JPS63274256A - Automatic informing equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To prevent missing of information in advance by allowing an inform ing means to inform information representing battery voltage drop when a battery voltage detection means detects the drop of the battery voltage to a prescribed value or below. CONSTITUTION:The state of an input port I5 is monitored and a battery detec tion circuit 38 detects that the voltage of a lithium battery 39 drops below a prescribed value and discriminates whether or not a detection signal is given at the output. That is, when the battery voltage drop is detected, an information cause generation flag for informing the voltage drop is set. When the informa tion cause generation flag is set in a first step after application of power supply, a signal is outputted to output ports O3 and O4 to acquire the line and a dial signal is outputted from the input/output port IO to apply dialing and the infor mation of the voltage drop is sent as a data to an information center 1 in a prescribed format. It is informed that the battery replacement is required by the information of the battery voltage drop.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to an automatic notification device that automatically reports meter reading data of gas, water, electricity, etc. to an information center.

[Problems to be solved by the prior art and the invention] Conventionally, this type of equipment has been constructed by installing information centers and terminals at LPG distributors and LPG consumers, respectively, and connecting them with telephone lines, etc. A system is being considered that would be linked by a communication system and would allow the terminal to periodically report gas meter readings to an information center, as well as to report warning information such as gas leaks at any time.

In the conventional device described above, all the power necessary for the operation of the entire device was supplied from the battery. This is to prevent notification from becoming impossible in the event of a power outage. However, batteries have a limited lifespan.
Reports may not be possible due to a dead battery. Previously, the system only learned that the battery was running out when it stopped reporting the battery.
Information during this battery-depleted period was not transmitted to the information center, and information was sometimes lost.

Therefore, the present invention aims to provide an automatic reporting device that automatically reports the necessity of battery replacement before the battery runs out, thereby preventing information from being unable to be reported due to the battery running out. It is something.

[Means and operations for solving the problems] In order to solve the above problems, the automatic reporting device according to the present invention has a battery A as a power source, as shown in the basic configuration diagram in FIG. Means B automatically reports scheduled information and emergency information that occur and should be reported. In the illustrated automatic notification device, a battery voltage detection means C detects that the voltage of a battery A has decreased below a predetermined value, and in response to this detection, the notification means transmits information indicating a decrease in battery voltage to 1ffi.
report.

This notification of battery voltage drop can notify the user that the battery will soon run out and will no longer be able to report, so it is possible to notify that the battery needs to be replaced.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an LP gas home security system to which the automatic notification device according to the present invention is applied.

In the figure, reference numeral 1 denotes an information center, which consists of a host computer 1a, a DTMF (dual tone multifrequency) transmitter/receiver 1b, and a subscriber telephone alc, and is connected to the nearest telephone exchange (not shown) via a telephone line 2. has been done. 31 to 37 are terminals incorporating the automatic reporting device according to the present invention, all of which have the same configuration, and are each connected to the nearest telephone exchange (not shown) via a telephone line 4. The above information center 1 is LPG
Each terminal 3. ~
3n is installed at each LPG consumption destination.

Each terminal has a controller 3a as shown in FIG. A telephone line 4 is connected to the terminals of the controller 3a and L2, and a subscriber telephone 3b is connected to the terminals T1 and T2.
A gas leak sensor 3c is installed in the terminals TC2 and TC, and a shutoff valve (not shown) is installed in the terminals TC and TC.
The flow rate sensor switch 3d' of the P gas meter 3 is connected to the terminal T.
A controller 3e that controls the shutoff valve of the LP gas meter 3d is connected to the terminals TB4, TB3, and TB3.
A cylinder exchange switch 3f and an indicator LED 3g built into the switch 3f are connected to s and TCI, respectively.

The gas leak sensor 3c connects to the outlet 1ffi and connects it to ACl.
ooV is supplied independently, and a voltage of 6V is normally supplied, OV is supplied when the power is cut off, and 12V is supplied when a gas leak is detected to the terminals TC and TC of the controller 3a.

The flow rate sensor switch 3d' of the LP gas meter 3d is L.
Every time a constant flow rate of LP gas flows through the P gas meter 3d, it turns on and generates a pulse, which is sent to the controller 3a.
is supplied to terminals TC and TC.

