JPH0567284A - Device for estimating flow rate change - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To surely estimate in which apparatus a flow rate changes concerning a flow rate change when the gas apparatus is turned on and immediately adjusted to have the appropriate flow rate. CONSTITUTION:This flow rate change estimating device is constituted of a flow rate measuring means 1, a storing means 3 storing a signal from the means 1 at every certain time, a change presence or absence judging means 4 inputting the signal from the means 1 and the signal from the means 3 and judging the presence or absence of the flow rate change through the use of a past flow rate value stored in the means 3 and the present flow rate value from the means 1 so as to output it, a change history storing means 9 storing the history of the change flow rate by the signal from the means 4 and an individual flow rate estimating means 5 estimating from what phenomenon the flow rate judged by the means 4 is generated through the signal from the means 4 and the signal from the means 9. When the turned on gas apparatus is immediately adjusted to have the certain flow rate, it is judged that the flow rate change is the change immediately before and there is high possibility in the change of the gas apparatus so that the largeness of possibility is compensated and it is estimated in which gas apparatus the flow rate changes.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention monitors the flow rate of a gas or the like, estimates what kind of gas appliance is currently being used by changing the flow rate, and uses the gas appliance abnormally. The present invention relates to a flow rate change estimating device built in a so-called microcomputer meter, such as a gas meter, which is configured to shut off gas when it is determined that the gas flow rate is estimated.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An example of a conventional flow rate change estimating device used in a membrane gas meter will be described with reference to FIGS. 5, 6 and 7. FIG. 5 is a gas piping diagram showing a state in which the membrane gas meter is attached to a home and connected to a gas appliance. In FIG. 5, 101 is a house, 102 is a membrane gas meter, 1
03 is the primary side gas pipe, 104 is the secondary side gas pipe, 10
5 is a gas fan heater, 106 is a gas table, 107
Is a bath kettle and 108 is a water heater. Membrane gas meter 10
2 is a gas appliance 10 connected to the secondary pipe 104
When the dangerous gas usage status is found by monitoring the gas usage status at each gas appliance 105-108 while displaying the integrated value of the gas flow rate used at 5 to 108, the membrane gas meter 1
The gas shut-off valve built in 02 is operated to shut off the gas.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating the function of the membrane gas meter 102. In the figure, 11 is a disk that makes one rotation in synchronization with one reciprocating movement of the membrane of the membrane gas meter, 1
2 is a plurality of magnets arranged on the outer circumference of the disk 11, 13 is a magnetoresistive element fixedly arranged near the disk 11 to detect a change in the magnetic field, and 14 is a flow rate value obtained by counting an output change of the magnetoresistive element 13. This is a pulse counting means for converting. The numeral 1 composed of the disk 11 and the pulse counting means 14 is a flow rate measuring means. Reference numeral 2 is an integrating means, 3 is a storage means for sequentially storing the flow rate value from the flow rate measuring means 1 every certain unit time, and 4 is a current flow rate value Q from the flow rate measuring means 1.
_i and the flow rate value Q from the storage means 3 immediately before
The _i-1 as input | a determines changes existence determining means and the flow rate has changed in the gas appliance that if certain threshold or more a predetermined | Q _i -Q _i-1. The output of the change presence / absence determining means 4 is used by the individual flow rate estimating means 5 at present. Estimate the flow rate for each gas appliance. The device including the flow rate measuring unit 1, the storage unit 3, the change presence / absence determining unit 4, and the individual flow rate estimating unit 5 is the flow rate change estimating device 10. The safety means 6 is configured to shut off the gas when it is estimated from the information from the flow rate change estimation device 10 that the gas appliance is used abnormally, such as forgetting to turn off the gas appliance. The device-specific integrating means 7 integrates and displays the used flow rate for each device based on the information from the flow rate change estimating device 10.

