JPS6143653B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides, for example, an original pipe opening/closing function that is connected and arranged in a supply pipe of propane gas used as fuel or an explosive pressure gas similar to it to supply and cut off the gas. In addition, the present invention relates to a gas leak detection device having a gas leak detection function that automatically operates based on a change in gas pressure generated from inside a gas supply pipe when an abnormal gas leak occurs.

Conventional gas leak detection means used a gas detection element, etc. to issue an alarm when the leaked gas reached a certain concentration, and at the same time activate a ventilator or other device by operating a relay. The constructed gas leak alarm etc. are being used. However, most of these conventional devices are installed separately from the gas supply equipment and are activated only when the gas leaking into the room accumulates above a certain concentration, and therefore it is difficult to detect minute gas leaks. was difficult. Not only that, but with such conventional alarm devices, leaked gas can accumulate if the room in which the alarm device is installed is well ventilated, for example in the summer season when doors and windows are open. Since the gas is released into the atmosphere before it is released, it becomes more difficult to detect if there is a gas leak. Furthermore,
In the conventional apparatus, as described above, since it is installed separately from the gas supply system, it is not possible to inspect the gas supply system itself for leakage.

In order to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks of conventional gas alarms using gas detection elements and to enable leakage inspection of the gas supply system itself, the applicant previously filed utility model registration application No. 54-040654. proposed a completely new type of ``gas leak alarm-automatic control device.'' The device related to this earlier application passes a portion of the gas supplied from the gas storage tank to the gas combustion mechanism into the liquid, and senses the flow of gas by using the buoyancy of bubbles generated when the gas passes through the liquid. By doing this, even a very small amount of gas leaks can be detected immediately and the gas supply path can be automatically shut off, and at the same time alarms, indicator lights, and other various warning devices can be activated. It is designed so that it can be operated without any operation.

However, since this device requires the use of liquid, the amount of liquid decreases due to evaporation of the liquid and the associated inconvenience of replenishing the liquid, the liquid that can be used is limited, and the configuration of the device is relatively difficult. Technical problems such as complexity arose.
Furthermore, this device can detect gas leaks in the pipes leading from the alarm device to the gas-using appliance, but has the disadvantage that it cannot detect gas leaks in the pipes leading from the gas storage tank to the alarm device. .

In view of this, the present invention provides a device that uses the pressure of the gas itself instead of using a liquid, and operates in response to changes in the gas pressure in the gas supply system when there is a gas leak. The structure is simple and inexpensive, and it is also possible to detect minute gas leaks at any part of the entire gas supply pipeline from the gas storage tank or gas supply source to the gas usage appliances. This allows the location to be easily found. At the same time, the leakage detection accuracy is improved, and it is also designed to be easy to use and handle.

In particular, the present invention is designed to be connected to any position of a gas supply pipe installed indoors or outdoors so that the presence or absence of gas leakage can be checked at any time, and the location of the leak can be easily identified. and then
The purpose is to prevent explosion accidents and huge losses of gas due to gas leaks, and also to detect dangers due to aging piping equipment in advance and facilitate repair and inspection thereof.

Embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows one embodiment of the present invention, and shows a housing 1 incorporating a ball valve body 4 installed between a gas inlet pipe 17 and a gas outlet pipe 17'. The housing 1 is formed with an inlet 2 and an outlet 2' corresponding to the gas pipes 17, 17'. The through hole 3 of the ball valve body 4 is connected to the ball valve body 4 via the valve shaft 6.
The inlet and outlet 2' can be selectively communicated by rotating a handle 5 connected to the inlet and outlet 2'. The ball valve body 4 thus constitutes an on-off control valve for the conduits 17, 17'.

