WO2015167139A1

WO2015167139A1 - Remote reading apparatus and remote reading system using same

Info

Publication number: WO2015167139A1
Application number: PCT/KR2015/003512
Authority: WO
Inventors: 김지효; 김주현; 손병일; 김영훈
Original assignee: 옴니시스템주식회사
Priority date: 2014-04-30
Filing date: 2015-04-08
Publication date: 2015-11-05
Also published as: KR20150125177A; KR101711146B1

Abstract

Proposed are a remote reading apparatus and a system utilizing same, in which the remote reading apparatus can be used without having to replace existing meters, and reliability issues associated with loss of battery power do not arise as the remote reading apparatus does not depend on a separate power source, and the remote reading apparatus can read meters remotely by means of a transportation means such as a vehicle or an airplane. To that end, the present invention may comprise: an antenna; a frame having a transparent region in one region by means of a synthetic resin made of transparent material; a capacitor connected to a rectifier to accumulate driving power; a camera provided in the transparent region and configured with a photographing direction toward the gauge of the meter, and operating by means of the accumulated driving power; an image control unit operating by means of the accumulated driving power to add an apparatus identifier to an image signal of the image photographed by the camera, and transmitting by means of the antenna; and a fastening member fastened on at least one surface adjacent to the meter and the frame.

Description

Remote metering device and remote metering system using same

The present invention relates to a remote meter reading device and a remote meter reading system using the same, and more particularly, a separate power source is not necessarily required, and the direction of wireless communication is minimized and can be mounted and used in a mobile means such as a vehicle or an aircraft. Of course, the present invention relates to a remote reading device and a remote reading system using the same, which can be easily mounted and used without replacing the old meter.

As smart metering becomes an issue, various methods for remotely measuring electricity usage, gas usage, or water and sewage usage have been proposed without inputting a meter to a home or a business.

Smart metering is a smart meter that communicates using a widely distributed network, and then measures the usage of electricity, water and sewage, gas, or oil and sends it to a central server connected to the network, and the central server reads the meter value provided by the smart meter. Record it.

In such network-based smart metering, an expensive smart meter having a network communication function needs to be installed in place of a conventional meter, and thus, time and cost of replacement may be consumed.

As one of the smart metering methods in the field of measuring power consumption, a method of using an existing power grid as a communication network has been proposed. The power line is used as a communication line, and the measured power value is transmitted to the central server. In this case, the noise of the power line is so large that logic for controlling the noise is required, compared to a general network communication equipment, and a transformer located between the power lines. Communication time may be blocked, so the time and cost of building a network may be higher than that of a network-based smart metering method.

On the other hand, in cities and regions where networks are widely used, it is easy to construct network-based smart metering or to build a smart grid using a power grid, whereas in rural or underdeveloped countries, network-based smart metering is not easy. Grid-based deployments can require tremendous resources in the region or country.

Moreover, in less developed countries, building a separate network for smart metering or disseminating smart meters for building a smart grid in each home and business requires enormous financial resources, making it difficult to build at the moment. In the case of underdeveloped countries, the leak of time and manpower is high because the meter should be read by the meter.

On the other hand, US13943475 (application number) describes a data reconstruction in a utility metering system in which a wireless transceiver is mounted on a vehicle and a mobile terminal mounted on the vehicle performs data communication with a smart meter located at a remote location. I have suggested a method.

US13943475 is a method for reconfiguring utility data in which a vehicle terminal makes an initialization request for a smart meter, sets an expiration date of an initialization request, and receives utility data after the smart meter is initialized within a valid period for collecting utility data (measurement data). Is proposing. However, in order to initialize the smart meter in response to the reset request of the vehicle terminal, verify the validity of a predetermined sequence protocol, and transmit the smart meter to the vehicle terminal, a standardized smart meter is required. Significantly, it means that existing meters cannot be used as they are and all existing meters must be replaced.

The object of the present invention is less influence of the directionality of wireless communication, without requiring a separate power supply, can be used mounted on a mobile means such as a vehicle or aircraft, as well as light weight is implemented without replacing the old meter The present invention provides a remote meter reading device and a remote meter reading system using the same.

