Patent Application
20140320665
The presently disclosed subject matter relates to readers for water meters of network piping systems. In particular, it relates to readers which are suitable for being retrofitted on such meters.
A mechanical meter is an device used in industrial environments such as for water, gas or electric systems. Water supply providers or water corporations, for example, use mechanical meters for residential and commercial purposes of water resource management. In such systems, the mechanical meter measures the volume of water usage, enabling water network monitoring and facilitating billing.
A typical mechanical meter has an analog display, commonly fitted into an externally bounded box with a metal or a plastic lid, at a size suitable for covering its display unit. Generally, the mechanical meter is known for its reliability and accuracy, and reading of the display measurements is handled visually at the location of the installed device.
Aspects of the present disclosure relates to remote display reading functionality of a mechanical meter, suited in a “retrofit” or “add-on” manner for different mechanical metering mechanisms such as water meters, electric power meters or gas meters. In particular, the disclosure relates to mechanical water meters of three inches in diameter and above, not having a wireless solution.
In general, the technology of automatically collecting consumption, diagnostic, and status data by using a mechanical meter or energy metering devices (gas, electric) and transferring that data to a centrally managed database for billing, troubleshooting, and analyzing. This technology mainly saves utility providers the expense of periodic trips to each physical location to read a meter. Another advantage is that billing can be based on near real-time consumption rather than on estimates based on past or predicted consumption. This timely information coupled with analysis can help both utility providers and customers to better control the use and production of electric energy, gas usage, or water consumption.
It is noted that the current disclosure enables keeping the existing piping network with minimal changes, while adding the functionally of remote monitoring.
Embodiments described herein disclose a new method and system to add cost effective remote reading solution to existing mechanical meters in existing piping network with minimal changes.
Such solution incorporates a transparent sticker that may be adhered to the display of a mechanical meter, comprising a simple built-in image acquisition device, such as a simple camera or electro-optical sensors, to acquire a mechanical meter reading display image, and is configured to communicate with an analyzing mechanism, using a power source and fitted into an internal add-on housing hinged to the mechanical meter, in a replaceable meter lid, for example.
The internal analyzing mechanism may include an internal processing unit, a transmission module configured to communicate with the image acquisition devices through a flexible cable, and the power source unit.
Optionally, the power source may be of a rechargeable type using a solar battery charger installed inside the top of its housing.
Optionally, the power source may be a battery cell of a rechargeable type, D3 size, ensuring operation for at least seven years.
Optionally, the internal processing unit may comprise a motion detection sensor for detecting and alerting theft or vandalism.
Optionally, the internal processing unit may further comprise a magnetic sensor for detecting magnetic field fraud.
It is noted, that in any given period of time, thereafter, the frequency of reading, and a new image may be acquired and analyzed by the software allowing obtaining the identification number specified by the mechanical meter. The identification number may then be stored in the device memory and transmitted to a remote server every pre-configured time, thereafter, the transmission frequency. The measurement data may be stored on a central server having a database accessible for additional applications system.
It is noted that the systems and methods of the disclosure herein may not be limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangement of the components or methods set forth in the description or illustrated in the drawings and examples. The systems and methods of the disclosure may be capable of other embodiments or of being practiced or carried out in various ways.
Alternative methods and materials similar or equivalent to those described herein may be used in the practice or testing of embodiments of the disclosure. Nevertheless, particular methods and materials are described herein for illustrative purposes only. The materials, methods, and examples are not intended to be necessarily limiting.
According to one aspect of the presently disclosed subject matter, there is provided a system for reading a meter, the meter comprising a visual display behind by a transparent cover, the visual display comprising one or more indicators each representing a sub-value and together representing a metered value measured by the meter, the system comprising:
The imaging unit may comprise an adhesive sheet comprising the imaging device. The sheet may comprise conductive lines configured to electrically connect the imaging device to the processor printed thereon.
The imaging unit may further comprise a light source. The light source may comprise a light emitting diode.
The system may further comprise a communications element configured for wirelessly communicating the calculated values with a remote system. The communications element may be configured for communicating over a cellular network (sometimes referred to as a “mobile network”).
It will be appreciated that herein the specification and claims, the terms “cellular network” and “mobile network” may be used interchangeably, and refer to a wireless network distributed over land areas called cells, each served by at least one fixed-location transceiver, known as a cell site or base station. In such a network, each cell uses a different set of frequencies from neighboring cells, to avoid interference and provide guaranteed bandwidth within each cell. In addition, these terms are to be understood generically as referring to any network deployed by one or more telecommunications providers to connect mobile phones, mobile computing devices, and other similar devices to the public switched telephone network, public Internet, etc., or to a similar private network.
