Transportable gas container with electronic functional components

Abstract

A gas container equipped with a discharge connection (15), with at least one electronic functional component (16, 17, 18), and with an electrical supply unit (20) for supplying the at least one electronic functional component (16, 17, 18) with electrical current is characterized according to the invention in that the electrical supply unit (20) of the gas container (1) is equipped with a rechargeable battery (26) and with inductive or capacitive coupling elements (27, 28) for wirelessly charging the battery (26). The electrical supply unit is combined with a corresponding inductive or capacitive charging unit (30), which is preferably arranged in a filling station for filling the gas container.

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a gas container, in particular a compressed gas container, which is equipped with a discharge connection, with at least one electronic functional component, and with an electrical supply unit for supplying the at least one electronic functional component with electrical current. The invention further relates to a charging device for charging a rechargeable battery associated with the electrical supply unit.

[0002] In the following, "gas containers" are understood to mean mobile containers in which gases are stored under pressure or in cryogenic liquefied form. Such gas containers include, in particular, compressed gas cylinders, combined compressed gas cylinders (so-called compressed gas cylinder bundles), or transportable containers for liquefied gas (PLC containers, cryogenic containers). Compressed gas cylinders are offered with filling volumes of, for example, 10 to 150 liters and permitted filling pressures of, for example, between 150 and 300 bar or more. Compressed gas cylinder bundles are typically arrangements of 4 to 28 compressed gas cylinders, each with a filling volume of 40 to 150 liters, which are permanently installed in a frame and connected to each other via piping. Cryogenic containers within the meaning of the present invention are, in particular, vacuum-insulated metal containers with a filling volume of between 30 liters and 350 liters, which can be equipped with a chassis.Such gas containers are increasingly being equipped with electronic functional components to improve handling, transport, or container logistics. For example, equipping gas containers with electronic circuits in conjunction with sensors for tracking and monitoring location and / or fill level offers numerous advantages for the supply chain.

[0003] For example, in recent years various manufacturers have brought so-called "integrated valves" (VIPR) for compressed gas cylinders onto the market.

[0004] In integrated valves, in addition to a shut-off device, other functional components are compactly arranged within a housing mounted on the gas container, such as pressure regulators, flow regulators, display devices, one or more connections for gas extraction and / or for filling the compressed gas cylinder, or transmitting and receiving devices for transmitting information to a remote control room. Examples of integrated valves can be found in US 8 322 569 B2, US 6 732 996 B1, US 8 534 312 B2, WO 2008 / 052022 A2, US 2008 / 0095607 A1, or EP 3 289 279 A1. Electrical power is required for the operation of at least some of these functional components.

[0005] Providing sufficient electrical energy over an extended period of time limits the functionality and service life of the electronic functional components. Currently, the functional components are primarily powered by non-rechargeable batteries, which are also mounted on the gas cylinder. Due to their limited charging capacity, these batteries must be manually replaced from time to time. Since the associated labor and time expenditure is considerable, attempts are made to ensure that the power supply can be maintained for as long as possible without battery replacement. For example, a charging capacity is required that only requires a battery change during routine maintenance of the gas cylinder, which usually takes place at intervals of 2, 5, or even 10 years. However, such a high charging capacity is currently only economically feasible with comparatively large-volume battery units.For this reason, and because the batteries must be easily accessible for replacement, the power supply takes up a considerable volume, which is disadvantageous for small gas containers and especially for compressed gas cylinders.

[0006] It has also been proposed to equip the gas cylinders with rechargeable batteries (accumulators) and with charging devices such as solar cells, wind generators, or similar, as described, for example, in DE 10 2008 058 995 A1 or EP 4 211 388 A1. However, such solutions are generally impractical due to the high equipment complexity and the considerable maintenance costs in the event of damage or failure during operation.

[0007] The object of the present invention is therefore to provide a gas container with one or more electronic functional components, which is equipped with a permanently reliable and low-maintenance power supply for the electronic functional component(s).

[0008] This task is solved in a gas cylinder of the type and intended purpose mentioned above by equipping the electrical supply unit of the gas cylinder with a rechargeable battery and with inductive or capacitive coupling elements for wireless charging of the battery.

