KR101630768B1 - Battery powered flowmeter - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a battery power meter system for operating a battery power source and calculating a flow rate of a conductive fluid passing through a pipeline, the system comprising: a measuring pipe formed in a hollow shape and fitted to the pipe through which a conductive fluid flows; A first ultrasonic vibrator provided at one side of the measuring tube and capable of emitting and receiving ultrasonic waves and a second ultrasonic vibrator provided at a distance from the first ultrasonic vibrator along the flow direction of the conductive fluid to transmit ultrasonic waves between the first ultrasonic vibrator and the first ultrasonic vibrator, An ultrasonic wave measuring unit comprising a second ultrasonic vibrator for emitting and receiving ultrasonic waves; An electrical connection part for electrically connecting the first ultrasonic vibrator and the second ultrasonic vibrator to the outside of the measurement tube; A second ultrasonic transducer connected to the electrical connection part, and a conductive fluid flowing in the measuring tube, and a current flowing through the first ultrasonic transducer, the conductive fluid flowing through the measuring tube, the second ultrasonic transducer, A resistance measuring unit for measuring a resistance value A controller for controlling the ultrasonic measuring unit to measure a flow rate of the conductive fluid flowing through the measuring pipe when the resistance measuring unit measures the resistance; And a battery unit for supplying power to the ultrasonic measurement unit, the resistance measurement unit, and the control unit.

Description

BATTERY POWERED FLOWMETER

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a flow meter for measuring a flow rate in a pipeline, and more particularly, to a battery power flow meter for measuring a flow rate in a pipeline by operating only a battery without an external power source.

Water supply and sewerage for supplying sewage water to each household and industrial site or for discharging sewage water from the sewerage system, as well as the supply of city gas, the transfer of crude oil through pipelines, the installation of repair channels for agricultural water, Chemical and petrochemical circulation, and so on. Today, there are numerous industrial fields that use fluids such as gas and liquid. In these industrial fields, it is very important to properly control the flow rate and flow rate of the fluid.

In an industrial field where fluid flow control is important, the flow rate of the fluid passing through the pipe is generally measured using a flow meter. The flow rate of the fluid can be obtained by multiplying the average velocity V of the fluid passing through the pipe by the cross- have. That is, the flow rate is obtained by the cross-sectional area of the oil pipe × the average flow velocity V of the fluid.

The flowmeter that operates by supplying the general distribution power can be stopped by the user's artificial power-off. That is, when the user manually cuts off the power, there is a fear that the flow measurement function is stopped and the charge rate according to the flow rate is impossible. In addition, the power supply may be interrupted due to an accident such as a lightning stroke or a short circuit, and the flow measurement may become impossible. Accordingly, recently, development of a high performance battery and development of a low power consumption type electronic designing technique have combined, and a flow meter capable of being used only as a battery without an external power source is being developed.

Once the operation of the flowmeter is switched on by the battery, the user can not turn off the operation arbitrarily. This is because, when the user can individually control the flow meter on / off, there is a difference between the flow rate measured by the on / off of the flow meter by the user and the flow rate flowing through the actual oil pipe, Because. That is, the user can arbitrarily control the on / off of the flow meter to adjust the flow rate to prevent the trick to reduce the charge imposed on the flow rate. In other words, to provide a fair tax rule, apply the same battery on point to everyone and prevent them from individually controlling On / Off.

The battery power flow meter is equipped with a consumable battery to supply the necessary power to operate the flowmeter. If the flowmeter starts to operate (On) after the manufacturing is completed, the flowmeter There is a problem that the battery is unnecessarily consumed until before.

On the other hand, if the flow meter is activated when there is no flow through the oil line after the battery power meter is installed in the oil line, the battery may discharge quickly due to useless energy consumption.

Ultimately, extending the battery life of the battery power meter is becoming an important issue under conditions where it is not possible for anyone to turn on / off the battery separately for a fair tax rule.

The inventors of the present invention have endeavored to research this problem for a long time and completed the present invention.

A related art is Korean Patent Registration No. 10-0959880 (Registered on May 18, 2010, a block flow meter integrated system using a vertical pole).

An object of the present invention is to save energy unnecessarily consumed by measuring a flow rate only when the operation start time of the battery power meter is delayed or a certain condition is satisfied in the battery power meter. Specifically, when the flow meter is actually operated after the flow meter is actually installed in the oil pipe, or when the flow rate passing through the oil pipe is not actually present or there is no change in the flow rate measured, the operation of the flow meter is stopped so that the energy Which can solve the problem of unnecessarily consuming the battery.