The system may further comprise a cap configured to be retrofitted to the meter. The cap may house functional elements of the system therewithin, such as the processor.
The cap may be configured to be hingedly articulated to the meter. It may comprise a spring configured to bias it to a closed position on the meter.
The system may further comprise a power source. The power source may comprise one or more batteries. The batteries may be rechargeable, in which case the power source may further optionally comprise a solar cell configured to provide power to recharge them.
The meter may be a water meter. Each of at least a portion of the indicators may represent a different decimal position of a metered volume of water. The portion of indicators may comprise dials (i.e., needles) and/or mechanical counters. The portion may comprise a digital display.
According to another aspect of the presently disclosed subject matter, there is provided a method for reading an analog meter, the method comprising:
The imaging unit may comprise an adhesive sheet comprising the imaging device. The sheet may comprise conductive lines configured to electrically connect the imaging device to the processor printed thereon.
The imaging unit may further comprise a light source. The light source may comprise a light emitting diode.
The system may further comprise a communications element configured for wirelessly communicating the calculated values with a remote system, the method further comprising transmitting the calculated values to the remote system. The transmitting may be performed over a cellular network.
The system may further comprise a cap configured to be retrofitted to the meter. The cap may house functional elements of the system therewithin, such as the processor.
The cap may be configured to be hingedly articulated to the meter. It may comprise a spring configured to bias it to a closed position on the meter.
The system may further comprise a power source. The power source may comprise one or more batteries. The batteries may be rechargeable, in which case the power source may further optionally comprise a solar cell configured to provide power to recharge them.
The meter may be a water meter. Each of at least a portion of the indicators may represent a different decimal position of a metered volume of water. The portion of indicators may comprise dials and/or mechanical counters. The portion may comprise a digital display.
For a better understanding of the embodiments and to show how it may be carried into effect, reference will now be made, purely by way of example, to the accompanying drawings.
With specific reference now to the drawings in detail, it is stressed that the particulars shown are by way of example and for purposes of illustrative discussion of selected embodiments only, and are presented in the cause of providing what is believed to be the most useful and readily understood description of the principles and conceptual aspects. In this regard, no attempt is made to show structural details in more detail than is necessary for a fundamental understanding; the description taken with the drawings making apparent to those skilled in the art how the several selected embodiments may be put into practice. In the accompanying drawings:
The network 100 comprises a plurality of mechanical meters 105, each of which is configured to communicate with a remote management server 110, for example via a cellular network antenna 120. The remote management server 110 may be provided to store flow reading data for each mechanical meter in a centrally managed database, accessible to a communication cloud 130 via one or more electronic devices, for example, as illustrated, computers 140a, tablet computers 140b, or any other suitable devices, such as a mobile phone built on a mobile operating system (also referred to as a “smartphone”), a personal digital assistant, etc. or the like executing a program such as a device specific application installed thereupon.
Reference is now made to
The mechanical meter 200 includes a body 212 of a mechanical structure having upstream and downstream flanges 214a and 214b to enable connecting the mechanical meter to a piping network, for example using connecting valves (not illustrated), a visual display 216 behind a transparent cover 218 mounted on the body, and a rigid cap 220 hingedly articulated to the body configured, when in a closed position (not illustrated) to cover the visual display. Typically, the cap 220 is articulated to the body 212 via a shaft (not illustrated) or other arrangement which facilitates removal thereof from the body and replacement with another similar cap.
It will be appreciated that the body 212 houses one or more suitable internal mechanisms configured to perform measurements of water flowing therethrough. These internal mechanisms are connected to the visual display 216 so as to display the metered (i.e., measured) values.
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
The imaging unit is configured to be mounted over the transparent cover 218 of the meter 200 and to digitally image the visual display 216 thereof. Accordingly, it comprises an adhesive sheet 306 comprising an imaging device 304. The imaging device 304 may be any device suitable for capturing an imaging an converting it to a digital stream suitable for storage on a digital medium, and comprises an objective and a suitable digital sensor, such as a Charged Coupled Device (CCD) or a Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) sensor.
