KR102500491B1 - Remote meter reading system with excellent power efficiency - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a remote meter reading system composed of an ultrasonic flowmeter, a terminal, and a connection unit that connects the ultrasonic flowmeter and the terminal to transmit and receive information by an infrared signal, and can ensure independence between the meter and the terminal of the flowmeter. There is an effect.

Description

Remote meter reading system with excellent power efficiency {REMOTE METER READING SYSTEM WITH EXCELLENT POWER EFFICIENCY}

The present invention relates to a remote meter reading system with excellent power efficiency, and more particularly, to a remote meter reading system used for remote meter reading of meters such as calorimeters and flow meters.

The meter reading of a legal meter such as a water meter or a gas meter is mainly performed by a meter reader directly visiting the meter and directly reading the meter using the naked eye or an information acquisition device (eg, a camera).

In direct meter reading, the point of meter reading is long, 1 to 2 months, and the meter reading time is not the same for each meter. Sometimes, the meter is located in a place where it is difficult for a meter reader to access, or it is not easy for a meter reader who is not an expert on meters to check the operation status of the meter.

Demand for a remote meter reading system is increasing to solve the problem of direct meter reading. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a conventional meter remote meter reading system. The remote meter reading system consists of machine to machine (M2M). Referring to FIG. 1, metering information is transmitted from a meter to a terminal for remote meter reading, and a collector and a repeater collect and relay information from multiple terminals at the spatial and temporal location of the central server. The collected information is finally delivered to the central server.

In order for the remote meter reading system to operate, of course, power is required for terminals, collectors, relays, etc., and considering the very small amount of information collected by the remote meter reading system, it is generally composed of an independent power source such as a battery. Considering that the meter, terminal, collector, or repeater of the remote meter reading system is installed indoors or outdoors, furthermore, in a basement or manhole, such an independent power supply is indispensable.

For example, when a battery is used as an independent power source for a terminal, battery replacement is required for power management, but there are problems such as the fact that there are many terminals as many as the number of meters, so the management time is not constant and there are many places that are difficult to access depending on the installed location. there is. In addition, there is a limit in that the meter and the terminal must be independently configured to power each other in order to ensure the effective lifespan of the meter, which is legally mandated. In addition, there are additional problems in management and operation, such as omission of data meter reading in the remote meter reading system or direct confirmation by a meter reader again due to lack of management. Due to these problems, the introduction of the remote meter reading system has been slow.

Ultimately, in order to commercialize and increase the penetration rate of remote meter reading systems, it is necessary to improve the power efficiency of remote meter reading systems.

One object of the present invention is to provide a remote meter reading system capable of efficiently managing power and a remote meter reading method using the same.

Meanwhile, other unspecified objects of the present invention will be additionally considered within the scope that can be easily inferred from the following detailed description and effects thereof.

In order to achieve the above object, according to an embodiment of the present invention, a remote meter reading system including an ultrasonic flowmeter, a terminal, and a connection unit that connects the ultrasonic flowmeter and the terminal to transmit and receive information using an infrared signal is provided. The ultrasonic flow meter, a measuring unit installed in the pipe to measure the flow rate using ultrasonic waves; A meter indicating a measurement result related to the measured flow rate; a first connector formed in the meter and having a first light receiving unit for receiving an infrared signal and a first light emitting unit for transmitting an infrared signal; and a flowmeter power supply unit supplying power to the ultrasonic flowmeter, wherein the connection unit is installed at a position corresponding to the first connection unit, and corresponds to a second light receiving unit and a first light receiving unit located to correspond to the first light emitting unit. and a second connection unit having a second light emitting unit positioned to do so, and the terminal includes: a first connection module connected to the connection unit; a central control module that processes measurement results indicated by the meter; a storage module for storing the processed measurement result; a display module displaying the processed measurement result or a communication module wirelessly transmitting the processed measurement result; and a power module supplying power to the terminal.

In one example, the flowmeter power supply unit of the ultrasonic flowmeter and the power module of the terminal may be independent power sources.

In one example, the terminal may be characterized by including an operation determination module for determining an operating state and a standby state of the terminal.

