JPS5916644B2 - flow measuring device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a flow rate measuring device for measuring the flow rate of a fluid such as a liquid or gas, and particularly to a flow rate measuring device configured to output a periodic electrical signal according to the zero flow rate of the fluid. Related to improvements in flow rate measuring devices.

In general, as a flow rate measuring device, for example, a water meter having a configuration as shown in FIG. 1 has been widely known.

This water meter consists of a rotatable impeller 4 and a number of gears 5 that count the number of revolutions of the impeller 4 in a relay container 3 whose inlets 1 and 5 and outlet 2 are connected to water pipes (not shown). It has a structure that houses a gear mechanism 6 that operates in conjunction with the gear mechanism 6, and a display mechanism 7 that operates in conjunction with the gear mechanism 6. The impeller 4 is converted into a periodic mechanical displacement amount as
The number of revolutions of the water is cumulatively counted by a gear mechanism 6, and the result of the counting is displayed by a display mechanism 1, thereby measuring the cumulative flow rate of the water. In the water meter shown in FIG. 1, a spur gear 9 is fixed to the rotating shaft 8 of the impeller 4, and the rotational force applied to the blade portion 4a of the impeller 4 by water passing through the relay container 3 is It is transmitted to the gear mechanism 6 via the spur gear 9. And the gear mechanism 6
A pointer 10 of a display mechanism 7 is disposed on a rotating shaft 5a' of a gear 5a located at an appropriate position inside the machine, and as shown in FIG.
By pointing the scale 12 formed on the display panel 11 with the pointer 10, the cumulative flow rate of water is displayed. Here, on the bottom wall 13a of the case 13 provided to house the gear mechanism 6, etc., a flow rate adjustment plate 14, which stands upright toward the impeller 4, is fixed with screws 15 so that the mounting angle can be freely adjusted. ing. By appropriately adjusting the mounting angle of the flow rate adjustment plate 14, the flow rate of water passing through the relay container 3 per revolution of the impeller 4, that is, the unit flow rate, can be finely adjusted. In addition, the above display panel 11
The upper scale 12 indicates the window 1 formed in the relay container 3.
6, so that it can be visually observed from the outside.

The window 16 is hermetically sealed with a transparent glass plate 18 disposed through a packing 17. In the conventional water meter configured as described above, mechanical driving force for operating the gear mechanism 6 and the display mechanism 7 is provided by the rotation of the impeller 4. There is a drawback that the gear mechanism 6 and the display mechanism 7 are subjected to a large load when the impeller 4 is rotated due to the water generated.

In other words, the above load inevitably reduces the measurement accuracy of flow rate measurement, and especially when the flow rate of water passing through the relay vessel 3 is small, the measurement accuracy decreases significantly due to the above load, making measurement impossible. There is also the possibility that a situation may arise. Furthermore, as the display range of the cumulative flow rate to be measured is expanded, the number of gears 5 constituting the gear mechanism 6 must be increased, which further increases the load, thereby further improving the measurement accuracy. It will be lowered. Furthermore, in the conventional water meter, since the window 16 sealed by the glass plate 18 is provided in the relay container 3, the relay container 3 is
The glass plate 18 is likely to be damaged due to freezing of the water inside.

Also, a flow rate adjustment plate 1 for adjusting the amount of rotation of the impeller 4 is provided.
5 cannot be variably adjusted from the outside of the relay container 3, so the adjustment work is extremely difficult. Further, in the conventional water meter, since the display mechanism 7 is built into the relay container 3, the measurement result cannot be recognized unless it is installed in the same place.

Normally, a water meter is installed in each household, and it requires a great deal of time and effort for meter readers to go around checking the amount of water used in each household, especially in high-rise building complexes. In addition, water meters are usually installed in places with poor environments, such as in meter boxes buried underground, where there is a lot of moisture and dirt, so the glass plate 18 for seeing through the display panel 11 is likely to get dirty. It often becomes difficult to visually see the scale 12 formed on the display panel 11. In order to solve the problems of the conventional flow rate measuring devices as described above, the applicant has developed a flow rate measuring device configured to convert the flow rate of a fluid flowing through a relay container into a periodic electrical signal and output the signal. The device is proposed first.