According to some examples, the adhesive sheet 306 is translucent to a degree wherein the values presented by the visual display are still distinguishable by the imaging device 304. According to further examples, it is transparent. According to still further examples, the adhesive sheet 306 is provided with an aperture (not illustrated) below the imaging device 304, such that it may image the visual display 216 without interference by the sheet. It may provide a level of protection for the cover 218 of the meter, for example against wear and tear, etc.
The adhesive sheet 306 comprises an adhesive surface 306a configured for facilitating the mounting of the sheet on the cover 218 of the meter 200. The entire surface 306a may be provided with an adhesive coating, for example except for the area below the imaging device 304. Alternatively, only portions of the surface 306a, for example strips of one or more circulars rings, may be provided with an adhesive coating.
The imaging device 304 may be attached to either side of the sheet 306, with its objective facing the adhesive surface 306a. Alternatively, it may be embedded within the adhesive sheet 306 with its objective facing the adhesive surface 306a.
As mentioned above, the cap 303 houses functional elements of the system 300. Accordingly, it comprises an electronic circuit card 312 which includes a processor, a communications element 314, and a power source 316. In addition, a flexible cable 324 is provided to connect between functional elements in the cap 303 and the imaging device 304. In order to facilitate the connection, the adhesive sheet 306 may comprise conductive lines (not illustrated) printed thereon and configured to electrically connect the imaging device 30 to the cable 324, and thereby the processor.
The cap 303 may be configured to replace the rigid cap 220 of the meter 200, thereby facilitating a retrofit thereof. Accordingly, it may be provided with a coupling mechanism, such as a shaft 322 configured to hingedly articulate it to the meter 200, for example via apertures provided thereon for hingedly securing the rigid cap 220 thereto.
The power source 316 may be any suitable source of electric power. It may comprise batteries, which may be rechargeable. Optionally, a photovoltaic solar cell 318 may be provided to provide electrical energy to recharge the battery and/or power the components of the system 300.
The communications element 314 is configured for facilitating communication between the system 300 and an outside network, such as a cellular network. As such, it may comprise all necessary elements thereof, including, but not limited to, a wireless modem and/or network card and an antenna. The system 300 is configured to transmit and receive information via the communications element 314.
During operation of the system 300, the visual display 214 is imaged by the imaging device. The digital image acquired thereby is sent to the processor for recognition. The processor is preloaded with software configured to recognize the metered value as represented thereby. The processor may be configured to detect the type of indicator 222 present, and recognize the metered value displayed accordingly. The processor then transmits the recognized value via the communications element 314.
Reference is now made to flowchart of
Reference is now made to the flow charts of
The methods of
It is noted that a display image reading record may be transmitted to a remote management server, for example, ‘as is’, without analyzing the acquired image, such as the implementation of the method of
The method may include acquisition of at least one image of a mechanical meter reading display—step 502a. Optionally, the method may perform data integrity validation check of the acquired image—step 504a. Optionally, the method may further include identifying the mechanical meter identification number which may be decoded from the acquired image—step 506a, depending on supported functionality of the data processor. Thereafter, the acquired image may be saved into a ‘meter information record’ in memory of the image acquisition device—step 508a and transmitted to the remote machine over a cellular communication network for complete image analysis and decoding of the meter reading values—step 510a and further storage.
It is noted that the image acquisition device may be of different types or categories, such as laser-based detectors, charge-coupled device (CCD) camera systems, flatbed scanners and the like.
The method may include acquiring at least one image of a mechanical meter reading display—step 502b. Optionally, the method may perform data integrity validation check of the acquired image—step 504b. Optionally, the method may further include identifying the mechanical meter identification number which may be analyzed from the acquired image—step 506b, depending on supported functionality of the data processor. The acquired image may be analyzed to determine the mechanical meter reading values—step 508b, and saved into a ‘meter information record’ in memory of the image acquisition device—step 510b. Thereafter, transmitting over a cellular communication network, the ‘meter information record’ to a remote machine—step 512b, for further storage, with possible accessibility to external user defined applications.
It is noted that an initial learning process may be applied by imaging at a high rate, those sections of the image with the highest rates of change, for example the right-hand side digits of a rotating dial or the like. Such a process may be of particular utility where the identification of the mechanical meter display is limited to ten orderly repeatable patterns (digits of 0 to 9). Following an initial learning phase, subsequent imaging may continue at a lower rate of image capture or lower resolution thereby reducing energy consumption.
Accordingly an identification process may be applied for reading measured values using a minimal resolution capturing element such as using an array of light sensors incorporated into a transparent sticker attached to the mechanical meter display. Such configuration may allow light intensity returning from the reading digits to be measured directly which may be interpreted as mechanical meter readings.
