Leakage position detection device using characteristics according to pipe material and detection method thereof

Abstract

A leakage position detection device using characteristics according to a pipe material, according to the present invention, may comprise: a first sensor unit positioned at one end of a pipe made of a first material; a second sensor unit positioned at the other end of the pipe made of a second material; a first detection unit which detects a leakage position of the pipe by using the first sensor unit on the basis of the pipe of the first material; a second detection unit which detects a leakage position of the pipe by using the second sensor unit on the basis of the pipe of the second material; a first leakage position correction unit which reflects a first correction value considering the characteristics of the first material on the leakage position detected by the first detection unit; and a second leakage position correction unit which reflects a second correction value considering the characteristics of the second material on the leakage position detected by the second detection unit.

Description

A device for detecting water leak locations using characteristics according to pipe material and a detection method thereof

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a leak location detection device and a detection method thereof, and more specifically, to a leak location detection device and a detection method thereof that utilize characteristics according to pipe material to detect a leak location in a pipe composed of different materials.

[0002] The inside of pipes such as water pipes may accumulate foreign substances through repeated use, sedimentation, accumulation, and floating, which may lead to corrosion. In addition, cracks may occur due to influences from the external environment, which may cause leakage in the pipes.

[0003] In particular, water pipes used in various buildings such as apartments, single-family homes, and buildings are made of pipes made of various materials such as polybutylene pipes, metal corrugated pipes, copper pipes, stainless steel pipes, polyethylene pipes, and cross-linked polyethylene pipes.

[0004] When a leak occurs in a water pipe, a leak detection device must be used to locate the leak. However, because the characteristics of each pipe material vary, the accuracy of a single leak detection device may vary depending on the material.

[0005] In the past, a method of detecting whether there was nitrogen leakage using a nitrogen detector was used to detect the location of a leak regardless of the material of the pipeline. However, there was a problem in that it was physically difficult to detect the exact location of a leak in the pipeline by detecting the location of the leaking nitrogen.

[0006] The embodiment of the present disclosure is proposed to solve the above-described problem, and can provide a leak location detection device and a detection method thereof using the material characteristics of different materials of the pipe, which correct the leak location measured by a plurality of sensor units and detect an accurate leak location.

[0007] The problems to be solved by the present disclosure are not limited to the problems mentioned above, and other problems not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the description below.

[0008] In order to solve the above-described problem, a device for detecting a water leak location using characteristics according to a pipe material according to the present disclosure may include: a first sensor unit located at one end of a pipe made of a first material; a second sensor unit located at the other end of a pipe made of a second material; a first detection unit for detecting a water leak location in the pipe using the first sensor unit based on the pipe made of the first material; a second detection unit for detecting a water leak location in the pipe using the second sensor unit based on the pipe made of the second material; a first leak location correction unit for reflecting a first correction value considering the characteristics of the first material to the water leak location detected by the first detection unit; and a second leak location correction unit for reflecting a second correction value considering the characteristics of the second material to the water leak location detected by the second detection unit.

[0009] In order to solve the above-described problem, the present disclosure provides a method for detecting a water leak location using characteristics according to a pipe material, the method including a first sensor unit located at one end of a pipe made of one material, and a second sensor unit located at the other end of a pipe made of a second material, the method comprising: a step of detecting a water leak location in the pipe using the first sensor unit based on a pipe made of the first material; a step of detecting a water leak location in the pipe using the second sensor unit based on a pipe made of the second material; a step of reflecting a first correction value considering the characteristics of the first material to the water leak location detected using the first sensor unit; a step of reflecting a second correction value considering the characteristics of the second material to the water leak location detected using the second sensor unit; and a step of determining an average value of the first water leak location reflecting the first correction value and the second water leak location reflecting the second correction value as a final water leak location.

[0010] According to the above-described problem solving means of the present disclosure, it is possible to detect a leak location using multiple sensor units in a pipe of different materials and to correct the detected leak location by considering the characteristics of each material, thereby providing an effect of detecting an accurate leak location.

[0011] In addition, according to the aforementioned problem solving means of the present disclosure, it is possible to provide the effect of performing more accurate leakage judgment by calculating leakage characteristic values ​​for each material by considering the pipe length and pipe characteristics of different materials.

[0012] The effects of the present disclosure are not limited to the effects mentioned above, and other effects not mentioned can be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the description below.

