KR100378943B1 - Remote inspection of a meter system - Google Patents

Abstract

According to the present invention, it is possible to calculate the water consumption data based on the pulse unit of the water pipe diameter in the meter reading of the water meter, and not only can store the meter reading result for a certain period, but also read the meter reading result through the wireless control center of the supplier. Provide a remote meter reading system that can be transmitted by, for example.

The central control unit of the terminal that calculates the water usage data from the contact pulse value generated by the water meter can calculate the water usage data for the water meter for the water pipe size of any size based on the input pulse unit for the water pipe diameter. And wirelessly transmit the calculated water usage data to the meter or central control station.

Description

Remote meter reading system {REMOTE INSPECTION OF A METER SYSTEM}

The present invention relates to a remote meter reading system, and in particular, in the meter reading of the water meter, it is possible to calculate the water usage data for the water pipe size of any size, based on the pulse unit of the water pipe diameter, and the calculated water usage data for a certain period of time. The present invention relates to a remote meter reading system that not only stores data but also sends meter reading results to a central control station on a supplier's side via wireless communication. The meter reader visits these homes and offices in person and reads the amount of usage displayed on the water meter installed inside or outside of the meter. After work, the central system It is used for issuing bills to each customer, but the increase in labor costs of meter reading personnel and the inefficiency caused by manual labor input of metering data and meter data Problems such as application costs and unread costs related to the adequacy of the applicable charges caused by input and error have been continuously raised. Therefore, many efforts have been made to solve these problems, and one of them is to read the water meter as a result. Is a method of wirelessly providing to a supplier's system through a terminal connected to a water meter. Because it can only save usage data It may be very difficult to detect a reading error due to the mechanical failure of the instrument. In other words, the current analog water meter may change from 99 to 100 liters, for example, sometimes to 1100 liters, and rereading is required at the request of the user who received the payment notice for such a metering error. It was very difficult to know when a meter reading error occurred.

In addition, the terminal in the conventional remote meter reading system was able to calculate the amount of use only for a water meter using a water pipe diameter of a predetermined size. In other words, the water pipe size varies but only the water meter for a single water pipe size can be calculated.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of this point, and it is possible to store the water usage data for a certain period of time in the terminal attached to the water meter, as well as the water based on the pulse unit for each pipe diameter when calculating the water usage data The purpose of the calculation is to provide a remote meter reading system that enables the calculation of water usage data for any size pipe diameter.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a remote meter reading system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a detailed configuration diagram of the terminal of FIG. 1. FIG.

3 is a detailed block diagram of the meter of FIG.

4A and 4B illustrate display examples of the display unit of FIG. 2.

<Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

10: water meter 20: terminal

30: base station 40: central control station

50: meter 21,51: power supply

22: usage detection unit 23, 53: wireless transceiver

24, 54: display unit 25, 55: central control unit

26: usage storage unit 27, 57: initial value setting unit

56: meter reading storage 59: external device connection

A remote meter reading system according to the present invention for achieving the above object, the usage amount detection unit for detecting the contact pulse value of the reed switch or hall IC attached to the water meter, the water consumption data is calculated from the contact pulse value of the usage detection unit A terminal having a central control unit which is stored in the storage unit and displayed on the display unit, and which transmits the water consumption data wirelessly through a wireless transmission / reception unit in response to a water consumption data transmission request from the outside; In the remote meter reading system having a meter for reading the water consumption data through the wireless communication with the terminal, the central control unit of the terminal when the water consumption data is calculated from the contact pulse value of the water consumption detection unit pre-input water pipes from the meter The water usage data can be calculated based on the pulse unit of each star.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings the present invention will be described in detail.

Figure 1 shows the overall schematic configuration of the remote meter reading system according to the present invention, 10 is a water meter, 20 is a predetermined amount by calculating the water consumption data from the pulse value generated from the water meter 10 It can be stored in the period, it is a terminal that can be transmitted to the central control center 40, which is the supplier side system wirelessly through the base station 30, 40 may be transmitted from the terminal 20 through the base station 30 A central control station that is a supplier side system that receives usage data, processes received data, and sends bills and the like according to the processed data, and 50 may provide initial data to the terminal 20, and the terminal wirelessly. It is a meter reader which reads water supply usage data from (20).

FIG. 2 is a detailed configuration diagram of the terminal 20, which is attached to the water supply unit 21 for supplying power to each part of the system, and to the water meter 10 to check the amount of water used by the water meter 10. FIG. The usage amount detecting unit 22 for detecting the contact pulse value of the reed switch or hall IC, the wireless transmitting / receiving unit 23 for wireless communication with the central control station 40 or the meter 50, and the current water consumption data Water consumption data is calculated from the display unit 24 to be displayed and the contact pulse values of the reed switch or hall IC input to the usage detector 22, and displayed on the display unit 24. And a central control unit 25 for transmitting the water usage data from the central control station 40 or the meter 50 to the central control station 40 or the meter 50 through the wireless transceiver 23. The central agent It is composed of a usage storage unit 26 for storing the water consumption data under the control of the fisherman 25, and an initial value setting unit 27 for setting the initial value, and a program ROM in which an operating program is stored although not shown. Of course.