In order to achieve the above object, the remote meter reading apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention may be configured to include an antenna, a capacitor, a camera and an image controller.

The antenna may be inserted into the frame, formed on the surface of the frame or protruded from the frame, and may receive an externally transmitted RF wave or transmit an RF wave to the outside, and the capacitor may include a driving power source generated by the rectifier. And the camera is disposed in the transparent region formed in the frame to photograph the instrument panel of the meter, and the image controller may be operated by the driving power stored in the capacitor to transmit the image signal and the identifier.

In order to achieve the above object, the remote meter reading system using a remote meter reading apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, may be configured to include an RF unit and the meter information processing unit. The RF unit transmits an RF radio wave to the remote metering device so that the remote metering device receives it and uses it as a driving power. The metering information processing unit receives a device identifier and an image signal transmitted by the remote metering device, and converts the video signal into the device identifier. You can sort and save accordingly.

According to the present invention, it can be utilized without replacing the existing meter, and does not depend on a separate power source, so there is no problem of sustainability and reliability due to battery consumption, and meter reading through a remote means such as a vehicle or aircraft can do.

1 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a remote meter reading device and a remote meter reading system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 and 3 illustrate a reference view of an antenna applied to a remote meter reading apparatus according to an embodiment.

Figure 4 shows a remote meter reading apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

5 and 6 show perspective views of the front and rear of the frame according to another embodiment of the invention.

7 to 9 show reference views for an example in which the remote meter reading apparatus according to the embodiment is attached to the meter.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In this case, the same components in the accompanying drawings are to be noted with the same reference numerals as possible. In addition, detailed descriptions of well-known functions and configurations that may blur the gist of the present invention will be omitted. For the same reason, in the accompanying drawings, some components are exaggerated, omitted or schematically illustrated.

Referring to Figure 1, the remote meter reading apparatus according to the embodiment is attached to the old meter 50 without a communication function is operated.

In the remote meter reading apparatus 100 according to the embodiment, the transparent region 102 is formed in one region, and the camera 101 is disposed in the transparent region 102 to capture the instrument panel 51.

The transparent region 102 is provided to allow the meter reader to view the instrument panel 51 when the camera 101 cannot photograph the instrument panel 51. The transparent region 102 may be formed of a variety of transparent silicone glass, acrylic, and other transparent materials. It may be formed using a synthetic resin. In order to form the transparent region 102, one region of the remote meter reading apparatus 100 according to the embodiment may puncture a position where the transparent region 102 is to be formed.

The frame 120 may be formed of metal, plastic, or a printed circuit board (PCB), and the transparent region 102 may be formed in one region, and the camera 101, the antenna 110, the image controller 130, and the rectifying unit may be formed. 140 and the capacitor 150 may be mounted.

Although not shown in the drawing, an adhesive member such as a double-sided tape or an adhesive tape is formed on the rear surface of the frame 120 so that the frame 120 may be fixed to a spherical meter. Here, the adhesive member may be a clip, a screw or a wire in addition to those mentioned, and may be mechanically fixed to the spherical meter through these adhesive members.

An antenna 110 may be disposed in one region of the frame 120. The antenna 110 may be formed as a partial coil type, a tag type, and a full coil type as shown in FIGS. 2A, 2B, and 2C, respectively. The partial coil type illustrated in FIG. 2A illustrates an example in which a terminal connected to the frame 120 is formed in a coil shape so as not to be broken by an external force. In FIG. 2 (a), the S1 region is implemented in a straight shape, while the S2 region is implemented in a coil shape having elasticity, and when the external force is applied to the S1 region by this shape, the antenna 110 is not bent or broken. Do not

The tag type may be formed by etching the copper plate of the PCB when the frame 120 is a PCB, or by attaching a thin metal plate to the frame 120. The full coil type shown in (c) of FIG. 2 has a spiral shape as a whole, and has a three-dimensional structure in which a certain area is secured in any direction. Such a three-dimensional structure can minimize a decrease in reception rate of RF radio waves provided from the outside in the direction in which the antenna 110 is directed.

This will be described with reference to FIG. 3 together.