In one example, the terminal may be characterized in that it receives measurement results at time intervals by the operation determination module.

In one example, it may be characterized in that the number of transmissions of measurement results processed by the communication module is smaller than the number of times measurement results are received by the first connection module.

In one example, a repeater for receiving a measurement result from the communication module; and a central server receiving measurement results from the repeater.

In one example, the terminal may further include a non-contact switch capable of updating collected information.

The remote meter reading system according to an example of the present invention includes a meter and a terminal, and the meter and terminal are connected using infrared communication as a connection unit to ensure independence of the meter.

In particular, the power efficiency of the terminal is significantly improved by configuring the terminal to be equipped with an operation determination module to maintain a standby state and switch to an operation state only when necessary.

In addition, since it is configured to be able to transmit commands to the meter through the terminal, the status of the meter can be checked or the meter can be remotely controlled.

On the other hand, even if the effects are not explicitly mentioned here, it is added that the effects described in the following specification expected by the technical features of the present invention and their provisional effects are treated as described in the specification of the present invention.

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a conventional meter remote meter reading system.
2 is a schematic perspective view of a meter and a terminal of a remote meter reading system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a schematic perspective view of a terminal of a remote meter reading system according to an embodiment of the present invention;
4 is a schematic configuration diagram of a terminal of a remote meter reading system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
5 illustrates an operation sequence of an ultrasonic flowmeter and a terminal of a remote meter reading system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
6 is a reference diagram for explaining various embodiments using a remote meter reading system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
※ It is revealed that the attached drawings are illustrated as references for understanding the technical idea of the present invention, and thereby the scope of the present invention is not limited.

Hereinafter, with reference to the drawings, look at the configuration of the present invention guided by various embodiments of the present invention and the effects resulting from the configuration. In the description of the present invention, if it is determined that a related known function may unnecessarily obscure the subject matter of the present invention as an obvious matter to those skilled in the art, the detailed description thereof will be omitted.

In this patent document, the meaning of 'remote meter reading' means that the user can know the measurement result of the meter from a location other than the location of the flow meter. This does not necessarily mean that it can be known through wireless, and, for example, if the ultrasonic flowmeter is located in a location that is difficult for the meter reader to check, checking it through a terminal in another location where it can be checked is also included in the meaning of remote meter reading. .

2 is a schematic perspective view of a meter and a terminal of a remote meter reading system according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of a terminal of a remote meter reading system according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view of a terminal of the remote meter reading system according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a schematic configuration diagram of a terminal of a remote meter reading system according to an embodiment of.

First, a remote meter reading system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 4 .

A remote meter reading system according to an embodiment of the present invention is composed of an ultrasonic flowmeter 100, a terminal 200, a repeater 300, and a central server 400.

The ultrasonic flowmeter 100 uses an ultrasonic flowmeter operated by an independent power source by means of an ultrasonic type. The ultrasonic flowmeter is composed of a measuring unit 110 installed in a pipe to measure a flow rate using ultrasonic waves, a meter 120 indicating a measurement result of the measured flow rate, and a flowmeter power supply unit.

The operating principle of the measuring part of the ultrasonic flowmeter is briefly described as follows. The measuring unit is provided with an ultrasonic signal sensor, and at least one pair of sensors are installed at different positions in the flow direction of the fluid. When an ultrasonic signal is oscillated using a flowing fluid as a medium, there is a difference in the time at which the ultrasonic signal reaches the ascending signal and the descending signal according to the flow speed. The ultrasonic flowmeter calculates the flow rate by calculating the difference in arrival time between the upward signal and the downward signal.

Ultrasonic flowmeter uses a battery as a power source and legally guarantees its lifespan without battery replacement, so power resources are extremely limited. That is, it is practically impossible to directly equip the meter 120 with means such as wireless communication for remote meter reading under the condition of extremely limited power resources.

Accordingly, the remote meter reading system according to an embodiment of the present invention uses the terminal 200 to remotely transmit the measurement result measured by the ultrasonic flowmeter 100.

