JPH0744845U - Signal transmission device for handling equipment such as gas meter in explosive atmosphere - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Abstract] [Purpose] An explosion that can secure data communication between various handling devices such as a plurality of gas measuring instruments and fixed devices (operation unit, etc.) in an explosive atmosphere. (EN) Provided is a signal transmission device for handling equipment such as a gas meter in a volatile atmosphere. [Structure] Arrangement parts such as a gas measuring instrument in an explosive atmosphere are arranged, each of the equipment is provided with an explosion-proof box on the side of the equipment, and a radio signal transmission means for the handling equipment is housed in the explosion-proof box. An external explosion-proof box is arranged outside the unit, an external radio signal transmission means is provided in the explosion-proof box, and both signal transmission means can perform signal transmission such as remote operation of the handling equipment.

Description

[Detailed description of the device]

[0001]

[Industrial applications]

 The present invention relates to a signal transmission device in a handling device such as a gas meter in an explosive atmosphere, and more specifically, for example, it is fixed to various handling devices in an explosive atmosphere where flammable chemicals, gas, etc. exist. The present invention relates to a signal transmission device capable of ensuring the safety of data communication with a device.

[0002]

[Prior art]

 Conventionally, in data communication such as remote control of various handling devices in an explosive atmosphere, signal transmission is usually performed by a wired transmission method. That is, by adopting a signal transmission cable and isolating the signal transmission line from the outside, the electric field energy generated in the transmission cable is insulated from the outside world, and at the same time, in an explosive atmosphere with the cable inner conductor, etc. Safety is ensured by preventing contact with flammable substances.

However, in the case of the wired transmission method, there are problems that a signal transmission path such as a transmission cable interferes with a handling device and that the device itself does not move smoothly. Therefore, in order to prevent the signal transmission cable from being used in an explosive atmosphere, it is necessary to rely on manual operation. However, in the case of manual operation, there is a possibility that the handling operation of the above-mentioned equipment may be incorrect, so automation of the operation is required.

Therefore, as data communication in remote control of various handling devices in an explosive atmosphere, remote control by a wireless transmission system is noted. Further, in the case of this transmission method, since a transmission cable is not required, it has many advantages that problems such as the signal transmission path obstructing the handling equipment, and problems such as erroneous operation due to manual operation can be solved. .

[0005]

[Problems to be solved by the device]

 However, in the case of the wireless transmission system, since the wireless device main body and the antenna (antenna) are used, the following problems occur and are not suitable for practical use. In other words, there is a high risk that the electric field energy generated in the wireless device itself and the flammable substance (medicine, gas, etc.) ignited by the antenna power. Since the antenna is configured to be led out in an explosive atmosphere, there is a possibility that the antenna will come into direct contact with flammable substances. In the case of a wireless transmission system, the ultra-high frequency band is used as the frequency band used, so by using a coaxial cable antenna as the antenna, it is possible to make the antenna itself smaller and to maintain a certain level of strength. It is possible, but the strength of the upper half of the doublet antenna remains problematic, and it is difficult to stably fix it to the wireless device itself. Therefore, the antenna easily swings, and the degree of contact with flammable substances increases.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object thereof is to provide various handling devices such as a plurality of gas measuring instruments and a fixed machine in an explosive atmosphere. (EN) Provided is a signal transmission device for handling equipment such as a gas measuring instrument in an explosive atmosphere, which is capable of performing data communication with a device (operation unit or the like) while ensuring safety.

[0007]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

 Further, as a means for achieving the above-mentioned object, the signal transmission device in the handling equipment such as the gas measuring instrument in the explosive atmosphere of the present invention has the handling equipment in the explosive atmosphere such as the gas measuring instrument in the arrangement part. However, each of the handling equipment is provided with an equipment-side explosion-proof box, the handling equipment wireless signal transmission means is housed in the explosion-proof box, and the external-side explosion-proof box is arranged outside the arranging section. External radio signal transmitting means is provided in the external radio signal transmitting means, and the radio signal transmitting means can perform signal transmission such as remote operation of the handling equipment.

[0008] Here, the radio signal transmission means is a concept including a signal transmission means using an optical signal or the like using a light beam, a light wave, or the like as a medium in addition to a normal radio wave.

