JPH09159490A - Remote measuring apparatus for analog measuring instrument - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an apparatus by which the measured value of a measuring instrument can be read, out from a position at a distance from the installation place of the measuring instrument and which is low-cost and simple. SOLUTION: A plurality of pointer detection sensors 20 are arranged on a glass 18 at a meter 10 along a track on which a pointer 16 is moved. Measured values which correspond to the respective pointer detection sensors 20 are stored in a storage part 32 at a processing part 24. Outputs of the respective sensors 20 are compared, and the sensor whose output is maximum is output to a display-value computing part 30. The display-value computing part 30 reads out, from the storage part 32, the input measured values corresponding to the pointer detection sensor 20 so as to be displayed on a display 34.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a remote measuring device for an analog measuring instrument capable of reading a measured value displayed by a pointer of the analog measuring instrument at a remote place.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, a water meter is installed in the ground because it is generally connected to a lead-in pipe of a home or the like. However, in a snow-covered area, snow accumulates in winter and the water meter is buried under the snow, and it is not easy to perform meter reading. Therefore, it is conceivable to install the water meter at a place free from the influence of snow, for example, at a high position or at an arbitrary position on the ground such as indoors so that the water meter can be easily read even if there is snow.

Further, a dial and a pair of marks serving as a reference for calculation of different light reflectances are provided corresponding to appropriate positions of the meter, for example, a scale "0" and a maximum display scale, and one end is provided along the scale. The other ends of the optical fibers arranged in a circle are linearly arranged, and the reflected light of the light irradiated on the dial face of the meter is guided to the other linear end of the optical fiber, which is input to the linear image sensor and the pointer position is set. It is conceivable to calculate and display the measured value from the calculated pointer position and the reference mark.

[0004]

By the way, when installing a water meter at an arbitrary position on the ground, it is necessary to route the water pipe to a desired position where the meter is to be installed.
Requires major construction. In addition, it may be possible to replace the meter with a meter capable of remote meter reading. However, in either case, the construction cost and the replacement of the meter are expensive, and when a large number of existing meters are targeted, it is economically difficult. Therefore, it is desired that a water meter installed in the ground can be metered at a place where there is no influence of snowfall, at a low cost.

When one end of the above-mentioned optical fiber is arranged in a circle along the scale, the scale of the water meter is generally endless, so that it is difficult to provide a pair of marks as a reference for calculation. . In addition, even if a pair of marks can be set, it is necessary to arrange the other end of the optical fiber in a straight line or obtain a pointer located between the two marks to perform a complicated calculation. Not only is it expensive.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art, and is inexpensive and simple in that the measured value of the measuring instrument can be read at a place distant from the place where the measuring instrument is installed. It is intended to provide a telemetry device for an analog measuring instrument.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention detects a position of a pointer by disposing a plurality of pointer detection sensors on a surface of a measuring instrument for each predetermined measurement unit, It is possible to display a measurement value that is determined in advance based on the detected pointer position at a desired position. That is, the remote measuring device of the analog measuring instrument according to the present invention arranges a plurality of pointer detecting sensors for each predetermined measurement unit along the scale of the predesigned measuring instrument, and the sensor selecting unit selects each of the pointer detecting sensors. The output signals are compared with each other to find the pointer detection sensor facing the pointer of the measuring instrument, and the measured value previously stored in the storage unit corresponding to the found pointer detection sensor is displayed on the display. It is configured to

As the pointer detection sensor, a magnetic sensor, an optical sensor, a capacitance type sensor, or the like can be used. When an optical sensor such as a light receiving element is used as the pointer detection sensor, it is desirable to provide a light source that irradiates the dial surface of the measuring instrument with light. Also, when the dial of the measuring instrument is small, one end face of the light guide of appropriate thickness is made to face the dial, and the light incident on the light guide is guided to the optical sensor arranged at the other end of the light guide. It can be configured to detect the pointer. The measuring instrument may be one in which the pointer rotates or one that moves linearly.

