A liquid level gauge

Abstract

An embodiment of the present application provides a liquid level gauge, which includes: a plurality of non-contact liquid level measurement sensors, configured to be arranged outside a container that can sense changes in the measured liquid level in a parallel manner to obtain measured values of liquid level data; a liquid level data output module, configured to output the measured values of the liquid level data; wherein, the spacing between at least some of the plurality of non-contact liquid level measurement sensors is determined by the measurement range and measurement accuracy. Some embodiments of the present application utilize the idea of differentiation to layout the density of liquid level sensors according to the measurement range and measurement accuracy, improving the accuracy and flexibility of liquid level measurement.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application relates to the field of liquid level measurement. Specifically, embodiments of this application relate to a liquid level gauge. Background Art

[0002] In theory, all liquid level gauges on the current market can complete continuous measurement of all possible liquid surface heights within the maximum range. However, limited by factors such as the measurement environment, instrument parameter configuration, and instrument manufacturing cost, on the one hand, the measurement accuracy is not high; on the other hand, the cost of customizing a liquid level gauge with a specific accuracy is relatively high; the liquid level gauge has special requirements for the materials of liquid media and containers, and the service life is relatively short; most liquid level gauges for petrochemical storage tanks use wired transmission technology. Through construction wiring, the liquid level information is transmitted to the control platform. On the one hand, the wiring cost is high; on the other hand, it is difficult to wire in some locations where storage tanks are located, and the wiring construction period is long.

[0003] Therefore, how to design a liquid level gauge with higher accuracy, less prone to corrosion, and more convenient has become a technical problem to be solved urgently. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The purpose of embodiments of this application is to provide a liquid level gauge. The liquid level gauges in some embodiments of this application draw on the idea of differentiation. According to the requirements of measurement accuracy, the continuous liquid surface height is equally divided with the minimum accuracy. A liquid level switch sensor is installed at each division point, and the sensor determines the output digital quantity signal according to the liquid surface height; some embodiments of this application also use the data acquisition unit on the non-contact liquid level sensor to output two-bit source codes corresponding to the parallel data bus, and correspond the sensor with the two-dimensional source codes output by the parallel data bus through physical programming; the data is transmitted to the control platform through radio frequency identification tags, eliminating the need for wiring and installation construction costs.

[0005] In a first aspect, some embodiments of this application provide a liquid level gauge, which includes: a plurality of non-contact liquid level measurement sensors, configured to be arranged in parallel outside a container that can sense changes in the measured liquid level to obtain liquid level data measurement values; a liquid level data output module, configured to output the liquid level data measurement values; wherein, the spacing between at least some of the plurality of non-contact liquid level measurement sensors is determined by the measurement range and measurement accuracy.

[0006] Some embodiments of this application draw on the idea of differentiation, layout the density of liquid level sensors according to the range and measurement accuracy, and improve the accuracy and flexibility of liquid level measurement.

[0007] In some embodiments, the non-contact liquid level measurement sensor includes a non-contact capacitance sensor.

[0008] Some embodiments of the present application employ a non-contact capacitive sensor, which can achieve no mechanical contact between the liquid level acquisition sensor and the measured liquid level medium, thereby extending the service life of the sensor.

[0009] In some embodiments, the non-contact liquid level measurement sensor includes a liquid level state acquisition end and an output signal end; wherein, when the liquid level reaches the horizontal plane where the liquid level state acquisition end is located, the output signal end is configured to generate a first level signal for characterizing the presence of the liquid level.

[0010] Some embodiments of the present application sense the liquid level height through each sensor and generate a level signal indicating the presence of the liquid level to achieve the sensing and measurement of the liquid level height.

[0011] In some embodiments, the non-contact liquid level measurement sensor includes a plurality of non-contact liquid level switches, wherein the non-contact liquid level switch is configured to control the output of the first level signal at least through the control level signal input to the logic control input end, and the first level is used to characterize that liquid is detected at the height where the non-contact liquid level switch is located.

[0012] In some embodiments of the present application, when multiple liquid level switches simultaneously output 1 (for example, the first level is high level), the highest non-contact liquid level switch outputs validly, which is completed by the logic unit to ensure that the output value of the non-contact liquid level sensor is the actual liquid level height value.

[0013] In some embodiments, the non-contact liquid level switch includes a liquid level state acquisition end, an output signal end, a logic control input end, and a logic control output end. When the liquid level state acquisition end senses the liquid level, the detection signal output end generates the first level; otherwise, the detection signal output end generates a second level. When the logic control input end is the second level, the output signal end outputs normally. When the logic control input end is the first level, the output signal end outputs the second level signal. When the liquid level state acquisition end senses the liquid level or the logic control input end is the first level, the logic control output end is the first level; otherwise, the logic control output end outputs the second level signal.

