JPH0348998A - Metering device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce cost by suppressing the redundant data of each user's house, for which a meter is automatically read, and automatically transmitting the data to a facsimile circuit. CONSTITUTION:A pulse generator 1 sends the number of pulse signals corresponding to the used amount of water service, etc., to a meter value calculating means 2, calculates the used amount and records it to an indicator data recording means 3 together with a user's house code or a class code, etc. A temporary picture data preparing means 5 reads the meter data from the recording means 3 and reads the font data showing the figure of the meter data from a character font storing means 4. Only one line out of character strings in the character data is virtually developed in a lateral direction and stored in a temporary storing means 6. Next, a band compressing means 7 scans the dot line of the character font data for one line stored by the storing means 6 in the lateral direction and suppresses the redundant data based on a fixed rule when the same code is continued. A network control part 9 sends dial signals and the above mentioned data through a modulation part 8 to a facsimile line and the cost in reduced.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] <Industrial Application Field> The present invention automatically reads meter values for water, gas, electricity, etc. in condominiums, housing complexes, etc. for each consumer, and transmits the meter reading data over the phone. This invention relates to a meter reading device that transmits data to a facsimile device at a collection center or the like through a line.

<Conventional technology> Generally, meter reading data for water, gas, etc., read by meter readers is taken back to each business office and manually entered into aggregation computers installed there, and usage and charges are calculated. calculated.

By the way, in order to automate such meter reading data aggregation work, a portable data aggregation machine has been proposed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 175096/1983. This data aggregation machine consists of a microcomputer as the main part and an acoustic coupler for connecting to a telephone line.A meter reader carries this with him when he visits each customer, and the meter reading data is transferred to the aggregation machine. After inputting the meter reading data, a nearby telephone is used to transmit the meter reading data to the aggregation computer at the office via an acoustic converter and telephone line.

<Problems to be solved by the invention> However, this type of portable data aggregation machine requires a meter reader to visit each customer with the aggregation machine and manually input the meter reading data. The present invention was made to solve the above problems, and in recent years, facsimile machines have become widely used. The system automatically converts the meter reading data of each customer into signals for facsimile communication.
The purpose is to provide a meter reading device that can automatically transmit data to a facsimile device installed at a management center or the like.

<Means for Solving the Problems> In order to achieve the above object, the meter reading device of the present invention has a meter reading device of the present invention, as shown in the configuration diagram of FIG. A pulse generator 1 that outputs a pulse signal, a meter reading value calculation means 2 that inputs the pulse signal from the pulse generator 1 and calculates a meter reading value, and records the meter reading data calculated by the meter reading value calculation means 2. Meter reading data recording means 3
, a character font storage means 4 for storing character font data such as numbers, and meter reading data is read from the meter reading data recording means 3 at predetermined intervals, and the character font data of the number indicated by the meter reading data is stored in a character font. Temporary image data creation means 5 reads out the character font data from the storage means 4 and expands and stores the character font data for one line of the character string in the temporary storage means 6, and the character string-line characters stored in the temporary storage means 6; Each dot line in the font data is scanned, and if the same code continues in the scanned data, redundant data is suppressed and encoded based on certain rules! F @ compression means 7, a modulation section 8 that superimposes the data signal from the band compression means F on a predetermined carrier wave, and a cable connected to the telephone line and transmitting the dial signal and the transmission signal from the modulation section 8 to the telephone line. The control unit 9 is configured to include a control unit 9.

Function> The meter reading device configured as described above is usually installed in a management room of an apartment complex, etc., and the pulse generator 1 is attached to each customer's water pipe, gas pipe, electric power meter, etc.

As water, gas, etc. are used, the pulse generator 1 outputs a number of pulse signals corresponding to the usage amount and sends them to the meter reading value calculation means 2. The meter reading value calculation means 2 calculates the usage amount of water etc. from the pulse number, and the cumulative value of the usage amount is recorded in the meter reading data recording means 3 along with the customer code and type code. The meter reading data recorded in the data recording means 3 is read out, and the meter reading data is transmitted to a facsimile machine at a business office or the like through a telephone line.

That is, the temporary image data creation means 5 reads the meter reading data from the meter reading data recording means 3, reads the numerical font data of the meter reading data from the character font storage means 4, and converts the character font data for one line of the character string. For example, the image is virtually expanded in the horizontal direction and stored in the temporary storage means 6.