Now, the operation of the flow rate change estimating device 10 having the above-mentioned configuration will be described.
The operation will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 and 7. Figure 7
Represents the change in the gas flow rate passing through the membrane gas meter 102.
FIG. First, the fan heater 105 has 2000
It was used at the same flow rate. Next gas table 1
The 06 was ignited at 3000 watts and immediately received 2500
Suppose that it has decreased to the maximum. Use of a normal gas table
It is thought that this is the case in many cases. Measured at this time
Flow rate is Q_i-3= 2000 watts, Q_i-2= 2000 w
To, Q_i-1= 5000 watts, Q_i= 4500 watts,
Q_{i + 1}= 4500 watts. To the change presence / absence determination means 4
Let's Q_i-1-Q_i-2= There was a change of 3000 watts
Is determined. 3000 watts for the individual flow rate estimation means 5
The rising flow rate of the gas is equal to the ignition flow rate of the gas table 105.
It is estimated that the gas table 105 has ignited from the
It Then, at the time of the next measurement, the change presence / absence determining means 4
Q _i-Q_i-1= -500 watt change detected and individual flow
In the quantity estimating means 5, this decrease change of 500 watts is
Change in stable 106 or change in fan heater 105
Estimate if there is.

[0005]

However, in the above-described conventional configuration, the change in the measured flow rate Q _i −Q _i−1 = −500 watts is due to the change in the gas table 106 or the fan heater 10.
In order to estimate whether or not there is a change of 5, the individual flow rate estimation means 5 uses 3000 watts for the gas table and 2 for the fan heater.
We were estimating which gas appliance flow change was based solely on the information that it was used at 000 watts and that the 500 watt flow rate had decreased. Therefore, the reduction of 500 watts is reduced by the fan heater 105 from 2000 watts to 1500 watts.
There was a problem that there was a strong possibility that it would have been wrongly estimated to have decreased to watts.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object thereof is to accurately estimate which gas appliance changes in flow rate.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, a flow rate change estimating device of the present invention stores a flow rate measuring means for measuring a flow rate of a fluid and a signal from the flow rate measuring means at a certain time interval. Storage means for inputting the signal from the flow rate measuring means and the signal from the storage means, and using the change in the past flow rate value stored in the storage means and the current flow rate value from the flow rate measuring means. A change presence / absence determining means for determining and outputting the presence or absence of a flow rate change, a change history storing means for storing a history of change flow rate by a signal from the change presence / absence determining means, a signal from the change presence / absence determining means and the change history storage And an individual flow rate estimating means for estimating whether or not the flow rate change judged by the change presence / absence judging means is a change caused by such an event using a signal from the means.

[0008]

According to the present invention, according to the above configuration, when a certain flow rate change occurs from the state in which a plurality of gas appliances are used, which gas appliance is used in the individual flow rate estimating means from the historical information of the flow rate change of each gas appliance. It is possible to accurately estimate whether or not the flow rate is changed, and it is possible to more accurately distinguish the dangerous gas use state and the normal gas use state.

[0009]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIG. The same parts as those in the conventional example are designated by the same reference numerals. In FIG. 1, 1 is a flow rate measuring unit, 2 is an integrating unit, 3 is a storing unit, 4 is a change presence / absence determining unit, 5 is an individual flow rate estimating unit, 6 is a safety unit, 7 is a device-specific integrating unit, and 8 is the same change. The determination means 9 is a change history storage means. 11
Is a disc that rotates in conjunction with the movement of the membrane in the membrane gas meter, 12 is a magnet arranged on the outer periphery of the disc 11 at equal intervals, and 13 is a disc fixedly arranged near the disc 11 to rotate the disc 11. The magnetoresistive element 14 detects the change in the magnetic field caused by the pulse count means 14 for counting the number of changes in the signal output from the magnetoresistive element 13 in response to the change in the magnetic field. Disc 11 to pulse counting means 1
4, the flow rate measuring means 1 is established. The flow rate change estimating device 10 of the present invention comprises the flow rate measuring means 1, the storage means 3, the change presence / absence determining means 4, the individual flow rate estimating means 5, the same change determining means 8, and the change history storing means 9 described above. Similarly to the conventional example, the change presence / absence determining means 4 receives the current flow rate value Q _i from the flow rate measuring means 1 and the flow rate value Q _i-1 from the storage means 3 at the immediately preceding time as an input | Q _i
-Q _i-1 | It is determined whether or not it is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold value. The same change determination means 8 determines from the determination result by the change determination means 4 whether the past flow rate change and the current flow rate change are a series of changes of the same gas appliance or another gas appliance.

