JP4902298B2 - Gas meter suspension unit - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a gas meter suspension unit for attaching a gas meter to a building wall or the like. In particular, the present invention relates to a gas meter-integrated gas meter suspension unit that can be downsized while suppressing the height of the unit.

Conventionally, there has been disclosed a gas meter suspension unit that supports a gas meter so as to be suspended and a gas stopper is integrally incorporated (see Patent Document 1).
The gas meter suspension unit of the same document suspends a conventional general gas meter, and is connected to an inlet side pipe and an outlet side pipe that extend upward in a row along the back side. The inlet pipe section and the outlet pipe section are provided. A gas stopper handle is provided on the front side of the inlet pipe. The plug that rotates in conjunction with the handle is housed on the front side in the inlet pipe.
JP-A-8-247304

By the way, in recent years, a small-sized ultrasonic gas meter using the property of ultrasonic waves in which the speed of ultrasonic waves propagating in the fluid changes depending on the flow velocity of the fluid is being put into practical use. However, a gas plug-integrated suspension unit that can be suitably adapted to such a small gas meter and that can also realize downsizing of the unit has not been proposed.
In the case of the configuration of Patent Document 1, although there is an advantage that the handle of the gas stopper is arranged on the front side and it is easy to operate, the stopper is arranged on the upper side on the front side of the inlet pipe portion. It is thought that it is difficult to suppress this (specific description will be described later with reference to FIG. 3).

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a gas stopper integrated gas meter suspension unit that can be reduced in size while suppressing the height of the unit.

In order to achieve the above object, the gas meter suspension unit of the present invention includes an inlet pipe part and an outlet pipe part respectively connected to an inlet and an outlet of the gas meter facing upward, and a support part for supporting both the pipe parts, A gas stopper that is incorporated into the inlet pipe and opens and closes a passage in the pipe, and the inlet pipe includes a rising pipe on the near side that rises from the inlet of the gas meter; and A traverse pipe section extending from the rise pipe section to the back side, and a fall pipe section falling from the back side of the traverse pipe section , wherein the traverse pipe section has a relatively small outer diameter. A base portion on the side and a large-diameter portion on the back side having a relatively large outer diameter, and a handle of the gas plug is disposed on the front side of the base portion of the traverse pipe portion, and the plug of the gas plug The body is placed in the large diameter part on the back side of the traverse pipe part. And a connecting member that connects the handle and the plug is disposed in a longitudinal manner in the traverse tube portion.
The “gas plug” and the “connecting member” may be integrally formed.

  In this type of gas meter suspension unit, the diameter of the portion of the inlet pipe portion that accommodates the plug body of the gas plug is generally larger than that of the other portions. In the gas meter suspension unit of the present invention, the plug is disposed on the back side of the inlet pipe (specifically, the traverse pipe). Therefore, the diameter of the portion on the near side of the traversing tube portion can be reduced, and as a result, the height of the unit can be kept low compared to the configuration in which the conventional plug is disposed on the near side. Even in this case, since the handle of the gas stopper is arranged on the front side of the inlet pipe portion, the operability is not impaired.

In the gas meter suspension unit of the present invention, the connecting member may be a thin-walled cylindrical member that slides and rotates along the inner peripheral surface of the traverse tube portion in conjunction with the operation of the handle.
According to such a configuration, a sufficient passage cross-sectional area can be ensured without significantly reducing the cross-sectional area of the gas passage in the inlet pipe, so that gas can be sent efficiently. .

  In this case, a lateral hole communicating with the passage of the rising pipe portion on the near side is further formed on the cylindrical side surface of the connecting member (thin cylindrical member), and when the handle is in the open position, the lateral hole And the passage in the rising pipe portion communicate with each other, and when the handle is in the closed position, the lateral hole and the passage in the rising pipe portion are not in communication with each other.

