KR101329178B1 - A Flow Measuring Apparatus and Method using a Photo Sensor - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a flow rate measuring device and method using an optical sensor that can alternately blink the optical sensor for measuring the flow rate to reduce the power consumption, the flow measuring device using the optical sensor according to the present invention is a fluid movement Is installed inside the pipe to be rotated by the flow of the fluid and the flow portion including a reflector installed on the rotary blades of the rotating part, and outputs an optical signal at a predetermined sampling period and whether the detection of the optical signal reflected from the reflector According to the optical sensor unit for outputting a reflected signal or non-reflective signal, a power supply unit supplying power to the optical sensor unit according to the sampling period, and a flow rate based on the reflected signal or non-reflective signal output from the optical sensor unit. Change the sampling period according to the measured flow rate and calculate the flow rate using the measured flow rate. And a controller.

Description

A Flow Measuring Apparatus and Method Using a Photo Sensor

The present invention relates to a flow meter, and more particularly, to a flow rate measuring device and method using an optical sensor that can alternately blink the optical sensor for measuring the flow rate to reduce power consumption.

Generally, a flowmeter is an instrument which measures the flow volume of a gas or a liquid, and there exist a vane flowmeter, a differential pressure flowmeter, an area type flowmeter, etc. Here, the vane flow meter rotates the light vane by using the flow energy of the fluid and measures the flow rate by the rotational speed. The differential pressure flow meter measures the flow rate using the square root of the pressure difference before and after the throttle installed in the pipeline, and the area flow meter puts () in the tapered pipe which is widened upwards, and flows the fluid from the bottom to the top. The flow rate is measured by balancing the float weight with the buoyancy caused by the differential pressure before and after the float is raised. Among these flowmeters, vane flowmeters are most widely used as water meters.

Conventionally, related arts related to the flow measurement device using an optical sensor include Korean Utility Model Registration No. 119602 (Invention: Flow meter using optical sensor) and Korean Patent Publication No. 2004-0103308 (Name of invention) Number wheel speed counter for remote meter reading system).

The conventional flow rate measuring device using the optical sensor has a disadvantage in that the power consumption of the light emitting device and the light sensing device at all times, so much power consumption.

In addition, in the case of an electronic flowmeter designed to operate only with battery power, there is a problem in that the life of the product is determined by the battery life, although there is no problem in other mechanical parts.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and relates to a flow rate measuring device and method using an optical sensor that can reduce the power consumption by the optical sensor by blinking the power supplied to the optical sensor at a predetermined cycle.

Flow rate measurement apparatus using the optical sensor according to the present invention for achieving the above object is a flow rate that is installed inside the pipe to which the fluid is moved and includes a rotating portion that rotates by the flow of the fluid and a reflector installed on the rotary blades of the rotating portion And an optical sensor unit for outputting an optical signal at a predetermined sampling period and outputting a reflected signal or a non-reflective signal according to whether the optical signal reflected from the reflector is detected, and supplying power to the optical sensor unit according to the sampling period. A control unit for measuring a flow rate based on the reflected signal or the non-reflective signal output from the optical sensor unit, changing the sampling period according to the measured flow rate, and calculating a flow rate using the measured flow rate; Include.

In addition, the flow measurement method using the optical sensor according to the present invention outputs an optical signal to the rotating part by the flow of the fluid installed inside the pipe at a predetermined sampling period and detects whether the optical signal is reflected by the reflector of the rotating part Calculating a flow rate based on whether the optical signal is reflected, checking whether the calculated flow rate is less than the maximum flow rate, and if the calculated flow rate is less than the maximum flow rate, whether the calculated flow rate is at a stop state. Checking, if the calculated flow rate is at a stop state, changing the predetermined sampling period, and if the calculated flow rate is not at a stop state, changing the sampling period according to the calculated flow rate; Maintaining the modified sampling period for time.

