter, a center device that communicates with the gas meter, and a terminal device that can communicate with the center device. and transmitting a reason for shutdown to the terminal device when shutdown information is received from the gas meter, the terminal device displays a question about the reason for shutdown, and displays a coping method based on an input of an answer to the question. It is characterized.

As a result, the user can determine whether recovery is possible by answering the question displayed on the terminal device. It is possible to reduce correspondence by telephone or the like.

According to the gas meter management system of the present invention, it is possible to reduce the response by the business operator by telephone or the like when the gas meter is shut down and restored.

1 is a configuration diagram showing a gas meter management system according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention; FIG. A diagram showing a display example of a terminal device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention Flowchart for explaining contents of correspondence by questions and answers in Embodiment 1 of the present invention A diagram showing a display example of the center device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention A diagram showing a display example of the center device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention A diagram showing a display example of the center device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention

A first invention comprises a gas meter, a center device that communicates with the gas meter, and a terminal device that can communicate with the center device. The reason for the interruption is transmitted to the terminal device, the terminal device displays a question about the reason for the interruption, and the coping method is displayed based on the input of the answer to the question, and the user displays it on the terminal device. By answering the questions asked, it is possible to judge whether recovery is possible, so if the user can recover from the shutdown, there is no need to contact the business operator by telephone, etc., so the business operator's response by telephone can be reduced. It becomes possible.

In a second invention, in the first invention, the terminal device determines whether or not the blocking can be canceled based on the answer to the question, and if it can be determined that the blocking can be canceled, the recovery procedure is displayed as a coping method. It is characterized.

In a third invention based on the first or second invention, when the center device receives the identification code of the gas meter from the terminal device after receiving the shutdown information from the gas meter, the center device notifies the terminal device of the reason for shutdown. It is characterized by transmitting.

In a third invention, in any one of the first to third inventions, when the center device receives cutoff information from the gas meter, the center device acquires information for specifying a cause of the cutoff from the gas meter. It is characterized.

Hereinafter, embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, more detailed description than necessary may be omitted. For example, detailed descriptions of well-known matters or redundant descriptions of substantially the same configurations may be omitted.

It should be noted that the accompanying drawings and the following description are provided to allow those skilled in the art to fully understand the present disclosure and are not intended to limit the claimed subject matter thereby.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing the gas meter management system of this embodiment. In FIG. 1, the gas meter management system 1 comprises a central device 100, a gas meter 200, and a terminal device 300. As shown in FIG.

The center device 100 and the gas meter 200 are communicably connected via a communication path A using a telephone line, radio, the Internet, etc. It manages the gas meter 200 by acquiring information such as shutdown through communication.

A gas meter 200 is installed in each user's home, and various gas appliances such as a gas fan heater 201 and a water heater 202 are connected downstream of the gas meter 200 . In addition, in FIG. 1, only the gas meter of user A's home is illustrated among the gas meters.

The terminal device 300 is configured to be able to acquire shut-off information and recovery method of the gas meter 200 by communicating with the center device 100 via the communication path B. For example, the terminal device 300 is a mobile terminal such as a smart phone owned by the user A. .

When the gas meter 200 detects an abnormality in gas usage or detects an earthquake, first, the gas meter 200 transmits the gas cut-off and the reason for the cut-off to the center device 100 via the communication path A. stored in

After the shutdown occurs, when user A operates terminal device 300 to transmit the unique identification code of gas meter 200 to center device 100, center device 100 transmits the shutdown information received from gas meter 200 to the terminal device. 300 , the terminal device 300 can acquire the shutdown information from the gas meter 200 .

Input of the unique identification code of the gas meter 200 is limited to a method of reading a QR code (registered trademark) or barcode attached to the main body of the gas meter 200 with the terminal device 300, or a method of inputting a serial number. no. It is also assumed that the unique identification code of the gas meter 200 is registered in the center device 100 when the gas meter 200 is installed, and is associated with the user's house where the gas meter 200 is installed.

Next, the display and operation of terminal device 300 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 shows an example of the display contents on the display unit 301 of the terminal device 300. The identification code display 302 of the gas meter 200, the name display 303 of the user A obtained through communication with the center device 100, and the reason for the shutdown are shown in FIG. 304, a summary display 305 of probable factors, and a display 306 to the effect that an answer to the question for returning is necessary. When the user answers, the user clicks an icon 307 of "answer". By doing so, the screen shifts to a screen for questions and answers, which will be described later.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing an example of response contents based on questions and answers. As a cutoff due to an excessive flow of gas, the total flow cutoff provided in the gas meter 200 (when a rubber hose comes off or an abnormality causes gas consumption) is shown. 10 shows a flow chart for narrowing down the cause of the shutdown and determining whether or not to restore by asking and answering questions corresponding to shutdown) and increased flow shutdown (shutdown due to an abnormal flow rate such as a sudden increase in gas usage).

