Abstract
To provide a calibration device reliably accomplish communication filling without a great deal of labor when filling gaseous fuel (e.g., hydrogen gas) from a filling apparatus (e.g., a hydrogen filling apparatus) to a device to be filled (e.g., a hydrogen tank of an FCV) via the calibration device, and so on. A calibration device 100 according to the present invention includes a flowmeter 1; a filling nozzle 2 connected to the flowmeter 1 through a pipe 4A, the filling nozzle 2 having a communication input part 2A that receives information from a side 30 to be filled as an optical signal; and a receptacle 3 connected to the flowmeter 1 through a pipe 4B, the receptacle 3 having a communication output part 3A that outputs the signal received from the communication input part 2A of the filling nozzle 2 to a filling nozzle side of a filling device 20 that fills gaseous fuel, wherein the communication output part 3A is movable in a central axis direction of the pipe 4B connected to the receptacle 3, and an optical signal is emitted from the communication output part 3A toward the central axis of the pipe 4B.
Claims
1. A calibration device comprising: a flowmeter; a filling nozzle connected to said flowmeter through a pipe, said filling nozzle having a communication input part that receives information from a side to be filled as an informational optical signal; and a receptacle connected to said flowmeter through a pipe, said receptacle having a mounting member and a communication output part coupled to the mounting member, the communication output part being configured to emit an output optical signal corresponding to the informational optical signal received from said communication input part of said filling nozzle to said filling nozzle side of a filling device that fills gaseous fuel, wherein said communication output part is translatable along the mounting member in a central axis direction of the pipe connected to the receptacle, and the output optical signal is emitted from said communication output part toward the central axis of the pipe.
2. A filling apparatus comprising a filling device and a calibration device, and said calibration device including a flowmeter; a filling nozzle connected to said flowmeter through a pipe, said filling nozzle having a communication input part that receives information from a side to be filled as an optical signal; and a receptacle connected to said flowmeter through a pipe, said receptacle having a communication output part that outputs the signal received from said communication input part of said filling nozzle to a filling nozzle side of a filling device that fills gaseous fuel, said communication output part being translatable in a central axis direction of the pipe connected to the receptacle, and an optical signal being emitted from said communication output part toward the central axis of the pipe, wherein connecting said filling nozzle of the calibration device to the receptacle on the side to be filled, and connecting said filling nozzle on a filling device side to the calibration device provides functions of calibrating the filling device while filling it with gaseous fuel, and transmitting the optical signal from the side being filled to said communication input part of said filling nozzle on the filling device side to perform communication filling via a signal transmission means.
3. The filling apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the communication output part is of an annular configuration.
4. The filling apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the mounting member is of an axial configuration.
5. The filling apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein communication output part is configured to transmit the output optical signal at an angle relative to the central axis.
6. The filling apparatus as claimed in claim 2 further comprising a notification means for notifying that communication filling has been established.
Description
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
(1) FIG. 1 is an explanatory view showing a state that a calibration device according to an embodiment of the present invention is used.
(2) FIG. 2 is an explanatory view showing the calibration device in FIG. 1.
(3) FIG. 3 is an end view showing an annular member of the calibration device.
(4) FIG. 4 is a view showing an action of the annular member.
(5) FIGS. 5A and 5B are explanatory views illustrating arrangement of light emitting part in a circumferential direction in the annular member.
(6) FIG. 6 is an explanatory view illustrating another arrangement of light emitting parts in the annular member.
(7) FIGS. 7A and 7B are explanatory views illustrating other arrangements of a light emitting part in the annular member.
(8) FIG. 8 is an exploded explanatory view for explaining a relative positional relationship between the annular member and an optical fiber.
(9) FIG. 9 is an explanatory view showing a positional relationship between the filling nozzle of a hydrogen filling apparatus and the annular member.
(10) FIG. 10 is an explanatory view showing a cover for preventing disturbance light.
(11) FIG. 11 is an explanatory view showing a light emitting part of a receptacle on an FCV side.
