JPH0259518B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a meter sensor, and particularly to a meter sensor for automatically reading the usage of water, gas, electricity, etc. via a subscriber telephone line.

In order to automatically read the amount of water, gas, electricity, etc. used by each user from a meter reading center via a communication line, a meter is equipped with a signal generator that generates an electrical signal indicating the flow rate, and a meter is equipped with a signal generator that generates an electrical signal indicating the flow rate. A meter sensor has been developed that generates an electrical signal indicating an integrated value of flow rate from an incoming electrical signal, and sends the electrical signal indicating the integrated value of flow rate to a communication line in response to a call signal from a meter reading center. At the meter reading center, the integrated flow rate value for each user can be detected by the electrical signals sent from each meter sensor, and therefore the amount used in a predetermined period can be known. The meter's signal generator uses a magnetic sensor element to detect the rotational speed of a magnet attached to a rotating body that rotates at a speed proportional to the flow rate per unit time, and sends out a pulse signal with a pulse number proportional to the flow rate. . The meter sensor that receives this pulse signal generates a digital signal indicating the cumulative flow rate by counting the number of pulses, sends this to the meter to display the cumulative flow value, and also responds to the call signal from the meter reading center. A digital signal indicating the integrated flow rate value is sent to the communication line.

Conventional meter sensors send out signals when called by a meter reading center, but cannot call the meter reading center. However, in practice, in the event of a malfunction of equipment used or an accident that causes an abnormally large flow rate, it is important to be able to immediately call the meter reading center from the meter sensor without waiting for a call from the meter reading center. This is necessary to minimize damage. The meter sensor in this case has a calling function to call the meter reading center, and in order to use subscriber telephone lines, which are currently widely used, information indicating the telephone number of the meter reading center must be sent when making a call. Must be. To do this, the meter sensor must store information indicating the phone number of the meter reading center and information to identify the meter sensor. When the telephone number of the person being called changes, it is necessary to be able to rewrite the information stored in the meter sensor. However, as mentioned above, the conventional meter sensor has the disadvantage that it can only make calls from the meter reading center and does not have the function of calling the meter reading center.

An object of the present invention is to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks, to make it possible to call a destination (meter reading center) via a subscriber telephone line, and to receive information indicating the telephone number of the destination and the identification number of the sensor itself from the destination. The object of the present invention is to provide a meter sensor that can be rewritten by a signal.

The meter sensor of the present invention includes a counter that counts pulse signals of the flow rate given from the meter and generates integration information indicating the integrated flow rate, dial information that indicates the destination stored in advance, and a number assigned to the meter. a memory circuit for transmitting meter number information indicating the meter number information; and one of the information group including the integration information, the dial information, and the meter number information.
a message assembling circuit that generates a response signal including one message, a calling circuit that sends a calling signal for calling the destination, and a control signal that generates a control signal in response to a command signal given from an external device including the destination. and when the control signal requests sending of the answer signal, sends the answer signal to the external device, and the control signal requests rewriting of one of the dial information and the meter number information. and a control circuit that sends information requesting the rewriting to the memory circuit and stores it therein.

