JPH1116079A - Indication gauge for monitoring equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an improved instruction gauge in which a gauge pointer can be accurately read on the image pickup screen of an ITV camera, and the normality and abnormality of the operating state of an equipment to be monitored can be easily judged without necessitating any complicate picture processing software, and without being affected by any surrounding condition on operation in an indication gauge for monitoring an equipment applied to an automatic patrol checking system. SOLUTION: An indication gauge for monitoring an equipment accessory to a set equipment such as a substation is photographed by an ITV camera loaded on a patrol robot, and the indicated value of the gauge is read from the picture so that the operating state of the equipment can be monitored. In this case, a pointer 3 of the indication gauge is provided with a colored pointer mark 6 with a large area in the neighborhood of the top end, and a shielding sheet 7 for holding the pointer mark behind in an area beyond the upper limit and lower limit values of the normal operation range of an equipment to be monitored which is set on scales is provided on the gauge face so as to be combined with the pointer mark 6.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an indicator for monitoring equipment attached to equipment such as substations and plant equipment, and more particularly, to reading an indicator value of an instrument with an ITV camera mounted on a patrol robot and displaying the image on the image. The present invention relates to an indicating instrument applied to an automatic patrol inspection system configured to monitor an operation state of a device by reading an indicated value of the device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In large-scale substations and plant facilities, development and introduction of equipment diagnosis systems for important equipment have been promoted recently in order to rationalize maintenance work, but on the other hand, there are equipments that cannot be covered by the system. The importance of daily patrols and inspections, in which the operating status of equipment and equipment is directly visually checked on site, is also important.

[0003] In the past, such patrol inspection work at the site has been carried out by the maintenance staff in the past, but recently, in order to save labor and increase the efficiency of the work, the maintenance patrol has recently been carried out. An automatic patrol inspection system has been developed and put into practical use, in which an ITV camera is mounted on a traveling patrol robot to perform on-site patrol inspection work. In this automatic inspection and inspection system, an ITV camera mounted on a patrol robot photographs the facilities and equipment in the office and displays the image on a monitor television in a central monitoring room remote from the site to provide inspection information. In addition to the inspection items, in addition to monitoring the appearance abnormality of the equipment, dial type thermometer, pressure gauge,
The reading of analog indicating instruments such as oil level gauges is read, and based on the readings, the operating status of the monitored device is judged as normal or abnormal in cooperation with the higher-level equipment diagnosis expert system, and the range of steady operation is determined. It also issues an alarm when the vehicle deviates.

In this case, it is difficult to accurately read the indicated value of an indicating instrument attached to the device from the input image (original image) captured by the ITV camera. Extraction,
A technique is employed in which the outline of the pointer is emphasized and extracted by making full use of image processing techniques such as differential processing, and the angle and indication value of the pointer are calculated and read.

[0005]

By the way, the readings of the indicating instruments such as the dial type thermometer, the pressure gauge and the oil level gauge attached to the outdoor equipment such as the substation, the normal operation of the monitored equipment, and the like. In order to perform the abnormality judgment with the above-mentioned automatic patrol inspection system, complicated image processing software and a diagnosis support system are required on the system, and there are great restrictions depending on the operation and surrounding conditions as described below. receive.

That is, the above-mentioned indicating instrument such as a thermometer generally has an outer diameter of several to several tens cm, a tapered pointer has a width of about several mm, and a glass plate is fitted on the instrument surface. Have been. FIG. 10 is a view showing the structure of a conventional general dial-type thermometer, in which 1 is a main body case of the instrument, 2 is a scale plate, 3 is a pointer, 4 is a see-through glass plate fitted on the front surface thereof, 5 is a glass holding frame. In addition, some instruments are provided with an alarm guide that gives an index of an upper limit or a lower limit to the steady operation range of the monitored device, in addition to the main guide for reading the indicated value.