The meter 120 of the ultrasonic flowmeter 100 and the terminal 200 are connected by the connection unit 10. As the connection unit 10, an infrared data association (IrDA) method may be used. The IrDA method transmits information in the form of light and has the advantage of being able to communicate in a low-power and non-contact method at the same time. In the present invention, a separate infrared communication element applied to a portable digital device is applied to save power consumed during communication by increasing the speed of data communication and to increase reliability of communication, but the present invention is not limited thereto. Infrared communication device operates in FIR (Fast IrDA) method, and by using its own encoding/decoding function, relatively high-speed data transmission of up to 115,200 bps is possible. . Therefore, there is an advantage in that stability of communication can be secured even if a little contamination occurs on the contact surface of the IrDA module.

A first connection unit 121 having a first light receiving unit 121a and a first light emitting unit 121b is formed in the meter 120 . The light receiving unit and the light emitting unit may each be implemented by diodes. The second connection part 11 of the connection unit 10 is installed in the first connection part 121 . The second connection unit 11 includes a second light receiving unit 11a located to correspond to the first light emitting unit 121b and a second light emitting unit 11b located to correspond to the first light receiving unit 121a. If the second connection part 11 is brought into contact with the first connection part 121 of the meter 120, the measurement result transmitted from the meter 120 and the accompanying information are transmitted to the second light emitting part 121b through the first light emitting part 121b. The light is transmitted to the light receiving unit 11a, and the command or the like instructed by the terminal 200 is transmitted to the first light receiving unit 121a through the second light emitting unit 11b. On the other hand, the first connection part 121 and the second connection part 11 are only in contact with each other, but are not connected by any wire or terminal. Therefore, independence of power between the ultrasonic flowmeter 100 and the terminal 200 is maintained. However, a signal received or transmitted by the second connection unit 11 is transmitted to and received from the terminal 200 through the line 12 .

A cover 125 may be installed on the meter 120 , and the second connection part 11 may be fixed at a position corresponding to the first connection part 121 by covering the meter cover 125 .

The terminal 200 includes a connection module 210, a central control module 220, a storage module 230, a power module 240, a display module 250, and a communication module 270. In particular, the terminal 200 of the remote meter reading system according to an embodiment of the present invention may include an operation determination module 225. Meanwhile, the terminal 200 may further include a switch 260 configured to be non-contact. Each component of the terminal 200 is installed in the case 201 in a sealed state. Meanwhile, the power module 240 is configured independently of the power supply unit of the flowmeter.

The connection module 210 may include a first connection module 211 connected to the meter 120 of the ultrasonic flowmeter 100 and a second connection module 212 connected to the pressure gauge 500 .

As described above, the first connection module 211 is connected to the meter 120 of the ultrasonic flowmeter 100 through the connection unit 10. The measurement results transmitted from the meter 120 through the first connection module 211 and information accompanying them are processed through the central control module 220 and stored in the storage module 230 . Conversely, when the central control module 220 instructs the meter 120 with a command, the command is transmitted to the meter 120 through the first connection module 211 . The measurement results transmitted by the meter 120 and the accompanying information may include minimum and maximum instantaneous flow rates (or pressures) as well as cumulative metering values. When using the minimum and maximum instantaneous flow rate (or pressure), it is possible to calculate the minimum flow rate (or maximum pressure) at night, whether there is a temporary increase in usage at the site, whether a breakdown or special event has occurred, etc. can figure it out

Meanwhile, when the pressure gauge 500 is installed in the pipe, the second connection module 212 may be connected to the pressure gauge by wires or the like. The pressure in the pipe measured by the pressure gauge 500 is transmitted to the central control module 220 through the second connection module 212 and stored in the storage module 230 .

