JPH10172064A - Gas supply controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a gas supply controller with a low cost. SOLUTION: A card reader device 30 consists of an I/O interface 31 for read/write of information from/to an inserted IC card 40, a display part 32 for display of a remaining frequency, and a card control part 33 which controls them. The IC card 40 is inserted to the I/O interface 31 by a manual insertion method, and the card is directly brought into contact with a terminal of the I/O interface 31 in its full insertion position so that data can be read in. Therefore, expensive parts such as a motor and a magnetic head are unnecessary for the I/O interface 31, and the card reader device 30 is made inexpensive.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a gas supply control device for controlling a fuel gas supply amount using a prepaid storage medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been proposed a gas supply control device which enables supply of a fuel gas such as propane gas by inserting a card in which a usable gas amount is stored in advance. In such a gas supply control device,
When the card is inserted, the usable gas amount stored in the card is read by the card reader, and if there is a remaining amount, the gas supply path is opened to enable the gas to be used. In addition, the usage amount is checked by using a pulse signal output based on the usage amount from a gas meter for measuring the used gas which is conventionally installed in each home for gas metering, and the usage amount can be used based on the usage amount. The gas amount is subtracted, and when the remaining amount becomes 0, the gas supply path is closed to shut off the gas.

[0003]

In such a configuration,
It is necessary to install one gas supply control device equipped with a card reader and one gas meter in each home. Since the card reader needs expensive parts such as a motor for inserting the card at a constant speed when reading the information stored in the magnetic card and a magnetic head for reading the information, the gas supply control device However, there is a problem that the cost of the system increases. In addition, a gas meter is used to detect the amount of gas used.For example, in the case of newly constructing an apartment house such as an apartment, when managing the gas consumption of each resident by a gas supply control device, the gas meter is used. It is necessary to newly install a gas meter in addition to the supply control device, and the conventional gas meter is expensive, which further increases the cost. Thus, the high cost is a major factor that hinders the spread. An object of the present invention is to provide a gas supply control device that solves the above-mentioned problems and provides the gas supply control device at low cost.

[0004]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a gas supply control device, comprising: a gas amount detecting means for detecting an amount of supplied gas; and a data representing an available gas amount. Read the data from a portable storage medium stored in advance, read and write means for subtracting and rewriting data in the storage medium based on the gas supply amount detected by the gas amount detection means, and reading by the read and write means. A gas supply control device having an opening and closing means for opening and closing a gas supply path based on the data supply amount detected by the gas amount detection means, wherein the storage medium electrically stores the data by an IC memory. It is assumed that the information is memorized.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a gas supply control device, comprising: a gas amount detecting means for detecting an amount of supplied gas; and data indicating an available gas amount. Reading and writing means for reading the data from the portable storage medium and subtracting and rewriting the data in the storage medium based on the gas supply amount detected by the gas amount detection means; and data and the gas amount read by the reading and writing means. A gas supply control device having an opening and closing means for opening and closing a gas supply path based on the gas supply amount detected by the detection means, wherein the gas amount detection means detects the gas supply amount using a thermal flow meter That is the gist.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a gas supply control device according to the first or second aspect, wherein the storage medium is an IC card.

[0007] In the gas supply control device according to the first aspect of the present invention having the above-described structure, the data representing the usable gas amount stored in advance from the portable storage medium is read by the read / write means. Then, the gas supply amount is detected by the gas amount detection means, and the gas supply path is opened and closed based on the read data and the detected gas supply amount. Further, the data in the storage medium is subtracted and rewritten based on the gas supply amount. The gas supply path is opened and closed, for example, by opening the gas supply path when there is a remaining amount of usable gas, and closing the gas supply path when the remaining amount becomes zero, thereby making the usable gas amount available. Can be controlled so as to supply the gas within the range. Here, in a storage medium that stores data by magnetic recording, a configuration for passing the storage medium through a magnetic head when reading and writing data is required, and components such as a magnetic head and a motor increase the cost and the size of the device. Since the data is electrically stored in the IC memory, an apparatus for reading and writing data can be realized at low cost and with a small space.