Optionally, the meter information record may include the acquired display image and the analyzed readings, if this functionality is supported by the processing unit.
The method of
The method may include obtaining at least one captured image of a mechanical meter reading display in a form of ‘meter information record’, for example—step 502c, then testing if the received record contains decoded image information—step 504c. If received record is not analyzed, the next step is to obtain the display image from the encapsulating meter information record—step 506c, analyzing the display image—step 508c and updating the associated record fields of meter information record with the decoded values—step 510c. Thereafter, the meter identification number of the mechanical meter may be obtained—step 512c used as record key, for example, for database storage of the meter information record.
Optionally, if the received record did contain an analyzed image display, steps 506c through 512c may be omitted.
Subsequently, the mechanical meter identification number may be obtained from the meter information record, to enable saving of the received updated record to a centrally managed database—step 514c. Optionally, the receiving method may be configured to provide an indication of a potential problem, based on analysis and comparison to previous meter readings—step 516c and trigger a notification or alert accordingly—step 518c.
Those skilled in the art to which this invention pertains will readily appreciate that numerous changes, variations and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention mutatis mutandis.
Technical and scientific terms used herein should have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which the disclosure pertains. Nevertheless, it is expected that during the life of a patent maturing from this application many relevant systems and methods will be developed. Accordingly, the scope of the terms such as computing unit, network, display, memory, server and the like are intended to include all such new technologies a priori.
As used herein the term “about” refers to at least ±10%.
The terms “comprises”, “comprising”, “includes”, “including”, “having” and their conjugates mean “including but not limited to” and indicate that the components listed are included, but not generally to the exclusion of other components. Such terms encompass the terms “consisting of” and “consisting essentially of”.
The phrase “consisting essentially of” means that the composition or method may include additional ingredients and/or steps, but only if the additional ingredients and/or steps do not materially alter the basic and novel characteristics of the composition or method.
As used herein, the singular form “a”, “an” and “the” may include plural references unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. For example, the term “a compound” or “at least one compound” may include a plurality of compounds, including mixtures thereof.
The word “exemplary” is used herein to mean “serving as an example, instance or illustration”. Any embodiment described as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other embodiments or to exclude the incorporation of features from other embodiments.
The word “optionally” is used herein to mean “is provided in some embodiments and not provided in other embodiments”. Any particular embodiment of the disclosure may include a plurality of “optional” features unless such features conflict.
Whenever a numerical range is indicated herein, it is meant to include any cited numeral (fractional or integral) within the indicated range. The phrases “ranging/ranges between” a first indicate number and a second indicate number and “ranging/ranges from” a first indicate number “to” a second indicate number are used herein interchangeably and are meant to include the first and second indicated numbers and all the fractional and integral numerals therebetween. It should be understood, therefore, that the description in range format is merely for convenience and brevity and should not be construed as an inflexible limitation on the scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, the description of a range should be considered to have specifically disclosed all the possible subranges as well as individual numerical values within that range. For example, description of a range such as from 1 to 6 should be considered to have specifically disclosed subranges such as from 1 to 3, from 1 to 4, from 1 to 5, from 2 to 4, from 2 to 6, from 3 to 6 etc., as well as individual numbers within that range, for example, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 as well as non-integral intermediate values. This applies regardless of the breadth of the range.
It is appreciated that certain features of the disclosure, which are, for clarity, described in the context of separate embodiments, may also be provided in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features of the disclosure, which are, for brevity, described in the context of a single embodiment, may also be provided separately or in any suitable subcombination or as suitable in any other described embodiment of the disclosure. Certain features described in the context of various embodiments are not to be considered essential features of those embodiments, unless the embodiment is inoperative without those elements.
Although the disclosure has been described in conjunction with specific embodiments thereof, it is evident that many alternatives, modifications and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, it is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications and variations that fall within the spirit and broad scope of the disclosure.
All publications, patents and patent applications mentioned in this specification are herein incorporated in their entirety by reference into the specification, to the same extent as if each individual publication, patent or patent application was specifically and individually indicated to be incorporated herein by reference. In addition, citation or identification of any reference in this application shall not be construed as an admission that such reference is available as prior art to the present disclosure. To the extent that section headings are used, they should not be construed as necessarily limiting.
This application claims the benefit of priority of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/815,741, filed Apr. 25, 2013, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61815741 | Apr 2013 | US |
