WO2003007001A2

WO2003007001A2 - Utility meter-reading device and method

Info

Publication number: WO2003007001A2
Application number: PCT/SG2002/000144
Authority: WO
Inventors: Usoof Saleem; Khim Awyong
Original assignee: Hi-Power Systems & Industrial Pte Ltd.
Priority date: 2001-07-10
Filing date: 2002-06-29
Publication date: 2003-01-23
Also published as: EP1419494A2; SG94854A1; WO2003007001A3

Abstract

A utility meter-reading device for facilitating remote reading of utility measurements from utility meters is disclosed. The device comprises a power supply for providing electrical power to the device, in which the power supply comprises a generator, and a processor for processing data and providing control and communications logic. The device further comprises reading means for reading utility measurement from a utility meter and providing the same for transmission dependent on the processor, and means for providing communications with the device environment, including the transmission of the utility measurement dependent on the processor.

Description

UTILITY METER-READΓNG DEVICE AND METHOD

Field Of Invention

The invention relates generally to" utility meters or the like utility measurement devices. In particular, the invention relates to remote reading of utility meters or the like utility measurement devices.

Background

Utilities such as electricity, gas and water are essential services with which most households today are ubiquitously provided. Whether the utility is electricity that is provided by a large utility company such as a power supply company or gas that is delivered by a smaller enterprise such as a gas tank supplier, charging the user for the consumption of the utility remains arguably the most important existential reason for providers of the utilities. To be able to accurately charge for the utilities consumed, the providers of the utilities must first be able to accurately quantify the utilities consumed. This information is then used to determine the charges.

For small enterprises providing utilities on an on-demand basis, such as gas tank suppliers, the task of charging for gas consumed is uncomplicated since the use of gas tanks in which gas is delivered greatly eases the quantification of the gas consumed. However, the continuity in the provision of this utility is highly dependent on the efficiency with which the gas tank suppliers deliver the gas tanks. Such efficiency is often adversely affected when the gas tank suppliers have to supply gas to many households. Large utility companies are able to solve this problem by providing continuous supplies of electricity, and gas and water through conduits such as cables and pipes, respectively, to many households at the same time because these large utility companies have the resources to lay the conduits. The problem of accurately quantifying utility consumption, however, still remains very much a challenging task for these large utility companies because with the continuous supply of such utilities to many households, the task of accurately quantifying the utilities consumed by each household is daunting. To reduce the cost of laying the conduits, economy of scale is applied whereby as many as possible common conduits are laid for sharing by as large as possible clusters of households before dedicated conduits to the individual households branch out. Since the demand for such utilities is typically not predictable and many neighbouring households share common conduits, the quantification of the utilities consumed may only be carried out near the premises of the individual households when the utilities are actually consumed by the individual households. Then, by reading measurement devices such as utility meters assigned to and placed outside the individual household premises that track the flow of utilities to the individual households, an accurate quantification of the utilities consumed by the individual households is produced.

Despite the technological advancement of today, the reading of utility meters remains an onerous task for many large utility companies because this activity requires substantial manpower commitment from the large utility companies, and is therefore a costly operation, especially since reading the utility meters remains very much a manual door-to- door task. Furthermore, the task of manually reading utility meters is also open to the risk of introducing human error in which typically numbers representing the measurements of utility consumption are subject to misreading or misidentification.

From the foregoing problems, there is therefore clearly a need for a utility meter-reading device and method for facilitating the large utility companies to perform remote reading of the utility meters.

Summary

In accordance with a first aspect of the invention, a utility meter-reading device for facilitating remote reading of utility measurements from utility meters is disclosed. The device comprises a power supply for providing electrical power to the device, wherein the power supply comprises a generator, and a processor for processing data and providing control and communications logic. The device further comprises reading means for reading utility measurement from a utility meter and providing the same for transmission dependent on the processor, and means for providing communications with the device environment, including the transmission of the utility measurement dependent on the processor. In accordance with a second aspect of the invention, a utility meter-reading device for facilitating remote reading of utility measurements from utility meters is disclosed. The device comprises a power supply for providing electrical power to the device, and a processor for processing data and providing control and communications logic. The device further comprises reading means for reading utility measurement from a utility meter and providing the same for transmission dependent on the processor, and means for providing communications with the device environment, including the transmission of the utility measurement dependent on the processor. When applied to the remote reading of an electricity meter, the power supply derives power from the electricity measured by the electricity meter.

