Gas Meter Extended Section for Stable Flow Measurement
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional gas meters with separate flow rate measurement units and shutoff valves face challenges in maintaining constant gas inflow due to the shape of the meter body, leading to unstable flow rate measurements and complicating downsizing and sealing structures.
Innovation Solution
A gas meter design with a flow rate measurement unit and shutoff valve directly connected across a minimum distance, where the lead-in or lead-out port is airtightly connected to an extended section within the meter body, ensuring constant gas flow and allowing for stable measurements regardless of the meter's shape, while enabling downsizing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the flow rate measurement unit and shutoff valve are separated, then the gas can flow freely through the meter body, but the gas inflow to the measurement unit becomes unstable due to various directions of flow and meter body shape effects
Solution Approach 1:
An extended section is introduced as an intermediary component between the shutoff valve and the flow rate measurement unit. This extended section includes a straight cylindrical portion that guides the gas flow in a single direction, preventing turbulent flow from multiple directions. The extended section acts as a flow conditioning element that ensures stable, unidirectional flow into the measurement unit while still allowing the gas to flow freely through the overall meter structure.
2Ease of manufacture
If separate openings are formed for the flow rate measurement unit and shutoff valve, then each component can be independently fitted, but the gas meter cannot be downsized and the sealing structure becomes complicated
Solution Approach 1:
The extended section is integrated directly into the meter body structure, eliminating the need for separate openings and complex sealing arrangements. The shutoff valve is fitted to the extended section, which itself is an integral part of the meter body, creating a streamlined, compact design. This merging of components reduces the overall gas meter volume while maintaining the ability to independently fit and seal the shutoff valve and measurement unit through the unified extended section structure.
Data Source
AI summary
A gas meter includes a meter body having a meter inlet into which a fluid-to-be-measured is to flow and a meter outlet from which the fluid-to-be-measured is to flow out, and an extended section extending from the meter inlet to an interior of the meter body. The gas meter further includes a flow rate measurement unit inside the meter body, the flow rate measurement unit having a measurement flow passage having a straight tubular shape, a lead-in port and a lead-out port for the fluid-to-be-measured, and a shutoff valve in an internal passage of the extended section. The lead-in port is airtightly connected to the extended section so as to communicate with the internal passage.