  Further, the handle and the cylindrical connecting member may be connected via a handle shaft that is rotatably supported by a circular hole of the inlet pipe portion and extends inward and outward of the inlet pipe portion. In this case, a good sealing performance can be ensured by fitting a sealing means such as an O-ring or a fireproof packing between the outer peripheral surface of the handle shaft and the inner peripheral surface of the circular hole.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a gas stopper integrated gas meter suspension unit that can be reduced in size while suppressing the height of the unit.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

(First embodiment)
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing an embodiment of a gas meter suspension unit according to the present invention, in which a gas meter 50 is suspended from the suspension unit 1. 2 is a front view (FIG. 2A) and a side view (FIG. 2B) of the suspension unit and the gas meter of FIG. 1.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the gas meter suspension unit 1 has a substantially U-shape (downward) with a rear end connected to a gas inlet pipe 2 and a front end connected to an inlet 51 of a gas meter 50. In the same manner, the substantially U-shaped outlet pipe portion 40 whose back end is connected to the gas outlet pipe 3 and whose front end is connected to the outlet 52 of the gas meter 50, And a support plate 48 for supporting both the pipe portions.

  The gas meter 50 used in this example is an ultrasonic type small gas meter, and is accommodated in a rectangular box-shaped housing. An inlet 51 of the gas meter 50 is disposed upward on the left side of the upper surface of the housing. The outlet 52 of the gas meter 50 is disposed upward on the right side of the upper surface of the housing. A meter display unit 55 is disposed in front of the casing, and the measurement value measured by the gas meter is displayed on the display unit 55.

The gas inlet side pipe 2 and the outlet side pipe 3 are conventional general gas pipes extending upward in parallel with each other along the building wall.
The support plate 48 is made of metal as an example, and supports the inlet pipe portion 10 and the outlet pipe portion 40 to position and fix the two pipe portions relative to each other, and both the pipe portions 10 and 40 (and the inlet side pipe 2 and It plays the role of fixing the outlet piping 3) to the building wall. A plate-like fixing portion 48a bent upward is formed on the back side of the support plate 48, and the fixing portion 48a is screwed to the building wall.

The outlet pipe section 40 shown on the right side of FIG. 1 has a conventional configuration, and is connected to the outlet 52 of the gas meter 50 and is connected to the outlet pipe section 41 on the near side and rises upward from the outlet pipe section 41. A traverse pipe portion 43 that extends horizontally and straight from the upper end to the far side, and a fall pipe portion 45 that descends downward on the far side of the traverse pipe portion 43 and whose lower end is connected to the exit pipe 3. Have.
A union nut 18 is provided at the lower end of the rising pipe 41 on the near side, and the rising pipe 41 and the outlet 52 of the gas meter 50 are connected by the union nut 18.

Next, the inlet pipe 10 and its internal structure will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4 in addition to FIG.
FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view for explaining the internal configuration of the inlet pipe section 10. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration of the inlet pipe unit 10 alone.

As shown in FIG. 4, the inlet pipe portion 10 is connected to an inlet 51 (see FIG. 1) of the gas meter and rises upward from there, and from the upper end of the riser pipe portion 11 to the back. A traverse pipe portion 13 that extends horizontally and straight to the side, and a fall pipe portion 15 that falls downward on the back side of the traverse pipe portion 13 and whose lower end is connected to the inlet side pipe 2. .
The union nut 18 is used for the connection between the rising pipe section 11 on the near side and the inlet 51 (see FIG. 1) of the gas meter, similarly to the outlet pipe section 40 side.