[0009] The gas container according to the invention is thus equipped with a rechargeable battery (accumulator) to supply the at least one electronic functional component and preferably with inductive coupling elements, which allow the battery to be wirelessly charged during operation of the gas container without major equipment expenditure. Examples of inductive coupling elements used are a coupling coil and a rectifier, which are electrically connected to the battery. Instead of inductive coupling elements, capacitive coupling elements can also be used according to the invention, in which the wireless energy transfer takes place via capacitor plates. The battery and the associated inductive or capacitive coupling elements are preferably permanently mounted on the gas container; a maintenance opening or the like, which is intended to allow an operator access to the battery at any time in order to replace it, is not required.

[0010] Since all the inductive coupling elements required for charging the battery on the receiver side are located on the gas cylinder, an inductive charging unit suitable for coupling with the cylinder-side coupling elements and which only needs to be brought into the near field of the coupling coil to charge the battery is sufficient to charge the battery. Such a charging unit can be installed, in particular, in a filling station where the gas cylinder is filled with gas and / or in a customer-side gas supply system for supplying a consumer with gas. The charging unit should be arranged in such a way that the battery can be charged simultaneously with the filling of the gas cylinder with gas, preferably automatically.Since gas cylinders are typically filled with gas several times a year in a filling plant and are also connected to a customer's gas supply system for an extended period of time, a charging capacity of the battery is sufficient when arranging a charging unit in the filling plant and / or the gas supply system, which only needs to ensure the power supply of the electronic functional component(s) for a few months or even just days or weeks.

[0011] Electronic functional components can include any functional components suitable for the use of the gas cylinder, such as measuring devices for detecting the fill level, filling pressure, or temperature, electronically operated pressure regulators, electronic display units, for example, display units for the pressure and / or fill level of the gas cylinder, transmitting and / or receiving units capable of wireless communication with an external control center and transmitting data about the location or fill level in the gas cylinder, and / or a control unit that integrates, controls, and / or monitors the operation of the other electronic functional components. One or more electronic functional components can be provided on the gas cylinder.In addition to electronic functional components, non-electronic functional components can of course also be present on the gas cylinder, such as filling or withdrawal connections or analogue display instruments or manually operated pressure regulators or valves.

[0012] Control devices are expediently provided as electronic functional components, by means of which the battery's charge level and / or the existence of an inductive or capacitive coupling sufficient to charge the battery can be detected and displayed. The latter can be achieved, for example, by measuring a charging current and comparing it with a specified minimum value, and visualizing the result on an electronic display unit mounted on the gas cylinder.

[0013] An advantageous embodiment of the invention provides that a control unit is provided as the electronic functional component, which - in addition to any other functions that may be present - is configured such that when a charging current flows, i.e. when the coupling elements arranged on the gas container are inductively or capacitively coupled to a charging unit, a functional test of the electronic functional components is automatically carried out. The functional tests carried out during filling cycles allow early conclusions to be drawn about the functionality of the electronic functional components, in contrast to state-of-the-art gas containers, where such functional tests are usually only performed during routine maintenance, which usually only takes place at intervals of several years.

[0014] Furthermore, the control unit is expediently configured such that, when a charging current flows, information about the charging process, such as the time and quantity of the transferred charge, is obtained. This information is stored in a storage unit arranged on the gas tank and / or transmitted to a central control center via a transmitting and receiving unit arranged on the gas tank and / or on the charging unit. This information is preferably transmitted together with information about the gas tank, such as a tank number, the location, and / or the filling gas. From the information thus collected, conclusions can be drawn about the frequency of filling, the transport routes of the gas tank, and other information that may be relevant for tank logistics.

[0015] According to the invention, any gas container as defined above can be used as a gas container, for example, a compressed gas cylinder bundle or a mobile cryogenic container. However, the gas container is preferably a compressed gas cylinder equipped with a cylinder head in which the extraction connection, at least one electronic functional component, and the electrical supply unit, including the inductive or capacitive coupling elements, are integrated into a housing of the cylinder head. Preferably, this is a compressed gas cylinder with an integrated valve (VIPR). The cylinder head serves, on the one hand, to accommodate the electronic and non-electronic functional components, and, on the other hand, to protect the cylinder valve of the compressed gas cylinder and the functional components from damage in the event of improper handling or a fall.

[0016] The gas container according to the invention is preferably used for storing cryogenically liquefied or pressurized technical gases or gas mixtures, such as oxygen, nitrogen, noble gases, carbon dioxide or welding gas mixtures, medical gases or medical gas mixtures such as medical oxygen, medical air, N2O, and the like, or specialty gases or diving gas mixtures. Compressed gas cylinders according to the invention preferably have a filling volume of between 2 liters and 150 liters and a maximum filling pressure of preferably between 50 bar and 300 bar.