Same change judgment in the same change judgment means 8
The conceptual diagram of the method is shown in FIG.
Fig. 3 shows a flowchart explaining the work, and the same changes
The operation of the determination means 8 will be described. In Figure 2, Q_i
Is the flow rate value at the current unit time, Q_i-1Is the previous single
Flow rate value, Q_i-2, Q_i-3Two each
Flow rate value in unit time before, 3 in front, Q_{i + m}Is after m
Flow rate value per unit time, ΔQ = Q_i-Q_i-1, ΔQ
_XIs the integrated value up to the present for the same flow rate change, ΔQ _totalIs
It is the total integrated value of the same flow rate change. 2 in the example of FIG.
The flow rate value in the immediately preceding unit time and the flow rate value in the immediately preceding unit time
Flow rate value is not changing (in case of solid line) or
The flow rate is decreasing (in the case of the dotted line). And two
From the flow rate value of the previous unit time, change to an increasing flow rate change and m
The flow rate continues to increase until the unit time
It Flow rate does not change or decreases in time after m
The flow rate has changed slightly. The same change determination means 8
As shown in 2, the flow rate changed from the state where there was no change in flow rate.
Q, which is the time point or the time point when the flow rate change reverses_{i- 2}Or
When the flow rate stops changing from
Q when it changed _{i + m}Flow rate up to ΔQ_totalOne
It is judged as one flow rate change and this ΔQ_totalThe next stage change shoes
Output to the history storage unit 9. Next, the same change determination means 8
The detailed operation of will be described according to the flowchart of FIG.
It In step 81, the flow rate from the change presence / absence determining means 4 is determined.
It is determined whether there is a change signal ΔQ. With ΔQ
ΔQ and ΔQ, which is the past change history, in step 82.
_XIs the same code. ΔQ and ΔQ_X
Are the same sign or ΔQ_XIf is zero, step 83
ΔQ as the same change in_XΔQ is added to.
On the other hand, ΔQ and ΔQ_XIf is not the same sign, opposite changes occur
This means that in step 84 ΔQ_totalLast time
Change in flow rate ΔQ_XAfter substituting
And ΔQ_XSubstitute the changed flow rate ΔQ as a new change into
To do. In step 81, the flow from the change presence / absence determination means 4 is performed.
If it is determined that the quantity change signal ΔQ does not exist, step 86 is reached.
And ΔQ_XIs zero. ΔQ_XIs zero
This means that the flow rate did not change until the last time. So
And since there is no change in the flow rate again this time, do nothing and
The process returns to step 81 to determine the flow rate change. If step
ΔQ at page 86_XIf is not zero, the change up to the previous
ΔQ at step 87_totalTo ΔQ_XA teenager
After entering, at step 88 ΔQ_XAssign zero to
It In step 84 and step 87, ΔQ_total
Is output to the change history storage means 9 in the next stage.
Is made.