Two pressure chambers 8 and 9 partitioned by a diaphragm 7 are formed within the housing 1 . These upper and lower pressure chambers 8, 9 are connected to the valve outlet 2' and inlet 2 via through holes 10, 11, respectively. A recessed part 12 is provided in the center of the upper surface of the upper pressure chamber 8,
A shaft rod 13 erected upward at the center of the upper surface of the diaphragm 7 is fitted into this recess so as to be movable up and down. A permanent magnet piece 14 is attached to the upper end of the shaft rod 13 that constitutes the operating member.
is fixed. Reed switches 15 and 16 are installed in both side walls of the recessed portion 12 at vertically different height positions. Reed switches 15 and 16 are selectively turned on and off in accordance with changes in magnetic force caused by the lifting and lowering action of magnet piece 14. Double reed switch 15,
Both terminals of the reed switch 16 are connected to an alarm or display circuit, a ventilator circuit, or other electrical control circuit (not shown), and at the same time as the reed switches 15 and 16 are turned on, the various predetermined devices mentioned above are activated.

The device of the present invention thus constructed is used by connecting the valve inlet 2 and outlet 2' to the gas supply pipes 17 and 17' installed indoors or outdoors, respectively. By opening and using the gas supply source (not shown), gas is supplied from the gas supply source (not shown) through the pipe line 17, the valve inlet 2, the through hole 3 of the ball valve body 4, the valve outlet 2', and the pipe line 1.
It is supplied to predetermined gas equipment via 7'. At this time, the upper and lower pressure chambers 8 and 9 are filled with gas through the through holes 10 and 11, so the gas pressure in the upper and lower pressure chambers 8 and 9 maintains an equilibrium state, and the diaphragm 7 is indicated by a solid line. At this time, the magnet piece 14 is in the intermediate position between the upper and lower reed switches 15 and 16, and both of the two reed switches 15 and 16 are in the OFF state. Therefore, any alarms, indicator lights or other electrical mechanisms connected thereto will not be activated.

Next, when you want to check for gas leaks, you can operate as follows. That is, first, after completely closing the end of the gas supply pipe 17' connected to the valve outlet 2' and the gas-using equipment, the handle 5 is closed.
Turn to close the ball valve body 4. Then, if there is no gas leak from the gas-using equipment side, the gas pressures in the upper and lower pressure chambers 8 and 9 are maintained at equilibrium, so the reed switches 15 and 16 do not operate. If gas is leaking from the gas-using equipment side, the gas pressure on the valve outlet 2' side will drop rapidly due to the gas leakage, and the pressure in the upper pressure chamber 8 will drop, causing the vertical pressure to drop. Room 8,9
A pressure difference occurs between the two. As a result, the diaphragm 7 is curved upward as indicated by the dotted line, pushing up the shaft rod 13 and the permanent magnet piece 14. As a result, the magnetic force of the magnet piece 14 acts on the upper reed switch 15, and the reed switch 15 is turned on. In this way, a circuit such as an alarm connected to the reed switch 15 is closed, an alarm is issued, or an indicator light is turned on, and at the same time, other necessary control devices are activated. In this way, it is possible to detect the presence or absence of gas leakage from the gas-using equipment. Next, the presence or absence of gas leakage on the gas supply source side can also be detected using the same principle as described above by completely closing the end of the gas supply source side conduit 17. That is, when there is no gas leak, the pressure in the lower pressure chamber 9 is maintained as it is, so the diaphragm 7 is in the neutral position and the reed switches 15 and 16 are not operated. However, when there is a gas leak, the diaphragm 7 is bent downward due to the pressure drop in the lower pressure chamber 9.
Along with this, the shaft rod 13 descends and the permanent magnet piece 14
is brought close to the lower reed switch 16, and as a result of the magnetic force acting on the reed switch 16, the reed switch 16 is turned on, activating an alarm device or the like connected thereto.

