JPH0728347B2 - Household information transmitter - Google Patents

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a residential information transmission device for transmitting information regarding the usage amounts of gas, electricity, water, etc., to a management center via a telephone line.

[Prior Art] Conventionally, this type of device rectifies and smoothes a 100 V commercial AC current distributed to a home, or uses a primary battery to operate an electric circuit in a home information transmission device. Was there.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in the case where a commercial AC current of 100 V is used as a power source of the information transmission device for a house, a DC circuit for converting the AC current into a DC and a filter for smoothing the pulse component are used. In addition to the need for a regulator that stabilizes the voltage, an outlet, a cord, a fuse, and the like for connecting the residential information transmitter and a commercial AC power source are also required, which causes a problem of high manufacturing cost. It was

In addition, if a primary battery is used for the power source of the information transmission device for a house, if a manganese dry battery that is widely used for the primary battery is used, the period of use of the manganese dry battery is short, so it needs to be replaced frequently. If a long-life lithium battery is used as the primary battery, the lithium battery is expensive. Therefore, if the lithium battery required to obtain the operating voltage of the device is used, the price of the primary battery becomes very expensive. Was.

Therefore, the applicant is required to use the power supplied from the telephone line to
A power supply unit was devised (filed on the same date as the present application) that charges a secondary battery and operates the electric circuit of the home information transmission device with the electric power charged in the secondary battery.

However, due to, for example, a large number of transmissions to the management center, the consumption of the secondary battery is larger than that of charging by the telephone line, the voltage of the secondary battery drops, the power supply unit breaks down due to a disconnection, etc. Alternatively, it is assumed that the telephone line is disconnected for a long time and the secondary battery is not charged.

In such a case, not only transmission to the management center becomes impossible, but also various data stored in the electric circuit are erased.

This data also includes data on the usage of gas, electricity, water, etc. and the telephone number of the transmission destination, etc. Once the data is erased, it will not be reproduced even if the voltage is restored. When the data cannot be sent to the center and the usage data is deleted, the usage amount becomes unknown, which may lead to confusion about the usage amount, such as meter reading of the usage amount and notification of gas shortage.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to keep the cost of a power supply low and to notify the management center that the voltage of the power supply has dropped when the voltage of the power supply has dropped. , Provided is a residential information transmission device capable of preventing erasure of data stored in an electric circuit in advance.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to achieve the above object, the first invention is an electricity detecting the usage amount of gas, electricity, water, etc. and transmitting the usage amount to a management center through a telephone line. In the residential information transmitting device including a circuit, the electric circuit has a power supply unit including a secondary battery that is constantly charged by electricity supplied from the telephone line, and the voltage of the secondary battery is predetermined. A voltage drop detection circuit for detecting a voltage drop below the voltage value is provided, and when the voltage of the secondary battery drops below the predetermined voltage value, the voltage of the secondary battery goes below the predetermined voltage value to the management center. The technical means is to have a battery dead notification function for transmitting a notification that the battery level has dropped.
In a residential information transmitting device provided with an electric circuit for detecting the usage of electricity, water, etc. and transmitting the usage to a management center via a telephone line, the electric circuit is the electricity supplied from the telephone line. A first power source unit having a secondary battery that is constantly charged by a primary battery and a primary battery are used to supply electricity to the electric circuit when the voltage of the secondary battery falls below the primary battery supply voltage value. A second power supply unit, and a voltage drop detection circuit for detecting that the voltage of the primary battery of the second power supply unit falls below a predetermined voltage value, wherein the voltage of the primary battery is the predetermined voltage. A technical means is provided with a battery dead notification function for transmitting to the management center that the voltage of the primary battery has dropped below the predetermined voltage value when the voltage drops below a predetermined value.

[Operation and Effect of Invention] (First Invention) A first invention having the above-described configuration includes a power supply unit that constantly charges a secondary battery with electricity supplied from a telephone line. To activate an electrical circuit. And since this power supply unit consists only of a secondary battery and a circuit that constantly charges the secondary battery using a telephone line,
The price of the power supply can be kept low.