[0014] Some embodiments of the present application control whether the output signal end outputs the first level signal for characterizing the detected liquid level through the set logic control signal, so as to achieve that when multiple liquid level switches simultaneously output 1 (high level), the highest non-contact liquid level switch outputs validly, ensuring that the output value of the non-contact liquid level sensor is the actual liquid level height value.

[0015] In some embodiments, the non-contact liquid level measurement sensor includes adjacent i-th non-contact liquid level switch and (i-1)-th non-contact liquid level switch. The i-th non-contact liquid level switch includes an i-th liquid level state acquisition terminal and an i-th logic control output terminal. The (i-1)-th non-contact liquid level switch includes an (i-1)-th liquid level state acquisition terminal, an (i-1)-th output signal terminal, an (i-1)-th logic control input terminal, and an (i-1)-th logic control output terminal. The output signal of the (i-1)-th output signal terminal is used to indicate whether the (i-1)-th liquid level state acquisition terminal has detected a liquid level. Wherein, when the i-th liquid level state acquisition terminal of the i-th non-contact liquid level switch detects a liquid level, the i-th logic control output terminal outputs the first level, and the signal of the i-th logic control output terminal uses the first level as the signal of the (i-1)-th logic control input terminal to prohibit the (i-1)-th output signal terminal from outputting the first level signal indicating the existence of a liquid level; or when the i-th liquid level state acquisition terminal of the i-th non-contact liquid level switch does not detect a liquid level, the i-th logic control output terminal outputs a second level, and inputs the second level signal to the (i-1)-th logic control input terminal. When the (i-1)-th logic control input terminal inputs the second level, the output signal of the (i-1)-th output signal terminal is only affected by the liquid level state result collected by the (i-1)-th liquid level state acquisition terminal; i is a natural number greater than or equal to 2.

[0016] In some embodiments of the present application, at the logic circuit level, n non-contact liquid level switches are connected in series. The logic control output terminal DTn of the non-contact liquid level switch n outputs a signal to the logic input terminal QZn-1 of the non-contact liquid level switch n-1, realizing that when multiple liquid level switches simultaneously output 1 (high level), the highest-bit non-contact liquid level switch outputs effectively, ensuring that the output value of the non-contact liquid level sensor is the actual liquid surface height value.

[0017] In some embodiments, the liquid level data output module includes a parallel data bus. Among them, the output signal lines corresponding to the output signal terminals corresponding to the non-contact liquid level measurement sensors are connected to at least one of the parallel data buses.

[0018] Some embodiments of the present application use a parallel data bus corresponding to the data acquisition unit on the sensor to output the two-bit source code corresponding to the data collected by the non-contact liquid level sensor, realizing the encoding of the liquid level measurement value.

[0019] In some embodiments, the output signal terminal is connected to the parallel data bus through a diode.

[0020] Some embodiments of the present application use output diodes to isolate the liquid level switches outputting logic 0 and the liquid level switches outputting logic 1, preventing mutual interference.

[0021] In some embodiments, the container is a liquid level communicating vessel, wherein the plurality of non-contact liquid level measurement sensors are arranged in sequence along the vertical direction on the outer wall of the communicating vessel.

[0022] In some embodiments of the present application, by arranging the liquid level communicating vessel inside the liquid level gauge, the customer can directly connect the communicating vessel included in the liquid level gauge to the liquid level container to be measured, thereby realizing liquid level measurement.

[0023] In some embodiments, the liquid level data output module further includes: a parallel-serial conversion module connected to the parallel data bus.

[0024] In some embodiments of the present application, by setting multiple parallel buses (for example, bit0, bit1, ……, bitm) corresponding to the data bits of the binary source code respectively, when the non-contact liquid level switch detects the liquid level, the high-level liquid level switch prohibits the low-level liquid level switch from outputting, and only the highest-level liquid level switch remains valid. The output of the highest-level non-contact liquid level switch is connected to the data bits with a value of 1 in the parallel bus (bit0, bit1, ……, bitm) through a diode, thereby realizing binary coding.

[0025] In some embodiments, the liquid level data output module further includes: a radio frequency tag identification module connected to the parallel-serial conversion module.

[0026] In some embodiments of the present application, the collected liquid level height data can be transmitted to the control platform through radio frequency identification tags, eliminating the need for wiring and installation construction costs.

[0027] In some embodiments, the liquid level data output module further includes: a digital-to-analog conversion module connected to the parallel data bus.