On the other hand, other unspecified purposes of the present invention will be further considered within the scope of the following detailed description and easily deduced from the effects thereof.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a battery power meter system for operating a battery power source to calculate a flow rate of a conductive fluid passing through a conduit, the conduit having a hollow shape and inserted into the conduit through which a conductive fluid flows Measuring tube; A first ultrasonic vibrator provided at one side of the measuring tube and capable of emitting and receiving ultrasonic waves and a second ultrasonic vibrator provided at a distance from the first ultrasonic vibrator along the flow direction of the conductive fluid to transmit ultrasonic waves between the first ultrasonic vibrator and the first ultrasonic vibrator, An ultrasonic wave measuring unit comprising a second ultrasonic vibrator for emitting and receiving ultrasonic waves; An electrical connection part for electrically connecting the first ultrasonic vibrator and the second ultrasonic vibrator to the outside of the measurement tube; A second ultrasonic transducer connected to the electrical connection portion, and a conductive fluid flowing in the measurement tube, and a current flowing through the first ultrasonic transducer, the conductive fluid flowing through the measuring tube, the second ultrasonic transducer, and the electrical connection portion, A resistance measuring unit for measuring a resistance value A controller for controlling the ultrasonic measuring unit to measure a flow rate of the conductive fluid flowing through the measuring pipe when the resistance measuring unit measures the resistance; And a battery unit for supplying power to the ultrasonic measurement unit, the resistance measurement unit, and the control unit.

In this case, the ultrasonic diagnostic apparatus may further include a first housing that houses the first ultrasonic vibrator and a second housing that houses the second ultrasonic vibrator, and the first housing and the second housing may be insulators.

The battery unit may further include a battery as a power source; A power transmission unit for transmitting power from the battery to the ultrasonic measurement unit and the control unit; And a power cutoff unit disposed between the battery and the power transmission unit to cut off power supplied from the battery to the power transmission unit, wherein the power cutoff unit is detachable from the battery and the power transmission unit.

The power transmission unit may include a case for accommodating the battery therein, and a transparent window may be formed in the case to allow a part of the battery to be observed from the outside.

The ultrasonic wave measuring unit may further include a controller unit configured to measure the flow rate of the conductive fluid at regular intervals and to adjust the ultrasonic wave measuring unit to change a flow rate measurement period according to a change amount of the flow rate measured at regular intervals, Power can be supplied.

The controller may increase the flow measurement period if the change amount of the flow rate measured at a predetermined period is less than a predetermined value.

Battery power The battery energy consumption of the flowmeter can be minimized.

In detail, the battery power meter according to the present invention can adjust the operation start time so that the operation of the flow meter is started after the actual flow meter is installed in the oil pipe of the flow meter. Therefore, It is possible to solve the problems consumed.

Further, when there is no flow rate passing through the oil pipe, or when there is no change in the flow rate measured, the flow meter stops its operation, thereby preventing unnecessary power consumption.

 On the other hand, even if the effects are not explicitly mentioned here, the effect described in the following specification, which is expected by the technical features of the present invention, and its potential effects are treated as described in the specification of the present invention.

1 is a block diagram of a battery powered meter system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a front view of a battery unit of a battery power system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a plan view of a battery unit of a battery power system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a diagram illustrating a battery power meter system according to another embodiment of the present invention.
It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but, on the contrary, is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The present invention is capable of various modifications and various embodiments, and specific embodiments are illustrated in the drawings and described in detail in the detailed description. It is to be understood, however, that the invention is not to be limited to the specific embodiments, but includes all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The terminology used in this application is used only to describe a specific embodiment and is not intended to limit the invention. The singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. In the present application, the terms "comprises" or "having" and the like are used to specify that there is a feature, a number, a step, an operation, an element, a component or a combination thereof described in the specification, But do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, or combinations thereof.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Hereinafter, an embodiment of a battery power meter system according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like or corresponding components, The description will be omitted.

The battery power meter system according to the present invention is installed in a field from a point of time when the battery power meter is installed to a time when the actual flow rate is measured or after it is installed in the field and there is no flow rate passing through the oil pipe, And to prevent unnecessary power consumption by controlling the operation of the flow meter.