Next, the present invention will be explained in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the present invention. The figure shows an example of automatic gas meter reading. Gas is sent to gas equipment through the gas meter 14. The gas meter 14 sends a flow rate signal having a pulse number proportional to the gas flow rate to the counter 2 of the meter sensor 1. The counter 2 counts the pulses of the flow rate signal and sends integrated information of parallel pulses indicating the integrated value of the gas flow rate to the gas meter 14, the alarm circuit 7, and the message assembly circuit 3. The gas meter 14 receives the integration information and displays the gas flow integrated value. The alarm circuit 7 receives an alarm signal generated when a gas leak alarm attached to a gas appliance detects a gas leak, or receives integration information and detects that there is an abnormally large flow rate. Then, an alarm is displayed to notify the user, a calling signal is sent to the calling circuit 8, and alarm information indicating the contents of the alarm is sent to the message assembly circuit 3. The calling signal is a pulse signal that rises when the above-mentioned alarm signal arrives or when an overflow is detected. The calling circuit 8 includes a switch circuit that receives a calling signal and connects it to the calling end 11 as a signal a, and a switch circuit that receives a stop signal from the control circuit 5 indicating the stop of calling and connects it to the calling end 11. and a switch circuit for disconnecting the calling signal. The calling end 11 is connected to a subscriber telephone line via a communication control device 10. The communication control device 10 performs a calling operation by transmitting a calling signal to the subscriber telephone line when a pulse indicating a calling occurs in the signal a, and sends a response signal when receiving a dial tone signal from the exchange via the line. The signal is sent to the control circuit 5 of the meter sensor 1 via the response terminal 12, and the activation signal is sent to the input/output circuit 4 via the input/output terminal 13. The input/output circuit includes a switch circuit that receives a start signal and a command signal sent from the meter reading center via the input/output terminal 13 and connects them to the control circuit 5, and a switch circuit that receives a message signal from the message assembly circuit 3. and a switch circuit for connecting this to the input/output terminal 13. Upon receiving the response signal, the control circuit 5 sends the message assembly circuit 3
A clock signal for controlling the transmission of a message containing the destination dial information is sent along with an instruction signal indicating the sending of the destination dial information to the destination. The telegram assembling circuit 3 receives the instruction signal and the clock signal, creates a telegram signal in a predetermined format including the destination dial information, and sends it to the input/output circuit 4.
When this telegram signal is sent from the input/output circuit 4 via the input/output terminal 13, the communication control circuit 10 transmits a selection signal indicated by the destination dial information included in the telegram signal to the subscriber telephone line. . When the exchange establishes a line connection to the call destination (meter reading center) based on this selection signal and the call line is closed, the communication control device 10 receives the activation signal and command signal sent from the meter reading center. It is sent to the input/output circuit 4 via the power end 13. The input/output circuit 4 sends its activation signal and command signal to the control circuit 5. The command signal consists of a series of pulses in a predetermined format, and includes integration information from the meter sensor, alarm information from the alarm circuit, or identification information of the meter sensor, and includes a code requesting transmission of a telegram signal, or includes a code requesting the transmission of a telegram signal, or the identification of the meter sensor. It includes a code requesting rewriting of information or destination dial information and rewriting information.
When the control circuit 5 receives the command signal and activation signal including the code for requesting to send a message, the control circuit 5 sends a control signal in parallel with an instruction signal for selecting the requested information and a clock signal for sending the message signal. When it is sent to the assembly circuit 3 and receives a command signal containing a code for requesting information rewriting, it sends to the memory circuit 6 a correction signal in which the command signal for selecting the requested information and the rewriting information are arranged in parallel. The message assembling circuit 3 receives the control signal and collects integration information sent from the counter 2 in response to the instruction signal, alarm information sent from the alarm circuit 7, or identification information sent from the memory circuit 6. any one of them
It reads the data, creates a serial telegram signal in a predetermined format in response to a clock signal, and sends it to the input/output circuit 4. The telegram signal sent to the input/output circuit is sent from the input/output terminal 13 to the destination (meter reading center) via the communication control device 10. The memory circuit 6 receives the correction signal and controls either the meter sensor identification information or the destination dial information stored in a predetermined location in the memory in response to the instruction signal. It is rewritten and corrected using the rewriting information sent from the circuit 5. Note that the identification information of the meter sensor indicates a number assigned to each meter sensor to distinguish it from other meter sensors. Furthermore, the information stored in the memory circuit 6 is
It can also be rewritten by inputting a correction signal from the terminal 9 provided on the meter sensor 1. Furthermore, in addition to the above command signals, some command signals include a code indicating the end of communication, and when a command signal including this code indicating the end of communication is sent, a stop signal is sent from the control circuit 5 to the calling circuit 8. is sent to stop the transmission of calling signals. When the calling signal stops, the communication control device 10 stops sending the answering signal to the answering end 12, sends a call termination signal to the subscriber telephone line, causes the exchange to open the call line, and then the meter sensor 1 The series of communications associated with the call from the user ends.