[0028] In some embodiments of the present application, it can meet the occasions where the liquid level measurement data is still transmitted in a wired manner. For example, the measured value is directly connected to the existing analog signal line through the digital-to-analog conversion module to realize the analog transmission of the measurement signal, improving the compatibility between the liquid level gauge and related equipment. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0029] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the following will briefly introduce the drawings required to be used in the embodiments of the present application. It should be understood that the following drawings only show some embodiments of the present application, and therefore should not be regarded as limiting the scope. For those of ordinary skill in the art, without creative efforts, other related drawings can also be obtained based on these drawings.

[0030] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the composition of the liquid level gauge provided by the embodiment of the present application;

[0031] Figure 2 Schematic diagram of the hardware connection of the non-contact liquid level measurement sensor provided by the embodiment of the present application;

[0032] Figure 3 Schematic diagram of the measurement principle of the non-contact liquid level measurement sensor provided by the embodiment of the present application;

[0033] Figure 4 Flowchart of the software processing of the non-contact liquid level measurement sensor provided by the embodiment of the present application;

[0034] Figure 5 Schematic diagram of the connection relationship between the liquid level communicating vessel and multiple non-contact liquid level measurement sensors provided by the embodiment of the present application;

[0035] Figure 6 Schematic diagram of the parallel connection of multiple non-contact liquid level switches provided by the embodiment of the present application;

[0036] Figure 7 Schematic diagram of the connection ports of the non-contact liquid level switch provided by the embodiment of the present application;

[0037] Figure 8 Schematic diagram of the series relationship of the logic control signals of multiple non-contact liquid level switches provided by the embodiment of the present application;

[0038] Figure 9 Schematic diagram of the connection relationship of multiple non-contact liquid level switches provided by the embodiment of the present application;

[0039] Figure 10 Schematic diagram of the output signals of multiple non-contact liquid level switches controlled by logic control signals provided by the embodiment of the present application;

[0040] Figure 11 Schematic diagram of the connection of eight non-contact liquid level switches provided by the embodiment of the present application. Detailed implementation manners

[0041] Next, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present application.

[0042] It should be noted that: Similar reference numerals and letters denote similar items in the following drawings. Therefore, once an item is defined in one drawing, it does not need to be further defined and explained in subsequent drawings. At the same time, in the description of the present application, the terms "first", "second", etc. are only used for differential description and cannot be understood as indicating or implying relative importance.

[0043] To solve the defects existing in the related technologies in the background art section, some embodiments of the present application provide an intelligent digital liquid level gauge, which realizes continuous liquid level measurement through multiple non-contact liquid level processing sensors (for example, non-contact liquid level switches). Within the same height, the more the number of liquid level switches, the higher the accuracy and resolution, and the specific number is determined according to the accuracy and resolution.

[0044] In some embodiments of the present application, the liquid level gauge includes: a liquid level measurement module, which contacts a container capable of detecting liquid level changes (for example, a liquid level communicating vessel) through a non-contact liquid level sensor, measures the liquid level in the container to be measured, and generates liquid level data; a liquid level data output module, which converts the received liquid level data into digital or analog quantities and transmits them to a control platform.

[0045] Please refer to Figure 1 , Figure 1 Some embodiments of the present application provide a liquid level gauge, which includes: a plurality of non-contact liquid level measurement sensors 100 and a liquid level data output module 200. The plurality of non-contact liquid level measurement sensors 100 are configured to be arranged outside a container 300 capable of sensing changes in the liquid level to be measured in a parallel manner to obtain measured values of the liquid level data in the container 300. The liquid level data output module 200 is configured to output the measured values of the liquid level data collected by the plurality of non-contact liquid level sensors; wherein, the spacing between at least some of the plurality of non-contact liquid level measurement sensors is determined by the measurement range and measurement accuracy. Some embodiments of the present application utilize the idea of differentiation, layout the density of the liquid level sensors according to the measurement range and measurement accuracy, and improve the accuracy and flexibility of liquid level measurement.

[0046] The non-contact liquid level sensors in some embodiments of the present application specifically adopt a digital measurement method to obtain the liquid level height value. Since each measurement point of digital measurement is a discrete trend expression feature, each measurement point independently completes the measurement physical process, and the measurement result is completed by hardware logic and software analysis. It is independent of the influence of parameters such as the density, dielectric constant, temperature, and pressure of the measured medium. Different from digital measurement, the liquid level measurement value of analog measurement is obtained by calculating the measured physical parameters through physical formulas to complete the measurement result. The prerequisite is that the parameters such as the density, dielectric constant, temperature, and pressure of the measured medium are constant and unchanged with the design-selected parameters. This prerequisite is exactly impossible to achieve in actual working conditions, and parameters such as density, dielectric constant, temperature, and pressure will fluctuate within a certain range, causing a great impact on the actual measurement results. For example: the buoyancy type liquid level gauge is greatly affected by density changes; the capacitance type liquid level gauge is greatly affected by dielectric constant changes, etc.