(12) FIG. 12 is an explanatory view showing a filling nozzle and a light receiving part of the calibration device.
(13) FIG. 13 is an explanatory view showing an optical fiber that connects the light receiving part in the filling nozzle of the calibration device and the light emitting part of the annular member.
(14) FIG. 14 is an explanatory view showing a conventional flow rate type calibration device.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
(15) Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1 to 13. In the illustrated embodiments, a case is shown in which an FCV 30 having a hydrogen tank is filled with hydrogen gas from a hydrogen filling device 20 via a calibration device 10. In this case, the calibration device 10 is separate from the hydrogen filling device 20. On the other hand, when the hydrogen filling device 20 includes the calibration device 10, it is written as the hydrogen filling apparatus 100. In FIG. 1 showing a state that the calibration device 10 is used, the calibration device 10 includes a flow meter 1 (master meter: Coriolis flow meter, etc.), a filling nozzle 2 placed on the FCV 30 side, and a filling nozzle 21 placed on the hydrogen filling device 20 side, a receptacle 3, hydrogen gas pipes 4A and 4B that connect the filling nozzle 2 and the receptacle 3 via the flow meter 1, and an optical fiber cable 5 for connecting a light receiving part 2A of the filling nozzle 2 and a light emitting part (vehicle communication output part) 3A of the receptacle 3 to constitute a signal transmission system for optical signals. The filling nozzle 2 of the calibration device 10 is configured to be connectable to and detachable from the receptacle 31 on the FCV 30 side, and the receptacle 3 of the calibration device 10 is configured to be connectable to and detachable from the filling nozzle 21 of the hydrogen filling device 20.
(16) The light receiving part 2A of the filling nozzle 2 of the calibration device 10 constitutes a communication input part that receives information on the FCV 30 side (for example, pressure and temperature inside the vehicle tank) from the receptacle 31 as an optical signal. Regarding transmission and reception of optical signals between the light receiving part 2A (a light receiving element 2AA: FIG. 12) of the filling nozzle 2 of the calibration device 10 and the light emitting element 31AA (FIG. 11) of the light emitting part 31A (FIG. 11) provided in the receptacle 31 on the FCV 30 side will be described later with reference to FIGS. 11 and 12. The light emitting part 3A of the receptacle 3 of the calibration device 10 constitutes a vehicle communication output part that outputs the optical signal received by the filling nozzle 2 of the calibration device 10 to the filling nozzle 21 of the hydrogen filling device 20. Transmission and reception of optical signals between the light emitting part 3A of the receptacle 3 of the calibration device 10 and the light receiving element 21A (FIG. 4) of the filling nozzle 21 on the side of the hydrogen filling device 20 will be described later with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.
(17) In FIG. 1, when calibration is performed using the calibration device 10, hydrogen gas is supplied from the hydrogen filling device 20 to an on-vehicle tank of the FCV 30 through a filling hose 22, the filling nozzle 21, and the receptacle 3 on the calibration device 10 side (a mounting member 3C, which will be described later and constitutes the receptacle 3), the hydrogen gas pipe 4B, the flow meter 1, the hydrogen gas pipe 4A, the filling nozzle 2 on the calibration device 10 side, and the receptacle 31 on the FCV 30 side. The flowmeter 1 accurately measures the amount of hydrogen gas filled. Thereby, the accuracy of the flow meter that measures hydrogen gas within the hydrogen filling device 20 can be evaluated. At that time, information (pressure, temperature) inside the on-vehicle tank of the FCV 30 is detected by a sensor (not shown) and is transmitted from the light emitting element 31AA (FIG. 11) of the light emitting part 31A (FIG. 11) provided in the receptacle 31 on the FCV 30 side to the hydrogen filling device 20 via the light receiving part 2A (the light receiving element 2AA, FIG. 12) of the filling nozzle 2 of the calibration device 10, the optical fiber cable 5, the light emitting part 3A (FIG. 4) of the receptacle 3 of the calibration device 10, and the light receiving element 21A (FIG. 4) of the filling nozzle 21 of the hydrogen filling device 20. Thus, communication filling is established.
