A method for recording and warning continuous water use and a smart water meter

Abstract

The present invention proposes a method for recording and continuously warning water use and a smart water meter, the method comprising: continuously obtaining pulse data of the current water use in response to a water use event, determining the duration of the current water use according to the pulse data, initiating a continuous water use warning when the duration is greater than or equal to a preset single water use duration, the continuous water use warning being used to prompt the user of a suspected water leak; determining the end time of the water use event based on the pulse data, metering the water use event, obtaining single metering information corresponding to the water use event, and storing the single metering information as a single transaction. The present invention performs separate metering of the water use of the smart water meter, and can detect suspected water leaks during a single water use process and issue timely warnings, thereby improving the timeliness and accuracy of water leak reminders and making the water meter management mode more reasonable.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of smart water meters, and in particular to a method for recording and warning continuous water use, and a smart water meter. Background Art

[0002] Smart water meters currently on the market generally lack the function of measuring each item individually, which poses a significant challenge in unified management. Specifically, once a water leak occurs at the location of a water meter, it becomes extremely difficult to quickly identify the problematic water meter among many water meters because the system does not have the ability to accurately identify and locate the leak. What's worse is that even if the leaking water meter is finally discovered through a relatively cumbersome process, the leak has often developed to a very serious level, which not only causes a large amount of water resources to be wasted, but also seriously affects the timeliness of problem solving. Therefore, the shortcomings of existing smart water meters in terms of leak monitoring and timely response urgently need to be improved and optimized. Summary of the invention

[0003] The embodiment of the present invention provides a method for recording and warning continuous water use and a smart water meter to solve the problems existing in the related technologies. The technical solution is as follows:

[0004] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a method for recording and warning continuous water use, including:

[0005] In response to a water use event, the pulse data of the current water use is continuously obtained, and the duration of the current water use is determined according to the pulse data. When the duration is greater than or equal to the preset single water use duration, a continuous water use warning is initiated. The continuous water use warning is used to remind the user that there is a suspected water leak;

[0006] The end time of the water use event is determined based on the pulse data, and the water use event is metered and processed to obtain single metering information corresponding to the water use event, and the single metering information is stored separately.

[0007] In one embodiment, determining the duration of current water use according to the pulse data includes:

[0008] When a water use event occurs, the first pulse signal in the water use event is recorded, and the start time of the water use event is determined according to the pulse time of the first pulse signal;

[0009] Record the pulse waiting time between two adjacent pulse signals in the water use event, receive the next pulse signal when the pulse waiting time is less than or equal to the preset adjacent pulse time, and determine the pulse time of the next pulse signal;

[0010] The duration of this water use is accumulated according to the start time and pulse time until this water use event ends.

[0011] In one embodiment, determining the end time of a water use event based on pulse data includes:

[0012] When the pulse waiting time is longer than the preset adjacent pulse time and the next pulse signal is still not received, the water use event is marked as over and the end time of the water use event is determined.

[0013] In one embodiment, the pulse data is generated by the water flow passing through a mechanical flow meter at different time points.

[0014] In one embodiment, it further includes:

[0015] The total water consumption within a preset time period is counted based on the single metering information of multiple water use events, and the total water consumption is managed and a visual water use management report is generated. The water use management report includes a water consumption curve chart.

[0016] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a smart water meter, including:

[0017] Mechanical flow meter;

[0018] The control unit is connected to the mechanical flow meter and is used to execute the above-mentioned record-by-record and continuous water usage warning method.

[0019] In one embodiment, it further includes:

[0020] The storage module is connected to the control unit and is used to store the single metering information of each water use event in separate items.

[0021] In one embodiment, it further includes:

[0022] The upload module is connected to the control unit and is connected to the designated server signal through a wireless network; the upload module is used to upload the single metering information stored in the storage module within a specified time period to the designated server when the preset upload conditions are met, and control the storage module to delete the uploaded single metering information.

[0023] In one embodiment, the preset upload condition is a specified time point every day or when the remaining storage capacity of the storage module is less than a preset capacity.