The above explanation is for the case where a call is made from the meter sensor 1. However, when a call is made from the meter reading center to the meter sensor 1, a command signal and a start signal are first sent to the meter sensor via the input/output terminal 13. After that, follow the same steps as described above.
The control circuit 5 sends a control signal to the message assembly circuit 3 to create and send a message. In the block diagram of FIG. 1, in order to avoid cluttering the drawing and making it difficult to read, locations where a plurality of signals are sent in parallel are also shown as a single signal line.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the control circuit 5 of the meter sensor 1 shown in FIG. response end 1
The signal b sent from the signal b is a response signal, and the activation circuit 15 that receives the signal b sends the pulse that rises when the pulse of the signal b rises as the signal c to the switch circuit 16 and the message assembly circuit 3. . When the signal c is at a high level (hereinafter abbreviated as H), the switch circuit 16 transfers the signal c to the OR gate 1.
9 and does not pass the signal d sent from the input/output circuit 4, and when the signal c is at a low level (hereinafter abbreviated as L), does not pass the signal c and sends the signal d to the separation circuit 17. Connecting. Therefore, when the pulse of signal b rises, signal c becomes H and passes through switch circuit 16 and OR gate 19 to start circuit 15.
The leading edge detection circuit 20 of FIG. The detection circuit 2
0 sends a pulse signal to the flip-flop 21 as a set input, which rises when the signal c becomes H, holds H for a predetermined time, and then falls. The flip-flop 21 generates a signal f that is set to H at the rising edge of the pulse of the signal c, and outputs the signal f to the oscillator 2.
When the pulse of signal f rises, oscillator 22 starts generating clock pulses of a predetermined period and sends them to counter circuit 23 as signal g. The counter circuit 23 counts the pulses of the signal g, and when the count reaches a predetermined number m, generates a pulse and sends it to the two starting circuits 15 as respective reset inputs. When a pulse appears at the reset input of the start-up circuit 15, the flip-flop 21 is reset, so that the signals c and f each go low. When the signal f becomes L, the oscillator 22 stops generating clock pulses, and also inverts the signal f to become H, thereby resetting the count value of the counter circuit 23 to zero. From the control circuit 5 to the message assembly circuit 3
Signals g and c and a signal obtained by inverting the signal f are sent to the message assembly circuit 3 which receives these signals. The dial information is read at the falling edge of the inverted signal of the signal f, and in response to the clock pulse of the signal g, a telegram signal having a predetermined format and including destination dial information is generated and sent to the input/output circuit 4. The number m of clock pulses is selected to be equal to the length (number of pits) of a telegram signal of a predetermined format. When the transmission of the telegram signal is finished, the signal c becomes L as described above, so the switch circuit 16 is switched and the signal d is connected to the separation circuit 7. The separation circuit 17 receives the signal d, extracts and separates an instruction code indicating a request to send a message, an information rewrite request, or an end of communication contained in the signal d, and the rewriting information, and sends the instruction code as a signal e to a decoder. The rewrite information is sent to the circuit 18 and the rewrite information is sent to the memory circuit 6. Further, when the separation circuit 17 receives a command signal including a code for requesting to send a message,
The activation signal included in the signal d is separated and sent to the OR gate 19. The decoder circuit 18 is
Depending on the code appearing in the signal e, if the code is a request to send a message, an instruction signal for selecting the requested information is sent to the signal line connected to the message assembly circuit 3; For example, an instruction signal for selecting the information requested to be rewritten is sent to the signal line connected to the memory circuit 6, and if it is a communication end code, a pulse indicating the end of communication is sent to the signal line connected to the timer circuit 24. Each sends out a signal that causes it to rise. On the other hand, the starting signal is sent to the starting circuit 15 through the OR gate 19, and when the pulse of the starting signal rises, the starting circuit 15, oscillator 22 and counter circuit 23 are sent to the starting circuit 15 when the pulse of the starting signal rises. The same operation as above is performed to send signals g and c and an inverted signal of signal f to the message assembly circuit 3. The message assembling circuit 3, which has received these signals and the instruction signal, reads one of the integration information, alarm information, or identification information according to the instruction signal at the falling edge of the inverted signal of the signal f, and reads the signal g. A telegram signal having a predetermined format and containing the read information is generated in response to the clock pulse of the input/output circuit 4 and sent to the input/output circuit 4. The timer circuit 24 also generates a pulse when a predetermined time has elapsed from the rise of the pulse indicating the end of the call and sends it to the calling circuit 8 as a stop signal indicating the stop of the call. Sending the calling signal to the calling end 11 is stopped.