Next, the band compression means 6 horizontally scans each dot line in the character string-line character font data stored in the temporary storage means 6, and places the same code (O indicating white or black) in the scanned data. When 1) shown below is continuous, redundant data is suppressed and encoded based on a certain rule so that the continuous length is represented by a code.

When the character string-line processing is completed, the temporary image data creation means 5
Similarly to the above, the character font data for the next character string-column is stored in the temporary storage means 6, and the band compression means 7 stores the character font data for the character string-row stored therein in the same way as above. Each dot line is scanned in the horizontal direction, data is compressed and encoded, and then the compressed and encoded data is temporarily stored in another temporary storage section.

In this way, when all the meter reading data (temporary image data) is compressed and encoded and stored in the temporary storage section, the data signal is sent from there to the modulation section 8, where it is modulated and superimposed on a predetermined carrier wave. The network controller 9 sends a predetermined dial signal to the telephone line to call a facsimile machine at a business office, etc., and then transmits the facsimile data signal to the facsimile machine through the telephone line. do.

As mentioned above, virtual image data of meter reading values is created and stored for each character string, so compared to the case where image data for normal paper pages is created at one time, the temporary storage means 6 capacity can be significantly reduced.

<Example> Embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings.

FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of a meter-reading device, and this meter-reading device is constructed with a microcomputer as its main part. 10
are the above-mentioned meter reading value calculation means 2 and temporary image data creation means 5.
, and the CPU serving as the band compression means 7, the ROMII
Based on the program stored in the A area lla, the meter reading device performs necessary processes such as calculating meter reading values, creating temporary image data using character fonts, and compressing the bandwidth of transmission data.

The ROM II is also used as the above-mentioned character font storage means 4, and its B area llb stores in advance character font data of numbers represented by 8 bits x 8 dot lines, as shown in FIG.

The RAM 12 serves as the above-mentioned meter reading data recording means 3, temporary storage means 6, and storage means for temporarily storing compressed transmission data. 12a, B area 12b, and C area 12c are provided.

13 is an input/output circuit that controls the input of external pulse signals and the output of data signals; this input/output circuit 13, the CPU
Each module of IO1ROMII and RAM12 is connected to each other via a bus.

Reference numeral 1 denotes a plurality of pulse generators that are attached to the water pipes, gas pipes, or electricity integrated wattmeters of each customer managed by this meter reading device, and are connected to the input/output circuit 13, respectively, and are connected to the input/output circuit 13, Outputs a number of pulse signals according to the amount. 14 is a modulation circuit connected to the input/output circuit 13, which inputs a compression-encoded data signal, modulates the data signal by superimposing it on a carrier wave of a predetermined frequency, and transmits the data signal to the network control circuit 1 connected to the telephone line.
The signal is output to 5. The network control circuit 15 consists of an automatic dialing circuit, a tone ringer circuit, etc., and sends out preset dialing signals, performs network connection, etc. (not shown) is provided.

Next, the operation of this meter reading device will be explained with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

As each consumer uses water, gas, etc., each pulse generator 1 installed there outputs a number of pulse signals corresponding to the amount used.

At this time, CPU10 performs step 100 to step 11.
0, and when a pulse signal is input through the input/output circuit 13, in step 120, the value of the counter provided corresponding to the input port, that is, the pulse generator 1, is incremented by 1, and in step 130, the count is The usage amount is calculated by multiplying the value by a predetermined constant. Then, in step 140, the calculated meter reading data is stored in the A area 1 of the RAM 12.
It is recorded at a predetermined address in 2a along with the customer code and type code.

The operations of steps 100 to 140 are performed at times other than meter reading, and the amounts of water, gas, electricity, etc. used by each customer to be managed are accumulated and recorded.

and a predetermined meter reading time (for example, midnight).
, the process proceeds from step 100 to step 150,
The CPU 10 reads the meter reading data recorded in the A area 12m of the RAM 12, and in step 160 reads the character font (8 bits x 8 dots line) of the numbers used in the meter reading data, the font shown in Figure 14, and the ROMI.
Read from B area flb of I, and read from RAM12
This character font is developed in the B area 12b (step 170).The character font is developed for one line of character string every - time, and a temporary image of the meter reading data to be transmitted is created.