Also, when the voltage of the power supply unit drops below the specified voltage value, the voltage drop detection circuit detects that the voltage of the secondary battery has dropped below the specified voltage value and manages it using the dead battery notification function. By notifying the center that the voltage of the secondary battery has dropped below a predetermined voltage value, the management center can know where the voltage of the home device has dropped. Can be dealt with before the transmission failure occurs, and the data stored in the electric circuit can be prevented from being erased.

Further, since the data in the electric circuit can be dealt with before the data is erased, various confusions due to the data erasure can be avoided.

(Second invention) A second invention having the above-mentioned configuration is provided with a first power supply unit that constantly charges a secondary battery with electricity supplied from a telephone line,
The electricity charged in the secondary battery is used to operate an electric circuit.

Also, when the voltage of the secondary battery of the first power supply unit falls below the primary battery supply voltage value, electricity is supplied to the electric circuit from the primary battery of the second power supply unit. This allows information to be transmitted to the management center even if the voltage of the first power supply unit drops.

On the other hand, the primary battery of the second power supply unit is not used until the voltage of the secondary battery of the first power supply unit becomes lower than the supply voltage value of the primary battery. Since the voltage is boosted by being charged by the line, the frequency of use of the primary battery is low, the life of the primary battery can be extended, and maintenance becomes easy.

Furthermore, when the voltage of the primary battery of the second power supply unit drops below a predetermined voltage value, the voltage drop detection circuit works to
Detecting that the voltage of the secondary battery has dropped below the specified voltage value and using the battery dead notification function to notify the management center that the voltage of the primary battery has dropped below the specified voltage value. Can know where the voltage of the secondary battery of the home device has dropped, so that it is possible to take action before the data stored in the electric circuit is erased.

In addition, since it is possible to deal with the data in the electric circuit before the data is erased, various confusions due to the data erasure can be avoided.

[Embodiment] Next, a residential information transmitter of the present invention will be described based on an embodiment shown in the drawings.

1 and 2 show block diagrams of a residential information transmitter.

A is a residential information transmission device provided in each house, T is a general telephone, L is a general subscriber telephone network including an exchange system (telephone office), C is the residential information transmission device A and a telephone network L. The computer of the gas supply company (management center) connected through is shown.

The residential information transmitter A inputs the outputs of a meter with pulse transmission N1, a reset switch N2, and a gas leak sensor N3, and outputs these information to a computer C of a gas supply company.
The electric circuit 1 for transmitting to.

The meter N1 with pulse transmission is one in which a magnet is attached to the rotating body of a gas metering and integrating meter (not shown) that rotates in proportion to the flow rate of gas, and the magnetic force of the magnet makes contact with the reed switch to generate a pulse.

The reset switch N2 is, for example, a push button switch,
It is operated by the person who replaces the gas cylinder when replacing the gas cylinder.

The electric circuit 1 includes a communication connector 2 that connects the telephone T and the telephone line network L, a line usage detection circuit 3 that detects the call state of the telephone T, and a ringing tone detection circuit 4 that detects the ringing state of the telephone T. , A circuit switching relay 5 for switching the telephone network L, a center signal detecting circuit 6 for detecting a signal (for example, a push button signal) transmitted from a computer C of a gas supply company, and a dial signal for generating a dial signal. Generation circuit 7 and microprocessor (CP
U) 8, the first power source unit 9 having the secondary battery 9a, the second power source unit 10 having the primary battery 10a, and the voltage of the primary battery 10a of the second power source unit 10 are applied to the present invention. Predetermined voltage value (eg 2.6
Voltage drop detection circuit that detects that
11 and.

The circuit switching relay 5 has relay contacts 5a and 5b, and switches the telephone line network L between the telephone T and the electric circuit 1.