Referring to FIG. 3, the full-coil type antenna 110 has a diameter D1 and a height D2, and when looking at (b) of FIG. 3 and looking at (a) of FIG. It can be seen that the minimum area for reception is secured.

Similarly, even when looking at the full coil type antenna 110 in the diagonal direction, it can be seen that the three-dimensional structure that ensures a minimum area for receiving RF radio waves. As such, when the antenna 110 is implemented in three dimensions, the antenna 110 may protrude from the frame 120 to slightly increase the thickness of the frame 120.

The remote meter reading apparatus 100 according to the embodiment receives RF radio waves from a remote sensing system mounted on a vehicle, an aircraft, or other vehicle 10 through the antenna 110, and the rectifier 140 receives the received RF radio waves. Rectified to generate driving power, the generated driving power is charged in the capacitor 150, and when the driving power is charged in the capacitor 150, the camera 101 is operated by the driving power charged in the capacitor 150 The instrument panel 51 can be imaged.

The image signal captured by the camera 101 is provided to the image controller 130, and the image controller 130 may convert the image signal into a wireless signal and wirelessly transmit the image signal to the outside through the antenna 110. In this case, since the size of the image captured by the camera 101 is about the instrument panel of the meter, the data capacity may be low volume data of several kilobytes to several tens of kilobytes.

The remote meter reading apparatus 100 according to the embodiment may be driven after the capacitor 150 accumulates the driving power generated by the rectifier 140. The camera 101 and the image controller 130 may be operated after the driving power is accumulated in the capacitor 150, rather than immediately after the driving power is supplied from the rectifier 140.

This is required for stable operation of the camera 101 and the image controller 130, and may be implemented using a CR time constant. Note that the CR time constant at this time becomes the charging time of the capacitor 150.

The CR time constant implementation can be driven by, for example, placing a capacitor 150 between a positive and a negative input terminal of a drive power supply and having a resistor connected in series to the positive output terminal of the capacitor 150. When the power supply passes through the resistor, it may be provided to the camera 101 and the image controller 130 after the CR time constant formed by the capacitance of the capacitor 150 and the capacitance of the resistor.

Thereafter, the remote meter reading apparatus 100 wirelessly transmits an image signal of the instrument panel 51 of the meter 50 to the remote meter reading system 200 mounted on the vehicle 10, and the remote meter reading system 200 is an antenna. An image signal may be received through 212.

In this case, the remote meter reading apparatus 100 may transmit a device identifier in addition to the video signal. Thereafter, the remote meter reading system 200 can identify the location and location of the remote meter reading device that has not transmitted the video signal in the area on the bed using the device identifier, and can also be aligned and stored in association with the device identifier and the video signal.

In this case, when the remote meter reading system 200 receives the device identifiers of all the remote meter reading devices located in the bedbed area, the remote meter reading system 200 may leave the bedbed area and face the next bedbed area, and if a missing device identifier exists. The video signal may be waited to be transmitted from the missing device identifier.

On the other hand, the remote meter reading system 200 is linked to the device identifier on the electronic map to identify the location of the remote meter reading device that did not transmit the image signal to display on the display device, the vehicle 10 driver Can be moved toward.

In this case, as the vehicle 10 is located at a short distance from the corresponding remote metering device, the signal strength of the RF radio wave provided to the remote metering device from the antenna 211 mounted on the vehicle 10 becomes stronger, and the image signal can be received. Possibilities may increase.

Preferably, the remote meter reading system 200 may be configured to include an RF unit 210, a meter information processing unit 220, a display device 230 database 240 and an image processor 250.

The RF unit 210 transmits an RF radio wave to the remote meter reading apparatus 100 so that the remote meter reading apparatus 100 generates a driving power by rectifying the RF radio wave. The RF unit 210 may include a first antenna 211 for transmitting RF radio waves to be used as a driving power by the remote meter reading apparatus 100 and a second antenna for receiving a device identifier and an image signal transmitted from the remote meter reading apparatus 100. 212 may be provided. When the two

antennas

211 and 212 are for transmission and reception for transmitting and receiving together, the illustrated

antennas

211 and 212 may be integrated into one.

