WO2000048352A2

WO2000048352A2 - Device and method for remotely reading meters

Info

Publication number: WO2000048352A2
Application number: PCT/US2000/003584
Authority: WO
Inventors: Larry C. Sarver
Original assignee: Tucor, Inc.
Priority date: 1999-02-11
Filing date: 2000-02-11
Publication date: 2000-08-17
Also published as: WO2000048352A9; AU3361600A; WO2000048352A3

Abstract

A system for remotely reading meters utilizing cable communications as shown in Figure 1 . A sensor decoder (2) is connected to the output of a utility meter (M). The sensor decoder converts the meter output to digital data which is transmitted over a communications cable line (c) to a remote location (8). The data concerning the meter is decoded at the remote location.

Description

DEVICE AND METHOD FOR REMOTELY READING METERS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a system and method for reading meters, in particular, a method of reading meters using existing cable communications systems.

2. Prior Art

Conventional water meters and other utility meters, such as gas and electric meters, are typically read on site. This calls for utility personnel to travel to a home or business utilizing the utility and enter the building to read the meter located within the building. Oftentimes, the occupant of the building is not present or unwilling to allow a stranger into the building, and the utility personnel are forced to make repeated visits to the building to gain access to the meter. This process is both labor intensive and costly.

One solution to the problem of reading meters located in a building has been to mount an auxiliary reading unit on the exterior of the building. The reading unit is connected via a two wire path to the meter within the building. This allows the meter to be read from the exterior of the building without disturbing the occupant thereof. Various mechanisms have been employed for retrieving meter data from such auxiliary reading units, such as handheld smart devices which are placed against a data port on the reading unit for transfer of the data, radio transceivers connected to the meters interrogatable by a central radio, telephone modems connected to the meter and called up by a remote location and data transmission directly over the utility (i.e., electric) lines.

However, other than the handheld smart devices with auxiliary reading units, these remote meter reading systems have not been universally successful, mainly due to the high costs thereof. Even the auxiliary reading units retain undesirably high costs associated with the need for personnel to visit each building.

In addition, utility consumers are recognizing the need or at least desirability of accessing information on their utility consumption or planning for their utility needs .

Accordingly, a need remains for a method of remotely reading meters which does not require utility personnel to physically visit each meter served by a utility provider.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This need is met by the system of the present invention for reading a utility meter and its method of use. The meter may be a water meter, an electricity meter, or a gas meter. The system includes a utility meter having a meter signal output line, a sensor decoder connected to the meter signal output line and having a sensor signal output line, and a decoder system connected to the sensor decoder signal output line via a communications cable, wherein the decoder system is configured to receive the sensor signals from the sensor decoder. The meter signals are digital pulses or may be analog current. The communications cable also is configured to simultaneously transmit another signal, such as a television signal, which does not interfere with the sensor signals from the sensor decoder.

The decoder system includes a signal decoder for converting signals from the sensor decoder to data on use of the meter. Preferably, the signal decoder is configured to decode a signal indicating the amount of a utility measured by the meter and a signal indicating the location of the meter. The present invention also includes a method of remotely reading a utility meter installed in a structure having a communications cable extending thereto where the utility meter having a meter signal output line. The method includes steps of (1) connecting a sensor decoder to the meter signal output line such that the sensor decoder receives meter signals from the meter, the sensor decoder having a sensor signal output line, (2) connecting the sensor signal output line to one end of the communications cable terminating at the structure, (3) connecting a remote decoder system to the other end of the communications cable terminating at a location remote from the structure, (4) transmitting sensor signals from the sensor decoder along the communications cable to the decoder system, and (5) decoding the sensor signals received by the decoder system into data concerning the meter. The step of transmitting sensor signals preferably includes transmitting a signal indicating the amount of a utility measured by the meter and a signal indicating the location of the meter. The sensor signals are transmitted at a frequency which does not interfere with other signals being transmitted along the communications cable.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Fig. 1 is a schematic view of a system for remotely reading a meter according to the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a schematic view of a communications pathway of the present invention; and

Fig. 3 is another schematic view of a communications pathway. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

For purposes of the description hereinafter, the terms "upper", "lower", "right", "left", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom" and derivatives thereof shall relate to the invention as it is oriented in the drawing figures. However, it is to be understood that the invention may assume various alternative variations and step sequences, except where expressly specified to the contrary. It is also to be understood that the specific devices and processes illustrated in the attached drawings, and described in the following specification, are simply exemplary embodiments of the invention. Hence, specific dimensions and other physical characteristics related to the embodiments disclosed herein are not to be considered as limiting.