[0047] As an example, such as Figure 2As shown, the hardware logic circuit of the non-contact liquid level measurement sensor in some embodiments of the present application includes: a detection electrode plate (not shown in the figure), a MUX, a CDC circuit, a filter circuit Filter, a single-chip microcomputer RSIC, and an output end output. The CDC circuit uses digital capacitance conversion technology (CDC) to send the sampled capacitance to the RSIC single-chip microcomputer, and the liquid level status is obtained through software processing in the RSIC single-chip microcomputer (corresponding to the Di value below, for example, for the non-contact liquid level sensor at the position where there is a liquid level, the corresponding measurement value is high level, and when there is no liquid level, the corresponding measurement value is low level). The software algorithm executed by the RSIC processes the data output by the CDC circuit through an intelligent algorithm to determine whether there is a liquid level. For example, as Figure 3 shown, two sets of thresholds (i.e., high threshold and low threshold) are used to determine whether the liquid level is valid. After the RSIC is powered on and reset, it will automatically perform calibration, that is, calculate the average value of the capacitance value of the non-contact liquid level sensor according to the sampled value (that is, obtain the Figure 3 baseline shown). When there is a liquid level, the measured capacitance increases, and the data output by the CDC circuit becomes larger. If the difference (Delta) between the current data and the baseline is higher than the high threshold, it is determined that the liquid level is valid. When the difference Delta between the current data and the baseline is lower than the low threshold, it is determined that the liquid level is removed. The baseline is the long-term average of the sampled signal, and the baseline floats up and down in real time according to the tracking algorithm. When there is no liquid level, the baseline automatically tracks the change of the input signal. This mechanism can automatically compensate for signal drift caused by environmental changes (temperature, humidity, voltage, etc.), thereby improving the reliability and stability of liquid level determination.

[0048] It should be noted that, as Figure 1 and Figure 2 shown, in some embodiments of the present application, the liquid level data output module 200 further includes: a parallel-serial conversion module 220, and the parallel-serial conversion module 220 is connected to the parallel data bus. In some embodiments of the present application, the liquid level data output module 200 further includes: a radio frequency tag identification module 230, and the radio frequency tag identification module 230 is connected to the parallel-serial conversion module. In some embodiments of the present application, the liquid level data output module 200 further includes: a digital-to-analog conversion module (i.e., the Figure 1 and Figure 2 D / A converter), and the digital-to-analog conversion module is connected to the parallel data bus. Some embodiments of the present application can meet the occasions where the liquid level measurement data is still transmitted in a wired manner. For example, the measured value is directly connected to the existing analog signal line through the digital-to-analog conversion module to realize the analog transmission of the measurement signal, improving the compatibility between the liquid level gauge and related equipment.

[0049] The following exemplarily elaborates on the circuit connection method of the non-contact liquid level measurement sensor.

[0050] As shown Figure 4 below, the process of using Figure 2 to measure the liquid level includes: starting (i.e., powering on the system); initializing parameters; reading the measurement results output by the CDC circuit and performing software filtering; judging whether there is liquid level according to the filtering results. When it is judged that there is liquid level, a high level 1 is output, and when it is judged that there is no liquid level, a low level 0 is output, and baseline tracking is started to obtain multiple baseline values.

[0051] To improve the installation convenience of the liquid level gauge, the liquid level gauges in some embodiments of the present application further include a liquid level communicating vessel 400, and a corresponding plurality of non-contact liquid level measurement sensors are arranged in sequence along the vertical direction on the outer wall of the communicating vessel 400, as Figure 5 . Figure 5 The difference from Figure 1 is that Figure 5 the plurality of non-contact liquid level measurement sensors of Figure 5 are arranged on the outer wall of the liquid level communicating vessel. When the liquid level gauge is used subsequently, only the liquid level communicating vessel needs to be connected to the container to be measured through

[0052] In some embodiments of the present application, the non-contact liquid level sensor includes a non-contact capacitance sensor.

[0053] In some embodiments of the present application, the non-contact liquid level measurement sensors (for example, Figure 6 the non-contact liquid level switches n, n - 1,..., 2, 1, and 0 of Figure 6 ) include a liquid level state acquisition end (for example, Figure 6 the Dn, Dn - 1,..., D2, D1, and D0 ends corresponding to each non-contact liquid level switch of Figure 6 ) and an output signal end (for example, Figure 6 the Qn, Qn - 1,..., Q2, Q1, and Q0 ends corresponding to each non-contact liquid level switch of Figure 6 ; where, when the liquid level reaches the horizontal plane where the liquid level state acquisition end (for example, Figure 5 the Dn, Dn - 1,..., D2, D1, and D0 ends of Figure 6 ) is located, the output signal end (for example,