The terminal 200 of the remote meter reading system according to an embodiment of the present invention includes the operation determination module 225 as described above. The operation determination module 225 determines an operating state and a standby state of the terminal 200 . When the terminal is operating, mA level current is required, but when it is in standby state, μA level current is required. In particular, since the flowmeter measures based on the cumulative metering value, as shown in FIG. 5, when the ultrasonic flowmeter operates, the standby state is maintained, and when the operation determination module 225 determines the operation, the measurement result is received from the meter 120 and stored. can In addition, although FIG. 5 shows that measurement result transmission and wireless communication are performed together, it is also possible to configure the wireless communication to be performed at once by collecting the results after several measurement result transmissions. That is, when the remote meter reading period is determined at a time interval such as 1, 2, 4, 6, 12, or 24 hours, wireless communication does not need to be performed at intervals shorter than the meter reading period. That is, the number of times the measurement result is transmitted through the communication module may be smaller than the number of times the measurement result is received through the connection module. Therefore, the terminal 200 of the circular meter reading system according to an embodiment of the present invention has an operation determination module 225 to maintain a standby state, and then receives measurement results from the meter 120 at a specific time or at regular intervals, and furthermore The central control module 220 transmits the measurement result(s) received from the repeater 300 through wireless communication at intervals longer than the meter reading period, thereby doubly reducing power consumption.

In conclusion, the storage interval at which the central control module 220 stores the measurement result stores the measurement result more frequently than the communication interval of the communication module 270, and stores the measurement result less than the number of flow measurement times of the ultrasonic flowmeter 100. is to do In addition, when the central control module 220 stores the measurement results according to the above-described storage interval, it is also possible to add and store the instantaneous flow rate information of the maximum or minimum value within the storage interval or the instantaneous pressure information of the maximum or minimum value within the storage interval to the measurement result. possible. The instantaneous flow rate information of the maximum or minimum value or the instantaneous pressure information of the maximum or minimum value is updated at each storage interval or according to an arbitrarily set time (eg, 1 hour, 6 hours, 12 hours, 24 hours, etc.) and can be configured to be stored.

Meanwhile, if the current state of the meter 120 is suddenly needed, the central control module 220 may send a command to the meter 120 through the first connection module 211 to receive the measurement result.

As described above, the terminal 200 of the remote meter reading system of the present invention includes the display module 250. Information on the received meter reading result is displayed on the display module 250 . Therefore, the meter reader can directly check the result displayed on the display module 250 of the terminal 200 . In addition, when necessary in the field, it is necessary to update the information collected in the terminal 200. The remote meter reading system of the present invention includes a switch 260 so that a meter reader or operator operates the switch 260 to terminal Information collected in (200) can be updated. However, since the switch 260 consumes little power and prohibits random operation, a non-contact switch such as a hall sensor switch can be used, and a meter reader or operator can operate the hall sensor switch using a magnet. On the other hand, when the switch 260 is operated, the update function of the terminal 200 is repeated at least three times to show the update result, so that the change in the current measurement state of the meter 120, the state, and the stability can be visually confirmed. can give you information. Through this information, there is an advantage in that a meter reader or an operator can check the state of the meter 120 without access to the meter 120 that is spaced apart from a manhole or the like.

The communication module 270 wirelessly transmits the measurement result and accompanying information to the repeater 300 or the central server 400 . The communication module 270 may include components necessary to be suitable for an IoT communication environment. For example, the communication module 270 may be any one selected from the group consisting of LoRA, sigfox, NB-IoT, LTE-m, WIFI, and the like.

Examples of data formats transmitted by the communication module 270 are shown in Table 1 below. The meter reading result received from the meter 120 and information accompanying it may be converted in the central control module 220 in the form shown in Table 1 below.

division form size explanation device ID numeric 4 bytes Unique ID of communication device, used for device classification caliber numeric 1 byte A number from 1 to 10 of the measuring tube size, corresponding to 1 → 50A, 10 → 360A measurement time numeric 6 bytes Date (YY-MM-DD) and time (HH:mm:SS) format, each processed as one byte. Time information generated using the real-time clock driven within the communication device (Periodic time synchronization is performed. ) Accumulated flow rate numeric 4 bytes Accumulated flow rate measured by the meter at the time of communication including decimal point instantaneous flow rate numeric 4 bytes Instantaneous flow rate measured by the meter at the time of communication including decimal point instantaneous flow rate numeric 4 bytes The maximum instantaneous flow rate measured by the meter up to immediately before the communication time including the decimal point minimum instantaneous flow numeric 4 bytes The minimum instantaneous flow rate measured by the meter up to immediately before the communication time including the decimal point temperature numeric 2 bytes The measured temperature at the time of measurement without decimal places in degrees Celsius (℃) enter numeric 4 bytes Measured pressure at the time of measurement without decimal places in MPa error code numeric 4 bytes Information indicating an error or failure occurred in the meter or communication device, and information is generated by turning on/off the designated bit for a total of 32 bits.