In accordance with a third aspect of the invention, a method for facilitating remote reading of utility measurements from utility meters is disclosed. The method comprises the steps of providing electrical power to the device using a power supply which comprises a generator, and processing data and providing control and communications logic using a processor. The method further comprises the steps of reading utility measurement from a utility meter and providing the same for transmission dependent on the processor using reading means, and providing communications with the device environment, including the transmission of the utility measurement dependent on the processor.

In accordance with a fourth aspect of the invention, a method for facilitating remote reading of utility measurements from utility meters is disclosed. The method comprises the steps of providing electrical power to the device using a power supply, and processing data and providing control and communications logic using a processor. The method further comprises the steps of reading utility measurement from a utility meter and providing the same for transmission dependent on the processor using reading means, and providing communications with the device environment, including the transmission of the utility measurement dependent on the processor. When applied to the remote reading of an electricity meter, the step of providing electrical power comprises the step of deriving power from electricity measured by the electricity meter. Brief Description Of Drawings

Embodiments of the invention are described hereinafter with reference to the drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a block diagram of a remote reading system using remote reading devices according to embodiments of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a block diagram of an expanded remote reading system using remote reading devices according to embodiments of the invention;

Fig. 3 is a block diagram of an electricity remote reading device according to one embodiment of the invention; and

Fig. 4 is a block diagram of a fluid utility remote reading device according to a further embodiment of the invention.

Detailed Description

Various embodiments of the invention are disclosed hereinafter for addressing the need for a utility meter-reading device and method for facilitating large utility companies to perform remote reading of utility meters.

With reference to Figs. 1 and 2, a number of remote reading systems for facilitating the remote reading of utility meters are described hereinafter. These systems include utility meter-reading devices according to embodiments of the invention for facilitating the remote reading of utility measurements for electricity (102), gas (104) and water (106). The various utility meter-reading devices are typically situated outside the premises of households that are provided with the corresponding utilities proximal to or in the corresponding utility meters from which utility meter readers take measurements for large utility companies in a conventional scenario.

With the implementation of the remote reading systems at the households, however, these utility meter readers may have a less onerous task of taking measurements from the utility meters since human error in misreading or misidentifying may be avoided. Furthermore, the frequency with which these utility meter readers make rounds to the households to perform reading may be reduced substantially since the actual and primary reading of the utility meters is performed remotely from the premises of the large utility companies. Therefore, the role of the utility meter readers is reduced to one of secondary importance for performing random checks or confirmation of irregular utility meter readings or measurements. This helps the large utility companies to cut operational costs by allowing the large utility companies to hire fewer utility meter readers.

The advantage afforded to conventional electricity, gas and water meters by the various utility meter-reading devices in the remote reading systems is that the latter are capable of communicating with each other for interchanging information which have been acquired from the various utility meters. Such information preferably pertains to the identification of a household to which the various utility meters are assigned and the all-important utility measurements from each of the various utility meters. The information is then relayed through preferably a power supply cable 108 to a large utility company which provides the various utilities for processing for the remote reading systems in Figs. 1 and 2. In the case of the remote reading system in Fig. 2, a utility meter reader using a handheld computing device 202 may communicate with the various utility meter-reading devices to extract the utility measurements.

A basic remote reading system 100 shown in Fig. 1 is described in greater detail hereinafter. The basic remote reading system 100 includes the electricity 102, gas 104 and water 106 reading devices, in which preferably each of the gas 104 and water 106 reading devices is linked to the electricity reading device 102 via wireless communications channels. For example, Bluetooth wireless communications devices may be employed in each of the utility meter-reading devices for providing wireless communications in the foregoing manner. The electricity reading device 102 further includes a power supply cable modem for providing line communications with the large utility company via the power supply cable 108. During operation, the gas 104 and water 106 reading devices acquires from the respective utility meters information relating to the respective utility measurements, and relay the same to the electricity reading device 102 via the respective wireless communications channels. The electricity reading device 102 then consolidates the information, including the information relating to the electricity meter acquired by the electricity reading device

102, and relays the consolidated information to the large utility company via the power supply cable 108.