The dial signal generation circuit 7 is a circuit for generating a selection signal for the called party (management center) and a signal for transmitting information to the computer C. The dial signal generation circuit 7 has two groups, a high group and a low group in the voice band. A push button signal in which one frequency is combined from each of several groups is generated.

The microprocessor 8 controls the entire system, a user code, the date and time when automatic meter reading starts, a call signal of the computer C of the gas supply company connected to the telephone network L (the telephone number of the telephone connected to the computer C), the gas. Set value of cutoff flow rate (for example, the amount of gas used is
The value equivalent to 70% and the amount of gas used are
(Number equivalent to 85%) etc. are stored, the number of pulses sent from the meter N1 with pulse transmission is counted, and a timer is provided inside.

The date and time of the automatic meter reading start, the user code, the calling signal of the computer C, the set value of the out-of-gas flow rate, and the initial value of the gas measuring and integrating meter, which are stored in the microprocessor 8, are set by the residential information transmitting apparatus A. Is set by a worker or the like at the time of installation.

Predetermined electric power can be obtained from the telephone line network L currently used in Japan. However, it is difficult to operate the electric circuit 1 with this electric power.

The secondary battery 9a of the first power supply unit 9 is connected to the telephone line network L via a resistor 9b of 1.1 mega ohm, for example. This secondary battery 9a has, for example, a rated voltage of 3.6 V and a telephone line network L.
It is always charged by the current supplied from. As the secondary battery 9a, a nickel cadmium battery, an alkaline battery, a sodium sulfur battery, an alkaline manganese battery, or the like is used. The charging electricity stored in the secondary battery 9a supplies electric power to the circuit switching relay 5, the center signal detecting circuit 6, the dial signal generating circuit 7 and the microprocessor 8 in the electric circuit 1.

The primary electricity 10a of the second power supply unit 10 is connected in parallel with the secondary battery 9a of the first power supply unit 9. The rated voltage of the primary battery 10a is lower than the rated voltage of the secondary battery 9a, for example, 3.
Set to 0 volts. The second power source unit 10 is a secondary battery 9
A primary battery control circuit 10b is provided for supplying electric power to the electric circuit 1 when the voltage of a drops to the primary battery supply voltage value of the present invention (for example, 3 V or less). This primary battery control circuit 10b is, for example, a diode, and the secondary battery 9a
When the voltage of 1 is lower than the voltage of the primary battery 10a, electric power is supplied to the electric circuit 1. As described above, the primary battery 10a in this embodiment supplies electric power to the electric circuit 1.
The secondary battery supply voltage value is set by the voltage of the primary battery 10a. In this embodiment, a lithium battery having a long life and easy maintenance is used as the primary battery 10a.

The voltage drop detection circuit 11 considers the operating voltage of the microprocessor 8 or the minimum voltage that can be transmitted to the computer C at the gas supply opening, which is a predetermined voltage value of the voltage of the primary battery 10a. The output of Hi is generated when it becomes lower than (set).

FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of a function of detecting the time to replace the gas cylinder by the microprocessor 8, an automatic meter reading function, a function of detecting the dead battery of the primary battery 10a, and a gas leak reporting function.

The automatic meter reading function includes a gas usage amount calculation process 811 that counts the number of pulses output by the meter with pulse transmission N1 and calculates the gas usage amount based on the count value.
The total gas usage amount calculated by the gas usage amount calculation process 811 is accumulated in a total accumulation process 812. on the other hand,
When the date and time set in the meter reading date and time setting unit 813 and the date and time counted by the timer 814 are compared in the meter reading date and time detection processing 815, and when the date and time counted by the timer 814 reaches the date and time set in the meter reading date and time setting unit 813, total The cumulative value of the cumulative processing 812 is coded by the gas usage coding processing 816, and the transmission processing 800 notifies the computer C of the gas supply company.