Next, in step 180, the CPU 10 considers the character font of the meter reading data developed in the B area 12b of the RAM 12 to be virtually arranged horizontally as shown in FIG. 5, and scans it horizontally one dot line at a time. (Actually, the first dot line of each vertically expanded character font is interlaced and scanned up to the eighth dot line.) Then, the 0, 1 (white, (black) data is compressed and encoded using, for example, the MW method. In other words, the length of the continuous white and black parts, that is, the run length, is detected, and the run length with a high probability of occurrence is encoded to give a code with a small number of bits, and the code for one line of 0 character strings is compressed. The converted data is stored in the C area 12c of the RAM 12 in step 190.

Next, in step 200, the CPU10 determines whether or not the compression encoding of the meter reading data to be transmitted this time has been completed.If it has not been completed, the CPU10 returns to step 150 again and stores the
The next meter reading data recorded in the A area 12a of 2 is read out for one character string, and in the same way as above, the next meter reading data recorded in the A area 12a is read.
The character font corresponding to this meter reading data is developed in 2b. Then, in steps 180 and 190, the character font of the meter reading data is scanned, compressed and encoded as described above, and the encoded data is stored in the C area 12c of the RAM 12.

In this way, by repeatedly executing steps 150 to 200, all meter reading data read this time is compressed and encoded, and stored in the C area 12c of the RAM 12.
, then proceed to step 210, where:
After the network control circuit 15 operates and connects the telephone line, it sends a dial signal for a telephone number (facsimile number) of a preset destination (such as a management and aggregation center) to the telephone line.

When the other party's facsimile responds to the first call and connects the line, the process proceeds to the next step 220, where the meter reading data is transmitted as image data through the telephone line. That is, RAM1
The meter reading data read from the C area 12c of No. 2 is sent to the modulation circuit 14, where it is modulated so that the data signal is superimposed on a carrier wave of a predetermined frequency, and the modulated transmission signal is transmitted from the network control circuit 15 to the telephone. The meter reading data is sent to a facsimile machine such as a control center.
If a malfunction occurs in the meter reading device, an error message can be automatically sent to the management center's facsimile instead of the meter reading data, and the malfunction can be communicated to a remote administrator. Alternatively, a printer may be connected to the meter reading device to print out the same data when transmitting the meter reading data.

<Effects of the Invention> As explained above, according to the meter reading device of the present invention, since it is configured as described above, the meter reading data of each customer that has been automatically read can be converted into a signal for facsimile communication and managed. It can be automatically transmitted to a facsimile machine installed at a center, etc. Also, temporary image data of meter reading values is created and sent for each character string, so the image data of one part of the regular paper can be sent at once. The capacity of the temporary storage means can be significantly reduced compared to the case where the temporary storage means is created.

Furthermore, if the band-compressed meter reading data signal is sent to the modulation section, network control section, and telephone line at the same time, communication time can be shortened and line usage charges can be reduced.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a block diagram of a meter reading device of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the device, and Fig. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the storage arrangement of the memory. , FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing virtual scanning of a character font. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1-- Pulse generator, 2... Meter reading value calculation means, 3... Meter reading data recording means, 4... Character font storage means, 5... Temporary image data creation means, 6... Temporary Storage means, F... Bandwidth compression means, 8... Modulation section, 9... Network control section. Figure 0 4-Noko 1°°About WM Jo 1go

Claims (1)

[Claims] A pulse generator that outputs a number of pulse signals according to the amount of water, gas, electricity, etc. used, and a meter reading value calculation that calculates a meter reading value by inputting the pulse signals from the pulse generator. means, meter reading data recording means for recording meter reading data calculated by the meter reading value calculation means, character font storage means for storing character font data such as numbers, and said meter reading data recording at predetermined fixed time intervals. Reading meter reading data from the means, reading character font data of the number indicated by the meter reading data from the character font storage means, and creating temporary image data by expanding and storing the character font data for one line of character string in the temporary storage means. scanning each dot line in character font data for one line of character strings stored in the temporary storage means, and suppressing redundant data based on a certain rule when the same code is consecutive in the scan data; a modulation unit that superimposes the data signal from the band compression unit on a predetermined carrier wave; and a modulation unit that is connected to a telephone line and sends the dial signal and the transmission signal from the modulation unit to the telephone line. A meter reading device comprising: a network control unit;