JPS58106278A - Remote control device for gas bomb valve - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable a remote control device for a gas bomb valve, which is adapted to close the gas bomb valve as soon as a failure such as, for example, gas leakage, happens, to be easily attached to a gas bomb body without any measure being taken to the exsisting pipe lines. CONSTITUTION:The housing 9 of an automatic valve control unit 1 is provided with a skirt part 9C which is fitted to cylindrical gripping frame 3 for carrying a propane gas bomb 2 with the use of bolts 3, and two chambers 9A, 9B above the skirt part 9C. A remote control box 5 in a local gas consumption area or the like is connected with a cable 11 including a power feed line to a motor 22 for rotating a handle controlling shaft 10 through a train of gears 14 through 19, which is disposed in the chamber 9A, and signal lines connected to limit switches 26 through 28.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a valve remote control device for gas cylinders.

The valve for a cylinder of high-pressure gas such as propane gas is generally configured as a manually operated valve, but when using a cylinder of high-pressure flammable gas such as propane gas, it is recommended to install the cylinder in a location away from the place where the gas is used. As is customary, the valve cannot be immediately closed in the event of an accident such as a gas leak, earthquake, or fire under such customary usage conditions.

In consideration of these circumstances, electromagnetic shut-off valves have been proposed to be installed in propane gas piping, but the proposed solenoid shut-off valves are expensive and cannot be installed on the propane gas cylinder body. This had the disadvantage of requiring installation work to the piping system, and also had the disadvantage that the valve on the cylinder body could not be closed.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a gas cylinder valve remote control device that can be easily attached to a gas cylinder main body without any modification to the existing piping system.

Embodiments of the present invention will be explained below with reference to the drawings.

As described in the claims, the device of the present invention includes [a non-automatic operator detachably attached to the top of a gas cylinder, and an electrically connected to the non-automatic operator and installed at a remote location. control box, gas leak detector, seismic motion detector, and fire detection electrically connected to the control box.

"A device containing an intelligence device."

In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, a non-automatic operating device 1, which constitutes the main part of the device of the present invention, is attached to a cylindrical frame 3 for conveying and holding a propane gas cylinder 2 with bolts 4. ．． It is connected to a control box 5 at a remote location via. A gas leak detector 6, an earthquake motion detector 7, and a fire detector 8 are connected to the control box 5 via signal lines t2 to t4, respectively.

The casing 9 of the non-automatic operating device 1 has a skirt portion 9 that is fitted with a bolt 4 to a cylindrical frame 3 for transporting and gripping a gas cylinder 2.
C, and above the skirt portion 9C there are two chambers 9A and 9B separated from each other in upper and lower stages. Also, through the bottom plate of the housing 9), the handle operation shaft 1
0 protrudes downward from the housing 9, and a nozzle operating member 12 that engages with the valve operating handle 11 of the propane gas cylinder 2 is attached to the lower end of the nozzle operating shaft 10 (7). A valve operating handle 11 of the gas pump 2 is fixed to a valve shaft 13, and six recesses xta4 are formed around the handle 11 as shown in FIG.

The handle operating member 12 is located in the recess 11 of the valve operating handle 11.
It is a disc member equipped with three drive pins 12a that engage with the drive pin 12a, and is adapted to be rotated by a control shaft 10. A cam 12b is attached to the upper surface of the member 12, and a limit switch 29 attached to the bottom plate of the housing 9 is engaged with the cam 12b.

The limit switch 29 is a double-throw type switch, and has a structure in which the two contacts a7 and a8, which will be explained later, are alternately turned on.

The lower chamber 9B of the housing 9 houses a gear 14 fixed to the handle operating shaft 10 as well as reduction gear groups 15 to 19 related to the gear 14.

A shaft 20 integral with the handle operating shaft 10 projects into the upper chamber 9A, and a gear 39 is fitted to the top end of the shaft 20. Room 9
Inside A, there is a cam shaft 4 parallel to the shaft 20 as shown in FIG.
0 is provided, and a gear 41 fitted on this camshaft 40 meshes with a gear 39 on the shaft 20. Cam shaft 40 is shaft 2
The reduction ratio of the gear 39 and the gear 41 is determined so that the total rotation speed of the gas cylinder 2 is only one rotation at most (this is equal to the total rotation speed of the valve shaft 13 of the gas cylinder 2). Even if the handle operating shaft 10 rotates several times during the valve opening/closing operation in step 2, the camshaft 40 only rotates once at the maximum.

