MODULE

FIELD OF INVENTION

The invention relates generally to a fluid meter and more particularly, a fluid meter having a near field communication module as a supplementary communication protocol to a wireless m-bus communication module. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Utility providers are using fluid meters such as water, or gas meter in order to gather information on the utility consumption. Digital fluid meters are getting more popular nowadays owing to the fact that digital meters provide more accurate measurement over mechanical meter.

Earlier it was required to read the fluid meters by direct visual observation of human recorders who reads from one meter to another. To save manpower and time, the fluid meter capable of wireless communication is developed, wherein it can transmit and receive data signals over a wireless network. For example, US 8855019 has disclosed a meter enabled for wireless communication and a wireless communication network. However, such meter has limitation as well. Wireless communication typically requires the meter to be powered so that the meter can transfer its data. Often meters rely on a battery power, however, the battery can be depleted over time. By that time, the meter is not able to communicate wirelessly and the data may be lost, the utility providers cannot read the meter to issue a billing statement.

Therefore, the present invention aims to provide a fluid meter for solving the above- mentioned problems. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One object of the present invention is to provide a fluid meter with a combination of a wireless m-bus communication module and a near field communication module, the wireless m-bus communication module provides remote or local readings, at the same time, the near field communication module provides supplementary wireless communication when the power supply to the meter is unavailable by retrieving data from the meter just before the meter failed. Thus, the revenue loss of a utility providers is minimized.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a fluid meter including features which allow it to perform better than other meters. One of the features includes a tamper sensor as an indication of tampering of the meter that can cause the meter to incorrectly register a reading that is higher or lower than the actual measurement. Another feature includes an alarm to alert for fluid leakage and/or fluid burst.

The present invention provides a fluid meter comprising: a fluid sensor for measuring at least one fluid information; a control circuit for detecting at least one meter information; a data processor for retrieving and processing the fluid information and the meter information; a memory device in communication with the processor for storing the information; a powered primary communication module for wirelessly transmitting the information to at least one receiving device; and a supplementary communication module for wirelessly transmitting the information to at least one supplementary communication-enabled device, if necessary, or when a power supply to the primary communication module is not available.

The primary communication module is preferably a m-bus communication module. The supplementary communication is preferably a near field communication module.

Preferably, the fluid information includes any one or a combination of fluid consumption and fluid flowrate. Preferably, the meter information is an operational status of the meter. The fluid sensor is preferably a magneto-resistive sensor. The power supply is preferably a lithium battery.

Preferably, the fluid meter further comprising a display to display the information, a tamper sensor to detect an external magnetic interference on the meter or an alarm to provide alert for of fluid leakage and/or fluid burst.

The present invention consists of features and a combination of parts hereinafter fully described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, it being understood that various changes in the details may be made without departing from the scope of the invention or sacrificing any of the advantages of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

To further clarify various aspects of some embodiments of the present invention, a more particular description of the invention will be rendered by references to specific embodiments thereof, which are illustrated in the appended drawings. It is appreciated that these drawings depict only typical embodiments of the invention and are therefore not to be considered limiting of its scope. The invention will be described and explained with additional specificity and detail through the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 shows a block diagram of a fluid meter in accordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Figure 1 shows a block diagram of a fluid meter. The fluid meter can be a flow meter such as a water meter used by a utility provider for measuring fluid information such as fluid consumption or fluid flowrate. Basically, the fluid meter includes a data processor such as a microcontroller (102), a fluid sensor (101), memory device (103), a display (106) and a plurality of communication modules (104, 105). One embodiment of a housing (not shown) of the fluid meter comprises a casing and a cover. A partition is placed inside the casing to define an upper and lower chambers. The lower chamber serves as a conduit or path extending between an inlet and outlet ports. A rotatable propeller or rotor is provided in the lower chamber which has a supporting member extending from the upper chamber. Rotation of the propeller and its support member is responsive to fluid such as water or gas that flows through the path below the upper chamber. A control circuit is housed in the upper chamber. The control circuit includes the fluid sensor (101) which detects and responds to the rotation of the propeller and its support member for generating an output signal. The circuit further comprises the microcontroller (102), communication modules (104, 105) and a power supply.

Referring to the drawing, the microcontroller (102) receives the signals from the fluid sensor such as a magneto-resistive sensor or other sensor which is rotating in response to fluid flow through the meter. The magneto-resistive sensor generates pulses through variation of a magnetic field generated from the rotation. The magneto-resistive sensor can detect the rotation speed. The magneto-resistive sensor can also use for detecting direction of the flow.