[0054] To enable the liquid level data output module to output only the liquid level value at the highest detected liquid level each time, as Figure 7As shown, in some embodiments of the present application, the non-contact liquid level measurement sensor includes a plurality of non-contact liquid level switches. Among them, in addition to including Figure 6 the liquid level state acquisition terminal and the output signal terminal, it also includes a logic control input terminal (i.e., Figure 7 the QZn terminal of Figure 7 ). The non-contact liquid level switch is configured to control the output of the first level signal (i.e., Figure 7 the high level signal sensed by Qn of

[0055] ) at least through the control level signal input through the logic control input terminal. That is to say, even if Figure 7 the Dn terminal of the non-contact liquid level switch of Figure 7 detects the liquid level and determines that the Qn terminal generates a high level signal indicating the presence of the liquid level, it is also necessary for the level signal of the logic control input terminal QZn to control whether the Qn terminal can output this high level signal.

[0055] Taking the high level 1 as the first level, as an example, when Figure 7 the liquid level state acquisition terminal Dn detects the liquid level, the output signal terminal Qn outputs 1 (unless prohibited by the logic control input terminal), and when there is no liquid level, the output signal terminal Qn outputs 0; if the logic control input terminal QZn is 1, then regardless of the presence or absence of the liquid level, the output of the output signal terminal Qn is 0. That is to say, when the logic control input terminal QZn is 0, the output signal terminal Qn outputs normally, and when the logic control input terminal QZn is 1, the output of the output signal terminal Qn is always 0. In addition, when the liquid level state acquisition terminal Dn detects the liquid level or the logic control input terminal QZn is 1, the logic control output terminal QTn outputs 1, otherwise the logic control output terminal QTn outputs 0. In some embodiments of the present application, when multiple liquid level switches output 1 simultaneously (for example, the first level is the high level), the highest non-contact liquid level switch outputs effectively, which is completed by the logic unit to ensure that the output value of the non-contact liquid level sensor is the actual liquid surface height value.

[0056] For example, in some embodiments, the non-contact liquid level switch includes a liquid level state acquisition terminal, an output signal terminal, a logic control input terminal, and a logic control output terminal. Among them, when the liquid level state acquisition terminal senses the liquid level, the detection signal output terminal generates the first level, otherwise the detection signal output terminal generates the second level; when the logic control input terminal is the second level, the output signal terminal outputs normally; when the logic control input terminal is the first level, the output signal terminal outputs the second level signal; when the liquid level state acquisition terminal senses the liquid level or the logic control input terminal is the first level, the logic control output terminal is the first level, otherwise the logic control output terminal outputs the second level signal.

[0057] For example, in some embodiments of the present application, the non-contact liquid level measurement sensor includes an adjacent i-th non-contact liquid level switch and an (i - 1)-th non-contact liquid level switch. The i-th non-contact liquid level switch includes an i-th liquid level state acquisition terminal and an i-th logic control output terminal. The (i - 1)-th non-contact liquid level switch includes an (i - 1)-th liquid level state acquisition terminal, an (i - 1)-th output signal terminal, an (i - 1)-th logic control input terminal, and an (i - 1)-th logic control output terminal. The output signal of the (i - 1)-th output signal terminal is used to indicate whether the (i - 1)-th liquid level state acquisition terminal has detected a liquid level. Wherein, when the i-th liquid level state acquisition terminal of the i-th non-contact liquid level switch detects a liquid level, the i-th logic control output terminal is at the first level, and the signal of the i-th logic control output terminal uses the first level as the signal of the (i - 1)-th logic control input terminal to prohibit the (i - 1)-th output signal terminal from outputting the first level signal indicating the presence of a liquid level. Or when the i-th liquid level state acquisition terminal of the i-th non-contact liquid level switch does not detect a liquid level, the i-th logic liquid level control output terminal is at the second level, and the second level signal is input to the (i - 1)-th logic control input terminal. When the (i - 1)-th logic control input terminal inputs the second level, the output signal of the (i - 1)-th output signal terminal is only affected by the liquid level state result collected by the (i - 1)-th liquid level state acquisition terminal. The i is a natural number greater than or equal to 2.

[0058] It should be noted that, in some embodiments, the first level is a high level represented by logic "1", and correspondingly, the second level is a low level represented by logic "0". In other embodiments, the first level is a low level represented by logic "0", and correspondingly, the second level is a high level represented by logic "1".