Two cams 24 and 25 are fitted onto the camshaft 40, and three limit switches 26-28 are provided in the chamber 9A to engage with the cams 24 and 25, respectively. Of these limit switches, the two limit switches 27 and 28 that engage the cam 25 are located at the valve fully open position and the valve fully closed position, respectively. Cam 2 when fully open
The other limit switch 28 is opened by the protrusion 25& of the cam 25 when the valve is fully closed.

Further, the limit switch 26 that engages with the cam 24 is configured so that the limit switch 26 is closed by the cam 24 when the valve is fully closed.
It is arranged with respect to the projection 24a of No. 4. In addition, cam 2
4 and 25 may have a structure in which cam ridges are formed on one plate.

A lever 22 for rotating the handle operating shaft 10 via the reduction gear group 14 to 19 is arranged in the chamber 9A,
The power supply line to the motor 22 and the limit switches 26 to 2
The signal line connected to 8 becomes a cable t, and is connected to the control box 5 in a remote location such as a gas usage area or indoors.

A socket 42 is provided on the bottom plate of the housing 9, and a small incandescent light bulb 43 used as a heater is installed in this socket 42.
is screwed in. This incandescent light bulb 43 is used to prevent the valve stem 13 of the gas cylinder 2 from freezing in the winter, and its wattage is set so that the temperature inside the cylindrical frame 3 for transport and grip does not exceed 40°C. It's decided.

The control box 5 has, on its casing surface, a button 30 for the opening/closing operation switch, a button 31 for the closing operation switch, a valve opening/closing operation indicator light L8% open operation indicator light 7, and a closing operation indicator light! , a switching lever 321 between manned operation and unmanned operation,
Moreover, it is configured so that a gas leak detector 6, an earthquake motion detector 7, a fire detector 8, etc. can be connected.

Figure 1 is a diagram of the circuits built into the control box 5, the circuits of the gas leak detector 6, etc., and the switches installed in the non-automatic operating device 1. The displayed portion is a portion provided within the non-automatic operating device 1.

In FIG. 5, switches 32A and 32B are switches that are interlocked with the switching lever 32 on the control box 5, and are designed to interlock with each other, and depending on the operation of the lever, the contacts a3 and 32B are connected to each other. They are switched to b3, a4, and b4, respectively. Contacts a3 and a4 are contacts corresponding to 6" manned operation, while contacts b3 and b4 are contacts corresponding to "=unmanned operation".

Switches S+ and S2 provided in series with switches 32A and 32B, respectively, are double-throw switches that operate in conjunction with each other, with valve opening operation contacts 30a1, 30a, j valve closing operation contacts 31b+, 31b! It is designed so that it can be switched and turned on respectively.

The switches SL and S2 are mechanically connected to the open operation switch button 30 and the close operation switch button 31 on the control box 5, and when the open operation switch button 30 is pressed, the contacts 30al and 30a2 are connected. Injected,
On the other hand, when the close operation switch button 31 is pressed, the contact 31b.

and 31b2, respectively.

34 and 35 are relays, each with a switch 34A.
, 35A.

Switches 34A and 35A are held in the solid line position in FIG. 5 when relays 34 and 35 are demagnetized. The switch 35A has contact a5.

It is a double-throw switch that switches on and on.

36 is a transistor that becomes conductive when there is an input signal from the gas leak detector 6, and the switch 7a of the seismic motion detector 7 and the switch 8C of the fire detector 8 are connected in parallel between the emitter and collector of the transistor 36. ing. As shown in the figure, the fire detector 8 has a switch 8C, a thermally responsive element 8a such as a thermistor, and a buzzer 8b.
and a relay 8 for closing the switch 8d of the buzzer 8b and the switch 8C.

The transistor 36 is provided in the control box 5, and its emitter is connected to a contact b4 in parallel with the motor power supply circuit and also to the relay 34. The collector of the transistor 36 is connected in parallel with the motor power supply circuit, and is cut off from the motor power supply circuit by the diode 37.

The gas leak detector 6 has a neon tube 6a and a buzzer 6b inside.
and a detector main body 6C, and is configured to be connectable to the control box 5 via a connector. A number of gas leak detectors 6, seismic motion detectors 7, and fire detectors 8 can be connected to one control box 5.

In addition, the buzzer 8b of the fire detector 8 and the gas leak detector 6
A plurality of buzzers 6b are provided, and they are arranged both outdoors and indoors.

As shown in FIG. 5, the fire detector 8 and the gas leak detector 6 are normally supplied with power from a commercial AC power source 44, but in the event of a power outage, they are connected in parallel to the commercial AC power source 44. Power is supplied via an inverter 45 from a power supply device 33, which will be described below.