[0024] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present invention provides a computer-readable storage medium, which stores a computer program. When the computer program runs on a computer, the method in any one of the above-mentioned embodiments is executed.

[0025] The advantages or beneficial effects of the above technical solution include at least:

[0026] The present invention can perform separate metering on the pulse data corresponding to each water use event, and determine the duration of a single water use through the pulse signal generated when the water flow rate passes through a mechanical flow meter. When the duration is greater than or equal to the preset single water use duration, a continuous water use alarm is initiated. Abnormal situations such as water leakage or forgetting to turn off the water can be discovered in time during a single water use process and timely alarms can be issued, thereby improving the timeliness and accuracy of water leakage reminders and making the management mode of water meters more reasonable and accurate.

[0027] The above summary is for illustrative purposes only and is not intended to be limiting in any way. In addition to the illustrative aspects, embodiments and features described above, further aspects, embodiments and features of the present invention will be readily apparent by reference to the accompanying drawings and the following detailed description. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0028] In the accompanying drawings, unless otherwise specified, the same reference numerals throughout the multiple drawings represent the same or similar parts or elements. These drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale. It should be understood that these drawings only depict some embodiments disclosed in the present invention and should not be regarded as limiting the scope of the present invention.

[0029] Figure 1 It is a flow chart of the method for recording and continuously warning water use according to the present invention;

[0030] Figure 2 The structure block diagram of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0031] In the following, only some exemplary embodiments are briefly described. As those skilled in the art will appreciate, the described embodiments may be modified in various ways without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention. Therefore, the drawings and descriptions are considered to be exemplary and non-restrictive in nature.

[0032] The embodiment of the present invention provides a method for recording and warning continuous water use, which can improve the timeliness and accuracy of water leakage reminders, and can also realize user billing and user management functions to meet various comprehensive needs.

[0033] It should be noted that the execution object of the method of separate measurement and continuous water use warning can be a designated server, which is connected to the smart water meter; in addition, the execution object of the method of separate measurement and continuous water use warning can also be the smart water meter itself. This embodiment takes the designated server as the execution object to illustrate the specific method of separate measurement and continuous water use warning, such as Figure 1 As shown in the figure, the method of separate metering and continuous water use warning specifically includes the following steps:

[0034] Step S1: In response to a water use event, the pulse data of the current water use is continuously obtained, and the duration of the current water use is determined based on the pulse data. When the duration is greater than or equal to the preset single water use duration, a continuous water use alarm is initiated. The continuous water use alarm is used to remind the user that there is a suspected water leak.

[0035] In this embodiment, the occurrence of water use events is monitored at all times. When pulse data begins to be collected, it means that a water use event has occurred. At this time, pulse data of the water use process is successively acquired in response to the water use event.

[0036] It should be noted that the pulse data in this embodiment is generated when the water flow passes through the mechanical flow meter in the smart water meter at different time points. The mechanical flow meter is connected to the electronic sensor. The mechanical flow meter drives the internal mechanical components of the water meter (such as gears, turbines or floats) through the flow of fluid to achieve flow measurement. The electronic sensor converts the flow measurement into a pulse signal, thereby obtaining the corresponding pulse data.

[0037] When the smart water meter detects the first pulse signal, it transmits the first pulse signal to the designated server. When the designated server obtains the first pulse signal, it records the current time as the pulse time of the first pulse signal and marks it as the start time of this water use. At the same time, the pulse number variable is increased by one to realize the pulse number statistics during this water use process.

[0038] During the water use event, new pulse signals are obtained successively. At the same time, the pulse waiting time between the two adjacent pulse signals in the water use event is calculated. Assuming that the next pulse signal is received when the pulse waiting time is less than or equal to the preset adjacent pulse time, the water use continues to be valid, and the pulse data of this water use continues to be accumulated, and the number of pulses of this water use is accumulated.

[0039] When the next pulse signal is received, the pulse time of the next pulse signal is determined, and the water use duration is determined according to the start time of the water use event and the pulse time of the next pulse signal; and when the next new pulse signal is received, the water use duration continues to be accumulated to obtain the duration of this water use until the current water use event ends.