As shown in FIG. 4, the traverse tube portion 13 is a cylindrical portion and has an inner hole 14 through which gas passes. Specifically, the inner hole 14 includes a straight section 14a having a circular cross section that communicates with the rising pipe section 11 on the front side, and a tapered section 14b that is formed in the back and that narrows toward the labor side. Has been. This taper part 14b is a structure part in which the plug body 27 (detailed below) is accommodated, and the back-end falling pipe part 15 communicates with the taper part 14b. For the sake of accommodating the plug body 27, the inner diameter of the tapered portion 14b is larger than that of the straight portion 14a. Correspondingly, the outer diameter of the portion corresponding to the tapered portion 14b in the outer peripheral portion of the traverse tube portion 13 is relatively large (large diameter portion 13B). That is, the traverse tube portion 13 includes a base portion 13A on the near side having a relatively small outer diameter (outer diameter = d ₁ ) and a large diameter portion 13B on the back side having a relatively large outer diameter (outer diameter = d ₂ ). And divided.
A circular hole 13h through which a handle shaft 24 (detailed below) is inserted is formed in a lateral direction on the front end surface of the traverse tube portion 13.

Next, a completed state in which various parts are incorporated in the inlet pipe portion 10 will be described with reference to FIG.
As shown in FIG. 3, a cylindrical ring 25 is disposed on the straight portion 14a on the front side, and a plug body 27 is disposed on the tapered portion 14b on the back side, inside the inlet pipe portion 10. In front of the cylindrical ring 25, a round handle shaft 24 (detailed below) is passed through the circular hole 13h of the inlet pipe portion 10, and the front side of the handle shaft 24 extends outward (front side).
A handle 22 for turning the plug 27 is screwed to the end of the extended side. When the handle 22 is rotated, the handle shaft 24, the cylindrical ring 25, and the plug 27 are rotated in conjunction with the rotation.

Hereinafter, each component will be described in detail.
As shown in FIG. 3, the plug body 27 has a columnar shape in which an L-shaped passage that communicates with a passage in the downstream pipe portion 15 and a passage in the traversing pipe portion 13 is formed. It is a metal member. The plug body 27 is fitted in the taper portion 14 b of the traversing tube portion 13 in the lateral direction. The outer peripheral surface of the plug body 27 has a taper shape that narrows toward the front side (the left side in FIG. 3) corresponding to the inner peripheral surface of the tapered portion 14b. In the state where the plug body 27 is incorporated, the outer peripheral surface of the plug body 27 and the inner periphery of the tapered portion 14b are in close contact.
A disc-shaped back cover 29 is attached to the right end opening of the tapered portion 14b. A coil spring 28 is disposed in a compressed state between the back cover 29 and the bottom portion of the plug body 27 disposed sideways, and the coil spring 28 presses the plug body 27 toward the front side. The plug 27 incorporated in this manner is slidably rotatable around the axis within the tapered portion 14b.

The cylindrical ring 25 is made of metal as an example, and is a thin cylindrical member having both ends opened as shown in FIG. The outer diameter of the cylindrical ring 25 is slightly smaller than the inner diameter of the straight portion 14a of the inlet pipe portion 10, and the cylindrical ring 25 is slidably rotated within the straight portion 14a.
Two projecting pieces 25a extend straight from the open end of the cylindrical ring 25 toward the back side. One protruding piece 25a is formed on each of the left and right sides of the ring 25 at an interval of 180 °. As shown in FIG. 3, the projecting piece 25 a engages with each of the concave portions 27 a formed on the top of the plug body 27 arranged sideways. By this engagement, the plug body 27 is rotated in conjunction with the rotation of the cylindrical ring 25.

  A lateral hole 25h that communicates with a passage in the rising pipe portion 11 (see FIG. 3) is formed in a part of the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical ring 25 that is slightly closer to the front side. The contour shape of the horizontal hole 25h (referred to as a contour when projected from the upper surface side) is circular, and the size thereof is substantially the same as the inner diameter of the rising pipe portion 11.

  In the state shown in FIG. 3, the horizontal hole 25h of the cylindrical ring 25 and the passage in the rising pipe portion 11 communicate with each other, and the gas passes therethrough. From this state, the cylindrical ring 25 is rotated by a predetermined angle (eg, 90 °). If it does so, the channel | path in the riser part 11 will be obstruct | occluded by the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical ring 25, and the distribution | circulation of gas will be blocked | prevented.

