KR20010085863A - Automatically Remote Meter Read System for waterwork - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: An unmanned automatic remote system for meter reading a water supply gauge is provided which enables remote meter reading by image photographing a water supply gauge installed at the indoor of each house and automatically transmitting the image information to a remote site so that the received image information at the remote site is read. CONSTITUTION: The unmanned automatic remote system comprises a remote meter read installed at each user's house consisting of a camera (110) for photographing a water supply gauge in the side of the user and automatic data transmitter (ADT) (100) storing the photographed images of the gauge as an image file by driving the camera so as to photograph gauge information and transmitting the image file to a water supply management headquarter through a PSTN; and a system of the water supply management headquarter consisting of a modem trunk (200) receiving the gauge photographed image files transmitted from the ADT (100) of each users, a main server (300) storing the image files for the gauges of each users received by the modem trunk (200) per each users and controlling issuing of rates for users' consumption, and a plurality of PC (400) for reading and processing images calculating the consumption rates after reading consumption per each users by converting the ASCII files into database files operated in its own system after converting image files per each users which are stored in the server (300) with being connected to the main server (300) and LAN into ASCII files, thereby having the main server (300) control imposition of users' rates for consumption.

Description

Automatic Water Meter Unattended Automatic Meter Reading System {Automatically Remote Meter Read System for waterwork}

The present invention relates to water meter reading, in particular, by tapping the water meter installed in the indoor of each home as an image, and automatically transmits the image information to a remote place to receive and read the image information from a remote place, so that remote meter reading is possible. It is about a water meter unmanned automatic remote meter reading system.

In general, water meter readers had to visit each home when the residents of the home were at home to read the water meter. Accordingly, the visitor can be visited only when they are at home, so there are many difficulties in meter reading. Therefore, a method of arbitrarily setting usage fees is charged and the amount of billing is settled at the time of meter reading.

In the conventional billing method, when there is a month when residents of each household move or use more water than the average due to special events, the users of the water supply have to pay an unfair water rate. For example, there is a problem such that a crime pretending to be a meter reader occurs as the water meter is read.

Accordingly, according to 1999 Utility Model Registration No. 0166476, "Water Meter Meter Outdoor Metering Device", which was filed and filed by the applicant, the CCD reader is installed to read the meter reading of the water meter from a portable monitor from the outside. A water meter outdoor meter reading device is available for meter reading using a monitor.

As described in FIG. 1, the above-described "water supply meter outdoor metering device" has a CCD camera 30 installed on top of a meter display unit inside a water supply meter 10 box installed indoors when a predetermined power is applied to the CCD camera 30. A meter reading device (configuration of FIG. 1) is installed to read the water supply usage information displayed on the meter 10 by 30, and the meter reader carries the power supply and the portable monitor as the reading device, and connects to the outdoor connector. The images taken by the power supply and the camera are displayed on a monitor, and the monitor is read and recorded.

However, when equipped with such an outdoor meter reading device there is an advantage that can be randomly read even if the occupant is not at home when visiting the customer, which is a disadvantage that the meter reader must visit each customer one by one. In addition, since the meter reader had to look at the monitor and record the meter reading, there was a problem due to a misunderstanding and again to collect and process each record in the general management office.

Therefore, the present invention further complements and improves the technology of the 1999 Utility Model Registration No. 0166476 water supply meter outdoor metering device, which was previously filed by the present applicant, and transmits data of a camera installed in the meter through a communication network, and the headquarter system. Receive each customer's data and allow it to be read for remote reading.

According to the present invention, a photographing means for photographing a water supply meter, and photographing the meter by operating the photographing means at regular intervals, and taking an image photographed by an Automatically Data Transmitter (ADT) in the name of a computer After converting into file data and connecting to the system of the headquarters using the dial-up modem device in the system and transferring the file, the computer system of the headquarters automatically receives and stores this data, and the value is OCR. It is characterized in that the automatic water meter unmanned automatic remote meter reading system to calculate the water consumption and various statistics of the customer by filling the bills and fill out the billing paper.

