JPH0980077A - Watt-hour meter - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To eliminate the need of inspecting a meter by debiting the charge from a prepaid card immediately when a user uses the electricity thereby making clear the electric charge. CONSTITUTION: A prepaid card 15 purchased at a vending machine is inserted through the opening 14 of a watt-hour meter into a case 10 and held in a prepaid card holder 10A. Consequently, a control signal is read out from the holder 10A and inputted to a processing control section 10C through a read-in section 10B and an interrupting switch 10G is turned on. When the switch 10G is turned on, the watt-hour meter is connected with a commercial power supply 21 and the quantity of used power is measured at an electric energy measuring section 10D. The control section 10C calculates the electric charge, based on the measured electric energy and reads out the prepaid charge recorded on the card 15 and then writes the balance into the card 15. When the balance on the card 15 is 0, the control section 10C turns the switch 10G off.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electric power meter, and more particularly to an electric power meter capable of paying an electric charge by using a prepaid card which is a card type prepaid charge recording medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, when buying or selling electricity, the amount of electricity used and the electricity rate based on the amount of electricity used are determined by looking at the display on the electricity meter.

For example, when electricity is used at a certain home, once a month, a person of an electric power company under his / her control travels around the home for meter reading, and a watt-hour meter installed, so-called integration. Look at the power meter display.

In this case, the displayed electric energy (kW
Since h) is an integrated value, the difference from the previous month is calculated, the amount of electricity used in the month is determined, and the electricity charge is charged based on the determined amount of electricity used.

As a method of paying the electricity charge, generally, a method of automatically withdrawing from an account deposit of a financial institution such as a bank is adopted.

[0006]

However, the above prior art has the following problems. (1) The use of electricity may be stopped. That is, the conventional electricity bill payment means generally, as described above,
It is an automatic debit from an account deposit. When the balance is insufficient, there remains a method of going to the window of a financial institution or an electric power company and paying the electricity charge directly in cash.

However, if there is no time to go to a financial institution or an electric power company, or if it is a holiday, cash payment cannot be made, and after a certain period of time, the use of electricity is stopped.

(2) Electricity charges may be unclear. Recently, many self-catering villas, hotels, camps, etc. have appeared, and they are fully equipped with electrical equipment, so even if you are not at home,
The number of opportunities to pay for electricity has increased.

However, when using the above-mentioned hotels, etc., the display of the electricity meter is not seen one by one, and the electricity charges are collectively included in other expenses, so the amount is unclear. is there.

(3) The meter reading is troublesome. As mentioned above, meter readers come to our homes once a month,
The amount of electricity used and the electricity rate based on the amount of electricity used are determined by looking at the display on the electricity meter. However, it is cumbersome, extremely troublesome, and time-consuming and expensive to travel around each home for this meter reading.

The object of the present invention is to allow electricity to be continuously used without being stopped even if the deposit balance is insufficient, by allowing the user to use electricity and withdraw the electricity fee from the prepaid rate at the same time. The purpose is to clarify the electricity bill and eliminate the need for meter reading.

[0012]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention inputs a prepaid charge P recorded in a pre-connected card type prepaid charge recording medium and calculates it based on the measured electric energy. A technical means called an electric energy meter, which is characterized in that the stored electricity charge Q is deducted from the input prepaid charge P, the balance R is output and recorded in the connected card type prepaid charge recording medium.

[0013]

Therefore, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the structure of the present invention has an opening 14 for inserting a prepaid card, which is a card type prepaid fee recording medium, into the front surface 17 of the case 10.
The prepaid card holder 10A, the read / write unit 10B, and the arithmetic control unit 1 are provided in the case 10.
By incorporating 0C and the electric energy measuring unit 10D, it is possible to use electricity and pay an electricity charge commensurate with the amount of electricity used. Therefore, even if the deposit balance is insufficient, electricity can be continued without interruption. It can be used for a long time, and the electric charge to be paid is clarified, and the meter reading is unnecessary.

[0014]

The present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings by way of examples. FIG. 1 is an external view showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a circuit configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

A. Configuration In FIG. 1, reference numeral 10 is a case of an electric energy meter, 11
Is an input cable, 12 is an output cable, 13 is an electric energy display, 14 is an opening, 15 is a prepaid card, 20
Is an electricity charge display portion, and 19 is an alarm display portion.

The case 10 has, for example, a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and an input cable 11 and an output cable 12 extend from a lower surface 16 of the case 10. Input cable 11
Is connected to, for example, a single-phase commercial AC power source 21, and the output cable 12 is connected to, for example, a load 22 such as a refrigerator, and in the case 10 (FIG. 2), the input cable 11 and the output cable 12 are connected. Is connected to the cable 18, and the drive power supply 10E, the cutoff switch 10G, and the electric energy measuring unit 10D are connected to the cable 18 (FIG. 2).