(Refer to Utility Model Application No. 52-0512135.) The present invention improves this type of flow rate measuring device to improve its durability and measurement accuracy, and to greatly facilitate various operations such as manufacturing adjustment and maintenance inspection. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a flow rate measuring device with a novel configuration, including a pressure-resistant relay container disposed in the middle of a flow path for a fluid to be measured and having an opening that can be opened and closed; A measurement container having a measurement chamber with a predetermined volume, and a measurement means for converting the flow rate of a fluid passing through the measurement chamber of the measurement container into a periodic electric signal and outputting the same, the measurement means being provided. The gist of the present invention is to have a configuration in which the measurement container is removably inserted into the relay container through the opening.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings showing one embodiment.

An exploded perspective view, a cross-sectional view, and a longitudinal cross-sectional view of an embodiment of a water meter to which the present invention is applied are shown in FIGS. 3 to 5.

In this embodiment, the relay container 20 is a pressure-resistant container made of a metal material such as brass or other material with high mechanical strength, and includes a bottomed cylindrical container body 21 and an opening 22 of the container body 21. A pressure-resistant storage chamber 24 is formed from an upper lid 23 that seals the storage chamber 24.

Threaded portions 25 and 26 that are screwed into the container body 21 and the top lid 23 are formed on the peripheral wall portions 21a and 23a, and the threaded portions 25 and 26 are screwed together to form the opening 22 of the container body 21. is sealed. In addition, in order to completely seal the container, the container body 21 and the upper lid 23 are
A first sealing member 27, such as a flat ring-shaped rubber packing, is interposed between the two. Further, the container main body 21 has an inlet 28 and an outlet 29 connected to a midway portion of a water pipe (not shown) protruding from its outer peripheral wall 21a, and a flange portion of a lid 43 of a measuring container 40, which will be described later. A tapered step 31 having an inclined guide surface 30 on which 50 is placed via a second sealing member 70 such as an O-ring is formed on the inner circumferential wall 21b near the opening 22 over the entire circumference. . Here, the inlet 28 and the outlet 29 are
It communicates with the storage chamber 24 of the container body 21. Further, the upper lid 23 has a connector portion 33 protruding outward in its center portion, which has a through hole 32 through which a cable 80 electrically connected to a magnetic detection element 52, which will be described later, is inserted. . Note that 34 in the figure indicates a third seal member disposed in the connector portion 33. Next, the measurement container 40 has a predetermined volume from a bottomed cylindrical container body 41 that can be stored in the storage chamber 24 of the relay container 21 and a lid 43 for closing the opening 42 of the container body 41. The measuring chamber 44 is formed by molding a synthetic resin material such as a thermoplastic resin or a thermosetting resin.

