Specification of Patent of Invention for

TELEMETRY SYSTEM AND ELECTRONIC DEVICE

The present invention relates to a system and an
electronic device designed to inform the gas distributors when gas
5cylinders from their consumers are at a certain reserve level, thus
providing the condition required for planning the optimum gas
commercialization route and, therefore, improving the selling
efficiency of its product with a substantial decrease in costs.
Currently, the gas distribution process occurs
10basically in two ways: by means of trucks which travel along the
town streets within previously established routes offering their
products indiscriminately to all consumers, or by means of home
delivery, attending to orders made directly to gas distributors by
consumers.
15 With respect to devices for metering the amount
of gas in gas cylinders, e.g., the Brazilian patent PI0203217-1 is
known which relates to a pressure gauge system to regulate the
pressure and indicate the amount of gas consumed. However, the
production costs of this kind of system makes its commercial and
20residential use unfeasible, since it is neither cost-effective to
consumers nor distributors. Also known is the Brazilian patent
PI9705941-2, which relates to a device which indicates the gas
pressure in GLP cylinders in order to ascertain the amount of gas
still present in the cylinder by means of visual inspection. Another
25filled Brazilian patent PI0402813-9, relates to a heat-sensitive
rubberized magnetized tape, which is intended to visually indicate
 the level of gas inside the cylinder to the consumer. However, the
devices shown above do not include any system able to inform the
gas distributors when the gas cylinder of their consumers is at a
reserve level.
5 The present invention was developed with a view
to provide a new gas commercialization scheme, through which
the distributor is informed automatically by means of a new
computer-aided electronic system when the gas cylinder is at a
reserve level, being able to identify the source of the signal and
10plan out an optimum gas commercialization route.
This new system affords the following
advantages:
This process allows distributors to identify when the gas cylinder
of their consumers is at a reserve level, thus being able to offer
15their products before their competitors;
Reduced costs thanks to the optimized logistics of the gas
commercialization, reduced fleet, and better inventory
management, resulting from the improved demand estimation;
Competitive advantage for the distributor by obtaining
20consumption information from its consumers;
Improved customer loyalty and, hence, increased market share of
the distributor;
Also, many advantages in terms of convenience, practicality,
quality e service safety are offered to final consumers. The
25invention will be better understood with reference to the
 following detailed description, in connection with the enclosed
drawings, wherein:
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIGURE 1 shows a block diagram of the Transmitting device;
5FIGURE 2 shows a block diagram of the Receiving device;
FIGURE 3 shows a block diagram of the Web Server; and
FIGURE 4 shows a flow chart of the process.
With respect to FIGURE 1, represented by a block diagram,
temperature sensors (1) in contact with the outer surface of the
10gas cylinder sensing the temperature variation between the
sensors at predefined time intervals are shown. This temperature
variation is sent to the signal amplifier (2) where the temperature
curve will be corrected for. Thereafter, this corrected information
is sent to the microcontroller (3) which will convert it from analog
15into digital by means of a software resident within the
microcontroller which will check if is there any temperature
difference higher than 1C between the sensors. As gas is
consumed from the gas cylinder, the internal pressure within the
gas cylinder changes, giving rise to a temperature difference
20between the portions of the cylinder which are in contact with the
gas in liquid and gaseous state. When this temperature variation
between sensors occurs, the microcontroller (3) sends a digital
signal to the radio frequency transmitter (4). This transmitter
modulates the frequency and transmits a signal to the radio
25frequency receiver (6) by means of an antenna (5). This circuit is
supplied by a battery.
 With reference to FIGURE 2, a radio frequency receiver (6)
which receives and filters the specific frequency of the signal sent
by the radio frequency transmitter (4) is shown. Upon receiving
the signal, it is forwarded to a detection/demodulation circuit (7)
5which, by means of an equal-frequency oscillator, recovers the
sent signal and transmits it to the microcontroller (8). This
microcontroller sets up the protocol code of its pair, since each
transmitter (4) will have only one receiver (6), and verifies, by
means of a phone detector circuit (9), if the telephone line (13) is
10available, if the telephone (14) rests on the hook or not and if
there is a phone line signal, if not, the microcontroller sets the
GPRS modem (15) for the transmission of the SMS code. If the
phone line is available, the microcontroller (8) activates the line,
sends the digital code of the protocol to the DTMF generation
15system (10) which decodes and initiates its transmission to the
DTMF decoder board (17) installed on the remote Web server
(18). In the case that the phone line is unabled to be used, the
device is provided with a GPRS modem (15) which sends a SMS
code directly to another GPRS modem installed on the serial port
20of the computer of the gas distributor. The microcontroller (8)
preferably uses the phone line (13). The phone detector (9) is a
circuit which is responsible for monitoring the use of the phone
line so that when the telephone (14) is lifted off of the hook, the
transmission of DTMFs is immediately interrupted and resumed
25only when the line becomes available again. This procedure is not
intended to impair the quality when using the telephone line. The
 power supply system of the circuit schematically shown in
FIGURE 2 also consists of a battery, and in parallel could use
electric power and the telephone line voltage itself, according to
the limits established by ANATEL (Agncia Nacional de
5Telecomunicaes).