Therefore, when an image of the indicating instrument attached to the facility or equipment in the office is taken by an ITV camera mounted on a patrol robot, the direction of the camera is inclined with respect to the instrument surface, or the indicating instrument and the ITV camera are If the distance is too long, it will be difficult to accurately capture and recognize the pointer position on the image captured by the ITV camera. In addition, with the indicating instruments attached to equipment installed outdoors, halation may occur on the glass surface (instrument surface) due to the reflection of sunlight,
Conversely, if the instrument surface is shaded or the background (eg, electric wires, surrounding tree branches, etc.) is reflected on the glass surface, the input image of the ITV camera becomes unclear,
Even if image processing is performed, it is actually very difficult to emphasize and extract the pointer and accurately read the indicated value.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and solves the above-mentioned problems with an instrument for monitoring an instrument applied to the above-mentioned automatic inspection and inspection system, and does not require complicated image processing software. In addition, it is possible to accurately capture and recognize the pointer of the instrument on the imaging screen of the ITV camera, while being hardly affected by the surrounding conditions during operation. It is an object of the present invention to provide an indicating instrument improved so that it can be determined.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, the indicating instrument of the present invention is configured as follows. (1) In accordance with the pointer of the indicating instrument, IT
A pointer mark serving as a photographing sign of the V camera is provided.

(2) In the above item (1), the pointer mark has at least a wider area than the pointer and is a flag whose surface is colored. (3) A transparent antireflection sheet is attached to the surface of the see-through glass fitted to the front of the instrument. (4) Except for the normal operation range of the monitored device set on the scale of the instrument, a shield cover that hides the pointer mark behind it is provided on the front of the instrument corresponding to the area exceeding the upper and lower limits of the instrument. .

(5) In the above item (4), the shielding cover is an opaque cover having a color different from that of the pointer mark. (6) The upper limit of the shielding cover of (7) above,
A see-through hole is opened near the lower limit value setting end to view the pointer mark from the front. (7) In the preceding paragraph (7), the shielding cover is divided into two for setting the upper limit value and for setting the lower limit value, and each divided cover is individually variably attached.

(8) In the above item (4), the above upper limit,
Attach the lower limit setting cover to the front of the transparent auxiliary case attached to the main body case of the indicator. (9) In the above item (4), the upper and lower limit setting covers are directly attached to the main body case of the indicating instrument. (10) A reflection surface serving as an outline marker is formed on the peripheral edge of the front surface of the main body case.

According to the indicating instrument having the above-described structure, a pointer mark having a larger area and a color than that of the pointer functions as a pointer marker when photographing with the ITV camera. The transparent anti-reflective sheet attached to the instrument surface prevents halation due to the reflection of sunlight or the reflection of the background, and furthermore, a reflection surface is formed on the peripheral edge of the front surface of the instrument body to form a reflection surface of the instrument. The outline is emphasized. Therefore, when the indicating instrument is attached to the monitoring device and the pointer of the indicating instrument is read on an image taken by the ITV camera of the patrol inspection system, it is almost restricted by ambient conditions such as the orientation of the ITV camera and solar radiation conditions. It is possible to clearly capture and recognize the indicating instrument and its pointer on the image of the ITV camera without using complicated image processing software.

In addition, except for the normal operation range of the monitoring device set on the scale of the instrument, a shield cover for covering a pointer mark on the front of the instrument behind the instrument corresponding to an area exceeding the upper and lower limits of the operation is covered. By wearing, the operating status of the monitored device is normal or abnormal depending on whether the pointer mark can be recognized on the screen without directly reading the scale reading on the image captured by the ITV camera. Can be directly determined.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the drawings of each embodiment, the same members corresponding to FIG. 10 are denoted by the same reference numerals. Embodiment 1 FIG. 1 shows the structure of an embodiment of the present invention for a dial-type temperature indicator. In the drawing, a pointer 3 is provided near the tip of a sword-shaped pointer 3 incorporated in an instrument.
Pointer mark 6 having an area that is several times larger than the width of
Is installed. The pointer mark 6 is a flag made of a lightweight aluminum foil having a diameter of about 10 to 15 mm, and the surface of the pointer mark 6 is colored with high saturation and lightness. 3 is attached near the tip. The shape of the pointer mark 6 is not necessarily required to be circular, but may be rectangular. Further, the pointer mark 6 can be formed on a part of the pointer 3 without being a separate part.

