JP2009109256A - Appliance identification device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a technique for correctly identifying appliances from among appliances having a flow pattern caused by control characteristics and appliances having a flow pattern including factors other than control characteristics. <P>SOLUTION: An appliance identification apparatus includes a flow measuring part 2 connected to a home-use gas supply pipe for measuring the quantity of flow of gas at regular time intervals; an arithmetic processing part 3 for processing flow values outputted from the flow measuring part to detect flow change patterns; and an appliance identification part 4 for making reference to its computation results and an identification table provided with determination conditions specific to human operations stored in a storage part 5 to specify appliances in operation. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for discriminating a gas appliance to be used by using a gas meter that is installed at the entrance of a gas supply pipe in each household and measures a gas flow rate.

Conventionally, when this type of gas meter is used to identify an instrument, the instrument is specified by registering a flow rate pattern based on the control characteristics of the instrument and collating the measured flow pattern (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
JP 2003-148728 A

  However, in the conventional configuration, since the device is determined only on the basis of the flow rate pattern resulting from the control characteristics of the device, the determination system is low when a factor other than the control characteristics is included in the flow rate pattern. Had a problem.

  As a typical example, although the control of an instrument (for example, a gas table) that is manually controlled is mentioned, it only describes the characteristics when the flow rate is reduced, and the characteristics are also decisive for the instrument discrimination. It wasn't of the level to be.

  The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems, and provides a technique for correctly discriminating an appliance from an appliance having a flow rate pattern caused by control characteristics and an appliance having a flow rate pattern including factors other than the control characteristics. For the purpose.

  In order to solve the above-described conventional problem, the instrument determination device of the present invention includes a flow rate measurement unit that measures the flow rate of a gas flowing in a flow path, and an arithmetic processing unit that calculates a measured flow rate value measured by the flow rate measurement unit. And a storage unit having an appliance discrimination reference table, and an appliance discriminating unit that discriminates a gas appliance to be used by collating data between the arithmetic processing unit and the storage unit, and the arithmetic processing unit includes the plurality of flow rates. When the value is recognized in time series and recognized as a change in flow rate, and the change in flow rate is recognized as being gradual, the appliance determination unit determines that a specific gas appliance has been used.

  Therefore, it is possible to correctly determine the appliance from the characteristic that the flow rate change is stepwise.

  According to the appliance discriminating apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to reliably discriminate the appliance to be used based on a specific flow rate change or flow rate distribution.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the present embodiment.

(Embodiment 1)
In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes an appliance discrimination device. Specifically, it corresponds to a gas meter or the like.

Reference numeral 2 denotes a flow rate measurement unit, and a general flow rate measurement unit such as an ultrasonic flow rate measurement is used. Reference numeral 3 denotes an arithmetic processing unit. The arithmetic processing unit 3 stores measurement data, obtains a plurality of flow rate values obtained by the flow rate measurement unit in time series and recognizes them as flow rate changes, and obtains a distribution of representative values of a plurality of stable flow rate values. Processing is performed.

  4 is an appliance discriminating unit, 5 is a storage unit, and 6 is a display unit. 7 is a shut-off valve.

  The upstream side of the gas meter 1 is connected to the supply pipe 8, and the downstream side is connected to gas appliances such as the appliance A-9 and the appliance B-10.

  In FIG. 2, 11 is a start command, 12 is a flow measurement command, and 13 is an arithmetic processing command. Reference numeral 14 denotes a feature comparison instruction for determining whether or not there is a feature. Reference numeral 15 denotes an appliance discrimination command, and 16 denotes a discrimination processing command. Reference numeral 17 denotes a stop command. Reference numeral 18 denotes an interval processing instruction.

  FIG. 3 is an appliance discrimination reference table. Gas appliances are categorized according to the degree of influence, although human operation is involved in some way.

  (I) is for the person to adjust the gas flow directly. For example, a simple type gas table corresponds to this.

  In (II), the person sets the amount of water, temperature, etc., and as a result, the gas flow rate is adjusted. In other words, it can be said that a person indirectly adjusts the gas flow rate. Among (II), what is controlled in a stepless manner as a result is referred to as (II) -1 and what is controlled in steps is referred to as (II) -2. An example of (II) -1 is a hot water heater having advanced control, and an example of (II) -2 is a fan heater.