The present invention includes a system and method for reading meters utilizing existing cable systems which are presently wired into many homes throughout the United States. The invention is described in connection with reading water meters, however, other utility meters likewise can be read via the present invention. As shown schematically in Fig. 1, a typical home or other inhabited building receives water through a main water line L which passes through a meter M having an existing sending unit with a conventional flow totalizer. The totalizer senses the total flow passing through the meter M and totals it over a period of time. In some localities, the meter M is connected via a meter output (reading) line R and a return line R_a to an auxiliary reading unit A positioned outside of the building. In addition, such inhabited buildings conventionally receive cable signals via a network of coaxial cables C. Cable signals are sent to the homes along the cables C from a cable signal provider. Typically, the cable is split into a multiple path via a splitter S to form multiple cables C within the home. The present invention takes advantage of these preexisting components within the home or other inhabited building and the infrastructure already in place from cable communications providers (referred to as cable operators) . According to the present invention, a sensor decoder 2 is directly connected to the output of the meter M or to the reading line R via the meter output line 4. The sensor decoder 2 is sized to be placed in close proximity to the meter M. The sensor decoder 2 is programmable to read signals passing through meter output line R and operate on a four to twenty milliamp signal or a digital pulse. A suitable sensor decoder 2 is Model No. SD-210 available from TUCOR, Inc. of Wexford, Pennsylvania. The sensor decoder 2 converts the signal from the meter output line to digital data. An output of the sensor decoder 2 travels through a sensor output line 6 and is electrically connected to the cable line C via the cable splitter S or any other conventional method for making an electrical connection. Each of the lines 4 and 6 have respective return lines 4a and 6a to complete the circuit. Preferably, the sensor decoder 2 produces two signals. A first signal corresponds to the totalized flow detected by the meter M. A second signal from the sensor decoder 2 identifies the location of each particular sensor 2 in any one of a multitude of homes or buildings in a locality. The second (location) signal preferably has a frequency different from the first frequency. Each sensor decoder 2 anywhere in a locality has its own location signal signature defined by the frequency of the signal as well as the length and width of the pulse of the signal. The frequencies of the signals from the sensor decoder 2 are selected so as to be not confused with the other frequencies (such as television frequencies) of the conventional cable signals traveling along the cable line C.

Preferably, a plurality of inhabited buildings each having a utility meter and cable line thereto also have a sensor decoder 2 installed therein as described above. The sensor signals emanating from each inhabited building are ultimately transmitted along the cable lines C until the signals reach a centralized decoder system 8. The decoder system 8 includes a decoder 10 and, preferably, a personal computer 12 or the like. The decoder 10 communicates with the sensor decoder 2 to retrieve data therefrom. A small scale, commercially available product which may be adapted to use in the present invention as a decoder 10 is Model No. Controller COM-50 available from TUCOR, Inc. of Wexford, Pennsylvania. The computer 12 contains a database of the location of each meter M and billing information and the like as well as a location signal signature for the corresponding sensor decoder 2. The decoder system 8 identifies the signals from a sensor decoder 2, formulates data corresponding to the totalized flow signal and stores the data, and then moves on to another sensor decoder and meter in another location. In this manner, meters can be read in a multitude of homes and businesses in a locality by serially identifying a meter' s (sensor's) location according to its location signal signature, retrieving the totalized flow signal and converting that signal to data (e.g., gallons of water), and storing the data. For a single utility company in a large locality, more than one decoder system 8 may be employed. The data stored at each decoder system 8 is readily connected to a centralized billing location for the utility company.