[0040] When counting the duration of this water usage, the duration will be compared with the preset single water usage duration. When the duration is greater than the preset single water usage duration, a continuous water usage warning will be issued. The continuous water usage warning is used to remind users that there is a suspected water leak.

[0041] It should be noted that, under normal circumstances, water-using activities (such as washing hands, washing clothes, etc.) are usually completed in a short time. If the duration of water use is abnormally long, this may indicate that the faucet is not completely closed, resulting in continuous outflow of water. Therefore, the preset single water use duration in this embodiment is set according to normal water use behavior. For example, assuming that the normal water use duration for washing and gargling is usually no more than 5 minutes, if it is detected that the duration of this water use exceeds the preset single water use duration, it may mean that there is an abnormality.

[0042] Among them, the continuous water use warning can be sent to the user terminal bound to the smart water meter by message; it can be triggered to light up the warning light on the smart water meter or sound the warning sound to prompt the user to handle it in time; the water use status of the abnormal user can also be switched to an abnormal state in the designated server, and the management personnel can know the situation of the user by checking the designated server. It should be noted that the specific method of the continuous water use warning is not limited in this embodiment.

[0043] Step S2: Determine the end time of the water use event based on the pulse data, perform metering processing on the water use event, obtain single metering information corresponding to the water use event, and store the single metering information separately.

[0044] After receiving the first pulse signal of this water use event, if the water use behavior continues, new pulse signals will be received one after another. Every time a new pulse signal is received, the pulse time when each new pulse signal is generated is recorded, the duration of this water use is accumulated, and the number of pulses is gradually increased.

[0045] At the same time, the pulse waiting time between the two previous and subsequent pulse signals is recorded by a timer, that is, the timer starts when a pulse signal is received, and the pulse waiting time increases with time. When the pulse waiting time is greater than the preset adjacent pulse time and the next pulse signal is still not received, it means that the water use event is over, and the current time is used as the end time of the water use event.

[0046] The water use data including the start time, end time, number of pulses, single metering information, water consumption of this water use event, water charges, etc. are stored in a single record.

[0047] Assuming that there are multiple water use events in a day, the water use data of multiple water use events are measured and stored separately, and the water consumption of all water use events in a day can be accumulated to obtain the total water consumption for the day; or the water consumption of all water use events in a month can be accumulated to obtain the total water consumption for a month, so as to manage the water use situation in the preset time period and determine whether the total water consumption exceeds the average water consumption.

[0048] At the same time, a water consumption curve chart can be generated based on the water consumption data of each water consumption event within the preset time period and the total water consumption within the preset time period, and the water consumption curve chart can be used to generate a visual water use management report to more clearly view the water use situation.

[0049] Another embodiment of the present invention provides a smart water meter, the smart water meter comprising:

[0050] Mechanical flow meters are used to measure fluid flow through the rotation or vibration of mechanical parts and convert the mechanical action into electrical pulse signals;

[0051] The control unit is connected to the mechanical flow meter and is used to execute the above-mentioned record-by-record and continuous water usage warning method.

[0052] Equivalently, this embodiment implements the above-mentioned record keeping and continuous water usage warning method through the control unit carried by the smart water meter itself, thereby improving the intelligence level of the smart water meter.

[0053] At the same time, the smart water meter also includes a storage module and an upload module. The storage module is connected to the control unit and is used to store water usage data of each water usage event and store the water usage data of different water usage events separately.

[0054] The upload module is connected to the control unit. The upload module is connected to the designated server signal through a wireless network. When the preset upload conditions are met, all water usage data within the specified time period will be uploaded to the designated server or cloud for storage through the upload module. At this time, the uploaded water usage data will be deleted in the storage module to free up storage space for storing water usage data of new water usage events.