[0017] A particularly advantageous development of the invention provides a charging device intended and suitable for charging the battery of a gas container according to the invention, which - depending on the type of coupling elements - is equipped with an inductive or capacitive charging unit, wherein the charging unit is preferably arranged in a filling station or in a customer-side gas supply system in such a way that when the gas container is connected with its extraction connection to a supply line of the filling station or to a extraction line of the customer-side gas supply system, an inductive or capacitive coupling is established between the charging unit and the container-side coupling elements and thus a wireless energy transmission is enabled.The charging units arranged in the filling station and / or on the customer's gas supply system enable regular wireless charging of the battery of the gas container according to the invention without great effort for an operator.

[0018] Preferably, the charging unit arranged in a filling station or in a customer-side gas supply system is an inductive charging unit which has a charging coil connected to an alternating current source and suitable for inductive coupling with the coupling coil and is arranged such that when the gas container is connected to a supply line of the filling station or to a withdrawal line of the customer-side gas supply system, an inductive coupling is established between the charging coil and the coupling coil by the coupling coil of the gas container entering the near field of the charging coil of the charging unit.

[0019] For example, the inductive charging unit is permanently mounted on the supply line of the filling station or the extraction line of the gas supply system, or is permanently installed in the immediate vicinity of the corresponding connection, so that the battery can be charged automatically at the same time as the gas cylinder is being filled or emptied. With inductive coupling, this is achieved, for example, by positioning the charging unit so close to the intended location of the gas cylinder in the filling station or the gas supply system that, when the gas cylinder is set up and / or connected, both the charging coil and the coupling coil are only a short distance apart, for example, between 1 cm and 10 cm.In the case of capacitive coupling, the charging coil and the coupling coil are replaced by a capacitor surface in the charging unit and as part of the container-side electronic coupling elements, which should be brought as close to each other as possible during the charging process.

[0020] The gas container according to the invention and the charging device according to the invention thus form a particularly advantageous system for supplying the electronic functional component(s) associated with the gas container with electrical power. This system enables frequent charging of the battery mounted on the gas container, which means that the battery can be designed with a comparatively low charging capacity and a correspondingly small volume, and can also be installed on the gas container without its own access opening. The associated space savings are particularly advantageous for compressed gas cylinders with an integrated valve.

[0021] An embodiment of the invention will be explained in more detail with reference to the drawing. The only drawing ( Fig. 1 ) shows schematically a compressed gas cylinder according to the invention in a filling plant before filling with gas in a sectional view.

[0022] In the example of a gas container according to the invention in Fig. 1 The compressed gas cylinder 1 shown is a container designed to hold a pressurised gas, for example nitrogen, oxygen, a noble gas or a medical gas or gas mixture, at a filling pressure of, for example, between 50 bar and 300 bar.

[0023] The compressed gas cylinder 1 has, in the usual way and not explained in detail here, a cylinder body 2 made, for example, of metal or a composite material and having a filling volume of, for example, between 10 liters and 50 liters. A neck ring 4, which is equipped with an external thread 5 and an internal thread 6, is arranged on a shoulder section 3 of the cylinder body 2 in the region of an outlet opening of the cylinder body 2 (not shown here). A cylinder valve 7 is mounted in the internal thread 6, for example by screwing. This is, for example, a standard cylinder valve, as is frequently used in commercially available compressed gas cylinders; it has, in a manner known per se, a valve spindle 8, the rotation of which opens or closes a gas outlet 9 of the cylinder valve 7.

[0024] The compressed gas cylinder 1 further comprises a cylinder head 10, which may be, for example, a valve-integrated pressure regulator (VIPR) or a comparable system equipped with electronic functional components described in more detail below. In the exemplary embodiment shown here, the cylinder head 10 comprises a housing 11 in the form of a substantially cylindrical valve guard, closed except for various access openings, which also serves as a fall protection device. The housing 11 is screwed onto the external thread 5 of the neck ring 4 by a base plate 12 and is additionally supported by the shoulder section 3 of the compressed gas cylinder 1 by a collar section 13.

[0025] Inside the housing 11, several electronic and non-electronic functional components 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 are accommodated. In the embodiment according to Fig. 1These are a withdrawal connection 15, an electronically controllable pressure regulator 16, an electronic display unit 17, a transmitting and receiving unit 18, an electronic control unit 19 and an electrical supply unit 20. Furthermore, further functional components not shown here can be arranged inside the housing 11.