(18) As described above, the circumferential position and/or the radial position of the light receiving element 21A in the filling nozzle 21 of the hydrogen filling device 20 differs depending on the manufacturer. In the illustrated embodiment, in order to reliably irradiate the optical signal from the light emitting part 3A of the receptacle 3 of the calibration device 10, the annular member 3B is configured to be movable in the direction of the central axis of the mounting member 3C by the adjustment member 3D (see FIG. 3). Regarding the transmission and reception of optical signals between the light emitting part 3A on the calibration device 10 side and the light receiving element 21A on the filling nozzle 21 side, including functions and actions of the annular member 3B, the mounting member 3C, and the adjustment member 3D, will be described later with reference to see FIGS. 3, 4 and others. Although not clearly shown in the figures, a notification means for notifying that communication filling has been established can be provided in the filling nozzle 2 of the calibration device 10, a display (not shown) or in rear equipment. With the notification means, an operator can reliably confirm that communication filling has been established, the filling pressure is increased, and full filling is reliably performed.
(19) In FIG. 2 showing details of the calibration device 10 according to the illustrated embodiment, members other than the calibration device 10, that is, the filling nozzle 21 of the hydrogen filling device 20 and the receptacle 31 of the FCV 30 are each indicated in broken lines. The light emitting part 3A of the receptacle 3 of the calibration device 10 is provided on the annular member 3B, and the annular member 3B is attached to the receptacle 3 with a mounting member 3C. In FIG. 2, an arrow A2 indicates a direction of the optical signal emitted from the light emitting part 3A. The light receiving part 2A of the filling nozzle 2 of the calibration device 10 is fixed to the filling nozzle 2 with a support member 2B. The light receiving element 2AA in the light receiving part 2A is arranged near the end of the FCV 30 on the receptacle 31 side.
(20) Next, the annular member 3B provided in the receptacle 3 of the calibration device 10 will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 10. FIG. 3 shows the annular member 3B viewed from the filling nozzle side of the hydrogen filling apparatus. A light emitting part 3A is annularly arranged in a region radially inward from the outer peripheral edge of the annular member 3B. In FIG. 3, the annular member 3B has a plurality of adjustment bolts 3D (adjustment means: three in FIG. 3) arranged at equal intervals in a circumferential direction on its outer periphery. Tightening the adjustment bolt 3D and moving it radially inward allow the annular member 3B to be fixed and held with respect to the mounting member 3C. Loosening the adjustment bolts 3D causes the annular member 3B to be moved in the direction of the central axis of the mounting member 3C. The mounting member 3C is configured to be hollow, and its internal space constitutes a hydrogen flow path.
(21) In FIG. 4 showing an action of the annular member 3B, two types of filling nozzles 21-1 and 21-2 have different radial positions of their respective light receiving elements 21A-1 and 21A-2. FIG. 4 shows relative positions of the two types of filling nozzles 21-1 and 21-2 and the annular member 3B. The filling nozzle 21-1 and its light receiving element 21A-1 are shown in solid lines, and the filling nozzle 21-2 and its light receiving element 21A-2 are shown in broken lines. In FIG. 4, an optical fiber cable 5 (see FIG. 13) constituting a bundle of a large number of optical fibers, which is a signal transmission member for optical signals, is arranged as an individual optical fiber 5A in the annular member 3B at a circumferential angle 100 or more, and constitutes the light emitting part 3A of the optical signal in the receptacle 3.