The battery power flowmeter system is installed between the pipelines to measure the flow rate of the fluid passing through the pipeline and is operated by the battery power source rather than the external power source. Since it operates by battery power, it must be replaced when all the battery is discharged, and battery discharge monitoring should be continuously performed for continuous measurement. In addition to increasing the capacity of the battery and increasing the efficiency of battery power usage, it is very important to reduce the unnecessary consumption of the battery during the flow measurement to increase the life span of the same capacity and same efficiency battery .

The battery power meter system according to the present invention can reduce unnecessary power consumption to reduce the battery usage time and thereby reduce tension on battery discharge monitoring. That is, the battery power meter system according to the present invention is intended to prolong the life of the battery under the condition that the battery power can not be turned on / off individually. The battery power meter system is installed in a pipeline to measure the flow rate of the fluid, The flow rate measurement is automatically performed only when the flow rate measurement is present.

To this end, the present invention relates to a method for measuring an amount of flow by operating an ultrasonic measuring unit only when a conductive fluid in a conduit passes through it, a method for measuring the flow rate of the ultrasonic measuring unit to prevent an unnecessary operation of the ultrasonic measuring unit, And a method of reducing the operation of the unnecessary ultrasonic measuring unit by extending the measuring period longer when there is no flow rate in the duct or when there is no change in the flow rate to be measured.

1 is a block diagram of a battery powered meter system in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, a battery power meter system according to the present invention includes a measuring tube 100, an ultrasonic measuring unit, an electrical connecting unit 400, a resistance measuring unit 500, a controller, and a battery unit 600. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the ultrasonic wave measuring unit operates only when the fluid passing through the channel exists, that is, when the flow rate measurement is required, and when the fluid passing through the channel is absent, This can be stopped and unnecessary battery consumption can be reduced.

That is, since the operation of the ultrasonic measuring unit is controlled through the presence or absence of the fluid passing through the channel, when the channel is electrically connected to the ultrasonic measuring unit and the channel is filled with the fluid, the current can be energized and the resistance can be measured. It is determined that there is a fluid passing through the ultrasonic measuring unit and the ultrasonic measuring unit is operated.

In practice, a series of processes of transmitting and receiving ultrasound energy in accordance with the actual flow measurement operation principle of the first ultrasonic vibrator 200 and the second ultrasonic vibrator 300, that is, by measuring the propagation time, sound speed, The presence or absence of a fluid, and the degree of temperature of a fluid can be known. However, this is an active measurement method using energy. In this method, two vibrators are arranged as in the present invention, A passive type that determines the presence or absence of fluid depending on the presence or absence of resistance is more advantageous for energy saving.

The measuring pipe 100 is formed in a hollow shape, and is installed in a pipe through which the fluid flows. The ultrasonic wave measuring unit includes a first ultrasonic oscillator 200 and a second ultrasonic oscillator 300. The first ultrasonic oscillator 200 and the second ultrasonic oscillator 300 generate and receive ultrasonic waves, The flow rate is calculated using the time difference of reception. At this time, an electrical connection part 400 for electrically connecting the first ultrasonic vibrator 200 and the second ultrasonic vibrator 300 to the outside of the measurement tube 100 is formed. Here, the first ultrasonic vibrator 200 and the second ultrasonic vibrator 300 include piezoelectric elements. That is, the piezoelectric element of the first ultrasonic vibrator 200 or the second ultrasonic vibrator 300 generates a current by the vibration, and the generated current is energized to measure the resistance of the electrical connection part 400.

In detail, an electrical connection part 400 is formed outside the measuring pipe 100. If a conductive fluid (conductive material) flows through the pipe, the first ultrasonic vibrator 200, the conductive fluid flowing through the measuring pipe 100, The resistance of the second ultrasonic vibrator 300 and the electrical connection portion can be measured through the resistance measurement portion 500 connected to the electrical connection portion 400. [ That is, the resistance is measured in the resistance measuring unit 500, which means that the inside of the conduit is filled with the conductive fluid. In this case, the control unit controls the ultrasonic measuring unit to measure the flow rate of the conductive fluid.

At this time, the battery unit 600 supplies power to the ultrasonic measurement unit, the resistance measurement unit 500, and the control unit. If the resistance is not measured in the resistance measuring unit 500, the battery unit 600 supplies power only to the resistance measuring unit 500 and the control unit, so that the ultrasonic measuring unit does not operate, and the energy thereof can be saved.