The reset switch has a function to detect when to replace the gas cylinder.
The cumulative amount of gas used after reset is accumulated by trip accumulation processing 821 that is set (reset) to the initial value by the trigger of the rising edge when N2 is turned on. The number accumulated in the trip accumulation process 821 is compared with the number corresponding to the usage amount of 70% of the gas stored in the first out-of-gas setting unit 822, and as a result, the number accumulated in the trip accumulation process 821 is calculated. If it is determined that the value is larger than the value stored in the first out-of-gas setting unit 822, the first alarm signal is generated by the first comparison process 823. In addition, the number accumulated in the trip accumulation process 821 is 85 gas stored in the second gas out setting unit 824.
When it is determined that the cumulative value of the trip cumulative processing 821 is larger than the numerical value stored in the second out-of-gas setting unit 824, as a result of comparison with the numerical value corresponding to the usage amount of%,
A second alarm signal is generated by the second comparison processing 825. First
When the comparison process 823 generates the first alarm signal, the remaining amount in the gas cylinder remains 30% in the first out-of-gas coding process 826.
It is encoded and the transmission process 800 notifies the computer C of the gas supply company. Also, the second comparison processing 825
Generates a second alarm signal, the second out-of-gas encoding process 827 encodes that the remaining amount in the gas cylinder is 15%, and the transmission process 800 notifies the computer C of the gas supply company.

The function of detecting the dead battery of the primary battery 10a is such that when the voltage of the primary battery 10a drops below a predetermined voltage value (eg, 2.5 volts), the voltage drop detection circuit 11 sends a Hi signal to the microprocessor 8
Then, the fact that the voltage of the primary battery 10a has dropped below 2.6 V is coded by the dead battery coding process 831 and the transmission process 800 notifies the computer C of the gas supply company.

When the gas leak sensor N3 detects a gas leak, the gas leak reporting function encodes the fact that the gas leak is detected in the gas leak coding process 841 and reports it to the computer C of the gas supply company in the transmission process 800.

Next, at the time of automatic meter reading, when reporting the time to replace the gas cylinder, 1
Transmission process 800 in the microprocessor 8 when the primary battery of the secondary battery 10a is notified and when a gas leak is reported 800
The operation will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

First, the line use detection circuit 3 determines whether or not the telephone T is in a call (S1), and repeats (S1) when in a call. When the call is not being made, the ringing tone detection circuit 4 determines whether or not the incoming call is being made (S2). When the call is being made, the process is repeated from (S1). When not calling, the telephone line T is disconnected from the telephone line network L by the circuit switching relay 5, and the telephone line network L and the microprocessor 8 are connected (circuit closed) (S3). Next, it is judged whether or not 3 seconds have passed since the circuit was closed (S4), and if not passed, (S4) is repeated. After 3 seconds have passed since the circuit was closed, the dial signal generation circuit 7 automatically dials the computer C of the gas supply company (S5), and whether the center signal detection circuit 6 receives the response signal from the callee side. (S6).
When the response signal is received, the information is transmitted according to each regulation of the transmission control (S7), and the center signal detection circuit 6 determines whether or not the retransmission request signal from the notification destination side is received (S8). ). When the retransmission request signal is not received, it is judged whether or not 3 seconds have passed after the end of the information transmission (S
9) If not, go back to (S8). When 3 seconds have elapsed after the transmission is completed, the telephone line T and the telephone line network L are connected by the circuit switching relay 5, and the telephone line network L and the microprocessor 8 are disconnected (circuit open) (S1).
0), end.

When the response signal from the callee is not received in (S6), it is judged whether 15 seconds have passed since the automatic dialing of the callee (S11). Return to (S6) again. Also, after auto dialing, 15
When a second has elapsed or when a retransmission request signal is received in (S8), the line is opened (S12), and then it is determined whether or not automatic dialing has been performed three times or more (S1).
3). If the number of outgoing calls is less than 3, it is judged whether 5 seconds have passed since the line was opened (S14), 5
If the second has not elapsed, (S14) is repeated, and if 5 seconds have elapsed, the process returns to (S1) again.

