JPH0989705A - Condition detecting device for buried object in underground - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a condition detecting device for an object buried in the underground capable of accurately detecting, on the ground, the condition, e.g. a malfunction condition of the object buried in the underground without digging into the ground. SOLUTION: This device comprises a damage detection sensor 10 that is buried together with a gas pipe 1, detects a damage condition of the gas pipe 1 and outputs a signal, a signal transmitter 1 2 that is connected to the damage detection sensor 10 and receives the signal therefrom to transmit a signal wave on the ground and a receiver 14 that receives the signal wave from the signal transmitter 12 on the ground.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a state detecting device for detecting the state of underground buried objects such as gas pipes, water pipes, underground tanks, etc. The present invention relates to a device for detecting the state of an underground buried object that can detect the state of the buried object.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Underground buried objects such as gas pipes, water pipes and underground tanks need to be detected and repaired when there is a failure such as damage, but conventionally, the failure point is found. Had no choice but to actually dig up by relying on the human senses. For example, in the case of a water pipe, there is no choice but to dig up the leaked water by a means such as distinguishing it by sound.

[0003]

However, such conventional means not only make it difficult to accurately find a damaged portion, but may dig up a portion that is not actually damaged. There is a problem that it is efficient and takes a lot of time and cost.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is possible to accurately detect the state of an underground buried object on the ground without digging the underground into a state such as a failure. An object is to provide a state detection device.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, a state detecting device for an underground buried object according to the present invention is embedded together with an underground buried object, detects a state of the underground buried object, and outputs a status signal. A state detector that outputs, a signal transmitter that is connected to this state detector and sends a signal wave to the ground upon receiving a state signal from the state detector, and receives a signal wave from the signal transmitter on the ground surface. And a receiver.

The state detecting section and the signal transmitter may be arranged at predetermined intervals of the underground buried object. Further, the signal transmitter can use any of electromagnetic waves, audible waves, and ultrasonic waves as signal waves. Further, the signal transmitter may intermittently send out a signal wave.

The state detector embedded with the underground buried object outputs a state signal, and the signal transmitter receives the state signal and sends a signal wave toward the ground. If this signal wave is detected by the receiver on the surface of the earth, it is possible to know the state of the underground buried object without excavating the underground. By arranging the state detecting unit and the signal transmitter at predetermined intervals of the underground buried object, the state at each position of the underground buried object can be known, and it becomes unnecessary to dig up unnecessary parts.

When an audible wave is used as the signal wave,
The circuit components can be constructed at low cost, when using electromagnetic waves, the attenuation during propagation in the ground is relatively small, the radiation beam is easy to narrow down, and the efficiency is high. It is easy to squeeze and can be constructed in a relatively small size. If the signal wave is transmitted intermittently, there is an effect that less energy is used.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory view showing a mode of the present invention. The present embodiment is an apparatus for detecting breakage of the gas pipe 1, and a breakage detection sensor 10 and a signal transmitter 12, which are state detection units, together with the gas pipe 1 are provided at predetermined intervals of the gas pipe 1. Buried. On the ground surface, a portable receiver 14 that detects a signal from the signal transmitter 12 and outputs an alarm signal is used.

A block diagram of the damage detection sensor 10 and the signal transmitter 12 is shown in FIG. 2, and a block diagram of the receiver 14 is shown in FIG. The damage detection sensor 10 includes a loop-shaped thin wire 20 attached to the gas pipe 1, a detection unit 21, and a switch unit 2.
2 and a power supply 23. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, the fine wire 20 is adhered to the gas pipe 1 in an adhesive state, or when the gas pipe 1 is a resin such as a vinyl chloride pipe, the fine wire 20 is inserted together at the time of molding. It is arranged inside the meat so that the thin wire 20 is broken at the same time when the gas pipe 1 is damaged.