An expanded remote reading system 200 shown in Fig. 2 is described in greater detail hereinafter. The expanded remote reading system 200 also includes the electricity 102, gas 104 and water 106 reading devices, in which preferably each of the gas 104 and water 106 reading devices is linked to the electricity reading device 102 via wireless communications channels. Similarly, Bluetooth wireless communications devices may be employed in each of the utility meter-reading devices for providing wireless communications in the foregoing manner. The electricity reading device 102 also further includes the power supply cable modem for providing line communications with the large utility company via the power supply cable 108.

In addition, the expanded remote reading system 200 allows each of the electricity 102, gas 104 and water 106 reading devices to individually communicate with the handheld computing device 202 via further wireless communications channels.

During operation, the gas 104 and water 106 reading devices acquires from the respective utility meters the information relating to the respective utility measurements and relay the same to the electricity reading device 102 via the respective wireless communications channels. The electricity reading device 102 then consolidates the information, including the information relating to the electricity meter acquired by the electricity reading device 102, and relays the consolidated information to the large utility company via the power supply cable 108. Alternatively, the handheld computing device 202 may perform the consolidation of the information received from the various utility meter-reading devices and stores this consolidated information for downloading at the large utility company. With reference to Figs. 3 and 4, the utility meter-reading devices according to embodiments of the invention for facilitating the remote reading of utility measurements for electricity (102), gas (104) and water (106) are described in greater detail hereinafter.

The electricity reading device 102 shown in Fig. 3 consists of power, input, control, and communications modules. The power module preferably includes a power supply unit 302 and an electrical energy storage device 304, and the reading module is an interface between an analog electricity meter 306 and preferably includes an optical reader 307 and a digital data decoder 308. The control module preferably includes a central processing unit (CPU) 310, and the communications unit preferably includes a Bluetooth wireless communications device 312 and a power supply cable modem 314.

The mains alternating current (AC) supply from the electricity meter is made available to the electricity reading device 102 and supplies electricity to the power supply unit 302, where the electricity is rectified, stepped down and regulated to a desired direct current (DC) voltage. The resulting DC voltage is used to charge up the electrical energy storage device 304, which for example may be a big bank of capacitors and/or chargeable batteries, for powering the various components in the electricity reading device 102, including the digital data decoder 308, CPU 310, Bluetooth wireless communications device 312, and the power supply cable modem 314.

The optical data reader 307 preferably uses charge coupled device (CCD) or complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology and is positioned proximal to or in the analog electricity meter 306 and optimally configured for reading barcode data. The barcode data corresponds to various barcode markings provided on numeric displays in the analog electricity meter 306 that change in response to electricity consumption and in conventional scenarios are read by the utility meter reader for extracting the corresponding utility consumption measurements. The digital data decoder 308 then decodes the barcode data into digital data signals for input to the CPU 310.

The CPU 310 preferably includes a processor, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), and data input/output (I/O) bus. The digital data signals are provided by the digital data decoder 308 as input to the CPU 310 via the I/O bus, while the ROM contains software codes which when executed by the processor provides the control and communications logic necessary for the CPU 310 to perform control operations, processing of utility measurement data, and communication with the fluid utility meters 104/106 and the handheld computing device 202 via the Bluetooth wireless communications device 312 or the large utility company via the power supply cable modem 314. The data transfer between the CPU 310 and the Bluetooth wireless communications device 312 and/or power supply cable modem 314 takes place via the I/O bus. The RAM provides a temporary memory resource to the processor storing temporarily the utility measurement data during processing and communication, and the EEPROM provides storage for the identification information pertaining to the household, the EEPROM being programmable by the processor with information received from the power supply cable modem 314 or the Bluetooth wireless communications device 312.

The Bluetooth wireless communication device 312 applies Bluetooth communications standards for facilitating wireless communication between the electricity reading device 102 and the fluid utility meters 104/106 via a corresponding Bluetooth wireless communications device 412. Similarly, the Bluetooth wireless communication device 312 applies the Bluetooth communications standards for facilitating wireless communication between the electricity reading device 102 and the handheld computing device 202. Alternatively, other wireless communications devices, protocols and standards may be used in lieu of the Bluetooth wireless communication device 312.

The power supply cable modem 314 provides communication between the electricity reading device 102 and remote computers or servers in the large utility company. In lieu of the power supply cable modem 314, other line communication devices, protocols and standards such as a telephone modem may be used alternatively.