First, question (1) asks whether gas appliances were being used (S100), and if Yes, question (2) asks whether multiple gas appliances were used (S101), If No, that is, if only one gas appliance was being used, an instruction is given to turn off the main valve of the gas appliance being used (S102), and possible causes are displayed (S103), after which the system returns to normal. is displayed (S104).

If a plurality of gas appliances were being used (Yes in S101), an instruction to turn off the main valve of the gas appliance being used is given (S111), and possible causes are displayed (S11
2) After that, the recovery procedure according to the specifications of the installed gas meter is displayed (S104).

If the gas appliance is not used (No in S100), the question (3) is asked whether the gas hose is correctly attached (S113). After urging ventilation (S114) and giving an instruction to attach the gas hose correctly (S115), the recovery procedure is displayed (S104).

If the question in processing S113 indicates that the gas hose is correctly attached, it is determined that the user cannot handle the disconnection, and ventilation is urged (S116), and an instruction to close the main gas valve is issued (S117). Further, after the possible factors are displayed (S118), as a countermeasure, a message to the effect that the person in charge of service will be contacted is displayed (S118), and the person in charge of service is contacted (S110).

After the procedure of the return operation is displayed by the process S104, it is checked whether the return was performed normally (S105), and if the return is completed, the question is terminated as the return is completed (S107), and the return is not completed. In this case, the recovery operation (S104) and confirmation of recovery completion (S105) are performed again. If recovery is not completed even after performing the recovery operation a predetermined number of times (Yes in S108), it is determined that recovery is not possible, and the person in charge of service. Display to the effect that contact is made (S109), and contact the person in charge of service (S110).

The contact to the service staff is made by the center device 100 through communication from the terminal device 300 to the center device 100 . The service representative means a propane gas store such as a fuel store, or in the case of city gas, a business operator or its service company, and means a contact person who visits the user's home and deals with it.

Next, the display on terminal device 300 will be described with reference to FIGS. 4A, 4B, and 4C. FIG. 4A is an example of a question and answer display screen after "answer" in FIG. 2, and shows display transitions according to the question and answer flow shown in FIG.

As shown in Figure 4A, question (1) "Did you use gas appliances?", Question (2) "Were you using multiple gas appliances?" Based on the answer to the question, the corresponding methods are displayed as corresponding (1), corresponding (2), corresponding (3), and corresponding (4). While watching, it is possible to respond to return. If recovery cannot be performed by one recovery operation, the display of countermeasure 5 in FIG. 4B is performed, and the recovery operation is performed again. The person in charge will be contacted.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 4C, question (1), question (2), and question (3) are displayed on one screen to select an answer. User-friendliness is improved by transitioning to the display of (4).

In this embodiment, an example of shutting down due to an excessive flow of gas was shown as an example corresponding to questions (1) to (3). There are continuous use time cutoff, external sensor cutoff linked to sensors such as alarms, etc. By incorporating questions and coping methods corresponding to each as a program of the terminal device 300, the questions of the terminal device 300 and the answers of the user , can be made available. By updating this program through communication with the center device 100, it is possible to deal with new interruption events.

Further, in the present embodiment, the terminal device 300 acquires cutoff information from the center device 100 via the communication path B shown in FIG. You can make it work.

The questions and coping methods are not incorporated into the terminal device 300 in advance as a program, and the terminal device 300 communicates with the center device 100 so as to transmit answers to questions received from the center device 100 to the center device 100. It goes without saying that it is also good.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the terminal device 300 is used by the user to perform the shut-off/return operation in the form of questions and answers. can be reduced. In addition, the user can know the cause of the cutoff, and can safely cut off and restore the gas.

As described above, the gas meter management system according to the present invention can also be applied to an automatic meter reading system comprising a gas meter, a center device, and a terminal device.

1 gas meter management system 100 center device 200 gas meter 300 terminal device

Claims (4)

a gas meter, a center device that communicates with the gas meter,
a terminal device capable of communicating with the center device,
When the center device receives cutoff information from the gas meter, the center device transmits a cutoff reason to the terminal device,
The gas meter management system, wherein the terminal device displays a question about the reason for the shutdown, and displays a coping method based on an input of an answer to the question. 2. The gas meter management system according to claim 1, wherein the terminal device determines whether or not it is possible to cancel the shutdown based on the answer to the question, and displays a recovery procedure as a coping method when it can be judged that the shutdown can be cancelled. . 3. The center device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein when receiving the identification code of the gas meter from the terminal device after receiving the cut-off information from the gas meter, the center device transmits the cut-off reason to the terminal device. gas meter management system. 4. The gas meter management system according to claim 1, wherein, when said center device receives cut-off information from said gas meter, said center device acquires information for specifying a cause of cut-off from said gas meter.

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