JP2872751B2 - Battery monitoring device - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a gas remaining amount monitoring device, and more particularly to a reset of a remaining amount management counter for monitoring the remaining amount of a cylinder such as an LP gas. .

(Related Art) Conventionally, a microcomputer gas meter as shown in FIG. 5 has been known as a remaining amount monitoring device for monitoring the remaining amount of a cylinder such as LP gas.

In FIG. 5, reference numeral 1 denotes a flow rate sensor for converting a gas flow rate into an electric signal, 2 denotes a cylinder replacement switch which is operated by a person when replacing the cylinder, and 3 denotes a CPU control unit which controls the remaining amount and communicates with a host system. Perform communication. Further, the CPU control unit 3
It has a U, a remaining amount management counter 5, and a memory 6 for storing the remaining amount management level.

Hereinafter, the operation of the microcomputer gas meter will be described.

(1) First, when gas is used, an electric signal corresponding to the used amount is sent from the flow sensor 1 to the CPU control unit 3, and the remaining amount management counter 5 is integrated.

(2) When the remaining amount management counter 5 reaches the remaining amount warning level in the memory 6, the CPU 4 issues an alarm to the upper system. Note that the remaining amount warning level can be set from the first to third levels, and an alarm is issued each time.

(3) When the remaining amount warning reaches the third level, the remaining amount management counter 5 is automatically reset to 0. However, in operation, the cylinder is often replaced before reaching the third level of the remaining amount warning. .

(4) Since the remaining amount management counter 5 is cleared to 0 when the cylinder replacement switch 2 is operated, the delivery staff needs to operate the cylinder replacement switch 2 when replacing the cylinder. It is necessary to operate the cylinder replacement switch 2 when the cylinder is replaced after the third level of the remaining amount warning.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) The conventional remaining amount monitoring device described above is based on the premise that all cylinders are replaced at one time. That is, the remaining amount management counter is cleared to zero.

However, in actual operation, it is necessary to replace the cylinder as soon as possible (with a cylinder usage of about 70%) in order to prevent gas exhaustion. In such a case, all cylinders are not replaced, and for example, two cylinders are used. Of these, only one is often replaced.

In such a case, according to the conventional method, first, as shown in FIG.
%, And the counter amount of the remaining amount management counter 5 also indicates 50%. Therefore, a warning is issued when the first level of the remaining amount warning is reached. Then, the replacement schedule is determined on the gas supplier side, and the replacement is performed at a later date. Then, as shown in FIG. 6 (b), the replacement is performed when the actual cylinder usage is 70%. At this time, the counter amount of the remaining amount management counter 5 also indicates 70%. Then, as shown in FIG. 6 (c), when one of the two cylinders is replaced, the cylinder replacement switch 2 is operated even though the actual cylinder usage is 20%. The counter amount of the remaining amount management counter 5 is 0
Cleared.

In this way, if the counter amount of the counter 5 is cleared to 0, an error occurs between the actual usage amount of the cylinder and the counter amount of the remaining amount management counter. There was a problem of danger.

The present invention eliminates the above problems and eliminates an error between the actual usage amount and the remaining amount management counter that occurs at the time of cylinder replacement,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a remaining amount monitoring device with higher safety against running out of gas.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides, in a remaining amount monitoring device, a cylinder, means for measuring a flow rate of gas supplied from the cylinder, and a counter for measuring the flow rate. Integrating, when the counter amount of the counter reaches a preset warning amount, means for notifying outside, and when replacing the cylinder,
Means for inputting the exchange information and the exchange amount, and means for subtracting the exchange amount from the counter amount based on the exchange information are provided.

(Operation) According to the present invention, the gas exchange amount can be subtracted from the count amount of the remaining amount management counter at the time of cylinder replacement, so that the error between the reset amount of the remaining amount management counter and the actual usage amount of the cylinder is obtained. Is eliminated, the actual gas usage amount and the remaining amount management counter can be matched, and appropriate gas remaining amount management can be performed.

(Example) Hereinafter, an example of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

 FIG. 1 is a remaining amount monitoring device showing an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in this figure, 11 is a flow rate sensor that converts a gas flow rate into an electric signal, 12 is a cylinder replacement switch that is operated by a person when replacing the cylinder, 13 is a setting device, 14 is a serial interface, and 15 is a telephone line 16. This is an NCU modem that automatically sends and communicates to the upper-level center by using it, and is controlled by the CPU.

Reference numeral 20 denotes a CPU control unit.
1, the remaining amount management counter 22, ROM2 where the program is stored
3. It comprises a RAM 24 for storing the remaining amount warning level a, the cylinder replacement amount b, and the telephone number c of the upper sensor.

Hereinafter, the operation of the remaining amount monitoring device of the present invention will be described.