[0055] Among them, the preset upload condition can be that at a specified time point every day, all the water consumption data stored in the daily record will be actively uploaded to the designated server in the order of water consumption time; the preset upload condition can also be that when the storage space of the storage module of the smart water meter is full, all or part of the water consumption data stored in the storage module will be actively uploaded to the designated server to ensure that the smart water meter can continue to operate normally.

[0056] If any water consumption data fails to be sent or no response is received from the server during the upload process, the subsequent water consumption data should be stopped. If the data fails to be sent or no response is received from the server, the resend mechanism will be entered; during the resend mechanism, after the server response failure interval, it should be resent once. If there is no response again, the process will be repeated until the preset number of server response failures is reached; when the scheduled task conditions are met and the scheduled task is executed again, the resend mechanism will be reset.

[0057] Furthermore, when the storage space of the smart water meter is full and cannot send water usage data, or cannot receive a server response, subsequent water usage records continue to be recorded in the last water usage event; for example, the start time of the last water usage event remains unchanged, the "number of pulses this time" continues to accumulate, the water flow continues to accumulate, etc., to ensure that all water usage records can be recorded until the water usage data can be sent normally, or the server response can be received normally.

[0058] It should be noted that the functional effects performed by the control unit in the embodiment of the present invention can be found in the corresponding description of the above method, which will not be repeated here.

[0059] Another embodiment of the present invention provides an electronic device, Figure 2 FIG. 2 shows a structural block diagram of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 As shown, the electronic device includes: a memory 100 and a processor 200, wherein the memory 100 stores a computer program that can be run on the processor 200. When the processor 200 executes the computer program, the method for recording and continuously warning water use in the above embodiment is implemented. The number of the memory 100 and the processor 200 can be one or more.

[0060] The electronic device also includes:

[0061] The communication interface 300 is used to communicate with external devices and perform data exchange transmission.

[0062] If the memory 100, the processor 200 and the communication interface 300 are implemented independently, the memory 100, the processor 200 and the communication interface 300 can be connected to each other through a bus and communicate with each other. The bus can be an Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus, a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus or an Extended Industry Standard Architecture (EISA) bus, etc. The bus can be divided into an address bus, a data bus, a control bus, etc.

[0063] Optionally, in a specific implementation, if the memory 100, the processor 200 and the communication interface 300 are integrated on a chip, the memory 100, the processor 200 and the communication interface 300 can communicate with each other through an internal interface.

[0064] An embodiment of the present invention provides a computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program, which implements the method provided in the embodiment of the present invention when the program is executed by a processor.

[0065] An embodiment of the present invention further provides a chip, which includes a processor for calling and executing instructions stored in the memory from the memory, so that a communication device equipped with the chip executes the method provided by the embodiment of the present invention.

[0066] An embodiment of the present invention also provides a chip, including: an input interface, an output interface, a processor and a memory, wherein the input interface, the output interface, the processor and the memory are connected via an internal connection path, and the processor is used to execute the code in the memory. When the code is executed, the processor is used to execute the method provided by the embodiment of the invention.

[0067] It should be understood that the processor may be a central processing unit (CPU), or other general-purpose processors, digital signal processors (DSP), application specific integrated circuits (ASIC), field programmable gate arrays (FPGA) or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, etc. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor, etc. It is worth noting that the processor may be a processor supporting the advanced RISC machines (ARM) architecture.

[0068] Further, optionally, the above-mentioned memory may include a read-only memory and a random access memory, and may also include a non-volatile random access memory. The memory may be a volatile memory or a non-volatile memory, or may include both volatile and non-volatile memories. Among them, the non-volatile memory may include a read-only memory (ROM), a programmable read-only memory (PROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), or a flash memory. The volatile memory may include a random access memory (RAM), which is used as an external cache. By way of example but not limitation, many forms of RAM are available. For example, static RAM (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous dynamic random access memory (ESDRAM), synchronous link dynamic random access memory (SLDRAM) and direct rambus RAM (DR RAM).