The container main body 41 and the lid 43 have serration grooves 45a, 45b formed in the peripheral walls 41a, 43a that engage with each other, and can be positioned at any position determined by the engagement of the serration grooves 45a, 45b. Container body 41
The lid body 43 can be fitted with the lid body 43. Further, the container body 41 has a supporting shaft 46 protruding from the center portion of its bottom wall portion 41A for rotatably supporting one end of a rotating shaft 63 of an impeller 60, which will be described later. Openings 47 and 48 are formed in 41B to match the inlet and outlet 29 of the container body 21 of the relay container 20, respectively. Here, the measurement chamber 44 of the measurement container 40 is communicated with the inflow port 28 and the outflow port 29 via the respective openings 47 and 48. Further, the lid body 43 has a metal bearing part 49 embedded in its center portion that rotatably supports the other end of a rotating shaft 63 of an impeller 60, which will be described later, and a container body of the relay container 20. The flange portion 50 placed on the inclined guide surface 30 of the tapered stepped portion 31 provided in the outer peripheral portion 43a via the second seal member 70
Parallel protrusions 51 and 52 extending into the measurement chamber 44 of the measurement container 40 are connected to the lower wall 43b of the measurement container 40.
are protruded adjacent to each other so as to sandwich the bearing portion 49 therebetween. A magnetic detection element 53 for detecting magnetic flux from magnets 66a, 66b, and 66c attached to an impeller 60, which will be described later, is embedded in one of the protrusions 51 and molded with resin. Reference numeral 54 in the drawings indicates this molded portion. The impellers 60 are arranged symmetrically with each other.
A blade portion 61 is formed by molding a synthetic resin material, and has a shaft hole 62 in the center thereof through which the support shaft 46 is inserted, and a rotating shaft 63 concentric with this shaft hole 62 is installed. There is. The rotating shaft 63 has both ends connected to the supporting shaft 46 and the bearing portion 4 through pivot pins 64 and 65, respectively.
9 is rotatably supported. Each pivot pin 6 above
4 and 65 are each made of a synthetic resin material molded into a cylindrical shape having hemispherical end faces. Then, a rotating shaft 63 is brought into contact with both end surfaces of each of the pivot pins 64 and 65.
The respective end surfaces of the support shaft 46 and the bearing portion 49 are formed in a conical shape such that both end surfaces of the respective pivot pins 64 and 65 are in circular line contact. Therefore, since both ends of the rotating shaft 63 are supported via pivot pins 64 and 65, the generation of frictional heat due to rotation can be extremely suppressed, and one end of the rotating shaft 63 and the supporting shaft 4 are supported.
6 is located in the water in the measurement chamber 44 of the measurement container 40, so that the heat generated by friction is radiated through the water, and the bearing part 49 supports the other end of the rotation shaft 63.
Since it is made of metal with excellent thermal conductivity, frictional heat is radiated through the bearing portion 49 . Therefore, even if the measurement container 40 is molded from a synthetic resin material whose heat resistance is inferior to that of metal or the like, it will not be damaged by magic heat. moreover,
In the impeller 60, three magnets 66a, 66b, and 66c are embedded and disposed radially around the rotating shaft 63.

Each of the magnets 66a, 66b, and 66c is formed into a trapezoidal shape, and is prevented from separating from the impeller 60 due to the centrifugal force of the rotation of the impeller 60. The impeller 60 converts the flow rate of water passing through the measurement chamber 44 of the measurement container 40 housed in the relay container 20 into a rotational speed as a periodic mechanical displacement amount, and is integrated with the rotation shaft 63. The magnets 66a, 66b, and 66c are rotated simultaneously.

Then, each magnetic pole surface of each of the magnets 66a, 66b, 66c sequentially passes through a position facing the magnetic detection element 52, so that the magnetic detection element 53
, 66c, the impeller 60
A periodic electric signal corresponding to the rotational speed (ie, the flow rate of water) of the water is outputted via the cable 80. In this way, the periodic electrical signal outputted via the cable 80 is supplied to, for example, a counting display device (not shown) disposed separately from the relay container 20, etc., and the electrical signal is used for cumulative counting. By displaying the counting results, the cumulative flow rate of water passing through the measurement chamber 44 of the measurement container 40 can be measured and displayed. In this embodiment, each magnet 66a, 66b, 66c made of a magnetized magnetic material is disposed in the impeller 60, and changes in the magnetic flux from each of the magnets 66a, 66b, 66c are detected by the magnetic detection element 53 ( For example, the amount of rotation of the impeller 60 (i.e., the flow rate of water) is detected by using a Hall element (for example, a Hall element), but an unmagnetized magnetic material is used instead of a magnet, and a magnetic resistance A similar detection operation can be performed by using a magnetic detection element that detects a change in .

Here, the flow rate of water that provides rotational force to the impeller 60 is:
Fine adjustment can be made by arranging the protrusions 51 and 52 provided on the lid 43 of the measurement container 40.