[0013] FIG. 1 is a block diagram briefly illustrating the configuration of a leak location detection device using characteristics according to pipe material according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0014] FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram illustrating the positions of the first sensor unit and the second sensor unit of a leak location detection device using characteristics according to pipe material according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0015] FIG. 3 is a flow chart of a method for detecting a leak location using characteristics according to a pipe material according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0016] FIG. 4 illustrates an operation process performed in a method for detecting a leak location using characteristics according to a pipe material according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0017] FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating a leak determination process of a leak location detection method using characteristics according to pipe material according to various embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0018] FIG. 6 illustrates a computing device of the present disclosure.

[0019] Throughout this disclosure, the same reference numerals denote the same components. This disclosure does not describe all elements of the embodiments, and any content that is common in the technical field to which this disclosure pertains or that overlaps between embodiments is omitted. The terms "part, module, element, block" used in the specification may be implemented in software or hardware, and depending on the embodiments, multiple "parts, modules, elements, blocks" may be implemented as a single component, or a single "part, module, element, block" may include multiple components.

[0020] Throughout the specification, when a part is said to be "connected" to another part, this includes not only direct connection but also indirect connection, and indirect connection includes connection via a wireless communication network.

[0021] Additionally, when a part is said to "include" a component, this does not mean that it excludes other components, but rather that it may include other components, unless otherwise specifically stated.

[0022] Throughout the specification, when we say that an element is "on" another element, this includes not only cases where the element is in contact with the other element, but also cases where another element exists between the two elements.

[0023] The terms first, second, etc. are used to distinguish one component from another, and the components are not limited by the aforementioned terms.

[0024] Singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

[0025] The identification codes for each step are used for convenience of explanation and do not describe the order of each step. Each step may be performed in a different order than specified unless the context clearly indicates a specific order.

[0026] The operating principle and embodiments of the present disclosure are described below with reference to the attached drawings.

[0027] As used herein, the term "device according to the present disclosure" encompasses a variety of devices capable of performing computational processing and providing results to a user. For example, the device according to the present disclosure may include a computer, a server device, and a portable terminal, or may be any one of them.

[0028] Here, the computer may include, for example, a notebook, desktop, laptop, tablet PC, slate PC, etc. equipped with a web browser.

[0029] The above server device is a server that processes information by communicating with an external device, and may include an application server, a computing server, a database server, a file server, a game server, a mail server, a proxy server, and a web server.

[0030] The above portable terminal may include, for example, a wireless communication device that ensures portability and mobility, and may include all kinds of handheld-based wireless communication devices such as a PCS (Personal Communication System), GSM (Global System for Mobile communications), PDC (Personal Digital Cellular), PHS (Personal Handyphone System), PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), IMT (International Mobile Telecommunication)-2000, CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access)-2000, W-CDMA (W-Code Division Multiple Access), WiBro (Wireless Broadband Internet) terminal, a smart phone, and a wearable device such as a watch, a ring, a bracelet, an anklet, a necklace, glasses, contact lenses, or a head-mounted device (HMD).

[0031] The artificial intelligence-related functions according to the present disclosure are operated via a processor and memory. The processor may be comprised of one or more processors. In this case, one or more processors may be a general-purpose processor such as a CPU, an AP, a DSP (Digital Signal Processor), a graphics-only processor such as a GPU or a VPU (Vision Processing Unit), or an artificial intelligence-only processor such as an NPU. One or more processors control the processing of input data according to predefined operating rules or artificial intelligence models stored in memory. Alternatively, if one or more processors are artificial intelligence-only processors, the artificial intelligence-only processor may be designed with a hardware structure specialized for processing a specific artificial intelligence model.

[0032] FIG. 1 is a block diagram schematically illustrating the configuration of a leak location detection device utilizing characteristics according to pipe material according to various embodiments of the present disclosure. Hereinafter, the leak location detection device and method according to the present disclosure will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 to 6.

[0033] At least one component may be added or deleted to correspond to the performance of the components illustrated in Figure 1. Furthermore, it will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that the relative positions of the components may be altered to correspond to the performance or structure of the system.

[0034] Meanwhile, each component illustrated in FIG. 1 refers to software and / or hardware components such as a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) and an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC).

