JP3335480B2 - In-pipe flow meter - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an in-pipe type flowmeter which is installed in a pipeline such as a water supply system by using a rising portion such as a fire hydrant or an air valve in the pipeline.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG.
The following are known. Here, reference numeral 1 denotes a pipeline buried underground, which is used as a water supply. A manhole 2 is provided in the middle of the pipeline 1 from the ground surface toward the pipeline 1, and a fire hydrant 3 branched from the pipeline 1 is provided inside the manhole 2.

[0003] An ultrasonic in-pipe type flowmeter 4 is provided using a fire hydrant 3. The flow meter 4 has a tubular body 5 inserted through the inside of the fire hydrant 3 from the manhole 2 into the inside of the pipe line 1. An arm 6 in the tube axis direction is provided. An ultrasonic sensor 7 is provided at an upstream position and a downstream position in the tube of the arm 6 at a distance in the tube axis direction. Each ultrasonic sensor 7 is attached to the arm 6 so as to be oblique to the tube axis direction. Ultrasonic waves 8 emitted from one sensor 7 are reflected at the bottom of the tube and input to the other sensor 7. Thus, the flow rate of the fluid in the pipe can be detected.

In the flow meter 4 having such a configuration, the ultrasonic waves 8 emitted from one sensor 7 are transmitted to the other center 7.
When it is input properly, the sensitivity is best. Therefore, each sensor 7 is configured such that the mounting angle with respect to the arm 6 can be adjusted in order to obtain the best sensitivity according to the condition of the pipeline 1 to be installed.

[0005]

However, in such a conventional in-pipe type flowmeter 4, when the mounting angle of the sensor 7 is adjusted, the open / close type arm 6 is opened so that it can pass through the inside of the fire hydrant 3. , And the sensor 7 must be taken out of the fire hydrant 3 together with the arm 6, and the adjustment operation must be performed outside the pipe, which is extremely troublesome. In particular, when the adjustment is not completed by one operation, it is necessary to take out the tube outside and reinsert it into the tube many times, and there is a problem that workability is remarkably poor.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve such a problem and to make it possible to easily adjust the angle of the ultrasonic sensor.

[0007]

In order to achieve this object, the present invention provides an insert which is inserted into a pipe in a radial direction of the pipe and has an arm in the axial direction of the pipe at an end thereof. An ultrasonic sensor is provided at each of the downstream positions, these ultrasonic sensors are configured to be rotatable around an axis in a direction orthogonal to the tube axis direction, and a rotating member that is integrally rotatable with each ultrasonic sensor is provided. An operating rod is inserted in the pipe radial direction into the pipe along the insert, and a connecting link for connecting the operating rod and the rotating member is provided, and the operating rod is moved in the axial direction to perform the connection. The rotation angle of the ultrasonic sensor can be adjusted via a link and a rotation member.

[0008]

According to this structure, the operating rod is moved outside the tube in the axial direction while the insert or the arm is kept at a predetermined installation position without being taken out of the tube. The ultrasonic sensor is rotated around the axis via the rotating member, and its angle is adjusted.

[0009]

1 to 3, reference numeral 11 denotes an in-pipe type flow meter according to the present invention, which is an outer cylinder 12 inserted into the pipe from outside the pipe through the above-described fire hydrant and the like, and an inside of the outer cylinder 12 And an inner cylindrical body 13 which is concentrically disposed on the outer cylindrical body 12 and is movable relative to the outer cylindrical body 12 in the axial direction. A block 14 is attached to the lower end of the outer cylinder 12, and the inner cylinder 13 can slide inside the block 14 while being sealed by an O-ring 15. A similar block 16 is also attached to the lower end of the inner cylinder 13.

[0010] A pair of plate-like downwardly directed outer brackets 18 are attached to the outer surface of the block 14 of the outer cylindrical body 12.
These outer brackets 18 are arranged so as to sandwich the block 16 of the inner cylinder 13. A pair of similar inner brackets 19 are attached to the outer surface of the block 16 of the inner cylindrical body 13, and these inner brackets 19 are arranged close to the inner surface of the outer bracket 18.

A pair of arms 20 are provided between the inner brackets 19 in the pipe axis direction. Each arm 20 is formed in a frame shape, and its base end is rotatably supported at the lower end of the inner bracket 19 by a pin 21 in a direction orthogonal to the tube axis direction. In addition, a long hole 28 is formed in each arm 20 at a position closer to the distal end than the pin 21.
These slots 28 have pins at the lower end of the outer bracket 18
Another pin 22 provided in parallel with 21 is engaged.

Therefore, each arm 20 is
19, the inner cylinder 13 is the outer bracket 18, ie the outer cylinder
By moving relative to the axial direction with respect to 12, the state of opening in the pipe axis direction as shown in FIG. 1 and the upward rotation around the pin 21 from the state of FIG. 1 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. Opening and closing can be switched to a closed state so as to approach each other. As in the case shown in FIG. 4, the arm 20 is closed when inserted into the pipe, and is opened when measuring the flow rate of the fluid in the pipe.