As shown in FIG. 5, locking portions 26 for receiving a head 24 b of the handle shaft 24 (see FIG. 3, details below) are formed above and below the opening end on the near side of the cylindrical ring 25. The locking portion 26 is a structural portion for rotating the cylindrical ring 25 in conjunction with the rotation of the handle shaft 24. The specific structure is not limited as long as it fulfills this role, but in the present embodiment, the following configuration is adopted.
That is, the locking part 26 extends straight from the opening end on the near side of the cylindrical ring 25 to the near side, and when it extends to some extent, the U-shaped part 26a is folded back and the U-shaped part 26a is folded back. And a receiving portion 26b bent inward in the radial direction at an angle of about 90 ° at the end portion of the cut piece. The receiving portion 26b is a flat surface protruding radially inward.

Next, the handle shaft 24 will be described with reference to FIG.
The handle shaft 24 is made of metal as an example, and includes a shaft portion 24a inserted into the circular hole 13h of the inlet tube portion 10 so as to be slidable and rotatable, and a head portion 24b formed at an end portion of the shaft portion 24a. have. The handle shaft 24 is incorporated so that the head portion 24b is located inside the inlet pipe portion 10, thereby preventing the handle shaft 24 from coming off from the circular hole 13h.
The upper and lower surfaces of the head 24 b are sandwiched between the upper and lower two locking portions 26 on the front side of the cylindrical ring shown in FIG. 5 inside the inlet pipe portion 10, thereby interlocking with the rotation of the handle shaft 24. Thus, the cylindrical ring 25 rotates. The top surface (the surface on the right side in the drawing) of the head 24 b is pressed by the receiving portions 26 b of the respective locking portions 26.

As shown in FIG. 3, between the outer periphery of the shaft portion 24a of the handle shaft 24 and the inner periphery of the circular hole 13h, the sealing performance is provided by _two O-rings R ₂ and R ₃ arranged along the axial direction. It is secured. A periphery of the shaft portion 24a, the slightly near side portion than the circular hole 13h, which is fitted a large stop ring R ₁ than the outer diameter of the inner diameter of the circular hole 13, thereby, the handle shaft 24 Is prevented from being pushed further into the inlet tube 10.

  A handle 22 is screwed to the front side of the handle shaft 24. The shape and the like of the handle 22 are not particularly limited, but in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, a rectangular handle 22 is used as an example.

Next, the operation of the gas meter suspension unit and the gas meter 50 of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described.
First, as shown in FIG. 3, when the L-shaped passage in the plug body 27 communicates with the passage in the falling pipe portion 15 and the passage in the cylindrical ring 25, the outer circumference of the cylindrical ring 25 is The lateral hole 25h also communicates with the passage in the rising pipe portion 11 on the near side. As a result, the gas from the inlet side pipe 2 (see FIG. 1) along the building wall passes through the rear side falling pipe part 15, the traversing pipe line 13, and the front side rising pipe part 11 to the gas meter 50. It is sent to the inlet 51.

In the gas meter 50, the flow rate is detected by an ultrasonic method when the sent gas passes through the gas meter 50, and the detection result is displayed on the meter display unit 55.
The gas sent out from the outlet 52 of the gas meter 50 is sent to the outlet side pipe 3 via the rising pipe part 41 on the front side of the outlet pipe part 40, the traversing pipe line 43, and the rear side falling pipe line 45. .

  On the other hand, from the state of FIG. 3, for example, when the handle 22 is rotated 90 ° clockwise as viewed from the front, the handle shaft 24 connected to the handle 22, the cylindrical ring 25 at the back, and the plug body 27 at the back are Rotate 90 ° in conjunction. When the plug body 27 is rotated by 90 ° from the state shown in FIG. 3 (opened state), the passage of the falling pipe portion 15 on the back side is closed by the outer peripheral surface of the plug body 27. Further, in this state, the cylindrical ring 25 on the near side is also rotated by 90 °, so that the passage of the rising pipe portion 11 on the near side is also blocked by the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical ring 25. This prevents gas flow.