As shown in FIG. 6, the power supply device 33 consists of a DC power supply device 33A connected to a commercial commercial current power source and a standby power supply device 33B connected to its output terminal, and an inverter 45 and switches 32A and 32B. They are configured to be connected in parallel to output terminals 33a and 33b of the backup power supply device 33B. This backup power supply device 33B and direct 1.・
The 111 current power supply device 33A has, for example, the following configuration. That is, as shown in FIG.
B is a backup DC power source 3 consisting of a rechargeable Ni-Cd battery.
It has a diode 33c inside it, and is kept in a de-energized state during a commercial power outage (because its internal resistance 33d is very large), but when a commercial power outage occurs, the diode 33e
The backup DC power supply 33c discharges through the output terminal 33a.
, 33b. On the other hand, the DC power supply device 3
3A is a rectifier circuit as shown in the figure, and is a commercial 100
It is configured to convert pol 1 alternating current to 12 volt direct current.

Next, the operation of the apparatus of the present invention having the above structure will be explained with reference to FIGS. 1 and 6 and FIGS. 7 to 12.

The valves of the mass and propane gas cylinders 4 and 2 are fully open.
Further, FIG. 5 shows a state in which no valve operation is performed. In this case, each switch group is in the position shown in FIG.
Further, the cams 24 and 25 are stopped at the illustrated positions.

To close the valve from the state shown in Fig. 7, first operate the switching lever 32 on the control box 5 to close contacts a3 and a4 of switches 32A and 32B, respectively, and then close the valve. When the switch button 31 is pressed, the switches Sl and S2 are turned on to the contacts 31bl and 31b2, respectively, and the power source 33 is connected to the motor 22. Therefore, the motor 22 starts rotating counterclockwise as indicated by the arrow f in FIG.
, rotate in the direction of . Further, the cam 12b that engages with the switch 29 also begins to rotate together with the handle operating member 12.

As the cam 25 rotates, the switch 27 closes. on the other hand,
Even if the cam 24 starts rotating, the switch 26 is not pressed until the cam 24 fully closes the valve, so the switch 26 does not close.

While the cam 12b rotates several times together with the shaft 10 until the valve is fully closed, the switch 29 engaged with the cam 12b swings several times in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 8 and alternately switches between contacts a7 and a8. Since the valve is turned on, the valve opening/closing operation indicator light L3 is on while the shaft 10 is rotating.
blinks and the buzzer 38 sounds intermittently.

When the valve is completely closed, the switch 26 is closed by the cam 24 at the sixth time that the switch 28 is opened by the cam 25, as shown in FIG.

Therefore, the power supply to the motor 22 is cut off and the motor 22 stops. On the other hand, even if switch 26 is closed, power is not supplied to relay 34, so switches 34A and 35A do not operate.

Next, when the opening operation switch button 30 on the control box 5 is pressed to open the valve from the fully closed state shown in FIG.
and 30a2, the motor 22 is connected to the power supply 33, and the motor 22 is turned on in the clockwise direction f.
2, the valve begins to open via the shaft 10 and the handle operating member 12. As the motor 22 rotates, the cam 2
5 also starts rotating clockwise f2 and the switch 28 closes.
On the other hand, the cam 24 also starts rotating in the clockwise direction f2, and the switch 26 opens. and the cam 12b that engages the switch 29
Since the valve also rotates, the switch 29 swings and is alternately applied to the contacts a7 and a8 in the same way as described above, so the valve opening/closing operation indicator light L3 blinks and the buzzer 38 sounds intermittently.

Then, when the valve is completely opened, the cam 25 returns to the position shown in FIG.
4 and 25 and the cam 12b are stopped. Therefore, the swinging of the switch 29 also stops.

Next, while in use with the valve fully open, the switching lever 3 on the control box 5
A case in which "2" is switched to "6" unmanned operation will be explained with reference to FIG.

When the switching lever 32 is switched to 6" unmanned operation, switches 32A and 32B linked to the lever 32 are turned on to contacts b3 and b4, respectively.