Both ends of the loop-shaped thin wire 20 are connected to the detecting portion 21.
Connected to. FIG. 5 shows a specific configuration example of the detection unit 21 and the switch unit 22. One end of the thin wire 20 is grounded, and the other end is connected to the power supply 23 through the high resistance 25 and the base of the transistor 26. The collector of the transistor 26 is connected to the power supply 23, and the emitter is connected to the relay coil 27 of the switch unit 22. The switch 28 is configured such that the movable contact comes into contact with the fixed contact when a current flows through the relay coil 27,
One contact of the switch 28 is connected to the power source 23, and the other contact is connected to the signal transmitter 12. The power source 23 uses a battery.

The signal transmitter 12 oscillates when connected to the power supply 23 via the switch 28.
And a speaker 31 for converting the oscillation signal from the signal generator 30 into a sound wave signal. On the other hand, the receiver 14 includes a receiving unit 39 including a high-sensitivity microphone 40 that receives a sound wave signal from the speaker 31 and an audio amplifier 41 that amplifies the electrical signal converted by the high-sensitivity microphone 40, and a receiver unit 39. A speaker 42 that converts an electric signal into a sound wave signal again, a threshold circuit 43 that compares the electric signal output from the audio amplifier 41 with a threshold value, and outputs the result when the electric signal is equal to or higher than the threshold value, and a threshold circuit 43 It has a lamp drive circuit 44 that operates by output, a lamp 45 that is lit by the lamp drive circuit 44, and a power supply 48 that supplies power to the audio amplifier 41 and the lamp drive circuit 44.

Further, the receiver 14 is provided with a handle 14a so that an observer can easily carry it. In the state detecting device configured as described above, if the gas pipe 1 is not damaged and the thin wire 20 is energized, the base potential of the transistor 26 is 0 potential. Since it is off, no current flows between the collector and the emitter. Fine wire 20
A small amount of electric current is flowing through the high resistance 25.

When the gas pipe 1 is damaged and the thin wire 20 is broken, the base potential of the transistor 26 becomes the same potential as the voltage of the power supply 23, current flows between the collector and the emitter and in the relay coil 27, and the contacts of the switch 28 are connected to each other. , The power of the power supply 23 is supplied to the signal transmitter 12, the oscillation signal is output from the signal generator 30, and the sound wave signal is transmitted from the speaker 31 toward the ground.

If the portable receiver 14 is installed on the ground surface within a range A within which a sound wave signal from the speaker 31 of each signal transmitter 12 can be received, and the high-sensitivity microphone 40 is installed in the ground, The high-sensitivity microphone 40 captures the sound wave signal propagating through the inside, amplifies it with the audio amplifier 41, and then the speaker 42.
Then, the sound signal is output again to inform the observer that the gas pipe 1 is damaged.

When the output signal from the audio amplifier 41 exceeds a certain threshold value, the lamp drive circuit 44 can be driven to turn on the lamp 45 to notify the observer. In this way, if the gas pipe 1 is damaged due to a disaster or an accident, the portable receiver 14 can be moved to a location where the signal from each signal transmitter 12 can be received, and the damaged position can be determined from the ground. You can check it, and immediately dig up the place, replace the pipe, and take other troubleshooting measures. Moreover, since the signal transmitter 12 sends out a signal only after it is damaged, the life of the power supply can be extended.

The use of audible waves also has the advantage that circuit components can be constructed at low cost. However, the signal wave is not limited to an audible wave, and an electromagnetic wave or an ultrasonic wave can be used. 6 and 7 are block diagrams showing the configuration when these are used. FIG. 6 (a) shows a signal transmitter 12 'when electromagnetic waves are used, and FIG. 6 (b) shows a signal transmitter 12 "when ultrasonic waves are used.
Shows the receiving unit 39 'when using electromagnetic waves, and FIG. 7B shows the receiving unit 39''when using ultrasonic waves.