During operation, the optical data reader 307 reads the barcode markings and picks up the barcode data from the analog electricity meter 306 periodically or upon requests made by the handheld computing device 202 or the remote servers in the large utility company, which is then decoded by the digital data decoder and the result sent to the CPU 310. The

CPU 310 then processes the digital data signal and stores the corresponding utility measurement information derived from the digital data signal in the RAM and EEPROM.

The electricity reading device 102 also receives data from the gas and water reading devices 104 and 106 yia the Bluetooth wireless communications device 312. The utility measurements from the respective fluid utility meter are then processed by the CPU 310 and stored in the RAM and EEPROM.

All the utility measurements are then sent to the remote servers in the large utility company via the power supply cable modem 314 periodically or according to external requests.

The fluid utility (gas or water) reading device 104/106 shown in Fig. 4 consists of power, input, control, and communications modules. The power module preferably includes a high efficiency electrical generator 402 and an electrical energy storage device 404, and the reading module is an interface between an analog gas/water meter 406 and preferably includes an optical reader 407 and a digital data decoder 408. The control module preferably includes a central processing unit (CPU) 410, and the communications unit preferably includes a Bluetooth wireless communications device 412.

The high efficiency electrical generator 402 is mounted in a sealed chamber for waterproofing purposes, and the sealed chamber is placed in the path of gas or water flow. The high efficiency electrical generator 402 preferably applies moving magnet-static coil technology, in which electric currents are produced when a moving magnetic armature is propelled by the kinetic forces associated with the gas or water flow thereby changing the magnetic field cut by a static coil. Hence, the high efficiency electrical generator 402 is able to induce an AC supply which is then rectified by an electronic rectifier and regulated to a desired direct current (DC) voltage. The resulting DC voltage is used to charge up the electrical energy storage device 404, which for example may be a big bank of capacitors and/or chargeable batteries, for powering the various components, including the optical data reader 407, the digital data decoder 408, CPU 410, and the Bluetooth wireless communications device 412.

The optical data reader 407 preferably uses CCD or CMOS technology and is positioned proximal to or in the analog gas/water meter 406 and optimally configured for reading barcode data. The barcode data corresponds to various barcode markings provided on numeric displays in the analog gas/water meter 406 that change in response to consumption and in conventional scenarios are read by the utility meter reader for extracting the corresponding utility consumption measurements. The digital data decoder 408 then decodes the barcode data into digital data signals for input to the CPU 410.

The CPU 410 preferably includes a processor, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), and data input/output (I/O) bus. The digital data signals are provided by the digital data decoder 408 as input to the CPU 410 via the I/O bus, while the ROM contains software codes which when executed by the processor provides the control and communications logic necessary for the CPU 310 to perform control operations, processing of utility measurement data, and communication with the electricity reading device 102 and the handheld computing device 202 via the Bluetooth wireless communications device 412. The data transfer between the CPU 410 and the Bluetooth wireless communications device 412 takes place via the I/O bus. The RAM provides a temporary memory resource to the processor storing temporarily the utility measurement data during processing and communication, and the EEPROM provides storage for the identification information pertaining to the household, the EEPROM being programmable by the processor with information received from the Bluetooth wireless communications device 412.

The Bluetooth wireless communication device 412 applies Bluetooth communications standards for facilitating wireless communication between the fluid utility reading device 104/106 and the electricity reading device 102 via the corresponding Bluetooth wireless communications device 312. Similarly, the Bluetooth wireless communication device 412 applies the Bluetooth communications standards for facilitating wireless communication between the fluid utility reading device 104/106 and the handheld computing device 202. Alternatively, other wireless communications devices, protocols and standards may be used in lieu of the Bluetooth wireless communication device 412.

During operation, the high efficiency electrical generator 402 induces AC power supply when there is kinetic force attendant on gas or water flow, which is then converted to DC voltage supply. The optical data reader 407 reads the barcode markings and picks up the barcode data from the analog gas/water meter 406 periodically or upon requests made by the handheld computing device 202 or the remote servers in the large utility company via the Bluetooth wireless communications device 412, which is then decoded by the digital data decoder and the result sent to the CPU 410. The CPU 410 then processes the digital data signal and stores the corresponding utility measurement information derived from the digital data signal in the RAM and EEPROM. The CPU 410 then sends the utility measurement data through the Bluetooth wireless communication device 412 to the CPU 310 in the electricity reading device 102 or the handheld computing device 202.

