JPH0743124B2 - Gas supply equipment abnormality detection device - Google Patents

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a gas supply facility abnormality detection device for detecting abnormality of a pressure regulator which is an LP gas supply facility.

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in order to prevent explosion accidents due to gas leaks and fire accidents due to forgetting to turn off gas appliances, etc., gas leaks and gas appliance usage time are monitored in gas meters, and gas appliances continue to be used for a long time. In such a case, it is judged that the gas appliance has been forgotten to be turned off, and a gas shutoff device that shuts off the gas supply has been installed, and safety is being secured downstream from the gas meter. On the other hand, for safety management from the upstream side of the gas meter, that is, from the LP gas cylinder to the gas meter, conventionally, a person had to visit the site once every two years to perform a safety check.

An outline of such conventional safety management will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a safety check means in a conventional gas supply facility. In FIG. 2, 1 is an LP gas cylinder, 2 is a main valve of the cylinder, 3 is a pressure regulator, 4 is a gas meter, 5 is a gas instrument, 6 is a pressure gauge, and 7 is a pen recorder.

The operation of the safety check means in the conventional gas supply facility configured as described above will be described with reference to FIG. Every two years, a person visits the site, connects the pressure gauge 6 in the middle of the gas pipe between the pressure regulator 3 and the gas meter 4, and measures the gas pressure inside the gas pipe by the pen recorder 7. The pressure adjusting capability of the pressure adjuster 3 is checked. The gas shutoff valve in the cylinder main plug 2 and the gas meter 4 is opened, and the gas pressure is measured by the pressure gauge 6 with the gas instrument 5 in a normal use state. If the measured gas pressure is between 230 and 330 mmH ₂ O, it is normal, and if not, it is determined that the pressure regulator 3 is out of order.

As another conventional example, the pressure regulator 3 has a built-in pressure detection means 8 for detecting the gas pressure in the gas supply equipment, and the pressure regulator 3 is integrated with the gas meter 4 to provide a flow rate detection means in the gas meter 4. There is a device that determines whether or not there is an abnormality in the gas supply equipment based on the signal from the pressure detection means 8 when the gas is being used based on the signal from 9.

Problems to be Solved by the Invention However, in the above-described configuration, it is necessary for each person to go to the site and install a check device to perform a safety check, which has a problem that it takes time and effort.

Further, when the pressure regulator 3 and the pressure detecting means 8 are built in and the pressure regulator 3 is integrated with the gas meter 4, the gas meter 4 is larger and heavier than the pressure regulator 3 and is a weighing device. Positioning is done by piping,
Since it is necessary to fix the gas tightly, the mounting position of the gas is restricted, and the high pressure hose portion from the cylinder 1 to the pressure regulator 3 becomes long and the risk of gas leakage increases.

Furthermore, the gas meter 4 is arranged on the pressure regulator 3 to be integrated,
If the pipe is installed near the cylinder 1, the pipe to the gas meter 4 will be connected in the air, which may increase the danger.

Therefore, there is a problem in that there is a possibility that the cylinder 1 cannot be installed in the vicinity of the cylinder 1 because the degree of freedom in installation is reduced.

In view of the above problems, it is a first object of the present invention to be able to automatically check the abnormality of a pressure regulator.

Further, the second purpose is to separate the pressure regulator 3 from the gas meter 4 so as to reduce the risk of gas leakage and to give the installation place of the gas meter 4 a degree of freedom.

Means for Solving the Problems In order to solve the above problems, the gas supply equipment abnormality detection device of the present invention is a pressure detection means for detecting the gas pressure in the gas supply equipment downstream of the pressure regulator that is the gas supply equipment. A flow rate detecting means for detecting a flow rate flowing through the gas supply facility,
Two signals, a signal from the pressure detecting unit and a signal from the flow rate detecting unit, are input, and a determination unit that determines whether or not there is an abnormality in the gas supply facility and an abnormality alarm or an abnormality notification based on the signal from the determination unit Alternatively, there is provided an output means for displaying an abnormality or shutting off the gas passage, and the pressure detection means, the flow rate detection means, the determination means, and the output means are built in the gas meter.

Action The present invention automatically detects the gas pressure and flow rate in the gas supply facility by the above-described configuration, and compares the gas pressure when the gas is flowing with a certain level to detect an abnormality of the pressure regulator. can do.