The signal transmitters 12 'and 12 "are shown in FIG. 6 (a).
Then, the signal generator 30 'and the antenna 31' are shown in FIG.
(B) has a signal generator 30 ″ and an ultrasonic transducer 31 ″. In addition, the receiving units 39 ′ and 39 ″ are the same as those in FIG.
In FIG. 7A, the antenna 40 ′, the detection amplifier 46 and the voice oscillator 47 are provided, and in FIG. 7B, the ultrasonic transducer 40 ″, the detection amplifier 46 ′ and the voice oscillator 47 ′ are provided.

6 (a) and 7 (a), specifically, a SAW oscillator can be used as a radio wave generator in the signal transmitter 12 ', a half-wave dipole antenna can be used as an antenna, and a receiver 39' can be used. A circular circular polarization patch antenna or a cross dipole antenna capable of receiving any linearly polarized wave can be used as the antenna inside.

The use of electromagnetic waves has the advantages that the attenuation during propagation in the ground is relatively small, the radiation beam is easy to narrow, and the efficiency is good. It is known that the attenuation factor of earth and sand is proportional to the frequency and water content of radio waves, and it is better to use radio waves of relatively low frequency. Further, when ultrasonic waves are used, there is an advantage that the radiation beam can be easily focused and the size can be relatively reduced.

Further, in order to further reduce the consumption of the power source buried in the ground, it is possible to adopt an intermittent transmission system having a sufficient interval for reception by the receiver 14. That is, as shown in FIG. 8, the state detection unit (damage detection sensor) 1 including a flip-flop and the like is used.
The signal generator 12 (12 ′, 12 ″) has a pulse signal generator 49 that operates according to the output from 0, and only when the pulse signal generator 49 outputs a high level voltage, the signal generator The signal may be oscillated from 30 (30 ′, 30 ″).

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the presence or absence of thin wire breakage is detected as the state detection unit, but a gas sensor, a deformation sensor, or a movement amount detection sensor may be used. Moreover, a water leak sensor and a humidity sensor can be used as a state detection part applied to a water pipe. Alternatively, an earth leakage sensor can be used for the underground cable. In addition to the purpose of detecting a failure, the state of events such as movement in the ground, temperature change, and vibration can be detected using a pressure sensor, a temperature sensor, and a vibration sensor.

By embedding a plurality of state detecting units in the same place and connecting a signal generating unit that oscillates different frequencies to each state detecting unit, it is possible to know the state and the kind of failure on the ground surface by the frequency of the signal. You can also In addition, when multiple pipes are buried in the same place, each pipe is equipped with a signal generator that oscillates a different frequency, so that the faulty pipe can be identified on the ground surface by the signal frequency. You can

Furthermore, the frequency of the signal wave can be changed according to the state. In this case, the signal transmitter 12 (1
2 ', 12 ") is shown in Fig. 9. In Fig. 9,
The signal transmitter 12 includes a voltage generator 50 and a voltage generator 50.
The voltage generator 50 is connected to the voltage generator 50, and the voltage generated by the voltage generator 50 changes depending on whether or not there is an output from the state detection unit (damage detection sensor) 10. For example,
When there is no output from the damage detection sensor 10, that is, in the normal state, the voltage generator 50 generates a voltage of 1 V, and when there is an output from the damage detection sensor 10, that is,
When a break occurs, the voltage generator 50 is configured to generate a voltage of 1.5V. The frequency of the signal oscillated by the voltage controlled oscillator 51 is changed by the output of the voltage generator 50, and radio waves of different frequencies are transmitted from the antenna 31 '. The receiver 14 may include a frequency tuning circuit or an antenna or an oscillator that resonates corresponding to each frequency so that the frequency change can be captured. In this way, the normal state and the fault state can be distinguished by the frequency, and the signal transmitter 12 can also confirm the position of the signal transmitter 12 by transmitting a signal even in the normal state.

