JPS60166868A - Apparatus for measuring wind direction and velocity - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To take out data of wind direction and velocity as electric signals and to enhance accuracy, comformity and durability, by measuring a time required in that air heated in the upstream side of an air flowline advances over a predetermined distance in a predetermined direction. CONSTITUTION:Thermocouples 10 are arranged to the periphery of a heat generator 9 so as to provide a predetermined distance L and the divided streams of an air stream 101 pass this sensor part. The output voltage of each thermocouple 10 is compared with a threshold value by a comparator 15 and discriminated from noise by atmospheric temp. A control part 18 calculates wind velocity v= L/DELTAT from a time DELTAT required in that air heated by the heat generator 9 reaches the thermocouple 10 and, at the same time, inputs relative wind velocity by the running of a vehicle from a car speed detection part 24a and subtracts the same from the wind velocity (v) to calculate absolute wind velocity. The control part 18 discriminates the position of the thermocouple 10 outputting voltage to calculate a relative wind direction and adds the same to data from a direction detection part 24b to calculate an absolute wind direction.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Field of Application] The present invention is directed to improving the accuracy and durability of wind speed and direction detection devices.

The wind speed and direction detection device of the present invention can be mounted on a moving body such as a car and used to detect relative wind speed and wind direction in the moving body.

[Prior Art] Wind direction and wind speed detection devices that have been proposed or put into practical use include those that detect wind direction or wind speed by mechanical displacement, and those that utilize heat conduction.

However, none of these conventional wind speed and direction detection devices are fully satisfactory in terms of accuracy, durability, and quick response.

For example, a conventional device that detects air flow by mechanical displacement has the disadvantage that accuracy deteriorates due to wear and the like because of the presence of mechanically movable parts.

Also, since the measured values of wind direction and wind speed are expressed by the displacement of moving parts, etc., there is no problem if the user reads them, but if the measured values are used as data for electrical signal processing, This is extremely inconvenient.

In order to eliminate these drawbacks and inconveniences, a wind direction/wind speed detection device using the C1 heat Buddha has been proposed.

This type of detection device has the advantage that detected values can be obtained by electronic transmission.

However, it is easily affected by the environment, does not have quick response because it uses heat conduction from metals, etc., and has low structural durability. Therefore, it is difficult to use it by fixing it to a moving object such as a car.

However, there is no conventional wind direction/wind speed detection wave U that can satisfy all aspects of accuracy, durability, and quick response.

[Object of the Invention] The present invention has been devised with the intention of eliminating the drawbacks mentioned in 1.The purpose of the present invention is to obtain information on the wind direction and wind speed as electric signals, and to The purpose of the present invention is to provide a river direction wind speed detection device that is less susceptible to the effects of wind and has excellent accuracy, quick response, and durability.

[Structure of the Invention] The present invention (31) detects the wind direction and speed by measuring the time taken for air heated upstream of an air flow path to travel a predetermined distance in a predetermined direction.

That is, the present invention includes: a pulse voltage supply unit; a photothermal body disposed in an air flow path that generates light heat by the pulse voltage; and a thermoelectric converter disposed within the flow passage and a predetermined distance downstream from the heating element. an element; a time difference detection unit that detects a time difference between a time when the pulse voltage is applied and a time when a signal is generated from the thermoelectric conversion element; This is a wind direction/wind speed detection device characterized by comprising: an operation section that linearly calculates the speed and direction of the wind.

Here, the pulse voltage supply section is composed of a pulse generator and an amplifier. A repetitive pulse voltage of a desired frequency outputted from the pulse generator is amplified by an amplifier and applied to the heating element.

The heating element is a resistance wire that utilizes Joule heat, and is rapidly heated and cooled by a pulse voltage applied from a pulse voltage supply section.

The thermoelectric conversion element is located a predetermined distance downstream from the heating element, and the wind direction J3 and wind speed are determined in a calculation section described later based on the output signal of the thermoelectric conversion element. Note that a thermocouple, a thermistor, etc. can be used as the thermal lightning conversion element.

The time difference detection section is mainly composed of a counter, and detects the count value of the counter driven at a sufficiently high frequency, the time difference between the pulse voltage application time and the time when the signal is output from the thermal lightning conversion element.

The performance section calculates the wind speed from the distance between the heating element and the thermoelectric conversion element and the time difference, and determines the direction of the river based on whether the thermoelectric conversion element outputs a signal.