The controller 3e is independently supplied with AClooV through an outlet, and generates a shutoff valve close drive signal that closes the shutoff valve in the LP gas meter 3d in response to the gas shutoff signal from the controller 3a.

Also, when AC 100V power is no longer supplied due to a power outage, the terminal TB of the controller 3a.

supplies a power outage signal to

The controller 3a has a microcomputer (CPU) 31 as shown in FIG. The CPU 31 includes a ROM 31a storing a control program and a RAM 31b storing various data, and operates according to a flowchart described later based on the control program in the ROM 31a and data in the RAM 31b. The CPU 31 also has a parallel data input/output port ■0, input port B
~■8, output boat OI~04, etc.

The above parallel data input/output port ■0 has a DTMF MODEM (modulation/demodulation circuit) via the data bus DB.
32 and a clock and calendar 33 are connected.

The DTMF MODEM 32 has a crystal oscillator 32a, and receives 4-bit parallel data representing numbers 0 to 9 that can be processed by the CPU 31 and D data transmitted through the telephone line 4.
Performs conversion between the TMF signal and the TMF signal. A DTMF signal represents a number from 0 to 9 by a combination of signals of two different frequencies.

The clock and calendar 33 has a crystal oscillator 33a, and counts the clock using a counter to generate date data consisting of the year, month, and day and time data consisting of the hour.
Supply to U31. The contents of the counter of the clock and calendar 33 are rewritten with data supplied from the CPU 31, and the date data and time data generated by the clock and calendar 33 are corrected.

A terminal TB3 is connected to the input port It through a power failure detection 1/F (interface) 34, and a power failure detection signal generated at the time of a power failure is input to the controller 3e (FIG. 3). A terminal TB is connected to the input port Ig via a switch I/F 35, and a cylinder exchange signal generated when the cylinder exchange switch 3f (FIG. 3) is turned on is input. Gas leak detection 1/F3 for L
The gas leak detection signal is inputted in response to the 12V voltage generated when the gas leak sensor 3c (FIG. 3) detects a gas leak. A terminal TC is connected to the input port I4 via a meter reading meter IF57, and a flow rate pulse generated by turning on and off the flow rate sensor switch 3d' of the LP gas meter 3d (FIG. 3) is input manually.

The output of a battery detection circuit 38 is connected to the input port Is, and a 3V lithium battery 3 as a battery is connected via a connector 39a and is replaceable.
When the battery detection circuit 38 detects that the voltage of the battery 9 has decreased below a certain value, a detection signal is input. The output of the 16Hz circuit 39 is connected to the input port Ib, and the 16Hz detection circuit 40 detects that an incoming call is in progress from the outside through the telephone line 4 by detecting a 16Hz ringing signal applied through the capacitor C1. When detected, an incoming call detection signal is input. The output of the location detection circuit 41 is connected to the input port It, and when the location detection circuit 41 detects that the subscriber telephone 3b is in use, an in-use detection signal is input. A data setting switch 42 is connected to the input port Is, and when the data setting switch 42 is turned on, a data setting signal is input.

Further, a clock pulse generator 43 is connected to the clock input capo GK, and clock pulses used for the operation of the CPU 31 are input thereto.

A power supply circuit 44 is connected to the power input port vIlID, and a power supply voltage necessary for the operation of the CPU 31 is supplied.

On the other hand, output port 01 is connected to terminal T via cutoff 1/F45.
B, is connected to LP gas meter 3d (Fig. 3)
When the built-in shutoff valve is closed, a shutoff valve ON signal is output. The output port Ot is connected to the terminal TC via the LED output 1/F46, and outputs an LED ON signal when lighting the LED 3g (FIG. 3). The output port O1 is connected to the control input of the switch circuit 47,
A switch-on signal for turning on the switch circuit 47 is output.

When the switch circuit 47 is turned on, the switching transistor Q is turned on, and the telephone terminal &'i4 is connected to the primary winding L1 of the coupling transformer T via the full-wave rectifier 48 and the switching transistor Q.