[0026] To enable the cylinder valve 7 to be operated with the housing 11 in place, in the exemplary embodiment shown here, an operating element 21 extends through the housing 11, which positively engages the valve spindle 8 of the cylinder valve 7 and is equipped with a handwheel 22 or a handle at its end opposite the valve spindle 8. In the area of the handwheel 22 and those functional components that are to be accessible from the outside, such as in particular the extraction connection 15, the display unit 17 or the pressure regulator 16 (if manual operation of the pressure regulator 16 is provided), the housing 11 is each provided with an access opening. Furthermore, the extraction fitting 9 is equipped with a carrying handle 23, which serves to facilitate the transport of the compressed gas cylinder 1 and is preferably firmly but detachably connected to the housing 11.

[0027] The pressure regulator 16 upstream of the withdrawal connection 15 is fluidly connected to the gas outlet 9 of the cylinder valve 7 via a flexible connecting line 25 and enables the release of gas from the compressed gas cylinder 1 at the withdrawal connection 15 at a predetermined pressure value. The current pressure values upstream and downstream of the pressure regulator 16 are recorded by detectors not shown here and transmitted by the control unit 19 to the display unit 17, where they can be read, as can any other parameters, such as the filling pressure of the compressed gas cylinder 1 or the date of the last filling. The transmitting and receiving unit 18 transmits the location of the compressed gas cylinder 1 and any other parameters, such as the current filling pressure of the compressed gas cylinder 1, to an external control center, not shown here, via radio.From this, the transmitting and receiving unit 18 can also receive control commands, such as commands to emit a signal for location determination.

[0028] The electrical supply unit 20, permanently installed in the housing, serves to supply the electronic functional components 16, 17, 18, 19 with electrical power. It comprises a rechargeable battery (accumulator) 26, a coupling coil 27, and a rectifier 28. The battery 26 is charged wirelessly through inductive energy transfer. The coupling coil 27 serves as a receiver, which interacts with an inductive charging unit in the form of a magnetic field-generating transmitter for the wireless transmission of energy.

[0029] In principle, it would be conceivable to bring such an inductive charging unit into the near-field region of the coupling coil 27 at any time and at any location and to supply energy to the electrical supply unit 20 by way of inductive coupling; in the embodiment shown here, the charging of the battery 26 takes place simultaneously with the filling of the compressed gas cylinder 1 with gas in a filling station.

[0030] For this purpose, corresponding inductive charging units 30 are provided in a filling station 29 (here only indicated by a dot-dash line) used to fill compressed gas cylinders. These charging units are designed such that they can be inductively coupled to the coupling coil 27. Arranged in the filling station 29, in a manner known per se, is at least one supply line 31 which is fluidly connected to a gas tank (not shown here) and is equipped with a coupling connection 32 designed for connection to the withdrawal connection 15 of the compressed gas cylinder 1. An inductive charging unit 30 is arranged in the area of the coupling connection 32 on the filling station side. The inductive charging unit 30 has a charging coil 33 and is electrically connected to an alternating current source 35 via a power line 34.The inductive charging unit 30 can be permanently mounted on the coupling connection 32, but at least it is installed in such a way near the coupling connection 32 that when the compressed gas cylinder 1 is connected to the supply line 31, i.e., when the coupling connection 32 is connected to the extraction connection 15, an inductive coupling between the charging coil 33 and the coupling coil 27 can be established. The battery 26 is charged by a current flow from the alternating current source 35 generating a magnetic field in the charging coil 33, which induces a current flow in the coupling coil 27. The current flow generated in the coupling coil 27 serves, after rectification in the rectifier 25, as the charging current for the battery 26.

[0031] Since the filling of circulating compressed gas cylinders generally occurs at short intervals, typically from a few weeks to a few months, the battery 26 requires only a comparatively low charge capacity to continuously maintain the power supply to the electronic functional components 16, 17, 18, 19 during regular operation of the compressed gas cylinder 1. It can therefore be constructed comparatively small. An access opening in the housing 11 for an operator to replace the battery is also not required.

[0032] The inductive charging unit 30 and the cylinder head 10 can be equipped with suitable detachable connecting elements which, once connected to one another, ensure that the charging coil 33 and the coupling coil 27 are arranged sufficiently close to one another throughout the entire filling process to ensure wireless energy transmission. However, since this requires an additional work step during the filling of the compressed gas cylinder 1, this option is less preferred. Furthermore, the cylinder head 10 can be equipped with electronic control means (not shown here) which determine whether, during the filling of the compressed gas cylinder 1 in the filling unit 29, there is also a sufficient inductive coupling between the charging coil 33 and the coupling coil 27 to charge the battery 26. If this is not the case, they emit a corresponding acoustic or visual warning signal.