FIG. 3 is a time chart illustrating the operation of the circuit of FIG. 2. The signal a is a signal sent from the calling circuit 8 of the meter sensor 1 shown in FIG. This is a signal whose pulse falls when a pulse indicating call stop appears. Signal b is transmitted to communication control device 1 in FIG.
This is a signal sent from 0 to the control circuit 5 via the answering end 12, and the pulse rises when a dial tone is received, and falls when a pulse indicating that calling is stopped appears in the signal h. It's a signal. signal c
becomes H when the pulse of signal b rises,
While the clock pulse is being generated as the signal g to send the destination dial information, the signal f is
When a predetermined number of the clock pulses are generated, the signal f and the signal f become low.
The signal d includes a command signal and a start signal,
The command signals are codes C1, C2, and C3, each including a start code S, an instruction code, and an end code E.
The start signal is the end code E of the command signal.
This is the pulse that rises after . The separation circuit 17 of the control circuit 5 shown in FIG. 2 receives the signal d, extracts instruction codes D1, D2, and D3, separates them, and sends them as a signal e to the decoder circuit 18, and the instruction code D1 is a message sending request. When the signal f is indicated, a start signal is sent to the OR gate 19 to cause the pulse of the signal f to rise. When the pulse of the signal f rises, a clock pulse appears on the signal g, and when this continues for a predetermined number of pulses, the pulse of the signal f falls. When the instruction code D2 indicates an information rewriting request, the separation circuit 17 separates the rewriting information included in the code C2 and sends it to the memory circuit 6. Also, when instruction code D3 indicates the end of communication,
When a predetermined time T has elapsed since the instruction code D3 appeared on the signal e, a pulse indicating the stop of calling is generated on the signal h. A pulse on this signal h terminates the series of communications as described above.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an example of the structure of the message assembly circuit 3 of the meter sensor 1 shown in FIG. 1.
The integration signal, destination dial information, meter sensor identification information, and alarm information sent from the counter 2, memory circuit 6, and alarm circuit 7 are as follows:
The signal is input to the gate circuit 25. The additional information generation circuit 27 generates predetermined additional information for configuring a message in a predetermined format, and sends it to the gate circuit 2.
5 and the parallel-to-serial conversion circuit 26. The gate circuit 25 receives the signal c or the instruction signal (the signal sent by the decoder circuit 18) from the control circuit 5, and connects the information indicated by the signal to the parallel-to-serial conversion circuit 26, thereby converting the message information in a predetermined format. Configure. The telegraphic information in a predetermined format input to the parallel-to-serial conversion circuit 26 is converted into a signal f according to a control signal sent from the control circuit 5.
It is read at the falling edge of the inverted signal of signal g, converted into a serial signal by the clock pulse of signal g, and sequentially sent to the input/output circuit 4.

Although Figure 1 shows an example of automatic meter reading for gas, the same operation can be performed for water, electricity, etc. by using a meter that generates a pulse signal with a number of pulses proportional to the flow rate. That is clear. Further, if the gas meter 14 is equipped with a mechanical display mechanism, there is no need to receive the integration signal from the counter 2.

As explained above, the present invention is capable of calling a destination (meter reading center) via a subscriber telephone line, and transmitting information indicating the telephone number of the destination and the identification number of the sensor itself in response to a command signal from the destination. This has the effect of realizing a meter sensor that can be rewritten.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

1, 2 and 4 are block diagrams showing one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a time chart illustrating the operation of the circuit of FIG. 2. 1...Meter sensor, 2...Counter, 3...
Message assembly circuit, 4... Input/output circuit, 5... Control circuit, 6... Memory circuit, 7... Alarm circuit, 8...
Calling circuit, 9...terminal, 10...communication control device,
11... Calling end, 12... Answering end, 13... Input/output end, 14... Gas meter.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A counter that counts pulse signals indicating the measured flow rate given by the meter and generates integration information indicating the integrated flow rate, and pre-stored dial information indicating the destination and a number assigned to the meter. a memory circuit for transmitting meter number information; a message assembly circuit for generating a response signal containing one of an information group including the totalization information, the dial information, and the meter number information; and a message assembly circuit for calling the destination. a calling circuit that sends out a calling signal; and a control signal that generates a control signal in response to a command signal given from an external device including the destination, and when the control signal requests sending of the answer signal, the answer. a control circuit that sends a signal to the external device and, when the control signal requests rewriting of one of the dial information and the meter number information, sends the information requesting the rewriting to the memory circuit and stores it; A meter sensor characterized by comprising: