WO2021061074A1

WO2021061074A1 - A detection apparatus for filling rate of lpg cylinder

Info

Publication number: WO2021061074A1
Application number: PCT/TR2020/050868
Authority: WO
Inventors: Hasan Turgay TEZEL
Original assignee: Evas Ev Aletleri̇ Sanayi̇ Anoni̇m Şi̇rketi̇
Priority date: 2019-09-26
Filing date: 2020-09-21
Publication date: 2021-04-01
Also published as: CN217953614U; BR212022005506U2; TR2022004019U5; PL130726U1; PT2021061074Y; CL2022000687U1; TR201914701A2

Abstract

The present invention relates to a closed-form LPG cylinder comprising a cylindrical main body of a metallic material, a substantially hemispherical upper body of a metallic material covering the cylindrical main body from the upper side thereof in an integral form, and a substantially hemispherical lower body of a metallic material. The LPG cylinder comprises a handle of a non-metallic material extending upwardly from an upper side of the cylinder.

Description

A DETECTION APPARATUS FOR FILLING RATE OF A LPG CYLINDER

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to an apparatus that detects the LPG level of a cylinder in which Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) is stored, and hence the filling rate of the cylinder.

BACGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The LPG cylinders are usually made of steel material while they may also be produced from composite materials in transparent form. Design calculations, production methods, laboratory tests are made according to the requirements of the country and/or regional standards. Propane, butane or mixtures of these two gases in various proportions are filled into the cylinder, while this this may vary regionally and seasonally. In case that the cylinder is full, 80% of the pressurized LPG gas in the cylinder is in the form of a liquid and 20% is in the form of a gas, and this gas is consumed in gas form. As the gas form of LPG is consumed, the liquid form vaporizes in the cylinder and refreshes the gas lost.

The components of the cylinder other than its body in contact with the gas are usually produced from steel. Dirt, rust and permanent deformations may be formed in these components in the course of use. In particular, improvement of the attachments that have been permanently deformed is troublesome and sometimes impossible. In such cases, the deformed attachments are cut and replaced by new ones using welding in repair plants. In case of plastic attachments, this is much more feasible. It can be easily removed, and a new one can be mounted.

One drawback coming with the known LPG cylinders is that when the cylinder is made of a non-transparent material, it cannot be identified externally at which level (i.e. how much) there is LPG available at a given time depending on its use. This brings about the problem of not being able to predict exactly when the LPG in the cylinder will run out. Because there is a comfort expectation for the user such as being able to access such an energy source at any time when LPG cylinder is needed.

In cases where the LPG cylinder is transparent, albeit the LPG level in liquid form in the cylinder may be externally identified with a naked eye, it would not be matter whether the cylinder is made of a transparent material in terms of identifying the LPG level in cases where the cylinder is placed is not within the user's field of vision, or the user may not pay much attention.

Several proposals have been made for the external identification of the gas level in an LPG cylinder. According to an embodiment, the weight of the cylinder is taken for a basis and various control signals are generated based on the data received from a load cell sensor, so that the user and the cylinder supplier for automatic ordering can be warned. An ultrasonic sensor may also be used as a separate detection tool. In this embodiment, the ultrasonic sensor is positioned on the bottom of the cylinder (made of a steel material) by means of a magnet, i.e., it is removably formed. However, the application of the ultrasonic sensor to the cylinder is cumbersome: For example, the filled (new) cylinder should be tilted during the replacement of the cylinder. This may be challenging for the user or a service personnel, for example, in a cylinder of 12 kg (it is about 23-24 kg when the cylinder is full). In addition, the position of the magnetic ultrasonic sensor at the bottom of the cylinder is critical for an accurate measurement. In practice, it is appropriate to choose a location that coincides with the middle portion of the bottom, but this would not be achieved always.

On the other hand, the ultrasonic sensor attached to the cylinder by means of a magnet during the replacement of the cylinder may be left under the cylinder. In such a case, both the customer would lose his own ultrasonic sensor, and the safety of the facility may be compromised, since a device with energy thereon is inserted into the LPG filling facility without being noticed.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to provide an effective detection of the gas level in a LPG cylinder.

In accordance with the object thereof, the present invention relates to an apparatus for detecting the level of liquid form of LPG in a closed LPG cylinder comprising a base portion, a top portion, and a body extending between the bottom portion and the top portion, characterized by comprising an ultrasonic sensor, a first electronic unit communicating with the ultrasonic sensor, wherein the ultrasonic sensor is configured to detect the level of LPG from an external side of the bottom portion of the cylinder, when the cylinder is positioned vertically relative to the ground, and the first electronic unit is configured to be placed on an outside of the cylinder.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the ultrasonic sensor is configured to be positioned to substantially correspond to a center of the bottom portion of the cylinder. According to an embodiment of the invention, the ultrasonic sensor and the first electronic unit are configured to perform a wired communication. According to one embodiment of the invention, the first electronic unit is configured to be placed on the roof portion of the cylinder. According to one embodiment of the invention, the ultrasonic sensor and the first electronic unit are configured to be attached to the cylinder either removably or non- removably.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the apparatus of the invention further comprises a second electronic unit configured to communicate with the first electronic unit. According to an embodiment of the invention, the second electronic unit may be a mobile device (e.g. a mobile phone or smartphone) or a modem or a router.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the apparatus of the invention further comprises a third electronic unit configured to communicate with the second electronic unit. According to an embodiment of the invention, the third electronic unit may be a host computer with software communicating with a database.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

In order to better understand the structure of the present invention and advantages thereof together with additional elements, it should be evaluated together with the figures explained below.

Figure 1 is a representative view of an apparatus according to the invention mounted on an LPG cylinder.

Figure 2 is a representative view of a first electronic unit of Figure 1 removed from the LPG cylinder. Figure 3 is a partial section view of a LPG cylinder and a symbolic view of a second electronic unit.

Figure 4 is a representative view of the bottom of a LPG cylinder and a sensor.

Figure 5 is a representative view of the first electronic unit in an exploded view.

Figure 6 is a representative view of the lower part of the first electronic unit. REFERENCE NUMBERS OF THE PARTS IN THE FIGURES

1 Body

2 Top portion

3 Bottom portion

4 Handle

5 Base

6 First cable

7 First cable fitting

8 First electronic unit

9 Hole

10 Electronic unit housing

11 Gas LPG

12 Liquid LPG

13 Sent wave

14 Returned wave

15 Ultrasonic sensor

16 Second electronic unit

17 Sensor housing

18 Second cable

19 Second cable fitting

20 Button

21 Display panel

22 Upper part of the first electronic unit

23 Electronic card

24 Battery

25 Lower part of the first electronic unit 26 Battery door

27 LED

28 Battery housing

29 LPG cylinder

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Throughout this specification, the term "LPG cylinder" is to be understood as a closed container made of a material which has a sufficient strength to be able to contain a pressurized hydrocarbon material therein.

In a basic embodiment, the invention comprises an ultrasonic sensor (15) and a first electronic unit (8) in communication therewith. An exemplary embodiment of the invention is shown as connected to an LPG cylinder (29) in figures 1 to 4. The LPG cylinder essentially comprises a body (1) and a top portion (2) covering this body (1) from the upper side and a bottom portion (3) covering the same from the lower side. As can be seen more clearly in Figure 3, an ultrasonic sensor (15) is attached to the bottom portion (3) to be substantially in contact with the bottom. Herein, the expression, "substantially in contact" is to be understood as having a physical contact or having a small gap while not having a physical contact.

The ultrasonic sensor (15) sends supersonic waves (13) from the bottom (3) to the inner volume of the cylinder (29), and these are reflected back as the waves (14) returning from the boundary wall between the liquid (12) form to the gas (11) form of the LPG. The signals received from the ultrasonic sensor (15) are sent to the first electronic unit (8) and processed therein, and an outcome is generated about the height of the LPG fluid (12) (hence the filling rate of the cylinder). As can be expected, the time difference between the waves (13) sent from the ultrasonic sensor (15) and the returning waves (14) is a variable of the height function of the liquid LPG (12), and the height value of the liquid LPG (12) is calculated using the software embedded in the electronic card (23) in the first electronic unit.

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention as seen in Figure 1 and Figure 4, the coupling of the ultrasonic sensor (15) with the first electronic unit (8) may be provided via a cable. Therefore, a first cable (6) extending from the first electronic unit (8) and a second cable (18) extending from the ultrasonic sensor (15) may be interconnected. This connection may be achieved by attaching a first cable fitting (7) at the end of the first cable (6) to a second cable fitting (19) at the end of the second cable (18). Although a continuous cable may be used between the first electronic unit (8) and the ultrasonic sensor (15), the use of an interconnected cable may be more advantageous, otherwise when either the ultrasonic sensor or the first electronic unit needs to be replaced due to malfunction or other reason, both of these two components will have to be replaced in the continuous cable.

The first cable (6) and the second cable (18) may be used for both signal transduction and power transmission. Because, the energy required for the operation of the ultrasonic sensor (15) is preferably provided by the batteries (24) contained in the first electronic unit (1). The ultrasonic sensor (15) may be connected to the bottom portion (3) in several ways. According to an embodiment of the invention, a base (5) may be provided such that it covers the bottom portion (3) of the cylinder (29) from the lower side and preferably in a removable form, as seen in figures 1 to 4. This base (5) may include a sensor housing (17) in the center thereof, and the ultrasonic sensor (15) may be positioned in this sensor housing (17). According to an alternative embodiment, when the base 5 is not used, the ultrasonic sensor (15) may be positioned directly on the bottom (3), preferably in the center thereof.