In this state, if a gas leak occurs, for example, the gas leak detector body 6C becomes conductive (the gas leak detector 6 is connected to the commercial power supply through one of its sockets, and connected to the control box 5C through the other socket). ) An input signal is applied to the pace of the transistor 36, and as a result, the transistor 36 becomes conductive, and a power supply circuit for the motor 22 is completed via the transistor 36 and the switch 32B. Therefore, since the motor 22 is energized with the polarity shown, it rotates counterclockwise, that is, in the valve closing direction, and closes the valve via the handle operating member 12. As the motor 22 rotates, the cams 12b and 24.25 also rotate counterclockwise, the switch 29 is swung by the cam 12b, the opening/closing operation indicator light L3 blinks, and the buzzer 38 sounds intermittently. When the valve is fully closed, the protrusion of cam 24 closes switch 26, while the protrusion of cam 25 opens switch 28. When the switch 28 is opened, the power supply to the motor 22 is cut off, so the motor 22 stops and the cam group also stops. On the other hand, when switch 26 is closed, switch 26 and switch 3
Since the power supply circuit to relay 34 is completed via 2B,
Relay 34 is energized and switch 34A is closed to contact a6. When the switch 34A is turned on to the contact a6, the power supply circuit to the relay 35 is completed, and when the relay 35 is energized, the switch 35A is switched from the contact a5 to the contact b5 (see FIG. 12). Therefore, the power supply circuit to the motor 22 is opened and the voltage to the collector of the transistor 36 disappears, but the power supply to the relay i4 is continued via the switch 26 and the switch 32B, so the power supply to the relay 35 is also stopped. continue. Therefore, after reaching the state shown in FIG. 12, switches 32A and 32B are connected to contact a3.
Even if the valve is turned on and a4 is turned on, it is impossible to automatically operate the valve again, so if you really want to open the valve, you must operate it directly by hand, or temporarily cut off the power supply to the power supply device 33 and open the switch 34A. and 35A must be returned to its original position.

Next, the operation in the event of an earthquake or fire will be explained with reference to FIGS. 11 and 12.

For example, if an earthquake occurs and the switch 7a of the seismic motion detector 7 closes while the gas cylinder is in use (that is, the valve is fully open) as shown in FIG. 11, the The power supply circuit to the motor 22 is completed, and as a result, the motor 22 starts rotating in the valve closing direction, and the cams 24 and 25 also start rotating at the same time. When the valve is completely closed, the cam 25 opens the switch 28 in the same manner as described above (see FIG. 12).
Motor 22 is stopped and switch 26 is closed by cam 24. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 12, a power supply circuit to the relay 34 is completed via the switch 26 and the switch 32B, and the relay 34 is energized.
4A is applied to contact a6.

As a result, the relay 35 is energized, the switch 35A is switched from the contact a5 to the contact b5, and the power supply circuit to the motor 22 is activated.

Therefore, as described above, after this state is reached, the motor 22 cannot be operated even if the switching lever 32 is operated and the switches 32A and 32B are turned on to the contacts a3 and a4, and as a result, the gas cylinder cannot be operated. valve is held closed.

The above operations are the same even when a fire occurs, so a detailed explanation will be omitted, but the process up to the energization of the motor will be explained.

When a fire occurs, the heat-sensitive element 8a in the fire detector 8 becomes conductive and the relay 8e is energized, which activates the switch 8c.
and 8d are closed, the buzzer 8b sounds, and the power supply circuit to the motor 22 is completed via the diode 37 and the switch 8c in the same manner as described above. The circuit operation after the power supply circuit to the motor is completed is exactly the same as when detecting a gas leak or when an earthquake occurs, so we will omit the explanation, but it should be noted that the buzzer 8b continues to sound even at the valve closing edge. .

Next, the operation when the commercial AC power supply is in a power outage state will be explained with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6.

If the commercial AC power supply 44 falls into a power outage state and power supply to the motor 22 and power supply to the gas leak detector 6 and fire detector 8 becomes temporarily unavailable, the output terminal 33a133b of the standby power supply device 33B Because the potential of the device 33 decreases,
The diode 33e in B becomes conductive, and the backup DC power supply 33c
As a result, the electromotive force of
Therefore, power supply to the motor 22 and power supply to the fire detector 8 and gas leak detector 6 will not become impossible. in this case,
A backup power supply device 33 is provided for the fire detector 8 and gas leak detector 6.
The DC 12 port voltage generated from B is transferred to the inverter 45.
Since an AC voltage converted to a single-phase AC voltage of 100 volts is supplied to the unit, there is no problem with the operation of the unit.

Note that the inverter 45 may be incorporated into each of the fire detector 8 and gas leak detector 6, but may also be incorporated into the control box 5.

As described above, according to the device of the present invention, when a situation such as a gas leak, fire, or earthquake occurs, the valve of the gas cylinder can be manually or automatically closed by remote control from the place where the gas is used. can.

On the other hand, in consideration of usage conditions in which the vicinity of the valve stem of a gas cylinder may freeze during winter, making it impossible to close the valve, in the device of the present invention, the area near the valve stem of the gas cylinder is installed in the non-automatic operating device 1. Since a heater 43 is provided to prevent freezing, the valve can be operated reliably even in the coldest season.