[Embodiments of the invention] Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

Figures 1 and 2 show the air flow path section in J3 of an embodiment of the wind speed and direction detecting device according to the present invention, Figure 1 is a partially fragmented plan view thereof, and Figure 2 is a sectional view thereof. be.

In Fig. 7 JJ and Fig. 2, the casing upper 1 and the casing lower 2, which have an axis-symmetrical shape, are
They are fixed to each other with screws 4 via a subena 3.

At the center of the casing lower 2, there is provided a board mounting part 5 which is hollow and has a disk-shaped head, and this disk-shaped head creates an upstream passage between it and the middle-high casing upper 1.
In addition, downstream passages are formed between the casing row 2 and the casing row 2, respectively.

On the board mounting part 5 is a circular board 6 manufactured by Bakery 1.
are adhered to the substrate 6, and electrodes 7 and 8, a heating element 9, and 16 thermocouples 1o are arranged on the substrate 6 to constitute a sensor section.

The heating element 9 is attached by brazing or the like between the electrode 7 provided at t of the substrate 6 and the electrode 8 embedded in the center of the substrate 6, and is made of a wire with a diameter of about 50 μm and a length of about 5 mm. It is a resistance wire that has a shape and is made of metal such as nichrome or platinum.

Sixteen thermal lightning pairs 10 are arranged at equal intervals on a circumference centered on the heating element 9, and the radius thereof is predetermined.

Lead wires 11 from the thermocouple 10 and the electrodes 7 and 8 are drawn out from the underside of the base 6 through the hollow portion of the board mounting portion 5, and connected to a wind speed and direction detection circuit to be described later.

Incidentally, grooves are cut in the outer peripheral parts of the casing upper 1 and the casing lower 2 facing each other, and gold 1!112 is inserted into these grooves. A draining protrusion 13 is installed inside the upper 1 of the casing at a place where the upstream passage and the downstream passage diverge.

The operation of this embodiment having such a configuration is shown in FIG.
This will be explained using FIG. Figure 3 shows the J
FIG. 3 is a schematic RFFI diagram illustrating the flow of air.

First, the air flow 101 flowing in from any direction is caused by the wire mesh 12
Pass through. Here, the wire mesh 12 is provided for dustproofing J3 and draining water in the event of rain, and can effectively prevent dust and water droplets from entering the flow path.

The air flow 101 that has passed through the wire mesh 12 is divided into a main flow 102 and a branch flow 103, and the branch flow 103 flows into the sensor section. Since the flow path of the divided flow 103 is curved upward compared to the flow path of the divided flow 102, relatively large particles and water droplets contained in the air flow 101 and the drainage protrusion 13 prevent the inflow. Due to inertia, water droplets mainly flow into the mainstream10.
Flows into 2. Therefore, the sensor section is protected from the harmful effects of dust and water droplets.

In this way, the air flow path is formed by the casing upper I J5 and the casing 1~2, and the sensor section is protected by the casing upper 1 etc., so the structure By sufficiently increasing the durability of the material, it is possible to suppress the effects of flakes and water droplets.

Next, the detection circuit used in this embodiment will be explained using FIGS. 4 to 6. However, here, the entire air flow path shown in Figure U31 and Figure 2 is Sit, bs r
) is flowing into the calm! Let us take as an example a case in which "one vehicle's traveling direction correction IIf" unit control is performed based on the detected signal from the roof of the vehicle.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the wind direction/wind speed detection circuit used in this embodiment.

In Figure 4, lead # from 16 thermal lightning pairs 10:
I and G are connected to the input terminals of the amplifier 14, respectively,
The output/IJ terminal of the amplifier 14 is connected to one side of the comparator 15,
It is connected to IAI+,,j,7. Further, a lead wire from a thermal lightning converter 16 (for example, a thermocouple) for detecting the outside temperature is also connected to the other input terminal of the comparator 15 via an amplifier 17. The output terminal of the comparator 15 is connected to the control section 18, and the signal from the thermocouple 10 is sent to the control section 18.
Transfer to.

The control unit 18 controls the pulse generator 20 through the control 4g19.
, the counter 21, and the operation section 22.

The output terminal of the pulse generator 20 is connected to the input terminal of the amplifier 23 and the control terminal of the counter 21, respectively, and supplies a repetitive pulse of a predetermined frequency to each.

The output terminal of the amplifier 23 is connected to the lead wire from the heating element 9, and the amplification 'I! The pulse voltage amplified by 1i23 is applied to the heating element 9.