At this time, the first ultrasonic vibrator 200 can be accommodated in the first housing 210, and the second ultrasonic vibrator 300 can be accommodated in the second housing 310. In addition, the first housing 210 and the second housing 310 may be formed of an insulator. The first housing 210 and the second housing 310 electrically separate the first ultrasonic vibrator 200 and the second ultrasonic vibrator 300 from the measurement tube 100 formed mainly of metal. Therefore, the first ultrasonic vibrator 200 and the second ultrasonic vibrator 300 are electrically separated from the measuring tube 100 and electrically connected to the electrical connection part 400. The conductive fluid filled in the measurement tube 100 electrically conducts the conductive fluid and the first ultrasonic vibrator 200 and the second ultrasonic vibrator 300 electrically to each other, 500) will measure the resistance. When the resistance is measured by the resistance measuring unit 500, it is determined that the conductive fluid flows inside the measuring tube 100, and the ultrasonic measuring unit operates to measure the flow rate.

At this time, the ultrasonic transducers may be arranged at different heights of the pairs (10, 11, 20, 21, 30, 31) so that the approximate height of the fluid inside the tube of the obesity tube can be calculated based on the position of the ultrasonic transducer . 5, a plurality of pairs of ultrasonic transducers are formed on the low height portions 10 and 11, the middle height portions 20 and 21 and the high height portions 30 and 31 of the channel, a pair of ultrasonic transducers which are energized according to the equation (h) can be determined, so that the approximate water level can be calculated and the flow rate can be measured. At this time, an error of the flow measurement may occur, so that a separate accumulation amount according to the water level may be displayed and transmitted.

2 is a front view showing a battery unit 600 of a battery power system according to an embodiment of the present invention. 3 is a plan view showing a battery unit 600 of a battery power system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 and 3, the battery unit 600 includes a battery 610, a power transfer unit 620, and a power cutoff unit 630, which are power sources. The power transmission unit 620 transmits the power from the battery 610, which is a power source, to the ultrasonic measurement unit and the control unit. At this time, a power cutoff unit 630 is disposed between the battery 610 and the power transfer unit 620 to prevent the power of the battery 610 from being supplied to the power transfer unit 620.

The power cutoff unit 630 may be formed of an insulating material such as a tape or a paper ribbon so as to prevent the anode A and the cathode C of the battery 610 from contacting the power transmitting unit 620. [ The power cut-off part 630 is also exposed to the outside through the hole H formed in the case of the power transmitting part 620 so that the user can pull the exposed area of the power cut- do. That is, after the manufacture of the flowmeter is completed, the power cutoff unit 630 cuts off the power transmission between the power transmission unit 620 and the battery 610 until the user installs the power cutoff unit 630 The supply of the battery 610 is started.

In other words, the power cut-off unit 630 forcibly cuts off the power supply of the battery from the time when the manufacture of the flowmeter is completed until the flowmeter is installed in the field, so that the ultrasonic measuring unit is unnecessarily operated, have. The power cutoff unit 630 is detachable from the battery 610 and the power transfer unit 620 so that the power cutoff unit 630 is separated and removed after the flowmeter is installed in the field, And the operation of the flow meter can be started.

The power transmission unit 620 includes a case for receiving the battery 610 therein. The case 610 may include a portion of the battery 610 accommodated therein. Preferably, the year of manufacture of the battery can be displayed on the battery 610, and a user who uses the battery can directly check the year of manufacture of the battery through the viewing window 610 of the case without opening the case. Accordingly, the user can estimate the service life of the battery by taking into consideration the natural discharge, by checking the year of manufacture of the battery before removing the power cut-off part 630. [

4 is a diagram illustrating a battery power meter system according to another embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 4, although the measurement of the flow rate is once started, the battery power flowmeter system according to the present invention can measure the flow rate even when there is almost no flow passing through the oil pipe, And may further include a controller unit to prevent unnecessary power consumption of the battery power source.

That is, the ultrasonic measuring unit of the battery power meter system according to the present invention is set to measure the flow rate of the conductive fluid at regular intervals, and the flow rate measurement period can be adjusted according to the variation of the flow rate. The controller unit can increase the flow measurement period long if the change value of the flow rate measured at regular intervals is less than the preset value. That is, it is possible to measure the flow rate of the ultrasonic wave passing through the pipeline at a predetermined periodic interval. In this case, if the variation amount of the measured flow rate is within a certain range, the measurement period is increased long. The measurement cycle is maintained or the measurement cycle is shortened and the measurement is continued. For example, the flow rate is measured at intervals of 1 second. If the variation amount of the flow rate measured is within a certain range, the measurement period is increased to 2 seconds, and if the variation amount of the flow rate measured at the interval of 2 seconds is also within a certain range, Can be increased to 4 seconds. Also, even if the measurement cycle is 4 seconds, it can be changed to 8 seconds if the variation amount of the flow rate is within a certain range. However, the measurement period increase can be limited to a maximum of 20 seconds. This is to prevent the problem of loss of measurement due to infinite increase of the measurement period.