1 is an exemplary view of a conventional water meter outdoor meter reading device,

2 is a block diagram of an automatic water meter unattended automatic water meter reading system according to the present invention,

3 is a configuration diagram of an automatic data transmission device (ADT) according to the present invention;

4 is a flow chart of the meter reading control of the automatic data transmission apparatus according to the present invention;

5 is a read control flowchart of a headquarters system according to the present invention;

Description of the main parts of the drawing

10: meter 30: CCD camera

100: automatic data transmission device (ADT)

110: camera 120: power control device

121 connector 122 relay

123: AC / DC adapter 124: power supply

130: control unit 131: CPU

132: ROM 133: Real Time Clock Generator (RTC)

134: backup battery 140: image processing unit

141: A / D converter 142: MPEG signal processing unit

143: RAM 150: communication modem

160: telephone line 200: modem trunk

300: main server 400: PC for reading processing

Automatic water meter unattended automatic meter reading system of the present invention, the detection means for detecting the measured value of the water meter with an electrical signal; Control and signal processing means for operating the detection means every predetermined date to convert the metered value of the meter into a file by the ID number of the customer; As a consumer communication means for communicating with the water management headquarters system and transmitting the stored weighing value file by the control and the control of the signal processing means, a remote metering device is installed for each customer, and communication is made in response to the connection request of each remote metering device. Headquarters communication means for receiving and storing the measurement value file of each customer after connecting to; A main server system which converts the measurement value file of each customer received by the headquarters communication means into readable data, manages it as a database, and comprehensively manages the headquarters system; The headquarters includes a reading system that receives the file information of each customer from the main server system, reads it by a reading program, calculates the amount of usage for each customer, and manages it in a database to calculate the price of each customer and control the printing to paper. Build an unmanned automatic remote meter reading system. Here, the detecting means may comprise a water meter as an electronic meter, and may be provided with means for reading the metered value of an existing mechanical meter as an electrical signal. According to the present invention, an image is taken using a camera. Yes.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. 2 is a block diagram of a water meter unmanned remote meter reading system according to the present invention.

In the embodiment of the present invention, as the remote meter reading device installed for each customer, a camera 110 for photographing a water meter as the detection means is installed, and the camera 110 as a control and signal processing means and a customer communication means. The automatic data transmitter (ADT: Automatically Data Transmitter) (100) to record the information of the meter and store the photographed image as an image file and transmit it to the waterworks management headquarters via a public telephone network (PSTN). Install it. Here, the camera may utilize a CCD camera, a digital camera, or a DSP camera. As a communication method between the ADT and the headquarters system, a general public telephone network (PSTN), a power line modem, a wireless modem, or a wireless telephone network such as a mobile phone may be used. In the embodiment of the present invention, a communication modem using a general telephone line will be described as an embodiment.

As a system of the water management headquarters, a modem trunk 200 for receiving image files photographing a meter transmitted from the automatic data transmission apparatus 100 of each consumer is installed as a head communication unit, and a main server is installed. The system installs a main server 300 for storing and managing image files for each customer meter received by the modem trunk 200 for each customer, and controlling usage fee issuance of the customer. 300 is connected to the LAN and the customer-specific image files stored in the main server 300 is converted into an ASCII file and then converted into a database file operating in its own system to read the usage amount by customer after calculating the usage fee to the main The server 300 is composed of a plurality of PC for image reading processing 400 to control the usage fee for each customer.

That is, the main server 300 of the headquarters system constantly monitors whether there is a connection request from the automatic data transmission apparatus (ADT) 100 installed for each customer, and when there is a connection request, permits the connection and operates a simple protocol. After that, it receives the data from the automatic data transmission apparatus 100 and automatically stores the data. At this time, the automatically saved image file is stored in ASCII file by the person in charge by operating the OCR program in another computer connected to the LAN, that is, the PC 400 for reading processing, and converts the ASCII file into its own operating database file. It can be used to calculate usage and even print billing papers.

3 is a block diagram of an automatic data transmission device (ADT) according to the present invention. That is, as a configuration diagram of the remote meter reading device installed in the customer, which is composed of an automatic data transmission device and a photographing means, the photographing means is provided with a camera 110 for photographing the meter display of the meter, automatic data transmission device (ADT 100 is a power control device 120 for supplying power to the camera 110 and controlling the operation, and converts the image information captured by the camera 110 into an image file that can be processed by a computer. The image processing unit 140 and the power control device 120 and the image processing unit 140 are controlled on a predetermined date every month to store the captured image as an image file having a customer ID as a file name, and the image file. The control unit 130 for controlling transmission through the communication network, and by the control of the control unit 130 to request connection to the modem trunk 200 of the water supply headquarters system through the telephone line 160 of the public telephone network After the new connection is configured as a communication modem (Modem Dial Up) (150) for transmitting the image file.