[0009]

[Action]

 Further, the signal transmission device in the handling device such as the gas meter in the explosive atmosphere of the present invention based on the above-mentioned configuration, for example, supplies gas to a gas cylinder or the like and fills the gas for measuring the gas weight. When used as a device, when a sensor or the like detects that a predetermined amount of gas has been supplied to the gas cylinder by the gas filling device mounted on the arrangement part, the device inside the explosion-proof box installed in the gas filling device. The detection signal is transmitted by the signal transmitting means such as the side light emitting and receiving device, and is received by the wireless signal transmitting means such as the device side light emitting and receiving device inside the external explosion-proof box which is arranged outside the arranging section. When the received signal is transmitted to the remote operation room, based on the received signal, the wireless signal transmitting means such as the external side light emitting / receiving device is used to transmit the signal via the wireless signal transmitting means by the corresponding device side light emitting / receiving device. ,Up The filling operation of the gas filling equipment with a remote control acts sea urchin I can stop instruction.

Therefore, according to the signal transmission device in the handling device such as the gas measuring instrument under the explosive atmosphere of the present invention, the handling devices such as the plurality of gas measuring devices are placed on the arrangement part and The equipment to be handled is equipped with an explosion-proof box, and a radio signal transmitting means such as a light-emitter and a receiver and a wireless device is provided in the explosion-proof box so that data communication such as remote operation of the above-mentioned equipment can be performed. As a result, it has the special effect that data communication between multiple handling devices and various fixed devices can be performed safely even in an explosive atmosphere.

[0011]

【Example】

 Embodiments embodying the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. Here, FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a gas filler, and FIG. 3 is a schematic front view of an explosion-proof wireless device in another embodiment.

The signal transmission device of the present embodiment is a gas filling / measuring device in a gas filling device, and is roughly described as follows: a rotary table (arrangement table or arrangement part) 1, a gas filling device 2, and a remote operation part 3. It consists of three parts.

The rotary table 1 is a horizontally rotating mounting table, and has a configuration in which a plurality of gas fillers 2 are arranged on the circumference at regular intervals. The gas filling device 2 is arranged such that it can be fixed by a chuck or the like so that it can be attached and detached as required.

The gas filling device 2 includes a platform weighing unit 4, a gas filling unit 5, a size detecting unit 6, and a signal transmitting unit 7, respectively. The platform scale 4 is a weighing scale for weighing the gas cylinder, and is mounted on the rotary platform 1. A gas filler holding column 8 is erected around the periphery thereof. The gas filling section 5 is composed of a gas filling nozzle 9, a gas tank 10 and a hose 11. The gas filling nozzle 9 is suspended from a gas filler holding column 8 and is connected to the gas tank 10 via the hose 11 to connect to the gas tank. The gas in the tank 10 can be filled in the cylinder (the gas tank is composed of one gas tank if necessary). Further, the gas filling holding column 8 holding the gas filling nozzle 9 is formed as an inverted L-shaped column body, and is provided with a suspension balancer 12 for suspending the gas filling nozzle 9. . The gas filling device 2 is turned on and off by a filling stop valve 13 installed between the gas tank 10 and the hose 12. The size detection unit 6 is for detecting the size (height) of the gas cylinder, and is composed of a height detection sensor 14 ... And a sensor mounting frame 15, and a plurality of types of gas cylinders (usually, In order to accommodate three types), a plurality of sensor mounting frames 15 are provided alongside the gas-filled holding column 8 and a plurality of sensor mounting frames 15 are arranged at predetermined vertical positions. Here, a photoelectric tube sensor is used as the size detection sensor. However, other sensors may be used. Then, the detected size value is configured to be transmitted to the code state detecting unit 16 of the remote control unit 3 via the signal transmitting unit 7 with a signal corresponding to each sensor. The signal transmission unit 7 is arranged at the upper portion of the gas filling device 2 and is composed of an explosion-proof box (including an explosion-proof case, a bag, etc.) 17 and a light emitter / receiver 18. As the light emitter / receiver 18, a light emitter / receiver having a strong directivity is used and is housed in the explosion-proof box 17. The signal transmission unit 7 is installed in each gas filling device 2.