All utility meters are preferably assigned unique identification (ID) numbers and passwords that are stored in the EEPROM of the corresponding utility meter-reading devices and are programmed and re-programmed through the corresponding Bluetooth wireless communication devices or remote servers computer. As an example, the ID numbers may be different while the passwords may be the same word for the three utility meters that are assigned to the same household.

In the foregoing manner, utility meter-reading devices and systems according to embodiments of the invention for addressing the foregoing problems associated with conventional utility meter-reading scenarios are described. Although only a number of embodiments of the invention are disclosed, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art in view of this disclosure that numerous changes and/or modification can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.

Claims

1. A utility meter-reading device for facilitating remote reading of utility measurements from utility meters, comprising: a power supply for providing electrical power to the device, wherein the power supply comprises a generator; a processor for processing data and providing control and communications logic; reading means for reading utility measurement from a utility meter and providing the same for transmission dependent on the processor; and means for providing communications with the device environment, including the transmission of the utility measurement dependent on the processor.

2. The device as in claim 1, wherein the means for providing communications comprises means for providing wireless communications.

3. The device as in claim 2, wherein the means for providing wireless communications comprises means for providing Bluetooth wireless communications.

4. The device as in claim 1, wherein the means for providing communications comprises means for providing line communications.

5. The device as in claim 4, wherein the means for providing line communications comprises a line communications modem.

6. The device as in claim 1, wherein when applied to the remote reading of a fluid utility meter, the generator is a moving magnet-static coil generator wherein the moving magnet is propelled by fluid utility flow in the fluid utility meter.

7. The device as in claim 1, wherein when applied to the remote reading of an electricity meter, the power supply derives power from the electricity measured by the electricity meter.

8. The device as in claim 1, wherein the reading means comprises optical reading means for reading optical information from numeric displays in a utility meter.

9. The device as in claim 8, wherein the optical reading means comprises barcode reading means for reading barcode information marked on the numeric displays in the utility meter.

10. A utility meter-reading device for facilitating remote reading of utility measurements from utility meters, comprising: a power supply for providing electrical power to the device; a processor for processing data and providing control and communications logic; reading means for reading utility measurement from a utility meter and providing the same for transmission dependent on the processor; and means for providing communications with the device environment, including the transmission of the utility measurement dependent on the processor wherein when applied to the remote reading of an electricity meter, the power supply derives power from the electricity measured by the electricity meter.

11. A method for facilitating remote reading of utility measurements from utility meters, comprising the steps of: providing electrical power to the device using a power supply which comprises a generator; processing data and providing control and communications logic using a processor; reading utility measurement from a utility meter and providing the same for transmission dependent on the processor using reading means; and providing communications with the device environment, including the transmission of the utility measurement dependent on the processor.

12. The method as in claim 11, wherein the step of providing communications comprises the step of providing wireless communications.

13. The method as in claim 12, wherein the step of providing wireless communications comprises the step of providing Bluetooth wireless communications.

14. The method as in claim 11, wherein the step of providing communications comprises the step of providing line communications.

15. The method as in claim 14, wherein the step of providing line communications comprises the step of communicating with a line communications modem.

16. The method as in claim 11 , wherein when applied to the remote reading of a fluid utility meter, the step of providing electrical power using the generator comprises the step of providing electrical power using a moving magnet-static coil generator wherein the moving magnet is propelled by fluid utility flow in the fluid utility meter.

17. The method as in claim 11 , wherein when applied to the remote reading of an electricity meter, the step of providing electrical power comprises the step of deriving power from electricity measured by the electricity meter.

18. The method as in claim 11, wherein the step of reading comprises the step of performing optical reading for reading optical information from numeric displays in a utility meter.

19. The method as in claim 18, wherein the step of performing optical reading comprises the step of performing barcode reading for reading barcode information marked on the numeric displays in the utility meter.

20. A method for facilitating remote reading of utility measurements from utility meters, comprising the steps of: providing electrical power to the device using a power supply; processing data and providing control and communications logic using a processor; reading utility measurement from a utility meter and providing the same for transmission dependent on the processor using reading means; and providing communications with the device environment, including the transmission of the utility measurement dependent on the processor wherein when applied to the remote reading of an electricity meter, the step of providing electrical power comprises the step of deriving power from electricity measured by the electricity meter.