(22) As shown in FIG. 4, the optical fiber 5A is arranged such that the filling nozzle 21 side (left side in FIG. 4) is located radially inward in the annular member 3B, and the side remote from the filling nozzle 21 (in FIG. 4, right side) is located radially outward. Therefore, the optical signal emitted from the light emitting part 3A of the annular member 3B is, as shown by arrows A4 in FIG. 4, directed radially inward (directed the central axis 3CC of the member 3C and the central axis of the hydrogen gas pipe 4B) toward the filling nozzle 21 side (left side in FIG. 4). Since an optical signal radiated inward in the radial direction has strong directivity, appropriate adjustment allows the optical signal to reliably be irradiated to the light receiving element 21A in the filling nozzle 21 of the hydrogen filling device 20. Since the position of the filling nozzle 21 on the hydrogen filling device 20 side when connected to the receptacle 3 of the calibration device 10 is fixed, adjusting the position of the mounting member 3C of the annular member 3B in the direction of the central axis 3CC (an arrow A5) enables the distance between the annular member 3B and the end face of the filling nozzle 21 in the direction of the central axis 3CC to be adjusted also. As described above, since the direction in which the optical signal is irradiated is constant, appropriately adjusting the distance between the annular member 3B and the end face of the filling nozzle 21 in the direction of the central axis 3CC allows the radial position of the light signal emitted from the light emitting part 3A of the annular member 3B to move. As a result, even if the position of the light receiving element 21A in the circumferential direction and/or radial direction of the filling nozzle 21 on the hydrogen filling device 20 side differs depending on the manufacturer, the optical signal emitted from the annular member 3B (for example, the optical signal (including information on the pressure and temperature inside the tank) is reliably received by the light receiving element 21A of the filling nozzle 21 on the side of the hydrogen filling device 20, and communication filling from the hydrogen filling device 20 to the FCV 30 is established. For this adjustment, there is no need for special jigs or complicated jig adjustment work, and communication filling can be easily performed.
(23) As described above, moving the annular member 3B in the direction of the central axis 3CC of the mounting member 3C (the arrow A5) and adjusting the position of the annular member 3B allow the radial position of the optical signal emitted from the light emitting part 3A and that of any of the light receiving elements 21A-1 and 21A-2 of the filling nozzles 21-1 and 21-2 to be equalized. For example, if the filling nozzle 21-1 and the annular member 3B in the direction of the central axis 3CC relatively position as shown in the solid line in FIG. 4, the optical signal emitted from the light emitting part 3A of the annular member 3B is also irradiated to the radial position of the light receiving element 21A-1 of the filling nozzle 21-1. On the other hand, if the relative position of the light receiving element 21A-2 of the filling nozzle 21-2 and the light emitting part 3A of the annular member 3B in the central axis 3CC is as shown in the broken line in FIG. 4, the optical signal emitted from the light emitting part 3A of the annular member 3B is also irradiated to the radial position of the light receiving element 21A-2 of the filling nozzle 21-2.
(24) The light emitting part 3A in the annular member 3B, that is, the end of the optical fiber 5A does not need to be arranged over the entire circumferential area of the end face of the annular member 3B on the filling nozzle 21 side (left side in FIG. 4). As a result of inventor's experiments, in the circumferential direction of the end face of the annular member 3B on the filling nozzle 21 side (the left side in FIG. 4), if the light emitting part 3A is located in an area or circumference where the central angle thereof is 100 or more or disposed over or more of the entire area in the direction, the light receiving element 21A can reliably receive the optical signal emitted from the light emitting part 3A, regardless of the position of the light receiving element 21A in the circumferential direction. That is, even if the circumferential position of the light receiving element 21A on the filling nozzle 21 side differs depending on the manufacturer, arranging the light emitting part 3A on the calibration device 10 side such that the circumferential angle of which is 100 or more enables communication filling.
(25) FIGS. 5(A) and 5(B) show an arrangement of the light emitting part 3A on the end surface of the annular member 3B. The light emitting part 3A may be arranged continuously over the central angle (100 as shown in FIG. 5(A), but may be arranged intermittently as shown in FIG. 5(B). If the sum of the central angles of the intermittently arranged light emitting parts 3A(1), 3A(2), 3A(3) and 3A(4) is 100 or more, information (pressure and temperature inside the vehicle tank) transmitted from the FCV 30 side can be reliably transmitted to the hydrogen filling device 20 side to establish communication filling.