The base (5) includes a hole (9), and the hole (9) provides an aperture for interconnecting the first cable fitting (7) and the second cable fitting (19). A handle (4) may be placed on the roof portion (2) of the cylinder (29). The handle (4) has gripping parts arranged mutually, so that the cylinder (29) may be gripped with both hands. The front part of the handle (4) is formed to include an opening, and an electronic unit housing (10) is arranged at the bottom of the handle (4) to correspond to this opening. The first electronic unit (8) may be arranged in a removable or non-removable way by being fitted into this housing. According to an embodiment of the invention, the first electronic unit (8) may also be arranged either in a non-removable or removable directly on the cylinder roof portion (2).

According to an embodiment of the invention, the first electronic unit (8) may communicate, preferably wirelessly, with a second electronic unit (16), as seen in Figure 3. The second electronic unit (16) may be a mobile or non-mobile device such as a smartphone, modem, etc. The first electronic unit (8) may communicate with the second electronic unit (16) in various ranges of a radio frequency such as Bluetooth®, ZigBee™, Wi-Fi™ via a transmitter or a transceiver. The second electronic unit (16) may include application software, for example when it is a smartphone. This application software may provide a warning signal to the smartphone user when the level of the liquid LPG (12) in the cylinder (29) reaches a predetermined threshold value. In addition, the application software may transmit information to a third electronic unit. The third electronic unit may be, for example, a host computer in a cylinder supply station. Thus, an automatic order may be formed from the host computer before LPG runs out in cylinder (29) (in fact, collection may be made immediately in case that the bank card information of the user is defined on the host computer and there exists a pre-approval for the user). Similarly, when the second electronic unit (16) is, for example, a modem, the data received from the first electronic unit (8) may be transmitted to the host computer through the modem using Wi-Fi ™ frequency.

The first electronic unit (8) comprises various components as seen in Figure 5. An upper part (22) in the form of a cover and a lower part (25) covering the upper part from the lower side constitute the casing of the first electronic unit (8). An electronic card (23) is arranged in the inner space of the lower part (25), and the batteries (24) are located in housings thereof (28) thereunder. The opening formed on the lowermost surface of the lower part (25) is covered by a battery door (26). A button (20) is placed in the opening located on the uppermost surface of the upper part (22), and there is a display panel (21) thereunder. The display panel (21) is made of a transparent material and there are several LEDs (27) thereunder. When the user presses the button (20), the ultrasonic sensor (15) is warned, a measurement is performed, and the electronic card (23) illuminates the LEDs (27) by processing the signal received. In case that the amount of the liquid LPG within the cylinder (29) is substantial, all LEDs are illuminated, however in case that it is insubstantial, a single LED is illuminated, and so on. Of course, the user may not necessarily learn the filling rate information for the cylinder by pressing the button (20). For example, a warning may be provided to the ultrasonic sensor (8) using an instruction sent from the electronic card (23) at given intervals, a measurement is performed, and then, LEDs are illuminated; moreover an audible warning may be given, or a warning may be sent to the user's mobile phone/smartphone by sending information to the second electronic unit (16).

Claims

1. An apparatus for detecting the level of liquid form of LPG in a closed LPG cylinder (29) comprising a bottom portion (3), a top portion (2), and a body (1) extending between the bottom portion (3) and the top portion (2), characterized by comprising an ultrasonic sensor (15), a first electronic unit (8) communicating with the ultrasonic sensor (15), wherein the ultrasonic sensor (15) is configured to detect the level of LPG from an external side of the bottom portion (3) of the cylinder (29), when the cylinder is positioned vertically relative to the ground, and the first electronic unit (8) is configured to be placed on an outside of the cylinder (29).

2. An apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that said ultrasonic sensor (15) is configured to be positioned to substantially correspond to a center of the bottom (3) of the cylinder.

3. An apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the ultrasonic sensor (15) and the first electronic unit (8) are configured to perform a wired communication.

4. An apparatus according to claim 3, characterized in that the cable comprises a two- piece form, one extending from the ultrasonic sensor (15) and the other extending from the first electronic unit (8) and being connected to each other.

5. An apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that the first electronic unit (8) is configured to be disposed on the top portion (2) of the cylinder (29).

6. An apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the cylinder (29) comprises a handle (4) located on the top portion (2).

7. An apparatus according to claim 6, characterized in that the first electronic unit (8) is configured to be located on the handle (4).

8. An apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the ultrasonic sensor (15) and the first electronic unit (8) are configured to be connected to the cylinder (29) either removably or non-removably.

9. An apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized by comprising a second electronic unit (16) configured to communicate with the first electronic unit (8). 10. An apparatus according to claim 9, characterized in that the second electronic unit

(16) is selected from the group consisting of a mobile phone, a smartphone, a modem, and a router.

11. An apparatus according to claim 10, characterized by comprising a third electronic unit configured to communicate with the second electronic unit (16).

12. An apparatus according to claim 11, characterized in that the third electronic unit (16) comprises a host computer comprising software communicating with a database.

13. An apparatus according to claim 1, characterized by comprising a base (5) arranged to cover the bottom portion (3) of the cylinder (29) from the lower side thereof, wherein the base (5) comprises a sensor housing (17) in which said ultrasonic sensor (15) is located.

14. A LPG cylinder, characterized by comprising an apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 13.