[0059] That is to say, in some embodiments of the present application, at the logic circuit level, n non-contact liquid level switches are connected in series, such as Figure 8As shown in the figure. The logic control output terminal DTn of the non-contact liquid level switch n outputs a signal to the logic control input terminal QZn-1 of the non-contact liquid level switch n-1. The logic control output terminal DTn-1 of the non-contact liquid level switch n-1 outputs a signal to the logic input terminal QZn-2 of the non-contact liquid level switch n-2 (the non-contact liquid level switch n-2 is not shown in the figure), ……, the logic control output terminal DT3 of the non-contact liquid level switch 3 outputs a signal to the logic control input terminal QZ2 of the non-contact liquid level switch 2; the logic control output terminal DT2 of the non-contact liquid level switch 2 outputs a signal to the logic control input terminal QZ1 of the non-contact liquid level switch 1; the logic control output terminal DT1 of the non-contact liquid level switch 1 outputs a signal to the logic control input terminal QZ0 of the non-contact liquid level switch 0. It should be noted that the level of the logic control input terminal of the highest non-contact liquid level sensor is high level, that is, the output signal of the output signal terminal of the highest non-contact liquid level sensor is not controlled by the logic control input terminal.

[0060] Taking Figure 9 and Figure 10 as examples to illustrate the above embodiments, Figure 9 and Figure 10 both use high level (or logic signal 1) to represent that the corresponding non-contact liquid level sensor has detected the liquid level signal.

[0061] The connection method of the n non-contact liquid level switches in some embodiments of the present application is as shown in Fig. 9. Through Figure 9 such a connection method, it can be realized that when multiple liquid level switches output 1 (high level) at the same time, the highest non-contact liquid level switch outputs effectively, ensuring that the output value of the non-contact liquid level sensor is the actual liquid level height value, as Figure 10 shown in the output. For Figure 9 and Figure 10 the principle analysis is that when the high-level liquid level switch n (that is, Figure 9 or Figure 10 the non-contact liquid level switch n) detects the liquid level, its logic control output QTn is 1. This QTn signal is sent to the logic control input terminal QZn-1 of the low-level liquid level switch n-1. When QZn-1 is 1, the signal output terminal Qn-1 of the non-contact liquid level switch n-1 is prohibited from outputting a high-level signal (at this time, a high-level signal is used to represent that the non-contact liquid level switch n-1 has detected the liquid level), and at this time, the signal output terminal Qn-1 finally outputs a logic 0 state.

[0062] And so on. When the high-level liquid level switch n detects the liquid level, the logic output terminals of the non-contact liquid level switches n-1, n-2,..., 1 all output 1 to the logic input terminals of their low-level switches, and the signal outputs of the non-contact liquid level switches n-2, n-3,..., 0 are all 0.

[0063] That is to say, as Figure 10 shown, controlled by the signal of the logic input terminal, except that the valid signal (i.e., high level) of the highest bit can be output, the non-contact liquid level switches at lower positions all output low-level signals (i.e., Figure 10 the non-contact liquid level switches at lower positions within the dashed box all output low-level signals).

[0064] In some embodiments of the present application, the liquid level data output module includes: a parallel data bus, wherein at least one output signal line corresponding to the output signal terminal corresponding to each non-contact liquid level measurement sensor is connected to the parallel data bus. The encoding principle of some embodiments of the present application includes: adopting a physical encoding method, using a binary source code to represent the serial number n of the non-contact liquid level switch at the highest liquid level. For example, the parallel bus bit0, bit1,..., bitm respectively correspond to the data bits of the binary source code. When the non-contact liquid level switch detects the liquid level, the high-level liquid level switch prohibits the low-level liquid level switch from outputting, and only the highest-level liquid level switch is valid. The output of the highest non-contact liquid level switch is connected to the data bits with a value of 1 in the parallel bus (bit0, bit1,..., bitm) through a diode to achieve binary encoding.

[0065] As an example, as Figure 11 shown, there are a total of eight non-contact liquid level switches (i.e., non-contact liquid level switch 0, non-contact liquid level switch 1, non-contact liquid level switch 1, non-contact liquid level switch 3, non-contact liquid level switch 4, non-contact liquid level switch 5, non-contact liquid level switch 6, and non-contact liquid level switch 7). Figure 11 The parallel bus of Figure 11 includes three signal lines, bit0, bit1, and bit2, Figure 11 and the connection relationship between each non-contact liquid level switch and the three signal lines is as Figure 11The signal output ends of the non-contact liquid level switches 7 are simultaneously connected to three signal lines, namely bit0, bit1, and bit2. The signal output ends of the non-contact liquid level switches 6 are simultaneously connected to two signal lines, namely bit1 and bit2. The signal output ends of the non-contact liquid level switches 5 are simultaneously connected to two signal lines, namely bit0 and bit2. The signal output end of the non-contact liquid level switch 4 is connected to the bit2 signal line. The signal output ends of the non-contact liquid level switches 3 are simultaneously connected to two signal lines, namely bit0 and bit1. The signal output end of the non-contact liquid level switch 2 is connected to the bit1 signal line. The signal output end of the non-contact liquid level switch 1 is connected to the bit0 signal line. Additionally, the non-contact liquid level switch 0 represents the coordinate 0 point and thus is not connected to the parallel signal lines. Figure 11 The corresponding encoding is shown in Table 1. Therefore, based on the level signals on each of the bit0, bit1, and bit2 signal lines, the corresponding liquid level encoding value can be determined, and then the specific liquid level height value can be obtained.