If it is determined in (S13) that the number of times of automatic dialing has been made three times or more, it is determined whether or not automatic dialing has been performed nine times (S15). When it is finished and less than 9 times, it is judged whether 5 minutes have passed since the line was opened (S16).
If 5 minutes have not elapsed since the line was released, (S16) is repeated, and if 5 minutes have elapsed, the procedure returns to (S1).

At the time of the above-mentioned automatic meter reading, notification of gas cylinder replacement time, notification of primary battery 10a battery exhaustion, and gas leak notification, circuit switching relay 5 in electric circuit 1, center signal detection circuit 6, dial Since the signal generation circuit 7 and the microprocessor 8 operate, the secondary battery of the first power supply unit 9
The electricity charged in 9a is consumed.

However, automatic meter reading is performed, for example, only once a month, and the notification of the time to replace the gas cylinder is made.
Since the battery exhaustion notification and gas leakage notification are not made many times a month, the secondary battery of the first power supply unit 9
9a is always charged by the telephone network L and has a rated voltage of 3.6.
Kept in bolts. Further, the microprocessor 8 counts the number of pulses of the timer and the rotor N1 with pulse transmission even when the information is not transmitted to the computer C of the gas supply company, but the current consumption of the timer is 1
Since the current consumption at the time of counting the number of pulses is less than or equal to microamperes and is about 2 to 3 microamperes, the secondary battery 9a of the first power supply unit 9 has a telephone line network L rather than consumed power.
The supplied power is more charged.

Since the first power source unit 9 has a simple structure such as the secondary battery 9a and the resistor 9b, the cost of the first power source unit 9 can be kept low. Also, since the secondary battery 9a is charged and used,
Maintenance is easy because there is no need to replace the secondary battery 9a of the first power supply unit 9 for a long period of time.

On the other hand, the information is transmitted to the computer C of the gas supply company many times, the power of the secondary battery 9a of the first power supply unit 9 does not catch up with the charging, and the voltage of the secondary battery 9a is the primary battery supply voltage value ( If the voltage drops below 3 volts, the first power supply unit 9 fails, or the telephone network L is disconnected for a long time, the secondary battery 9a of the first power supply unit 9 is not charged. When the voltage of the first power supply unit 9 drops and the voltage of the secondary battery 9a drops below the primary battery 10a of the second power supply unit 10
By the function of the secondary battery control circuit 10b, the electric circuit 1 becomes the primary battery 1
Since the power of 0a is supplied, the system can be operated and the data stored in the microprocessor 8 can be retained for a long time.

In addition, the primary battery 10a is the secondary battery 9a of the first power supply unit 9
The secondary battery 9a is not used until it drops below the supply voltage value of the secondary battery, and even if it is used, the voltage of the secondary battery 9a is recharged by the telephone line network L to boost the voltage, so the frequency of use of the primary battery 10a is very low. The life of the secondary battery 10a can be significantly extended. Since the second power source unit 10 is composed only of the primary battery 10a and the diode (primary battery control circuit 10b),
The cost of the power supply unit 10 can be kept low.
Further, by using a lithium battery as the primary battery 10a, the life of the primary battery 10a can be further extended. Furthermore, even if an expensive lithium battery is used for the primary battery 10a, the voltage of the primary battery 10a may be smaller than the voltage of the first power source unit 9, so that the manufacturing cost can be kept low.

Furthermore, when the voltage of the primary battery 10a of the second power supply unit 10 becomes lower than the dead battery voltage value, the voltage drop detection circuit 11 causes the voltage of the primary battery 10a to exceed a predetermined voltage value of 2.6 volts. It also detects that the voltage has dropped, and the microprocessor 8 uses the battery dead notification function to notify the management center that the voltage of the primary battery 10a has dropped below 2.6 volts. Since it is possible to know whether the voltage of the primary battery of the device has dropped, before the data stored in the microprocessor 8 is erased, for example, a repair person is dispatched or the battery runs out. The microprocessor 8 may be instructed at home to replace the primary battery 10a by the telephone T.
Since it can be dealt with before the data in it is erased, it is possible to avoid various confusions such as the usage amount becoming unknown due to the data erasure, making it impossible to perform meter readings, or running out of gas. It is possible to improve reliability.