[0009]

In the present invention configured as described above, when the pointer of the measuring instrument moves to a position corresponding to the measured value, the output value (voltage value or current value) of the pointer detection sensor arranged at that position.
Is different from the output value of other sensor. For example, when a magnetic sensor is used as the pointer detection sensor, the output of the sensor facing the pointer becomes larger than the output of other sensors, and when an optical sensor is used as the pointer detection sensor, the dial is generally white. Since the pointer has a light color and the pointer has a dark color, the amount of light reflected from the pointer is small, so that the output of the optical sensor facing the pointer is lowered. Therefore, the position of the pointer can be specified by comparing the outputs of the respective pointer detection sensors and selecting the sensor having the maximum output or the minimum output. Then, if the measured value is stored in advance in association with each sensor, the measured value indicated by the pointer can be read from the storage unit and displayed at a desired position by specifying the sensor with the maximum output or the minimum output. it can. Therefore, since it is not necessary to modify the measuring device main body, an inexpensive and simple remote measuring device can be obtained. Moreover, since the predetermined measurement value corresponding to each pointer detection sensor is only read from the storage unit and displayed, there is no need to arrange the other end of the optical fiber in a straight line or perform complicated calculation. A simple and inexpensive device can be realized. Further, even when the scale of the measuring instrument is endless, the measured value can be easily obtained.

[0010]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION A preferred embodiment of a telemetry device for an analog measuring instrument according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a remote measuring device according to an embodiment of the present invention and an arrangement state of pointer detecting sensors. In FIG. 1, a meter 10, which is an analog measuring instrument, has a drive mechanism (not shown) housed inside a case 12, and a dial 14 arranged on the upper part thereof. In addition, above the dial, a pointer 16 made of metal, resin, or the like, which indicates a measured value (measured value), is rotatably provided. Further, at the upper end of the case 12, a pointer 16
There is provided a transparent glass plate (or resin plate) 18 that protects the pointer 16 and allows the pointer 16 to be viewed. A sensor unit 19 including a plurality of pointer detection sensors 20 is arranged on the upper surface of the sensor unit 19 and is detachably fixed to the meter 10 by a fixture (not shown).

Each pointer detecting sensor 20 is composed of, for example, an eddy current detecting type magnetic sensor, and as shown in FIG. 1B, along the locus of the pointer 16, that is, on the dial 14. The sensors 20 are arranged in a circle along the scale so that the sensors 20 are in contact with each other. Then, each pointer detection sensor 20 is connected to the amplifier 26 of the arithmetic processing unit 24 via the cable 22, and outputs the detection signal to the arithmetic processing unit 24.
Can be entered. The arithmetic processing unit 24 is made to correspond to the maximum output sensor selection unit 28 to which the output of the amplifier 26 is input, the display value calculation unit 30 connected to the subsequent stage of the maximum output sensor selection unit 26, and each of the pointer detection sensors 20. It has a storage unit 32 that stores calculated values (measured values).

The maximum output sensor selection unit 28 includes an amplifier 26.
The outputs of the pointer detection sensors 20 amplified by are compared with each other to find the sensor with the largest output, and the position of the sensor is input to the display value calculation unit 30. On the other hand, the storage unit 32 stores measured values given in advance corresponding to the positions of the pointer detection sensors 20.

That is, the pointer detection sensors 20 constituting the sensor section 19 are arranged for each predetermined measurement unit (0.5 unit in the embodiment), and are arranged from the reference position. They are numbered in the order of. For example, the pointer detection sensor 20 arranged at the position of the scale “0” of the dial 14 has No. No. 1 is attached to the pointer detection sensor 20 placed at a position of “0.5” which is between the scale “0” and the scale “1”. No. 2 in the following clockwise order.
3, No. They are numbered like 4, ... Then, in the storage unit 32, the measured value “0” for the pointer detection sensor 20 arranged at the position of the scale “0”, and the measured value for the pointer detection sensor 20 arranged at the position of the scale “1”. For the sensor 20 disposed between "1" and the scales "2" and "3", the measurement value "2.5" is determined in advance corresponding to the position of each pointer detection sensor 20. The value is stored. On the other hand, the display value calculation unit 30 reads out the measured value stored in the storage unit 32 based on the input position (number) of the sensor and outputs the measured value to the display unit 34 for display. In addition, the arithmetic processing unit 24 and the display unit 34 are connected to each other by the timer 3
It is connected to the power source 38 via 6, and the power source is automatically turned off after a lapse of a fixed time after being activated.

When the remote measuring device of the embodiment configured as described above is applied to the reading of the water meter, as shown in FIG. 2, the sensor portion 19 is provided on the upper surface of the glass 18 of the water meter 10 provided in the lead-in pipe 40. To arrange. And
The arithmetic processing unit 24 and the display unit 34 are attached to a place where there is no influence of the snow cover 42, such as a position above the snow cover surface of the wall surface 46 of the house 44. Accordingly, even if there is snow 42, the water meter 10 can be easily and reliably read.