In this embodiment, the lid body 4 having the protrusions 51 and 52 is
3 and the container body 41 of the measurement container 40 are provided with respective serration portions 45a and 45b that engage with each other, and the engagement positions of the respective serration portions 45a and 45b are arbitrarily selected to form a sixth
As shown in the figure, the arrangement position of each protrusion 51, 52 can be adjusted. Moreover, the above-mentioned flow rate adjustment is performed using the measuring container 40 provided with the protruding portions 51 and 52.
The lid body 43 is disk-shaped and has no directionality when attached to the container body 41, and each serration portion 45a, 4
By arbitrarily selecting the engagement position of 5b, the arrangement of the protrusions 51 and 52 can be changed and set very easily. Furthermore, by embedding the magnetic detection element 53 in one of the protrusions 51 and 52, the magnetic detection element 53 can be placed close to the magnets 66a, 66b, and 66c. It is possible to obtain high detection sensitivity. Incidentally, each of the protrusions 51 and 52 may be provided with one or a plurality of protrusions instead of two as in this embodiment, and the function of controlling the flow rate can be sufficiently performed. In addition, to change and set the arrangement of the protrusions 51 and 52, it is not necessary to use the engagement relationship between the serrations 45a and 45b as in this embodiment, but other means may also be used. I can do it. Further, in this embodiment, both ends of the rotating shaft 63 of the impeller 60 are rotatably supported through the respective pivot pins 64 and 65 with extremely low frictional resistance, and each of the magnets 66a and 66b , 66c are rotated integrally with the impeller 60, so that the load is extremely small, so even when the flow rate is small, the measurement error due to the influence of the load is small, and the measurement accuracy is extremely high. You can get results.

Furthermore, the measurement display range for flow rate measurement can be increased by simply expanding the operating range of the externally installed count display device.
can be expanded without increasing the load on rotation. In addition, since the measurement results are displayed by a counting display device provided externally, there is no need to form a window or the like in the relay container 20 for visually observing the inside thereof, and the relay container 20 has excellent pressure resistance. It is extremely resistant to damage due to freezing even when used in cold regions. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the relay container 20 and the measurement container 40 are formed separately, and the measurement container 40 is stored in the storage chamber 24 of the relay container 20. Meter maintenance/
During work such as inspection, the measuring container 40 can be replaced by removing the top cover 23 of the relay container 20 without removing the relay container 20 from the water pipe, improving work efficiency.

The measurement chamber 44, which is a factor in determining measurement accuracy in flow rate measurement, is formed in a measurement container 40 that is formed separately from the relay container 20, so that a predetermined volume can always be maintained by replacing the measurement container 40. It can be maintained and inspected accordingly. Moreover, since the relay container 20 only needs to maintain pressure resistance against the water pressure of the water flowing through it, the inner circumferential surface of the storage chamber 24 does not require much machining precision and can be made of a metal material with poor workability. It can be easily manufactured and its manufacturing cost can be significantly reduced. Further, since the measurement container 40 is not required to have pressure resistance, it can be sufficiently used even if a synthetic resin lacking in mechanical strength is used. Conventional water meters have a complicated and expensive structure that includes a gear mechanism for calculating the cumulative flow rate and a display mechanism for displaying the calculation results, so during maintenance and inspection work, the inside of the relay container is Although it requires time and effort to clean the surrounding surface, collect the meter body, readjust it, and use it again, in the water meter according to the present invention, the measuring container etc. are made of synthetic resin. By making it a molded product, it can be manufactured at extremely low cost and with stable quality.
Even if the measuring container etc. is simply replaced and disposable, it is sufficiently practical.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the measurement container 40 stored in the storage chamber 23 of the relay container 20 has a flange portion 50 provided on its lid body 43 via a second sealing member 70 such as an O-ring. Since the relay container 20 is stored in the storage chamber 23 of the relay container 20 while being placed on the tapered stepped portion 31 provided on the container body 21, the tapered stepped portion 31 is placed on the container body 21 of the relay container 20. It is guided by the inclined guide surface 30 formed in the section 31 and automatically positioned at a predetermined storage position. FIG. 7 shows an enlarged view of the structure of this part. Therefore, the workability of the assembly work is extremely good. Moreover, in this embodiment, since double sealing is provided by the O-ring-shaped second sealing member 70 and the flat ring-shaped first sealing member 27, occurrence of water leakage etc. can be reliably prevented. I can do it. As is clear from the description of the embodiment described above, according to the present invention, the relay container and the measurement container are formed separately, and the measurement container is housed in the relay container so that it can be freely inserted and removed. In addition, it is possible to improve workability, such as maintenance and inspection of the measuring means provided in the measurement container, and work to maintain the volume of the measurement chamber to a predetermined value, which is a factor that determines measurement accuracy. This makes it possible to maintain sufficient pressure resistance.

