Gas meter

Abstract

To provide a gas meter capable of easily confirming that the gas has been replaced with a predetermined gas even without installing a dedicated purge detection device.SOLUTION: A gas meter 1 includes: a measuring unit 2 that measures the gas flow rate; a display unit 4 that displays according to an indicated value and a display mode; an operation unit 5 for switching the display mode; and a control unit 3 that controls input and output on the measurement unit 2, the display unit 4, and the operation unit 5. The display unit 4 has a special display mode to display integrated gas flow rate and internal information.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to the measurement and display of gas usage in a gas meter. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, gas meters have been proposed that measure gas usage and are equipped with safety features such as shutting off the gas supply if an abnormality, such as a gas leak or excessive gas usage time, is detected. When a new gas meter is installed, replaced, or maintained, the air inside the meter must be purged. For example, when replacing a residential gas meter, it is necessary to purge the air by flowing a specified amount of gas and replace it with a specified gas to prevent problems such as misfires and poor ignition of gas appliances caused by air remaining inside the meter after the gas meter replacement.

[0003] For example, in Patent Document 1, a purge detection device is attached downstream of a gas meter, and the purge detection device is used to confirm that the air inside the gas meter has been replaced with a predetermined gas. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2020-173198 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] However, in Patent Document 1, a dedicated purge detection device needs to be installed, and there is a problem that the purge operation takes time.

[0006] The present invention has been made to solve such problems, and aims to provide a gas meter that can easily confirm that the gas has been replaced with a specified gas without having to install a dedicated purge detection device. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The gas meter of the present invention comprises a measuring unit that measures gas flow rate, a display unit having a plurality of display modes with different display contents, and an operating unit for switching the display mode of the display unit, and the display unit has, as one of its display modes, a special display mode that displays the integrated value of the gas flow rate measured by the measuring unit and internal information, and when the special display mode is switched to by operating the operating unit, if no gas usage continues for a predetermined time, the special display mode is terminated, and if gas usage is detected before the predetermined time has elapsed, the special display mode is continued until no gas usage continues for the predetermined time. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] According to the present invention, it is possible to easily check the cumulative flow rate and internal information of a specified gas used by a gas meter. Therefore, for example, during air purging work at the time of installing a meter, it is possible to grasp the gas replacement status by quantitatively checking the operating information of the gas meter using the installed gas meter without having to install a separate purge detection device, thereby improving work efficiency. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram of a gas meter according to a first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] 3A and 3B are diagrams showing an example of a display on a liquid crystal display unit in accordance with the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 3] 4 is a flowchart of a special display mode in the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is a block diagram of a gas meter according to a second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 5] 10 is a flowchart of a special display mode in the second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6] FIG. 10 is a block diagram of a gas meter according to a third embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 7] 11 is a flowchart of a special display mode in the third embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0010] A first invention comprises a measuring unit that measures a gas flow rate, a display unit having a plurality of display modes with different display contents, and an operation unit for switching the display mode of the display unit, wherein the display unit has a special display mode as one of its display modes, which displays an integrated value of the gas flow rate measured by the measuring unit and internal information. When the special display mode is switched to by operation of the operation unit, if no gas is being used for a predetermined period of time, the special display mode is terminated, and if gas use is detected before the predetermined period of time has elapsed, the special display mode is continued until no gas is being used for a predetermined period of time.

[0011] As a result, by displaying the special display mode on the display unit of the gas meter, the cumulative flow rate of the gas flowing through the gas meter and internal information can be easily confirmed, making it possible to simply confirm whether the replacement with the specified gas has been completed.

[0012] In a second invention, in the first invention, the measuring unit is configured to measure the flow rate by measuring the propagation time of ultrasonic waves, and the propagation time is included as internal information displayed in the special display mode.

[0013] This makes it possible to display the propagation time measured by ultrasound as internal information in addition to the cumulative flow rate of gas flowing through the gas flow path in the special display mode. This makes it possible to easily check the specific numerical value of the propagation time without creating a new area in the display section, and makes it possible to easily determine whether the propagation time of a specified gas is stably within a specified range.

[0014] The third invention is the first and second inventions, which are provided with a memory unit that stores the integrated value of the gas flow rate measured in the special display mode and internal information in non-volatile memory, and the integrated value of the gas flow rate used during the special display mode and internal information are stored in the memory unit as special display mode information plus date and time information when the special mode ends.