As described above, the flow rate measuring apparatus and method using the optical sensor according to the present invention can reduce the power consumption by the optical sensor by blinking the power supplied to the optical sensor at a predetermined cycle, it is possible to extend the life of the flow measuring apparatus. .

1 is a block diagram showing a flow rate measuring apparatus using an optical sensor according to the present invention.
Figure 2 is a flow chart illustrating a sampling cycle control method of the flow rate measuring apparatus according to the present invention.

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

1 is a block diagram showing a flow rate measuring apparatus using an optical sensor according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the flow rate measuring apparatus 100 according to the present invention includes a power supply unit 110, a communication unit 120, a display unit 130, a memory unit 140, a flow rate unit 150, and an optical sensor unit 160. And a controller 170.

The power supply unit 110 serves to supply power required for the operation of the flow rate measuring device 100. The power supply unit 110 supplies power provided from a battery (not shown) to each component of the flow rate measuring device 100.

The communication unit 120 performs wired and / or wireless communication with an external terminal. Here, the external terminal may be a remote meter reading device, and may be a desktop computer, a notebook computer, a server, a personal digital assistant, a smartphone, a data collector, a communication repeater, or the like. .

The display unit 130 displays the flow rate, flow rate, and various data measured by the flow measuring device 1000. The display unit 130 includes a numeric wheel, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), and an LED (Light Emitting Diode) segment. It may be implemented as an indicator.

The memory 140 stores the measured flow rate and various programs for controlling the operation of the flow rate measuring device 100. The memory unit 140 stores a lookup table as shown in [Table 1] including sampling periods for each flow rate. Table 1 is not limited thereto as an example to help understand the description, and may be differently prepared according to the purpose of use of the flow meter and the fluid.

flux
(Rpm) Sampling cycle
(Samples per second) 30 60 25 50 20 40 15 30 10 20 5 10 0 One

The flow rate unit 150 is installed inside the pipe through which the fluid moves, and includes a rotating part 151 rotating by the flow of the fluid and a reflector 152 formed on one side of the rotary wing of the rotating part 151. Here, the rotating part 151 and the reflector 152 may be separately manufactured or integrated by a method of painting a portion of the rotating blade of the rotating part 151 with the reflector 152. In other words, the predetermined area of the rotary blade is set to the reflector 152, and the remaining area is set to the non-reflective body. For example, the reflector 152 is set to 50% or more of the region of one side of the rotary blade, the remaining region is set to non-reflective body. The maximum rotational speed of the rotating unit 151 is set to 30 times per second, which is a typical maximum rotational speed of a commercial flow meter. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and may be changed depending on the flow rate of the medium and the flow rate measurement limit of the flow meter.

The optical sensor unit 160 includes a light emitting unit 161 and a light receiving unit 162 that are operated by power supplied in the sampling period.

The light emitting unit 161 includes a light emitting diode that outputs an optical signal, and blinks at the sampling period. The light emitting unit 161 outputs the optical signal toward the rotating unit 151.

The light receiver 162 detects an optical signal reflected by the reflector 152 of the rotating unit 151. The light receiving unit 162 includes a photodiode for converting an optical signal into an electrical signal.

The light receiving unit 162 outputs a reflection signal or a non-reflective signal according to whether the optical signal output from the light emitting unit 161 is received by the reflector 152 and is received. For example, the light receiving unit 162 outputs a reflection signal '1' when the reflection signal reflected by the reflector 152 is detected, and when the reflection signal reflected by the reflector 152 is not detected, non-reflection Output signal '0'.

The controller 170 controls the power supply unit 110 to supply power to the optical sensor unit 160 in the sampling period to measure the flow rate. In other words, the optical sensor unit 160 generates an optical signal at a sampling period under the control of the controller 170, outputs the optical signal to the flow rate unit 150, and detects whether there is an optical signal reflected from the flow rate unit 150. The detection result is output to the controller 170. The controller 170 measures the flow rate based on the detection result output from the optical sensor unit 160. Here, the flow rate is represented by the number of revolutions per second of the rotating unit 151. The controller 170 calculates the flow rate using the measured flow rate and the cross-sectional area of the pipe.