[0008] In the gas supply control device according to the second aspect of the present invention having the above-described configuration, the data representing the usable gas amount stored in advance is read from the portable storage medium by the read / write means. Then, the gas supply amount is detected by the gas amount detection means, and the gas supply path is opened and closed based on the read data and the detected gas supply amount. Further, the data in the storage medium is subtracted and rewritten based on the gas supply amount. The gas supply path is opened and closed, for example, by opening the gas supply path when there is a remaining amount of usable gas, and closing the gas supply path when the remaining amount becomes zero, thereby making the usable gas amount available. Can be controlled so as to supply the gas within the range. The gas amount detecting means may be provided, for example, at the gas inlet of each household to detect the gas supply amount. In such a case, the measuring range is widened in consideration of the fact that various instruments are used at the same time. In addition, the gas amount must be accurately detected even when only a gas stove or other appliance with low gas consumption is used. When a volume meter such as a gas meter is used for such gas amount detection, the measurement range is wide in volume flow measurement, but the mechanism is complicated and the cost is high. In the flow rate, the influence of the frictional force of the impeller is large and the flow rate cannot be accurately detected.However, by detecting using a thermal flow meter, only instruments with low gas consumption are used because the accuracy is low and the flow rate is high. In such a case, the flow rate can be accurately detected, and the structure is simplified, so that the apparatus can be realized at low cost and space saving.

In the gas supply control device according to the third aspect of the present invention having the above-described structure, since the storage medium is an IC card, only the storage data is different from a card for a different purpose, and the manufacturing process is the same. Since the versatility is uniform and standardized, the manufacturing cost of the storage medium can be reduced. Also, it is easy to carry when taking it out when rewriting data. Note that an IC card is an ISO781
In 6-1, “Integrated circuit (s) card (IC car
d); An ID-1 card type into which hasbeen inserted o
ne or more integrated circuits. "
Furthermore, Integrated circuit (s) is an electronic comp
onent (s) designed to perform processing and / or mem
oryfunctions. "

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In order to further clarify the configuration and operation of the present invention described above, a preferred embodiment of the gas supply control device of the present invention will be described below. FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a gas supply system including a gas supply control device 10 as one embodiment of the present invention. This gas supply system includes a gas cylinder 1 installed outdoors and a metering shutoff device 20 provided in the middle of a gas supply path 2 from the gas cylinder 1.
And a gas supply control device 10 including a card reader device 30 provided in the kitchen. Gas cylinder 1
The gas supplied through the gas supply control device 10 from
It is sent to the gas stove 3 and the water heater 4.

[0011] As shown in FIG.
A shutoff valve 21 for opening and closing the gas supply path 2, a measuring section 22 for detecting a flow rate of gas flowing through the gas supply path 2, a main body control section 23 for controlling these, and And a power supply unit 24 for obtaining power.

As shown in FIG. 3, the measuring section 22 is a so-called thermal flow meter in which a platinum thin film element resistor 22a is provided in the gas supply path 2. The resistance of the resistor changes according to its own temperature, and the amount of heat absorbed by the gas in the gas flow changes according to the flow rate of the gas. In this case, the resistance value changes depending on the flow velocity of the gas. The change in the resistance value is used to measure the flow velocity of the gas. The main body controller 23 supplies a current to the resistor 22a at a constant current value i. Therefore, the resistance value r of the resistor 22a at this time can be expressed as a function f (v) of the gas flow velocity v, and the gas flow velocity v can be obtained by measuring the resistance value r. And
From the detected gas flow velocity v and the pipe diameter of the gas supply path 2,
Integrate the amount of gas used.

FIG. 4 is a graph showing the relationship between the flow rate of the measuring section 22 and the sensor output. As shown in transition a, the sensor output of the thermal flow meter is characterized in that the lower the flow velocity, the greater the slope and the higher the accuracy. On the other hand, in the case of a flow meter using an impeller, for example, as shown in transition b, when the flow velocity is low, detection becomes impossible due to the influence of the friction of the impeller. There is no problem with the water heater 4 or small water heater because the gas consumption is large. However, the gas stove 3 consumes a small amount of gas especially when the burner is used with the heating power control lever set to the simmering position. It is difficult to detect with the impeller when the is not used. In order to detect such a low gas amount, it is necessary to reduce the friction of the impeller as much as possible, but the cost increases. On the other hand, a thermal flow meter can accurately detect even such a small amount of consumed gas. Further, since the structure is simple, low cost and space saving are achieved. The thermal flow meter is not limited to this, and can be implemented in various configurations utilizing the relationship between the gas flow rate and the temperature change of the resistor. For example, in the present embodiment, the gas flow velocity is determined by a change in resistance when the current value is constant. However, for example, the gas flow velocity is determined by measuring the current value when the temperature of the resistor 22a is constant. You may. In this embodiment, the flow velocity is detected by one resistor 22a, but a plurality of resistors may be provided. For example, another resistor may be provided, and by detecting the temperature of the gas with the resistor, the influence of the gas temperature may be corrected, and more accurate flow velocity detection may be performed. In addition, by heating the gas with the resistor and detecting the temperature of the gas heated by the resistor separately provided on the downstream side, the time required for the heated gas to pass between the resistors is reduced. A configuration in which the flow velocity is determined by detecting the flow rate may be used.