In the above description, a plurality of heat sensitive response elements 8a of the fire detector are installed at appropriate locations indoors and outdoors. Also, buzzer 8
b is preferably provided at least indoors and outdoors;
Indoor items shall be notified to household members, and outdoor items shall be notified to neighbors.

The features and advantages of the apparatus of the present invention as described above are listed below.

(1) It can be installed without any modification to existing gas cylinders and their piping systems.

(11) It can be easily engaged with the operation handle of an existing gas cylinder and can be easily released. Therefore, switching between automatic and manual operation of the valve is very easy.

(iii) The valve of a gas cylinder can be remotely controlled even from indoors, and the status of the valve (that the valve is being operated, and whether it is fully open or fully closed) can be known at a remote location.

(iv) In the event of a gas leak, earthquake, fire, etc., the valve is automatically closed and remains in that state thereafter, making it extremely safe.

(v) The mechanism for operating the valve is housed in a sealed casing, and the casing is configured to cover the operating handle of the gas cylinder, so it can be used outdoors even in snowy areas. This makes it possible to prevent damage to the valve operating section due to snow accumulation.

(vD It can also be used in areas where there is a risk of freezing near the valve stem of the cylinder during the winter.

◇1) Even in the event of a power outage, the standby power supply operates immediately, so it can always be operated.

6/1) Since the alarm buzzer sounds at the same time as the shutoff valve starts to close, the alarm of fire etc. is issued quickly and damage is reduced.

Ox) The mechanism is simple because the limit switch can be changed just by rotating the cam once.

As described above, according to the present invention, a valve remote control device having various features is provided.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of the device of the present invention, and Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of the device of the present invention.
■A sectional view taken along arrows, Figure 3 is a sectional view taken along ■-m in Figure 1, Figure 4 is a view taken along IV'-IV in Figure 1, and Figure 5 shows the inside of the device shown in Figure 1. FIG. 6 is a connection diagram of the power supply device, seismic motion detector and fire detector, and FIGS. 7 to 11 are circuit diagrams showing the operating state of the device of the present invention. 1: Non-automatic operator, 2: Gas cylinder, 5: Control box, 6: Gas leak detector, 7: Earthquake motion detector,
8: Fire detector, 9: Housing (of non-automatic operating device),
10: Handle operation shaft, 11: Valve operation handle (of gas cylinder valve), 12: Handle operation member, 22
: Motor, 24.25: Cam, 26 to 29: Switch, 33B = Standby power supply, 45: Inverter 1 to 8
Figure Book 9 Figure 1 x Figure 10 Procedural Amendment (Voluntary) January zt, 1980, Commissioner of the Japan Patent Office 1) Haruki Tono 1, Indication of matter-1 Patent Application No. 1982-202562 2 Title of the invention Gas cylinder valve remote control device 3, relationship with the amended case Patent applicant address: 2357 Komanocho, Utsunomiya City, Tochigi Prefecture Name: Hisashi Watanabe (and 2 others) 4. Agent: Address: 504-0197 Denlip, 105 Address: 19-14 Nishi-Shinbashi-chome, Minato-ku, Tokyo (2) The brief explanation of the drawings in the specification has been amended as follows. 4. Brief explanation of the drawings, 1IS1 is a schematic diagram of the apparatus of the present invention, 1S1 is a sectional view taken along the line m-i in FIG. 5 is a circuit diagram inside the device shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 6 is a connection diagram of the power supply device, seismic motion detector, and fire detector, and FIGS. 7 to 12 are diagrams of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a circuit diagram showing the operating state of the device.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] An automatic valve operator detachably attached to the top of a gas cylinder such as a propane gas cylinder; A control box connected to the mechanism, and an electrical connection to the control box.
a gas cylinder valve remote control device comprising a gas leak detector, a seismic motion detector, and a fire detector connected to a gas cylinder; an operating member; a handle operating shaft fixed to the handle operating member; a drive device for rotating the handle operating shaft in both forward and reverse directions; A cam that rotates at most one rotation per rotational speed, at least one limit switch that is operated by engaging with the cam, and supporting the drive device, the handle operating member, the cam, etc. A housing attached to the top of the gas cylinder,
The control box has a built-in circuit for controlling the drive device, and
The circuit includes an open operation switch and a close operation switch for opening and closing the valve, a valve operation indicator light and a valve operation alarm for notifying rotational operation of the valve, the gas leak detector, the seismic motion detector, and A gas cylinder valve remote control device, characterized in that a switch group for each of the fire detectors is provided.