For example, when the rotating unit 151 of the flow unit 150 rotates twice per second, the controller 170 controls the photosensor unit 160 to perform sampling four times per second. As a result of the sampling, the control unit 170 alternately detects the reflection '1' and the non-reflection '0', so that '1010... Data is received. On the other hand, if the rotational speed is changed by the rotation unit 151 by one rotation per second, the controller 170 is' 1100... Data is received. Therefore, the controller 170 may determine the rotation speed of the rotating unit 151 through the received sensing data.

The controller 170 changes the sampling period according to the flow rate. The sampling period is a period for outputting an optical signal to the flow rate unit 150 and measuring whether the optical signal is reflected. The sampling period is initially set to a predetermined magnification of the maximum rotational speed per second of the rotating unit 151. For example, the controller 170 sets the initial sampling period to twice the maximum rotational speed per second of the rotating unit 151.

The controller 170 adjusts the sampling period and maintains the adjusted sampling period for a predetermined time. The predetermined time is determined according to the reaction rate of the flow rate measuring device 100. In addition, the control unit 170 changes the sampling period to the minimum period when the rotating unit 151 of the flow unit 150 does not rotate. For example, the controller 170 changes the sampling cycle once per second when the rotating unit 151 of the flow unit 150 is stopped.

In addition, the control unit 170 reads the sensing data output from the optical sensor unit 150 to prevent the case where the optical signal reaches the boundary of the reflector 152 of the rotating unit 151 to offset the sampling start point ( offset) can be changed.

2 is a flowchart illustrating a flow measurement method of the flow measurement device according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 2, the control unit 170 sets a sampling period to a maximum period, and performs sampling to measure the degree of rotation of the rotating unit 151 by the fluid flowing through the flow unit 150 (S101). Here, the maximum period is twice the maximum rotational speed per second (maximum flow rate) of the rotating unit 151. For example, when the maximum rotational speed of the rotating unit 151 is 30 times, the maximum sampling period is 60 times per second.

In other words, the control unit 170 blinks the light emitting unit 151 of the optical sensor unit 150 at the sampling period, and the optical signal output from the light emitting unit 151 through the light receiving unit 152 is rotated. It detects whether it is reflected by the reflector 152.

The control unit 170 calculates (measures) the flow rate based on the sensing data output from the light receiving unit 152 (S102). That is, the controller 170 checks the number of revolutions per second of the rotating unit 151 through sampling.

The controller 170 checks whether the measured flow rate is less than the maximum flow rate (S103). For example, the controller 170 checks whether the rotation speed (rotation per second) of the rotation unit 151 is smaller than the maximum rotation speed (eg, rotation 30 times per second).

If the measured flow rate is less than the maximum flow rate, the control unit 170 checks whether the rotating unit 151 is in a stopped state (S104). In other words, the controller 170 checks whether the flow of the fluid flowing through the pipe is stopped when the rotational speed of the rotation unit 151 is less than the maximum rotational speed of the rotation unit 151.

If the rotating unit 151 is in the stopped state (flow rate = 0), the control unit 170 changes and sets the sampling period to the maximum period (S105). If the measured flow rate is 0, the controller 170 initializes a sampling period.

On the other hand, if the rotating unit 151 is not in a stopped state, the controller 170 changes the sampling period according to the measured flow rate with reference to the lookup table stored in the memory unit 140 (S106).

The controller 170 maintains the changed sampling period for a predetermined time (S107). After the predetermined time has elapsed, the controller 180 initializes the sampling period to the maximum period and measures the flow rate again.

If the measured flow rate in step S103 is greater than or equal to the maximum flow rate, the controller 170 sets the sampling period to the maximum period and measures the flow rate again.