Further, instead of changing the frequency according to the state, in the intermittent transmission system shown in FIG. 8, the pulse interval of the pulse generated by the pulse signal generating section 49 is changed from the state detecting section (damage detecting sensor) 10 to the pulse interval. It is also possible to change it depending on the presence or absence of output, and to notify the ground of the state of the underground buried object by changing the interval. The receiver 14 includes a speaker 42.
In addition to the display by the lamp 45 and the lamp 45, a display, a buzzer display, and a meter display can be performed. A configuration example of the meter display is shown in FIG. The output from the detection amplifier 46 is displayed by swinging the meter of the meter 53 via the current amplifier 52.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to accurately detect, from the surface of the earth, a damaged portion that has not been known until now by sequentially digging up expected failure / damaged portions and recovering from the failure. It can significantly speed up, reduce costs and eliminate waste. Further, in the case of the gas pipe, if the failure is left undetected, there is a high risk of a secondary disaster such as explosion or gas poisoning, and the work for checking the failure is also dangerous, but according to the above-described embodiment, Obstacles can also be investigated and this risk can be significantly reduced.

Particularly, it is effective when the number and scale of failure points are large after the great earthquake and the disaster recovery is urgent.

[0028]

As described above, according to the present invention,
It is possible to accurately detect the state of underground buried objects that were unknown until digging up from the ground surface. By arranging the state detecting unit and the signal transmitter at predetermined intervals of the underground buried object, the state at each position of the underground buried object can be known, and it becomes unnecessary to dig up unnecessary parts.

When an audible wave is used as the signal wave,
The circuit components can be constructed at low cost, when electromagnetic waves are used, the attenuation at the time of underground transportation is relatively small, the radiation beam is easy to narrow and efficient, and when ultrasonic waves are used, the radiation beam is It is easy to squeeze and there is an effect that it can be configured relatively small. If the signal wave is transmitted intermittently, there is an effect that less energy is used.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a damage detection sensor and a signal transmitter of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the receiver of FIG.

FIG. 4 shows a wiring example of the thin line in FIG.

5 is a specific configuration example of a detection unit and a switch unit in FIG.

FIG. 6 (a) is a block diagram of a signal transmitter when an electromagnetic wave is used, and FIG. 6 (b) is a block diagram of a signal transmitter when an ultrasonic wave is used.

FIG. 7 (a) is a receiver when an electromagnetic wave is used,
FIG. 7B is a block diagram of the receiving unit when ultrasonic waves are used.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of a signal transmitter when an intermittent transmission method is adopted.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a signal transmitter when the frequency of a signal wave is changed.

FIG. 10 is a configuration block diagram of a meter display of a receiver.

[Explanation of symbols]

 10 Damage detection sensor (state detection unit) 12 Signal transmitter 14 Receiver

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Takeshi Sato 2-16-46 Minami-Kamata, Ota-ku, Tokyo Within Tokimec Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Yoichi Hirokawa 2--1646 Minami-Kamata, Ota-ku, Tokyo Shares Company Tokimec (72) Inventor Michihiko Okamura 2-16-46 Minami-Kamata, Ota-ku, Tokyo Stock Company Tokimec (72) Toshi Nao Mame 2- 16-46 Minami-Kamata, Ota-ku, Tokyo Share Tokimec

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A state detection unit which is buried together with an underground buried object, detects a state of the underground buried object, and outputs a status signal, and a status signal connected from the status detecting unit, which receives a status signal from the status detecting unit. A state detecting device for an underground buried object, comprising: a signal transmitter that transmits a signal wave to the ground; and a receiver that receives the signal wave from the signal transmitter on the ground. 2. The state detection unit and the signal transmitter,
The state detection device for the underground buried object according to claim 1, wherein the apparatus is arranged at predetermined intervals for the underground buried object. 3. The state detecting device for an underground buried object according to claim 1, wherein the signal transmitter uses an electromagnetic wave, an audible wave, or an ultrasonic wave as a signal wave. 4. The state detecting device for an underground buried object according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein said signal transmitter intermittently sends out a signal wave.