On the other hand, if the amount of change in the measured flow rate deviates from a certain range, the measurement cycle continues for 1 second while continuing the measurement. In addition, when the variation of the flow rate measured after the measurement cycle is increased to 2 seconds, 4 seconds, 8 seconds, etc., exceeds a certain range, the measurement period is maintained or shortened, and repeated measurement Thereby making it possible to perform more accurate measurement. Also, in this case, the change amount may store a plurality of continuous measurement values such as the initial measurement value and the measurement values of the next period, calculate the change amount from the stored measurement value, and set a limit of the change amount based on the calculated change amount. At this time, the measurement period should be increased or decreased shortly according to the set change amount limit, so that the integration should be continuously performed even if the measurement period changes.

As described above, when the change amount of the measured flow amount is within a certain range, increasing the flow measurement period widens the interval of the operation of the ultrasonic measurement unit, thereby reducing unnecessary power consumption. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent unnecessary consumption of the battery and to prolong the service life of the battery.

The scope of protection of the present invention is not limited to the description and the expression of the embodiments explicitly described in the foregoing. It is again to be understood that the present invention is not limited by the modifications or substitutions that are obvious to those skilled in the art.

100: measuring tube
200: first ultrasonic vibrator
210: first housing
300: second ultrasonic vibrator
310: second housing
400: Electrical connection
500: resistance measuring unit
600: Battery section
A: anode
C: cathode
H: hole
610: Battery
620:
621: Viewing window
630:

Claims (6)

CLAIMS 1. A battery powered flow meter system for operating on battery power to calculate a flow rate of a conductive fluid passing through a conduit,
A measuring tube formed in a hollow shape and fitted to the pipe through which the conductive fluid flows;
A first ultrasonic vibrator provided at one side of the measuring tube and capable of emitting and receiving ultrasonic waves and a second ultrasonic vibrator provided at a distance from the first ultrasonic vibrator along the flow direction of the conductive fluid to transmit ultrasonic waves between the first ultrasonic vibrator and the first ultrasonic vibrator, An ultrasonic wave measuring unit comprising a second ultrasonic vibrator for emitting and receiving ultrasonic waves;
An electrical connection part for electrically connecting the first ultrasonic vibrator and the second ultrasonic vibrator to the outside of the measurement tube;
A second ultrasonic transducer connected to the electrical connection part, and a conductive fluid flowing in the measuring tube, and a current flowing through the first ultrasonic transducer, the conductive fluid flowing through the measuring tube, the second ultrasonic transducer, A resistance measuring unit for measuring a resistance value
A controller for controlling the ultrasonic measuring unit to measure a flow rate of the conductive fluid flowing through the measuring pipe when the resistance measuring unit measures the resistance; And
And a battery unit for supplying electric power to the ultrasonic wave measuring unit, the resistance measuring unit, and the control unit.
The method according to claim 1,
Further comprising a first housing for accommodating the first ultrasonic vibrator and a second housing for accommodating the second ultrasonic vibrator inside, and the first housing and the second housing are insulators, Flow meter system.
3. The method of claim 2,
The battery unit includes:
A power source battery;
A power transmission unit for transmitting power from the battery to the ultrasonic measurement unit and the control unit; And
And a power cutoff unit disposed between the battery and the power transmission unit to block supply of power from the battery to the power transmission unit,
Wherein the power cutoff portion is separable from the battery and the power transfer portion.
The method of claim 3,
The power transmission unit includes:
And a case for accommodating the battery therein,
Wherein the case is formed with a transparent window so that a part of the battery can be observed from the outside.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the ultrasonic measuring unit is set to measure the flow rate of the conductive fluid at regular intervals,
Further comprising: a controller unit for adjusting the ultrasonic wave measuring unit to change a flow rate measuring cycle according to a change amount of the flow rate measured at a predetermined cycle, wherein the battery unit supplies power to the controller unit.
6. The method of claim 5,
The controller unit,
Wherein the flow rate measurement period is increased when the change amount of the flow rate measured at a constant cycle is less than a predetermined value.

Images