FIG. 2 shows a second embodiment of the invention,
This embodiment has the same structure as the first embodiment described above except that the reed switches 15 and 16 constituting the gas leak sensing device are replaced with photo couplers. That is, in the second embodiment, the gas leak detection device is constituted by an optical means, and a light shielding piece 19 having a transparent hole 18 is provided in the center of the diaphragm 7, while a light shielding piece 19 having a transparent hole 18 is provided at the center of the diaphragm 7. is provided with two sets of photo couplers 20, 22 and 21, 23 spaced apart from each other in the vertical direction. In each photo coupler, 20 and 21 are, for example, Cds light receiving elements, and 22 and 23 are light emitting sources. Each light source and light receiving element are placed opposite each other on the optical axis line with a light shielding piece 19 in between, and when the diaphragm 7 is in the neutral position, the light transmitting hole 18 of the light shielding piece 19 covers the upper and lower light receiving elements 20, 21, the light emitting source 22, 23 and blocks the light rays from the light emitting sources 22 and 23. In the event of a gas leak, as the diaphragm 7 moves up and down, the light-transmitting hole 18 of the light-shielding piece 19 is aligned with the optical axis of the upper photo coupler made up of the light receiving element 20 and the light emitting source 22, or the optical axis of the lower photo coupler made of the light receiving element 21 and the light emitting source 23. It coincides with the optical axis line, thereby selectively conducting the light receiving element 21 or 22 and activating the alarm or the like.

3 and 4 show yet another embodiment of the invention. In the same figure, a solenoid coil 33, a drive shaft (plunger) 34, and a coil spring 3 are mounted on the top of a base plate 32 fixedly placed on a support 31.
A normal solenoid drive device 36 consisting of 5 etc.
will be provided. The lower side 34' of the drive shaft 34 is loosely attached via a fulcrum pin 37 to one end of a rotating rod 38 which is pivotally attached to the lower part of the base plate 2 at a fulcrum 40. The other end of the rotating rod 38 is pivotally connected to the lower part of a valve shaft 39 that passes through the base plate 32 so as to be vertically movable. On the other hand, the base plate 32
A rubber plate 40 with a valve cover 40' integrally formed in the center is laid on top, and the housing 1 is placed on top of it.
is fixedly placed in a sealed state. A diaphragm 7 made of a rubber plate or other suitable elastic material is installed horizontally inside the housing 1 to divide the inside of the housing 1 into an upper pressure chamber 8 and a lower pressure chamber 9. A gas inlet pipe 17 and a gas outlet pipe 17' are introduced into the lower pressure chamber 9 through the side wall of the housing 1. The open inlet end 44 of the gas outlet pipe 17' opens downward and is opened and closed by an on-off valve body 39' attached to the upper end of the valve shaft 39. A recessed portion 12 is provided in the center of the upper surface of the upper pressure chamber 8.
is recessed, and a permanent magnet piece 14 fixed to a shaft rod 13 that stands upwardly at the center of the diaphragm 7 is inserted into the permanent magnet piece 14 so as to be movable up and down. Upper and lower reed switches 15 and 16 are provided within both side walls of the recessed portion 12.
The upper pressure chamber 8 is connected to the gas outlet pipe 1 through the through hole 10.
7'. Preferably, the lower surface of the pivoting rod 38 is provided with an arcuate groove 38', below which a rotating shaft 42 that can be manually rotated is pivotally mounted on the support 31. A pushing rod 43 biased counterclockwise by a spring 44 is pivotally attached to the rotating shaft 42, and by engaging the upper end of the pushing rod 43 with the arc-shaped groove 38' of the rotating rod 38, the rotating rod 38 is operated as a solenoid. It can be manually pushed up separately from the drive device 36. Note that 45 is an on/off switch installed in the power supply circuit of the solenoid coil 33, and is preferably operated in conjunction with a gas ignition plug of a gas combustor or the like (not shown). That is, the switch 45 is in an off state when gas is not used in a gas combustor or the like, and is turned on when gas is used. Both terminals of the reed switches 15 and 16 are connected to an electrical control circuit A such as an alarm circuit or a ventilator circuit. The operation of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 is also similar to that of FIG. That is, if this device is connected and installed at a necessary position in the gas supply pipe leading from the gas storage tank (not shown) to the gas usage equipment (not shown) using the gas inflow pipe 17 and the gas outflow pipe 17', Gas flows into the lower pressure chamber 9 of the housing 1 through the gas inlet pipe 17 and is supplied to gas-using equipment through the gas outlet pipe 17'. When gas is used in a gas-using device, the switch 45 is in the on state as shown in FIG. Rotating rod 38
Since the right end of the rotating rod 38 is pushed up, the left end of the rotating rod 38 is lowered to open the on-off valve 39'. Therefore, the open end 44 of the gas outlet pipe 17' is opened and gas is supplied. At this time, the pressure of the gas flowing out through the gas outflow pipe 17' reaches into the upper pressure chamber 8 through the through hole 10, so the gas pressure inside the upper and lower pressure chambers 8 and 9 is the same, and an equilibrium state is maintained. do. Therefore, the diaphragm 7 is in a neutral state, and the magnet piece 14 at this time is located in the middle of the recessed part 12.
Both reed switches 15 and 16 are in a disconnected state.