Therefore, it is possible to automatically check the gas supply equipment without a person going to the site.

Also, since the pressure regulator can be installed in the immediate vicinity of the cylinder, the high pressure hose can be shortened as much as possible, and since the place where the gas meter is installed does not have to be limited to the vicinity of the gas cylinder, the gas meter should be firmly fixed in a place where it is easy to install. It can be attached.

Embodiment Hereinafter, a gas supply facility abnormality detection device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a gas supply facility abnormality detection device according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1, 1 is an LP gas cylinder, 2 is a main valve of the cylinder, 3 is a pressure regulator, 4 is a gas meter, 5 is a gas appliance, 8 is a pressure sensor as a pressure detecting means, and 9 is a flow rate sensor as a flow rate detecting means. , 10 is determination means, 11 is output means, 12 is a comparator, 13 is a comparator, 14 is a gate circuit, and 15 is a timer circuit. The blocks having the same functions as in FIG. 2 of the conventional example are given the same numbers.

The operation of the gas supply facility abnormality detection device that is one embodiment of the present invention configured as described above will be described below. It should be noted that depending on how the determination means 10 is configured, it is possible to cope with two abnormalities, the maximum pressure abnormality (when it exceeds 330 mmH ₂ O) and the minimum pressure abnormality (when it is 230 mmH ₂ O or less).

(1) In the case of maximum pressure abnormality detection When the pressure adjusting function of the pressure adjuster 3 is operating normally, the gas pressure in the gas supply equipment is
It is kept between 230 and 330 mmH ₂ O.

The comparator 12 in FIG. 1 is set to output when the output of the flow sensor 9 exceeds a certain level. The comparator 13 is set to output when the output of the pressure sensor 8 exceeds 330 mmH ₂ O. Gate circuit 14
Is a comparator only when there is a signal from the comparator 12.
The output of 13 is transmitted to the timer circuit 15. Therefore, the signal of the pressure sensor 8 is transmitted to the timer circuit 15 only when the flow sensor 9 has a signal of a certain level or more, and if the pressure is 330 mmH ₂ O or more, the timer circuit 15 operates. The timer circuit 15 is configured to output a signal to the output means of the next stage only when there is a signal for a certain time or more in order to remove noise.
The output means 11 that has been notified of the abnormality notifies the person of the abnormality by turning on or blinking an LED, or gives an alarm to the management center by using a telephone line or the like. Alternatively, the gas cutoff valve provided in the gas supply facility is operated to stop the gas supply.

(2) When the minimum pressure or more is detected It is conceivable that the pressure on the downstream side of the pressure regulator 3 may drop when the cylinder is replaced. Therefore, it is impossible to judge from the pressure information alone whether the pressure regulator 3 is out of order or the pressure drops due to cylinder replacement or the like. Therefore, in the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 1, the information of the pressure sensor 8 and the information of the flow rate sensor 9 are used. The comparator 12 is set to output when the output of the flow sensor 9 exceeds a certain level.
The comparator 13 is set to output when the output of the pressure sensor 8 exceeds 230 mmH ₂ O. Gate circuit
Reference numeral 14 transmits the output of the comparator 13 to the timer circuit 15 only when there is a signal from the comparator 12. Therefore, only when the flow sensor 9 has a signal of a certain level or higher, the pressure sensor 8
Signal is transmitted to the timer circuit 15, and if the pressure is 230 mmH ₂ O or less, the timer circuit 15 operates. The timer circuit 15 is configured to output a signal to the output means of the next stage only when there is a signal for a certain time or more in order to remove noise. The output means 11 that has notified the abnormality notifies the person of the abnormality by lighting or blinking an LED, or gives an alarm to the management center by using a telephone line or the like. Alternatively, the gas cutoff valve provided in the gas supply facility is operated to stop the gas supply.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the pressure detecting means for detecting the gas pressure in the gas supply equipment on the downstream side of the pressure regulator which is the gas supply equipment, and the flow rate flowing through the gas supply equipment are detected. A flow rate detecting means, a determining means for determining whether or not there is an abnormality in the gas supply facility by inputting two signals, a signal from the pressure detecting means and a signal from the flow rate detecting means, and a signal from the determining means. With the configuration of the output means operated by the above, it is possible to determine the gas pressure when there is a gas flow rate, that is, when the gas combustion device is being used, and detect the maximum pressure abnormality and the minimum pressure abnormality of the pressure regulator.