  The characteristic behavior of each is shown in the figure. The features of the flow rate control pattern are shown in A, B, and C. The characteristics of the appearance situation of the stable flow rate are shown in a, b and c.

  For example, when cooking with a gas table, when setting the flow rate to be increased, many people once make the flame larger than the desired set value, and then gradually reduce the gas flow rate to the desired heat level. The operation of making it constant is performed. The flow rate change at this time is the same as the adjustment operation of the heating and reducing, and this is a diagram A. This change in flow rate is different from the so-called overshoot caused by automatic control of the instrument, and is referred to herein as a beard.

In addition, in the case of cooking, there may be a situation in which the adjustment of the fire is adjusted many times, but since the adjustment of the fire at this time is not a fixed value, but occurs randomly, the stable flow rate value (Qs) of the corresponding gas ) Also occurs randomly. This is a figure of a.

  When changing the amount of water or hot water temperature with a water heater, the appliance automatically adjusts the gas flow rate to the set value operated by a person. In this case, since the control is performed steplessly, the gas flow rate is adjusted without excess or deficiency with respect to a desired set value. This is a diagram of B.

  In addition, since the amount of water and hot water temperature set by a person vary depending on the application, the appearance of a stable flow rate is also random. This is a diagram of b.

  When the set temperature is changed with a fan heater, the instrument automatically adjusts the gas flow rate to the set value operated by a person. However, in many fan heaters, since this control is performed in stages, the control pattern changes stepwise. This is a diagram of C.

  In addition, although the set temperature itself is various, in the fan heater, the maximum combustion amount and the minimum combustion amount are determined for each model and the step control stage is determined, so the possible flow rate value itself will not be random, The model concentrates on a predetermined value. This is a diagram of c.

  When the instrument A-9 is operated in FIG. 1, the flow rate / flow rate measurement unit 2 performs measurement, and a sequence based on the flowchart of FIG. 2 is executed.

  The operation is started by the start command 11, and the flow rate measurement is performed at regular time intervals by the flow rate measurement command 12. The measured data is prepared to compare this data with the features of the appliance discrimination reference table stored in the storage unit 5 by the arithmetic processing instruction 13.

  Next, the feature comparison instruction 14 is used to collate with the feature of the appliance discrimination reference table. If the feature matches one of the reference tables, the YES side is selected, and the active device is specified by the device specifying command 15. Thereafter, after the response processing command 16 performs the response processing for the determination result, the stop command 17 ends the operation.

  When the feature does not match any of the appliance discrimination reference tables by the feature comparison command 14, the NO side is selected, and after the predetermined interval period is passed by the interval command 18, the flow measurement command 12 is executed again. The same operation as above is continued.

  Assume that the target devices are a gas table, a water heater and a fan heater.

  Consider a case where the instrument A performs the operation as shown in FIG. At the time when the sixth data is acquired at the measurement points indicated by the black circles (area surrounded by a circle), the pattern of A1 coincides with FIG. However, because it is an operation performed by a person, it is possible that the pattern corresponding to Fig. A does not occur sometimes. However, if the subsequent change in flow rate is further observed, the pattern of A2 also matches that of Fig. The reliability of something can be further increased. Even if this is not the case, such monitoring can be continued and evaluation can be performed with a probability corresponding to FIG.

  Further, as a result of processing the flow rate data at this time, the appearance of the stable flow rate is as shown in FIG. FIG. 5 is a plot of representative stable flow rate values (for example, average values of stable portions) in the portions (1) and (2) in FIG. This is a random state in a low flow rate zone, and corresponds to a diagram of the instrument discrimination reference table. As a result, the operating instrument can be determined as a gas table.

  In addition, the determination probability can be further increased by using both conditions corresponding to the A diagram and the a diagram of the appliance discrimination reference table.

  Next, consider a case where the instrument A performs an operation as shown in FIG.

  In the area surrounded by a circle, the pattern of B1 matches the figure B of the appliance discrimination reference table, so that it is discriminated as a water heater candidate. The reason for being a candidate is that the C diagram also has the same pattern as B when viewed partially.

  Further, as a result of processing the flow rate data at this time, the appearance of the stable flow rate is as shown in FIG. This is a random state in a high flow rate zone, and corresponds to FIG.