In addition, the flow rate of the fluid flowing in the measurement chamber can be adjusted extremely easily by the protrusion provided on the lid of the measurement container, and the measurement container can be automatically controlled by the inclined guide surface. Since it is guided to a predetermined storage position, assembly work can be performed extremely easily and accurately.

Therefore, the intended purpose can be fully achieved.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view showing the structure of a general water meter. FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the display mechanism of the water meter. 3 to 5 are an exploded perspective view, a cross-sectional view, and a vertical cross-sectional side view of one embodiment of a water meter configured to apply the present invention. FIG. 6 is a schematic plan view showing the arrangement of the protrusions in the above embodiment. FIG. 7 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing the vicinity of the inclined guide surface. 20... Relay container, 21... Container body of the relay container, 22... Opening of the relay container,
23... Top lid of relay container, 30... Inclined guide surface, 31... Step portion, 40... Measurement container, 41... Container body of measurement container, 42.
...opening of the measurement container, 43...lid of the measurement container, 45a, 45b...serration section,
50...Flange part, 51, 52...
Projection portion, 53...Magnetic detection element, 60...
... Impeller, 66a, 66b, 66c... Magnet, 70...0 ring-shaped sealing member.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. A pressure-resistant relay container disposed in the middle of a flow path for a fluid to be measured and having an opening that can be opened and closed; a measurement container housed within the relay container and having a measurement chamber of a predetermined capacity; In the flow rate measuring device comprising a measuring means for converting the volume of the fluid passing through the measuring chamber of the measuring container into a periodic electric signal and outputting the same, the measuring container has a protrusion protruding into the measuring chamber. It consists of a lid body which has a section and is fixed at any rotational position, and a bottomed cylindrical container body whose opening is closed by the lid body, and the flow rate of the fluid flowing in the measurement chamber is controlled by the above-mentioned projection. 1. A flow rate measuring device characterized in that it is configured to be adjustable by a strip. 2. The measurement container is made of molded synthetic resin material, has a magnetic detection element embedded in a protrusion provided on the lid, is placed in the measurement chamber, and converts the flow rate of the fluid into a periodic mechanical displacement amount. 2. The flow rate measuring device according to claim 1, wherein the flow measuring device is configured to detect a change in magnetic flux from a magnet that rotates integrally with the impeller using the magnetic detection element. 3. The flow rate measurement device according to claim 2, wherein the measurement container is removably housed in a pressure-resistant metal relay container. 4. A pressure-resistant relay container disposed in the middle of the flow path of the fluid to be measured and having an opening that can be opened and closed; In a flow rate measuring device comprising a measuring means for converting the flow rate of a fluid passing through a measuring chamber of a measuring container into a periodic electric signal and outputting the same, the measuring container has a 0 protrusion around the entire circumference. The relay container is provided with a step portion on which the flange portion is placed via a sealing member, and at least one of the opposing wall surfaces of the flange portion and the step portion is formed into an inclined guide surface. 5. A flow rate measuring device, characterized in that the measuring container accommodated in the relay container is positioned by the inclined guide surface;