Here, the power supply unit 21 is a charging battery using solar heat, the central control unit 25 is a water meter for the water pipe size of any size based on the pulse unit for each water pipe diameter of the initial data input from the meter reader 50 Also, the number 10 is programmed to calculate water consumption data, and the central control unit 25 may be configured as a microcomputer.

In addition, the case of the terminal 20 is made of a complete ultrasonic welding to solve the moisture-proof problem.

3 illustrates a detailed configuration diagram of the meter reader 50, a power transmitter 51 for supplying power to each system, and a wireless transceiver for wireless communication with the terminal 20 or the central control center 40. 53, a display unit 54 displaying meter reading data, and water usage data wirelessly transmitted from the terminal 20 are stored in the meter reading storage unit 56 to be described later, and the meter reading is performed at the central control station 40. The central control unit 55 transmits the data to the central control station 40 through the wireless transmission / reception unit 53 and the water consumption wirelessly transmitted from the terminal 20 under the control of the central control unit 55. Consisting of the meter reading storage unit 56, the initial value setting unit 57 and the external device connecting unit 59 for storing the meter reading data, although not shown is provided with a program ROM that stores the operating program. Here, the central controller 55 may be configured as a microcomputer.

In the present invention configured as described above, the initial data should be input when the terminal 20 is installed, and the initial data is input through the initial value setting unit 57 of the meter reader 50 to the terminal 20 by RF communication. It may be input or through the initial value setting unit 27 of the terminal 20.

Initial data includes the unique number of the water meter (faucet number), the pulse unit for each pipe diameter, the current meter value of the water meter (when replacing the water meter), the current year / month / day / hour, and the RF specification.

The pulse unit of the water pipe diameter is to allow the terminal 20 to calculate the water usage data for the water meter for the water pipe size of any size, the water pipe diameter 15 ~ 20m / m → 0.5ℓ / pulse (at one rotation : 1 l), 25 m / m → 5 l / pulse (10 turns per rotation), 40-100 m / m → 100 l / pulse (100 turns per rotation), 150 m / m or more → 1000 l / pulse (1000 turns per rotation) RF specification is frequency: 420 ~ 450Mhz, modulation method: CPCA (Carrier-Present Carrier-Absent), output: 3 ~ 9mW, transmission rate: 4800bps / sec, antenna type: Whip or Wire antenna. The initial value setting unit 27 of the terminal 20 and the initial value setting unit 57 of the meter reader 50 are provided with various keys for inputting the initial data, and the initial value setting unit 27 or When the various initial data is input from the initial value setting unit 57, the central control unit 25 of the terminal 20 is connected to the dual water meter. The re-weighed value (current water usage data) is displayed on the display unit 24 and stored in the usage storage unit 26, and the unique number of the water meter, pulse unit for each pipe diameter, and current year / month / day / The time, RF specification, etc. are held in an auxiliary memory (not shown) in the central control unit 25, and then the terminal 20 performs a metering action. That is, the usage detection unit 22 is attached to the water meter 10. When the contact pulse value of the reed switch or hall IC is detected and input to the central control unit 25, the central control unit 25 calculates the current water usage data by analyzing the contact pulse value of the currently input reed switch or hall IC. Since the central control unit 25 stores the pulse unit for each tap of the water pipe size of the water meter 10 as initial data, the amount of water used from the pulse value input from the used meter reading unit 22. For example, if the pulse unit for each water pipe size stored in the central control unit is 0.5 L / pulse and the pulse value input from the usage meter reading unit 22 is 100 pulses, the central control unit 25 may calculate the data. Since the pulse unit for each water pipe diameter of the water meter 10 is 0.5 L / pulse, 100 pulses are calculated as 50 L and displayed on the display unit 24 and stored in the usage storage unit 26.

On the other hand, the reed switch or hall IC is installed in the vicinity of the permanent magnet installed in the water meter 10 for metering the amount of water used. When calculating the water usage data based on the contact pulse value of the reed switch, the input contact pulse value is amplified and then converted into a digital value to calculate the water usage data.However, the hall IC outputs a digital value. Water usage data can be calculated directly from the output of the Hall IC without signal conversion.

And the display unit 24 is composed of an LCD that can display up to seven digits, four digits are displayed in tone units, five digits are displayed in 100 liter units, six digits are displayed in 10 liter units, seven digits If displayed, it is in liters. For example, if it is displayed as shown in Figure 4a means 11 tons, if it is displayed as shown in Figure 4b means 1100 liters.

In addition, water usage data may be continuously stored in the usage storage unit 26 at predetermined set time (hours, minutes, seconds), and according to a capacity of a memory constituting the usage storage unit 26 (eg, : 60 days of water usage data may be stored.

The water consumption data stored in the usage storage unit 26 is controlled by the central control unit 25 in response to a request from the central office 40 of the supplier side, such as a waterworks office, via the base station 30 through the wireless transceiver 23. Propagated to) and collected in the central control center 40, the central control center 40 can be issued a bill and the like based on this.