  By turning the handle 22 counterclockwise by 90 ° and returning it to the original position, the L-shaped gas passage in the plug body 27 and the passage of the rear-side falling pipe portion 15 communicate with each other again. The horizontal hole 25h of the cylindrical ring 25 communicates with the passage of the rising pipe portion 11 on the near side again. As a result, the gas flows again to the gas meter 50.

According to the gas meter suspension unit 1 of the present embodiment described above, the plug body 27 constituting the gas plug is arranged on the back side with respect to the configuration of the inlet pipe section 10. As a result, the overall height of the unit 1 is kept low.
That is, as described above with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, the portion (large diameter portion 13 </ b> B) in which the plug body 27 is incorporated in the inlet pipe portion 10 is compared with the diameter d ₁ of the other portion (base portion 13 </ b> A). As a result, the diameter (d ₂ ) is inevitably increased.
On the other hand, the rising pipe portion 11 on the near side is a part to which the union nut 18 is attached. In order to secure the movable range of the union nut 18, the pipe portion 11 needs to have a certain length.
Under such conditions, if the plug 27 is to be disposed on the near side, the large diameter portion 13B becomes the near side, and the height dimension on the near side of the inlet pipe portion 10 is the diameter d ₁ and the diameter d. The difference of ₂ will increase. Further, there is in accordance with the diameter _{d 2} of the large diameter portion 13B, the need to increase the steering wheel 22 one size. For this reason, the overall height of the inlet conduit 10 becomes higher.
On the other hand, according to the configuration of the present embodiment, the large-diameter portion 13B into which the plug 27 is incorporated is arranged on the back side, so that the height is slightly higher on the back side, Can reduce the height of the inlet pipe 10, and as a result, the height of the entire inlet pipe 10 can be suppressed, and the size of the unit can be reduced.

Next, a comparison between the configuration of the gas meter suspension unit of the present embodiment and a conventional configuration example (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-114524) will be described.
In the gas meter suspension unit (gas meter support device) of this document, the load is significantly biased toward the gas meter mounting side (front side). Therefore, in order to firmly fix the gas meter, in addition to the holding member that holds the downstream end of the primary connection pipe and the upstream end of the secondary connection pipe at a predetermined distance in the horizontal direction. Thus, it is necessary to provide a fixing means for fixing the upstream end portion of the primary connection portion and the downstream end portion of the secondary connection pipe.
On the other hand, in the configuration of the present embodiment, the plug body 27 of the gas stopper is disposed on the back side of the inlet pipe section 10 and the gas meter 50 itself is small, so that the gas meter mounting side (front side) ) Is extremely lightweight. Therefore, the support fitting (support plate 48) only needs to support the rearward compatible downcomer pipe portions 15 and 45, and the support fitting can be greatly reduced in size.

  By the way, in the case of the tapered plug body 27 (see FIG. 3) as in the present embodiment, a grease is formed between the outer peripheral surface and the inner peripheral surface at the back of the inner hole 14 (inner peripheral surface of the tapered portion 14b). Etc. is generally applied, but in some cases, the grease may drop. When the plug body 27 is disposed on the front side of the inlet pipe section 10, there is a concern that grease dropped from the stopper body 27 reaches the gas meter 50 and adversely affects the gas meter. On the other hand, when the plug body 27 is arranged on the back side as in the present embodiment, no grease adheres to the gas meter 50, so that the gas meter is not adversely affected.

In order to obtain the operation and effect of the present embodiment as described above, the plug body 27 only needs to be disposed on the back side, and a member for connecting the handle 22 and the plug body 27 (the handle shaft in the present embodiment). The shape of 26 and the cylindrical ring 25) can be variously changed.
For example, the handle 22 and the plug 27 may be connected by using a solid round bar-like connecting member (not shown). In this case, there is no need to use the cylindrical ring 25 as described above, which is advantageous in that the structure can be simplified. However, if the diameter of the rod-shaped connecting member is large, the cross-sectional area of the gas passage in the traverse pipe 13 is reduced, and there is a concern that the smooth flow of gas to the gas meter 50 may be disturbed.
Therefore, if the cylindrical ring 25 is used as in the present embodiment, the following operational effects can be obtained. That is, since the cylindrical ring 25 is a thin-walled cylindrical member, the passage cross-sectional area is sufficiently ensured without significantly reducing the cross-sectional area of the gas passage, and gas can be sent efficiently.