With reference to FIGURE 3, represented by a

block diagram, a commercially available DTMF decoder board
(17) is shown. This board is connected to the telephone line (16)
and receives the DTMF sent by the DTMF generator (10). Upon
10receiving the code, the board (17) returns a DTMF as a protocol
to the DTMF detector (11) which will be informed that the
information was successfully received and does not need to be
retransmitted. After reception, the board converts the DTMF
signal into a digital form and sends it to the Web server (18). In
15the server, the digital code is added into the web database to be
used by the optimization software. When using a GPRS
system, there are modems available on the market which are able
to receive the sent SMS and add it into the software.
FIGURE 4 shows generally the process. Firstly,
20the gas distributor installs the devices shown in FIGURE 1-2 on
gas cylinders from consumers and on the telephone line (13),
respectively, registering each installed device (19) into the web
database. As the gas is consumed, temperature sensors located on
the outer surface of the gas cylinder are monitoring (20) the
25temperature variation and transmitting (22) this information to the
receiver (23) when a temperature variation higher than 1 oC
occurs. Upon reaching a minimum gas level inside the gas
cylinder (21), a temperature difference occurs between the sensors
and the receiver then sends the DTMF or SMS code to the Web
 Server (24) by means of the GPRS modem (27). On the server,
the DTMF decoder board receives the code (25), returns the
receiving protocol (26), and adds the DTMF converted into digital
form into the Web Database (28) through a software (27). Having
5this information added into the Database (28), said software
matches the information from consumers devices already
registered into the database and creates a optimum route (29) for
commercialization of gas (31).
EXAMPLES
10 The present invention will be better described by
way of example as shown below, however, such example
embodiment is in any way intended to be limiting as to the scope
of the present invention.
Similarly, many variations and modifications
15which shall become apparent from the present description will be
included within the scope defined in the claims.
Example: Operation arrangement of the telemetry electronic
system
With respect to FIGURE 3, the system of the
20present invention comprises the following structure:
a specification data set;
a registration data set;
a monitoring data set;
a reserve gas amount data set;
25a transmission data set;
a verification data set;
receiving means;
transmitting means;
 decoding means;
decoded code handling means;
monitoring means; and
operation means.
5Wherein:

the specification data set respectively defines the identification

and location of the consumer and the gas cylinder by telemetry;
the registration data set defines a consumer identification
condition;
10the monitoring data set defines a gas consumption monitoring
condition from temperature sensors;
the reserve gas amount data set defines a minimum gas level
warning condition;
the transmission data set defines a minimum gas level warning
15transmission condition;
the verification data set defines a data transmission path
verification condition;
the receiving means comprise a RX receiver installed on a
telephone line;
20the transmitting means comprise a dialing device;
the decoding means comprise a decoder electronic circuit board;
the decoded code handling means comprise the ordering of the
decoded code in the database;
the data from RX receiver comprise a SMS protocol; and
25the operation means define a remote operation query condition
and define a operation strategy.
 1/4

CLAIMS
1. An electronic telemetry system,
characterized in that it comprises
a specification data set;
5 a registration data set;
a monitoring data set;
a reserve gas amount data set;
a transmission data set;
a verification data set;
10 receiving means;
transmitting means;
decoding means;
decoded code handling means;
monitoring means; and
15 operation means.
2. The system, according to claim 1,
characterized in that the specification data set respectively
defines the identification and location of the consumer and the gas
cylinder by telemetry.
20 3. The system, according to claim 1,
characterized in that the registration data set defines a consumer
identification condition.
 2/4