In addition, when the central control station 40 wants to know the water usage amount for a specific unique number, it can manage the water usage by wirelessly receiving the water usage data in real time at any time.

Meanwhile, the meter reader 50 may read the terminal 20 at any time or periodically, and in the case of periodic meter reading, a specific unique number is periodically given to the meter reader 50 through a key input unit of the meter reader 50 (not shown). When the water meter 10 is set to be read, it is received by the wireless transceiver 23 of the terminal 20 through the wireless transceiver 53 under the control of the central controller 55, and thus the terminal 20 Under the control of the central control unit 25, the corresponding data is inputted to the wireless transceiver 53 of the meter 50 through the wireless transceiver 23 of the terminal 20, and the corresponding water consumption data to the meter 50. Automatic input is completed, which is displayed on the display unit 54 under the control of the central control unit 55, and is automatically stored in the usage meter reading storage unit 56.

For example, if you set the water usage so far used for the monthly usage notice to be read on a specific day of the month, the water usage data for the unique number is automatically input on the corresponding day. In addition, when the water usage data for each month / day / time stored in the terminal 20 is set to be input, the wireless transmission / reception unit is controlled according to the control of the central controllers 25 and 55. (23), (53) are all stored in the meter reading storage unit 56 of the meter reader 50, the data recording format at this time is to be recorded in the form of a unique number / 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 XXXXm3 This data can be used as a basis for future problems.

For example, if the water meter is changed from 99 liters to 100 liters, if it is not changed to 100 liters and is changed to 1100 liters due to mechanical defects, the stored data can be used to know when and when the error occurred. Will be.

In this case, when the storage capacity of the meter 50 is 64K bytes, one meter reading data amount is about 10 bytes, and the 60 days reading data amount is 600 bytes, 64K bytes / 10 bytes = about 6,500 faucets can be read and stored. have.

In addition, the meter 50 can be used by connecting to the external device connection unit 59, that is, the external device communication port (RS232C) and the PC, and can also be connected to the printer to print. When the initial data for the operation of the wireless meter in the meter 50, the terminal 20 is operated accordingly, the central control unit 25 of the terminal 20 is a water pipe of the initial data input from the meter 50 The terminal 20 can calculate the water usage data for various types of water pipe calibers as it is programmed to calculate the water usage data for the water meter 10 for water pipe calibers of any size based on the pulse unit for each aperture. Of course, the initial data of the terminal 20 may be input through the initial value setting unit 27 of the terminal 20, in this case, a meter reader or other work Should be input directly through the initial value setting unit 27, so that the meter 20 inputs the initial data of the terminal 20 wirelessly through the RF to go where the terminal 20 is directly and input the initial data. In addition, since the water usage data of the terminal 20 is wirelessly input to the meter reader 50 and stored, the meter reader can be read even if the meter reader does not directly visit the location where the terminal 20 is located. Here, since the terminal 20 and the meter reader 50 transmit and receive data through RF communication, when the distance is short (for example, within 1 km), the terminal 20 and the meter reader 50 may communicate directly. If the distance is greater than this, the communication is performed through the base station 30, which is the same between the meter 50 and the central control station 40. Therefore, by placing the meter 50, the meter 50 does not pass through the base station 30. Not Directly wirelessly reads the terminal 20 and remotely reads the measured data by wireless communication without the base station 30 by providing the metered data directly to the central control center 40 wirelessly without passing through the base station 30 from the meter 50. This becomes possible. That is, since the meter reader 50 is movable with the meter reader, the meter 20 can be read at a distance that can be wirelessly communicated with the terminal 20 without the base station 30, and the wireless communication can be performed without the base station 30 with the central control station 40. In addition, the meter 50 will be practically unnecessary if a complete wireless remote meter reading system through the base station 30 is realistically negotiated with an existing communication company in the future. The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. Various modifications and changes may be made by those skilled in the art, which are included in the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined in the appended claims.

As described above, the present invention allows a terminal for wirelessly transmitting the water usage of the water meter in a remote meter reading system to store the water usage data for a predetermined period of time, thereby promptly resolving complaints when filing a complaint with the water consumption problem. You have the ability. In addition, since the terminal in the remote meter reading system calculates the water consumption data based on the pulse unit for each water pipe diameter, it can be installed in a water meter using a water pipe size of any size.

Claims (6)

Usage detection unit for detecting the contact pulse value of the reed switch or hall IC attached to the water meter, water consumption data is calculated from the contact pulse value of the usage detection unit and stored in the usage storage unit and displayed on the display unit, A terminal having a central control unit for wirelessly transmitting water consumption data via a wireless transmission / reception unit according to the usage data transmission request; In the remote meter reading system having a meter for reading the water consumption data through wireless communication with the terminal, And a central control unit of the terminal is configured to calculate the water consumption data based on a pulse unit for each tap of the water pipe diameter input from the meter when the water consumption data is calculated from the contact pulse value of the usage detection unit. delete delete delete delete delete