The secondary winding L2 of the coupling transformer T acts as a pseudo load for the telephone line 4, and the secondary winding L2 has a capacitor CZ.
, the output of DTMF MODEM32 is outputted via amplifier 49 to DTMF MODEM32 via capacitor C3.
Thirty-two inputs are connected to each. With the above, output port 0. While the switch-on signal is output to
Data can be exchanged between the terminal 4 and the information center 1 via the telephone port vA4 using DTMF signals.

The output port 04 is connected to the control input of the voltage converter 50 and the DTMF
It outputs an on signal when supplying the power supply voltage (2) to the MODEM 32, amplifier 49, etc.

The power supply converter 50 is supplied with the output voltage Vl of the power supply circuit 44 . The supply circuit 44 is connected to the terminal TC2 via the resistor R and the diode D1, and the gas leak sensor 3
The 6V voltage normally output by c is supplied, and
The voltage of the lithium battery 39 is supplied via the diode D2.

In addition, 51 is a manual changeover switch, and when the A contact side is on as shown in the figure, 1 is connected to the telephone line 4 together with the subscriber telephone 3b.
6Hz detection circuit 40, position detection circuit 41 and full wave rectifier 4
8 is connected, and only the subscriber telephone 3b is connected to the telephone line 4 when it is on the b contact side opposite to that shown.

The functions that the CPU 31 performs according to a predetermined program include a gas meter reading function, a gas remaining amount management function, a gas cutoff logic function, a gas leak sensor monitoring function, a battery voltage detection function, a clock and calendar function, a setting function, and a test function. ,
Has a transmission control function.

An outline of each function will be explained below.

[Gas meter reading function]

Pulses output by the LP gas meter 3d at every fixed flow rate are received at the input port I4 via the meter reading meter I/F 37, and the integrated values are stored in the RAM 31b. The integrated value, that is, the meter reading value is, for example, 000000 to 999999.
is expressed by the number of pulses.

The above-mentioned integrated value (meter reading value) is automatically reported to the information center 1. There are two ways to report.

One is the conventional regular reporting, in which integrated values are periodically transmitted to the information center 1 on a date (report cycle) and time (report time) set in the initial settings.

The other one is to transmit the latest integrated value as a meter reading value to the information center 1 at a predetermined reporting time on a set date stipulated by law every month.

[Gas remaining amount management function]

Pulses input from the LP gas meter 3d at constant flow rates are integrated to calculate the remaining amount of LP gas in the cylinder. LP
The information center 1 is notified when the remaining amount of gas reaches two remaining amount warning values set by initial settings. The remaining amount of LP gas is reset to the set cylinder capacity set by the initial setting when the cylinder exchange switch 3f is turned on or when the remaining amount becomes 0.

When the cylinder exchange switch 3f is turned on, a cylinder exchange notification is sent to the information center 1, and at the same time the confirmation LED 3 is turned on.
g (built in switch 3f) lights up.

[Gas cutoff logic function]

Gas consumption is monitored by pulses from the LP gas meter 3d at fixed flow rate intervals, and calculations are performed at each unit time to determine whether there is an abnormality in the flow rate. If it is determined that there is an abnormality, check the LP gas meter 3.
A cutoff signal is output to the cutoff valve in d via the controller 3e, and the information center 1 is notified of this.

In order to determine the above-mentioned abnormality, a maximum total flow rate is set by default, and when the gas flows in excess of the set maximum total flow rate, it is determined that there is an erroneous opening of the gas valve or a disconnection of the rubber tube. To determine the above abnormality, check the LP gas meter 3.
This is performed when five pulses from d are generated in succession at intervals shorter than the pulse interval calculated from the set maximum total flow rate. Also, when the maximum flow rate is exceeded, a gas cutoff signal is output to the cutoff valve via the controller 3e, and the information center 1 is notified of this fact.

[Gas leak sensor monitoring function]

Voltage signal generated by gas leak sensor 3C (0°6.1
2V). Input from gas leak sensor 3C is 9
When the voltage exceeds ±0.5V, check for 45 seconds and
If the voltage becomes less than 9±0.5v before the second elapses, the state returns to monitoring the input from the sensor again. If the state of 9±0.5 V or more continues for 45 seconds or more, it is determined that there is a gas leak, a gas cutoff signal is output via the controller 3e, and the information center 1 is notified of the gas leak.