The image processor 250 may perform image processing on the image signal received through the RF unit 210 to extract the metered value in the form of an image as the metered value in the form of a text.

The meter reading information processing unit 220 may receive a video signal and a device identifier transmitted from the remote meter reading apparatus 100, match the received device identifier with the video signal, and store the same in the database 240.

In addition, the meter reading information processing unit 220 may include an electronic map for the meter reading target area. The meter reading information processing unit 220 may map the meter reading remote reading device to the electronic map and check the unread meter reading remote reading terminal by matching the received image signal with the device identifier. The unread remote reading terminal is mapped to the electronic map and displayed on the display device 220 so that the driver or the reader of the vehicle 10 can identify the unread reading terminal.

Subsequently, the driver or the meter reader of the vehicle 10 moves the vehicle 10 in the direction of the unread metered remote metering device displayed on the display device 220 or sends a separate meter reader to the site to check the unread metered remote metering device. You can request

4 shows a remote meter reading apparatus 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

4, in the remote meter reading apparatus 100 according to the embodiment, a transparent region 102 is formed on the upper side, a camera 101 is disposed in the transparent region 102, a capacitor 150, and a rectifier 140. ) And the image controller 130 may be disposed on the frame 120. An adhesive member 170 may be provided in an edge region of the region where the frame 120 and the meter 50 are adjacent. The adhesive member 170 may be a double-sided tape or a urethane material in a gel form. The gel formed by solidifying the elastic urethane resin solution has a strong adhesive force, and an object of 200g or more can be attached to the vertical plane for 5-7 years. For example, the C-S40B, released in 2007 by Japan's PRO, can maintain the attachment state at a magnitude of 7. In addition, the adhesive member 170 may be implemented as a metal hook, or may be connected to a wire to couple the frame 120 to the meter 50. It is not limited.

5 and 6 show perspective views of the front and rear of the frame according to another embodiment of the invention. 4, 5 and 6 together,

Referring to FIG. 5, the frame 120 according to the embodiment first, the frame 120 according to the embodiment has an antenna groove 121 for arranging the full coil type antenna 110 in one region. The metal film 108 may be attached to the back. When the shape of the antenna 110 is a full coil type shown in (c) of FIG. 2, when mounted to the frame 120, the increase in the thickness of the frame 120 is minimized, and the full coil type antenna 110 is In order to be firmly fixed to the frame 120, the antenna groove 121 may be formed. The full coil type antenna 110 may be inserted into the antenna groove 121 and then fixed by paraffin, silicon, and other bonding liquids.

The metal film 108 may be attached to the rear surface of the frame 120 to block the impedance change of the antenna 110 disposed on the frame 120. In general, an old meter for measuring electricity, gas, and oil is often made of a metal case, when the case is made of a metal, when the antenna is disposed adjacent to the frame 120, the antenna ( The impedance of 110 may be affected and the transmission / reception frequency band may change.

Accordingly, the metal film 108 is attached to the rear surface of the frame 120 and isolated with the frame 120 and other metals (for example, an iron case of a meter) so that the frame 120 is attached to the metal case or the frame ( When the 120 is attached to the plastic (or glass) case, the impedance change of the antenna 110 is minimized.

Next, referring to FIG. 6, it can be seen that the metal film 108 is disposed on the rear surface of the frame 120 except for the region to which the adhesive member 170 is attached. The metal film 108 covers the antenna groove 121 so that the antenna groove 121 is not exposed to the rear surface of the frame 120 and is thinner than the adhesive member 170.

7 to 9 show reference views for an example in which the remote meter reading apparatus 100 according to the embodiment is attached to the meter 50. 7 to 9 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 6 together.

First, FIG. 7 illustrates an example in which the remote metering device 100 is attached to a meter 50 that measures electricity. The remote metering device so that the camera 101 faces the instrument panel 51 of the meter 50. (100) is attached.

At this time, one side of the meter 50 can be seen that is connected to the auxiliary antenna 110a through a flexible cable (110b), when the case of the meter 50 is glass or plastic, by the auxiliary antenna (110a) S1 It can be seen that the antennas 110 and 110a may face in all directions, S2 direction and S3 direction. This means that the RF wave transmitted from the vehicle 10 can be received in any direction.