The power control device 120 is connected to the camera 110, the connector 121 for receiving the power supply and video signal, and the relay 122 for selectively supplying power through the connector 121 And an AC / DC adapter 123 for supplying power required by the camera 110 through the relay 122, and a power source for supplying power to the AC / DC adapter 123 by receiving external power. Device (Power Supply) 124. Here, the power supply unit 124 is configured to supply the power required by the controller 130, the image processing unit 140, the communication modem 150, etc., and to supply only the standby power for the time check to the controller 130 as usual. do.

The image processor 140 may include an A / D converter 141 for receiving a video signal of the camera 110 input through the connector 121 and converting the video signal into digital data, and the A / D converter 141 of the A / D converter 141. MPEG signal processing unit 142 for converting the output data into a computer-processable MPEG signal, and storage means RAM for storing the MPEG signal as an image file whose customer ID is a file name under control of the control unit 130 ( RAM) (143).

The control unit 130 controls the power control device 120, the image processing unit 140 and the communication modem 150 to operate the camera on a predetermined date every month to transfer the captured image file to the water management headquarters 131, a ROM 132 in which the main program of the CPU 131 is stored, a real time clock generator (RTC) 133 and a backup battery 134 for checking time. The backup battery 134 is charged by the power of the power supply 124 and keeps the operating power of the real time clock generator 133 stable.

According to the present invention configured as described above, a CCD camera or a digital camera can be used as the camera 110. The power supply is supplied by the operation of the relay 122, and the usage indicator of the meter is taken to the image processing unit 140 as a video signal. It is configured to input, it is configured to operate by being supplied with power to the camera 110 by installing a high-brightness light emitting diode for the illumination of the camera 110 as a lighting means. Accordingly, it operates for 30 seconds once a month at the set date and time to photograph the display of the meter.

The communication modem 150 dials the number (main communication trunk and hotline two numbers) set at the date and time set by the remote meter reading program stored in the ROM of the controller 130, and transmits one frame at a time. Redo the transmission. If the speed of the modem is 33600bps-56000bps, there is no problem in image file transmission, and the AC / DC adapter 123 is designed to output 220V input-DC 12V, 500mA.

4 is a flowchart of a meter reading control of the automatic data transmission apparatus according to the present invention.

The automatic data transmission device (ADT) 100 and the headquarters system are set to communicate at midnight time (24 to 07:00), and the control unit 130 of the automatic data transmission device (ADT) is the meter reading camera 110. Off, operate only the time check by the real-time clock generator (RTC) 133 (30% operation), the main server 300 is in the standby state, and the read processing PCs 400 are in the off state. . In this standby state, the controller 130 operates the entire automatic data transmission apparatus 100 and operates the relay 122 to supply operating power to the camera 110. In this case, the meter reading camera 110 is turned on, the automatic data transmission apparatus 100 operates 100%, and the main server 300 of the headquarters is in a reception standby state.

The camera 110 is operated to turn off the camera 110 after receiving image information from the camera. The image processing unit 140 stably receives the image information of the camera 110 and stores it as an image file by A / D conversion and MPEG signal processing by operating for about 1 minute 30 seconds. The image file is stored as an image file using the customer ID as a file name, and when the storage is completed in the RAM 143, the camera 110 is turned off and connected to the headquarters server system through the communication modem 150. Try.

The telephone number is dialed to the modem trunk 200 of the first server system, and it is determined whether a communication connection is made. If the communication connection is not established, three retries are performed. If the communication connection is not established even after three retries, a hot line connection is made. The hot line is built as a PC for which management personnel are waiting or as a separate communication control server.

When the connection with the headquarters system is established, the headquarters main server 300 system receives the image file stored in the RAM 143 by operating a predetermined protocol. The main server 300 system checks whether the image file is normally received and requests a retransmission when an error occurs, and the automatic data transmission apparatus 100 retransmits the image file by the retransmission request of the main server 300 system. do. When the transmission and reception of the image file is normally completed, the meter reading ends after the communication disconnection. After that, the automatic data transmission device 100 performs a time check according to the meter reading camera off and 30% operation of the automatic data transmission device, and the main server 300 of the headquarters stores the received data and the like until a predetermined date next month. I will wait.

5 is a read control flowchart of the headquarters system according to the present invention.