When the input voltage is less than 2±0.5V, check for 10 seconds, and if the state of less than 2±0.5V continues for 10 seconds or more, it is determined that the gas leak sensor 3C is inoperable (broken wire, unplugged, etc.) and reports the abnormality of the gas leak sensor 3C to the information center l.

However, when a power outage detection signal is input from the controller 3e, an abnormality notification regarding the gas leak sensor 3C is not performed.

[Battery voltage detection function]

When the battery detection circuit 38 detects that the voltage of the built-in lithium battery 39 has decreased, the information center 1 is notified of the decrease in battery voltage. This notification is made about one month before the device becomes inoperable.

[Clock and calendar function]

A clock is used for the transmission time of the regular report, and a clock and a calendar are used for the transmission time and date of the automatic meter reading report. Leap year correction is done automatically.

The time data consists of hours and minutes (24 hours), and the date data consists of year, month, and day. The zero time data and date data are set by initial setting, and are subsequently set and corrected for each report.

[Setting function]

Necessary setting data is set in a predetermined area in RAM 3 lb by initial setting. The setting data can be updated one by one using the setting data transmitted from the information center 1 at the time of reporting. The following is set as the setting data.

1. User ID (user code number) 2. Telephone number for reporting (up to 11 digits) 3. Dial method (dial pulse/button) 4. Reporting time (regular reporting and automatic meter reading reporting time 2 hours) 5. Reporting cycle (regular reporting cycle: days [00-99]) 6
, Reporting port (automatic meter reading notification mill: day [00-28]) 7, Gas meter reading value (meter reading value 6 digits) 8, Maximum total flow!
(3 digits [pulse/time]) 9, Set cylinder capacity (set cylinder capacity 6 digits [number of pulses]) 10, Warning remaining level point 1 (1st warning point [number of pulses]) 11
, Warning remaining amount point 2 (2nd warning point [number of pulses]) 12゜Current time (Current time: hours and minutes) 13.Current date (Current year, month, day: Western calendar) Note that OO is set as the reporting cycle. In such cases, the regular reporting function will not be performed. Furthermore, if OO is set as the reporting point, automatic meter reading reporting will not work.

[Test function]

A functional test can be performed with the information center 1 via the telephone line 4. When the data setting switch 42 is turned on and an abnormal signal is input, all lines except 0 line test information, which sends line test information to the information center 1, are sent indicating the current state.

[Transmission control function]

When transmitting information to the information center 1, the subscriber telephone 3
It checks whether telephone line 4 is in use or is receiving an incoming call, and waits until telephone line 4 is free.

If the telephone line 4 is empty, automatic dialing is performed according to a preset reporting destination telephone number.

If the information center 1 is busy, there is an erroneous connection, there is no response from the information center 1, or the transmission does not end normally, the telephone line 4 is temporarily released and dialed again after 50 seconds, for example. For example, if the information cannot be transmitted even after dialing a total of three times, dialing is performed again after, for example, five minutes.

If the information cannot be transmitted even after dialing three times at regular intervals in this re-dialing, the re-dialing is performed again, for example, after 5 minutes.

Among the functions of the CPU 31 mentioned above, the function of reporting meter reading data to the information center 1 at a fixed date and time every month based on the date data and time data set in the RAM 3 lb, and informing the information center 1 of the battery voltage drop, respectively, are This will be explained in detail with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

The flowchart in Figure 5 is based on the time-stace method.
Two flowcharts are being executed in parallel, and both are started when the power is turned on. In one flowchart A, in the first step SIA after the start, the gas flow rate pulse is changed to the LP gas meter 3 depending on the state of the input port I4.
It is determined whether or not it has occurred in d. When the determination in this step SIA is YES, the following step S2A
Then, the past meter reading value stored in the predetermined area of RAM3 lb is incremented by 1 and stored in place of the value in the predetermined area of RAM3 lb. If the determination is NO, step S2A is skipped and the process proceeds to step S3A.