On the other hand, when the gas-using equipment is not using gas, the switch 45 is in the OFF state as shown in FIG. At the same time, the rotating rod 38 rotates clockwise about the fulcrum 40, and the on-off valve 39' closes the open end 44 of the gas outlet pipe 17' to prevent gas from flowing out. In this way, even if the open end 44 of the gas outlet pipe 17' is closed by the on-off valve 39', the pipe line from the gas outlet pipe 17' to the gas-using equipment is filled with gas, so the upper and lower pressure chambers The gas pressures in 8 and 9 continue to maintain an equilibrium state. However, if gas leaks from the gas-using equipment in such a state, the gas pressure inside the upper pressure chamber 8 will drop instantaneously, and the diaphragm 7 will deform and curve upward due to the pressure difference between the upper and lower pressure chambers. be done. As a result, the shaft 13 rises and the permanent magnet piece 14 turns on the upper reed switch 15. On the other hand, if there is a gas leak from the gas supply source side, the gas supply source can be closed and checked.
As the gas pressure inside decreases, the diaphragm 7 is bent downward and the shaft rod 13 is lowered to connect the lower reed switch 16. Further, in this embodiment, if the solenoid drive device 36 does not operate due to a power outage or other reasons, the manual rotation shaft 42 is rotated to insert the tip of the push-up rod 43 into the arc-shaped groove 38' of the rotation rod 38. By engaging, the on-off valve 39' can be opened, so that gas can be used. In this sense, the push rod 43 is the on-off valve 3.
A stopper mechanism is configured to hold 9' in the open position. Further, when the solenoid drive device 36 is reactivated due to electricity being applied during manual use of the pusher rod, the pusher rod 43 is disengaged from the arcuate groove 38' and is automatically returned to its original position by the spring 44.

FIG. 5 shows a final embodiment, which corresponds to the embodiment of FIG. That is, the gas leak sensing device in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 is constructed by optical means, and no explanation is necessary.

As described above, according to the present invention, the presence or absence of gas leakage can be checked by simply opening and closing the valves connected and installed in the gas supply pipe, so gas leakage can be easily detected without the need for special equipment or techniques. This can be easily confirmed, and therefore has the effect of preventing explosion accidents and gas loss caused by gas leaks as in the prior art. In addition, by installing the device of the present invention at several locations at appropriate intervals in the gas supply pipe, it is possible to more easily locate the location of gas leakage, and it is also useful in the event of a fire, repair, or other necessary repairs. Sometimes it can also be used to cut off gas supply.