[0066] Table 1 Encoding Comparison Table

[0067] Liquid level Bit0 Bit1 Bit2 D0 0 0 0 D1 1 0 0 D2 0 1 0 D3 1 1 0 D4 0 0 1 D5 1 0 1 D6 0 1 1 D7 1 1 1

[0068] In some embodiments of the present application, the output signal end is connected to the parallel data bus through a diode. In some embodiments of the present application, the liquid level switches outputting logic 0 and the liquid level switches outputting logic 1 are isolated in potential through the output diodes to prevent mutual interference. As Figure 11 shown, a diode is respectively provided on the path where the signal output end of the non-contact liquid level switch 7 is connected to the three signal lines bit0, bit1, and bit2. A diode is respectively provided on the path where the signal output end of the non-contact liquid level switch 6 is simultaneously connected to the two signal lines bit1 and bit2. A diode is respectively provided on the path where the signal output end of the non-contact liquid level switch 5 is simultaneously connected to the two signal lines bit0 and bit2. A diode is provided on the path where the signal output end of the non-contact liquid level switch 4 is connected to the bit2 signal line. A diode is respectively provided on the path where the signal output ends of the non-contact liquid level switches 3 are simultaneously connected to the two signal lines bit0 and bit1. A diode is provided on the path where the signal output end of the non-contact liquid level switch 2 is connected to the bit1 signal line. Figure 11 The corresponding encoding is shown in Table 1. Therefore, based on the level signals on each of the bit0, bit1, and bit2 signal lines, the corresponding liquid level encoding value can be determined, and then the specific liquid level height value can be obtained.

[0069] It should be noted that since some embodiments of the present application do not use an integrated circuit for encoding processing, power consumption can be reduced. The data acquisition period of the radio frequency tag identification module can be adjusted according to requirements. For example, the data acquisition period of the radio frequency tag identification module is 20mS - 500mS. Because the liquid level gauge of the embodiments of the present application has low sensitivity to the temperature, pressure, and density of the measured medium, it can accurately detect the boiling liquid level. The change of the boiling liquid level is only related to the resolution of the liquid level gauge. The higher the resolution, the smaller the error of the boiling fluctuation change.

[0070] In several embodiments provided by the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed device and method can also be implemented in other ways. The device embodiments described above are merely illustrative. For example, the flowcharts and block diagrams in the accompanying drawings show the possible architectures, functions, and operations of the device, method, and computer program product according to multiple embodiments of the present application. In this regard, each block in the flowchart or block diagram may represent a module, a program segment, or a part of code, and the part of the module, program segment, or code contains one or more executable instructions for implementing the specified logical function. It should also be noted that in some alternative implementations, the functions marked in the blocks may occur in a different order from that marked in the accompanying drawings. For example, two consecutive blocks may actually be executed substantially in parallel, and they may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending on the functions involved. It should also be noted that each block in the block diagram and / or flowchart, as well as the combination of blocks in the block diagram and / or flowchart, can be implemented by a dedicated hardware-based system for performing the specified functions or actions, or can be implemented by a combination of dedicated hardware and computer instructions.

[0071] In addition, in each embodiment of the present application, the functional modules can be integrated together to form an independent part, or each module can exist separately, or two or more modules can be integrated to form an independent part.

[0072] When the above-mentioned functions are implemented in the form of software function modules and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of this application, in essence, or the part that contributes to the prior art, or a part of this technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. This computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions for causing a computer device (which may be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in various embodiments of this application. The aforementioned storage medium includes: various media that can store program codes, such as USB flash drives, mobile hard disks, read-only memories (ROM, Read-Only Memory), random access memories (RAM, Random Access Memory), magnetic disks, or optical discs.

[0073] The above are only the embodiments of this application and are not used to limit the protection scope of this application. For those skilled in the art, this application can have various changes and modifications. Any modifications, equivalent replacements, improvements, etc. made within the spirit and principle of this application shall be included in the protection scope of this application. It should be noted that similar reference numerals and letters represent similar items in the following drawings. Therefore, once an item is defined in one drawing, it does not need to be further defined and explained in subsequent drawings.

[0074] The above is only the specific implementation manner of this application, but the protection scope of this application is not limited thereto. Any person skilled in the art can easily think of changes or replacements within the technical scope disclosed in this application and should be covered by the protection scope of this application. Therefore, the protection scope of this application should be subject to the protection scope of the claims.

