JPH0116758B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a refueling device installed and fixed on the ground, which includes a pump, a commonly used flow meter, a refueling hose, and a display meter that displays the amount of refueling measured by the commonly used flow meter. Regarding.

2. Description of the Related Art Refueling devices used at gas stations and other refueling stations are equipped with flow meters to display the amount of refueled. These flowmeters are treated as being able to accurately measure and display amounts.

Incidentally, such a flowmeter may exhibit abnormalities after long-term use. That is, if a conventional flow meter undergoes a predetermined inspection when shipped from a factory, it is assumed to be operating normally until the next inspection five years later. However, long-term use may cause distortion. Therefore, there is a need for a device that can easily check whether a flowmeter is operating properly.

For example, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 48-121 discloses a device in which a calibration tank is provided in the oil supply system, and the instrument error of the flow meter is checked by comparing the scale of the calibration tank with the reading on the display meter. Although such a device is good for determining the instrumental error of individual flowmeters, when applied to a refueling system, having a built-in calibration tank is a waste of space, and the operator has to make judgments each time by looking at the gauge. This is troublesome and difficult to ensure accuracy.

Furthermore, in order to check the instrumental error of a flow meter, Publication of Utility Model Publication No. 48-121 discloses a technique in which a tank with a scale is provided inside the refueling machine, and the instrumental error of the flow meter is checked by comparing it with the scale. ing. However, in this known technique, inspection cannot be performed unless more than a certain amount of oil flows into the tank serving as a reference, and the oil in the tank must be drained each time, which takes time. Moreover, since the test involves workers looking at scales and making comparisons, there are individual differences.

In general, the value of a flowmeter varies depending on the flow rate per unit time, but using a tank takes too much time for small quantities.

Further, Japanese Utility Model Application Publication No. 54-117177 discloses a technique for correcting a flow meter while fluid is being supplied. However, such techniques require the entire fluid to be discharged, making it virtually impossible to test the flow rate of flammable fluids such as gasoline.
In addition, since the bypass pipe provided with the reference flowmeter has a small diameter, inspection of large flow rates is not possible.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a lubrication device that can easily and accurately check for abnormalities in a flow meter due to long-term use, regardless of the flow rate per unit time and without releasing fluid, that is, oil. There is something to do.

According to the invention, a pump, a conventional flow meter,
In a refueling system installed and fixed on the ground, which is equipped with a refueling hose and a display meter that displays the amount of refueling measured by a regular flow meter, a branch pipe is connected to the downstream piping of the regular flow meter via a three-way valve. The branch pipe is connected to the upstream side of the pump via an inspection flowmeter and an on-off valve that interlocks with the three-way valve to form a circulation circuit, and the flowmeter can be counted by the counting means of a regular flowmeter. A comparison means is provided for comparing the numerical value with a count value by the calculation means of the test flowmeter, and a notification means is provided for notifying the result of the comparison by the comparison means.

Therefore, for example, before starting the day's refueling work, if you operate the pump and operate the three-way valve and on-off valve to circulate oil through the branch pipe, the difference between a regular flowmeter and a flowmeter for inspection. They will be connected in series and the flow rates of both flow meters must be substantially equal. Then, the comparison means compares the counted values from both flowmeters, and if the difference between the two exceeds the error range stipulated by law, the notification means notifies you of this, so that an abnormality in the flowmeter in regular use can be detected. You can know immediately.

Furthermore, since the oil is circulated during the check, it is not released to the outside, making it extremely safe as a refueling device that handles flammable liquids such as gasoline, and causing no unnecessary waste.

According to the present invention, the checking operation can be performed by comparing the flow of liquid to the flowmeter and the reference flowmeter, and by flowing an arbitrary amount, an accurate check can be performed in each flow rate range. Moreover, since the three-way valve and the on-off valve are linked, the work is simple and the check can be carried out in a short time. In particular, it is possible to check various flow rates from large flow rates to small flow rates. In particular, according to the present invention, since the on-off valve is provided in conjunction with the three-way valve, the oil in the circulation circuit from the three-way valve to the on-off valve is sucked by the suction force of the pump during normal oil supply from the nozzle. There is no negative pressure in the circulation circuit. That is, without an on-off valve, liquids that easily vaporize, such as gasoline, will vaporize when the inside of the pipe becomes negative pressure, and the vapor will circulate through the reference flow meter during a check, resulting in measurement errors.
In addition, if there is no on-off valve, the oil in the circulation circuit will return to the tank when not refueling and be replaced with air, and when checking, the air will still circulate and cause measurement errors, but by providing an on-off valve, this inconvenience can be avoided. It can be prevented.

That is, the on-off valve is used to keep the circulation circuit equipped with the reference flowmeter constantly filled with oil to prevent measurement errors during checking.

In carrying out the present invention, it is preferable to use a flow rate pulse oscillator to measure the flow rate of the flowmeter, and it is preferable to use electronic circuits for each of the counting means, judgment means, and notification means.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In FIG. 1, the refueling apparatus embodying the present invention is installed and fixed on the ground as shown, and roughly divided into refueling means A and flowmeter inspection means B.

The oil supply means A is composed of a pump 1, a commonly used flow meter 2, a nozzle 3, and a display meter 4. When a main switch 30 and a nozzle switch 34, which will be described later, are turned on, a motor 5 is started. Then, the pump 1 that is linked to this operates, and oil is sucked from an underground tank (not shown) through the suction pipe 6, passes through the flow meter 2, the oil supply pipe 7, and the hose 8, and then enters the nozzle 3.
From there, the fuel is supplied to a suitable container, such as a vehicle's fuel tank. The amount of oil supplied is measured by a commonly used flowmeter 2, and the pulses emitted from this flowmeter are converted into a count value by a counting circuit 9, and the amount is then indicated by a line 10 on a display meter 4. There is.