The counter 21 starts counting at fu when the pulse from the pulse generator 20 is input. The output terminal of the counter 21 is connected to the input terminal of the arithmetic unit 22, and the count value at the end of the C run 1 is outputted to the arithmetic unit 22.

The input/output terminals of the calculation section 22 are connected to the control section 18, and output the calculation results to the control section 18, as well as input necessary data from the control section 18.

The control unit 18 receives the speed data of the vehicle from the vehicle speed detection unit 24a/J from the direction detection unit 24.11.
Data is input. The control unit 18 also outputs control signals and data to the instrument panel display unit 25 to display the current wind speed and wind direction, and outputs a control signal to the V1 actuator 26 to correct the IJ direction of the vehicle. Ru.

Next, the operation of the detection circuit having such a configuration will be explained with reference to the flowchart 1- in FIG. 5 and the waveform diagram in FIG. 6. In the waveform diagram shown in FIG. 6, the heating element 9
The applied voltage vin to the thermocouple and the output voltage vou from the thermocouple
The waveform of t is drawn on the IFiJ time axis "F".

However, when the power is turned on, the control unit 18 starts the counter 21.
8, performance section 22, etc. (5T1 in Figure 5).
). Subsequently, the control unit 18 starts the pulse generator 20 (ST2>).

The dead pulse voltage is amplified by the amplifier 23 and applied to the heating element 9 as a pulse 104 of applied voltage vin (see FIG. 6). At the same time, the pulse voltage output from the pulse generator 20 is input to the counter 21 and starts the counter 21 (ST3). Thereafter, the control unit 18 is in a standby state until a signal from the thermocouple 10 arrives (ST, 4).

As explained in "J" using FIG. 1 and FIG.
0 is arranged, and the structure is such that a branch flow 103 of the air flow 101 passes through this sensor section. Therefore, if T is measured until the air heated by the heating element 9 reaches the thermocouple 10, the wind speed V can be calculated as V-L/8.

Now, a pulse 104 of voltage ■in is applied to the heating element 9, and after the heating element 9 heats the surrounding air, a period of time △T
Later, the thermocouple 10 reacts to the heat and twitches.

A pulse 105 of the output voltage vout of the thermocouple 10 is amplified by an amplifier 14 and input to a comparator 15. Comparator 15 detects outside temperature 1 - thermoelectric conversion element 1
The output voltage vth from the thermocouple 10 is input as a threshold value, and when the output voltage yout from the thermocouple 10 exceeds the threshold value yth, a signal is output to the control unit 18.

The reason for comparing with V out @ V tl+ is to clearly distinguish between noise due to outside temperature, etc., and a necessary signal.

However, immediately, if the other end of the thermocouple 10 is set to the outside temperature J3, comparison using the threshold value Vt11 is not necessary.

However, in reality, it is considered preferable to separately detect the outside temperature in order to avoid stabilizing the operation when assuming a significant change in the outside temperature or due to structural problems.

In this way, a pulse 1 of output voltage vou-L is generated from the thermal lightning pair 10.
05 occurs and the comparator 15 outputs a signal to the control unit 18 (YES in ST4), the control unit 18G,
Stop L counter 21! (S-1-5).

At this time, the count value of the counter 21 is J5 as shown in FIG.
Pulse 104 of L applied voltage Vin and output J voltage Vo
It should indicate a value corresponding to the time difference ΔT from the pulse 105 of ut. The control unit 18 inputs this Curran 1-value to the calculation unit 22 and calculates the wind speed v=1/Δt (S
T6). At the same time, the control unit 18 manually calculates the relative wind speed due to the vehicle running from the outside detection unit 24a, and subtracts this from the wind speed V to calculate the absolute wind speed (
ST(3).

Next, the control unit 18 identifies the position of the thermal lightning pair 10 outputting from the signal from the comparator 15 and calculates the relative wind direction, and also calculates the relative wind direction. Determine the absolute wind direction in conjunction with the data from l) (ST7)
. These wind direction and wind speed are displayed on the instrument panel display section shown in FIG. 7 (ST8). Based on the determined wind direction and wind speed, the actuator 26 is controlled to correct the traveling direction of the vehicle (ST9). This can eliminate the instability of the vehicle due to crosswinds, etc., and can improve safety especially when driving in a erratic manner.

FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram of the sensor section of the second embodiment from FIG. 1.

The figure shows four inlets 27 to 3 whose positions are shifted by 90 degrees.
From each of 0, two flow paths are roughly perpendicular to the
This is a case where the four inlets 27 and 30 are connected through four channels 31 to 34.