[0075] It should be noted that in this article, relational terms such as first and second are only used to distinguish one entity or operation from another entity or operation, and do not necessarily require or imply any actual relationship or order between these entities or operations. Moreover, the term "comprising", "including" or any other variant thereof is intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, so that a process, method, article or device including a series of elements not only includes those elements but also includes other elements not explicitly listed, or further includes elements inherent to such process, method, article or device. Without further limitations, an element defined by the statement "including a..." does not exclude the existence of additional identical elements in the process, method, article or device including the said element.

Claims

1. A liquid level gauge, characterized in that, The liquid level gauge includes: A plurality of non-contact liquid level measurement sensors, configured to be arranged in parallel outside a container capable of sensing changes in the measured liquid level to obtain measured values of liquid level data; wherein, the non-contact liquid level sensor uses a digital measurement method to obtain the liquid level height value; A liquid level data output module, configured to output the measured values of the liquid level data; Wherein, the spacing between at least some of the plurality of non-contact liquid level measurement sensors is determined by the measurement range and measurement accuracy; The non-contact liquid level measurement sensor includes a non-contact capacitance sensor, a liquid level state acquisition end, and a detection output signal end; wherein, when the liquid level reaches the horizontal plane where the liquid level state acquisition end is located, the detection output signal end is configured to generate a first level signal for indicating the presence of a liquid level; The non-contact liquid level measurement sensor further includes a plurality of non-contact liquid level switches, wherein the non-contact liquid level switch is configured to control the output of the first level signal at least through a control level signal input to a logic control input end, wherein the first level is used to indicate that liquid is detected at the height where the non-contact liquid level switch is located; The non-contact liquid level switch includes a liquid level state acquisition end, an output signal end, a logic control input end, and a logic control output end, wherein, When the liquid level state acquisition end senses a liquid level, the detection signal output end generates the first level, otherwise the detection signal output end generates a second level; When the logic control input end is the second level, the output signal end outputs normally; when the logic control input end is the first level, the output signal end outputs the second level; When the liquid level state acquisition end senses a liquid level or the logic control input end is the first level, the logic control output end is the first level, otherwise the logic control output end outputs the second level signal.

2. The liquid level gauge according to claim 1, characterized in that, The non-contact liquid level measurement sensor includes an adjacent i-th non-contact liquid level switch and an (i - 1)-th non-contact liquid level switch. The i-th non-contact liquid level switch includes: an i-th liquid level state acquisition end and an i-th logic control output end. The (i - 1)-th non-contact liquid level switch includes: an (i - 1)-th liquid level state acquisition end, an (i - 1)-th output signal end, an (i - 1)-th logic control input end, and an (i - 1)-th logic control output end. The output signal of the (i - 1)-th output signal end is used to indicate whether the (i - 1)-th liquid level state acquisition end has detected a liquid level; Wherein, When the i-th liquid level state acquisition end of the i-th non-contact liquid level switch detects a liquid level, the i-th logic control output end is the first level, and the signal of the i-th logic control output end uses the first level as the signal of the (i - 1)-th logic control input end to prohibit the (i - 1)-th output signal end from outputting the first level signal indicating the presence of a liquid level; or When the i-th liquid level state acquisition end of the i-th non-contact liquid level switch does not detect a liquid level, the i-th logic control output end is at a second level, and the second level is input to the (i - 1)-th logic control input end. When the second level is input to the (i - 1)-th logic control input end, the output signal of the (i - 1)-th output signal end is only affected by the liquid level state result collected by the (i - 1)-th liquid level state acquisition end; where i is a natural number greater than or equal to 2.

3. The liquid level gauge according to claim 2, characterized in that, The liquid level data output module includes: a parallel data bus, wherein output signal lines corresponding to the output signal ends corresponding to the non-contact liquid level measurement sensors are connected to at least one of the parallel data buses.

4. The liquid level gauge according to claim 3, characterized in that, The output signal end is connected to the parallel data bus through a diode.

5. The liquid level gauge according to claim 1, characterized in that, The container is a liquid level communicating vessel, wherein the plurality of non-contact liquid level measurement sensors are arranged in sequence along the vertical direction on the outer wall of the communicating vessel.

6. The liquid level gauge according to claim 4, characterized in that, The liquid level data output module further includes: a parallel-serial conversion module, connected to the parallel data bus.

7. The liquid level gauge according to claim 6, wherein, The liquid level data output module further includes: a radio frequency tag identification module, connected to the parallel-serial conversion module.

8. The liquid level gauge according to claim 4, characterized in that, The liquid level data output module further includes: a digital-to-analog conversion module, connected to the parallel data bus.

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