Next, the operations of the change history storage means 9 and the individual flow rate estimation means 5 will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 7. FIG. 7 is an example of a case where the gas heater 106 is ignited at 3000 watts and is immediately reduced to 2500 watts while the fan heater 105 is used at 2000 watts. In the change history storage means 9, the gas table 106
Is ignited at 3000 watts when measuring Q _i-1 . Then, at the time of the next flow rate measurement, the individual flow rate estimating means 5 outputs Q _i −Q _i−1 from the same change determining means 8.
The change information of -500, the information that the gas table 106 from the change history storage means 9 was ignited at the previous measurement time, the fan heater 105 stored inside the individual flow rate estimation means 5 is 2000 watts, and the gas table 1
5 from the information that 06 is used at 3000 watts
Estimate which gas appliance flow reduction is 00 watts flow reduction. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the individual flow rate estimating means 5. First, in step 51, the possibility that the fan heater 105, which is the gas appliance in use, will decrease by 500 watts, and the possibility that the gas table 106 will decrease by 500 watts will be calculated. As a method of calculating the possibility (the same method as shown in Japanese Patent Application No. 2-240791), a function representing the relationship between the gas usage flow rate of each gas appliance and the possibility of being used is prepared and the calculation is performed based on the function.
Next, in step 52, it is detected whether (Q _i −Q _i−2 ) has changed, and if there is a change, step 5
After performing step 3, in step 54 the magnitude of the probability of which gas appliance change is greater is compared. If no change is detected in step 52, step 53 is skipped and step 54 is executed. And in step 55 it is the change of gas appliances that has the greatest potential 50
Estimate 0 watt change. In step 53, (Q _i-1
-Q _i-2 ) Make corrections so that the possibility of changes in the gas appliances that changed at the time point increases. That is, the gas table 1
Immediately after the 06 started up at 3000 watts, 500
When there is a change in the flow rate of watts, it is considered that the possibility that the gas table that started up at 3000 hot just before is changed is greater than the possibility that the fan heater 105 changes 500 watts. The possibility of is corrected to a larger one. With the above method, the change of the flow rate of 500 watts can be achieved by the gas table 1.
It is estimated that the flow rate of 06 has changed.

In the above configuration, the flow rate change estimating device 10
For example, if the gas table is ignited and the flow rate is immediately adjusted to an appropriate flow rate, the flow rate change at the time of this adjustment is likely to be the change of the gas appliance that has changed immediately before, and the magnitude of the possibility is corrected. This has the effect of acting and more accurately estimating which gas appliance flow rate has changed.

In the present embodiment shown in FIG. 1, a membrane gas meter has been described as an example of the flow rate measuring means 1, but a so-called fluidic gas meter using a fluidic element may be used, for example. Of course, the measuring means is not limited to the gas meter, and may be any measuring means for measuring the flow rate of the fluid.

The change history stored in the change history storage means 9 stores the immediately preceding change (Q _i-1 -Q _i-2 ). For example, immediately before the current flow rate change, there is no flow rate condition more than a certain number of times. If there is no flow immediately before the current flow rate change in the individual flow rate estimating means 5 for more than a certain number of times, it is possible that the gas appliance that changed last time may have changed the flow rate again. You may make it correct.

[0015]

As described above, according to the flow rate change estimating apparatus of the present invention, for example, when the gas table is ignited and the flow rate is immediately adjusted to an appropriate flow rate, the flow rate change at the time of this adjustment is the gas that has changed immediately before. As the possibility of the change of the appliance is high, it acts to correct the magnitude of the possibility, and it is possible to more accurately estimate which gas appliance's flow rate has changed.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a flow rate change estimating apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram of flow rate change determination in the same change determination means 8 of the same apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the same change determination means 8 of the same device.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the operation of the individual flow rate estimation means 5 of the same device.

[Figure 5] Gas piping diagram at home

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a conventional flow rate change estimating device.

FIG. 7 is a pattern diagram showing an example of a flow rate change pattern.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Flow rate measuring means 3 Storage means 4 Change presence / absence determination means 5 Individual flow rate estimation means 9 Change history storage means 10 Flow rate change estimation device

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A flow rate measuring means for measuring a flow rate of a fluid, a memory means for storing a signal from the flow rate measuring means at a certain time, a signal from the flow rate measuring means and a signal from the memory means. From the change presence / absence determining means, a change presence / absence determining means for determining the presence / absence of a flow rate change using the change in the past flow rate value stored in the storage means and the current flow rate value from the flow rate measuring means and outputting Change history storage means for storing the history of the change flow rate by the signal, and the cause of the flow rate change determined by the change presence / absence determination means is estimated based on the signal from the change presence / absence determination means and the signal from the change history storage means. A flow rate change estimating device comprising individual flow rate estimating means. 2. The change history storage means is configured to determine and store, based on a signal from the change presence / absence determination means, whether or not a state of no flow rate change has continued a certain number of times or more immediately before a current flow rate change. The flow rate change estimating device according to claim 1.