[0035] As illustrated in FIG. 1, a leak location detection device using characteristics according to a pipe material according to the present disclosure may include a first sensor unit (111) positioned at one end of a pipe made of a first material, a second sensor unit (112) positioned at the other end of a pipe made of a second material, a first detection unit (121) for detecting a leak location of a pipe using the first sensor unit (111) based on the pipe made of the first material, a second detection unit (122) for detecting a leak location of the pipe using the second sensor unit (112) based on the pipe made of the second material, a first leak location correction unit (131) for reflecting a first correction value considering the characteristics of the first material to the leak location detected by the first detection unit (121), and a second leak location correction unit (132) for reflecting a second correction value considering the characteristics of the second material to the leak location detected by the second detection unit (122).

[0036] In addition, the leak location detection device according to the present disclosure may further include a leak location determination unit (140) that determines an average value of a first leak location reflecting the first correction value and a second leak location reflecting the second correction value as a final leak location.

[0037] As shown in Fig. 2, as an example, it is assumed that the first material is material A (11), the second material is material B (12), the pipe length of material A (11) is La, the pipe length of material B (12) is Lb, and the entire pipe length in the section where a leak occurs is L.

[0038] A first sensor unit (111) may be installed at one end of material A (11), and a second sensor unit (112) may be installed at one end of material B (12). At this time, one end of material B (12) may be an end spaced apart from material A (11).

[0039] As an example, the first sensor unit (111) or the second sensor unit (112) may be a vibration sensor. The location of the water leak can be detected using information obtained by transmitting a vibration waveform to the location of the water leak.

[0040] For example, when a leak location occurs in material A (11), the vibration waveform generated from the first sensor unit (111) passes only through material A (11) to reach the leak location, and the vibration waveform generated from the second sensor unit (112) passes through material B (12) and material A (11) to reach the leak location.

[0041] As a result, a signal passing only through material A (11) is only affected by the pipe signal characteristic value of material A (11), and a signal passing through material A (11) and material B (12) can be affected by both the pipe signal characteristic value of material A (11) and the pipe signal characteristic value of material B (12).

[0042] Specifically, when the signal size generated in the conduit of material A (11) among the total signal components generated in the entire conduit is Aa, and the signal size generated in the conduit of material B (12) among the total signal components is Ab, the signal size ratio (KA) of the conduit of material A (11) is Aa / Ab, and the signal size ratio (KB) of the conduit of material B (12) is Ab / Aa.

[0043] The speed difference correction value (KSA) considering the vibration transmission speed (Sa) of the pipe of material A (11) and the speed difference correction value (KSB) considering the vibration transmission speed (Sb) of the pipe of material B (12) can be calculated using the following mathematical equations (1) and (2).

[0044] KSA=KA * Tab / (KA+KB)....Mathematical formula (1)

[0045] KSB=KB * Tab / (KA+KB)....Mathematical formula (2)

[0046] At this time, Tab means the difference in arrival time between the signal reaching the leak location from the first sensor unit (111) and the second sensor unit (112), and the output value is a correction value that reflects the characteristics of each material by considering the degree of bias when a leak occurs in a part of the pipe of material A (11) and material B (12).

[0047] The first leak occurrence location (PA) can be calculated by considering the time (Ta) at which the signal arrives from the first sensor unit (111) to the leak occurrence location and the vibration transmission speed (Sa) of material A (11), and the first leak occurrence location (PB) can be calculated by considering the time (Tb) at which the signal arrives from the second sensor unit (112) to the leak occurrence location and the vibration transmission speed (Sb) of material B (12). The first leak occurrence location (PA) of the first sensor unit (111) and the first leak occurrence location (PB) of the second sensor unit (112) are calculated locations with respect to the entire pipe length L of the section.

[0048] Then, the actual leakage location (PAB) based on the first sensor unit (111) and the actual leakage location (PBA) based on the second sensor unit (112) can be calculated using the following mathematical equations (3) and (4). In reality, the locations are the same, but the output values ​​can be calculated according to the correction values ​​that reflect the characteristics of each material using the first sensor unit (111) and the second sensor unit (112).

[0049] PAB=KSA+PA....Mathematical formula (3)

[0050] PBA=KSB+PB....Mathematical formula (4)

[0051] Through this, the exact location of a leak can be detected by reflecting a correction value that takes into account the characteristics of each material in a pipeline made of different materials to the measured value of the sensor unit.

[0052] The above embodiment is an exemplary embodiment, and is limited to a pipe made of two materials. However, in a pipe made of multiple materials, the exact location of a leak can be detected by reflecting the properties of multiple materials.