The remote meter reading system of the present invention can be implemented in various forms as shown in FIG. 6 .

The first form is composed of a meter and a terminal. That is, the meter and the terminal are connected by the connection unit, and the meter reader checks the meter reading result at the terminal instead of the meter. The second type consists of a meter, a terminal, and a repeater. The measurement results collected in the terminal are collected in the repeater through the communication module and then transmitted to the central server again. The number of transmissions from the repeater to the central server is less than the number of times the measurement result is received by the repeater, so that power efficiency of the repeater can be improved. The second type is used to perform remote meter reading by placing a repeater inside or outside the manhole when a flowmeter is installed in the manhole.

The protection scope of the present invention is not limited to the description and expression of the embodiments explicitly described above. In addition, it is added once again that the scope of protection of the present invention cannot be limited due to obvious changes or substitutions in the technical field to which the present invention belongs.

Claims (10)

In the remote meter reading system composed of an ultrasonic flowmeter, a terminal, and a connection unit that connects the ultrasonic flowmeter and the terminal to transmit and receive information by infrared signals,
The ultrasonic flow meter, a measuring unit installed in the pipe to measure the flow rate using ultrasonic waves; A meter indicating a measurement result related to the measured flow rate; a first connector formed in the meter and having a first light receiving unit for receiving an infrared signal and a first light emitting unit for transmitting an infrared signal; And a flow meter power supply unit for supplying power to the ultrasonic flow meter;
The connection unit may include a second light receiving unit installed in contact with a position corresponding to the first connection unit and located to correspond to the first light emitting unit; And a second connection unit having a second light emitting unit positioned to correspond to the first light receiving unit; includes,
The terminal may include a first connection module connected to the connection unit; a central control module that processes measurement results indicated by the meter; a storage module for storing the processed measurement result; a display module displaying the processed measurement result or a communication module wirelessly transmitting the processed measurement result; And a power module for supplying power to the terminal; includes,
The measurement result and information measured by the meter are transferred to the second light receiver through the first light emitting unit by an infrared signal and then transferred to the terminal through the line of the connection unit, and a command instructed by the terminal is transmitted to the connection unit. After reaching the second light emitting unit through the line of the unit, the infrared signal is transmitted from the second light emitting unit to the first light receiving unit, thereby ensuring independence of power between the ultrasonic flowmeter and the terminal. meter reading system.
According to claim 1,
The remote meter reading system according to claim 1 , wherein the flowmeter power supply unit of the ultrasonic flowmeter and the power module of the terminal are independent power sources.
According to claim 1,
The remote meter reading system of claim 1, wherein the terminal includes an operation determination module for determining an operating state and a standby state of the terminal.
According to claim 3,
The remote meter reading system of claim 1 , wherein the terminal receives measurement results at time intervals by the operation determination module.
According to claim 1,
The remote meter reading system according to claim 1 , wherein the number of transmissions of measurement results processed by the communication module is smaller than the number of times measurement results are received through the first connection module.
According to claim 1,
a repeater receiving measurement results from the communication module; and
The remote meter reading system further comprising a central server receiving measurement results from the repeater.
According to claim 1,
The remote meter reading system, characterized in that the terminal further comprises a non-contact switch capable of updating the collected information.
According to claim 1,
A pressure gauge for measuring the pressure in the pipe is installed in the pipe or the measuring unit,
The remote meter reading system, characterized in that the pressure gauge transmits a measurement result to the central control module by a second connection module of the terminal.
According to claim 1,
The remote meter reading system characterized in that the storage interval at which the central control module stores the measurement results is stored more frequently than the communication interval of the communication module, and stores the measurement results less than the number of times the flow rate of the ultrasonic flowmeter is measured. .
According to claim 9,
Characterized in that when the central control module stores the measurement result according to the storage interval, the instantaneous flow rate information of the maximum or minimum value within the storage interval or the instantaneous pressure information of the maximum or minimum value is added to the measurement result and stored. remote meter reading system.

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