[0033] As an alternative to the inductive charging unit 30 shown here, which is installed in a filling station 29, an inductive charging unit can also be arranged on a customer-side gas supply system (not shown here). The structure in this case is similar to that shown in Fig. 1 shown, however, the filling station 29 is replaced by the customer's gas supply system and the supply line 31 is replaced by a customer's extraction line, via which the gas extracted from the gas container 1 is supplied to a consumer.

[0034] Furthermore, capacitive coupling can also be used instead of the inductive coupling shown here. In this case, the charging unit is not equipped with a charging coil, but rather with, for example, an oscillator for generating a high-frequency charging current and a first capacitor surface. The container-side coupling elements accordingly have a second capacitor surface that can be capacitively coupled to the first capacitor surface, as well as a rectifier. List of reference symbols

[0035] 1Compressed gas cylinder 2Cylinder body 3Shoulder section 4Neck ring thread 5External thread 6Internal thread 7Cylinder valve 8Valve spindle 9Gas outlet 10Cylinder head 11Housing 12Base plate 13Collar section 14- 15Withdrawal connection 16Pressure regulator 17Display unit 18Transmitter and receiver unit 19Control unit 20Electrical supply unit 21Operating element 22Handwheel 23Carrying handle 24- 25Connection cable 26Battery 27Coupling coil 28Rectifier 29Filling unit 30Inductive charging unit 31Supply cable 32Coupling connection 33Charging coil 34Power cable 35AC source

Claims

1. Gas container equipped with a withdrawal connection (15), with at least one electronic functional component (16, 17, 18) and with an electrical supply unit (20) for supplying the at least one electronic functional component (16, 17, 18) with electrical current, characterized by that the electrical supply unit (20) of the gas container (1) is equipped with a rechargeable battery (26) and with inductive or capacitive coupling elements (27, 28) for wirelessly charging the battery (26).

2. Gas container according to claim 1, characterized in that the electrical supply unit (20) is equipped with inductive coupling elements, a coupling coil (27) and a rectifier (28).

3. Gas container according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in thatas electronic functional component(s) a measuring device, a pressure regulator (16), a display unit (17) for displaying measured or input parameters, a transmitting and receiving unit (18) or a combination of several of these functional components (16, 17, 18) is / are provided.

4. Gas container according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that electronic control means are provided by means of which the charge state of the battery (26) and / or the existence of an inductive or capacitive coupling sufficient to charge the battery (26) can be detected and displayed.

5. Gas container according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a control unit (19) is provided as the electronic functional component, which is designed such that a functional test of the electronic functional components (15, 16, 17, 18, 19) is automatically carried out when a charging current flows.

6. Gas container according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a control unit (19) is provided as an electronic functional component, which is designed such that when a charging current flows, information about the charging process is automatically obtained and this information, together with information about the gas container (1), is transmitted to a control center via a transmitting and receiving unit (18).

7. Gas container according to one of the preceding claims, characterized by the design as a compressed gas cylinder (1) equipped with a cylinder head (10), in which the withdrawal connection (15), the at least one electronic functional component (16, 17, 18) and the electrical supply unit (20) are integrated in a housing (11) of the cylinder head (10).

8. Charging device for charging the battery (23) of a gas container (1) according to one of the preceding claims, which is equipped with an inductive or capacitive charging unit (30), characterized by that the charging unit (30) is arranged in a filling station (29) or in a customer-side gas supply system in such a way that when the gas container (1) is connected with its withdrawal connection (15) to a supply line (31) of the filling station or to a withdrawal line of the customer-side gas supply system, an inductive or capacitive coupling is established between the charging unit (30) and the container-side coupling elements (27, 28).

9. Charging device according to claim 8, characterized by the design as an inductive charging unit (30) which has a charging coil (33) connected to an alternating current source (35) and suitable for inductive coupling with the coupling coil (27).

10. Charging device according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that the charging unit (30) is firmly mounted on the supply line (31) of the filling station (29) or the extraction line of the gas supply system.

11. System for supplying electronic functional components (16, 17, 18) associated with a gas container (1) with electrical current, comprising a gas container according to one of claims 1 to 7 and a charging device according to one of claims 8 to 10.

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