In step S3A, the notification date data set in a predetermined area of the RAM 3 lb is compared with the current date data read from the clock and calendar 33 to determine whether or not it is a notification date. If the determination is YES, the process advances to step S4A, where it compares the reporting time data set in a predetermined area of the RAM 3 lb with the current time data read from the clock and calendar 33 to determine whether it is the reporting time. Determine whether If the determination in step S3A is NO, the process returns to step SIA.

If the determination in step S4A is YES, the process proceeds to step S5A, where a reporting factor occurrence flag for automatic needle notification is set, and then the process proceeds to step S6A. If the determination is No, the process returns to step SIA.

In step S6A, the state of the input port I is monitored, and the battery detection circuit 38 detects that the voltage of the lithium battery 39 has fallen below a predetermined value, and outputs a detection signal to its output. Determine whether When the determination in step S6A is No, that is, when the voltage of the lithium battery 39 is normal, the process returns to step SIA. When the determination is YES, that is, when a battery voltage drop is detected, the process proceeds to step S7A, where it is determined whether or not a voltage drop notification has already been sent. When the determination in step SEA is No, that is, when the voltage drop notification fH has not yet been performed, the process proceeds to step S8A, where a reporting factor occurrence flag for voltage drop notification is set, and then the process returns to step SIA.

When the determination is YES, that is, when the notification has already been completed, step S8A is skipped and the process returns to step sIA. Flowchart A repeatedly performs the above-mentioned tasks.

On the other hand, in flowchart B, in the first step SIB after power is turned on, it is determined whether the reporting factor occurrence flag is set. The judgment for this step SIB is YES.
This is repeated until S is reached.

If the determination in step SIB is YES, step 32
B, where input ports I6 and I.

Check whether the telephone line is free or not based on the status of the telephone line.

Step 32B is repeated until the determination becomes YES. If the determination in step 32B is YES, the process proceeds to step 33B, where a signal is output to the output boats O1 and 04 to perform a line capture operation, and the human output boat IO
A dial signal is output from the terminal to perform a dialing operation.

Then, proceed to step 34B, where information center 1
The response signal from the information center 1 input to the input/output boat 10 determines whether or not the connection has been made. If the determination in step 34B is No, proceed to step 35B,
Here, it is determined whether 40 seconds have elapsed. This judgment is N
If O, return to step 34B and proceed to step 35B.
Step 55B and SB5 until the determination becomes YES.
is repeated, and if the determination in step 35B becomes YES, the process advances to step S8B.

When the determination in step 34B is YES, the process proceeds to step 36B, where data transmission of the meter reading value or voltage drop and other information from the input/output boat 10 to the information center 1 in a predetermined format is performed. Then step SO
Proceed to step B, where a response signal from the information center 1 is received and the reporting factor occurrence flag is set to 0. Then step 3
The process advances to step 8B, where the output signals of the output ports 03 and 04 are eliminated to restore the line, and then the process returns to step SIB.

Note that if the determination in step 54B is NO, step 35
When returning to step SIB via B and S8B, since the reporting factor occurrence flag is not 0, line acquisition and dialing are performed again.

〔effect〕

As explained above, according to the present invention, it is possible to report information indicating a decrease in battery voltage before the battery runs out, making it possible to replace the battery before it becomes impossible to report, thereby preventing missing notifications. , and extremely effective effects can be obtained in terms of information management, safety management, etc.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is a block diagram showing the basic configuration of an automatic notification device according to the present invention, Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing an LP gas home security system to which the automatic notification device according to the invention is applied, and Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing the basic configuration of an automatic notification device according to the present invention. FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram showing the circuit configuration of the controller in FIG. 3; FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing part of the work executed by the CPU in FIG. 4. . A...Battery, B...Information generation means, C...
Battery voltage drop detection means, D... reporting means. Patent applicant Yazaki Sogyo Co., Ltd. Figure 1

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] In an automatic notification device that operates using a battery as a power source and automatically reports scheduled information and emergency information to be reported generated by an information generating means, the voltage of the battery has decreased to a predetermined value or less. An automatic notification device comprising: a battery voltage drop detection means for detecting a battery voltage drop; and a notification means for reporting information representing a battery voltage drop in response to a detection signal of the battery voltage drop detection means.