Compact Gas Meter with Bonded Flow Units
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional gas meters require a large space and become bulky due to the separation of ultrasonic flow rate measuring units and flow passage members, leading to inaccurate flow rate measurements and increased manufacturing costs, as they need to be unnecessarily large to measure higher flow rates.
Innovation Solution
A compact gas meter design featuring multiple flow rate measuring units with a rectangular cross-sectional shape, where the units are integrally configured with bonded faces without sensor portions, allowing for accurate high-flow rate measurement and reduced size.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If ultrasonic flow rate measuring units and flow passage members are separated and connected to connection pipe, then the gas meter can accommodate multiple measuring units, but the gas meter becomes large and requires large space
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple flow rate measuring units and flow passage members into a single integrated body. The measuring units are arranged side by side within the same housing, sharing common structural elements and support mechanisms. This merging eliminates the need for separate connection pipes between units and reduces the overall volume required to accommodate multiple measuring functions.
2Adaptability or versatility
If ultrasonic flow rate measuring units and flow passage members are separated, then each unit can be independently configured, but the flow rates of gas flowing into each unit differ and measurement accuracy decreases
Solution Approach 1:
By integrating multiple measuring units within a single flow passage structure, the patent ensures that gas flows through a unified path that distributes flow evenly to each measuring unit. The shared flow passage design maintains consistent flow conditions across all units, eliminating the variability that occurs when units are separately connected to different pipes.
3Quantity of substance
If the maximum flow rate of one ultrasonic flow rate measuring unit is increased to measure higher flow rates, then the gas meter can measure higher flow rates, but the ultrasonic flow rate measuring unit becomes needlessly large
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the total flow rate measurement capability into multiple smaller measuring units that operate in parallel. Each unit measures a portion of the total flow, allowing the system to handle high flow rates without requiring individual units to be oversized. The segmented approach maintains compact unit dimensions while achieving high overall measurement capacity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The design enables miniaturization of the gas meter while maintaining accurate flow rate measurement capabilities, reducing manufacturing costs and eliminating the need for additional supporting members, thus achieving a compact and efficient gas meter.
Implementation Method 1
a method, in which ultrasonic wave propagation time is used, is used as a flow rate measuring method for ultrasonic flow rate measuring unit 9
Data Source
AI summary
A gas meter includes a meter entrance that allows a fluid to flow in, a meter exit that allows the fluid to flow out, and a flow rate measurer that measures a flow rate of the fluid. In addition, the flow rate measurer includes a plurality of flow rate measuring units having the same shape and composed of a flow passage portion with a rectangular cross section shape on the outer side and a sensor portion disposed on one face of the flow passage portion. The plurality of flow rate measuring units are integrally configured by bonding faces having no sensor portion so as to serve as bonding faces of the flow rate measuring units.