The card reader 30 is provided with an inserted IC.
I / O interface 31 for reading information from card 40 and writing information to IC card 40
And a display unit 32 for displaying the remaining frequency, and a card control unit 33 for controlling these. Main body controller 23
The card controller 33 is connected to the card controller 33 by a cable 50, so that power supply and communication to the card controller 33 are possible. For this reason, the card reader device 30 can be installed in a convenient place such as a kitchen.

The IC card 40 has a built-in EEPROM (non-volatile memory) for storing information such as gas unit price, prepaid amount (balance), name and room number (CPU-less), and an I / O interface on the card surface. A terminal 41 for making electrical contact with 31 is provided. Also, I /
Security is maintained by a combination of signal timing with the O interface 31, passwords, and data encryption, making it more difficult to read and forge information than magnetic cards.

The insertion of the IC card 40 into the I / O interface 31 is a manual insertion method, and the I / O interface 3 is inserted at a position where the card is completely inserted.
The first terminal is in direct contact with the first terminal so that data can be read. Therefore, the I / O interface 31
Does not require expensive parts such as a motor and a magnetic head, and the card reader device 30 can be made cheaper. In addition, since the card reader device 30 can be made compact, it can be mounted on a wall even when it is installed in a kitchen, and it can be installed without taking up space and obstructing. Also, because of such a manual insertion method, the power supply of the apparatus is turned ON / OFF by insertion / removal.
F. In this way, there is no need to constantly check whether or not a card is inserted, so that device costs and electricity costs can be saved, and power ON / OFF is possible.
Saves the trouble of FF. Furthermore, when the user goes out, the main stopper can be easily closed by removing the card.

When the IC card 40 is inserted, the E / O
The information stored in the EPROM is read. Then, a usable gas amount is calculated from the stored prepaid amount and the gas unit price, and the frequency corresponding to the gas amount is displayed on the display unit 32.
To be displayed. When there is a balance, the main body control unit 23 opens the shut-off valve 21 so that gas can be supplied, and the metering unit 22 detects the used gas amount. The balance is subtracted based on the used gas amount, and when the balance becomes zero, the shutoff valve 21 is closed to stop the gas supply. For subtraction of the balance, the data may be rewritten while the IC card 40 is inserted, but the balance data of the IC card 40 may be moved to the memory of the card control unit 33 and the IC card 40 may be taken out. In such a configuration, even when rewriting the data of the card when the remaining amount of gas is low, the card can be taken out while using the gas, so it is necessary to suspend the use of the gas. Absent. Further, after the balance becomes zero, the remaining amount may be set to minus so that gas can be borrowed in advance.

As described above, according to the gas supply control device 10 of the present embodiment, the provision of the measuring section 22 for the used gas amount eliminates the necessity of newly installing the gas meter even when there is no gas meter. For this reason, for example, in apartment buildings such as apartments, install one gas meter for the manager, install a gas supply control device in each room, and sell the prepaid card for the gas rate for each room. With such a system, it is not necessary to install a gas meter for each room, and the gas supply control device can be realized at a lower cost than the gas meter, so that the installation cost can be greatly reduced. Further, by detecting the amount of gas used by the thermal type flow meter, the structure of the measuring section 22 is simplified, so that the cost can be reduced. In addition, since the accuracy at a small flow rate is high, even when the gas stove 3 is used alone, The used gas amount can be accurately detected. Further, by storing the data in an EEPROM built in the IC card 40, it is not necessary to use a magnetic head for the card reader, and it is not necessary to use a motor by a manual insertion method. Further, since the IC card 40 is CPU-less, the cost of the card can be reduced.
Furthermore, information readout or forgery can be prevented by a combination of signal timing with the I / O interface 31, password, and data encryption.