A pair of ultrasonic sensors 23 are provided in each of the frame-shaped arms 20, that is, in the upstream portion of the upstream arm 20 and the downstream portion of the downstream arm 20. These ultrasonic sensors 23 are formed in a disk shape, and can reflect ultrasonic waves emitted from one downstream sensor at the bottom of the tube and input the reflected ultrasonic waves to one upstream sensor, and the other upstream sensor. Similarly, the ultrasonic wave emitted from can be input to the other sensor on the downstream side. That is, the ultrasonic wave is transmitted in both directions of the upstream side and the downstream side so that the flow velocity of the fluid in the pipe can be measured.

Each ultrasonic sensor 23 is rotatably supported at both ends in the radial direction in a frame-shaped arm 20 by pins 24 in a direction perpendicular to the tube axis direction. In each sensor 23, a base end of a rotation lever 25 rotatable integrally with the sensor 23 is attached at a position corresponding to the pins 24 at both ends. Each of the rotation levers 25 is formed to have the same length, and the tip ends of the pair of rotation levers 25 in each sensor 23 are connected to a connecting rod 27 parallel to the pin 24.
Are connected to each other. In addition, adjacent connection rods 27 in one and the other arms 20 are connected by the connection link 26 to form a parallel link. Therefore, these one and the other arm
In 20, when any one of the sensors 23 is rotated around the pin 24, the other sensors 23 can be rotated by the same angle accordingly.

An operation rod 29 extending in the longitudinal direction of the inner cylinder 13 is arranged at the center of the inner cylinder 13. The lower end of the operation rod 29 extends further downward through the block 16 and is sealed by an O-ring 30 at the block 16 so as to be movable relative to the inner cylinder 13 in the axial direction. . The upper end of the operating rod 29 projects further upward than the outer cylinder 12 and the inner cylinder 13 outside the tube. The upwardly projecting portion can be operated manually or by an appropriate actuator for the above-described axial movement.

In the upstream and downstream arms 20,
One end of a connection link 31 is rotatably connected to the connection rod 27 closer to the center of each flow meter. The other ends of the pair of connecting links 31 are rotatably connected to the lower end of the operating rod 29 by pins 32 in a direction perpendicular to the tube axis direction. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 33 denotes a sensor cable, which is led from the outside of the tube to the sensors 23 through the inside of the inner cylindrical body 13.

According to such a configuration, as shown in FIG. 1, the present flow meter 11 is installed at a predetermined position and the
When the operating rod 29 is moved in the axial direction in the state in which is opened, displacement of the connecting link 31 in the turning direction and the length direction is caused accordingly. Then, by the displacement in the longitudinal direction of the connecting link 31, each rotation lever 25, that is, the ultrasonic sensor 23 is rotated around the pin 24, and the rotation angle of each ultrasonic sensor 23 is simultaneously adjusted by the same angle. Become.

Therefore, while operating the operating rod 29 and monitoring the output of the ultrasonic sensor 23, it is possible to optimally adjust the rotation angle of the ultrasonic sensor 23 so as to maximize the sensitivity. Moreover, this adjustment does not need to be performed after the flowmeter is taken out of the tube as in the conventional case, and can be extremely easily performed with the present flowmeter 11 installed at a predetermined position in the pipeline.

When the flow meter 11 is taken out of the tube, the inner cylinder 13 is moved relative to the outer cylinder 12 in the axial direction as shown in FIGS. However, at this time, it is not necessary to perform any special operation on the operation rod 29 or the like.
Only the posture changes.

[0020]

As described above, according to the present invention, the rotation angle of the ultrasonic sensor can be adjusted via the connecting link and the rotating member by moving the operation rod outside the tube in the axial direction. The angle of the ultrasonic sensor can be easily adjusted while holding the flow meter at a predetermined installation position without taking it out of the tube.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a flow meter according to an embodiment of the present invention as viewed from the front.

FIG. 2 is a front sectional view showing a closed state of the flow meter.

3 is a cross-sectional view of the flow meter in the state of FIG. 2 when viewed from a side.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an installation state of a conventional in-pipe type flowmeter.

[Explanation of symbols]

 12 Outer cylinder 13 Inner cylinder 20 Arm 23 Ultrasonic sensor 25 Rotating lever 29 Operating rod 31 Connecting link

Continuation of front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G01F 1/66

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. An arm in the axial direction of a pipe is provided at the distal end of an insert inserted radially into the pipe, and ultrasonic sensors are provided at upstream and downstream positions of the arm in the pipe, respectively. The ultrasonic sensor is configured to be rotatable around an axis in a direction orthogonal to the tube axis direction, and a rotating member that is integrally rotatable with each ultrasonic sensor is provided, and is inserted in the tube radial direction into the tube along the insert. An operation rod is provided, and a connecting link for connecting the operating rod and the rotating member is provided. By rotating the operating rod in the axial direction, the rotation angle of the ultrasonic sensor is transmitted through the connecting link and the rotating member. An in-pipe type flowmeter characterized in that the flow rate can be adjusted.