(26) Similarly, the light emitting part 3A on the end surface of the annular member 3B can be arranged parallel to the concentric circle C6 (indicated in a dash-dotted line in FIG. 6) of any annular member 3B. Instead of being arranged in parallel, they may be arranged at an angle with respect to the concentric circle C6, as shown in FIG. 6. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 7(A), the radial position of the light emitting part 3A on the end face of the annular member 3B gradually increases, or the light emitting part 3A gradually moves outward in the radial direction, forming a so-called spiral shape. In addition, as shown in FIG. 7(B), the light emitting part 3A may be arranged so that the light emitting part 3A can be arranged such that the radial position of the light emitting part 3A on the end surface of the annular member 3B can be changed arbitrarily.
(27) The arrangement of the optical fibers 5A within the annular member 3B will be explained with reference to FIG. 8. As shown in FIG. 8, the annular member 3B is composed of an outer member 3B1 and an inner member 3B2, and the inner peripheral surface of the outer member 3B1 and the outer peripheral surface of the inner member 3B2 are set to have complementary dimensions and shapes. As shown in FIG. 4, the inner circumferential surface of the outer member 3B1 and the outer circumferential surface of the inner member 3B2 are set such that the radial dimension becomes smaller as they approach the filling nozzle 21 side (as they approach the bottom in FIG. 8). Thereby, the irradiation direction of the optical signal explained in FIG. 4 is defined. When arranging the optical fiber 5A, the inner member 3B2 is inserted into the internal space of the outer member 3B1 with the optical fiber 5A positioned between the inner peripheral surface of the outer member 3B1 and the outer peripheral surface of the inner member 3B2. Thereby, each optical fiber 5A can be arranged on the end face of the annular member 3B.
(28) As shown in FIG. 9, when the receptacle 3 of the calibration device 10 is connected to the filling nozzle 21 on the hydrogen filling device 20 side, a gap CL is formed between the annular member 3B and the filling nozzle 21 in the direction of the central axis 3CC of the mounting member 3C. There is a possibility that a disturbance factor, such as sunlight, to the optical signal (arrows A9) transmitted from the light emitting part 3A to the light receiving element 21A of the filling nozzle 21 may enter through the gap CL. In the illustrated embodiment, as shown in FIG. 10, a cover 3E having a generally truncated cone shape is provided to cover the gap CL. The shape of the cover 3E is set so as to efficiently avoid sunlight and the like from entering through the gap CL. Although not explicitly shown, the cover 3E is attached to the mounting member 3C by a conventionally known method. Providing the cover 3E prevents disturbance factors such as sunlight from entering through the gap CL and disturbing the optical signal. At the same time, the cover 3E can act as a mark or guide when connecting the filling nozzle 21 to the receptacle 3.
(29) Next, with reference to FIGS. 11 and 12, the mechanism for securely receiving an optical signal containing information on the pressure and temperature inside the on-vehicle tank of the FCV 30 from the receptacle 31 on the FCV 30 to the filling nozzle 2 of the calibration device 10 will be explained. In FIG. 11, the receptacle 31 on the FCV 30 side is provided with a fan-shaped or broken annular light-emitting part 31A, and the light-emitting part 31A is provided with a plurality of (four in the embodiment) light-emitting elements 31AA. In FIG. 11, a joint part of the receptacle 3 with the filling nozzle 2 on the side of the calibration device 10 is indicated by the reference numeral 31B. During communication filling, an optical signal containing information on the FCV 30 side (pressure and temperature inside the vehicle tank) is transmitted from the light emitting element 31AA of the receptacle 31 to the light receiving element 2AA of the filling nozzle 2 on the calibration device 10 side. As shown in FIG. 12, a light receiving part 2A is attached to the filling nozzle 2 on the side of the calibration device 10 via a support part 2B. The light receiving part 2A constitutes a communication input part. The light receiving part 2A supports the optical fiber cable 5, and the light receiving element 2AA is arranged at an end of the optical fiber cable 5 (the end on the receptacle 31 side of the FCV 30: the right end in FIG. 12). In FIG. 12, the joint portion of the filling nozzle 2 with the receptacle 31 is indicated by the reference numeral 2C.