On the front surface of the transparent glass plate 4 fitted on the front surface of the instrument, a shield sheet (shield cover) 7 for covering the pointer mark 6 on the back side except for a specific range on the scale is attached. I have. The shielding sheet 7 is a scale that exceeds the upper limit H and lower limit L of the temperature corresponding to the steady operation range of the monitored device set on the scale, that is, the warning level value for operation of the monitored device as a threshold. An aluminum sheet or an opaque plastic sheet covering the instrument surface of the area, which is given a high-brightness matte color with a different hue so as to be distinguished from the above-mentioned pointer mark 6 and the background color of the scale plate 2. I have. The pointer mark 6 is located near the upper limit value H and the lower limit value L with respect to the shielding sheet 7.
Window holes 7a and 7b for peeping the front from the front are opened. The shapes of the window holes 7a and 7b may be circular or elliptical, or may be band-like, and the opening range thereof is appropriately set according to the operating alert zone of the monitored device.

In this configuration, if the monitored device is in a steady operation state, the pointer 3 of the instrument indicates the scale of the area not covered by the shielding sheet 7, so that the entire pointer mark 6 can be seen from the front. In addition, the pointer mark 6 has a larger area than the pointer 3, and its coloring is high in saturation and brightness, and is hardly affected by ambient conditions such as shade and background reflection.
The position of the pointer can be clearly captured and recognized without performing complicated image processing on the imaging screen of the ITV camera mounted on the patrol robot.

On the other hand, if the equipment temperature rises or falls to a cautionary level beyond the steady operation range for some reason, the pointer mark 6 overlaps the edge of the shielding sheet 7 as shown in FIG. If it is hidden or if the temperature rises or falls further, it completely hides behind the shielding sheet 7 and becomes invisible. Therefore, depending on the size of the pattern of the pointer mark 6 recognized on the image taken by the ITV camera or the condition of whether or not the pointer mark 6 can be recognized through the window holes 7a and 7b of the shielding sheet 7, It is possible to immediately determine whether the operating state is normal or abnormal. Moreover, in this case, it is not necessary to directly read the tapered scale indication value of the pointer 3 on the screen, and accurate detection and determination can be performed even if the solar radiation condition is somewhat poor. In addition, the window holes 7a and 7b opened in the shielding sheet 7 are not always necessary, and may be omitted.

FIG. 3 shows a modification of the first embodiment. In this embodiment, the shielding sheet 7 has a diameter larger than that of the glass plate 4 and floats from the surface of the glass plate 4. And attached to the end face of the glass plate holding frame 5. As a result, the upper limit of the operating range of the monitored device,
When the shielding sheet 7 is reattached in accordance with the change in the setting of the lower limit, the handling becomes easy. Reference numeral 7c denotes a notch groove for draining rainwater collected in the gap between the shielding sheet 7 and the glass plate 4 from the bottom.

Embodiment 3 FIG. 4 shows an embodiment corresponding to claim 3 of the present invention in which reading of the pointer is further facilitated by improving the above-mentioned embodiment. In addition to the above configuration, a transparent antireflection sheet 8 is adhered to the surface area of the glass plate 4 not covered with the shielding sheet 7.

The anti-reflection sheet 8 is, for example, a transparent non-reflection film (polyester resin film) having a thickness of about 100 μm with a matte surface, and by attaching the anti-reflection sheet 8 to the glass plate 4. Eliminating the effects of halation due to the reflection of sunlight or the reflection of the background, visual inspection of the maintenance staff and capture and recognition of the pointer mark 6 by photographing with the ITV camera are further ensured.