When the meter of the water meter 10 is to be read, a switch (not shown) provided on the display 34 or the like is turned on. As a result, the timer 36 is activated, and each pointer detection sensor 20, the arithmetic processing unit 24, and the display 3 are activated via the timer 36.
4 is supplied with electric power. Then, the pointer 16 of the meter 10
The pointer detection sensor 20 located directly above the sensor has a larger detection magnetic flux than the other sensors 20 and outputs a large detection signal. For example, as shown in FIG. 3 (1), the pointer 16 has a dial 1
When pointing to the scale "1" of No. 4, the output 47c of the pointer detection sensor 20 arranged at the position of this scale "1" is the output of the other sensor 20 as shown in the figure showing the output state on the right side of the figure. It becomes larger than 47. The output of each sensor 20 is
It is input to the arithmetic processing unit 24, amplified by the amplifier 26, and then read by the maximum output sensor selection unit 28.

The maximum output sensor selector 28 sequentially compares the outputs of the pointer detection sensors 20 and outputs the maximum sensor 2
The position (number) of 0 is obtained and sent to the display value calculation unit 30. In addition, the maximum output sensor selection unit 28 is, for example, as shown in FIG.
As shown in (3), when the pointer 16 is located in the middle of the two pointer detection sensors 20, the outputs of the two sensors partially overlapping the pointer 16 are output as shown by outputs 47d and 47e on the right side. The output is slightly lower than when it is directly below.
However, since the outputs of these two pointer detection sensors still output a larger detection signal than the other pointer detection sensors, the maximum output sensor selection unit 28 outputs the numbers of these two pointer detection sensors. . Then, the display value calculation unit 30 reads out the measurement value corresponding to the sensor number input from the maximum output sensor selection unit 28 from the storage unit 32 and sends it to the display unit 34 for display.

That is, the display value calculation unit 30 uses the pointer 16
Is at the position of the scale “1” as shown in FIG. 3 (1) and the sent sensor number is located at the position of the scale “1”, “1” is displayed on the display unit 34. , Figure 3 (2)
When the pointer 16 is located between the scales "1" and "2", as in the case of, the display 34 displays "1.5". Further, the display value calculation unit 30 displays the pointer 1 as shown in FIG.
When 6 is located in the middle of the two sensors and two sensor numbers are input, the measured values corresponding to these numbers are read from the storage unit 32, and the values obtained by simply averaging these values (for example, 1.75). Is displayed on the display 34. Further, when the pointer 16 is located between the sensor at the position of the scale “0” and the sensor on the left side of the scale, “9.75” is displayed on the display 34.
To be displayed. Then, the timer 36 is turned off after a lapse of a predetermined time (for example, 3 minutes) which is considered to be required for the measurement, the power source 38, the pointer detection sensor 20, the arithmetic processing unit 24,
The display 34 is disconnected from the display.

As described above, by installing the indicator 34 at a position where there is no influence of snow, the meter of the water meter 10 can be easily read regardless of the season. Moreover, since it is digitally displayed on the display unit 34, the reading error of the meter can be reduced. Further, since the sensor unit 19 is arranged in the water meter 10 and the detection signal can be read by the indicator 34 provided at a desired position by the cable 22, it is easy to carry out without modifying the existing water meter. It is possible to perform remote digital meter reading inexpensively and easily without having to circulate pipes or replace the meter. Further, since the structure is simple, there are few causes of failure and maintenance is easy. Moreover, a low-cost device can be realized without requiring complicated calculation. Further, even when the scale of the meter is endless as in the embodiment, the measured value can be easily obtained.

In the above embodiment, the case where the meter is a water meter has been described, but the meter is not limited to this and may be various kinds of meters in factories and the like. When applied to instruments in factories and the like, centralized control of instruments is possible, which enables cost reduction and quick response in the event of an abnormality. Further, the pointer detection sensor may be a capacitance type sensor, an optical sensor or the like. If a capacitance type sensor or an optical sensor is used as a pointer detection sensor, it is possible to reliably detect even when the pointer 16 is not a conductor or a ferromagnetic material. In the case of a type in which the output of the pointer detection sensor facing the pointer is lower than the output of other pointer detection sensors, the position of the pointer can be detected by selecting the sensor with the smaller output in the same manner as above. You can And in the said embodiment, although the meter 10 which the pointer 16 rotates as a measuring instrument was demonstrated, the measuring instrument which a pointer moves linearly may be sufficient. In this case, the plurality of pointer detection sensors are arranged linearly so as to face the meter dial.