Further, on the front surface 17 of the case 10, for example, an electric energy display portion 13 is provided above the front surface 17, and the electric energy (kWh) is displayed as an integrated value, and the electricity charge display portion 20 is provided in the central portion. Is provided, and an electricity charge (yen) proportional to the amount of electric power is displayed.

Further, on the lower left side of the front surface 17 of the case 10, there is provided an alarm display section 19 as shown in the figure, and the prepaid fee P of the prepaid card 15 described later is equal to the electricity fee Q and the balance R is 0. If it turns on, it will blink. An opening 14 is provided on the front surface 17 of the case 10 and below the electricity charge display portion 20 so that the prepaid card 15 can be inserted or withdrawn.

The prepaid card 15 is a kind of card type prepaid fee recording medium. For example, the prepaid fee P (for example, 10,000 yen) is magnetically recorded, and an orange card currently on the market, It has the same structure as an Io card, a telephone card, or the like.

By inserting the prepaid card 15 through the opening 14, the cut-off switch 10G (FIG. 2) built in the case 10 is turned on, and the watt-hour meter is connected to the commercial AC power source 21. Electricity becomes available, and reading and writing operations are performed on the prepaid card 15 as described later.

Further, it is preferable that the prepaid card 15 used in the watt hour meter according to the present invention can be easily purchased, for example, by an automatic vending machine, like the telephone card.

The case 10 contains the circuit shown in FIG. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 15 is the above-mentioned prepaid card, 10A is a prepaid card holder, 10B is a read / write unit, 10C is an arithmetic control unit, 10D is a power amount measuring unit, 10E is a driving power source, and 10G is a drive power source.
Is a cutoff switch, and 13 and 20 and 19 are the above-mentioned electric power amount display portion, electricity charge display portion and alarm display portion, respectively.

The above prepaid card holder 10A
Holds the prepaid card 15 inserted through the opening 14 and is connected to the read / write unit 10B at the next stage.

The read / write unit 10B reads and writes data from the prepaid card 15.

The arithmetic and control unit 10C includes the electric energy measuring unit 1
The electricity charge Q is calculated based on the amount of electric power measured at 0D, the prepaid charge P recorded in the prepaid card 15 is read, and the difference R and P is calculated to calculate the balance R = P−Q. -Write on the card 15.

In addition, the arithmetic control unit 10C controls the entire circuit shown in FIG.

As is well known, the electric energy measuring unit 10D is composed of a voltage coil, a current coil, and an aluminum disk, and the electric power consumed by the load 22 within a predetermined time,
That is, the electric energy (kWh) is measured.

As described above, the cutoff switch 10G is turned on when the prepaid card 15 is inserted, and is turned off when the balance R is 0, and the electricity meter is commercialized. Disconnect from AC power supply 21 and stop using electricity. Further, when the balance R is 0, the cutoff switch 10G may cooperate with the electricity charge display unit 20 and the alarm display unit 19 as described later.

Further, the driving power source 10E includes the above-mentioned prepaid card holder 10A and the reading / writing section 10
A commercial AC power source 2 for driving each circuit element such as B
The voltage of 1 (for example, an effective value of 100 V) is stepped down and rectified to supply the electric power required to drive each circuit element.

B. Operation Hereinafter, the operation of the present invention having the above configuration will be described. First, purchase the prepaid card 15 at a vending machine, etc.
The electricity meter is inserted into the case 10 through the opening 14 (arrow A) and held in the prepaid card holder 10A (FIG. 2). As a result, the prepaid card 15
Connected to electricity meter.

At this time, a control signal indicating that the prepaid card 15 is connected is sent from the prepaid card holder 10A through the read / write section 10B.
It is input to the arithmetic and control unit 10C. As a result, the arithmetic and control unit 10C sends a control signal to the cutoff switch 10G to turn on the cutoff switch 10G.

When the cutoff switch 10G is turned on,
The watt-hour meter is connected to the commercial AC power supply 21 so that electricity can be used. The amount of power used (kWh)
Is measured by the electric energy measuring unit 10D. If the measured electric energy is 120 kWh, for example,
20 kWh is input to the arithmetic control unit 10C by a control signal from the arithmetic control unit 10C.

In the arithmetic and control unit 10C, the electric energy measured by the electric energy measuring unit 10D, that is, 120k
The electricity rate Q is calculated based on Wh.

For example, when the unit charge per 1 kWh is 20 yen, the operation control unit 10C calculates 20 × 120 to calculate the electric charge Q = 2,400 yen.

Further, the arithmetic control unit 10C reads the prepaid fee P (for example, 10,000 yen) recorded in the prepaid card 15 via the reading / writing unit 10B.

The arithmetic and control unit 10C reads the above-mentioned prepaid charge P = 10,000 yen and the already calculated electricity charge Q.
= 2,400 yen, the balance R = P-Q = 10,
000-2,400 = 7,600 yen is calculated.