The meter camera off, the time check state of the automatic data transmission apparatus 100, the headquarters main server 300 is a work standby, the headquarters read processing PC 400 is turned on and in a work standby state. This is done during the day's working hours, and the automatic reading of the metered content and the management of the charges.

Each of the read processing PCs 400 runs an OCR program, receives an image file for each customer from the main server 300, and starts the business processing of the read processing PCs 400 of the headquarters. The image file saved last night is loaded and automatically read by OCR program. If the normal reading does not work, the person in charge reads and corrects it manually. The file read by the OCR program is converted into an ASCII file and stored, and a database generation program is started using the ASCII file to make a database of usage information for each customer. Then, various data processing programs are operated to manage data management and total meter reading data for each customer, and a fee calculation program is operated to calculate the fee for each customer and then print it on the charged paper.

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, since the metering work of the water supply meter is automatically processed 100%, there is no record error of the meter reading, and there is no metering error, a recognized reading meter, a negative meter reading, etc. As it is completely eliminated, it can dramatically increase the flow rate. In addition, since there is no need for the personnel of the meter reader, the costs related to the meter reading are drastically reduced, and the revenue is expected to increase due to the increase in the flow rate and the accurate meter reading. In addition, it is expected to resolve the dissatisfaction or distrust of the residents regarding crime prevention, waterworks administration and local government administration disguised as meter readers.

Claims (4)

Detecting means for detecting a measured value of the water supply meter with an electrical signal; Control and signal processing means for operating the detection means every predetermined date to convert the metered value of the meter into a file by the ID number of the customer; A remote meter reading device for each customer as a customer communication means for communicating with the water management headquarters system and transmitting the stored measured value file by controlling the signal and controlling the signal; Headquarters communication means for receiving and storing a measurement value file of each customer after communication connection in response to a connection request of each remote metering device; A main server system for controlling the headquarters communication means to comprehensively manage the headquarters system for storing and managing the measured value file transmitted from the remote meter reading device of each customer; Water supply management headquarters, which reads the file information of each customer from the main server system, reads them by a reading program, calculates the amount of usage for each customer, and manages it with a database to calculate the price of each customer and print them on paper. Water supply meter unattended automatic remote metering system, characterized in that the system is installed to perform an unattended remote meter reading. According to claim 1, The remote meter reading device is provided for each customer, On the customer side, the camera 110 for photographing the water meter and the camera 110 are driven on a fixed date every month to take meter information, and store the captured image as an image file and manage the water supply through the public telephone network (PSTN). Install an automatic data transmission device (ADT) 100 to send to the headquarters, The system of the water management headquarters, Modem trunk 200 which receives image files photographing the meter transmitted from the automatic data transmission device 100 of each customer, and image files for each consumer meter received by the modem trunk 200. The main server 300 stores and manages each customer and controls the usage fee of the customer. The main server 300 is connected to the main server 300 and connected to a local area network (LAN) to convert ASCII image files stored in the server 300 into ASCII files. It is composed of a plurality of image reading processing PC 400 for converting into a database file operated in the system to read the usage by each customer and calculate the usage fee so that the main server 300 controls the usage fee for each customer. Water supply meter unmanned automatic remote meter reading system, characterized in that. The method of claim 2, wherein the automatic data transmission device (ADT) 100, A power control device 120 for controlling the operation by supplying power to the camera 110 and supplying operation power of each part; An image processor 140 for converting the image information photographed by the camera 110 into an image file which can be processed by a computer by A / D conversion and MPEG signal processing, and storing the image information; The control unit controls the power control device 120 and the image processing unit 140 to store the captured image as an image file having a customer ID as a file name, and transmits the image file through a communication network. 130, A communication modem 150 for requesting connection to the modem trunk 200 of the water supply headquarters system through a telephone line 160 of a public telephone network under the control of the control unit 130 and transmitting the image file after communication connection. Water meter unmanned automatic remote meter reading system characterized in that consisting of. The method of claim 2, wherein the automatic data transmission device (ADT) 100, In order to communicate with the headquarters system, a phone number for communicating with the main server 300 of the headquarters system is set in advance, and if the connection is not made after three retries until the connection is established by dialing the phone number. Water supply meter unattended automatic remote metering system, characterized in that the data transmission program is installed to start and connect to the hotline connection, which is a separate management server stored in advance or a phone number of a PC with an administrator.