[0069] In the above embodiments, it can be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware or any combination thereof. When implemented using software, it can be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes one or more computer instructions. When the computer program instructions are loaded and executed on a computer, the process or function according to the present invention is generated in whole or in part. The computer can be a general-purpose computer, a special-purpose computer, a computer network, or other programmable device. The computer instructions can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, or transmitted from one computer-readable storage medium to another computer-readable storage medium.

[0070] In the description of this specification, the description with reference to the terms "one embodiment", "some embodiments", "example", "specific example", or "some examples" means that the specific features, structures, materials or characteristics described in conjunction with the embodiment or example are included in at least one embodiment or example of the present invention. Moreover, the specific features, structures, materials or characteristics described may be combined in any one or more embodiments or examples in a suitable manner. In addition, those skilled in the art may combine and combine different embodiments or examples described in this specification and the features of different embodiments or examples, unless they are contradictory.

[0071] In addition, the terms "first" and "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be understood as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of the indicated technical features. Therefore, the features defined as "first" and "second" may explicitly or implicitly include at least one of the features. In the description of the present invention, the meaning of "plurality" is two or more, unless otherwise clearly and specifically defined.

[0072] The above is only a specific embodiment of the present invention, but the protection scope of the present invention is not limited thereto. Any person skilled in the art can easily think of various changes or substitutions within the technical scope disclosed by the present invention, which should be included in the protection scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention should be based on the protection scope of the claims.

Claims

1. A method for recording and continuously warning water use, characterized in that: include: In response to a water use event, pulse data of the current water use is continuously obtained, and the duration of the current water use is determined according to the pulse data. When the duration is greater than or equal to a preset single water use duration, a continuous water use warning is initiated, and the continuous water use warning is used to prompt a user that there is a suspected water leak; The end time of the water use event is determined based on the pulse data, and the water use event is metered to obtain single metering information corresponding to the water use event, and the single metering information is stored separately.

2. The method for recording and continuously warning water use according to claim 1, characterized in that: Determining the duration of the current water use according to the pulse data includes: When the water use event occurs, recording the first pulse signal in the water use event, and determining the start time of the water use event according to the pulse time of the first pulse signal; Recording the pulse waiting time between two adjacent pulse signals in the water use event, receiving the next pulse signal when the pulse waiting time is less than or equal to the preset adjacent pulse time, and determining the pulse time of the next pulse signal; The duration of this water use is accumulated according to the start time and the pulse time until the water use event ends.

3. The method for recording and continuously warning water use according to claim 2, characterized in that: Determining the end time of the water use event based on the pulse data includes: When the pulse waiting time is longer than the preset adjacent pulse time and the next pulse signal is still not received, the water use event is marked as ended, and the end time of the water use event is determined.

4. The method for recording and continuously warning water use according to claim 1, characterized in that: The pulse data is generated when the water flow rate passes through a mechanical flow meter at different time points.

5. The method for recording and continuously warning water use according to claim 1, characterized in that: Also includes: The total water consumption within a preset time period is counted based on the single metering information of multiple water use events, water use management is performed on the total water consumption and a visual water use management report is generated, wherein the water use management report includes a water use curve chart.

6. A smart water meter, characterized in that: include: Mechanical flow meter, used to record pulse data corresponding to each water use event; A control unit is connected to the mechanical flow meter and is used to execute the method for recording and continuously warning water use as described in any one of claims 1 to 5.

7. The smart water meter according to claim 6, characterized in that: Also includes: The storage module is connected to the control unit and is used to store the single metering information of each water use event in separate items.

8. The smart water meter according to claim 7, characterized in that: Also includes: An upload module is connected to the control unit and is in signal communication with the designated server via a wireless network; the upload module is used to upload the single metering information stored in the storage module within a specified time period to the designated server when a preset upload condition is met, and to control the storage module to delete the uploaded single metering information.

9. The smart water meter according to claim 8, characterized in that: The preset upload condition is a specified time point every day or when the remaining storage capacity of the storage module is less than a preset capacity.

10. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that: The computer-readable storage medium stores a computer program, and when the computer program is executed by a processor, the method for recording and continuously warning water use according to any one of claims 1 to 5 is implemented.

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