Then, the arithmetic control unit 10C determines the balance R
= 7,600 yen is written on the prepaid card 15 held in the prepaid card holder 10A via the reading / writing unit 10B.

When the use of electricity is finished, the prepaid card 15 is pulled out from the opening 14 of the case 10.

As a result, a control signal indicating that the prepaid card 15 is removed from the prepaid card holder 10A shown in FIG. 2 is transmitted to the arithmetic control unit 10C via the read / write unit 10B. Because it is done
The arithmetic control unit 10C sends a control signal to the cutoff switch 10G to turn it off.

Further, the arithmetic control unit 10C has a prepaid
When the difference between the prepaid charge P read from the card 15 and the electricity charge Q calculated based on the measured amount of electric power is taken, when P = Q, that is, when the balance R of the prepaid card 15 is 0. Then, a control signal is transmitted to the cutoff switch 10G to turn off the cutoff switch 10G to stop the use of electricity.

That is, the arithmetic control unit 10C constantly compares the prepaid charge P of the prepaid card 15 with the calculated electric charge Q while electricity is being used, and P = Q
At that time, the cutoff switch 10G is immediately turned off so that electricity cannot be used.

In such a case, the prepaid card 15 that has just been used is removed from the opening 14 of the case 10, and the newly purchased prepaid card 15 is inserted again from the opening 14. .

On the other hand, while electricity is being used, the electric energy display section 13 displays the integrated value of electric energy as in the conventional case.

Further, when the balance R of the prepaid card 15 becomes 0, as described above, the cutoff switch 1
At the same time that 0G is turned off, the alarm display section 19 blinks, the electricity charge display section 20 displays that the balance R is 0, and an alarm is issued to the user side.

As described above, according to the watt hour meter of the present invention, by using the prepaid card 15, the user pays the electricity charge by deducting the electricity charge from the prepayment charge whenever necessary. You can

Therefore, even if the deposit balance is insufficient, electricity can be continuously used without being stopped by paying the electricity charge with the prepaid card 15.

Further, even in a place other than home such as a hotel, it is possible to pay an electric charge proportional to the usage amount unlike the conventional case. Therefore, it became very clear that the electricity bill was not billed together with other expenses. In addition, even for the side that supplies electricity, the user side
By using the card 15 to pay the electricity bill, the conventional meter reading becomes unnecessary.

[0048]

As described above, according to the present invention, the watt-hour meter measures the amount of electric power, the electric charge Q is calculated based on the measured amount of electric power, and the prepaid card-type prepaid charge recording medium is used.・ Preparing the prepaid card 15 by reading the prepaid fee P recorded on the card 15, taking the difference P−Q between the two, and writing the balance R = P−Q to the prepaid card 15. The electricity amount can be measured at and the electricity bill can be settled.

Therefore, by allowing the user to use electricity at the same time as the electricity fee is deducted from the prepaid rate, even if the balance of the deposit is insufficient, the electricity can be continuously used without being stopped, and the electricity fee to be paid is clarified. In addition, the technical effect of eliminating the need for meter reading has been achieved.

[0050]

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a circuit configuration diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of Codes] 10 Case 11 Input Cable 12 Output Cable 13 Electric Energy Display 14 Opening 15 Card Type Prepaid Charge Recording Medium 19 Alarm Display 20 Electric Charge Display 10A Prepaid Card Holder 10B Read / Write 10C Calculation Control unit 10D Electric energy measurement unit

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A prepaid fee P recorded on a pre-connected card type prepaid fee recording medium is input, and an electric rate Q calculated based on the measured electric energy is deducted from the input prepaid fee P to obtain a balance. An electric energy meter characterized by outputting R and recording it on the connected card type prepaid charge recording medium. 2. The electricity meter according to claim 1, wherein the card type prepaid charge recording medium is a prepaid card 15 in which a prepaid charge P is magnetically recorded. 3. The prepaid card 15, the prepaid card holder 10A, and the reading / writing unit 1
0B, the arithmetic control unit 10C, the electric energy measuring unit 10D,
3. The watt hour meter according to claim 2, which includes an electric energy display unit 13, an electricity charge display unit 20, an alarm display unit 19, and a cutoff switch 10G. 4. The watt hour meter according to claim 3, wherein when the prepaid card 15 is connected, the cutoff switch 10G is turned on. 5. The electricity meter according to claim 3, wherein when the balance R becomes 0, the cutoff switch 10G is turned off. 6. The electric energy according to claim 3, wherein when the balance R becomes 0, the cutoff switch 10G is turned off and the balance R is 0 on the electricity charge display unit 20. Total. 7. The electricity meter according to claim 3, wherein when the balance R becomes 0, the cutoff switch 10G is turned off and the alarm display section 19 blinks. 8. A case (10) having an input cable (11) and an output cable (12) extending from a lower surface (16) of the case (10).
The electricity meter according to claim 1, further comprising: an electricity charge display portion 20, an alarm display portion 19, and an opening portion 14.