The flowmeter inspection means B includes an inspection flowmeter 20, a comparison circuit 21, and some other attached devices that will be described later. The inspection flowmeter 20 is provided in a circulation circuit 22 that connects the oil supply pipe 7 and the suction pipe 6, that is, in a branch pipe. An electromagnetically operated three-way valve 23 and an electromagnetically operated on-off valve 24 are provided.
When oil flows through the circulation circuit 22, the inspection flow meter 20 measures the amount of oil, and the pulse signal thereof is converted into a count value by the counting circuit 25, and then input to the comparison circuit 21. Although the details will be described later, the commonly used flow meter 2
The design value from
is now being entered.

As explained in FIG. 2, the three-way valve 23 and the on-off valve 24 are interlocked.

The refueling device configured as described above has a second
It is controlled by the control circuit shown in the figure. In operation, when the main switch 30, which is generally installed in a control box on the side wall of an office, is turned on at the start of service at a gas station, relay R1 is activated.
Relay contact R1 provided in motor circuit 31
-1 is closed, and the motor circuit 31 becomes energized. At the same time, timer relay TR-1 and relay contact R3-2 are closed, so relay R2
also works. Therefore, the contact R2-1 is turned on. When relay contact R2-1 turns on,
The three-way valve 23 and the on-off valve 24 are switched in conjunction to allow oil to flow through the circulation circuit 22. Since the solenoid contact 28 is turned on when these valves are switched, a signal is sent to the comparator circuit 21 from the line 27 (in FIG. 1). Also, relay contact R2-2 in the motor circuit turns on, so motor 5
starts and pump 1 operates.

When the pump 1 operates in this manner, oil circulates through the suction pipe 6, the pump 1, the regular flowmeter 2, the oil supply pipe 7, the three-way valve 23, the inspection flowmeter 20, the on-off valve 24, and the suction pipe 6. At this time, the count value from the regular flowmeter 2 and the count value from the test flowmeter 20 are input to the comparison circuit 21. The two values are compared, and if the value is within a certain range, that is, within a permissible range, a green lamp, for example, is lit on the alarm 26 to indicate that the flow meter 2 is normal. Also, if it is above a certain range, the flowmeter 2 is abnormal, so the alarm 2
6 is designed to notify an abnormality by blinking a red lamp, for example. In addition, when an abnormality occurs, the contact SX in the nozzle switch circuit 33 shown in Fig. 2 is turned off by the output of the comparison circuit 21, so that even if the nozzle switch 34 is turned on, the relay R3 does not work, so that refueling can be performed. It can also be done.
During the inspection period, relay contacts R2-3 in the nozzle switch circuit 33 are opened to prevent relay R3 from working, thereby preventing malfunction.

Such an inspection of a commonly used flowmeter 2 is performed, for example.
It is designed to last for 30 seconds. In other words, the setting time of time relay TR of circuit 35 in Fig. 2
After 30 seconds, timer relay contact TR-1 opens and relay R2 is deenergized. Therefore, the relay contacts R2-1 and R2-2 are opened and R2-3 is closed. When the relay contact R2-1 in the test circuit 36 opens, the three-way valve 23 and the gate valve 24 are switched to the normal oil supply state by the restoring force of the spring, and the solenoid switch 28 is turned off. In this way, the inspection of the flowmeter is completed and the system is ready for refueling.

When the nozzle 3 is removed and the nozzle switch 34 is turned on to refuel, the previous refueling amount in the counting circuit 9 is reset to zero, and the relay R3 is also activated. Therefore, relay contact R3 in the motor circuit
1 is closed, the motor 5 is started, and the flow rate pulses from the pulse transmitter 40 of the flowmeter 2 are counted by the counting circuit 9 and displayed on the display meter 4. When refueling is finished and the nozzle 3 is hooked up, the switch 34 is turned off, the relay R3 is also turned off, and the motor 5 is stopped.

In addition to automatically inspecting the flowmeter only when the main switch 30 is turned on at the start of work, the inspection switch 41 inserted in series with the timer relay TR can be pressed and opened for a moment when inspection is required. The flow meter can be inspected by the same operation as above.

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, the entire amount of oil that has passed through the regular flowmeter is allowed to flow through the inspection flowmeter, so that the inspection can be performed accurately. Moreover, since the inspection flowmeter is used only for inspection, it operates accurately over a long period of time. Further, according to the present invention, since the flow rate inspection means is constituted by the inspection flowmeter, the comparison circuit, and the alarm, it can be provided at low cost. Furthermore, it can be easily attached to an existing oil supply system.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a fuel supply device embodying the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a wiring diagram showing an example of its electric circuit. 1... Pump, 2... Regular flow meter, 4... Display meter, 20... Inspection flow meter, 21... Comparison circuit,
22... Branch pipe, 23... Three-way valve, 24... Open/close valve, 26... Alarm.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1 Pump, regular flow meter, oil supply hose,
In a refueling system that is installed and fixed on the ground and is equipped with a display meter that displays the amount of refueling measured by a regular flow meter, a branch pipe is connected to the downstream piping of the regular flow meter via a three-way valve. The branch pipe is connected to the upstream side of the pump via an inspection flowmeter and an on-off valve that interlocks with the three-way valve to form a circulation circuit, and the count value by the counting means of the regular flowmeter and the inspection 1. A refueling device characterized in that a comparison means is provided for comparing the counted value by a calculation means of an oil supply flowmeter, and a notification means is provided for notifying a result of the comparison by the comparison means.