By storing data in the EEPROM, it is more resistant to repeated use than a magnetic card, and when the remaining data on the card becomes smaller, it is brought to the issuer to rewrite the same data, thereby providing the same data. Since the card can be used repeatedly, it is economical and the issuing cost can be reduced. Further, since the amount of data that can be stored is large, various applications can be considered. For example, the I / O interface 31 may write the history of the number of times of use and the amount of use to the card in addition to subtracting the data of the IC card 40 according to the amount of use. Then, the issuer can easily grasp the gas usage status of the user when rewriting data. Also, for equipment maintenance,
If an error occurs in the device or if an error easily occurs, the details of the error should be written to the card.If data is rewritten, the issuer should check the information and take appropriate measures. Thus, it is possible to reduce the problem that the gas cannot be used due to the failure of the device. In particular, I / O
Since the interface 31 needs to be cleaned according to the degree of use and the environment, if the cleaning time is notified according to the number of card insertions and the usage period,
More appropriate maintenance can be performed.

Although the gas supply control device 10 of the present embodiment uses the CPU-less IC card 40, an IC card with a built-in CPU may be used. When the CPU is built in, the security system can be further enhanced.

The embodiments of the present invention have been described above.
The present invention is not limited to these embodiments at all, and it goes without saying that the present invention can be implemented in various modes without departing from the gist of the present invention. For example, in a configuration using an IC card, the measuring section 22 is not limited to a thermal flow meter. Similarly, in a configuration using a thermal flow meter, the card is not limited to an IC card.

[0022]

As described in detail above, claim 1 of the present invention
According to the gas supply control device described above, the device can be realized at low cost by a configuration in which data stored in the IC memory is read. Further, since it can be realized in a small space, it can be mounted on a wall or the like even when installed in a kitchen or the like, so that it can be installed without taking up space and obstructing. Further, since security can be enhanced, reading out or forgery of information can be prevented. In addition, since the amount of data that can be stored is large, usage history and maintenance information can be stored.

Further, according to the gas supply control device of the second aspect of the present invention, since the gas amount is detected by using the thermal flow meter, the structure is simplified, and the device can be realized at low cost and space saving. In addition, since the accuracy at a low flow rate is high, the flow rate can be accurately detected even when an instrument with low gas consumption such as a gas stove is used alone.

Further, according to the gas supply control device of the third aspect of the present invention, the storage medium is an IC card,
The production cost can be reduced, and it can be expected to be shared with cards having different purposes. Furthermore, the card shape is convenient for carrying.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a gas supply system including a gas supply control device as one embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a weighing shut-off device.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a measuring unit.

FIG. 4 is a graph showing a relationship between a flow velocity and a sensor output.

[Explanation of symbols]

10: gas supply control device, 20: metering shutoff device, 2
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Shut-off valve, 22 ... Measuring part, 23 ... Main body control part, 3
0: card reader device, 31: I / O interface,
32: display unit, 33: card control unit, 40: IC card.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A gas amount detecting means for detecting an amount of supplied gas, and said data is read from a portable storage medium in which data representing a usable gas amount is stored in advance, and said gas amount detecting means Read / write means for subtracting and rewriting data of the storage medium based on the detected gas supply amount, and opening and closing a gas supply path based on the data read by the read / write means and the gas supply amount detected by the gas amount detection means A gas supply control device, comprising: an opening / closing means for performing the operation described above, wherein the storage medium electrically stores the data by an IC memory. 2. A gas amount detecting means for detecting an amount of supplied gas, and said data is read from a portable storage medium in which data representing a usable gas amount is stored in advance. Read / write means for subtracting and rewriting data of the storage medium based on the detected gas supply amount, and opening and closing a gas supply path based on the data read by the read / write means and the gas supply amount detected by the gas amount detection means A gas supply control device comprising: a gas flow control device, wherein the gas amount detection device detects a gas supply amount using a thermal flow meter. 3. The gas supply control device according to claim 1, wherein the storage medium is an IC card.