The gas supply facility abnormality detection device of the present invention may be incorporated in the gas meter 4.

In particular, if the gas supply facility abnormality detection device is built in the gas meter 4 separately from the pressure regulator 3, the pressure regulator 3 can be installed near the cylinder 1 and the high pressure hose can be shortened as much as possible to reduce the risk of gas leakage. , Gas meter 4
Since there is no need to limit the place of installing the gas meter to the vicinity of the cylinder 1, the gas meter 4 can be firmly fixed and installed in a place where it can be easily installed.

The pressure sensor 8 may be anywhere on the downstream side of the pressure regulator, for example, between the gas meter 4 and the gas appliance. Further, the flow rate sensor 9 is from the LP gas cylinder 1 to the gas appliance 5
It does not matter where it is set between. For example, a fluidic flow element may be used as a flow rate sensor on the upstream side of the pressure regulator. The determination means 10 is
It may be realized by software logic of a microcomputer.

The setting level of the comparator 13 may be automatically set by learning the pressure adjustment range of the pressure adjuster 3 during normal operation.

It should be noted that the determination means for detecting the maximum pressure abnormality and the determination means for detecting the minimum pressure abnormality may be provided in parallel.

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION As described above, according to the present invention, the pressure detecting means for detecting the gas pressure in the gas supply facility on the downstream side of the pressure regulator which is the gas supply facility, and the flow rate detection for detecting the flow rate flowing through the gas supply facility. Means and a signal from the pressure detection means and a signal from the flow rate detection means as input, a determination means for determining whether or not there is an abnormality in the gas supply facility, and an operation based on the signal from the determination means It is possible to provide a gas supply facility abnormality detection device that can detect a pressure adjustment abnormality such as a maximum pressure abnormality or a minimum pressure abnormality and notify the person by providing the output means.

Also, the gas supply facility abnormality detection device can be installed with the pressure regulator 3 near the cylinder 1, and the high pressure hose can be shortened as much as possible.
The risk of gas leakage can be reduced, and since the place where the gas meter 4 is installed does not need to be limited to the vicinity of the cylinder 1, the gas meter can be firmly fixed and installed in a place where it is easy to install.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a gas supply facility abnormality detection device according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a conventional block diagram. 1 ... LP gas cylinder, 2 ... cylinder main valve, 3 ... pressure regulator, 4 ... gas meter, 5 ... gas appliance, 6 ... pressure gauge, 9 ... flow sensor, 10 ... determination means, 11 ...... Output means, 12, 13 …… Comparator, 15 …… Timer circuit.

Front page continuation (72) Inventor Takuo Shimada 1006 Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Prefecture Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (72) Hiroshi Horii 1006 Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Matsuda Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (72) Invention Takeshi Shimotani 1006 Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Prefecture, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (72) Takashi Tanahashi 1006 Kadoma, Kadoma City, Osaka Prefecture (56) Reference: JP-A-2-197713 (JP, A) JP-A-63-203167 (JP, A)

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A pressure detecting means for detecting a gas pressure in a gas supply facility downstream of a pressure regulator which is a gas supply facility, a flow rate detecting means for detecting a flow rate flowing through the gas supply facility, and the pressure detecting means. Two signals, a signal from the means and a signal from the flow rate detecting means, are used as inputs, and a determining means for determining whether or not there is an abnormality in the gas supply equipment, and an abnormality alarm or an abnormality notification or abnormality based on the signal from the determining means It has a display or an output means for shutting off the gas passage, and the pressure detection means, the flow rate detection means, the determination means, and the output means are built in a gas meter, and the pressure regulator and the gas meter are separated. Abnormality detection device for gas supply equipment. 2. The determination means is configured to determine that the signal is abnormal when the signal from the flow rate detection means is above a certain level and the signal from the pressure detection means is above a certain level. Gas supply equipment abnormality detection device. 3. The system according to claim 1, wherein when the signal from the judging means or the flow rate detecting means is higher than a certain level and the signal from the pressure detecting means is lower than a certain level, it is judged as abnormal. Gas supply equipment abnormality detection device. 4. The pressure detecting means for automatically setting the detection level by learning the pressure adjusting range of the pressure adjuster when the signal from the flow rate detecting means is above a certain level. 3. The gas supply equipment abnormality detection device according to 3.