Furthermore, since the device of the present invention can be used in conjunction with a gas supply system, various drawbacks of conventional alarm devices using gas detection elements can be overcome, and the device can be used in conjunction with a gas supply system. To easily detect gas leakage from all gas supply pipes leading to gas-using equipment, and to easily distinguish whether the gas leakage point is on the gas-using equipment side or on the gas supply source side. I can do it. In addition, since the diaphragm is designed to operate even under minute pressure, it can operate accurately even in the case of a small amount of gas leakage, and since it does not use foreign substances such as liquid, the structure is simple and easy to manufacture. It also has the advantage of being convenient to install and use. In addition, when gas is not in use, the on-off valve is closed and gas cannot escape, so even if gas leaks from the equipment using gas, it will not leak beyond a certain amount, which also reduces gas loss and the risk of explosion. This can be prevented.
Furthermore, even in the event of a power outage or sudden accident, the on-off valve is always closed, ensuring safety.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a first embodiment of the invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a second embodiment of the invention, and FIGS. 3 and 4 are sectional views showing a third embodiment of the invention. FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing the state when gas is used, FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing the state when gas is not used, and FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing the fourth embodiment of the present invention. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Housing, 4... Ball valve, 7... Diaphragm, 8, 9... Pressure chamber, 12... Recessed part, 13... Shaft rod, 14... Permanent magnet piece, 15,
16...Reed switch.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. Two pressure chambers separated by a diaphragm to which an operating member is fixed are formed in a housing containing a control valve that can be opened and closed, and one of these pressure chambers is placed on the upstream side of the valve and the other A gas leak detection device comprising a gas leak detection device which is connected to the downstream side of the valve and is provided in the housing and is actuated by the actuation member of the diaphragm. 2. Two pressure chambers separated by a diaphragm are formed in a housing containing a ball valve that can be opened and closed manually, and these two pressure chambers are communicated with the inlet and outlet of the valve through communicating holes, respectively. A recess formed in the housing faces one of the pressure chambers, and an operating rod with a permanent magnet piece attached to the diaphragm is fitted into the recess, and the permanent magnet piece is attached to the periphery of the recess. A gas leak detection device according to claim 1, further comprising an actuated reed switch. 3 Two pressure chambers separated by a diaphragm are formed in a housing containing a ball valve that can be opened and closed manually, and these two pressure chambers are communicated with the inlet and outlet of the valve through communicating holes, respectively. A recess formed in the housing faces one of the pressure chambers, and a light-shielding piece with a transparent hole provided upright on the diaphragm is fitted into the recess, and the light-shielding piece is sandwiched around the recess. A gas leak detection device according to claim 1, comprising opposing photo couplers. 4 Two pressure chambers separated by a diaphragm are formed inside the housing provided on the base plate, and one of the pressure chambers faces a gas inflow pipe and a gas outflow pipe, and a base plate is provided inside the one pressure chamber. An on-off control valve operated by a drive device provided on the plate is provided so that the outlet end of the gas outflow pipe can be opened and closed, and the other pressure chamber is communicated with the gas outflow pipe through a through hole, and the above-mentioned A shaft rod is installed on the diaphragm and is fitted with a permanent magnet piece that is fitted into a recess that is recessed from the other pressure chamber toward the inside of the housing.
2. The gas leak detection device according to claim 1, further comprising a reed switch operated by the permanent magnet piece provided around the recessed portion. 5 Two pressure chambers separated by a diaphragm are formed inside the housing provided on the base plate, and one pressure chamber faces a gas inflow pipe and a gas outflow pipe, and a base plate is provided inside the one pressure chamber. An on-off control valve operated by a drive device provided on the plate is provided so that the outlet end of the gas outflow pipe can be opened and closed, and the other pressure chamber is communicated with the gas outflow pipe through a through hole, and the above-mentioned A light-shielding piece with a light-transmitting hole is provided upright on the diaphragm and is fitted into a recessed part recessed from the other pressure chamber into the housing, and the light-shielding piece is sandwiched around the recessed part so as to face each other. A gas leak detection device according to claim 1, which is provided with a photocoupler. 6. The gas leak detection device according to claim 4 or 5, further comprising a stopper mechanism for holding the opening/closing control valve in an open position independently of its driving device.