The remote operation unit 3 is composed of a signal transmission unit 19 for performing signal transmission with the signal transmission unit 7 of the gas filling device 2 and an operation unit 20. The signal transmission unit 19 is arranged at an upper portion of the center of rotation of the rotary table 1, and like the signal transmission unit 7, is composed of an explosion-proof box (including an explosion-proof case, a bag, etc.) 21 and an emitter / receiver 22. The emitter / receiver 22 is housed in the explosion-proof box 21. Here, as the light emitter / receiver 22, an omnidirectional light emitter / receiver is used (usually configured to be capable of light emitter / receiver in all circumferential directions by a lens / mirror or the like). This is because it deals with transmitting data in the plurality of rotating gas fillers 2. The operation unit 20 is adapted to perform signal transmission with the signal transmission unit 23 by a wired or wireless communication method, and the tare weight input means 24, the code state detection unit 25, and the data display / recording unit 26. It is composed of The tare weight input means 24 is a mechanism for inputting the tare weight of the gas cylinder to be filled with gas, and is configured to be input by a keyboard or other input means, and the input tare weight value ( Kg) is transmitted to the code state detection unit 25. The tare weight input means 24 may be arranged on the gas filler 2 side, if necessary. The code state detection unit 25 determines the type of the gas cylinder placed on the platform balance unit 4 from the signal from the size detection unit 6 based on the “height” of the gas cylinder, and inputs it from the tare weight input means 24. It is a mechanism to detect whether the gas cylinders are the same type by comparing it with the tare weight signal, and it is composed of a commonly used comparison circuit. The data input by the tare weight input means 24 and various data generated in each gas filler 2 are displayed / recorded on the data display / recording unit 26. Incidentally, it goes without saying that the light-emitter / receiver may be a light-emitter / light-receiver or may have a separate structure.

The control device for measuring gas in the gas filling device according to the present embodiment described above is configured such that a plurality of gas is added to the platform balances 4 of the gas fillers 2 mounted on the circumference of the rotary table 1, respectively. The gas cylinder to be filled is placed and connected to the gas filling nozzle 9 so that the cylinder can be filled with gas. Then, by using the tare type input means 24 of the remote control unit 3, the tare weight value of the gas cylinder (a predetermined weight value of 12 kg if the cylinder is for 10 kg, or a value of 21 kg if it is for 20 kg) is input, It is transmitted to the code state detection unit 25 and the data display / recording unit 26 in the operation unit 3, where the height sensor 14 of the size detection unit 6 of the gas filling device 2 ... Is detected, and the detected signal is sent to the light-emitter / receiver 22 in the explosion-proof box 21 which constitutes the signal transmitting unit 19 of the remote control unit 3 corresponding to the light-emitter / receiver 18 arranged in the explosion-proof box 17 as an optical signal. Along with the transmission, a signal is transmitted to the matching state detection unit 25 and the data display / recording unit 26. Then, the signals respectively input and detected by the tare type input means 24 and the size detection unit 6 are detected by the coincidence state detection unit 25 of the remote control unit 3, and the gas cylinders that are coincident / matched by the signals. If there is a discrepancy, if there is a discrepancy, an error message is displayed to show that the tare weight value is different and the gas cylinder is different, and the tare value is instructed to be changed. Then, when the above signals coincide with each other, the filling stop valve 13 is turned on through the signal transmitting section 19 and the signal transmitting section 7 to transmit a signal to start gas filling.

Next, when a fixed amount of propane gas is filled in the gas cylinder (the amount obtained by subtracting the remaining amount from the net filling amount), a fixed amount filling signal is sent via the signal transmitting unit 7 and the signal transmitting unit 19 to the remote control unit 3. To the gas filling device 2 through the signal transmission unit 19 and the signal transmission unit 7 to stop the gas filling. . In addition, whether or not the measured value (total weight value of tare weight and weighing / filling gas weight) matches with the set value (total weight value of tare weight and set filling gas weight) in the matching state detection unit 25. If it is determined that they match or are within a predetermined error, a signal to that effect is transmitted, and if they do not match, the filling stop valve 13 is reset and additional filling is instructed. In addition, when the filling is completed and the gas cylinder is removed from the platform balance unit 4, a signal indicating that the gas filling device 2 is empty is sent to the remote operation unit 3 via the signal transmission units 7 and 19. The signal is transmitted to the matching state detection unit 25.

The above gas filling work is performed for each of the gas filling devices 2, ..., And data communication is performed between the rotating gas filling devices and the remote device (fixed device) by optical transmission means. It is done by software control, usually by software control, and at the same time, only one gas filling device communicates with the remote device (fixed device).

Therefore, according to the above-described embodiment, since the light emitter / receiver constituting the signal transmitter is arranged in the explosion-proof box, the data communication can be performed safely even in an explosive atmosphere, and The gas filling device equipped with the signal transmission means is arranged on the circumference of the rotary table, and the fixed equipment provided with the signal transmission means corresponding to the signal transmission means is arranged in the central upper part of the rotary table. The effect is that filling can be efficiently controlled.