[0053] Accordingly, in the embodiment according to the present disclosure, the first leak location correction unit (131) or the second leak location correction unit (132) can determine the first correction value or the second correction value by taking into consideration the transmission speed of the signal transmitted by the first sensor unit (111) or the second sensor unit (112).

[0054] In an embodiment according to the present disclosure, the first leak location correction unit (131) can calculate the first correction value (KSA) by reflecting the difference (KA) between the transmission speed of the signal in the first material (11) and the transmission speed of the signal in the second material (12) in relation to the signal size in the first material (11) with respect to the overall signal size of the conduit.

[0055] The second leak location correction unit (132) can calculate the second correction value (KSB) by reflecting the difference (KB) between the transmission speed of the signal in the first material (11) and the transmission speed of the signal in the second material (12) in relation to the overall signal size of the pipe.

[0056] As an example, the first material and the second material may be materials with different properties and may have different KA or KB.

[0057] Meanwhile, the leak location determining unit (140) can calculate a leak characteristic value for each pipe material by multiplying the vibration transmission speed in the first material or the second material by the length of the pipe that is the first material or the length of the pipe that is the second material among the total pipe length.

[0058] Referring to Fig. 2, the leakage characteristic value of the section pipe composed of materials A (11) and B (12) can be calculated by adding the value obtained by multiplying the vibration transmission speed (Sa) of material A (11) by the length (La / L) of material A (11) for the entire section pipe and the value obtained by multiplying the vibration transmission speed (Sb) of material B (12) by the length (Lb / L) of material B (12) for the entire section pipe.

[0059] In addition, the leak location determination unit (140) can determine whether there is a leak based on the comparison result between the reference leak value set differently depending on the material and the leak characteristic value for each pipe material.

[0060] The standard leakage value can be set by extracting it from a database of existing leakage measurement results, and more accurate leakage detection can be performed by calculating the leakage characteristic value for each pipe material.

[0061] The method for detecting a water leak location using characteristics according to a pipe material according to the present disclosure is a detection method of a water leak location detection device using characteristics according to a pipe material, including a first sensor unit (111) positioned at one end of a pipe made of one material, and a second sensor unit (112) positioned at the other end of a pipe made of a second material.

[0062] As illustrated in FIG. 3, the method may include a step (S310) of detecting a leak location in a pipe using the first sensor unit (111) based on a pipe of the first material, a step (S320) of detecting a leak location in the pipe using the second sensor unit (112) based on a pipe of the second material, a step (S330) of reflecting a first correction value considering the characteristics of the first material in the leak location detected using the first sensor unit (111), a step (S340) of reflecting a second correction value considering the characteristics of the second material in the leak location detected using the second sensor unit (112), and a step (S350) of determining an average value of the first leak location reflecting the first correction value and the second leak location reflecting the second correction value as the final leak location.

[0063] In addition, as illustrated in FIG. 4, in relation to steps (S310) and (S320), the transmission speed of the signal transmitted by the first sensor unit (111) or the second sensor unit (112) can be measured (S410).

[0064] In addition, in relation to steps (S330) and (S340), it is possible to measure and calculate the ratio of the signal size in the first material to the overall signal size of the pipe (S420), and it is possible to measure and calculate the ratio of the signal size in the second material to the overall signal size of the pipe (S430).

[0065] Then, a speed difference correction value (first correction value) considering the transmission speed in the first material can be calculated (S440), and a speed difference correction value (second correction value) considering the transmission speed in the second material can be calculated (S450).

[0066] Using the calculated result, the first correction value can be added to the leak location detected based on the first sensor unit (111) (S460), and the second correction value can be added to the leak location detected based on the second sensor unit (112) (S470).

[0067] In relation to step (S350), the final leak location can be calculated (S480) using the result values ​​obtained in steps (S460) and (S470). The exact leak location can be detected through the above-described process.

[0068] Then, referring to Fig. 5, it is possible to determine whether an actual leak is occurring at the detected leak location. Specifically, the vibration transmission speed in the first material and the second material is measured (S510), and the length of the first material and the length of the second material relative to the total length can be calculated (S520).

[0069] The product of the vibration transmission speed of the first material and the length of the first material over the total length can be added together with the product of the vibration transmission speed of the second material and the length of the second material over the total length (S530). The result of the addition is a leakage characteristic value for each pipe material.

[0070] In addition, the presence or absence of a leak can be determined based on the comparison of the leak characteristic values ​​for each pipe material with the reference leak value (S540). A more accurate determination of the presence or absence of a leak can be made by reflecting the leak characteristic values ​​for each material.