[0015] This makes it possible to store the operation results of the air purging work as the work history of the air purging work when, for example, a gas meter is replaced.

[0016] The fourth invention is the third invention, further comprising a communication unit for transmitting and receiving information to and from an external device, and the special display mode information stored in the memory unit is communicated with the external device under predetermined conditions.

[0017] This allows, for example, the operation results saved as work history for air purging work when replacing a gas meter to be sent to a management center, etc., when the work is completed, making it possible to carry out air purging work even more efficiently.

[0018] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings, but the present invention is not limited to these embodiments.

[0019] (Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a gas meter according to a first embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, the gas meter 1 is composed of a measurement unit 2 that measures the gas flow rate, a display unit 4 that displays an indicator value or a display mode, an operation unit 5 that switches the display mode, and a control unit 3 that controls the operation of the measurement unit 2 and the display unit 4 and the input / output of the operation unit 5.

[0020] FIG. 2 shows an example of a display on the liquid crystal display unit according to the first embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 2(a) is an example of a display on the liquid crystal screen H1 of the display unit 4 of the gas meter 1 in normal display mode, with the indicator value displayed in the indicator value display unit H2. Fig. 2(b) is an example of a display when the display unit 4 of the gas meter 1 has switched to the special display mode, with the liquid crystal screen H1 comprising an integrated flow rate display unit H3, an internal information display unit H4, and a display mode type display unit H5 that displays the type of special display mode. In this embodiment, a return switch is used as the operation unit 5 to open a shutoff valve (not shown) that shuts off the gas flow path inside the meter.

[0021] 3 is a schematic flowchart of the special display mode executed by the gas meter 1 in embodiment 1. The gas flow rate integration operation in the special display mode will be described below with reference to FIGS.

[0022] 1 to 3, the display unit 4, which may be a liquid crystal display, displays a pointer value in a normal display mode, not a special display mode (step S1). In this state, when the control unit 3 detects that a predetermined operation has been performed using the return switch of the operation unit 5 (step S2), the display switches from the normal display mode to a first display, which is a special display mode that displays, for example, the cumulative flow rate of gas. The first display shows the initial value of the special display mode (for example, the cumulative flow rate is 0 L) (step S3).

[0023] The first display (step S3) continues until a predetermined time (for example, one minute) has elapsed (step S4: No), unless there is any new operation of the operation unit 5 (not shown), or unless it is determined that no gas is being used based on measurement by the measurement unit 2 (step S5: No).On the other hand, the first display (step S3) is interrupted if there is no new operation of the operation unit 5 and if it is determined that no gas is being used based on measurement by the measurement unit 2 (step S4: Yes), and the display unit 4 returns to displaying the normal indicator value (step S1).

[0024] Next, if the control unit 3 detects that gas is being used as measured by the measuring unit 2 while the display unit 4 is displaying the first display (step S5: Yes), the display unit 4 switches to the second display (step S6). The second display shows the cumulative flow rate based on the gas flow rate measured by the measuring unit 2 in the special display mode, and counts up in unit flow rate increments (for example, 1 L) from the initial value of the first display. Figure 2(b) is an example of the second display.

[0025] Furthermore, the second display continues for the period during which the control unit 3 determines that gas is being used based on the measurement by the measurement unit 2 (step S7: No). For example, the display continues even if the time elapsed since the display switched to the first display (step S3) or the time elapsed since the display switched to the second display (step S6) exceeds a predetermined time (1 minute). In this state, for example, when performing air purging, the work can be performed while checking the second display, and gas use can be stopped when the displayed integrated flow rate reaches a predetermined flow rate (for example, when it is expected that the air purging work has been completed).

[0026] Next, when the control unit 3 determines that no gas is being used based on the measurement by the measurement unit 2 (step S7: Yes), the display switches to the third display (step S8). The third display holds (maintains) the display of the integrated flow rate measured in the second display until the control unit 3 determines that no gas is being used based on the measurement by the measurement unit 2.