Next, FIG. 8 shows an example in which the remote meter reading device 100 is attached to the electronic meter 60. In FIG. 8, it can be seen that the remote meter reading device 100 is attached to face the camera 101 toward the instrument panel 61 of the electronic meter 60. The electronic meter illustrated in FIG. 8 may also be attached to the auxiliary antenna 110a shown in FIG. 7 in addition to the front side where the instrument panel 61 is formed.

Next, FIG. 9 can be seen that the remote meter reading apparatus 100 according to the embodiment is attached to the instrument panel 71 provided in the gas meter 70. The remote metering apparatus 100 according to the embodiment is disposed so that the camera 101 faces the instrument panel 71, and the camera 101 is disposed in the transparent region 102, so that the remote metering apparatus 100 according to the embodiment is used. When the image signal is not transmitted to the remote meter reading system 200 disposed in the vehicle 10 or is damaged, the meter reading source may observe the measured value displayed on the instrument panel 71 through the transparent area.

On the other hand, the embodiments of the present invention disclosed in the specification and drawings are merely presented specific examples to easily explain the technical contents and help the understanding of the present invention, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that other modifications based on the technical idea of the present invention can be carried out in addition to the embodiments disclosed herein.

The remote metering device of the present invention and the remote metering system using the same are energy producers, companies distributing and managing energy, public institutions, energy meter companies, energy managers and energy consumption and consumption for electricity, gas, oil and other energy. It can contribute to the vitalization of industries that require prediction.

Claims

In the remote meter reading device having a rectifier for accumulating RF radio waves transmitted from the outside to use as a driving power source,

antenna;

A frame for forming a transparent region in one region using a synthetic resin made of a transparent material;

A capacitor connected to the rectifier to accumulate the driving power;

A camera provided in the transparent region, the imaging direction of which is set toward the instrument panel of the meter, and operated by the accumulated driving power source;

An image control unit which is operated by the accumulated driving power source and adds a device identifier to an image signal of an image captured by the camera and transmits it through the antenna; And

And an adhesive member attached to at least one surface of the meter and the frame adjacent to each other.
The method of claim 1,

The antenna,

Telemetering device characterized in that the starting point and the end point has a stepped, the coil-shaped antenna helical cross section on one side.
The method of claim 2,

The antenna,

And the surface direction of the helical cross section is disposed in the frame such that the surface direction of the spiral cross section is shifted by a predetermined angle from the surface direction of the frame.
The method of claim 1,

The antenna,

At the outer periphery of the frame, the remote meter reading device characterized in that the spiral antenna formed using a PCB pattern.
The method of claim 1,

The antenna,

One side is fixed to the frame, one region is formed of an elastic coil, the telemetering device, characterized in that protruding in the form of a date in the frame.
The method of claim 1,

And an auxiliary antenna connected to the image control unit and disposed on another surface different from a surface on which the antenna is located in the meter.
The method of claim 6,

The auxiliary antenna,

A remote metering device, characterized in that connected to the image control unit and FPCB (Flexible PCB).
An RF unit for transmitting an RF radio wave to a camera for photographing an instrument panel of a meter and a remote metering device for transmitting an image signal and an identifier photographed by the camera, and receiving the identifier and the image signal; And

When the remote meter reading device generates and accumulates driving power by using the RF radio wave, the remote meter reading device operates when transmitting the image signal and the device identifier.

Meter reading information processing unit for sorting and storing the video signal according to the identifier; Remote meter reading system using a remote meter reading device comprising a.
The method of claim 8,

The RF sending unit,

Telemetering system using a remote meter reading device, characterized in that mounted on any one of the vehicle, aircraft, and the vehicle.
The method of claim 8,

The RF unit,

A first antenna for transmitting the RF radio wave; And

And a second antenna for receiving the video signal and the identifier.
The method of claim 8,

The meter reading processing unit,

An electronic map indicating the location of the remote meter reading device,

When the remote meter reading device does not transmit the video signal, the unread meter list is generated by displaying the location of the remote reading device not transmitting the video signal on the electronic map to generate an unread list. system.