(Modification) In the above embodiment, an example in which a diode is used in the primary battery control circuit is shown, but other means may be used.

The primary battery of the second power supply unit is not limited to the lithium battery, and other primary batteries such as a manganese dry battery, a mercury battery, and a silver oxide battery may be used.

An example of pulse generation was shown using a magnet and a reed switch mounted on the rotating member in the gas integrating meter.However, other slits are provided in the gas integrating meter where rotation or reciprocating motion is performed, and the slit is passed. The amount of gas used may be detected by generating a pulse by another means such as generating a pulse by the output of a photocoupler that detects the light to be emitted, and counting the number of pulses. Further, the flow rate of gas passing through the gas supply pipe may be detected by using an air flow meter or the like, and the amount of gas used may be detected.

If the usage within the set time exceeds the set value (exceeding the maximum flow rate, long-term use of gas equipment, minute leak, etc.), the information may be reported to the center or the gas valve may be shut off. good.

In addition to the automatic detection of gas, the present invention can be applied to other automatic meter readings such as electricity and water.

In the above embodiment, the example in which the present invention is applied to the device for automatically reading the meter to the management center at a preset date and time is shown, but it may be applied to the device to perform the automatic meter reading by receiving the support of the transmission from the management center. .

In addition to gas leak detection, home security functions such as crime prevention and fire detection may be provided.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, an example in which the management center detects that the voltage of the primary battery of the second power supply unit has dropped to the predetermined voltage value is shown, but the first power supply unit The management center may detect that the voltage of the secondary battery has dropped to a predetermined voltage value.

[Brief description of drawings]

1 and 2 are block diagrams of a residential information transmitting apparatus of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a microprocessor,
FIG. 4 is a flowchart of the transmission process of the microprocessor. In the figure, 1 ... Electric circuit, 8 ... Microprocessor, 9 ...
… First power supply, 9a …… Secondary battery, 10 …… Second power supply, 10
a: Primary battery, 11: Voltage drop detection circuit, A: House information transmission device, C: Gas supply company computer,
L: Telephone network

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. The amount of gas, electricity, water, etc. used is detected,
In a residential information transmitting apparatus including an electric circuit for transmitting the usage amount to a management center via a telephone line, the electric circuit includes a secondary battery that is constantly charged by electricity supplied from the telephone line. A power supply unit is provided, and a voltage drop detection circuit that detects when the voltage of the secondary battery drops below a predetermined voltage value is provided, and the management is performed when the voltage of the secondary battery drops below the predetermined voltage value. A residential information transmitting device, comprising a battery dead notification function for transmitting to the center that the voltage of the secondary battery has dropped below the predetermined voltage value. 2. The amount of gas, electricity, water, etc. used is detected,
In a residential information transmitting device including an electric circuit for transmitting the usage amount to a management center via a telephone line, the electric circuit includes a secondary battery that is constantly charged by electricity supplied from the telephone line. A first power supply unit; and a second power supply unit that uses a primary battery and supplies electricity to the electric circuit when the voltage of the secondary battery drops below a primary battery supply voltage value. A voltage drop detection circuit that detects that the voltage of the primary battery of the two power supply units drops below a predetermined voltage value, and when the voltage of the primary battery drops below the predetermined voltage value, the management center is provided with the voltage drop detection circuit. An information transmitting device for a home, comprising a battery dead notification function for transmitting that the voltage of the primary battery has dropped below the predetermined voltage value. 3. The residential information transmitting apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the predetermined voltage value is set lower than the primary battery supply voltage value.