It should be understood that such meter using the magneto-resistive sensor can be tampered by applying an external magnetic field close to the meter in order to alter the magnetization of the magneto-resistive sensor that can cause the meter to incorrectly register a magnitude of consumption. A tamper sensor is preferably included in the control circuit of the meter to monitor magnetic fields in the meter and to indicate presence of abnormal magnetic field. When an abnormal magnetic field is detected, the occurrence is recorded by the tamper sensor and the data is transmitted to the utility provider for taking appropriate steps.

The microcontroller (102) comprises a number of components that receives signals from the fluid sensor (101), sending output signal to a display (106) for displaying meter related messages or indications, and controls the operation of the communication modules (104, 105). It has been found that is particularly advantageous to have a built- in Real-time-Clock (RTC) capabilities. The RTC enables a clock and calendar function that keeps track to current time.

The meter is powered directly by the power supply which normally uses a lithium battery. The battery is expected to operate up to ten years continuously. Besides that, a power converter can be added for regulating the required output voltage of the meter when the battery is delivering a voltage above or below the required output voltage. Various types of power supply and power converter may be used in the present invention.

The meter provides visual indications of the meter information as well as fluid information on a LCD display (106). The display (106) may provide the flow information such as fluid consumption, fluid flowrate and meter information which is an operational status of the meter such as radio transmission availability, tamper occurrence, leakage, backflow occurrence, battery level or etc that are controlled by the microcontroller (102). The display (106) can display up to 99, 999, 999 and down to 0.004 liter resolution. The information will be stored in the memory device (103).

The communication modules (104, 105) allow the information stored in the memory device (103) to be wirelessly transmitted. The data can be wirelessly transmitted to a nearby data relay station that allows the data to be transmitted to a desired terminal; or it can transmit to a nearby operator, or a combination thereof. Further, commands may be sent wirelessly to retrieve the information via the communication modules.

The communication interfaces includes a powered primary communication module such as a wireless m-bus communication module (104). The communication module (104) is preferably based on a wireless Meter -Bus ("M-bus") protocol, according a European standard (EN 13757-4) used for remote reading of utility meters, in particular gas or electricity meters. The wireless m-bus communication module (104) is powered by the power supply to communicate with at least one receiving device such as concentrator; repeater; mobile reader or etc. The second communication module is a supplementary communication module such as a near field communication module (105) capable of coupling with at least one near field communication-enabled device for the communication based on the near field communication (NFC) protocol. The near field communication-enabled device can be any portable and mobile device such as smartphones, tablets or etc. In operation, the near field communication-enabled device may be manually positioned in a location adjacent to the meter to establish a communication. The near field communication module (105) is configured for operation in an active communication mode or a passive communication mode. In the active mode, the near field communication module (105) is powered by the power supply of the meter. In passive mode, the near field communication module (105) requires zero power from the power supply. With either mode, the near field communication module (105) are able to receive and transmit data. Using such a configuration, it is possible to retrieve data from the memory device (103) of the meter by placing the smartphones or tablets physically on or close to the meter. The data from the meter can be then communicated to the near field communication device even when the battery of the meter is fully depleted. Thus, the consumption and settings which stored in the meter before the battery is depleted is retrievable.

The meter uses both the wireless m-bus communication module (104) and the near field communication module (105). In normal operation, the meter communicates with the other receiving device near or far away using the wireless m-bus protocol or communicate with the near field communication-enabled device that manually positioned in a location adjacent to the meter. The m-bus communication module (104) is battery powered and operates to transmit the information periodically, such as twice a day or even several times a day. This enables the utility to track hourly the fluid consumption or even charge per time of use. The information may not transmit from the fluid meter due to an interferences caused by low battery or other reasons. When the battery become depleted and unable to reliably operate the m-bus communication module (104), the meter solely uses the near field communication module (105) for communicating to retrieve the information such as the fluid consumption before the battery depleted. For example, the near field communication-enabled device may be manually positioned at a location adjacent to the meter to send a data retrieval request to the meter. Next, the near field communication module may receive information from the memory device (103) in response to the data retrieval requested. The near field communication forwards the received information to the near field communication- enabled device. A bill can be issued based on the received information.

The meter, particularly to a water meter may contain built-in alarm functionality to provide alert for any one or combination of fluid leakage and fluid burst to the utility providers through the communication modules (104, 105). The alarm allows the utility providers to indicate excessive leakage of water across water pipe.

The present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from its essential characteristics. The described embodiments are to be considered in all respects only as illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the invention is, therefore indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description. All changes, which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims, are to be embraced within their scope.