(30) Here, in FIGS. 11 and 12, the settings of the shapes and dimensions of the light receiving part 2A and the supporting part 2B, and the arrangement of the light receiving element 2AA of the light receiving part 2A are set such that the optical signal emitted from any of the light emitting elements 31AA (information on the FCV 30 side, pressure and temperature of the vehicle tank) can always be received (a position at least partially matching with the light emitting element 31AA). Therefore, the optical signal containing the information of the FCV 30 is reliably received by the light receiving part 2A of the filling nozzle 2 of the calibration device 10.
(31) In order to ensure that the light signal emitted from any of the four light emitting elements 31AA of the receptacle 31 on the FCV 30 side can always be received by the light receiving element 2AA, it is necessary to arrange the light receiving element 2AA based on hydrogen filling standards (SAE J2799 [2014]). More specifically, it is necessary to satisfy the contents of 4.2.1.1 to 4.2.1.6 and 4.2.2.1 to 4.2.2.5 of SAE J279 9 [2014].
(32) Next, the optical fiber cable 5 will be explained with reference to FIG. 13. In FIG. 13, the optical fiber cable 5 is composed of a bundle of a large number of optical fibers, and the bundle is supported by the support portion 2B of the filling nozzle 2 on the calibration device 10 side. In addition, in FIG. 13, in order to explain the optical fiber cable 5, the optical fiber 5A and the optical fiber cable 5 are shown larger than the filling nozzle 2 and the support part 2B. The end of the optical fiber cable 5 on the filling nozzle 2 side (the right end in FIG. 13: the end on the receptacle 31 side of the FCV 30) constitutes the light receiving part 2A, in which the light receiving element 2AA is arranged. The end of the optical fiber cable 5 opposite to the filling nozzle 2 (the left end in FIG. 13: the filling nozzle 21 side of the hydrogen filling device 20) is connected to the annular member 3B of the calibration device 10 (not shown in FIG. 13). On the end face of the annular member 3B on the side of the filling nozzle 21, the individual optical fibers 5A are arranged in a circumferential direction of the annular member 3B to constitute the light emitting part 3A (FIG. 4).
(33) It should be noted that the illustrated embodiments are merely examples, and are not intended to limit the technical scope of the present invention. For example, in the illustrated embodiments, an FCV is used as the device to be filled, a hydrogen filling apparatus is used as the filling apparatus, and hydrogen gas is used as the gaseous fuel, but the device to be filled is not limited to the FCV. Moreover, the gas to be filled is not limited to hydrogen gas. The present invention can also be applied to a filling apparatus having a function of supplying other gaseous fuels. Furthermore, in this specification, the hydrogen filling apparatus may be configured separately from the calibration device 10, as in the case where it is written as hydrogen filling device 20, or it may be written as hydrogen filling apparatus 100 when the calibration device 10 is included in the apparatus 100.
DESCRIPTION OF THE REFERENCE NUMERALS
(34) 1 flowmeter (master meter: Coriolis flowmeter, etc.) 2 filling nozzle of calibration device 2A light receiving part (communication input part) 2AA light receiving element 3 calibration device receptacle 3A light emitting part (vehicle communication output part) 3B annular member 3C mounting member 3D adjustment member 4 hydrogen gas pipe 5 optical fiber cable 10 calibration device 20 hydrogen filling device (not including calibration device 10 etc.) 21 filling nozzle 21A light receiving element of filling nozzle 30 fuel cell vehicle (FCV) 31 receptacle 31A light emitting part of receptacle 31AA light emitting element of receptacle 100 hydrogen filling apparatus (including calibration device 10, etc.)