[0071] Meanwhile, FIG. 6 illustrates a computing device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure. As illustrated in FIG. 6, the water leak detection device according to the present disclosure may be implemented in the form of a recording medium storing computer-executable instructions. The instructions may be stored in the form of program code, and when executed by a processor, may generate program modules to perform the operations of the disclosed embodiments. The recording medium may be implemented as a computer-readable recording medium.

[0072] The leak detection device according to the present invention may correspond to a computing device (12), and the computing device (12) may include at least one processor (14), a computer-readable storage medium (16) including a program (20), and a communication bus (18).

[0073] Additionally, the computing device (12) may include one or more input / output interfaces (22) and one or more network communication interfaces (26) that provide interfaces for input / output devices (24).

[0074] Computer-readable storage media include all types of storage media that store instructions that can be deciphered by a computer. Examples include read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic tape, magnetic disks, flash memory, and optical data storage devices.

[0075] The disclosed embodiments have been described with reference to the attached drawings as described above. Those skilled in the art will understand that the present disclosure can be implemented in forms other than the disclosed embodiments without altering the technical spirit or essential features of the present disclosure. The disclosed embodiments are illustrative and should not be construed as limiting.

Claims

1. A first sensor unit located at one end of a pipe made of a first material; A second sensor section located at the other end of the conduit made of a second material; A first detection unit that detects a leak location in a pipe using the first sensor unit based on the pipe of the first material; A second detection unit that detects a leak location in the pipe using the second sensor unit based on the pipe of the second material; A first leak location correction unit that reflects a first correction value considering the characteristics of the first material at the leak location detected by the first detection unit; and A leak location detection device using characteristics according to a pipe material, including a second leak location correction unit that reflects a second correction value considering the characteristics of the second material at the leak location detected by the second detection unit.

2. In paragraph 1, A leak location detection device using characteristics according to pipe material, further comprising a leak location determination unit that determines an average value of a first leak location reflecting the first correction value and a second leak location reflecting the second correction value as a final leak location.

3. In paragraph 2, The above first leak location correction unit or the above second leak location correction unit A leak location detection device using characteristics according to pipe material that determines the first correction value or the second correction value by considering the transmission speed of the signal transmitted by the first sensor unit or the second sensor unit.

4. In paragraph 2, The above first leak location correction unit A leak location detection device using characteristics according to a pipe material that calculates the first correction value by reflecting the difference between the transmission speed of the signal in the first material and the transmission speed of the signal in the second material in the signal size in the first material relative to the overall signal size of the pipe.

5. In paragraph 4, The above second leak location correction unit A leak location detection device using characteristics according to a pipe material that calculates the second correction value by reflecting the difference between the transmission speed of the signal in the first material and the transmission speed of the signal in the second material in the signal size in the second material with respect to the overall signal size of the pipe.

6. In paragraph 5, The above first material and the above second material A leak location detection device utilizing the characteristics of pipe materials characterized by different properties.

7. In paragraph 2, The above leak location determination part A leak location detection device using characteristics according to a pipe material, which calculates a leak characteristic value for each pipe material by multiplying the vibration transmission speed in the first material or the second material by the length of the pipe that is the first material or the length of the pipe that is the second material among the total pipe length.

8. In paragraph 7, The above leak location determination part A leak location detection device using characteristics according to pipe material, which determines whether or not there is a leak based on the comparison result between the standard leak value set differently according to the material and the leak characteristic value according to the pipe material.

9. In paragraph 8, The first sensor unit or the second sensor unit A leak location detection device utilizing the characteristics of pipe material, characterized by being a vibration sensor.

10. A detection method of a leak location detection device using characteristics according to a pipe material, including a first sensor section located at one end of a pipe made of a first material and a second sensor section located at the other end of a pipe made of a second material, A step of detecting a leak location in a pipe using the first sensor unit based on the pipe of the first material; A step of detecting a leak location in the pipe using the second sensor unit based on the pipe of the second material; A step of reflecting a first correction value considering the characteristics of the first material at the leak location detected using the first sensor unit; A step of reflecting a second correction value considering the characteristics of the second material at the leak location detected using the second sensor unit; and A method for detecting a leak location using characteristics according to a pipe material, comprising: a step of determining an average value of a first leak location reflecting the first correction value and a second leak location reflecting the second correction value as a final leak location.

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