(1) When the remaining amount monitoring device is started, the setting unit 13 is used to input a remaining amount warning level a, a replacement amount b of the cylinder, a telephone number c of the upper center, and the like. This data is stored in the RAM 24.

Hereinafter, as shown in FIG. 2, the remaining amount warning level is 50%, 8
Two levels of 0%, the exchange amount of cylinder is one of two (50
%).

(2) When the gas is used, the remaining amount management counter 22 is accumulated in accordance with the usage amount (see FIG. 2 (a)).

(3) When the remaining amount management counter 22 reaches the remaining amount warning level (50%), an automatic transmission is made to the upper center and a 50% alarm is transmitted (see FIG. 2 (b)).

(4) The delivery member who received the 50% warning makes a delivery plan and replaces the cylinder on the scheduled delivery date (one week later, etc.).

(5) When the cylinder is replaced, the used amount has already been reduced to about 70% (see FIG. 2 (c)).

(6) After replacing one cylinder (50%), the delivery staff [2nd
(See (d) of FIG.), The cylinder exchange switch 12 is operated.

(7) When the cylinder replacement switch 12 is operated, the remaining amount management counter 22 is reset according to the following equation (1).

Reset amount r of the remaining amount management counter = count amount m of the remaining amount management counter−replacement amount b of the cylinder b (1) “However, when the remaining amount management counter <0 in the above calculation, = 0.” As a result, the remaining amount management counter 22 becomes 20%,
No error from the actual usage occurs (FIG. 2 (e)).

 FIG. 3 is an example showing another mode of cylinder replacement.

If it is too late to replace the cylinders and the remaining level warning level has already reached the 80% warning [see Fig. 3 (a)], it is necessary to replace both cylinders. There is.

Therefore, two cylinders are exchanged (see FIG. 3 (b)).

In this case, the counter operation of the remaining amount management counter 22 becomes 30% by the first operation of the cylinder replacement switch 12 (see FIG. 3 (c)).

Next, by the second operation of the cylinder replacement switch 12, the counter value of the remaining amount management counter 22 becomes 0% (see FIG. 3 (d)).

By performing the operation twice, the remaining amount management counter 22 is cleared to 0, and there is no error with the actual remaining amount.

In the above embodiment, a plurality of cylinders are usually installed, and the replacement amount of the cylinder may not be known in advance. Therefore, the replacement amount of the cylinder set in advance is set to one cylinder. The operation of operating the cylinder replacement switch for the number of cylinders replaced has been described. However, as shown in FIG. 4, in the case where the total number of cylinders to be installed is four and a customer who replaces three of them is required. Does not necessarily operate the cylinder replacement switch for the number of replacements,
The three tubes are collectively regarded as one replacement, and the gas replacement amount is set to 75%. That is, the replacement amount b of the cylinder in the RAM 24 is set to 75% by the setting unit 13 and the remaining amount management counter 22 is set.
May be reset. That is, in FIG. 4, the actual usage amount of the cylinder is 80%, and the count amount of the remaining amount management counter 22 is also 80% (see FIG. 4 (a)). In this state, three cylinders are replaced.

In this case, according to the above equation (1), the reset amount r of the remaining amount management counter = the count amount 80% of the remaining amount management counter−the replacement amount of the cylinder 75%, which is 5%, which is equal to the actual usage amount of the cylinder. Will do.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications are possible based on the gist of the present invention.
They are not excluded from the scope of the present invention.

(Effects of the Invention) As described above in detail, according to the present invention, when replacing a cylinder, the replacement amount can be subtracted from the count amount of the remaining amount management counter. The error between the actual cylinder usage is eliminated,
Safety against running out of gas can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a remaining amount monitoring device showing an embodiment of the present invention,
2 to 4 are views showing an example of replacement of a cylinder of the remaining amount monitoring device, FIG. 5 is a configuration diagram of a conventional remaining amount monitoring device, and FIG.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of replacing a cylinder of a conventional remaining amount monitoring device. 11 …… Flow sensor, 12… Cylinder change switch, 13 ……
Setting device, 14: Serial interface, 15: NCU modem, 16: Telephone line, 20: CPU controller, 21: CPU,
22 ... remaining amount management counter, 23 ... ROM, 24 ... RAM, a ...
… Remaining amount warning level, b… Cylinder replacement amount, c… Phone number of upper center etc.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) F17C 13/02

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] (A) a cylinder; (b) means for measuring a flow rate of a gas supplied from the cylinder; (c) the flow rate is integrated by a counter, and a counter amount of the counter is set in advance. Means for notifying the outside when the warning amount is reached; (d) means for inputting the replacement information and the replacement amount when replacing the cylinder; and (e) means for converting the counter amount based on the replacement information. Means for subtracting the replacement amount.