Embodiment 4: FIG. 5 shows an improved embodiment according to claim 10 of the present invention, in which when an indicating instrument is photographed by an ITV camera, the outline of the indicating instrument is emphasized on the screen to facilitate capture and recognition. In this embodiment, a reflection surface 9 is formed on a front end surface of a glass holding frame 5 provided on a peripheral edge of a front surface of the main body case 1. The reflection surface 9 is formed by applying a reflection tape or applying a reflection paint, for example, and has different hues, saturations, and different colors so as to be distinguished from the pointer marks 6 and the shielding sheet 7 described in the above embodiment. High brightness coloring is applied. The reflecting surface 9 serves as a marker for emphasizing the outline of the entire indicating instrument, and can improve the accuracy of capturing the indicating instrument and the pointer on the imaging screen of the ITV camera.

Embodiment 5 FIG. 6 shows an applied embodiment of Embodiment 1 described above. In this embodiment, two pointer marks 6A and 6B having different colors are provided on the pointer 3 at shifted positions, and each of the pointer marks 6A and 6B is provided.
The upper and lower limit value setting portions of the shielding sheet 7 corresponding to the movement locus of the step 7 correspond to the window holes 7a and 7b of the first embodiment.
d, 7e are formed.

With this configuration, when the temperature of the device to be inspected rises or falls to the alert zone beyond the normal operation range, one of the pointer marks 6A and 6B is hidden behind the shielding sheet 7, and the ITV Only the pointer mark 6A is captured and recognized on the imaging screen of the camera. Further, when the temperature further rises or falls beyond the alert zone, both the pointer marks 6A and 6B are hidden behind the shielding sheet 7 and are not recognized. Therefore, the normal or abnormal operation state of the monitored device can be accurately determined from the change in the recognition pattern of the pointer mark as in the first embodiment.

Embodiment 6: FIGS. 7 and 8 show an embodiment corresponding to claims 7 and 8 of the present invention in which the upper limit and lower limit of the operation of the inspected equipment can be individually and variably set. In this embodiment, a bowl-shaped auxiliary case 11 made of a transparent material is placed on the front side of the main body case 1 of the indicating instrument, and the case 11 is divided into two parts on the front side to be monitored. The fan-shaped shielding covers 12A and 12B for individually setting the upper and lower limits of the operating range of the above are superimposed on the front and rear, and are supported on the shaft pin 13, and the shielding covers 12A and 12B are individually Are supported so as to be movable in the direction of the arrow. The front surface of the auxiliary case 11 has an antireflection sheet 8 similar to that described in the third embodiment (see FIG. 4).
The auxiliary case 11 is fixed to the side surface of the main body case 1 of the indicating instrument via a screw 14.
Further, the respective shielding covers 12A and 12B are individually moved and adjusted to set the upper limit value and the lower limit value, and are locked and fixed to the side surface of the auxiliary case 11 by the set screw 15.

With this configuration, the upper and lower limits of the operation range can be arbitrarily set on the indicating instrument in accordance with the specifications and operating conditions of the monitored device. Embodiment 7: FIG. 9 shows an embodiment corresponding to claim 9 of the present invention, which is an application of the embodiment 6. That is, in the sixth embodiment, the two divided shield covers 12A and 12B for setting the upper limit and the lower limit are attached to the auxiliary case 11, whereas in this embodiment, the two divided shield covers 12A interconnected by the shaft pin 13 are provided. , 12B are directly attached to the side surface of the indicating instrument main body case 1 via fixing screws 14. The functions of the shielding covers 12, 12B are the same as in the sixth embodiment.