[0027] If a predetermined time (e.g., one minute) has not elapsed since the display was switched to the third display (step S9: No) and the control unit 3 determines that no gas is being used by the measurement unit 2 (step S10: No), the third display (step S8) continues. On the other hand, if a predetermined time has elapsed since the third display was started and no gas is being used (step S9: Yes), the display returns to the indicator value display (step S1). Also, if the control unit 3 determines that gas is being used by the measurement unit 2 before the predetermined time has elapsed (step S10: Yes), the display switches back to the second display (step S6). Note that the second and subsequent second displays (step S6) display an integrated flow rate obtained by adding the gas flow rate newly measured by the measurement unit 2 to the integrated flow rate held in the third display (step S8) before the display was switched to the second display.

[0028] Therefore, the special display mode can be maintained for a predetermined time even after the control unit 3 determines that no gas is being used, ensuring sufficient time to reconfirm the cumulative flow rate, etc. Furthermore, even if gas supply is stopped for a short period of time for some reason, the second display will be displayed again when gas use is resumed, allowing the purging operation to be continued.

[0029] The second and subsequent second displays may be different depending on the amount of time that has elapsed since the first (or previous) second display ended. For example, if the second second display is displayed within a predetermined time (e.g., five minutes) after the first second display ended, the integrated flow rate held in the third display may be displayed, and if the second second display is displayed after the predetermined time has elapsed, the integrated flow rate held in the third display may be discarded and the initial value at the start of the first second display may be displayed. In consideration of operability, the integrated flow rate held in the third display may be set to zero by a predetermined operation in advance.

[0030] The predetermined time for the third display may be set to a time longer than the predetermined time for the first display, if necessary. In this way, the display can be continued, so the predetermined time for the third display may be set to an optimum predetermined time suitable for air purging work, such as additional air purging or reconfirming the display. This predetermined time may also be set externally.

[0031] As described above, in the first embodiment, the display mode of the display unit 4 can be switched to the special display mode, and the integrated gas flow rate after switching to the special display mode can be displayed. As a result, when performing air purging work, for example, in gas meter replacement work, the work can be performed while checking the gas flow rate required for air purging using the display in the special display mode of the present invention, and the air purging work can be performed efficiently.

[0032] Furthermore, in the first embodiment of the present invention, internal information can be displayed in addition to the integrated gas flow rate. For example, as shown in FIG. 2(b), the integrated flow rate display unit H3 displays the integrated flow rate, and the internal data of the measurement unit 2 can be displayed in the internal information display unit H4. For example, if the measurement unit 2 measures the gas flow rate using the propagation time of ultrasonic waves, the propagation time measured by the measurement unit 2 can be displayed as internal information in a numerical value in a predetermined unit. Therefore, by displaying the propagation time in the internal information display unit H4, it is possible to perform the air purging operation while checking the stability of the propagation time on the display, further improving the accuracy of the air purging operation. Note that the internal information displayed in the internal information display unit H4 may include not only the propagation time but also the amplification based on the ultrasonic measurement and the pressure value inside the gas meter. Furthermore, if multiple pieces of internal information are to be displayed, the display in the internal information display unit H4 may be switched, for example, by a predetermined operation of the operation unit 5.

[0033] (Embodiment 2) FIG. 4 shows a block diagram of a gas meter according to the second embodiment of the present invention. The gas meter shown in FIG. 4 includes the configuration of the gas meter shown in FIG. 1, and further includes a storage unit 6 that stores special display mode information that represents the operation results in the special display mode as an operation history.

[0034] Fig. 5 is a schematic flowchart of the special display mode implemented by the gas meter 1 in the second embodiment. Below, using Fig. 4 and Fig. 5, an operation of saving special display mode information containing the operation results in the special display mode as an operation history in the storage unit 6 will be described. Note that in Fig. 5, the same operations as those in the steps shown in Fig. 3 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted below.

[0035] 5, when a predetermined time (e.g., one minute) has elapsed since the display was switched to the third display, the special display mode ends (step S9: Yes). After that, the operation history, which includes the integrated flow rate value and internal information (e.g., the aforementioned propagation time, amplification, pressure value, etc.) at the time the third display ended, plus the date and time information at that time, is saved in the storage unit 6 as special display mode information (step S11). The storage unit 6 is realized by a nonvolatile memory, and even if the battery runs out, for example, the saved special display mode information can be read out by turning on the power again.