  Further, as described above, the cylindrical ring 25 also plays a role of closing the passage of the rising pipe portion 11 on the front side at the outer peripheral surface when the handle 22 is set to the closed position. According to such a configuration, gas leakage can be further prevented with a relatively simple configuration.

It is an external appearance perspective view which shows one form of the gas meter suspension unit of this invention. It is the front view (FIG. 2 (A)) and side view (FIG. 2 (B)) of the suspension unit and gas meter of FIG. It is sectional drawing for demonstrating the internal structure of an entrance pipe part. It is sectional drawing which shows the structure of a single inlet pipe part. It is a perspective view which shows the structure of a cylindrical ring single-piece | unit.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Gas meter suspension unit, 2 ... Inlet side piping, 3 ... Outlet side piping, 10 ... Inlet pipe part, 11 ... Rising pipe part, 13 ... Traverse pipe part, 13A ... Base part, 13B ... Large diameter part, 13h ... Circular hole, 14 ... Inner hole, 14a ... Straight part, 14b ... Tapered part 15 ... Falling pipe part, 18 ... Union nut, 22 ... Handle, 24 ... Handle shaft, 24a ... Shaft, 24b ... Head 25 ... Cylindrical ring, 25a ... Projection piece, 25h ... Horizontal hole, 26 ... locking part, 27 ... plug body, 28 ... coil spring 40 ... outlet pipe part, 41 ... rise pipe part, 43 ... traverse pipe part, 45 ... -Fall pipe part, 48 ... Support plate, 50 ... Gas meter, 51 ... Inlet, 52 ... Outlet, 55 ... Display part

Claims (5)

An inlet pipe section and an outlet pipe section connected to the gas meter inlet and outlet respectively facing upward, a support section that supports both the pipe sections, and a gas that is incorporated into the inlet pipe section and opens and closes a passage in the pipe section. A gas meter suspension unit comprising a stopper,
The inlet pipe part is
A rising pipe portion on the near side that rises from the inlet of the gas meter;
A traverse pipe portion extending from the rising pipe portion to the back side;
A falling pipe part that falls on the back side of the traverse pipe part,
The traverse tube portion has a base portion on the near side with a relatively small outer diameter and a large diameter portion on the back side with a relatively large outer diameter,
A handle of the gas plug is disposed on the front side of the base portion of the traverse tube portion, and a plug body of the gas plug is disposed on a large-diameter portion on the back side of the traverse tube portion. A gas meter suspension unit characterized in that a connecting member for connecting the plug body is arranged by cutting the inside of the traverse pipe section.   2. The gas meter suspension according to claim 1, wherein the connecting member is a thin-walled cylindrical member that slides and rotates along an inner peripheral surface of the traverse pipe portion in conjunction with an operation of the handle. unit. A lateral hole communicating with the passage of the riser portion on the near side is formed on the cylindrical side surface of the connecting member,
When the handle is in the open position, the side hole communicates with the passage in the rising pipe portion,
The gas meter suspension unit according to claim 2, wherein when the handle is in the closed position, the side hole and the passage of the rising pipe portion are not communicated with each other. The handle and the cylindrical connecting member are
It is connected via a handle shaft that is rotatably supported by the circular hole of the inlet pipe part and extends in and out of the inlet pipe part,
The gas meter suspension unit according to claim 2 or 3, wherein sealing means is fitted between an outer peripheral surface of the handle shaft and an inner peripheral surface of the circular hole to ensure sealing performance.   5. The gas meter suspension unit according to claim 4, wherein the sealing means is a fireproof packing.

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