[0027]

As described above, according to the indicating instrument of the present invention, the following effects can be obtained. (1) When an indicating instrument attached to a facility or equipment such as a substation is photographed by an ITV camera mounted on a patrol robot, when reading the pointer of the indicating instrument from the image and monitoring the operation status of the monitored device, It is possible to accurately capture and recognize the pointer of the indicating instrument without requiring complicated image processing software, and in operation, almost without being restricted by ambient conditions such as solar radiation and shooting distance.

(2) In particular, in addition to the pointer mark provided on the pointer, an ITV camera is provided by using various means such as an anti-reflection sheet attached to the glass surface and a reflection surface formed on the periphery of the front surface of the case. When extracting instruments and their pointers on the image pickup screen, the effects of halation and background reflection due to solar radiation conditions can be reduced. (3) An ITV camera is provided by providing a shield cover for hiding the pointer mark on the front of the meter corresponding to the area exceeding the upper and lower limits of the steady operation range of the monitored device set on the scale of the meter. Without the need to read the indicator value on the instrument scale on the image of
Abnormality can be determined immediately.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing a configuration of an indicating instrument corresponding to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an indication state when a monitored device exceeds an operation upper limit value in the indicating instrument of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a front view showing a configuration of an indicating instrument according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a front view showing a configuration of an indicating instrument according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a front view showing a configuration of an indicating instrument according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a front view showing a configuration of an indicating instrument according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an external perspective view showing a configuration of an indicating instrument corresponding to a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a partial sectional view of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is an external perspective view illustrating a configuration of an indicating instrument corresponding to a seventh embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is an external perspective view showing a conventional configuration of an indicating instrument exemplifying a dial thermometer.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Body case of indication case 2 Scale plate 3 Pointer 4 Transparent glass plate 5 Glass holding frame 6 Pointer mark 7 Shielding sheet 8 Antireflection sheet 9 Reflective surface 11 Auxiliary case 12A Shielding cover for setting upper limit value 12B Shielding for setting lower limit value cover

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification code FI G12B 11/04 G12B 11/04 S

Claims (10)

[Claims] An instrument for monitoring a device attached to an installed device such as a substation or a plant facility. The instrument is photographed by an ITV camera mounted on a patrol robot, and the indicated value of the instrument is read from the image. An apparatus monitoring instruction for applying to an automatic patrol inspection system for monitoring the operation state of an apparatus, wherein a pointer mark serving as a photographing sign of an ITV camera is provided near a tip of the pointer of the indicating instrument. Instrument. 2. The indicating instrument according to claim 1, wherein the pointer mark has at least a wider area than the pointer, and is a flag whose surface is colored. 3. The indicating instrument according to claim 1, wherein a transparent anti-reflection sheet is attached to a surface of a transparent glass fitted to a front surface of the instrument. . 4. The indicating instrument according to claim 1, wherein the indicator exceeds the upper and lower limits except for the steady operation range of the monitored device set on the scale of the indicator. An indicator for monitoring equipment, wherein a shielding cover for hiding a pointer mark behind the indicator is provided on the front of the instrument. 5. The indicating instrument according to claim 4, wherein the shielding cover is an opaque cover having a color different from that of the pointer mark. 6. An indicator for monitoring equipment according to claim 4, wherein a see-through hole is provided in the shield cover near the upper and lower limit setting ends thereof so that the pointer mark can be viewed from the front. Instrument. 7. The indicating instrument according to claim 4, wherein the shielding cover is divided into two for setting an upper limit value and for setting a lower limit value, and each divided cover is individually variably mounted. Monitoring indicating instrument. 8. The indicating instrument according to claim 7, wherein the upper limit,
An indicator for monitoring equipment, wherein a lower limit setting cover is attached to a front surface of a transparent auxiliary case which is attached to a main body case of the indicator. 9. The indicating instrument according to claim 7, wherein the upper limit,
An indicator for monitoring equipment, wherein a cover for setting a lower limit is attached to a main body case of the indicator. 10. The indicating instrument according to claim 1, wherein a reflecting surface serving as an outline marker is formed on a peripheral edge of a front surface of the main body case.