[0036] Here, we have described an example in which special display mode information is saved when the special display mode ends, but this does not limit the target operation, and it is also possible to save information that allows understanding the progress of the air purging work process when replacing a gas meter, such as internal information and date and time information at the time the second display switches to the third display, or to save optimal information.

[0037] As described above, in this second embodiment, the special display mode information can be saved when the special display mode ends, so that, for example, the work history of the air purging work when replacing a gas meter can be efficiently recorded, thereby improving work efficiency.

[0038] (Embodiment 3) FIG. 6 shows a block diagram of a gas meter according to the third embodiment of the present invention. The gas meter shown in FIG. 6 has the same configuration as the gas meter shown in FIG. 4, and further includes a communication unit 7 for communicating the special display mode information stored in the storage unit 6 with an external device such as a management center.

[0039] Fig. 7 is a schematic flowchart of the special display mode implemented by the gas meter 1 in embodiment 3. Hereinafter, with reference to Figs. 6 and 7, an operation of communicating special display mode information containing the operation results in the special display mode as an operation history by the communication unit 7 will be described. Note that in Fig. 7, operations that are the same as those in the steps shown in Fig. 5 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof will be omitted below.

[0040] 7, when a predetermined time (e.g., one minute) has elapsed since the display was switched to the third display, the special display mode ends (step S9: Yes). Then, the accumulated flow rate value and internal information (e.g., the aforementioned propagation time, amplification, pressure value, etc.) at the time the third display ended are added with the date and time information at that time and stored in the storage unit 6 as special display mode information (step S11). Then, the communication unit 7 communicates with an external device (not shown), for example, with a management center. The special display mode information is sent to the management center and can be processed as the result of, for example, air purging work during the replacement work of the gas meter 1.

[0041] The communication of the special display mode information by the communication unit 7 may be performed under predetermined conditions. Specifically, the communication by the communication unit 7 may be terminal call communication transmitted by the gas meter 1 itself. For this call communication, either "make call communication" or "don't make call communication" may be selected in advance, and "make call communication" may be selected as needed. In this way, for example, when an air purge operation in a gas meter replacement operation is completed, the completion of the operation can be communicated as special display mode information, eliminating the need for the worker to separately communicate the results of the operation by other means, thereby improving the efficiency of the operation.

[0042] Furthermore, the management center can read other related information by center polling communication, triggered by terminal call communication, enabling even more efficient operation. Note that the management center may perform center polling communication as needed, even without using terminal call communication as a trigger.

[0043] As described above, in this third embodiment, when the special display mode ends, the special display mode information can be saved and communication with an external device can be performed. Therefore, for example, the work history of the air purging work when replacing a gas meter can be efficiently sent to a management center, etc., thereby further improving work efficiency. [Industrial Applicability]

[0044] As described above, the gas meter according to the present invention has been described with city gas as an example of a set gas type, but the subject matter of the present invention is not limited to this and includes other flammable gases such as LP gas, non-flammable gases, etc., and can also be applied to uses such as electricity meters and water meters. [Explanation of symbols]

[0045] 1 Gas meter 2. Measurement section 3. Control Unit 4 Display section 5 Control section 6 Memory section 7. Communications Department

Claims

1. a measuring unit that measures a gas flow rate; a display unit having a plurality of display modes with different display contents; an operation unit for switching the display mode of the display unit; Equipped with The display unit a special display mode that displays an integrated value of the gas flow rate measured by the measuring unit and internal information as one of the display modes; When the special display mode is entered by operating the operation unit, If no gas is used for a specified period of time, the special display mode will end. This gas meter is characterized in that, when gas use is detected before a predetermined time has passed without gas use, the special display mode continues until the predetermined time has passed without gas use.

2. 2. The gas meter according to claim 1, wherein the measuring unit is configured to measure the flow rate by measuring the propagation time of ultrasonic waves, and the propagation time is included as internal information displayed in the special display mode.

3. 3. The gas meter according to claim 1, further comprising a storage unit that stores the integrated value of the gas flow rate and internal information measured in the special display mode in a non-volatile memory, and the integrated value of the gas flow rate and internal information used during the special display mode are stored in the storage unit as special display mode information plus date and time information when the special display mode ends.

4. 4. The gas meter according to claim 3, further comprising a communication unit for transmitting and receiving information to and from an external device, and for communicating the special display mode information stored in the storage unit with the external device under predetermined conditions.

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