  As described above, by using both conditions that correspond to the B and B diagrams of the appliance discrimination reference table, it is possible to determine that the operating appliance is a water heater.

  Next, consider a case where the instrument A performs an operation as shown in FIG.

  When the data of the circled area is acquired, the C1 pattern matches the C diagram of the appliance discrimination reference table, so that it is discriminated as a fan heater.

  Further, as a result of processing the flow rate data at this time, the appearance of the stable flow rate is as shown in FIG. This is a state in which the stable flow rate appears at a predetermined value a plurality of times, and corresponds to the figure c of the appliance discrimination reference table. As a result, the operating device can be determined as a fan heater.

  Moreover, the determination probability can be further increased by using both conditions that correspond to the C and C diagrams of the appliance discrimination reference table.

  By comparing the result of the flow rate measurement in this way with the pattern of the reference table created corresponding to the degree of influence of human operation, it is possible to discriminate the appliance.

  The result determined in this way is processed according to the purpose. When the purpose is security, when an unsafe situation occurs for the device, for example, when the device is used abnormally for a long time, a process of closing the shutoff valve 7 is performed. If the purpose is a device-specific fee, it is used to calculate the charge for using the device. In any case, when it is necessary to display the motion appliance, the display on the display unit 6 is performed in parallel with the above processing.

  As described above, since the appliance discriminating apparatus according to the present invention can discriminate the gas appliance to be used, the purpose of ensuring the safety of gas use, the appliance used such as a separate fee for gas appliances, and new charges and services according to the usage Useful for providing.

The block diagram of the instrument discrimination device in Embodiment 1 of this invention Flowchart in Embodiment 1 of the present invention Flow rate change diagram of gas appliance in Embodiment 1 of the present invention The figure of the reference table for discrimination | determination in Embodiment 1 of this invention The figure which shows the stable flow volume generation | occurrence | production situation of the gas appliance in Embodiment 1 of this invention Flow rate change diagram of different instruments in Embodiment 1 of the present invention The figure which shows the stable flow generation condition of the different instrument in Embodiment 1 of this invention Flow rate change diagram of further different instrument according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention The figure which shows the stable flow volume generation | occurrence | production situation of the further different instrument in Embodiment 1 of this invention

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Apparatus discrimination device 2 Flow measurement part 3 Operation processing part 4 Instrument discrimination part 5 Memory | storage part 8 Appliance A
9 Appliance B

Claims (4)

A flow rate measurement unit for measuring the flow rate of the gas flowing in the flow path;
An arithmetic processing unit for calculating a measured flow rate value measured by the flow rate measuring unit;
A storage unit having an appliance discrimination reference table;
An appliance discriminating unit for discriminating a gas appliance to be used by collating data between the arithmetic processing unit and the storage unit;
The arithmetic processing unit captures the plurality of flow values in time series and recognizes them as a change in flow rate,
An appliance discriminating apparatus in which the appliance discriminating unit discriminates that a specific gas appliance is used when it is recognized that the flow rate change is stepwise. A flow rate measurement unit for measuring the flow rate of the gas flowing in the flow path;
An arithmetic processing unit for calculating a measured flow rate value measured by the flow rate measuring unit;
A storage unit having an appliance discrimination reference table;
An appliance discriminating unit for discriminating a gas appliance to be used by collating data between the arithmetic processing unit and the storage unit;
The arithmetic processing unit recognizes a distribution of representative values of stable flow rate values,
An appliance discriminating apparatus in which the appliance discriminating unit discriminates that a specific gas appliance is used when it is recognized that the distribution is concentrated in the vicinity of at least one specific flow rate value. A flow rate measurement unit for measuring the flow rate of the gas flowing in the flow path;
An arithmetic processing unit for calculating a measured flow rate value measured by the flow rate measuring unit;
A storage unit having an appliance discrimination reference table;
An appliance discriminating unit for discriminating a gas appliance to be used by collating data between the arithmetic processing unit and the storage unit;
The arithmetic processing unit captures the plurality of flow values in time series and recognizes them as a change in flow rate, and also recognizes a distribution of representative values of stable flow values,
When the flow rate change is recognized as being gradual and the distribution is recognized as being concentrated in the vicinity of at least one specific flow rate value, the device determination unit determines that a specific gas device has been used. Instrument discrimination device. The appliance discriminating apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the specific gas appliance is a gas fan heater.