4. The system, according to claim 1,

characterized in that the monitoring data set defines a gas
consumption monitoring condition from temperature sensors.
5. The system, according to claim 1,
5characterized in that the reserve gas amount data set defines a
minimum gas level warning condition.
6. The system, according to claim 5,
characterized in that the transmission data set defines a
minimum gas level warning transmission condition.
10 7. The system, according to claim 1,
characterized in that the verification data set defines a data
transmission path verification condition.
8. The system, according to claim 1,
characterized in that the receiving means comprise a RX receiver
15installed on a telephone line.
9. The system, according to claim 1,
characterized in that the transmitting means comprise a dialing
device.
10. The system, according to claim 1,
20characterized in that the decoding means comprise a decoder
electronic circuit board.
11. The system, according to claim 1,
characterized in that the decoded code handling means comprise
the ordering of the decoded code in the database.
 3/4

12. The system, according to claim 8,

characterized in that the data from RX receiver comprise a SMS
protocol.
13. The system, according to claim 1,
5characterized in that the operation means define a remote
operation query condition and define a operation strategy.
14. A telemetry device, characterized in that it
comprises temperature sensors (1) designed for monitoring the
temperature variation of the gas cylinder outer portion, and
10transmitting a signal (4) when a temperature variation (3) higher
than 1oC occurs between said temperature sensors (1);
a radio frequency receiver (6), a DTMF generation circuit (10),
and a circuit power supply selected from the group consisting of
battery, electric power or telephone line voltage; and
15a gas valve (14) for closing the passage of gas.
15. The device, according to claim 1,
characterized in that it comprises temperature sensors (1)
designed for monitoring the temperature variation of the gas
cylinder outer portion, and transmitting a signal (4) when a
20temperature variation (3) higher than 1oC occurs between said
temperature sensors (1); a radio frequency receiver (6), a DTMF
generation circuit (10), and a circuit power supply selected from
the group consisting of battery, electric power or telephone line
voltage; and a gas valve for closing the passage of gas.
 4/4

16. The device, according to claim 1,

characterized in that it further comprises a display (11) which
visually indicates when the gas cylinder is at reserve level.
 ABSTRACT
TELEMETRY SYSTEM AND
ELECTRONIC DEVICE
The present invention relates to a system
5and a electronic device which allow gas distributors to be
informed when gas cylinders from their consumers are at a
reserve level. This information is generated by electronic devices
and transmitted to the gas distributor via the Internet in real time
Said devices are responsible for monitoring the gas consumption
10of gas cylinders and transmitting a signal to a database of a web
application.
This process allows distributors to identify those consumers
whose gas cylinders are at a low gas level and, correspondingly
plan out an optimum gas commercialization route, thus reducing
15costs, improving consumers acceptance and increasing the value-
added of their product.
The system is comprised of temperature sensors designed for
monitoring gas consumption, a radio frequency (RF) transmitter
with an antenna, a RF receiver with an antenna, a DTMF dialer,
20and a GPRS modem.
 1/4

10

FIG. 1

15

20

25
 2/4

15

MODEM GPRS

FIG. 2

10
 3/4

FIG. 3
5

10

15

FIG. 4
 4/4

TRANSLATION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 2
14 - PHONE
513 - PHONE LINE
12 - SWITCH
11 - DTMF DETECTOR
10 - DTMF GENERATOR
7 - DETECTION/DEMODULATION CIRCUIT
1015 - GPRS MODEM
8 - MICROCONTROLLER
9 - PHONE DETECTOR

FIG. 3
1515 - PHONE LINE
16 - BOARD
17 - WEB SERVER

FIG. 4
20
DISTRIBUTORA = DISTRIBUTOR

SISTEMA WEB = WEB SYSTEM

25RESIDNCIA/COMRCIO = HOME/COMMERCE

Incio = Start

19 - Install devices on gas cylinder and telephone line from consumers

30
20 - Register devices installed on each consumer

21 - Monitor gas consumption by means of temperature sensors

3522 - Amount of gas in the cylinder reaches reserve level

23 - Transmitter (TX) sends radio frequency signal to receiver (RX)

24 - Is RX connected to telephone line?

40
25 - Receiver (RX) installed on telephone line receives the signal and activates
dialer

26 - Dialer sends the device identification code to the DRMF Decoder Board
45
27 - GPRS modem at RX sends SMS protocol to the modem connected to the
serial port of the distributor's computer
 5/4

28 - Communication protocol decoder electronic circuit board receives DTMF,

decodes it and returns the receiving protocol

29 - Decoder board sends protocol to Receiver (RX) acknowledging reception

5
30 - Software receives decoded code

31 - Add code into a Web Server Database

1032 - Application plans out distribution routes

33 - GPRS modem installed on the serial port of the computer receives SMS
and add it into the software

1534 - Query distribution routes via Web

35 - Vehicles are sent to commercialize gas

Trmino = End