Heat generating elements 35 to 38 are disposed at the inlets 27 to 330, respectively, and thermoelectric conversion elements (for example, thermoelectric pairs) 39 to 42 are disposed at the centers of the flow paths 31 to 34, respectively.

In such a (14 formation), the wind (arrow V) is (-45°≦
When θ≦+45°, the flow velocity in the flow path C varies depending on the proportion of air 1 that flows into the flow paths 31 and 34.
The air heated by the heating element 35 is transferred to the thermoelectric conversion element 39
and 42 are different. Therefore, the first
By using the same detection means as in the embodiment, the direction and wind speed can be detected by calculating the difference between the two arrival times and the two arrival times.

Thereafter, wind directions and wind speeds in all directions can be determined in the same manner.

FIG. 9 is a configuration diagram of the sensor section of the third embodiment.

In the nut jM Ir1I, channels 43 to 46 are formed in the shape of a cross, and heating elements 47 to 50 are arranged on the inlet side of each channel.

Furthermore, a thermal lightning conversion element 51 is provided a predetermined distance downstream from each heating element.
There are cases where =-54 is placed.

In this example, the direction of the wind (arrow V) is 0°≦θ≦90°
When the amount of air flowing into the flow paths 43 and 44 is different, the flow velocity in the flow paths differs, and the time it takes for the heated air to reach the thermoelectric conversion elements 51 and 52 differs.

The wind direction and wind speed can be calculated from these arrival times and the time difference 1, and the wind direction and wind speed in all directions can be determined in the same manner.

In the second and third embodiments, the structure is simpler and the durability is improved, and the total number of heating elements and thermal lightning conversion elements can at least accommodate the wind speed d3 and wind direction in all directions. I can do it.

d3. In the first embodiment, 16 thermal lightning pairs were used, but the number is not limited to this, and the distance and number may be determined so that heated air can be reliably detected. .

[Effect of the Invention J] In short, the present invention is characterized in that the wind direction and wind speed are detected by measuring the time taken for heated air to travel a predetermined distance upstream of the air flow path.

As mentioned above, the device of the present invention measures the wind speed J by time measurement.
5 and wind direction, it is not affected by external disturbances such as changes in outside temperature, and can quickly and accurately respond to ever-changing wind direction and wind speed.

Also, since there are no sliding elements and the structure is simple,
We have created a device that is highly durable and durable.
It is convenient for mounting on automobiles, etc.

Furthermore, the wind direction and wind speed detection signals are electrical signals 1r, 1
Therefore, it is easy to carry out the subsequent processing of the number 1, and it can be easily used for steering control, etc. for correcting the traveling direction of the Trace Point automobile.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a partially fragmented plan view of an air passage section of an embodiment of the wind direction/wind speed detection device according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the air passage section, and Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the above-mentioned air passage section. Figure 4 is a block circuit diagram of this embodiment, Figure 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of this embodiment, and Figure 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the flow of air flowing into the air flow path. Waveform diagrams of the heating element applied voltage and thermal lightning output voltage in this embodiment, Figure 7 is a configuration diagram of the instrument panel display section, and Figure 8 is a diagram of the air flow path section in the second embodiment of the invention. Figure 9 is a configuration diagram of the air flow path section in the third embodiment. 9.: 35-38, /17-50...Heating element 10.3
9-42.51-54...Thermal lightning conversion element 20...Pulse generator 21...Counter 22...Arithmetic unit qI revision applicant Kuchiki Denso Co., Ltd. agent Patent attorney Hirodo Okawa Patent attorney Shudo Fujitani Patent Attorney Akio Maruyama Figure 1, I, i', -, Figure 3, Circular Figure 54, Figure 5, Figure 56 T□ ζ:: 71=j+

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A pulse voltage supply section, a heating element disposed in an air flow path that generates heat due to the pulse voltage, and a thermoelectric conversion element disposed within the flow path a predetermined distance downstream from the heating element. a time difference detection unit that detects a time difference between the time when the pulse voltage is applied and the time when a signal is generated from the thermoelectric conversion element; and a time difference detection unit that detects the speed of the air flow and the time difference from the signal generated from the thermoelectric conversion element and the time difference. A calculation unit that determines the direction. A wind direction/wind speed detection device comprising: (2) The wind direction/wind speed detection device according to claim 1, wherein the signal generated from the thermoelectric conversion element is at a level equal to or higher than a threshold value determined by the ambient temperature.