FIG. 4 shows a case where the light receiving element 50 which is an optical sensor is used as a pointer detecting sensor. Each light receiving element 50 is arranged in a circular shape like the pointer detection sensor 20. An optical fiber 54, one end of which is connected to the light source 52, is arranged in the center of the meter 10 so that the light 56 output from the light source 52 can be irradiated into the meter 10 through the glass 18. As a result, the reflectivities of the dial 14 and the pointer 16 are different, so that the light receiving element 50 having the pointer 16 immediately below and the light receiving element 5 having no pointer 16 directly below.
The output is different depending on 0, and the position of the pointer 16 can be detected.

As shown in FIG. 5 (1), a plurality of dials 14a-1a are provided corresponding to the number of digits in one meter 10.
4n is provided, as shown in FIG. 5B, the sensor unit 19a is associated with each dial 14a to 14n.
19n are provided. When the pointer detection sensor forming the sensor unit 19 is the light receiving element 50, the meter 1
The light 56 can be applied to the center of 0. Of course, light may be emitted to the central portion of each pointer on the dial.

Further, as compared with the dial 14, the light receiving element 50
Is large and the required number of light receiving elements 50 cannot be arranged on the dial, as shown in FIG.
Light guide 5 such as an optical fiber having an appropriate thickness and length
The base end of 8 is attached to the light receiving element 50, and the tip end surface of the light guide 58 is located along the locus of the pointer. Thereby, the reflected light from the dial or the pointer can be made incident on the light receiving element 50, and the position of the pointer can be detected.

[0024]

As described above, according to the present invention, when the pointer of the measuring instrument moves to the position corresponding to the measured value,
Since the output value of the pointer detection sensor arranged at that position is different from the output value of other sensors, by comparing the output of each pointer detection sensor and selecting the sensor with the maximum output or the minimum output The position of the pointer can be specified, and the measured value is stored in advance in association with each sensor. By specifying the sensor with the maximum or minimum output, the measured value indicated by the pointer can be obtained to obtain the desired value. Since it can be displayed at the position and modification of the measuring instrument main body is not required, an inexpensive and simple telemetry device can be obtained. Moreover, since the predetermined measurement value corresponding to each pointer detection sensor is only read from the storage unit and displayed, there is no need to arrange the other end of the optical fiber in a straight line or perform complicated calculation. A simple and inexpensive device can be realized. Further, even when the scale of the measuring instrument is endless, the measured value can be easily obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a telemetry device according to an embodiment of the present invention and a diagram showing an arrangement state of a pointer detection sensor.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of an example in which the remote measuring device according to the above embodiment is applied to reading a water meter.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the above embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a sensor unit when a light receiving element is used as a pointer detection sensor.

5A and 5B are a front view of a meter provided with a plurality of dials, a diagram showing an arrangement state of a sensor unit on a meter having a plurality of dials, and a perspective view of a light receiving element equipped with a light guide.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Measuring instrument (meter) 14 Dial 16 Pointer 19 Sensor section 20 Pointer detection sensor 24 Calculation processing section 28 Sensor selection section (maximum output sensor selection section) 30 Display value calculation section 32 Storage section 34 Display section (display) 50 Light reception Element 52 Light source 54 Optical fiber 58 Light guide

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. The measurement is performed by arranging a plurality of pointer detection sensors for each predetermined measurement unit along a scale of a predesigned measuring instrument and comparing output signals of the pointer detection sensors with each other by a sensor selection unit. Of an analog measuring instrument characterized in that the indicator detecting sensor facing the indicator of the instrument is obtained, and the measured value stored in advance in the storage unit in correspondence with the obtained indicator detecting sensor is displayed on the indicator. Telemetry device. 2. A dial of a predesigned measuring instrument is irradiated with light from a light source, and one end of the measuring instrument is moved along a scale of the measuring instrument by a plurality of light guides arranged at predetermined measurement units. The received light is guided to the light receiving element provided on the other end side, and the output signals of the respective light receiving elements are compared with each other by the sensor selection unit to obtain the light receiving element corresponding to the light guide facing the pointer. A remote measuring device for an analog measuring device, which displays a measured value stored in advance in a storage unit on a display corresponding to the obtained light receiving element.