In the above-described embodiment, the optical sensor unit 160 is controlled to output an optical signal at a predetermined sampling period, and then output according to whether the optical signal reflected by the reflector 152 of the rotating unit 151 included in the flow unit 150 is detected. For example, the calculation of the rotational speed of the rotating unit 151 based on the reflected signal and the non-reflective signal is described. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the rotational speed of the rotating unit 151 may be measured using an angular velocity.

For example, the controller 170 outputs sensing data output from the light receiver 152 of the optical sensor unit 150 to “10101010... Change the sampling period so as to be received in the form of ', and when the reflected signal and the non-reflective signal are alternately received, the angular velocity is detected using the sampling time and the rotation angle at that time. Calculate the rotation speed.

100: flow measuring device
110:
120:
130:
140:
150: flow rate
160: optical sensor unit
170:

Claims (10)

A flow rate unit installed inside the pipe through which the fluid moves and including a rotating unit rotating by the flow of the fluid and a reflector installed on the rotary wing of the rotating unit;
An optical sensor unit for outputting an optical signal at a predetermined sampling period and outputting a reflected signal or an anti-reflective signal according to whether the optical signal reflected from the reflector is detected;
A power supply unit supplying power to the optical sensor unit according to the sampling period;
And a controller for measuring a flow rate based on the reflected signal or the non-reflective signal output from the optical sensor unit, changing the sampling period according to the measured flow rate, and calculating a flow rate using the measured flow rate.
The control unit initially sets the sampling period to a predetermined magnification of the maximum rotational speed per second of the rotating unit,
The control unit, the flow rate measuring device using an optical sensor, characterized in that for changing the sampling period in accordance with the measured flow rate so that the reflection and non-reflective the same. The method of claim 1, wherein the reflector,
Flow rate measurement apparatus using an optical sensor, characterized in that set to a predetermined region of the rotary blade. The method of claim 1, wherein the optical sensor unit,
A light emitting unit configured of a light emitting diode for outputting an optical signal,
And a light receiving unit configured of a photodiode for converting the optical signal into an electrical signal. The method of claim 3, wherein the light receiving unit,
And a light receiving unit that outputs a reflected signal when the optical signal is detected and outputs a non-reflective signal when the optical signal is not detected. delete The apparatus of claim 1,
The flow rate measuring apparatus using the optical sensor, characterized in that for maintaining a changed sampling period for a predetermined time after changing the sampling period. 7. The apparatus of claim 6,
And a flow rate measuring device using an optical sensor, wherein the sampling period is initialized when the predetermined time elapses. Outputting an optical signal to a rotating part rotating by a flow of a fluid installed inside the pipe at a predetermined sampling period and detecting whether the optical signal is reflected by a reflector of the rotating part;
Calculating a flow rate based on whether the optical signal is reflected and checking whether the calculated flow rate is less than a maximum flow rate;
Checking whether the calculated flow rate is at a stop state if the calculated flow rate is less than a maximum flow rate;
Changing the sampling period when the calculated flow rate is at a stop state and changing the sampling period according to the calculated flow rate when the calculated flow rate is not at a stop state;
Maintaining the changed sampling period for a predetermined time after the sampling period is changed,
In the changing of the sampling period, the sampling period is initially set to a predetermined magnification of the maximum rotational speed per second of the rotating unit,
The changing of the sampling period may include changing the sampling period according to the calculated flow rate such that reflection and non-reflection are alternately detected if the flow rate is not at a stop state. How to measure. The method of claim 8, wherein changing the sampling period comprises:
If the calculated flow rate is stopped, the flow rate measuring method using an optical sensor, characterized in that for changing the sampling period to the maximum period. The method of claim 8, wherein changing the sampling period comprises:
If the calculated flow rate is not at a stop state, the flow rate measuring method using the optical sensor, characterized in that for changing the sampling period according to the flow rate with reference to the lookup table.

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