In new construction, the sensor decoder 2, the meter M, and the cables C may be installed in a building during construction. Alternatively, an older building may be retrofitted to utilize the present invention by connecting a sensor decoder 2 between the output line of a preexisting meter M and a preexisting cable C.

As described above, the present invention takes advantage of a certain ambiguous communications infrastructure. Television cable operators presently maintained centralized transmission locations where the decoder system 8 of the present invention could be located. The number of signal frequencies which may travel along communications cables are essentially infinite. Cable television operators are beginning to offer two-way communications, i.e., the ability of the cable television user to communicate via the cable lines back to the operator. High speed Internet access is also offered by some cable operators. The communication route of the present invention may occur via a frequency (channel) assigned by the operator of the cable or via an Internet connection provided by the cable operator.

According to a first communications path shown schematically in Fig. 2, the sensor decoder 2^~ is configured to receive and amplify a broadband frequency traveling along the cable C, detect the frequency applicable to that particular sensor decoder 2 as well as decode the digital data that constitutes the protocol for the sensor decoder 2. When the second communications path is used as shown schematically in Fig. 3, the sensor decoder 2 again receives the broadband frequency for that sensor decoder 2 but also must detect and decode the digital data of the Internet communication protocol (referred to as TCP/IP) and then decode the protocol for the sensor decoder 2. This second pathway allows for multiple sensor decoders 2 to be accessed by any computer with an Internet connection and permits multiple users (e.g., multiple utility providers) to access a single sensor decoder 2 within a building. Each provider of water, electricity , or gas and the like may receive data on its respective utility meter and send data thereto.

It will be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art that modifications may be made to the invention without departing from the concepts disclosed in the foregoing description. Such modifications are to be considered as included within the following claims unless the claims, by their language, expressly state otherwise. Accordingly, the particular embodiments described in detail herein are illustrative only and are not limiting to the scope of the invention which is to be given the full breadth of the appended claims and any and all equivalents thereof.

Claims

I Claim :

1. A system for reading a utility meter comprising: a utility meter having a meter signal output line; a sensor decoder connected to said meter signal output line and having a sensor signal output line, said sensor decoder being configured to convert meter signals to decoded sensor signals; and a decoder system connected to said sensor decoder signal output line via a communications cable, whereby said decoder system is configured to receive the sensor signals from said sensor decoder.

2. The system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the meter signals are digital pulses.

3. The system as claimed in claim 1 wherein the meter signals are analog current.

. The system as claimed in claim 1 wherein said communications cable is configured to simultaneously transmit another signal which does not interfere with the sensor signals from said sensor decoder.

5. The system as claimed in claim 4 wherein said another signal is a television signal.

6. The system as claimed in claim 1 wherein said meter is a water meter, an electricity meter, or a gas meter.

7. The system as claimed in claim 1 wherein said decoder system includes a signal decoder for converting signals from said sensor decoder to data on said meter .

8. The system as claimed in claim 7 wherein said signal decoder is configured to decode a signal indicating the amount of a utility measured by said meter.

9. The system as claimed in claim 8 wherein said signal decoder is configured to decode a signal indicating the location of said meter.

10. A method of remotely reading a utility meter installed in a structure having a communications cable extending thereto, the utility meter having a meter signal output line, the method comprising the steps of: connecting a sensor decoder to the meter signal output line such that the sensor decoder receives meter signals from the meter, the sensor decoder having a sensor signal output line; connecting the sensor signal output line to one end of the communications cable terminating at the structure; connecting a remote decoder system to the other end of the communications cable terminating at a location remote from the structure; transmitting sensor signals from the sensor decoder along the communications cable to the decoder system; and decoding the sensor signals received by the decoder system into data concerning the meter.

11. The method as claimed in claim 10 wherein said step of transmitting sensor signals comprises transmitting a signal indicating the amount of a utility measured by the meter.

12. The method as claimed in claim 11 wherein said step of transmitting sensor signals further comprises transmitting a signal indicating the location of the meter.

13. The method as claimed in claim 12 wherein the sensor signals are transmitted at a frequency which does not interfere with other signals being transmitted along the communications cable.