By the way, the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and includes those which can be modified within the scope of the present invention. Incidentally, as the signal transmission means, the radio equipment main body shown in FIG. 3 and the signal input / output section in the radio equipment main body are shielded by a magnetic material box, and the antenna is led out from the magnetic material box, and the antenna is made of hard glass. It is also possible to use an explosion-proof wireless device that is covered with a rigid insulator such as the above, and that allows remote handling of the handling device in an explosive atmosphere through the signal input / output section. That is, this explosion-proof wireless device is composed of three parts, a main body part 31, an antenna part 32, and a signal input / output part 33. The main body part 31 uses a transmitter / receiver wireless device and a power supply. It is integrated with 34, and the outside thereof is shielded by a magnetic material box 35. An antenna (reception / transmission antenna) 36 and a signal input / output unit 33 are led out from the magnetic body box 35. The aerial wire portion 32 is a hollow cover body made of a rigid insulator such as a hard glass or a ceramic that is detachably fixedly erected in parallel with the aerial wire 36 and a magnetic body box 35 that protects the main body portion 31 by sockets 37, 37. It is composed of 38 and. The antenna 36 has a structure in which the circumference is covered by a hollow cover body 38 (in addition, the antenna is molded by an insulating body such as hard glass, if necessary, the cover body and the antenna). In some cases, insulating gas, etc., may be enclosed between and). In addition, a guard body 39 made of a net or the like made of a magnetic material is arranged around the hollow cover body 38 (the guard body may not be provided) to guard the hollow cover body 38. The signal input / output unit 33 is arranged via the shield wire 40 and is shielded by the magnetic body box 41 like the main body unit 31. A signal is transmitted to a valve (not shown) or the like. Here, the shield wire 40 has a length of about 500 mm. By the way, the magnetic material boxes 35 and 41 are grounded. Further, the main body portion 1 can be fixed to a machine frame or the like by the mounting brackets 43, 43. Then, in the above-described embodiment, by using this wireless device for each of the signal transmission part of the gas filling device and the signal transmission part of the remote device, the emission of the electric field energy at the time of signal transmission is blocked, and the antenna Prevents contact with dangerous materials, and enables signals to be sent and received safely between handling equipment such as gas fillers and external equipment even in an explosive atmosphere.

Further, in the above-mentioned embodiment, the case where the gas filling device is used as the handling device has been described, but it is also possible to use it for other chemicals used in an explosive atmosphere, fuel or other measuring devices, supply equipment, etc. Of course.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the explanation has been given with the configuration in which the handling equipment under the explosive atmosphere such as the gas meter is arranged on the circumference of the horizontally rotating rotary table, but the invention is not limited to this configuration. It goes without saying that the handling device may be arranged in a fixed arrangement part. That is, for example, it may be a configuration in which it is simply placed on a plate base (fixed base or the like) or on the road surface. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the device-side explosion-proof box equipped with the handling-device wireless signal transmission means is arranged on the upper part of the handling device, and the external-side explosion-proof box equipped with the external-side wireless signal transmission means is arranged in the placement part. Although the configuration has been described in which it is arranged in the upper part, the present invention is not limited to this, and it is of course possible to adopt a configuration in which the handling device is laterally faced, a configuration in which it is below the handling device, or the like. . The signals may be transmitted and received in any form of transmission from the handling device to the external device, transmission from the external device to the handling device, and exchange between the two devices.

[0023]

[Effect of device]

 As is clear from the above description, the signal transmission device in the handling device such as the gas meter in the explosive atmosphere of the present invention has one or more handling devices such as the gas filling device, and Data transmission between the handling equipment (one or more) and the external equipment (one or more) is possible because the signal transmission of the above can be performed by the signal transmission means arranged in the explosion-proof box. It has the effect that it can be performed in a safe state even in an explosive atmosphere.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a gas filling device.

FIG. 3 is a schematic front view of an explosion-proof wireless device according to another embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Rotary stand, 2 ... Gas filling device, 3 ...
Remote control unit (various fixed devices with built-in remote control unit), 7
... Signal transmission section, 17 ... Explosion-proof box, 18 ... Emitter / receiver, 19 ... Signal transmission section, 21 ... Explosion-proof box, 22
... Emitter and receiver

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] 1. A handling instrument such as a gas meter in an explosive atmosphere is placed in the placement section, and each handling instrument is provided with an equipment-side explosion-proof box, and the handling-apparatus wireless signal transmission means is housed in the explosion-proof box. An external explosion-proof box is placed outside the placement section, and an external radio signal transmission means is provided in the explosion-proof box, and the signal transmission means can perform signal transmission such as remote operation of the handling equipment. A signal transmission device for handling equipment such as a gas meter in an explosive atmosphere.