Flow Meter With Removable Battery Cartridge and Dual Tamper Protection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing battery-powered flow meters face challenges in ensuring a long battery life and protection against tampering, particularly in commercial and industrial applications where frequent radio transmission is required, leading to high energy consumption and potential tampering risks.
Innovation Solution
A flow meter design with an exchangeable battery cartridge and dual anti-tampering elements, where the battery is housed in a removable cartridge within an electronics housing, with one part of the electronics protected by a first anti-tampering element within the housing and another part protected by a second element mounted to the flow tube, ensuring secure replacement and tamper-proof operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the battery is made non-exchangeable to prevent tampering, then protection against tampering is improved, but battery replacement becomes difficult and energy consumption cannot be optimized
Solution Approach 1:
The flow meter is divided into distinct functional modules: a flow tube element with sensors and an electronics housing with mounting side. The battery is segmented as a separate replaceable component within the electronics housing, allowing independent replacement without affecting other parts of the meter.
Solution Approach 2:
The battery is extracted from the electronics housing as a removable component. The electronics housing includes a mounting side that can be unmounted from the flow tube element, enabling the battery to be taken out and replaced without opening the flow tube or affecting the sealed structure.
2Duration of action of moving object
If radio transmission is restricted to save battery power, then battery life is extended, but data transmission reliability and communication performance deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The flow meter implements dynamic power management where the electronics can operate in different power modes. The system can switch between low-power standby mode and active transmission mode, adjusting radio transmission power and frequency based on operational requirements to optimize the balance between battery life and communication reliability.
3Reliability
If the electronics housing is permanently sealed to prevent tampering, then protection against tampering is improved, but battery replacement and maintenance become impossible
Solution Approach 1:
The device is segmented into a sealed flow tube element and an electronics housing with a removable mounting side. This segmentation allows the electronics housing to provide tamper protection while enabling authorized access for battery replacement through the unmountable mounting side design.
Solution Approach 2:
Different parts of the device have different security characteristics. The flow tube element maintains a permanently sealed structure for maximum protection, while the electronics housing incorporates a removable mounting side that provides controlled access for battery replacement, creating localized differences in accessibility and security.
Data Source
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AI summary
The present disclosure refers to a flow meter (1) comprising: - a flow tube element (3) comprising sensors configured and arranged to generate signals for measuring a fluid flow through the flow tube element (3); and - an electronics housing (5) comprising a mounting side (15), wherein the mounting side (15) is releasably mounted directly or indirectly to the flow tube element (3), wherein the electronics housing (5) accommodates a battery (21) and electronics, wherein the electronics and/or the sensors are powered by the battery (21), characterized by the battery (21) being located in a battery cartridge (33), wherein the battery cartridge (33) is arranged in an operating position within the electronics housing (5) and removable from the electronics housing (5) through the mounting side (15) when the electronics housing (5) is unmounted from the flow tube element (3); a first part of the electronics being protected against tampering by a first anti-tampering element (35) being arranged between the first part of the electronics and the battery cartridge (33) in the operating position; and a second part of the electronics being protected against tampering by a second anti-tampering element (41) being mounted directly or indirectly to the flow tube element (3) independently from the electronics housing (5), so that the second part of the electronics and the second anti-tampering element (41) remain mounted to the flow tube element (3) when the electronics housing (5) is unmounted from the flow tube element (3).